Marienburg Sourcebook (M:SDtR) p9-10
Between the river and the Bitter Moors
lies the Kleinland (Little Country), an almost pleasant heath mostly
used for sheep-herding : its
excellent wool is one of the Wasteland's few native exports. But even
here, residents keep their spears sharp and village walls in good
repair, for greenskins and worse sometimes wander out from the
mountains, while the moors themselves are rumoured to hide great
castles of the Fimir and vales where Chaos and mutants reign supreme.
or, so they tell any travellers who are willing to buy a round or two
of ale in the local taproom.
...
At the edge of the Little Country where the Bitter Moors begin, a great road runs from Marienburg to the Bretonnian city of Guisoreux, from which many in the large village of Klessen (population 422) make their living by providing rest and refreshments to travellers going either way. Following the Guisoreux Road south-west through the bleak countrysidepast the broken signpost that points to Halsdorph, the traveller eventually comes to the foothills of the Pale Sisters and Grey Mountains which bracket the Ois Gap, the main overland route to Bretonnia. Other than the mining village of Erlach, the foothills [of the grey mountains] are only sparcely inhabited by lonely shepherds, hopeful prospectors, religious hermits and ragged outlaws who prey on the road traffic. Old exhausted mines are scattered amongst the hills and mountains, some still worked by the Dwarfs, but most of them long since abandoned for better prospects elsewhere.
In the middle of the Ois Gap at the
bridge over the river squats
Fort Bergbres, a former Imperial castle now run jointly by the
Marienburg directorate and agents appointed by the Duke of Guisoreux.
It has a population of 225 and serves as a rest station and supply post
for those preparing fort the long trek across the Bitter Moors or
refitting after crossing it. There is a large joint force of excise men
and roadwardens here to guard against smugglers and protect travellers
against the dangers waiting in the hills. At least, that's the idea.
Travellers more often refer to Fort Bergbres as "Fort Beg-Bribe" since
getting anything done requires a 'donation' of Guilders or Bretonnian
Francs to the proper official. Upstanding merchants who object to the
practice find themselves subjected to excruciatingly slow inspections.
Most put up with this only once and thereafter pay the price and pass
the cost on to the customer.