Brynmoor

article

Brynmoor

Brynmoor is a power level 1 to 2 region in Ashenfall, ruled over by General Velgar, a green dragon. It is the first area in the game that players interact with. Brynmoor is located south of Ghornfell.

History

Main article:

Brynmoor served as a sanctuary for the first settlers when they were brought to the continent by the god of balance, Guthix. The first settlers he brought with him were his followers, who were mostly human. This region had housed the Runecrafting Guild, the Adventurer's Guild, the village of Bramblemead, and the Keep of Blue Flames. It originally had iron deposits, but these were completely depleted due to the high demand for iron.

Guthixian settlement and the Schism

Guthix and his followers founded Bramblemead in the First Age. As the continent's anima worked on the settlers, some became Amalgamated, and the village began killing them, justifying it by denying that the afflicted were still human. The killing of the first of them, Mia Larsdottir, went unpunished, and vigilante mobs made the Amalgamated a routine target thereafter. The town blacksmith Glass Knife murdered more than a dozen of them with the agreement of many villagers, and her marriage to one of the village elders reduced her sentence to community service, setting a precedent for how crimes against the Amalgamated were treated.

The Wild Knights responded by entering the village after dark to rescue the persecuted. During these rescues they summoned crow, raven, and magpie spirits to distract the villagers, and their presence near the village became known as "dark tidings". Guthix left the continent in response to the killings, taking with him those followers untouched by the prejudice and charging the Wild Knights to protect the settlers and the wilderness from one another. Their captain took in the children the killings had orphaned.

The prejudice outlasted his departure. Amalgamated who joined the town guard continued to face it there, with villagers turning away rather than report crimes to them, and few remained in the service for long.

Saradominist rule

During the Third Age, while the God Wars consumed the wider world, Saradominist settlers reached the continent and established a camp on the clifftop above the valley. As the camp merged with the village below, the villagers, who considered themselves abandoned by their own god, proved receptive to its missionaries, and Bramblemead adopted Saradominist worship. The two faiths initially held equal standing on the village council, marked by copper pins for the druids and tin pins for the priests. Counsel was given by the Bronze Advisors who were meant to speak for order and balance in equal measure, but the Saradominist faction held the greater influence, and council policy increasingly favoured it until the Guthixian faith dwindled and the church stood alone.

Loyalty to the priesthood subsequently determined rank in the region, with noble titles going to the families that served the church most faithfully and the most obedient among them raised highest. The priests placed one family of minor officials in charge of the region, raising them to become the Dukes of Brynmoor. These same families supplied the church with its fighting order, the Paladins, drawn from the second, third, and fourth children of the nobility. The Paladins imposed the priesthood's discipline on Bramblemead and rebuilt it to the church's specifications. North-west of the village the Runecrafting Guild pursued the secrets of the runes Guthix had discovered on the continent, and to the east an Adventurer's Guild gathered champions to hunt the deadliest creatures of Ashenfall. On priestly advice, the region's ruler completed the shift by expelling the remaining Guthixian followers.

The Zamorakian cult known as the Children of Shadows originated in the region under this regime and drew in three apprentices from the Runecrafting Guild who had been passed over for promotion. The cult also placed an agent in the Duke's court as a household servant, tasked with engineering the establishment's downfall from within. In pursuit of power the three apprentices entered ancient dragonkin vaults, where they recovered a fragmentary forbidden text and followed its instructions. The text transformed them into creatures that drained the lives of those they encountered on returning to the village. The assembled Wild Knights were able to kill them only once sunlight rendered the creatures vulnerable.

