Nulb

Nulb is a haven for outlaws, cultists, and criminals, located at the eastern edge of the Verbobonc, Viscounty, bordered by the Gnarley Forest and the Fens of Tor. It’s a place where law is loosely enforced and commerce thrives on illegal activity. Despite its squalor and danger, the village serves as a key stop along the Low Road.

• Location: Eastern edge of Verbobonc, near Gnarley Forest and Fens of Tor.
• Nature: Hub of outlaw activity and illegal trade.
• Importance: Critical stop along the Low Road, despite its dangers.

Arrival at the Bridge of Nulb

Canon Setting Clarification – Nulb and Rising Evil

✦ Forces of Good (Non-Intervention Policy)

• Do not enter Nulb due to political inertia, internal prioritization, or suspicion that the problem is just another bandit ring or remnant cult.
• Includes:
• Gnarley Rangers
• Druids of the Gnarley
• Sylvan Elf Clans (Gnarley Forest)
• Agents of the Viscounty of Verbobonc
• Agents of Veluna and Furyondy
• Queen Yolande's Fey Court of Celene

✦ True Situation in Nulb

• Nulb is under covert control by a loose alliance of:
• Bandits and Brigands
• Pirates and Smugglers
• Temple of Elemental Evil agents (especially Earth and Water factions)
• The Temple's 2nd Rising is quietly underway using Nulb as a covert logistics and recruitment base.
• The constable is ineffective, and help from the Lords of Verbobonc has been withheld or ignored.

✦ Infiltrators Working Against the Temple

• Canoness Y'dey (as “Mother Screng”): Disguised as an eccentric herbalist, secretly a cleric of St. Cuthbert investigating the temple’s influence and nurturing redemption.
• Otis (Blacksmith): A quiet but formidable former adventurer, secretly aiding Y'dey and watching the Temple's activities from his forge.
• Both are investigating and resisting in secret, waiting for the right moment—or allies—to act openly

Geography and Layout

The village lies on the banks of Imeryd's Run, making it accessible for smugglers and pirates via small boats. The nearby swampy Fens of Tor provide natural protection, and the village itself is a collection of rotting buildings, reflecting its decaying status.

• Geography: Situated along Imeryds Run, bordered by Gnarley Forest and Fens of Tor.
• Imeryd's Run: flows south to north, emerging from the depths of the Gnarley Forest and passing through the Fens of Tor before merging with the Velverdyva River.
• Structure: Ramshackle buildings made of rotting timbers and salvaged boats.
• Accessibility: Accessible via river and swamp, making it ideal for illicit operations.

DM Spotlight: Campaign

Lawlessness and Power Struggles

Nulb remains a nest of anarchy and violence, its law determined only by shifting alliances of pirates, brigands, and smugglers. Beneath this surface, however, Madame Selentis (the alias of Lady Nysera Krivaltis) quietly directs operations on behalf of the Temple of Elemental Evil. Her Temple-appointed guards, a band of hardened men once loyal to Smigmal Redhand, now hold the ruined Mayor’s Manor as their base. From there, Selentis oversees the movement of supplies, loot, prisoners, and recruits through Nulb into the Gnarley Forest. Yet her dominance is not public. To the average brigand, the pirates under Captain Tolub or the Crimson Trader crew appear far more powerful. This illusion of fragmented control is intentional, keeping outside eyes blind to the Temple’s hand.

Cult Intrigue and Influence

The Temple’s resurgence makes Nulb a silent battleground. Each Prophet seeks to undermine the others while Hedrack pulls strings from the shadows. Romag, Prefect of the Earth Temple, uses Dick Rentsch and the Waterside Hostel to funnel coin and whispers into his faction’s coffers. Belsornig of the Water Temple manipulates Captain Tolub and Marad Vesrek, leveraging piracy and slaving to secure wealth and influence. Alrrem of the Fire Temple backs Wat, stirring chaos with firebrand zealots. Each faction would gladly use adventurers against their rivals, all while concealing the true scale of the Temple’s second rising.

Persistent Evil Alignment

Nulb is steeped in opportunism, treachery, and cruelty. Most villagers lean neutral or chaotic evil, surviving by cutting deals and betraying neighbors. A few neutral opportunists exist, but true good is almost unheard of. This moral landscape makes Nulb ideal as both a den of thieves and a logistics hub for the Temple’s covert operations.

