Mere of Dead Men

The Mere of Dead Men (or Merdelain, meaning "Slow Marching Court" in Elvish) was a swampy area located along the Sword Coast North.

Etymology
"Mere of Dead Men" referred to the thousands of dwarves, elves and humans of the Fallen Kingdom who were slain here during the invasion of an orc army.

Geographhy
The Mere was located along the Sword Coast between Neverwinter and Waterdeep. The High Road skirted its eastern edges on its way through the foothills of the Sword Mountains to the east.

Description
The Mere of Dead Men was a cold saltwater swamp roughly 100 miles long by 30 miles wide along the shore. It was a desolate place full of monsters and few members of the civilized races. The swamp constantly grew over time, swallowing homes and property located close to its boundaries. It was believed that the eastern boundary of the Mere was magically bound with the High Road (perhaps via a wish spell from the Mere's creator), since attempts to reroute the road were futile and only caused the expansion of the swamp.

The Mere itself was full of trees, vines, quicksand, and hidden islands, and it was generally covered in fog, making visibility very poor. The bones of fallen creatures were clearly visible throughout the Mere. The water was deep enough that it could be navigated on a flat-bottomed boat, but the dark water and hidden obstructions made that choice dangerous.

Inside the Mere were the flooded ruins of a number of castles and settlements. Many of the castles had strange wards that would either strengthen certain magic or negate it.

Inhabited places

 * Weeping Willow Inn
 * West Harbor

Roads

 * High Road

Ruins

 * Castle Naerytar
 * Holk House
 * Iniarv's Tower
 * Mornhaven Towers
 * Uthtower
 * Wolfhill House

Creation
The Mere was created in 615 DR. After the armies of Phalorm were overrun by the Horde of the Wastes in 614 DR, the few that had rallied made their stand in Uthtower] at [[Iniarv's Tower, a tower that had once belonged to Iniarv, the former Mage Royal of Uthtower. Unbeknownst to all, Iniarv had retreated to the tower's crypts to become a lich. He was awakened by the orcs and enraged by commotion. King Uth VII begged him for help, calling upon Iniarv's ancient alliance with Uthtower. Iniarv acquiesced, calling on the ocean to flood the entire area, killing all goblinoids and humanoids alike. When the waters receded, all that was left was a saltwater swamp.

Ebondeath's reign
In 631 DR the dragon Chardansearavitriol (called Ebondeath) laid claim to the area, making his home in Uthtower and ruling all surroundings. He became a dracolich in 922 DR, but in 1202 DR his body disintegrated into dust due to the god Myrkul's influence. The Ebondeath Sect of the Cult of the Dragon began forming that year as worshipers of Myrkul traveled to the Mere of Dead Men.

The Ebondeath Sect collapsed around 300 years later in 1358 DR when Myrkul was destroyed.

Myrkul's death
When Myrkul's avatar was destroyed over the Sea of Swords at that time, fragments of bone dust were, perhaps by chance, perhaps by design, carried north and entered the waters of the Mere. This dust animated some of the drowned corpses of the orcs and people of Uthtower into a variety of lesser undead creatures. They have displaced many of the living residents of the swamp, though they lack any kind of direction, having no greater undead or necromancer to lead them.

Inhabitants
A variety of creatures were found in the Mere, including bullywugs and lizardfolk ; sivs ; aballins, behirs, flying fangs, giant frogs and giant toads, gibbering mouthers, giant leeches, hydras, meazels, monitor lizards, nyths, scrags, shambling mounds, snakes, and will-o'-wisps. A pair of black dragons (known as a single dragon, Voaraghamanthar) also made their homes in the swamp. Doppelgangers dwelt in some of the ruined settlements, posing as humans in order to lure unsuspecting travelers to their doom.

After the Time of Troubles and the death of Myrkul (1358 DR), the taint of the dead god infected the remains of the dead in the Mere, causing them to turn into undead ghouls, skeletons, and zombies that attacked travelers on sight.

Legends spoke of liches, a penanggalan, sea zombies, darktentacles, yuan-ti slavers, and other monsters, but their presence was not confirmed.

Notable inhabitants

 * Amalkyn the Black, a bandit lord (1370 DR).
 * Chardansearavitriol, a black dragon and later dracolich (631 DR-1205 DR).
 * Helduth Flamespell, wizard (1370 DR).
 * Voaraghamanthar, the collective name for the black dragon twins Voaraghamanthar and Waervaerendor (1372 DR).

Notable organizations

 * Ebondeath Sect of the Cult of the Dragon (1205 DR-1358 DR)

Computer games

 * Neverwinter Nights 2