The fall of Bramblemead

Blacksmiths travelling with the Saradominist priests brought iron-working to Ashenfall, and the tools and weapons it produced allowed villagers to enter the surrounding woods with far less risk. Bramblemead grew dependent on the metal and exhausted the region's deposits, disregarding the Wild Knights' objections to the rate of extraction. The resulting scarcity caused infighting and minor civil skirmishes, and White Knights from the Keep of Blue Flames were brought in to restore order. The exhausted deposits drove militias to prospect in Ghornfell, ending several years of peace during which villagers had sold hunting trinkets to the garou at well above their value. The garou regarded the incursions as a breach of their treaties, and grievances accumulated on both sides. The Dukes sought to expand their rule into Ghornfell and looked to the priests for a solution to what they called the region's garou problem. The Wild Knight Kessel killed a young garou prince during a skirmish with garou hunters, after which the Human-Garou War began. Brynmoor's blacksmiths armed the war effort with iron swords, consuming what supplies the village had left.

After the war ended, assassins calling themselves the Glass Knives, in reference to the earlier murderer, killed a number of Wild Knights. Corruption pervaded the village's final years, with nobles taking disproportionate shares of the region's wealth and the priesthood permitting this in exchange for payment. In response, a highwaywoman known as the Nightingale robbed caravans and tax collectors bound for the castle and distributed the proceeds among the villagers, who protected her identity. The nobility, wanting her erased from public memory rather than merely captured, hired the assassin Moragrin to track her down and kill her. Growing unrest forced many of the Amalgamated to leave for Fellhollow, where they encountered less hostility.

The region fell at the close of the age to the Dragon Rebellion, in which General Velgar served the Dragon Queen, Kuldra. He orchestrated the destruction of the Keep of Blue Flames, Bramblemead Village, and the Saradominist presence on Ashenfall. His forces killed villagers, priests, and soldiers indiscriminately, wiping out the region's human population.

Geography

Brynmoor is comprised of three subregions: Temple Woods, Bramblemead Valley, and the Whispering Swamp.

Temple Woods

The Temple Woods is located on the cliffs overlooking the rest of Brynmoor, dominated by the Temple of Saradomin. The temple itself remains preserved due to a faint aura of priestly magic that repels the more monstrous creatures of the wilds. It serves as a sanctuary in the region. To the north-west of the temple stands an old, haunted windmill.

Bramblemead Valley

Bramblemead Valley was once the heart of human activity in the region. It contains the ruins of Bramblemead. Several key structures still stand, including the Keep of Blue Flames. The valley was also home to a great Runecrafting Guild, and an Adventurer's Guild, located to the east.

Whispering Swamp

The Whispering Swamp forms the northern border of Brynmoor and separates it from Ghornfell. The swamp is littered with the sunken remnants of the Human-Garou War, which neither side could fight effectively in the muddy water. The swamp is rich with resources for crafting, including rare herbs and ore deposits found within its caves. The area is patrolled by goblins and watched closely by the garou from the north. An ancient horror roams the swamp at night.

NPCs

Nodes

Trees

Plants

Fish

Other

Swamp tar

Aggressive

Non-Aggressive

Quests

Residents

These characters are described as having lived in the region and are in-text characters that appear only in journals.

Trivia

During the First Age, time in the valley was measured in units called krill hours, defined as the interval taken by the dominant krill shoal to travel from one end of Bramblemead Valley, around Temple Woods, and back to the other end.
All record of an incident known as the Day of Purple Feathers was expunged from the Runecrafting Guild archives, after which imitating a chicken was enough to alarm wizards and knights alike.
Domestic cats became a rare sight in Bramblemead as crossbow production grew, owing to a local superstition that it was unlucky to keep a cat and a crossbow under the same roof.
An embroiderer named Suizzy produced a tapestry in the region's early years depicting a dragon emerging from the underworld with a withering curse, predating both the Withering and Imaru's return.

