Bogbrook

Bogbrook was a farming village in southern Cormyr, located on Starwater River northeast of Marsember and just west of Hermit's Wood.

Geography
Bogbrook derived its name from a spring that rose there to form a marsh, and a brook that ran from the marsh to Starwater River.

The village was a wild place of bogs and tall grasses. Safe paths through the marsh were marked with posts, so it was easy to avoid getting drowned in the bogs if one stayed on the marked paths and traveled in daylight.

Architecture
Most of the cottages were made of stone, and roofed with boards and turf. They had earthen banks on the sides planted with melon patches and tomato vines, along with cranberry bogs, so that each cottage resembled a garden hill.

Trade
Bogbrook was well known as an exporter of melons and marrows (green gourds). They grew so many that carts were weighted down with the produce and set out in daily trains for the markets in Marsember.

The village was even more famous for its black wine known as utterdark, or "black Bogbrook water" as it was sometimes called. The process of making this raw, fiery wine was a closely guarded secret, and utterdark fanciers could be found throughout Faerûn. The Athantal, Jhalonson, and Ittreer winemaking families were highly regarded for their superior vintages.

Some villagers also poled about on skiffs harvesting catfish, crayfish, trout, and frogs using fishing lines studded with hooks and baited with nightcrawlers, bits of fat, and moldy cheese.

Notable Locations

 * The Utter Inn:
 * This inn served utterdark wine, mulled cider, and warm ale. Volo, the well-known traveler and guidebook author, thought the cider and ale were "surprisingly good" and tasted better than the house utterdark. The rooms however were poorly lit, cramped, and mildewy.


 * Thelgarl's Tower:
 * This abandoned stone tower was the home of the dead wizard Thelgarl the Thaumaturge. It was guarded by a gargoyle that stood alone in a dark pool and was avoided by the villagers. The tower was, of course, said to be haunted and thought to contain magical treasure.

Inhabitants
The people of Bogbrook were regarded as backward, even by country village standards. Whenever a young man of the village was admitted into the king's service (the Purple Dragons for instance), he often became the target of lighthearted mockery by his compatriots, who gave him the nickname "Lord Bogbrook".

Rumors and Legends
There actually was a Lord Bogbrook whose name was attached to a ghostly legend of the village. He had been made a noble for his loyalty to the king in a time of great danger. Several decades prior to 1367 DR, the old lord was riding home one night drunk from a feast, when he vanished. He was presumed to have ridden into a bog and drowned. His body was never found, probably because he was weighed down by the gold chain and coronet that he always wore, which were given to him by the king. Thereafter, the village was said to be haunted by the ghost of his dog. It howled at night and led unwary folks out into the marsh to their deaths as it tried to get them to rescue his drowned master.