A Dangerous Refuge

For pirates, cutthroats, and wandering mercenaries, Nulb offers safe harbor from the authorities of Verbobonc, Furyondy, and Veluna. Yet the stability of this refuge is carefully curated. Madame Selentis enforces secrecy on behalf of Hedrack, ensuring that no rumor of the Temple’s resurgence escapes. The pirates squabble, the bandits raid, and the brothels overflow, but beneath the chaos lies quiet discipline: every wagon, every hostage, every coin flows ultimately toward the Temple’s cause.

Expanding the Vision

Nulb as a Dynamic Setting

This reimagined version of Nulb provides Dungeon Masters with the tools to immerse their players in a village rife with intrigue, danger, and opportunity.

Lawlessness and Power Struggles
Nulb is a chaotic frontier town with no formal government. Power appears to rest with pirates, brigands, and smugglers, each carving out turf through force and treachery. Captain Tolub’s crew disrupts river trade, bandit gangs extort travelers, and rival taverns act as strongholds for competing factions. Yet beneath this chaos lies a hidden order: Madame Selentis and her Temple-appointed guards operate quietly from the ruined Mayor’s Manor, ensuring the Temple’s supplies, prisoners, and recruits flow unseen toward the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil. To the villagers, Nulb looks like a free-for-all. In truth, the chaos is a carefully cultivated mask.

The Temple’s Shadow

Since The Battle of Emridy Meadows in 569 CY, the Temple has rebuilt in secret. By 579 CY, Nulb has become a critical node in this resurgence, serving as a logistics hub for covert operations. Agents of the Earth, Fire, and Water Temples exploit the village for their own ends: Romag channels coin and whispers through the Waterside Hostel, Belsornig leverages piracy and slaving through Captain Tolub and Marad Vesrek, and Alrrem fosters zealots through Wat’s dealings. Each believes they are strengthening their own temple—but all ultimately serve Hedrack’s design. To outsiders, these are splinter cults and petty gangs. Only the careful observer may glimpse the greater hand moving behind the veil.

A Living, Breathing Village

Nulb is not a backdrop; it is a web of dangers and opportunities. Each location—from the decadent shadows of the Boatman’s Tavern to the weary stables beside the Waterside Hostel—serves as a stage for intrigue. Its NPCs, from Madame Selentis cloaked in secrecy, to pirates, necromancers, and desperate commoners, each carry threads that can ensnare adventurers. For Dungeon Masters, Nulb is designed to breathe: a place where factions maneuver constantly, alliances shift daily, and adventurers may quickly find themselves courted, deceived, or betrayed.

Society and Culture

Nulb's residents are a mix of bandits, pirates, former cultists, and outlaws. The village is a melting pot of criminals who either fled justice or came seeking refuge. The atmosphere is grim, and violence is common.

• Demographics: Outlaws, pirates, former cultists, and smugglers.
• Culture: Survival-focused, with little to no trust among inhabitants.
• Social Hierarchy: Dominated by the strongest and most ruthless factions.

Government and Laws

Nulb may seem lawless, but the constable is unable to have any effect. His call for assistance from the Council of Lords of Verbobonc has been unanswered.

Economy

The economy is based on illicit trade, piracy, and smuggling. The river provides easy access for contraband, making Nulb a hub for stolen goods.

• Main Trades: Smuggling, fencing stolen goods, and fishing.
• Imeryds Run: A vital artery for smuggling operations.

Politics in Nulb

A Web of Intrigue and Power Struggles

Nulb is a hornet’s nest of criminals, pirates, and cultists, each pulling in different directions while pretending the village is nothing more than a haven for brigands. At the heart of this chaos stands Madame Selentis, Hedrack’s appointed overseer. From the ruined Mayor’s Manor, she manages the Temple’s covert supply chain while disguising her work as just another racket in a lawless border town.

Madame Selentis’s Political Strategy

Selentis plays the role of organizer without ever revealing her true allegiance. She cultivates the illusion of neutrality, allowing pirates, bandits, and smugglers to believe they act independently—while quietly ensuring their work feeds the Temple’s growing power.

• Balancing Factions: Selentis manipulates rivalries between Romag, Belsornig, and Alrrem, encouraging each to undercut the others. Their petty squabbles keep attention away from Hedrack’s larger designs.
• Controlling Logistics: Through bandit crews and Valegrave’s Farmstead, she secures food and grain; through the stables, warehouses, and taverns, she directs smuggling and prisoner transfers. Everything eventually flows to the Hunting Cabin and into the Temple’s secret tunnel.
• Public Posture: To the common folk, she is no more than another outlaw “matron” making her cut from the chaos. Her quiet efficiency ensures most outsiders never guess her true purpose.

