D&D 5E 5th Edition and Cormyr: Flexing My Idea Muscle and Thinking Out Loud

21 Marpenoth - Leaffall
First day of the third tenday
1500 DR - Year of the Sea's Secrets Revealed

Lizardfolk capture mercenaries. Eagle Peak swollen with Dragons. Mercenaries and mages ready for war.

BATTLERISE - An unusual exchange took place north of the village today. Members of the Haarthuu tribe of lizardfolk traded a pair of fugitive mercenaries for two large woven baskets full of vipers and other poisonous snakes (which are considered delicacies by lizard folk). It’s not unknown for the Haarthuu of the Vast Swamp to trade with the villagers of Battlerise, but this is the first time anyone can remember the tribe aiding in the capture of fugitives wanted by the Crown.

EAGLE PEAK - The local garrison has swelled to 1,200 Purple Dragons from the usual 600. The Crown is paying above average rates to house its soldiers in every available rooming house. Officers are staying inside the homes of locals. An air of expectant worry has settled over the town in spite of the increase in trade and coins flowing into the coffers of locals. The Marsh Drovers of the Farsea Marshes have taken advantage of Eagle Peak’s population increase by making additional stops to sell wares and barter. Locals and Dragons alike have noted the Drovers are making deals for the purchase of weapons and armor, and not merely the typical goods they usually purchase. Purple Dragon patrols depart from and return to the town thrice daily, ever on the hunt for sign of hobgoblins.

IRIAEBOR - The leaders of several mercenary companies gathered in Iriaebor in anticipation of a hobgoblin attack were surprised to learn the hobgoblins have turned back north. Scouts on the Dusk Road and the Uldoon Trail have found remnants of battles between hobgoblins and orcs. In each case the hobgoblin phalanxes were decimated, though the orcs paid a heavy toll in lives lost too. Whispered rumors of the presence of Cormyr’s Wizards of War inside Iriaebor’s walls remain unproven speculation, though the presence of hiremages, priests of Tempus, Torm, and Tyr, and a handful of battle-oriented warlocks is plain to all. Iriaebor’s leaders have begun making plans to house refugees from Asbravn, Hluthvar and Corm Orp over the coming winter.

22 Marpenoth - Leaffall
Second day of the third tenday
1500 DR - Year of the Sea's Secrets Revealed

Harp Spider delights guests. Peddlers discover dead body. Sleeping Cat opens for business.

ARABEL - Guests of the Lavender Lion were delighted at the discovery of a new feature adoring its popular Spiderweb Room: a female harp spider. A priest of Malar wearing costume armor and wielding a barbed flail, with skin painted gray and sporting a white, long-haired wig kept patrons from approaching too close, “lest Lloth become angered and hunt you in your dreams!” The harp spider played several popular harp songs by rotating over the center of its web to pluck at strands of webbing, and sometimes laid flat on its belly while its eight legs mimicked a pair of harps playing in harmony. Guests were allowed to feed the harp spider by hand at the end of their paid-for hour of dancing and cavorting.

BLISTER TRAIL - Yesterday, peddlers on the Blister Trail discovered the body of an outlander today. An obvious stab wound to the heart confirmed the cause of death. A fresh brand in the shape of a cat was visible on the corpse’s forehead. The peddlers returned to Immersea to summon aid in the form of Purple Dragons. The Lionar in charge, Yara Breakblade, noted the clothing on the corpse wasn’t Cormyrean in origin, but rather Tethyrian in make and pattern.

WHELOON - The Sleeping Cat has opened for business. Taking its name from a once-popular eatery that burned to the ground half a century ago, this version of the Sleeping Cat features booths with curtains for private conversations along two walls. Its menu is small and to the point: stewed venison, goose, and pork handpies served with vegetables, and mead and brandy served in copper cups. Haspra Taerncole, great great grandniece of the adventurer Whelgar Taerncole, runs the establishment. Haspra chose to open the Sleeping Cat while the second floor of the building is still under construction. Until its completion, Haspra and the handful of folk she employs are making do in the stables (not yet occupied by animals) and a trio of lean-tos along the back wall of the Cat. The building is guarded by a pair of zombified ettins by night. By day the ettins are used to lift wood, furniture, and slate shingles to the second floor.

24 Marpenoth - Leaffall
Fourth day of the third tenday
1500 DR - Year of the Sea's Secrets Revealed

Haskur's maps not so marvelous.

