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the Land 19Approaching Duerok 19Vartemund, the Great Cavern 21

Wetstone 21

Foundinghome 22

Warefoe 23

inhabitants 24Clans of Duerok 24Those on the Fringe 24

Clan Fralief 24

Clan Kudeah 24

Those Who Remain 25Clan Bregen 25

Clan Duerok 25

Clan Kurahd 26

Clan Midhel 27

Clan Miglud 28

Clan Rundfirg 28

Clan Seddrik 29

Clan Sifurd 30

Clan Yerben 30

trading inforMation 31Doing Business in Duerok 31

threats to traveLers 32Before Duerok 32

The Gauntlets 32

Dangers of Duerok 33Rubble 33

Dwarven Law 33

Outside Duerok 33

HigHwater (tHe endless Plains) 34the Land 35Chemak 35Rebirth 36

Eseldera 37Glatek 37Stilt City 38

inhabitants 38Haven 38Endless Traders 39Gur 40Hypsies 41Orc Hordes 41Stavians 41Thurd 42Wisps 42

trading inforMation 43threats to traveLers 44Rumors 45

duerok (tHe Flatlands) 46the Land 47Lokag’s Throne 47Nedderpik’s Roam 48Thuron-Dom 49Lok-stead 50Goria Reign 50

inhabitants 52Bandits of Slaughter Hollow 52Elves of Greenhope 53Ironcliff Clan 54Mech Rats of Rust Hill 54Nomad Clans of Thuron-Dom 55Worm Farmers of Vermil 56

trading inforMation 56Stonewood 57Gerpal Berries 57Wormburn 57

ContentsintroduCtion 4

arie (tHe Mysterious underdeeP) 5the Land 5The Foaming Maze 5The Coral Jungle 6The Arie Docks 6

The Gearwrights Guild Dock 7

Untep’s Master’s Dock 7

The Kingdom of Constructs 7

The Cult of Selentia 8

The High Slathem 8

inhabitants 9The Golden Door: The Master Repository 9The Massive Door: The Kingdom of Constructs 11The Opal Door: The Temple of Selentia 12The Furnace Door: The Stygian Depths 13The Barred Door: The City of Sla’Mare 14

trading inforMation 15The Gearwrights Guild 15The Kingdom of Constructs 15Untep’s Master 16The Cult of Selentia 16The High Slathem 16

threats to traveLers 17The Steam Room 17

CaMMerCe (tHe City oF duerok) 18

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threats to traveLers 58Bandits 58The Cult of Moonclaw 58Worms 59

Flero (tHe rougHlands) 60the Land 60inhabitants 61The Nightmare Woman 61Giants of Fire and Storm 62

trading inforMation 63threats to traveLers 63

From the Journal of Ascot Meirge 64

Jealo (tHe Perilous Four stePs) 70the Land 70The First Step 70The Second Step 71The Third Step 71Sirrea and the Fourth Step 72

inhabitants 72The Tortogs 72Human Tribes 73The Lunar Dragons 74Druids of the Stone Grove 74The Slathem 75Noteworthy Individuals 76

Master Botho (Clr 9) 76

Red Chedwick (Rog 7) 76

Apprentice Robbet (Rog 3/Clr 1) 76

Embryll Earthwarden (Drd 12) 76

Shaelis (Sor 14) 77

Druun (Sor 10/Ftr 4) 77

Orfael Jonnes (Ftr 4) 77

trading inforMation 77Dream Tea 77Tortog Shells 77Stone Leaves 78Waterglass Objects 78Seafood 79Slathem Ropes 79Waterproof Paper 79

threats to traveLers 79Human and Tortog Raiders 79Floods 79Lunar Creatures 80Squoli 80

lowwater (tHe wet desert) 82the Land 83Salt City 83The Endless River and the Wet Desert 84

the inhabitants 84Guzzan mos Maqfed Tolk 84Zuleps 85

Zulep Society 86

The Patrons 87

trading inforMation 87threats to traveLers 88Life in the Wet Desert 88The Pretominin Heads 91The Buried Fortress 91

aPPendix one: legal inForMation 94

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Ah, I see you turn away. Please, a moment. Tysre apologizes for any hard feelings. Sometimes an old woman speaks without thought, for all she hears is the whisper of that black chariot which will carry her to… well, wherever we go when our hearts tire of beating. So. You would know the mysteries of Highpoint? It may be that I can help.