Tensions with the Viscount of Verbobonc

Though technically part of the Viscounty, Nulb has long slipped beyond its grasp. Patrols avoid the village, and the Constable is a drunk husk, tolerated as a symbol of order while powerless in practice.

• Non-Confrontational Stance: Selentis avoids drawing the Viscount’s eye. She encourages the appearance of pirate feuds, bandit raids, and smuggling as the “real problem,” distracting from the Temple’s hand.
• Hidden Authority: By quietly feeding resources into the Temple while keeping Nulb’s chaos contained, Selentis ensures Hedrack’s uprising remains hidden until the time is right to strike.

Key Observations

Lawlessness and Power Struggles

Nulb remains a hotbed of anarchy and violence, its governance determined by the strongest or most cunning. The temple stands at the center of this chaotic web, vying to impose their rule over the village. Meanwhile, bandits and independent gangs, emboldened by Nulb’s lack of formal government, seek to carve out their own spheres of power.

Cult Intrigue and Influence

The Temple of Elemental Evil’s resurgence casts a dark shadow over Nulb. Agents and priests of the Earth and Water Temples actively manipulate the village’s factions to further their own agendas.

Persistent Evil Alignment

The moral compass of Nulb remains skewed heavily toward neutral and chaotic evil alignments, with a few neutral or lawful individuals seeking only to survive or profit. The village’s residents thrive on opportunism, betrayal, and violence, making it an ideal staging ground for the Temple’s activities.

A Dangerous Refuge

For many criminals, pirates, and outlaws, Nulb is a temporary haven—a place to regroup, resupply, or disappear from pursuing authorities.

Criminal Alliances: Bandits and Pirates

Bandit Factions

Bandits are the lifeblood of Nulb’s roads, raiding caravans in the Kron Hills and funneling loot back into the village. Rather than imposing authority, Madame Selentis quietly balances rival crews, making sure no single gang grows strong enough to threaten her position. She directs their plunder through the 6. Wainwright of Nulb and the 33. Old Mayor’s Manor, ensuring everything useful finds its way into the Temple’s hidden supply chain.

• Divide and Distract: Bandit leaders are played against each other, their rivalries ensuring loyalty through dependence on Selentis’s “protection.”
• Political Leverage: The raids justify Nulb’s reputation as a bandit haven, keeping outside powers convinced the Temple’s resurgence is nothing more than outlaw disunity.

Pirate Smugglers

Pirates on the Imeryds Run and Velverdyva River remain Nulb’s most dangerous free agents. Captain Tolub and Marad Vesrek command their own followings, allied loosely with the Water Temple through Belsornig. Smuggling, slavery, and extortion at the docks provide coin and captives that pass through Selentis’s hands before reaching the Hunting Cabin and the Temple beyond.

• Hidden Economy: Though these dealings appear as simple piracy, they are the backbone of the Temple’s covert wealth.
• Fragile Alliances: Tolub, Vesrek, and their crews resist Selentis’s authority, but Hedrack ensures their usefulness by funneling support through Belsornig.

The Temple of Elemental Evil’s Shadow

The true purpose of Nulb lies in its service to the Temple’s second rising. Each elemental faction uses the village to its advantage, though their competition fuels constant instability.

• Earth Temple: Romag manipulates Dick Rentsch at the Waterside Hostel, keeping the tavern as his front.
• Water Temple: Belsornig , through Tolub and Vesrek, uses piracy to destabilize rivals.
• Fire Temple: Alrrem leans on Wat and scattered bandits, his presence felt most in raids beyond the village.
• Air Temple: Kelno operates in the shadows, quietly recruiting mercenaries and spies while avoiding the notice of stronger rivals.

Recent Political Developments

• Borderer Withdrawal: The Viscount’s retreat from the Kron Hills leaves the region vulnerable, emboldening bandits and pirates to strike deeper into Verbobonc’s lands.
• Temple Rivalries: Selentis exploits factional feuds, often “encouraging” adventurers or mercenaries to harass one faction at the behest of another.
• Growing Secrecy: Hedrack insists Nulb remain a den of outlaws in the eyes of outsiders, using banditry and piracy as a cover for the Temple’s swelling logistics machine.

