Voalidru

Voalidru () was the capital city of Eadraal, a merfolk nation beneath the Sea of Fallen Stars, up until its inhabitants were forced to abandon it during the Twelfth Serôs War. Before the war, it was considered to be one of the grandest of merfolk cities in recorded history. After the war, Voalidru was infamous and began being referred to as the City of the Damned.
==Geography==
This city stood along the upper slopes of the Lesser Hmur Plateau, northeast of Mount Teakal, and roughly east-southeast of the city of Myth Nantar. Though other estimates placed the distance at around . The area around the city, encompassing the whole of the Lower Hmur Plateau and the southern parts of Eadraal, composed a territory separate from the nation's duchies known as the Voalidru Protectorate.
==Government==
This city was the seat of power for the kings of Eadraal. However, like the other seven cities of the nation, the governance of Voalidru was overseen by a duke.
==Notable Locations==
* Temple of Eadro, a massive temple dedicated to the ocean god Eadro that originally began as a simple shrine. Unlike most buildings in the city, it was constructed of sedimentary stone from the ocean floor.
==History==
The construction of the city predated the founding of Eadraal, having been part of its predecessor, the empire of Hmurrath. Selana the Peacemaker established it as Eadraal's capital in , during the waning years of Hmurrath's collapse from the Tenth Serôs War. In the fifteen years that followed, Voalidru was the full extent of Eadraal's territory, as nation didn't incorporate some of the territory of its predecessor until after the War's end in .
In the Great Arcane Aodk, ruler of the morkoth nation of Olleth, ordered his forces to kidnap Eadraal's queen Wylla and the princesses Aeda and Diera. With their foul magic the morkoth transformed them into monstrous forms, then unleashed them upon Voalidru as mindless attackers. Their deaths were later avenged the same year, as Eadraal launched an assault upon Olleth and slayed Aodk.
In the year 1369 DR, Serôs was wracked with the Twelfth Serôs War.
On Marpenoth 6 (Sekolsong 26), Iakhovas used magic to surround the Whamite Isles without a monstrous form of kelpie, allowing him to lure the islanders to a watery death and resurrection as drowned ones. With his numbers significantly expanded by this act, Iakhovas' army began their march towards Voalidru. In addition to drowned ones his forces included koalinths, lacedons, and the outcast merfolk of Clan Kataar, led by Vhaemas the Bastard, sahuagins, sharks, and giant eels. The people of Voalidru managed to learn of this threat before it got close, allowing them time to evacuate and take as much of their treasures as possible.
On Marpenoth 14 (Sekolsong 34), the army was finally in close range of Voalidru, beginning what would be known as the Battle of Voalidru. Overwhelmed by his forces, the people of Voalidru would be forced to abandon the city, with many of its displaced masses and royals fleeing to the city of Myth Nantar. In the city's Temple of Eadro a group of priests managed to hold off against the forces of Iakhovas for some time, using an ancient horn called the Akriloth to ward off his undead.
Noticing his undead forces retreating from it, Iakhovas attacked the very foundations of the temple with his jaws. His assault shattering parts of it, creating a giant crater. He then commanded a group of sahuagin, sharks, and giant eels to infiltrate the temple and silence the Akriloth. The horn became lost as the priests were forced to flee to unshattered parts of the temple, striking out whenever the chance arose. Believing the militia squashed, Iakhovas moved on towards Myth Nantar, leaving a large host of undead to guard Voalidru and the Akriloth in his absence.
In the absence of Iakhovas, a kraken by the name of Qol'in'taroq slipped into the Temple of Eadro. He had heard the Akriloth and was drawn to it, commanded by Those Who Sleep Below to take up residence in the temple and keep the city out of the hands of the merfolk. With the help of his morkoth ally Vlantir, various undead they turned to their service, and a group of sahuagin lured to his command by Sekolah they fought against the invaders. This prolonged the survival of the priests, who never discovered the kraken's presence, though they occasionally caught sight of monsters fighting amongst each other. Eventually, Qol'in'taroq managed to secure the Akriloth for himself and had it moved to a secure vault on the temple's fourth floor alongside most of the temple's valuables.
===Post-Serôs War===
Iakhovas's defeat and the end of the Twelfth Serôs War ultimately did not end Voalidru's occupation, as the remnants of his undead forces continued to linger within its walls. As did the priests of Eadro, who spents months playing cat and mouse with the undead. Ocassionally managing to capture and interrogate either a malenti or sahuagin. Their numbers gradually fell to the undead hordes until they were forced to make their last stand in the temple's central worship chamber under the guidance of high priest Jarecah and some stone golems. In the end only a priest by the name of Narvolas remained.
Over the next two years the ever determined people of Eaadral would attempt every few months to reclaim Voalidru, only to be turned back by the sheer number of undead. Bands of koalinths, rogue ixitxachitls, and merfolk of Clan Kataar would also occasionally plunder the city during this time, whilst doing their best to avoid its undead hordes, eventually looting most of its buildings.
On Midwinter (Icesong 31), 1370 DR, made their last major attempt to reclaim their city, under the command of Prince Regent Mirol III. The attempt proved disastrous, with over a hundred people losing their lives.
