Ogrimborg

**Ogrimborg** is a small city in the southern parts of the Snoll region. The Snollá, a large tributary of the Snoll river flows through its centre and functions as its main source of drinking water and plumbing. While compared to most cities Ogrimborg appears small, even those in broader Svellbjargheim, it is by far the largest settlement in the Snoll Region, being thrice as large as the other three settlements in the region combined.

## Description

The city is made out of three neighbourhoods; The Lower Commons in the north-east, Middle Commons in the south-east, and the Upper Commons in the west across the river.

### Lower Commons

The Lower Commons are the poorest of the three neighbourhoods. Is slums are beset by thieves, gamblers, and drug abusers. The only thing keeping these people in check is the Headquarters of the Guard located in the northern part of the town. Or at least that is what the guards themselves claim. The citizens of the Lower Commons see them as nothing but bullies at best and mobsters as worst. Both the guards and the citizens of the Lower Commons pray to the goddess Silfrey at her temple in the middle of the neighbourhood for protection and might in battle. The temple itself protected by a large walls patrolled by Silfrey's paladins to keep the desperate of the Lower Commons from breaking in and stealing the sacred relics inside.

To keep smugglers and low lives out of the more prestigious parts of town travellers are only permitted to stay here in the Lower Commons if they are unable to show proof of their wealth or of the favour of one of the higher class families. To accommodate a quick exit for these travellers the stables can be found right of the western gates in the Lower Commons. Every day when the sun is up the Lower Commons play host to a large market with exports from across the region and beyond. Once the sun is down the merchants who peddled their goods at the market go to The Slobbering Toad Inn to gamble their newly earned fortune away, or on rare occasion to double it.

### Middle Commons

As its name implies the Middle Commons are home to the middle class of Ogrimborg. It is home to the craftsman, merchants, and Monster Catchers of the city. In the northern parts of the Middle Commons stands the city's graveyard and the Temple of Valhimyr, God of the sky and guide of the recently departed. A burial of one of the richer members of their community serves as a rare occasion at which inhabitants of the Lower Commons get to visit the Middle Commons.

The centre of the Middle Commons hosts the Broadroad, on which most of the industry of the city can be found such as the forges, the Monster Catcher Guild, the carpenters, and the papermills. The forges are run by dwarfs hailing from the now abandoned Avuz Rigòth who work their masterful forgecraft to create arms and tools for the Monster Catcher Guild and for the Grand Archive. The Monster Catcher Guild, run by the turtlefolk guildmaster Okane, is a guild dedicated to catching creatures for the scholars of the Grand Archive to be used in their experiments. The most lucrative bounties they hand out amongst their members, while those less rewarding are hung up on a notice board at the market in the Lower Commons as a way of testing possible new members.

The Middle Commons connects with the Upper Commons by a bridge over the Snollá named Commerce Lane. On Commerce lane most of the more expensive business can be found such as tailors, jewellers, and alchemists.

### Upper Commons

The Upper Commons are the oldest and most expansive neighbourhood of Ogrimborg. Here both the nobles and the scholars & students of the Grand Archive live. The age of this area is most noticeable when one visits the local Temple of Haustkala, Goddess of Agriculture. This temple was established back when Ogrimborg was still a fortified trading post protecting communities of farmers fleeing from bandits and raiders.

On the remains of this old trading post the local Prison and execution ground are build. Most criminals are simply executed to prevent them from accidently escaping into the Upper Commons and bothering the inhabitants, with their bodies thrown into the Snollá to bother someone else downstream. Those who can afford it find the prison and its dungeons slightly more comforting than the Snollá, with warm meals and cold stone floors.

Travellers who can afford to visit the Upper Commons stay in the Heron's Grace Inn. An old Inn hosting nightly debates in its mesh hall. During these debates scholars and students of the Grand Archives alike debate theological concepts such as the nature of The six heavens and the nature of the soul. The Grand Archive, founded by the Conclave of Gero Drakar in 1573 to keep track of its history and to study forbidden sciences, is the beating heart of Ogrimborg and most inhabitants work either directly or indirectly for the Grand Archive.

## History

Ogrimborg was founded in 1523 as a fortified trading post by Ogrim Minthammer, a merchant from the nearby dwarven mine of Avuz Rigòth, to protect ore exports from his home to the harbours of Snollheim. The trading post slowly grew into a small town as nearby villages were raided and their villagers sought the protections of the new fortress. The town would see it's true boom until the ascension of the Conclave of Gero Drakar in 1565 and the construction of the Grand Archives in the subsequent years. Ogrimborg was turned into an university town as generations of students and scholars moved into the town and stayed there to be live near their peers. The scholars of the Grand Archives desired creatures for their studies, leading to the establishment of a Monster Cather Guild to meet their demand. The town quickly grew into the largest city in the region, with a second boom coming in 1640 when scholars of the Grand Archives accidently opened a portal the the Heaven of Fire in the now long overshadowed Avuz Rigòth and forced the inhabitants to migrate to Ogrimborg.