Dill, who invented the bumper sticker as a means of promoting the caverns. In 1933, the extended cave system was discovered, revealing the present 4.6 miles (7.4 km), and was introduced to the public as a tourist attraction in 1935 by Lester B. One legend in particular claims that a sheriff tracking the Jameses sat in front of the cave, waiting for Jesse and his gang to emerge however, they had found another exit. However, there is scant historical evidence to support this tradition. According to local legend, James and his brother and partner in crime Frank used the caves as a hideout in the 1870s. In the Civil War era, the Union Army used the caves as a saltpeter plant, but the plant was discovered and destroyed by Confederate guerrillas, likely including the future infamous outlaw Jesse James. ĭuring the 18th century, the cave was used for extracting saltpeter for the manufacture of gunpowder. Thousands of runaway slaves were reportedly housed there. Meramec Caverns was a station on the Underground Railroad. The first cave west of the Mississippi River to be explored by Europeans, it was first visited in 1722 by a French miner. In centuries past, Native Americans used the cavern system for shelter. To enter, the player must slash a tapestry and push a secret lever in the form of a silver sickle, the symbol of the Myreque, to reveal a secret trapdoor in the floor leading to the base.The Meramec Caverns have existed for the past 400 million years, slowly forming through deposits of limestone. In order to gain access to the Sanguinesti Hideout, the player must gain the help of a citizen of Meiyerditch, Old Man Ral, who knows the lay of the city and tells the player about the entrance to the secret base. However, another group of the Myreque, a militant group of well-organised rebels called the Sanguinesti Order, operate in this area, in a large underground barrack that is well-hidden and kitted out with useful supplies to the Myreque, such as silver sickles, mithril bars, silver bars, papyrus and charcoal. Lord Drakan himself rules from this region, in his castle to the north of the city, in a section referred to as Darkmeyer. In the city, the populace are herded into four separate sectors to help keep order in the vampyric blood-farming that takes place in the Sanguinesti region, and indeed all around Morytania (with the exception of the towns of Port Phasmatys and Mort'ton, which are both dead and useless to the vampyres).
The capital of Morytania, a gigantic sprawling slum-city called Meiyerditch, serves as a large ghetto for the Vampyre overlords of the land. In Darkness of Hallowvale, the player discovered the Sanguinesti Myreque. It features heavily in the In Aid of the Myreque quest, and the following installment in the series, Darkness of Hallowvale, is started here in the inn basement, when Veliaf, the leader of the Mort Myre Order, informs the player of another group of Myreque rebels, the Sanguinesti Order, working in the capital city of Meiyerditch.
The populace are trustworthy and helpful for their part, and the surviving members of the movement seem to like the town. The integral position of Burgh de Rott, situated very close to the Sanguinesti region where Drakan himself resides, and the fact that the town of Burgh de Rott goes overlooked by Vanstrom's agents (who think it is deserted) make it a prime location for the Myreque to work from. These events take place during the In Aid of the Myreque quest. The player helps by cleaning out rubble from an old cellar in a ruined and derelict inn to serve as a small war-room for the rebels. After the unfortunate events at The Hollows, the Myreque headed to Burgh de Rott.Īfter the deaths of Sani and Harold in the hideout situated in The Hollows, the four surviving members of the Myreque ( Veliaf Hurtz, Polmafi Ferdygris, Radigad Ponfit and Ivan Strom) move their base of operations to a large town in Southern Morytania called Burgh de Rott.