SAERLOON - Shopkeepers at Haskur’s Marvelous Maps have temporarily closed their business after learning someone, or something, has tampered with the maps they sell. This, after three customers returned to the shop over the course of a day with an identical map detailing the layout of a wing of an unnamed castle, and each complaining that these were not the maps they’d purchased. Some information about each buyer follows.

• The first buyer, the metalgoods trader Bondarl Skallthurth, is a regular customer of Haskur’s who purchases updated trade route maps every year and manages to consistently rise above the cutthroat competition between metalgoods merchants that supply necessary cast metal objects to crofters and farmers living on the coastlands shared by Sembia and Cormyr.
• The second buyer, the scents and perfumes seller Telshanthra Alavonturl, is a sometimes visitor to Haskur’s, who is always on the lookout for building plans and layouts that “just happen” to find their way onto the shelves of the map shop. She carefully studies these maps to determine where treasures might best be hidden, then hires rogues to “survey” the locations. She splits the take on anything of value that’s found.
• The third buyer, the half-elf sneak thief Filirya Belorbuld, was a first time customer of Haskur’s. She’d paid a hefty surcharge in gold to have a rush copy made of a map showing new connections dug between the cellars of the wealthier homes that overlook the busy coastal city of Yhaunn so she could return the map before its owner realized it was missing.

Haskur’s is run by Ravar Faltrond and Luthmarra Skuldarr. Both are skilled cartographers, each having no love for the other. They tolerate each other as a show of respect to the owner of Haskur’s, the master merchant Amreth Gaunt(1), who is responsible for saving both their lives and placing them far away from certain death. Ravar and Luthmarra are quick to speak of their lives “adventuring on the Sword Coast, before retiring far from the all the gods-spawned tumult.” Their story borrows just enough from truth to spin a convincing lie that shields their past from enemies who’d have the two cartographers captured if their existence was uncovered.


1. The original owner, Yalaundra Haskur, quickly sold the shop to Amreth after she grew to hate her husband, Eldalan Haskur, and had him assassinated. Yalaundra remains in Saerloon, and spends her days dabbling in moneylending and dealing in gossip while watching for investment opportunities as Sembia rebuilds.

29 Marpenoth - Leaffall
Ninth day of the third tenday
1500 DR - Year of the Sea's Secrets Revealed

Kenku addresses Queen Raedra at Court. Longsails return captured Cormyreans.

SUZAIL, THE ROYAL COURT - An envoy most unusual appeared at court today: a kenku with feathers the color of obsidian, representing the Blackfeather Barrens in the distant land of Veldorn. Of surprise to the courtiers assembled was the kenku’s ability to speak in lieu of relying on an interpreter. A human and a pair of gnomes accompanied the kenku, whose name proved impossible to pronounce. At the kenku’s command, the gnomes produced flawless peridots and emeralds as a gift “to Cormyr and its people,” while the human produced a smooth bar of mithril. This, too, was given over, and the kenku promised such gems, metals, and more would be made available to Cormyrean traders willing to make the long journey to the “Beastlands,” which the kenku representative promised were civilized within its settlements for the purpose of trading, whilst allowing its people “the freedom to roam and hunt within its borders.” In reply to an enquiry from Queen Raedra, the kenku listed several things its people wished to trade for, including thimdror (a kind of small, triangle-headed oxen), sheep, and specific breeds of draft animals.

SUZAIL, DOCKSIDE - A handful of ships made port in Suzail today after braving late Marpenoth squalls on the Dragonmere. Among them were a pair of identical longsails out of Veltalar, capital of Aglarond, the Fairwynd Friend and the Talar’s Talon (both built by Myrton’s Fine Seafaring, also of Veltalar), which carried trade representatives of various Aglarondan merchant interests, and a group of Comyrean trade factors and sailors who’d been taken captive near the Pirate Isles after their ship had been boarded and scuttled.

Dockworkers spent their evening sharing stories of the crews of the two ships with their families. “As many half-elves as humans, and all smiles and swift movements” according to Albras Jharko. “And plants hanging everywhere aboard ship! When I asked why, a half-elf told me it was their custom. Then she bade me find The Street of Suns and Moons, should I ever visit Veltalar, to see a true example of the beauty she spoke of. Friendly though they were, not one went about their business unarmed.”

Two simbarchs, each wearing flowing robes of dazzling blue trimmed in silver cloth, departed the Talar’s Talon in the company of an alarphon representing the Wizards of War. The trio boarded a carriage and left for the Royal Court.

