It’s Midgard Monday! Each week, we visit a corner of the wide world of Midgard. Look for standalone content you can drop into your campaign—whether it’s in Midgard or your own homebrew. Find new inspiration each Midgard Monday!
Midgard is vast and filled with different peoples. Wildly different cultures can exist just a few miles apart, each one a potential heritage for your character. Consider this your invitation to gaze to the southern horizon, keep your bow at the ready, and embrace the stalwart resilience of the Magdar people!
While they lack the democratic pluck and the gearforged inventiveness of their cousins in Zobeck, this region offers many proud and valiant heritages. With that in mind, see what this region has to offer a character from the urban centers of this Crossroads nation.
To learn more about the proper nouns and places mentioned in this article, check out the Midgard Worldbook. This acclaimed campaign setting is rich and deep, with over a decade of support from Kobold Press. It provides larger context for everything you see here!
Cronepisht
Nestled in the center of Magdar’s southern border, tucked into the crook of the White Forest and the River Cirkno, Cronepisht is commonly called the Crown of the Magdar. It is considered the nation’s heart. The administrative capital, the primary royal residence, and headquarters of the Order of the Undying Sun, it serves as an important overland trade hub for those headed for Rumela, Zaldiri, and Harkesh.
The City Proper
Surrounded by verdant pastures and rolling hills covered in a patchwork of vineyards, olive groves, apple orchards, wheat, and barley fields, Cronepisht offers a pastoral, refined landscape. Travelers who enter the valley’s edge encounter a picturebook vista overlooking the city.
Stretching uphill along the northern shore of the river, a 50-foot-high casement wall marks the city boundaries and includes a royal enclosure, where the fortified palace known as the Urbittal, or the Queen’s Seat, stands. Its five towers gaze down upon a lush garden courtyard, and its broad, deep moat of cut slate is fed by a channel from the Cirko.
The substantial King’s Gate at the north of the city and the Sultan’s Gate on the western wall see numerous caravans pass through, both for trade at the city’s six marketplaces and moving through to travel on the Sultan’s Road headed south. Primarily populated by humans, but hosting a substantial number of dwarves, kobolds, and centaurs, the city’s roughly gridded system of paved streets are broad enough for two wagons to pass side by side.
Life Under Queen Dorytta
Queen Dorytta maintains the standing decree demanding that the waste of mounts, pack animals, and livestock must be cleaned from the avenues. A small guild of sweepers keeps the cobbles fresh under contract, paid by entrance tax.
The Queen’s presence here encourages a number of artisan guilds, heavy with masters. Smiths, stonemasons, tailors, and armorers all keep halls in Cronepisht. Senior journeylevel workers compete for year-and-half-long fellowships, where they learn and hopefully earn mastership rank. Starting every other Queensmeet, this culminates in a spring fair and artisan competition. Potential masterworks are judged and sold, with some of the best finding their way into the Urbittal or the Undying Sun’s Commandery.
The guilds do participate in local political intrigue however, and representatives lobby the courtiers of the Queen’s court in the Hall of Bulls. Much of the current chatter debates the proper response to Mharoti expansion to the South, and whether the Illyrian refugees should be marshalled into a force, possibly led back to retake Parzan and establish buffer communities in places like Old Brezla. Such debates are weighed against the possibility of dragons flying over Cronepisht’s orchards, and how to repulse such an incursion.
The Church’s Role
While the paladins of Khors and the clergy of Lada factor large in such conversations, both groups eschew an active role in city politics. The Order maintains its Commandery on a nearby hilltop, part and yet apart from the city, while the Temple of Rosy Dawn dominates the Northern Market Square. Both focus on the operations of their orders, and both are among the very few organizations in Magdar with active chapters and influence in other countries.
Together, and with a charter from the throne, they sponsor and administer the Queensmeet tournament and fair. This event draws hundreds of knights, adventurers, lords, and commoner hopefuls to the Field of Khors at each summer’s end. Activities include small competitions and minor contests over a two week period, culminating in the Queen’s Honor. The Honor is a traditional challenge of knightly activities, but the exact schedule changes slightly every year. What always appears, however, are the many flaky, handheld fruity or savory Bakers’ Guild tarts, perennial crowd favorites.
Cronepisht Heritage
You were raised in the Crown of Magdar. You might or might not be from a noble family, an aristocratic clan, or a knight’s or senior guild member’s household, but you are proudly a Cronepishten, and you consider yourself part of the unofficial royal retinue. Cronepisht is the Queen’s residence, and the Magdar who live there feel as if they contribute to the monarch’s prestige through the polished, elegant environment they each help create, in their own small ways.
Cronepishtens take pride in their knowledge of the nobles, past and present, the various tidbits of high-born interpersonal and competitive trivia surrounding courtly intrigue, and the tournaments leading to Queensmeet. They often know the details of the many industries supporting the Magdar royal house and the venerable Order of the Undying Sun, finding relationships and cultural similarities where others least expect them.
Bucolic Homeland. You have proficiency in either the Animal Handling or Nature skill. When making a check related to participation in a tournament contest, you may add your PB a second time. Alternatively, you may be proficient with artist, clothier, provisioner, or smithing tools.
Queensmeet Maven. You have proficiency with the History skill. When making checks regarding renowned or infamous knights, knightly orders, knightly tournaments, nobles, or rulers of the Crossroads region, you have advantage.
Languages. You know the Common language and one additional language of your choice. Typical Cronepishtens choose Draconic, Gnomish, or Ishadian. In rare cases, a few know Illyrian or Kariv.
Story Seed: Don’t Call it a Comeback
Returning to Cronepisht at the eve of Queensmeet, an old acquaintance confronts the character, attempting to shame the PC into entering the competition, nearly demanding they participate. The PC might not even remember that they defeated this NPC win a practice bout, but the NPC remembers and considers the PC a rival.
The newly-revealed rival knows the PC’s family, past instructors, and old friends. If the character refuses to face the rival in one of the smaller side competitions of Queensmeet, the rival intends to quietly, gradually destroy the character’s reputation in their hometown.
Perhaps, through the concerted efforts of fellow party members, working to unravel the foundational lies laid within the character’s past social circles, combined with the PC’s actual confrontation (and hopeful defeat) of this frenemy on the Field of Khors, the PC just might be able to come home again.
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