The History of Obsidian Bay

CY 513: The Founding of Obsidian Bay

As the invasion raged on the Pomarj, a new adventuring group known as the Griffins Guild was forming in the Free City of Irongate, a dwarven stronghold located near the throat of the Onnwal peninsula, across the Sea of Gearnet from the Pomarj. Founded in CY 594, the guild rose to fame fighting the orcs and goblins of the central Onnwal reaches, the pirates already operating out of Blue, and the horrors lurking deep in the Bright Desert.

By the time of the Pomarj invasions, they were also heroes of the Iron League, a loose alliance of free nations opposed to the increasingly sadistic and depraved actions of the faltering Great Kingdom of Aerdy. They engaged in various overt and covert actions on behalf of the League, missions which brought them into contact with heroes among the member states of Onnwal, Nyrond and the Lordship of the Isles.

As the humanoids raged, the greatest heroes of the guild, notably guildmaster Samuel "Battleaxe" Longriver, the archmage Robertson, the elven lord Willow Wind and Johann the Destroyer, militant cleric of St. Cuthbert, urged the league to intervene and prevent evil from gaining such a massive stronghold in the very heart of the Flanaess.

Their request was denied. "The Iron League is a defensive alliance," the leaders of Nyrond said, "and we have not been attacked by the humanoid scum there." Others argued invading the former Poor March might provoke the ire of the slumbering Kingdom of Keoland, and spark a war that Nyrond and her Iron allies could not afford.

The Griffins Guild could not do nothing. Over the next several months, they planned their own private counter-invasion, drawing together hundreds of loyal men and heroes from around the central Flanaess, and on Coldeven 27, CY 513 this force landed on the southern shore of the Pomarj. The place they chose was an excellent natural harbor with a near by hill that could be shaped into a defensible plateau. Moreover, it was surrounded by rich volcanic soil, making it ideal for farming ... assuming it could be held.

The heroes immediately built a fortress and stockade on the central hill, ringing it with additional fortifications. They immediately took the fight to the Black Tongue gnoll tribe, which had conquered the area. Several bands of orcs counterattacked, thinking they could drive the heroes away as easily as they had the Poor March's previous defenders.

They were wrong.

The magical might of the Griffins Guild and their allies proved to be too much for the orcs, and the village of Obsidian Bay survived. The following years saw the arrival of dwarves from the Ulek and Poor March expatriates from Keoland who were eager to reclaim their fallen lands. The population of the village grew, turning it into a small town.

The Obsidian Maze

However, it was not until CY 521, and the discovery of the legendary Obsidian Maze in the depths of the Drachensgrabs that the town's future was truly secured. The Obsidian Maze's origins are lost to time, but it was believed built by a powerful -- but insane -- Ur-Flan archmage thousands of years previously. The Ur-Flan were an ancient people who ruled much of the Flanaess three thousand years ago until the rise of the lich-lord Vecna.

Adventurers from the Obsidian Maze spent years chasing rumors of the Maze in the Drachensgrabs, until it was finally found by Griffins Guild team led by the archmage Robertson and Johann the Destroyer.

Explorations of the Maze revealed all the legends about it to be true: it had dozens of levels, some of which lay deep within the UnderOerth, others of which extended to other planes of existence. Terrible horrors lurked within the Maze, but so did great treasures. As first the Griffins Guild, and then other bands of adventures, began exploring and plundering the Maze, a tremendous flow of riches began to pour into Obsidian Bay. It's fame grew, and suddenly hundreds of people were coming to seek their fortunes in the frontier city.