1 Uktar - The Rotting
First day of the first tenday
1500 DR - Year of the Sea's Secrets Revealed

Goose of Doom rebuilds. Scion of Siamporphe passes away. Anasad explodes in Marsember.

SUZAIL, DOCKSIDE - The Goose of Doom remains under construction after a fire destroyed the back third of the building a tenday ago. Retired Blue Dragons are using rosecork to rebuild the Doom’s exterior walls (rosecork is virtually fireproof), and barausk wood beams to support the sagging roof. No tradesfolk have been allowed on the construction site owing to the Dragon’s surely attitude towards anyone not a former or current Blue Dragon, or a trusted friend of the Doom.

SUZAIL, NOBLE QUARTER - Senior courtiers paid their respects to Darlynd Immur today. The former High Vizier of Tashluta was laid to rest in the crypts below the Rowanmantle’s Suzail castle after a heartfelt remembrance. Courtiers and Rowanmantles alike praised Darlynd for his worldly experience, circumspect advice, and unfailing ability to give support in times of grief, doubt, and need. Of note was the presence of members of the Helmfast family, of distant Waterdeep, who trace their lineage to the Greatgaunts of Cormyr through Lady Durndatha Greatgaunt, herself a tried and true follower of Siamorphe—just as Darlynd was—who married into the Helmfasts and succeeded in elevating that family to greatness. Darlynd Immur was 112 years of age.

MARSEMBER - A ship exploded on approach to Marsember’s docks this morning. The blast obliterated the Anasad’s hold, causing the remaining two halves of the ship to sink instantly. By nightfall most of Marsember knew smokepowder was the cause of the explosion. Folk remain unaware of the smokepowder’s providence. Likewise the significant loss incurred by the Seasilver family from the explosion.

2 Uktar - The Rotting
Second day of the first tenday
1500 DR - Year of the Sea's Secrets Revealed

Frozen adventurers explode out of inn wall. Rare books pay for tallhouse.

ARABEL - Today, the Company of the Sleeping Wyvern purchased a tallhouse one door east of Thabbold’s House of Superior Beds. Formerly owned by Elauntra Thabbold, the tallhouse was sold not for coin or even gems, but for a wagonload of books recently acquired by the members of the Sleeping Wyvern from Arabel-based book vendors. Additionally, several rare tomes, including a mage’s spellbook, are rumored to have been part of the sale, the books all recovered by the Sleeping Wyvern during their adventures. As news of the sale spread, one Arabellan was quick to remark “Elauntra is making yet another bid for ennoblement, is she?” Another was heard to ask, “How soon until she invites her noble ‘friends’ to a feast with those books prominently displayed, I wonder?”

WAYMOOT - The placid mood at the Old Man Inn was interrupted by an explosion of adventurers. Members of the Tankard Trolls erupted through a wall near the jakes, falling one atop the other in a pile of groans and bloodstained weapons. The adventurers were shivering, some were suffering frostbitten fingers, and all but one sported fresh wounds given by weapons and hostile spells alike. Beshaba saw fit to gift the unharmed adventurer a bleeding wound, however, as a shield hanging on the wall over the adventurers fell edge-first onto her head. A spiraling blue glow emanated from behind the adventurers for a few minutes after their arrival, the glow coming from an enclosed space separating the jakes hallway and one of the Inn’s several sitting rooms. Reportedly, the adventurers were no strangers to the Old Man, whose staff identified them as beneficiaries of Lord Irlingstar (himself a friend and patron of the Old Man in his younger days). Zzar was given to the Tankard Trolls to warm their bones whilst they were made to sit near the warm fires in an adjacent sitting room.

3 Uktar - The Rotting
Third day of the first tenday
1500 DR - Year of the Sea's Secrets Revealed

Featherlung fells five. Chessentan crop sails for Marsember. Summer warms the Drum and Mirror.