I have here a book. Rare, yes, perhaps the only one of its kind. For some time now, Tysre has listened to the tales of her fellow endless traders. This book is our tale, after a fashion. Not some dry atlas, not a work of

introduCtionSo, young friend, you fancy yourself a traveler. You say that

you have seen Edge, the greatest of cities? You have visited the four mighty mechdoms that stalk the land of Highpoint like a child’s wind-up toy? All this you may have seen, yes, but you are now speaking with Tysre. For years and years, and years beyond that, I have crossed the length of Highpoint, both over its moon-scarred surface and through the wild lands below. Tysre is an endless trader, you see, and my life’s work is to travel. Do not speak to me of the places everyone knows.

ridiculous fiction — this book tells of the year’s seven months, and of our journeys along the Endless River. We see many things then. We meet all of Highpoint’s people, trading to each what they need and desire. Some years ago, I began collecting the sto-ries we tell. All in our own voices is this book written; none other is like it.

But I am not long for the world. When I am gone, perhaps none of my kin will care to read these tales of the seven months. Even worse, perhaps they will fear that Tysre has revealed their secrets, and this

book will be thrown into the fire. A nasty thought. It would be better if my almanac were in the hands of one who would use it. Someone who wishes to know the story of the renegade necromancer of the Wet Desert; someone who might someday visit the Stone Grove and its mad druids; some-one who has not yet seen the mighty city of Duerok nor met its many clans; someone who would learn who leads the orcs of the Endless Plains; someone who may under-stand the strange meetings that my kinsman Ascot Meirge had with Gearwrights and constructors.

You are such a person, child. Your tongue says “maybe” but your eyes sparkle as they say “yes.” Tysre knows that look. You wish to learn the secrets of my people, and see what we have seen. Very well. What you desire shall be yours. All that remains is to agree on a price….

The almanac of the endless traders is a guidebook to the yet-unexplored parts of High-point. Each chapter covers a different month of the Highpoint calendar — Arie, Cammerce, Highwater, Duerok, Flero, Jealo, and Lowwa-ter — and focuses on what the endless traders encounter during that time, from the perspective of a different trader or clan. The chapters cover four main topics: The Land, Inhabitants, Trad-ing Information, and Threats to Travelers.

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arieI don’t mean to butt in, but that Phantasmal Sea Star

Brandy you ordered is fake. Somebody just threw a faerie fire enchantment on a jug of plainsmen’s whiskey. You’ve probably had too much ale to notice the difference.

me out and now we have neither brandy nor status.

Oh, will you now? Well, I suppose I can’t slight a fellow for trying to pick up business I’ve lost. I’m sure your experience in… what have you been doing, worm farming? Horse stall mucking? I’m sure your wealth of experiences will assist you in your quest to establish your Phantasmal Sea Star Brandy monopoly. I’ll tell you what. If you buy the next round, I’ll tell you how to get there and what happened. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes.

tHe land

the foaMing Maze

The first step is to ride the current of the Endless River directly into the cliff

wall beneath Salt City. A series of open-ings are scattered across the cliff face, and if you know which way to go, you can ride the current.

The caves wind their way down like a braid woven by a blind, shivering milk-maid. The current speeds up just as the light fades away. A wrong turn means get-ting sucked into the river or smashing your boat on the rocks. The turns and branches come fast — no time to think, stop, or turn back.

We call this place the Foaming Maze

How do I know? I was the only distribu-tor of Phantasmal Sea Star Brandy. And now, due to some treachery, my supplier is no longer doing business with me. So there is no more Phantasmal Sea Star Brandy in this part of the world.

I’m Spariln, with the Mabb Makut tribe of endless traders. I was their leader once. Our specialty is appraisal and authenti-cation. A lot of folks pay us to verify that whatever they bought is real. We also deal in things that might be forgeries or fakes — like that brandy. But my tribesman sold

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because the rapids, and whatever filth has poured down from Salt City, cover the water with a layer of froth. It’s not pleas-ant, but it gets us to the underdeep. We spend four hours with rushing water before the river flattens out to a more respectable pace of descent. Then we find ourselves in a cavern that’s flooded with seawater half the year.

the CoraL JungLe

Once you get through the maze, you’ll find yourself in a warm, humid cav-

ern that’s much larger than it looks. On either side of the river are strange, fork-ing shapes that look like purple stone. What you’ll be looking at is a living thing — dormant coral. During the time when this area is flooded, they awake to eat, breed, and do all the things that corals do. But during the dry months, they sleep. The structures they build fill the chamber with stiff branching limbs and ridges that fill the cavern from top to bottom on both sides. Some of these corals reach thirty feet high.

