Bone

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In 1312, the necromancer Defilnus came to Virgath's southern shores. On a hilly prominence, strewn with great boulders, flanked in the distance by rapids, her childhood dream of having her own keep had begun.

After the foundation was dusted with the crushed bones of a thousand dead, work began with mercenaries turned laborers. Those that balked at this new role became part of a labor train of the undead, skeletons and zombies packed like mules, moving earth and stone without complaint. With coffers deep, most took to the new role, picking up blade and shield when under the threat of a raid. In later years, some took advantage of Defilius's generosity, provoking attacks to take an advantage of the wording in their contract, "under times of foreign attack, the Bone Workforce will be paid as both soldier and laborer".

With coffers nearly empty, in 1322, work on Bone came to a halt. It had cost a considerable sum, its interior decorations alone costing five million gold. With no pay, the labors and mercenaries left. Finally rid of the help, Defilnus returned to the peace of her studies.

The mere presence of Bone, its cambion owner rarely seen, yet known to be quite powerful, brought a sense of security to the area around. The lake's raiders no longer attacked the southern shores and the Redfoots of Sagren gave the area a wide berth. It opened a land route between the rugged west with the open plains to the east. The Orchish Empire expanding northward into Grashakh, along with those in their path, created a need for raw materials and finished goods. The area south of Bone, a town at each river crossing grew to be an area of great commerce, roads in all directions.

Never intending to become a place of commerce, Defilnus's ornate keep became an area of protection in an otherwise lawless land. Her diaries say she hated all the traffic at first, and in the early years never offering help to the rabble within site of her walls. The mood of these journal entries then changes, "population has brought a fresh flow of cadavers, patients, and potential test subjects."

Bone's interior is ornate, hallways are embedded with leering skulls, its six guest bridges are like great rib-cages, and bone chandeliers have candles of eternal flame. Each non-garrison room has a doorway decorated with bleached bone. Later when the area became rich with commerce, great bones from mammoth, wyvern, dragons and giants were shipped from all across the land. Most of these came from suitors in the nearby towns or gifts for helping deal with big problems.

In 1341, tired of being the governor of a rapidly growing area, Defilnus sold the land around her keep to the Orchish Empire. This twenty mile wide tract between lake Boraresh in the south, and Virgath in the north had two villages and a town, roughly 15,000 souls and 500 undead in the bowels of Bone. This area was named Collossapolos, today a city.