ELVERSULT - Rumors of plague spreading through the city have forced Elversult’s leaders to temporarily halt new arrivals and prevent folk from leaving. Members of the Maces, who serve as both watch and city guard, have massed on the outskirts of Elversult to maintain order and to ride in mounted patrols that circle the city, watching for folk trying to evade the quarantine. Within Elversult, the Jailgates infirmary holds five corpses suspected to suffer from Featherlung, which turns healthy lungs into rotting flesh and slowly asphyxiates its victims. In a rare show of cooperation, priests of Waukeen, Gond, and Aumanator have spread throughout Elversult to find the source of the plague and isolate it. With the majority of her forces encircling the city, Elversult’s ruling Lord has chosen to give the priesthoods the (temporary) power to put down mobs and rescue anyone the populace identifies as a plague spreader. Both priests and lay folk are on the lookout for persons with obvious tattoos (commoners assume such folk are priests of Talona, Lady of Poison), as well as anyone dressed in ragged robes or sporting garish scars or disfigurements (a holy custom among practicing Talonites is to allow disease or acid to do the work of disfiguring their bodies).

MARSEMBER - Ships laden with carrots, beets and potatoes have made port in Marsember. The root vegetables will be moved to Cormyrean markets as fast as caravan masters are willing to brave Cormyr’s trails before snow makes them impassable. Whereas prices would be driven down thanks to an excess of foodstuffs, merchants are betting Arabel will serve as a ready market thanks to the conflict to its north that has interrupted harvests and curtailed shipments from the Dalelands. All along Marember’s docks, ship’s captains are advising far-traders and merchants to expect another wave of food-laden boats from Chessenta, which experienced a banner harvest this year.

SELGAUNT - Hardjaws (barflies) from the Drum and Mirror tavern were treated to a surprise display from a Rod of Summer. The rod’s wielder, a robed man of unknown reputation who identified himself as Lingalade, conjured forth a man-high sphere of magic at the entrance to the Mirror, and invited a customer to step inside. While onlookers held their cloaks close to keep out the creeping Uktar cold, the customer felt only pleasant warmth in the sphere. One at a time folk stepped into and out of the sphere, which remained unaffected by their movements. After, Lingalade departed the Drum and Mirror, and was seen to walk the length of Galgogar’s Ride before disappearing inside a building one door down from the Fish Market.

4 Uktar - The Rotting
Fourth day of the first tenday
1500 DR - Year of the Sea's Secrets Revealed

Shrine shrouded in darkness.

ARCHENBRIDGE (ARCHENDALE) - For three days running, the Shrine of Swords has been cloaked in magical darkness. Due to the Shrine’s proximity to Swordpoint, that castle’s forecourt is shrouded in darkness as well. Sounds of battle, including shouts and battle cries, the clashing of blade against blade, the scream of armor rent asunder, and the death grunts of warriors receiving lethal wounds emanate from the darkness at random. Archenfolk are being kept away from the shrine, as broken weapons, crossbow bolts, and even spurts of blood and severed limbs have flown out of the darkness to land on the hard stone of the keep. Some Archenfolk think the Battle Chaplain and Swordmaster to the Shrine are the ones crying out, but no one can be sure. Thus far, none of the Shrine’s priests or lay servants have emerged from the darkness.

The Red Sword of Archendale has, as a precaution, commanded one Ride of mounted soldiers to leave Swordpoint and take temporary lodgings in Archenbridge proper. Several unhappy mansion-owning merchants on River Way–still the most exclusive part of Archenbridge–have reluctantly opened their doors to Swordpoint’s soldiers. None dare voice their discontent, however, as Archendale remains a place of military justice. The remainder have been stationed in Whiteturrets, a rentable manor house.

The Blue Sword of Archendale has issued a magical summons to Ride commanders stationed throughout the Dale to find priests of Tempus and return them to Archenbridge as soon as possible to study the phenomena. For the time being she has decreed the Shrine off limits to magical probing of any kind.

Archenfolk share rumors about the identity of the Swords with each other (such conversations always had in private, usually at night behind closed doors, and only between folk who utterly trust one another, thanks to laws prohibiting anyone from speaking a Sword’s name out loud), including one rumor that claimed the Black Sword is a follower of Tempus. This rumor has found new life after the Shrine of Swords was swallowed in darkness. The Black Sword of Archendale has not issued any public orders regarding the Shrine. She has, however, personally warned the Temple of Lathander’s Mornmaster and high priest, Aphandra Ithrymm, to keep well away from the Shrine. (The Mornmaster has known the identity of the Black Sword ever since her sister was elevated to the position a decade ago.)

5 Uktar - The Rotting
Fifth day of the first tenday
1500 DR - Year of the Sea's Secrets Revealed

Retired Dragon encounters tower of light.