Conclusion

Nulb is a village perpetually teetering on the edge of chaos, its fate determined by the interplay of its most powerful factions. In Nulb, power is fleeting, alliances are fragile, and danger is ever-present.

Nulb Characters by Location

This comprehensive character list, precisely organized by locations with their roles following each entry, ensures clear and easy reference for your Village of Nulb campaign.

1. Waterside Hostel of Nulb — Dick Rentsch; Wat; Dala; Pearl

Guests (current):

• The Broken Blades (mercenary band): Captain Dren Halveth; Brakka Vusk; Corven “Quill” Yarne; Oric Dane; Hessa Claymoor; Jarik Fen; Torlin Mave.
• Crimson Reapers (Dyvers brigands): Rom Khavernus — cell leader & company wizard; Felix Fahnor — raiding leader; Maldrith “the Hexed” — priest of Orcus; Second-in-Command
  2. Otis’s Smithy & Stable — Otis Fletcher; Chon; Sammy
  3. Mother Screng’s Herb Shop — Canoness Y’dey (“Mother Screng” Murfles/Hruda

4. Boatman’s Tavern & Nulb Market (complex) — Lodriss; Skole
• 4A. Mainroom — Lodriss; Skole; Grud Squinteye; Captain Tolub; Lorveth “The Broker” Thrask
• 4B. Black Market Hall — Lodriss; Skole; “Tarn the Toothless”; “Grey Myra”; “Orven’s Odds”
• 4C. Boatman’s Warehouse — Lodriss; Ketta & Norla; Madame Selentis; Lodriss enforcers
• 4D. Basement (secret prison) — Capt. Fenwick Doral; “Red” Haldi Greft; Galena of Greenwharf; Tarven Jusk
• 4E. The Brothel (Elvanna’s Loft) — Elvanna Thorne; Serena of the Rhenn; Naika; Ivenya; Lysa; Mardun the Brute

5. The Drowned Cottage — Crimsone Reapers
Khymer Vask; Maris the Quick; Jorran Dusk; Threlk

6. Maddok’s Wainwright — Ivar “Two-Fingers” Maddok; Krivossk; Jorvan “Muck” Remley; Henri
7. River Fishing Huts — Harl & Toris Eelcutte
8. River Hut — “Drowned Net” — Borric “Eel-Blood” Harvane; Darra “Toad-Mother” Harvane

10. Fishing Shack — Bracken Haddar (fisherman Annya Haddar (wife Edran Haddar (eldest son Mira Haddar (young daughter)
11. Dunstan’s Boatwright — Dunstan Bravlin (carpenter Marnie Bravlin (eldest daughter Tibber Sandlewood (halfling journeyman)

13. The Gallows Table — (no fixed named NPCs)

17. Cottage Shop Ruins — (no fixed named NPCs)

19. The Gilded Shackle — Chapel of Zilchus — High Priest Jereader Zomawyn
21. The Wharf Pier of Nulb — Captain Tolub; Grud Squinteye; Rhenn (Rhennee leader)
26. Valegrave Manor / Farmstead — Aldren Valegrave; Gregor the Overseer

29. Thorne’s Cottage — Edric Thorne; Tomas Thorne
30. Veyne’s Mill — Thadric Veyne; Edris Veyne; Gavrin Veyne
31. Bramblethorn Ranch — Ormund Trosk; Erik Trosk; Kiel Trosk; Aben hired hand
32. The Grain Tower of Nulb — (no fixed named NPCs)
33. Old Mayor’s Manor — Madame Selentis (Nysera Krivaltis Commander Feldrin
34. Old Mavrek’s Bakery — Old Mavrek, the Blind Baker

44. Nulb Graveyard — Osric Vell (gravekeeper Seressa (undead spy)
46. Durnic’s Stablehouse — Durnic Fenn (stablemaster Mira Fenn (daughter, stable hand)
47. Nulb Constable — Edrick Malvaar
51. The Nulb Stables — Varek Thorne (stablemaster Gwenna Stormshade (stable hand & spy)
52. Sahl’s Cottage — Sahl Bruckner
54. Harlow’s Cottage — Harlow Greaves; Jonas Greaves
55. Hunting Cottage — Gefreid Patris (site commander Iron Claw bugbears under Druk Marrgut