References

↑ Journal entry of Bramblemead Valley, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "It was founded in the first age by the god Guthix and his followers, and converted to the worship of Saradomin sometime in the third age."
↑ Journal entry of Ancient Journal Page, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "So many dead, far too many, and we justified it because we told ourselves that they were no longer human. They were Amalgamated. They were impure, imperfect -- wrong."
↑ Journal entry of Bronze Dagger, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Her killer was never brought to justice, though there were rumours about who they were."
↑ Journal entry of Ring of Recoil, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "This ring was first created by one of the Amalgamated, worn as both deterrence and for some small satisfaction when they were targeted by vigilante mobs."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Shield, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "She was, after all, protecting humanity. Purging impurity. Ridding them all of the Amalgamated stain on their bloodlines. In her mind she was doing the whole village a service. A worrying number of villagers agreed with her."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Shield, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Wife of an elder, blacksmith of the town, proof that when an Amalgamated was a victim, justice had its limits."
↑ Journal entry of Hard Leather Body, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "During the schism and the inner conflicts between ‘pure’ humans and the Amalgamated, Wild Knights would sneak into the village and rescue persecuted Amalgamated under the dead of night."
↑ Journal entry of Hard Leather Chaps, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "They called animal spirits, notably crows, ravens and magpies, which would caw angrily at anyone nearby. This would earn the term “dark tidings”, referring to whenever the Wild Knights were seen near town – in reference to the magpie spirits they would summon."
↑ Journal entry of Ancient Journal Page, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "He left. Took some of the faithful with him, those who had not fallen to our cruel prejudices. In his last moments, he tasked the Wild Knights to uphold their oaths, protecting both us from the wild and the wild from us, and then he left."
↑ Journal entry of Ancient Journal Page, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The captain of the Knights took some of the abandoned children under her wing."
↑ Journal entry of Reinforced Legs, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "When an Amalgamated rose through the ranks of the guard, a tricky feat given the prejudice against them, it did not instil the populace with a sense of comfort. The villagers saw the marks of the elemental corruption on the guards and would turn and walk the other way. They would refuse to report a crime if they saw leaves instead of hair."
↑ Journal entry of Temple Woods, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "In the Third Age, when the rest of the world was at war, followers of Saradomin arrived on the continent and created a small settlement at the peak of the cliff."
↑ Journal entry of Dust-covered Diary, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "They seem eager, abandoned as they are by their pagan patron, but they're still mired in their old ways, and it'll take time to drag them out."
↑ Journal entry of Bronze Helmet, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "For a while, in the third age, druids wore pins of copper, and the Saradominist priests wore tin pins. They would then stand together, side by side, in village council meetings, a promise that neither one stood stronger than the other."
↑ Journal entry of Bronze Platebody, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The bronze advisors, as they were known, would offer advice from both a Saraodminist and a Guthixian viewpoint—order and balance side by side. Such was the intention, but the scales were already tipped. Policies began to slip more and more in favour of the Saradominist approach until the Guthixian faith slowly dwindled as the Saradominist view took centre stage."
↑ Journal entry of Paladin's Platebody, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "a title given to those families that were most loyal to the priesthood, and the most obedient were raised the highest"
↑ Journal entry of Duke's Diary, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The priests are so wise. I mean they must be to put my family in charge of this place. We were once simple officials, but now look at us, the Dukes of Brynmoor."
↑ Journal entry of Paladin's Platebody, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The knights of Saradomin had many names over the years. White Knights. Temple Knights. In Ashenfall they were called Paladins. Brave, and faithful, members of noble families that took up the sword."
↑ Journal entry of Paladin Platelegs, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Paladins were a righteous force, noble and true to the priest’s teachings. They brought order from chaos, and discipline to sloth. Remaking Bramblemead according to the church’s designs."
↑ Journal entry of Bramblemead Valley, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "To the northwest stands a symbol of mankind’s thirst for knowledge, a great guild dedicated to uncovering the secrets of the runes that had been first discovered on Ashenfall by Guthix himself."
↑ Journal entry of Bramblemead Valley, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "A guild was created, to the east of Brynmoor, where heroes and champions would gather together to seek out the deadliest monsters and slay them where they stood."