HILLMARCH - Travelers walking the trail north from Masoner’s Bridge to Hillmarch have encountered a strange phenomena in the form of a column of flickering motes of light. The base of the column is about as wide as a barn and roughly circular in shape, and tapers upward to a point some 60 or more feet in the air. According to the retired Purple Dragon turned bodyguard Flastarl Harrowspike, a column of winking lights appeared all around his campsite “when I drew forth my service dagger(1) to conjure a light to see by.” Flastarl found the air within the column warmer than the Autumn air he’d been sleeping in, and heard the sound of faint voices “like as you can hear beyond a closed door” from somewhere above him, though he could see no one and not understand the words he heard. “My pack beasts didn’t mind the glimmers nor the warmth, and all the Watching Gods knew I was too terrified to move camp, so we stayed put.” The column was gone when Flastarl awoke the next morning.

Tavern talk in Hillmarch claims this phenomena has been seen before, but further east on the banks of the Immerflow where it bends east to break away from the edge of the Hullack Forest to follow the East Way. “The Elf Tower is what it’s called. Only a ring of foundation stones are left. No, I don’t know where the rest of it went. What adventurers do is they camp inside the ring and cast a spell that makes little candle flames float up out of the stones that form a shape like a tower. Then nothing can harm them while they sleep, see?”

This account, provided by the miner Ithgrim Torchstone, is based on adventurer lore and local legend regarding what folk believe are elf ruins that lay on both sides of the Immerflow, where ornately carved, albeit weathered, stone blocks and pieces of statue can still be found, the remnants becoming more numerous if one crosses the water and is willing to travel into the Hullack Forest. Local lore claims the broken remains of elf-built fortifications grown over with vines and half buried under fallen leaves and undergrowth can be found under the tree canopy. This lore also says forest-dwelling beasts and all manner of foul monsters lurk among the ruins, the creatures likely attracted by lingering magic or even spells laid down by the elves that once lived there.

In Hillmarch, guests of the Shovel of Sparkling Stones Inn can examine (but are firmly reminded not to touch) a display of life-sized ivory and marble statues, reputed to have been carved by elves, that flanks the entrance. The statues are humanoid shaped and appear to resemble slender, armored individuals, but the faces are worn from age. Down the years assorted “elf wares” have been collected and displayed in newly-constructed wings of what has become a sprawling structure, the later built by a succession of owners who shared an aptitude for gullibility and a desire to acquire valuable odds and ends, to live among them and display them, and to bask in the wonderment of others observing them.(2)

These wings incorporate “elf stones” in their walls collected by adventurers (and enterprising Hillmarchers with time on their hands and the ability to carve stone to resemble “what an elf would fancy”). The interiors are all flowing wood made to resemble the long branches of a tree whose “trunk” is the part of the inn the wings branch out from. The rooms are low-ceilinged, ornate but gaudy affairs, and not all of them have fireplaces, owing to one owner’s belief that elves abhor fire and so would never light so much as a campfire under the trees. The roof of one wing consists of tile inexpertly crafted to look like layered rows of leaves (the rooms below remain leaky and drafty). Another wing is built around an irregular line of felsul trees–one to a room–that have thrived in Hillmarch’s poor soil.

The cost to maintain the Stones has consistently outpaced the Inn’s ability to draw paying customers. It remains a quiet place of unoccupied rooms most of the year. Wintertime sees the inn turn into a rooming house for the handful of folk unfortunate enough to find themselves stuck in Hillmarch until after the year turns and the snow melts.


1. Upon retirement, Purple Dragons are given a service dagger enspelled to produce light ranging in intensity from a simple candle to an oil lantern upon silent command.

2. This is where the Hillmarch greeting “Who owns the Stones?” comes from. The traditional reply being “a fool from” followed by whichever city or land the current owner of the inn hails from.

And now for something completely different.

OK, this thread is about Cormyr. But you can't really do Cormyr without considering its chief rival and closest neighbor, Sembia.

Recently, Ed Greenwood released a Patreon post giving some details about modern-day Sembia that included a little information on 29 Sembian noble families. (squee!) I took one small entry and expanded it. I hope you find this information useful for your campaigns.

The House of Duthtan

Ed says:
Secretive and low-profile, an austere family of misers who make large and small loans to Sembians and ruthlessly collect on time and every copper owing; main residence Saerloon; patriarch Morvrel Duthtan.