By the , multiple forces had their eyes set upon the city and rumors surrounding the city's fate began to circulate, alleging that something horrid had taken over the city. Some claiming it was a priesthood of ixitxachitl, while others claimed that it was a kraken. It would also be around this time that the priest Narvolas finally escaped Voalidru with the help of a mermaid named Lurelei, who was hiding in a secret chamber of the temple, and the pair headed northeast for Myth Nantar.
Prince Regent Mirol III, the acting ruler of Eeadral while his father Vhaemas lay in a coma, was concocting plans to militarily retake Voalidru. He saw this as a means of restoring his nation's lost pride and of reinforcing the confidence his subjects had in him, as many felt unease towards the Nantarn Alliance. Sharna, ruler of Clan Kataar and its city of Thuridru following Vhaemas the Bastard's death, was in a state of waiting for the right opportunity to take Voalidru for her people out of a sense of vengeance. She maintained a vast network of spies, sympathizers, and officials that she had bribed in order to keep close tabs on Mirol III. And some of the vitans of the Xedran Reefs persistently urged their ruler to launch an attack upon the city while it was in disarray.
The ixitxachitl desired recompense against the merfolk for Mirol III's brother Vhaemas the Bastard, as he was partly responsible for the devastation Iakhovas unleashed upon the Xedran Reefs. But for similar reasons of vengeance, the Vitanar was far more focused on plotting against Thuridru. After learning of the existence of the Akriloth and recognizing its potential to eliminate the undead infestation, it allowed for a devitan by the name of Xulkur to lead an expedition to retrieve the horn, consisting of ixitxachitl and a small band of koalinths. While there they caught the mermaid Lurelei, who Narvolas left to her fate. Xulkur transformed her into an obedient velya, using her knowledge to recover several lesser magic items around the ruins and map the temple for a future assault.
===The Akriloth===
At some point during 1371 DR, a few weeks after Narvolas entered Myth Nantar, Mirol III was approached by a small fish with scintillating blue scales. It told him in a deep, resonant voice that Narvolas was in the city and held the secret to reclaiming Voalidru. Having believed him to have perished in the assault on Voalidru, Mirol III considered this a sign from Eadro and scoured Myth Nantar for the priest, eventually finding him tending to injured refugees in the Stadium of Tavynos. Narvolas told the Prince Regent of what happened at his temple and of his eventual escape. He spoke adamantly of the Akriloth being a solution to the undead infestation, that it was likely still within the temple, and advised him to search the city for adventurers willing to retrieve it.
For two weeks Mirol III would as Narvolas advised, trying to find adventurers willing to accompany him, as the Prince Regent felt he could no longer justify risking the lives of his subjects. He offered a generous payment of ten olmars, only to be rebuffed at each time by the mention of Voalidru". Eventually he managed to find a willing group, but refused to disclose the reasons behind wanting to retrieve the Akriloth. This information was quickly relayed to Sharna through her informants, who then issued a cover group in the city to ambush the adventurers. By the time the adventurers made it to the temple Xulkur and his forces had already spent days probing the ruins, carefully avoiding the undead, and were scouring the temple's first two floors.
The adventurers made their way through the Temple of Eadro and its many dangers, until finally confronting and defeating Qol'in'taroq within the Grand Hall. They then made their way back to Myth Nantar, possibly facing further attacks from Clan Kamaar or minions of Those Who Sleep Belong along the way, and bestowed the retrieved Akriloth upon Prince Regent Mirol III. Mirol granted them honorary membership in Clan Homurr and was quick to announce his possession of the relic, hyping up the merfolk of Eadraal for a future attempt to take back Voalidru.
==Inhabitants==
Prior to the Twelfth Serôs War, the city's population was chiefly made up of merfolk. Following the war, Voalidru was filled with all manner of undead, numbering in the hundreds. Some speculated that the number of undead in the city was so vast that it would take nearly every available cleric in Serôs to fully eradicate their presence. Undead that could be found in the city included lacedons, who frequently preyed upon merfolk that got too close to the ruins, drowned ones, various kinds of skeletons including skeletal giant turtles and merrows, dreads, shadows, sahuagin zombies, merfolk zombies, zombified giant eels, and zombified sharks.
Besides undead, a number of other humanoids, monstrosities, and wild animals took up residence within the ruins of Voalidru and its Temple of Eadro, many of them feasting upon the numerous rotting bodies. These included aquatic carrion crawlers, giant moray eels, scrags, vodyanoi, a large tribe of merrow, and a group of aquatic margoyles and kapoacinths. The most powerful of these occupiers was the kraken Qol'in'taroq, who held sway over many of the creatures within the ruined city.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===References===
Category:Capitals
Category:Cities
Category:Ruined settlements
Category:Merfolk locations
Category:Underwater locations
Category:Locations in Eadraal
Category:Locations on the Lesser Hmur Plateau
Category:Locations in Serôs
Category:Locations in the Sea of Fallen Stars
Category:Locations in Interior Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril
Category:Year of Metropolises