↑ Journal entry of Duke's Diary, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "I was wavering over how to handle the old Guthixian followers, you know, those weird people in the leaf covered rags, and the priests gave me the most helpful advice. Just send them away."
↑ Journal entry of Dark Mage Robes, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The cult fed on distrust, paranoia and greed, some very human traits. Among this number were three apprentices of the wizard’s guild, who were frustrated that they were not given the promotions they felt they deserved."
↑ Journal entry of Servant's Secret Diary, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Priests, nobles, and gurning knights, none of them know that I am a Child of Darkness, a servant of shadows within the Duke’s court."
↑ Journal entry of Dark Mage Robes, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Here, they discovered the remnants of a forbidden text, a relic of immense power. Driven by their arrogance, they chose to follow its instructions, unaware of the horrors they were about to unleash."
↑ Journal entry of Dark Mage Robe Legs, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Those who found themselves in their path had their lives ripped out of them until nought but an empty husk remained."
↑ Journal entry of Dark Mage Robe Legs, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "It took all the visiting Wild Knights to take them down. Arrow after arrow, spell after spell, the task seemed almost insurmountable until the light of the sun made the creatures vulnerable."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Helmet, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "During the third age, the blacksmiths who travelled with the Saradominist priests brought the technique of iron to the people of Ashenfall. Previously relying on leather, bone and more easily extracted metals, the introduction of iron brought great change to the village's way of life."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Helmet, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "They crafted more robust tools, mightier weapons and armour that practically erased the natural fear of heading into the woods."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Platebody, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The desire for iron was so strong in the village of Bramblemead that they exhausted all the iron deposits in Brynmoor. The Wild Knights cautioned them to look for more sustainable methods. Still, the villagers had become too accustomed to the luxury of iron."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Logging Axe, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The population craved the metal so desperately that they mined the region almost dry. This let to infighting, small civil skirmishes and the white knights of the Blue Flame Keep, needed to be brought in to keep the peace."
↑ Journal entry of Ring of Pursuit, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The garou were particularly fond of these rings, and during the few years of peace between the humans of Bramblemead and the garou of Ghornfell, villagers could barter these trinkets for far more than they were worth to other villagers."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Platebody, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Their noise and bluster drew the ire of roving Garou, who saw the invasion of their forests as a violation of their treaties."
↑ Journal entry of Duke's Diary, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "They’re coming over to talk with me later, something to do with our little Garou problem. I’m sure they will have most delightful solution to the situation. I would very much like to expand our little kingdom into Ghornfel."
↑ Journal entry of Bronze Greatsword, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The battle was long, hard, and brutal, and both sides faced great casualties. But it was when she sliced her blade across the young garou prince that war was inevitable."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Sword, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The blacksmiths of Brynmoor churned out countless legions of iron swords, eradicating the village's iron supplies."
↑ Journal entry of Studded Leather Chaps, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The poison on the tips of these blades ended the life of more than a few Wild Knights. The assassins called themselves the “Glass Knives” in memory of the serial killer that took the lives of so many Amalgamated."
↑ Journal entry of Ranger Hat, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "During the final years of Bramblemead corruption had run rampant. Nobles took more than their share and the priests who watched over them turned a blind eye in exchange for their own share of glittering coin."
↑ Journal entry of Ranger Tunic, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "But this was a tricky task indeed, because the wealth the Nightingale harvested, was given back to the people of Bramblemead, rather than lining her own coffers, making her a local hero."
↑ Journal entry of Ranger Tunic, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Not just her capture, they needed her obliterated – gone from the memories of the population forever."
↑ Journal entry of Steel Warhammer, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Lionel worried that he would be as hated as the Amalgamated in Brynmoor had been, but Fellhollow proved a kinder place."
↑ Journal entry of General Velgar, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "General Velgar was one of Kuldra’s most trusted allies in the dragon rebellion."
