The Brorvonberg
Dominating the landscape just outside of Middlesbrooke, the small mountain known as the Brorvonberg is a popular subject for art and poetry in Middlesbrooke.
At several times throughout history, armies have encamped at the summit of the Brorvonberg to either lay siege to the city or to attempt to break a siege undertaken against the city on the low ground.
While not particularly notable geographically or geologically, the Brorvonberg is popular with day-trippers and adventurers. The former climb the mountain for its excellent views of the city of Middlesbrooke and environs, while the latter attempt to enter the long-abandoned Tower of Brorvonius, built several centuries ago by a prominent and powerful sorcerer.
Why exactly he built the Tower at the summit of the Brorvonberg is not known, though the mountain is known to be located at a minor conjunction of magic currents, so there was at least some magicological basis behind his decision. What is known is that he petitioned the reigning Duke of Middlesbrooke for and received permission build his Tower in return for a tribute of a significant amount of money and several magical artifacts still held in the treasury of the Dukes of Middlesbrooke.
The Tower of Brorvonius remains a mystery. It has been abandoned since Brorvonius suddenly announced his retirement from his magicological pursuits and abandoned his Tower. Although Brorvonius himself does not disappear from the historical record entirely — documented as living comfortably in retirement for at least the next few decades — he never gave a clear answer for either why he suddenly decided to retire or how the magic keeping the Tower locked might be dispelled. To date, no-one is known to have entered the Tower since Brorvonius left.
Although the Brorvonberg remains a popular destination for day-trippers, rumours persist that the Tower of Brorvonius or even the mountain itself is haunted, or else home to some powerful monster slumbering within its depth. These are generally dismissed as mere rumours, even that mot magicological studies of the area have not given indications of any magical energies out of the ordinary.
Additionally, it is unclear if the mountain is named for the sorcerer or if the sorcerer took his name for the mountain where he built his tower.
So, “Brorvonberg” is an exception among most of my names in that it’s basically entirely nonsensical and not based on a real etymology — though “berg” is German for mountain.
I have two main inspirations for this one. First, that one of my ideas for a future Three Ladies of Middlesbrooke story is having them explore the Tower of Brorvonius. Second, that, since Middlesbrooke is kinda-sorta meant to be Fantasy–Vienna, this is basically my answer to the Kahlenberg, a small mountain (or big hill?) outside Vienna, popular as a tourist destination and historically notable for being the position from which Jan Sobieski and the Holy League charged the Ottoman lines in the 1683 Siege of Vienna.
Basically, I saw a chance to tie together a couple of my names. There’s not really anything that much deeper than that…
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