Glorium

Glorium was a small gate-town leading to Ysgard from the Outlands.

"What is life, but struggle? What is struggle, but conflict? What is conflict, but battle? What is Glorium, but all of the above?"

- Flatnose Grim

Description
This small gate-town consisted a number of longhouses, shipsheds, smokehouses, and workshops. They didn't bother with stockades or walls, feeling that nature provided them with sufficient defense; all they had was a wooden tower. The town was also lacking any inns or taverns.

At the edge of Glorium stood a small temple dedicated to the Norse pantheon but primarily to Odin and the Norns. The pantheon's other members were only acknowledged in an offhand way.

Like all gate-towns, Glorium was strongly influenced by the nature of the plane to which it was linked, Ysgard. It exhibited enough distinctions to prevent it from being pulled into that Outer Plane, but its inhabitants recognized that they were increasingly picking up Ysgardian habits, though they were unconcerned about this fact.

Geography
The land around Glorium consisted of green meadows, rolling hills, and open forests. Glorium itself was nestled between towering mountains on the shore of a great fjord, a little-known tributary of the River Oceanus. Most resourceful travelers preferred to reach Glorium by sailing down this fjord.

There was only one tangible road leading out of Glorium. Crossing through glaciers and skirting cliffs, it was a rough trail leading into the back of the Dwarven Mountains. The road didn't see much traffic.

Gates
There were two gates near Glorium&mdash;uncommon for most gate-towns, which usually had one&mdash;with both exiting into the plane of Ysgard. The best known of the two was a a big swirling maelstrom, referred to by locals as the Watergate, which was situated near the mouth of the fjord and was big enough for ships to sail through. Twice a day, the Watergate reversed itself, allowing people to come through from Ysgard.

The second gate near Glorium was at the end of the sole road leading out from the town. By following the trail one would come to a cavern, wherein resided one of the plane-spanning roots of Yggdrasil. However, there was a number of side passages within the cavern, running deep below the surface of the Outlands, some to quite unpleasant places, like the Caverns of Thought or Gzemnid's Realm.

Defense
Glorium had a milita of freemen known as the hird, of which every resident was a member. They would quickly assemble upon the sounding of a war-horn, with one member remaining behind in the town's wooden tower to watch for incoming ships. The only time they were summoned in full was on the rare ocassions when they were being raided by the petitioners of Gzemnid or Ilsensine.

Trade
The people of Glorium made their living off of fishing, hunting, and some degree of farming. They also conducted trade with the petitioners of the Dwarven Mountain, though not to a great degree, because of the treacherous nature of the road leading out to it.

History
At some point, a group of adventurers from the Prime Material world of Toril came to the city of Sigil, having purchased a map from a sage in Shadowdale. When the group's fighter unfolded the map they began scanning it in search of Glorium, only to quickly be corrected by his rogue ally that they were actually looking for the gate-town to Bytopia.

Inhabitants
The bulk of the 300 residents were living humans and petitioners of humans, strongly influenced in both appearance and attitude by the Norse pantheon.

They were a proud people, who highly valued notions of courtesy, honesty, and respect. They didn't take insults lightly and were not eager to forgive slights against them, instead challenging offenders to duels that would last until either blood was drawn or one of the participants fell unconsciousness. Despite this, Glorium's citizenry weren't quite as battle-crazed as the inhabitants of Ysgard.

The living inhabitants of Glorium were mostly fighters eager to venture away from town to make a name for themselves, making them willful henchmen and hirelings for outsider adventurers.

Notable Inhabitants

 * Flatnose Grim, the chieftain of Glorium and a human ranger. He was a short, bear-chested warrior who was equally renowned for his capriciousness as his strength. He often took great sport in showing the latter off by wrestling guests, bending horseshoes, and staging contests in which one threw boulders.
 * The Freki twins, a pair of ship-builders known for making very refined longships.
 * Kostbera, the nagging wife of Flatnose Grim.
 * Thumur, a blacksmith who made relatively affordable weapons. Some claimed he enchanted his wares, but the smith himself denied this.

Rumors & Legends
According to rumors, the deity Gzemnid sought to annex this town and its gates. In relation to this rumor, some claimed that creatures in service to Gzemnid haunted the mountains, having reported seeing strange creatures within the cavern. Some had also reported seeing carved markings in the cavern that could be secret signs of Gzemnid's priests.