↑ Journal entry of Velgar's Head, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "General Velgar was one of Queen Kuldra’s most feared disciples. Infused with the power of the earth itself, his poison corrupted entire regions and slaughtered countless foes. The fall of Blue Flame Keep, Bramblemead village, and the Saradominist presence on Ashenfall, was orchestrated by Velgar’s hand. His army incinerated villagers, priests and soldiers alike."
↑ Journal entry of Temple Woods, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The temple of Saradomin oversees all of Brynmoor, the stained glass windows once glistened in the sunlight as a beacon to the villagers of Bramblemead, below. In the Third Age, when the rest of the world was at war, followers of Saradomin arrived on the continent and created a small settlement at the peak of the cliff. Here, the expedition could gaze out over the water, looking back toward the homes they had left, and gazing down towards Bramblemead, the home they would create. Overtime the expedition mixed with the villagers, leaving their tents and their huts, and finding homes in the village. As the camps were brought down, stones were placed as the foundation of the temple, as the word of Saradomin spread throughout the streets. Now, millennia later, the temple stands proud, but silent. The walls and windows remain steadfast against the onslaught of time. A faint trace of priestly magic keeps the more monstrous elements from creeping inside. It is a sanctuary against the wild frontiers of Ashenfall, and therefore the home base of the current expedition team. It is said that the windmill, northwest of the temple, is haunted. The timber creeks ominously even though the sails no longer turn. At night, sinister creatures patrol its exterior, waiting for any opportunity to strike."
↑ Journal entry of Bramblemead Valley, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Bramblemead valley is home to the village of its namesake, a once tranquil location bustling with life. It was founded in the first age by the god Guthix and his followers, and converted to the worship of Saradomin sometime in the third age. The Keep of Blue Flames, was built in the popular style of the Saradominist faithful. The ordered shape a symbol of the god of order's will. Powdered metals were cast into the braziers, so that the flames would burn in the hue favoured by Saradomin. Here the lord of the region would watch over the village and surrounding areas, under the careful guidance of the high priest of the church. To the northwest stands a symbol of mankind's thirst for knowledge, a great guild dedicated to uncovering the secrets of the runes that had been first discovered on Ashenfall by Guthix himself. Here, powerful wizards learned spells and enchantments, pushing the boundaries of mankind's knowledge. Ashenfall is rife with danger and the need for heroes has always been strong. A guild was created, to the east of Brynmoor, where heroes and champions would gather together to seek out the deadliest monsters and slay them where they stood. Once this valley was the hub of human activity, but now it sits silent, and overrun with monsters. Goblins spread across the region claiming it in the name of their new god. Rats swarm through the ruins with sharp and deadly fangs. Soil that was once fertile farmland, is now soaked to the roots in blood."
↑ Journal entry of Whispering Swamp, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "When war broke out between humans and garou, it was the swamps that formed a buffer between the two factions. The muddy water was difficult to fight in and neither side enjoyed the idea of drowning on the battlefield. Now, the swamp retains the memories of that conflict, swallowing down the remnants of that battle into its murky depths. Yet, among all the ruin and the decay, the swamp is rife with ingredients for crafting. Herbs grow between the weeds and the caves that run along the swamp's edges are filled with ore. Still, one must be ever careful. Goblins roam these regions, hunters keeping an eye out for northern invaders. The garou watch from Ghornfell, ready for any foolish trespasser that might enter their domain. And in the darkness of night, an ancient horror walks the region, offering only death's embrace to any it finds."
↑ Journal entry of Dried Giant Krill, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "The dominant shoal would take precisely one hour to pass from one side of Bramblemead Valley, round Temple Woods, to the other side of Bramblemead."
↑ Journal entry of Wizard Robe Legs, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "All documents have been expunged of the events that came to be known as the Day of Purple Feathers. No wizard or knight will speak of what occurred. However, villagers soon learned that squawking like a chicken would send both knight and wizard into unexplained panic."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Crossbow Limbs, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Whilst harmless at first, when the need for crossbows grew due to the conflict with the garou, cats found themselves with fewer and fewer homes willing to house them. Over the years this led to domestic cats being a rare sight in Bramblemead."
↑ Journal entry of Community Cape, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Suizzy was best known for their embroidery of owls, adding them as secret filigree to all of their pieces. Yet, on one fateful night of clandestine sewing, they were overcome by a vision so terrible, that they had to depict it in fabric. A dragon, rising from the flames of the underworld and dragging with it a terrible withering curse that would claim all life in the region."