A lot of what lives down there is what you’re used to finding on the seashore: pale crawfish, crabs, mussels, and even some bats that have learned to scavenge sea life like shorebirds. Other things are more strange, however — worms and jel-lies prey on the smaller animals. An abo-leth was once seen in the river, and squids the size of dogs seem to talk to one another through flashes of light along their bodies. Of course, I shouldn’t forget the phantas-mal sea stars — pudgy little stars the size of your fist that glow with a ghostly light. Deeper in the Coral Jungle, you’ll find newts the size of pigs, giant beetles, and the more usual kinds of bats and other underground inhabitants.

The only full-time humanoid residents are the Low Slathem. An odd name, you might think, but this is the name the High Slathem use to differentiate their civilized city from the humble coral cottages of the refugees outside their door. Normally you

might not expect anything of worth from a group of wretched fishmen making a life in the jungle beneath the world, but they are the producers of Phantasmal Sea Star Bran-dy. They’ve learned how to take the guts of the glowing stars and mix them with some fungus and water to slowly ferment until it develops a unique flavor and mellow glow.

These folks either left Salt City or are descended from those who left. I can’t say I blame them — that place is depressing and completely without interest to anyone who has a smidge of ambition. So, hear-ing rumors of the High Slathem city below them, they have navigated the Foaming Maze to the Coral Jungle. It’s not an easy trip, even if they can breath underwater. Most arrive with broken limbs and bruised egos.

It’s then they discover the real blow to their worldview — the High Slathem want nothing to do with their surface cousins. They see them as uncultured, unskilled, and unworthy of the wealth the High Slath-em have created for themselves. The Low Slathem are then left outside the gate, try-ing to find a way to survive.

They do have a knack for it. Many become druids or rangers. They hunt for food, and they’ve found ways to build homes by encouraging the coral to grow in certain patterns. It took generations, but now they have a small village shaped from coral. They harvest fish and brew an exotic brandy that earns a good price. If you ask me, they’re much better off than those fools in Salt City.

They’re led by a ranger named Polsi. They try to give the impression of civili-zation, probably to show that the High Slathem are wrong about them. The Low Slathem would still like to get in the city — for all their work, they’re still vulner-able to attack out there in the jungle. They don’t even have a place on the Arie Docks, the permanent trading post downriver, so they wade out to trade with us when we come by.

That was how this problem started. Polsi came out with his crew to trade, and my tribesman Rory was complaining about

how long they were taking to load their product into our rafts. Polsi got mad.

“Well, if we had warehouses and docks like the High Slathem, this would go more quickly.”

This wasn’t the first time he had asked for this. But this time we had just offended them, and the Sea Star Brandy had opened many doors for me. So I said, “You’re abso-lutely right.”

“Of course I am,” said Polsi, suspicious-ly. “But when have you cared?”

“I’m always looking out for your inter-ests,” I said earnestly. “I have always thought that putting you near those snooty aristocrats would be uncomfortable for you. But I just realized that there’s an emp-ty spot in the shallows downriver of the High…er, City Slathem. We’ll put you next to the Gearwrights. It will be perfect.”

Polsi had stopped blinking so much and looked at me with curiosity. “All right, then,” he said. “I’ll be at the Arie Docks in three days to begin planning the dock and the warehouse.”

“Perfect,” I said. “We should be loading up to head out around then. I’ll look for-ward to the groundbreaking ceremony.”

Rory grimaced at me after they splashed back into the jungle. “The High Slathem are not going to like this.”

“It will be fine,” I said. “I’m putting them across the river from Untep. The High Slathem have no reason to go there.”

the arie doCks

The docks Polsi referred to are a collec-tion of stone structures about the size

of a small town. It’s only populated during Arie when the endless traders are passing through. It consists of storage buildings and dockyards surrounded by a wall, with a variety of hospitality establishments scattered throughout. The docks were on both sides of the river, and some industri-ous goblins operated a few ferries to get people across.

However, few actually do cross, because the Arie Docks are segregated by race.

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