It’s Midgard Monday! Each week, we visit a corner of the wide world of Midgard. Look for standalone content you can drop into your campaign—whether it’s in Midgard or your own homebrew. Find new inspiration each Midgard Monday!
Midgard is vast and filled with different peoples. Wildly different cultures can exist just a few miles apart, each one a potential heritage for your character. Consider this your invitation to gaze to the southern horizon, keep your bow at the ready, and embrace the stalwart resilience of the Magdar people!
While they lack the democratic pluck and the gearforged inventiveness of their cousins in Zobeck, this region offers many proud and valiant heritages. With that in mind, see what this region has to offer a character from the urban centers of this Crossroads nation.
To learn more about the proper nouns and places mentioned in this article, check out the Midgard Worldbook. This acclaimed campaign setting is rich and deep, with over a decade of support from Kobold Press. It provides larger context for everything you see here!
Sveretska
Svertetska’s population is deceptively large for the Crossroads. With four times the population of Zobeck, Sveretska hosts nearly as many dwarves as some lesser Ironcrag cantons, a third as many kobolds as the Clockwork City, and a sizable contingent of centaurs. Its roads are broad and paved in a pale granite, often wide enough along major thoroughfares for three wagons. (Though this is more for the centaurs than commercial traffic.)
The City Proper
Humble and low key, the largest city of Magdar remains focused on its industries. Sveretska is more concerned with its work, with its contribution to the kingdom’s security and its prosperity than political intrigue or posturing. Sveretskis are considered to be as steady and as constant as the flow of the Argent, their work, their actions speak for themselves.
The drydocks of Sveretska builds battle barges and trade barges, as well as Magdar’s famed war wagons, and stout merchant wagons. They use lumber brought downstream from both Senyerstad and Revskaya (most master shipwrights prefer Margreve timber to White Forest).
However, the bulk of the wood is harvested from the six managed forests surrounding Sveretska and the dedicated copses maintained at the mines found west, across the broad, languid rivers. This local oak is favored by axelwrights and coopers, as it sounds less time in the water.
The mines pull iron, copper, and silver from the earth, feeding the local smithies with a stream of ore for the regionally renowned wheels, wagon cladding, and axels. Strangely, weapons are less commonly forged here.
All of these guilds; the shipwrights, wagon weights, woodcutters, coopers, miners, stonemasons, smiths, wheelswrights, are tightly coupled to the noble Sveretska family. Four of the Baroness’s five sons, her nieces and nephews, two brothers, and three aunts all belong to guilds in some way, making negotiations less pointed, but often still intense for family reasons.
Life Under Baroness Margit
The widow Baroness Margit rules from the city citadel, and her five sons actively participate in the operations of the realm’s business. She eschews ceremony and keeps an active schedule, staying visible on her administrative tasks throughout the city.
The double-walled citadel where she holds court dominates Sveretska Proper. A long, winding causeway wraps about the inner wall, preventing attackers from directly entering without braving a long, deadly ramp. Its towers overlook the drydocks, wharfs, and piers studding the confluence of the Argent and Cirkno rivers to the northwest and monitoring the three streets of smithies to the east.
The city’s lack of connection to any major shadow road creates an arcane isolation that the Baroness believes aids security. On the whole, she tends to shun magical routes in favor of mundane travel.
The Church’s Role
All of these artisans contribute to a large, popular priesthood of Volund. This is most evident in the wondrous Bright Temple of the Smith. Its copper roof, its pillars clad with gold, and bells that chime every dawn, noon, and dusk are a landmark for citizens. It stands as a lesser pilgrimage site for Volund worshippers, as devotees come to hear and see the bells be blessed daily in a reverent, but generally entertaining ceremony. Their hooks, clappers and tuning were all crafted with Volund’s Hammer in the Templeforge Canton of the Ironcrags. The liturgies (held on launch days for new barges and centaur holy days) are nearly festivals.
Sveretska Heritage
You were raised in Sveretska or the surrounding townships, and you are familiar with hard work and large projects requiring broad collaboration. You probably spent time on a barge, in an artisan’s shop, or helping drive one of the many wagons which crowd the streets. You take pride in work done well, and in participating in the delicate dance of well-coordinated teamwork.
Natural Drive. Gain proficiency in the Nature skill and either vehicles (land) or vehicles (water). Double your PB when attempting a careful navigation maneuver with your proficient vehicle, such as running rapids, careful docking, weaving through narrow traffic, or avoiding obstacles.
Built Different. Gain proficiency in the Athletics skill. You have advantage on checks to resist exhaustion when it results from extended overland travel.
Languages. You know the Common language and one additional language of your choice. Typical Sveretskis choose Draconic, Dwarvish, or Kariv.
Story Seed: Over a Barrel
A Sveretska heritage PC returns home and receives a warm reception from the whole extended family—except for an uncle involved in the river trade and barges operating on the Argent. It seems as if this relative has become indebted to a Mharoti agent, who wishes to leverage the uncle into acting as a covert asset for ferrying information, goods, and messengers for the empire. The uncle doesn’t know what to do, as exposing the agent will reveal his gambling debts and worse, cost the family contracts. But if he agrees, he might contribute to the demise of the kingdom. The Mharoti agent doesn’t yet know about the PCs . . . a solution to this scaly problem might have come home for a visit.
The trees are always watching in The Old Margreve! This detailed sourcebook
tells of the dangers and adventure awaiting in the ancient magical forest.
It includes a complete adventure story path from levels 1–10!
Thank you! Love the Magdar Kingdom! Please do more! Maybe something new on the White Forest!