Earsome

Earsome, originally named as Arisome, was a Netherese city on the shore of Hidden Lake in the heart of Netheril.
==Geography==
Earsome was found on the eastern coast of Hidden Lake, just south of the Kraal Brook.
==Trade==
Aside from a brief silver rush, the folk of Earsome largely practiced fishing on the Hidden Lake, and hunting and trapping in the Hidden Forest. The bounty on orc ears also brought a great influx of adventurers and other fighters who "worked" in the surrounding area.
==History==
Arisome had a long and bloody history ever since it was founded in . It was in near-constant conflict with the local orcs of the Hidden Forest, who found the city the most likely target for their raiding exploits. In an effort to curb over-eager orcish aggression, Arisome instated a 2 sp bounty on each pair of orc ears, bringing forth a massive influx of murderous adventurers and civic-minded bandits and brigands who flooded the forest and slaughtered the orcs. The sheer amount of ears brought to the city earned it the new name "Earsome."
The Golden Age ( to ) saw the orcs withdraw deeper into the woods in response to constant pressure. When the city was fitted with a mythallar in , the folk of Earsome adopted the "earie" tradition of displaying trophy ears in quasimagical cases imbued with preservation magic, featuring not just orcs but a wide variety of creatures.
The arcanist Jarm assigned himself the role of Earsome's arcanist in . He proceeded to slay any arcanist that he thought might be a threat or a competitor, which included most of those who simply passed through town and even the famous Volhm. Despite his paranoia, he worked to defend the town against orcish attacks on many occasions until he was finally assassinated in .
In , a troll suddenly attacked and killed an entire family before it was burnt to ashes, with it believed to have regenerated from a trophy ear. The mystery of just how that ear came to be there led to an adventuring company being hired to investigate, which climaxed in an open battle with the political rivals of the slain family.
A rich silver deposit was found nearby in , leading to a rush and population boom. The vein ran dry within the century, and life largely returned to normal.
The later years of Netheril saw five major battles around Earsome as the orcs returned with a vengeance, starting with the Kraal Brook Massacre of that saw 2,000 humans slain during a religious festival. A Netherese strike into the Hidden Forest in had a larger human army attack the orcs, with 12,000 orcs and 4,000 humans falling. Another offense in resulted in the orcish village of Shantraf being razed, but this only emboldened the orcs.
The Hidden Forest orcs launched a huge attack on Earsome in , destroying all of the surrounding farms and villages. The host overran the city, tore down the main gates and even destroyed the mythallar. The city was aflame and its defenders fighting in the streets when the enclave of Delia appeared, rescuing the city from complete destruction. The killing blow was struck in the spring of during the Earsome Massacre, when the orcs launched one final massive attack. The defenders fought for months, but there was no rescue to be had that time and the city was razed.
==Appendix==
===References===
===Connections===
Category:Ruins
Category:Ruined settlements
Category:Settlements
Category:Cities
Category:Human locations
Category:Netherese locations
Category:Locations on Hidden Lake
Category:Locations in the Hidden Forest
Category:Locations in Netheril
Category:Locations in North Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril
Category:Locations
Category:Magical locations
Category:Locations with mythallars
Category:Netherese locations
Category:Year of Metropolises