The mortal world was once dominated by human kingdoms. Kings and the Wizards who advised them tamed the wild and built sprawling empires in the name of the Gods they served. They believed it to be a golden age and foolishly assumed it would last forever.
When the power that had been wielded by the Wizards began to threaten the natural order the Gods became angry which triggered a war we now call the Maelstrom. During that dark time the Gods strode the earth, doing battle with mortal and immortal alike. Servitors of the divine both celestial and monstrous were unleashed to fight for their creators. The Iron Gates of Hell were thrown open and legions of demons swarmed through.
No one really knows how long the Maelstrom lasted. All that is sure is that the Old Gods fell. Any who were not utterly destroyed were left diminished and went mad, becoming twisted remnants of what the once were. For decades demons roamed unchecked, preying on the mortals who had survived. The loss of the God of Death meant that those two had died couldn't reality and their way to an afterlife so many became undead, a further plague on the living.
Eventually the mortals were able to begin rebuilding. On the continent of Kael the humans were no longer the dominant species. The new world was considerably more diverse. The humanoid races were better suited to the rigors of the Maelstrom and more had survived.
A scholar named Belrea established what she called the "5th Cycle" calendar. She believed that the world had fallen to ruin and been rebuilt 4 times before, the Maelstrom marking the 5th. This is controversial stance that many historians take issue with her assumptions but she is still considered an authority on the early years of the new world. She set an arbitrary "Year Zero" based on what limited information she was able to gather.
Around the 30th year of the 5th Cycle settlements took hold across Kael. These settlements were all independent of each other and called themselves Freeholds. According to Belrea, over the next 50 years as they grew some forged alliances under a single banner. There were also many wars that forcibly united Freeholds under a single banner. By the end of the 80th year of 5th Cycle only a half dozen of Kael's Freeholds remained.
One of these Freeholds was what is now known as the City State of Murgulmuir.
Murgulmuir was a large city before the Maelstrom that was reduced to a ruin infested by monsters and haunted by the undead. When settlers were looking for places to establish new holds in Kael many avoided the ruins and the surrounding area because of the Overkeep, a massive fortress that hovered over it.
From a distance the Overkeep appeared to be an island floating a quarter mile above the earth with a fortified city atop it. A cloud of dark mist clung to it like a cloud which was later became known as the gloom. The island and the cloud cast a shadow that kept most of the area below in eternal darkness. Even during the day, the brightest it gets is the equivalent of twilight and that only from reflected ambient light.
At first no one knew what the Overkeep was, why it was there, who built it and if anyone remained within. The founders of the new city decided that they menace of the floating island was a virtue as it kept many threats away.
A new Murgulmuir was established a few hundred feet along the bluff from the ruins of the old in 53TC. Eight years later the first Titan came down from Overkeep to speak with with those who dwelled below. It explained that his people were once servitors of the gods and that their floating city was once a divine domain. It had arrived during the war, after the construction of the old city but shortly before its demise.
They wished to live in peace and isolation. The Titans has decided that they would allow the city to exist and that they would help protect it for major threats such as dragons and invading armies and in return the Murgulmuir would ensure that Overkeep remained undisturbed.
Roughly fifty years after the new Murgulmuir was established (approx 100TC) residents discovered the existence of the Aetherwuld. When the Maelstrom came, the Magisters of the Old City opened portals to a parallel dimension and shifted themselves there with as many of of their allies as they could manage. Over the years these survivors built a "Shadow City", an echo of the city they remembered - sometimes referred to as the "Broken Wheel".
These people, mostly human, interbred with beings from other dimensions that wandered into their city. Their descendants became Genasi. Eventually very few "pure" humans remained, By the time the people of the new city discovered the portals to the Atherwuld only Genasi remained. They call themselves the Shadowed and developed their own language and culture. They have portals of their own and have visited Kael from time to time but have no interest in returning.
As the city grew it developed its own culture and a power structure took shape based mostly on a Council of Governors and the Magistrates that enact their edicts. Crime and corruption settled in early taking root in everything about how the city is run.
Over the course of the last twenty years the people of Murgulmuir have entered into trade agreements with the Titans of Overkeep and the Shadowed of Atherwuld. From time to time a Titan or a party of their Dragonborn minions can be seen in the streets, a Goblin balloon will take envoys up to the Overkeep or a party of Shadowed Genasi merchants sets up a shop in the bazaar.
The Black Rose campaign takes place in the middle years of the second century. Kael has finally been reclaimed from the chaos left by the Maelstrom. The Freeholds finally have treaties and trade agreements with one another which have ended the constant in fighting and have maintained peace - al least most of the time. Murgulmuir has been reborn as a city state many times larger than the original settlement. It is rotten to the core but is home to over a hundred thousand representing over a dozen races and species.