The Duthtans of Sembia remain unconvinced of the demise of Thultanthar. While they know the city itself crashed to the ground, they do not believe its residents perished as a result. The family patriarch, Lord Morvrel Duthtan, has no desire to be strong-armed into aiding the schemes of a resurgent force of Shadovar, as so many other noble families of Sembia were after Thultanthar won control of Sembia.

Morvrel, his brothers and sisters, and one surviving cousin have made it their business to aid Sembia in rebuilding as swiftly as possible through careful moneylending. The family’s ferocious habit for collecting payments on loans made stems not from the urge to aid in even more rebuilding. Rather, it is due to Morvrel’s desire to gird his shared mansion home with layers of powerful magic—magic of the sort capable of obliterating any survivors of Thultanthar that dare attempt a takeover of his home or of greater Saerloon.

Morvrel is a short, sinewy man with a back bent from age. His beard and mustache are white and trimmed close, his thinning white hair grown long and pulled back into a ponytail. He prefers the garb of his trusties, and so wears a loose jerkin and breeches, a narrow sword on his hip, and leather boots that extend to just below his knees. His face is habitually expressionless, particularly when he accompanies the delivery of coins, trade bars or gemstones to borrowers. Morvrel is not the only greybeard among the Duthtan “trusties” (the Duthtan term for trustworthy, experienced hireswords). This allows him to blend in during deliveries. He saves his formal attire for those occasions when it becomes necessary to impress on a suddenly recalcitrant borrower the necessity of repaying their loan, on time and with interest, or else.

Morvrel is matched in expression and demeanor by his wife, Lady Andelzora “the Statue” Duthtan, née Beltarn. (She is more than his match with a blade, too.) Unsmiling, unsympathetic, and unforgiving of betrayals and foolish errors, the Lady Duthtan has been known to sit and stare for an hour (sometimes longer) at a failed servant or family member, her expression neutral, her eyes locked on the subject of her attention, before rendering her judgment. She keeps a blade at her side—the twin of her husband’s sword. Where Morvrel is methodical with his blade, using it to force his foe into a bad position before using his still-strong sword arm to break his foe’s defense and deliver a killing strike, Andelzora uses her speed and cunning to deliver viper-swift strikes to eyes, throat, heart, or arteries that no foe can hope to parry.

Sembians in need of coin swiftly learn who the Duthtans are. Those who don’t, don’t. The family maintains a low profile, relying on its trusties and other well-paid ears to bring it information about potential borrowers, the status of current borrowers (Are their projects coming along as intended? Are they burdened by unexpected calamity or hampered by unwelcome interference?), and the state of Sembia as a whole.

When a loan is authorized by Andelzora, the family coinkeeper (Morvrel’s cousin, Noronel Duthtan) releases the funds to one of Morvrel’s siblings. They in turn assemble an escort of trusties and accompany the funds to the borrower. One person—not always a Duthtan—is designated speaker ahead of time. (Every Duthtan and trusty are practiced in this task.) This person delivers final terms verbally and again in writing, then collects the borrower's signature before releasing the funds.

Such trips are not limited to the family’s home city of Saerloon. The Duthtans lend to borrowers throughout Sembia. It’s not uncommon for one or more of them to be on the road for weeks or months at a time, their travels taking them along the coast as far as Yhaunn, and inland to Saerb and Ordûlin rebuilt, before returning home with the latest news and profits collected. A ride of Duthtan-led trusties is reserved, stiff-backed and solemn. It’s much like a ride of mounted soldiers absent the banners, lances, and implied threat. However, every trusty is a veteran of combat and practiced in projecting a stony demeanor that communicates their total lack of fear, should the need arise.

In addition to their swords and boot daggers, trusties hang saddle crossbows within easy reach. They are practiced at removing a booted foot from their saddle stirrup, hooking it into their crossbow’s stirrup, cocking the weapon by standing in the saddle, then lifting the weapon with their leg as they sit, taking hold and taking aim at a target.

To avoid becoming a target of government officials, the Duthtans are scrupulous about following Sembian law. They pay their taxes, do not attempt to dodge fees or swindle borrowers, and collect payments on dates previously agreed upon. The destruction of Ordûlin took with it at least one copy of every contract made between lenders and borrowers; all the more reason, to the Duthtan’s way of thinking, to deal honestly with scruutars (tax collectors), file copies of contracts in a timely manner, and avoid partnerships with coinrings (investors that lend money as a group, from which so many swindles and double crosses have been born), thereby renewing the old system.