The Destruction of Crownpost
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The Destruction of Crownpost by War Wizard Thaddeus, 1370
Crownpost was once a Purple Dragon staging stable for War Wizards, royal messengers, and Purple Dragons riding Calantar's Way in great haste. Here tired mounts were swapped for fresh ones and exhausted travelers could find a safe bunk for the night. Crownpost consisted of a large grass-covered earthen bank encircled by a large wall.
Twenty years ago, Crownpost was abandoned after violent lightning storm that may not have been born of natural causes raked it repeatedly with lightning. The bolts burned down most the buildings and blasted apart the raised earthen enbankments to reveal hitherto-hidden iron
doors of ancient and massive make that had been hidden in the stable cellars.The doors led into a subterranean wizard's lair of vast size but unknown location, one chamber is linked to the next by means of gates. The lair was the home or prison of many enchanted creatures, and they erupted into Cormyr. Only a desperate whelming of the war wizards saved
the realm from becoming a mass graveyard roamed by killing things.
A titanic battle between the war wizards and the enchanted creatures ensued. I was an apprentice at the time, but lost many a good friend to these strange, mutable chimerae.Its perilous effects govern Crownpost to this day, and strange monsters of all sorts roam the area, although local adventurers manage to keep most inside the Wizard's Pit, the name we gave those strange iron-doors. Flying chimerae seem to predominate, but all shapes have been reported. All of the creatures are able to phase into or out of visible, solid existence.
The lair beneath the ruined fortress is so vast that after over 20 years of diligent work the war wizards have still not finished exploring it. A staff of power and a staff of swarming insects are known to have been
brought out of this place by war wizard exploration teams as well as many chests of gems and gold coins to bolster the royal treasury. It's also confirmed that several war wizards perished in traps in the underground lair, though exploration teams are still sent down there every spring.All of this has made Crownpost a shunned place. The farmer who owned the next hill to the east, one Buer Eltagar, hit upon the idea of opening an inn to house the traffic Crownpost had serviced and the explorers now coming to search the ruined fortress. Despite several lean early years, the
Blisterfoot Inn has been a success. Its popularity took off after Eltagar journeyed to Suzail and Arabel to advertise it, handing out free maps with offers of hall-price stopover bills to the first 40 map-bearers to show up at his doors. Today traffic on Calantar's Way hurries past the monster-haunted hill, warned by signboards telling
of the raiding monsters and by numerous grave markers that show the fates of some who scoffed at such things.It is my sincere desire that speaking of the treasures and dangers will be enough to warn innocent travelers away from Crownpost's ruins as surely as it attracts courageous adventurers who can continue the exploration of these incredibly bizarre ruins.