“Forenote: This is, most likely, one of the most recent documentaries of Proskur’s history, though it is a few years old. It has, over the years, been copied from the original text, which can be found in Candlekeep (A large library and academy), and has found its way into Proskur. In all, there are about eight score known copies within the said city. It is perhaps one of the few histories written in something other than the droning, unenthusiastic tone taken on by many scholars and historians writing such a record. Much of the information herein is taken from a book written about seventy years prior. All dates, as they stand in the text, are according to Dale reconing.”
This day, the fourth day of the seventh month in the year 1362, I, Thomas Hallwell have taken it upon myself, at the request of my Master and former noble in the city of Proskur, Sir Edward Temrial, to write this history of Proskur and the surrounding areas, as complete as it is possible to me. I shall, in this first paragraph, give him credit to much of the information within this historical document. Continuing on:
Proskur was founded before 960 for certain, but an exact date cannot be found. It is known that, due to the troubles of invading barbarians and orcs in the north, Proskur’s positioning, with a river to the north that most uncivilized races would trouble crossing, and mountains to the west, an obvious deterrent to any hoard of raiders, along with the location’s fair distance from the troubles to the north and west, made it a near-ideal location.
Proskur was founded by Dav’larian Proskur, a noble whose estate had been destroyed in the Great Rising of the Orcgates. He and his household fled from Waterdeep, and after a long journey found themselves where Proskur would be. Proskur wasn’t actually known as Proskur until 1002, when Dav’larian’s grandson, Larian Proskur I, began making trade alliances with two nearby cities, Easting and Elvensuit. It was about this time when two roads, the High Road, connecting Proskur with Easting, and the Overmoor Trail, which connected it with Elvensuit, were made out and Proskur actually began to grow and become known. Unfortunately, this agreement also left the city of Proskur in a large amount of debt.
Despite its financial status, Proskur grew both in size and in glamour. At this time, it was still a small kingdom with little power, but the royalty was highly favored by the general population. King Larian Proskur I also began construction of the Bridge of Fallen Men in 1024. This opened Proskur up to land-based trade with the nation of Cormyr, a great relief in debt to the city. From this time on, Proskur would continue to be a very prosperous free trade city, trading in many goods that were banned or heavily taxxed in other surrounding cities.
It should also be noted, that in about the time of 1018, with the troubles going on in the Shining Plains, south and east of Proskur, that the city first began training its first army under the direction of former elven adventurer, Lemhar Horal, who, to our knowledge, is alive to this day.
Proskur, after this period, continued to grow and prosper, and it is during this time that many of its debts to Elvensuit and Easting.
In 1143, however, there began to be some malcontent within the royal head, when a popular merchant known as William Grey was denied nobility by Larian Proskur IV due to his unwillingness to assist in widening the Bridge of Elvenmen with a generous donation. Larian IV was unaware at the time that Grey was an honest man and well liked by many of his employees, which proved to be his downfall. There was an uprising within the ranks of both the city guard and the general population, but not only on the account of Willian Grey.
Larian Proskur IV, over his short reign of seven years, had greatly increased the city’s debt again through some foolish purchases of weapons, causing Proskur’s merchant force to be heavily taxed by surrounding cities. This didn’t bode well for Larian IV, who again failed to recognize the signs and was overthrown and beheaded during a military rebellion. William Grey, who had become very popular during this short time, was immediately set as Head Councilor, with eight other merchants as the Primary Councilors. This same form of government, if with more Primary Councilors, is still in effect to this day.
William Grey immediately set about cleaning up the mess left by the Proskur line. By working with all political leaders as much as he could, including those left in the Proskur line (Only the king was executed, but about four other family members were killed by assassinations and two by a mob). It is speculated that this is the time when the leadership of Proskur started becoming thieves for the good of the city, greatly increasing Proskur’s wealth and inticing a large number of immigrants to come to the city. Proskur is now well on its way towards becoming a very prosperous city for its size.
In 1235, during the invasion of the Black Hoarde, Proskur’s military experianced a dramatic increase in its number. Almost a tenth of the entire city was prepared to assist in defending Proskur, and with good reason - By this time, the Hoarde and reached towards the nation of Tethyr, and many cities had fallen to its dominion. Proskur itself was attacked by a sizeable force of orcs, but was able to repel the attackers. The city suffered a large loss, however. At this time, only the Government’s Neighborhood was heavily walled, the rest of the city was only encompassed by a short wall that wasn’t large enough to have a walkway and it only had a small watch tower every fifty yards or so. The orcs, who attacked along the Bridge of Proskur, found this wall to be but a small obsticle, but they were driven back by a sortie by Lemhar Horal himself. Due to the large number of men he lost on the Bridge of Proskur, Lemhar named it the ‘Bridge of Fallen Men’.
Though barely a tenth of the population (Mostly the military, but also a large number of citizens) was killed or carried off, Proskur’s economic position declined heavily after this period of uncertainty. Things changed for the better, however, when the orcs were driven back to where the came from. Proskur again began collecting its reputation as a grand city of trade.
