Rumors from Yrem

1. Xagnus the Animated still roams Yrem as a ghost. He seeks his lost bride.
2. Frog people to the south know a secret way into the city crypts.
3. The Statue at the City centre holds a magic sword.
4. Gebelt the Merchant Price will pay handsomely for certain styles of art.
5. The Temple of Utan is unapproachable by Demons and still has most of its loot.
6. At midsun, captured slaves from the surrounding villages are sacrificed in Executioner's Square.
7. Avoid the pit.  I don't know why, but everyone says so.
8. A dragon sleeps trapped beneath the library, having forgotten how to change to human form.
9. Many have entered the dungeons beneath the Count's Palace.  No-one ever comes back.
10. A Sphere of Eyes has blasted a cave beneath the Gardens.  He will trade secrets for good books.
11. The Eastern Warlords are hiring.
12. The drunken priest of Lob over at the cutthroat camp will cast blessings if you pay his tab.
13. The Countess' troops hold the river gate. They shoot questionable folk on sight.
14. The Black Pit isn't pleasant or cheap, but you can sleep safely there.  That cutthroat camp on the other hand...
15. A refugee family wanders the rich quarter.  They were born before the demons came.
16. "I saw a smithy with fine swords and axes north of the market square.  Flying things came before I could pick the lock."
17. The wizard in camp has been in the clock tower.  He says there are riches, but refuses to go back.
18. "I saw white skinned folk beneath the cemetary.  I mean *white*. They asked about shiny glowing rocks.  They seemed nice."
19. One of the Eastern Warlords has brought in a renowned sage from his homeland.  On the sage's a direction, the warlord's forces are making a push to reach and stabilize the area around the Great Library.
20. A wizard in the Black Pit encampment sells Potions of Healing.  They taste like cow's milk.
21. Watch out for the area around the Clock Tower.  A group of explorers were found there, turned to stone, one of them clutching a crown in his hand.
22. The Mind Lords manipulate the leaders of the New Expeditionary Guild.  Do not trust them. Don't know about the Mind Lords?  You don't want to.
23. A master of the undead lives near the middle bridge.  At midnight, will trade in peace with others upon the bridge.  Do not approach him at other times.
24. The Countess is curious about Chlendi spirits and will pay good money for any knowledge of their summoning.
25. A Mindat scholar camps alone north of the city.  He can remove curses and hexes, but his fee is steep.
26. The Eastern Warlords have marked cleared buildings with a red "X".  No treasure will be found within, but they are usually safe places to hid.
27. Fresh "workers" are coming to the brothel tents next moon.
28. A pack of Hill People have taken over the Market Square, but have a truce with priests of Utan.
29. City Hall has yet to be looted and many wealthy took refuge there in their last days.
30. When the full moon rises over Yrem banishings and protective magics will always fail you.

The Start of a new Sandbox: The City of Yrem

I'm starting a new sandbox game, using a draft form of the Tactical Situation Rules. The setting I'm making up as we go along. Rather than a megadungeon, the tent-pole is a ruined city, cribbed from many sources:

The city of Yrem sits on the border of the Great Northern Empire's Stillmarsh province, upon a rocky ridge amongst the swampy forest that dominates the region. Generic fantasy history, blah blah blah.

Long a favorite of scholars for it's isolation and quiet, it gradually grew as a hub for experimentation and research by the Imperial Guild of Magicians. Unbeknownst to most of the guild, a faction under the control of Xagnus the Animated had begun capturing demons in ritual vaults beneath the city. During a heated argument with his assistant Ambrosia, one of the demons was freed, who in turned freed the rest. Chaos and slaughter ensued.

As his final act at the cost of his life, Xagnus funneled his power and soul into a magical stasis field containing the demons and city within.

Last winter - 500 years after it's creation - the stasis field fell. With the spring thaw, imps and winged beasts harassed nearby villages and towns. Factions from across the provinces (and beyond) began exploration of the city's edge.