After this, the Second Wall began to be constructed, which, in time, would replace the older one (The final stone was laid in 1322, in fact, almost a hundred years later). Also during this time, in order to better equip its army with magical instruments and even further Proskur’s position in trade, Proskurian nobles agree to allow a Thayan Enclave to establish itself where an old, abondaned fort stood within the poorer part of the city. This lead to a minor uprising and an attempt to overthrow the head of Proskur, but it was eventually put down.
(One book, ‘The Glorious of Proskur’ by Emedus Tall, attempts to argue that this uprising was never totally quelled and, to this day, works against the Thayan Enclave and the government that allowed it to settle there. There is, however, no proof of this organization even surviving for more than two days after the uprising, as the group’s headquarters was found and raided, and a number of public executions made. The head of Proskur never told whether those executions were of the leaders of The Glorious, however, so it gives the story-tellers in Proskur things to sing about, at most.)
In 1245, a great excitement in religion is found throughout much of the north, and Proskur itself finds itself building a temple dedicated to “(A God to be decided when we get to that)”, which was later to become the city’s matron god. This does not, however, discourage other gods to be worshipped in Proskur, as no law requires any of its inhabitants to follow any order or religion.
Two years later, in 1247, a small enclave of Druids sets itself up in a forest eastward, closer to the Lake of Dragons, along the river running north of Proskur. This enclave recruits many of the orphans of the city, though this practice has brought suspicions of what the Druids do to the children, they remain to this day, the exact location largely unknown among the population of Proskur. Many travelling Druids are known to be accepted into it, and Rangers (And Barbarians at times) are often recruited into helping the Druids with some thing or another, if mostly to keep the grove protected and unknown.
Things turned for the worst, starting in 1252, when the majority of the vine-crops were destroyed by a blight. Wine prices rose significantly, and a Proskurian noble, a reputable drunkard, sold his entire resevoir of fine wines at extroidenary prices to important political figures abroad, expanding Proskur’s coffers somewhat. A few years down the road, the said noble, who had given up drinking for some time, died of alcohol poisoning in a high-class bar when he broke his abstinance.
The next year a plague in Cormyr, Symbia, and the vast set off panic in Proskur, and the Bridge of Fallen Men was completely shut down. This barricade would be lifted only a year later, when the disease, for the most part, had disappeared. It was also during this time a yet unnamed, tiny village was founded north of the Tun River when a small group of halflings fleeing the plague were denied entrance into Proskur. This village is still there to this day, growing a few fine tobacco products, untaxed by Cormyr due to its lack of size and significance, and left alone by Proskur because it is still the property of Cormyr. Much of Proskur’s finest pipeweed is grown there, however.
In the year that the plague had been mostly rooted out, 1254, a civil war broke out in Sembia. Proskur made a hefty profit by importing a large number of weapons from the south and exporting them into Cormyr, who was openly trading with both sides.
A year later, however, things began turning rotten again. An extremist sect of Bhaal-worsphipping priests begin what is known as the “Crusade of Slaughter”, which spreads eastward, even into Westgate, starting from Amn. Proskur and several of the other local cities hire large mercenary armies, which are able to drive back the fanatic hoardes. Lemhar Horal was said to lead an elite group of adventurers in a surprise flanking movement that would kill the Crusade’s generals and start the Battle of Turning (Named thus for turning the tide of the war). After this, the Crusade was easily driven back and scattered, as much of its former strength was along the Dragon Coast when the battle took place. It is said that not one of Lemhar’s elite group died, though there are no confirmations of this.
The rising of the Crusade of Slaughter is very significant, as the crusade damages Proskur and the other cities around Westgate both in finance to fund the mercenary armies and in trade with the western parts of Faerun, as the Amnish city of Torlathan, a major trade stop between the Dragon Coast and Amn, was razed by the zealous Bhaalites. It would take until 1300 for both regions to begin regenerating the lost trade routes.
In the years following 1267, Proskur grew considerably, thanks to a bountious harvest through the year. Many seeking escape from other crowded cities find home in Proskur.
Widespread panic insues after a Lich known as Sammaster begins gathering armies of orcs, goblins, undead, and dragons in the Desertmouth Mountains, which is north of Corymr, bordering the Dalelands from the Anauroch. Proskur begins increasing its militia force, for fear that they armies would travel south along the Anaurochan desert and attack, though these fears proved unfounded, as the lich appears to have never done anything besides gather his forces and hold the mountain.
In 1312, Tesiir is rebuilt, and a large number of people from the surrounding regions leave to settle there, despite the site’s troubled past of pirate raids and looting. Proskur loses a number of its population during this time.
The year 1322 became a great curse in the mouths of adventurers everywhere, due to a huge increase in monstrous invasions. Proskur, being fairly scenic for the region, became a popular place for tired adventurers to settle. A few of these adventurers came with large amounts of wealth and a fair reputation, and many of them became notable nobles and some kept their old parties together, buying many of the local businesses and, over time, forming many of the guilds that are currently in control of the majority of marketing within Proskur.
And so ends my record of the state of affairs in days past within the city of Proskur. As many of the things that happened from 1322 to the current day aren’t of great note, I have seen it unnecessary to ink any of it. If one would truly like to see the events that passed during that period, I am sure that an archive of the markets’ dealings would be very suitable, or one could simply ask the locals.
And thus it is, and thus I close my record.