While the purge of mages and their ilk has subsided, there is still tension on the streets of Glimring as the city's new martial force has been closing businesses behind on taxes. Any open aggression now is focused on former Grey Cloaks, with several hung from poles around the crater's edges known as the RuneHollow. Citizens fearful of the Iron Shroud (the new city guard) have found routes through the capital that avoid their checkpoints and patrols. This has led to some traversing the dangerous sewers to avoid detection, putting them at even greater risk by the now disorganized thieves' guilds fighting for dominance.
Over the year, the Runehollow began to fill with water, creating what is now called the Runelake. Few were concerned with this, as there had already been so many odd things that sprang from the 'Hollow. And in the late fall of 646, an even more ominous presence arose—the Cult of the hideous one they call Vecna. Distracting from the local problems, this has attracted the attention of local heroes, leaving Glimring and the "Thieves War" to fend for themselves.
By the year 645, much of the damage from the dragon attacks has been repaired. But the gaping crater (known as the Runehollow) left by the Circle of Mages still remains, carving a huge hole into the city's center. The outcry was great, and the Circle fled the city, leaving only the old and decrepit wizards to take the blow. Young sorcerers were hung in the town squares, and wizards who were taken by surprise were mauled and disfigured, unable to complete their spells without fingers or tongues. It has been a very dark time for Glimring.
Initially, there were discussions about how to restore it, but over the years and with the support of the growing independence movement in the West, a populist leader came with his force to construct his own keep in the center of it. The most powerful heroes in the lands were attending to more pressing matters (the return of the WorldEnder), so they too were caught unawares. Currently, the Lord High Commander sits at the head of government, unable to be challenged by the nobility by the sheer support of the people behind him and the army he brought with him.
The city itself remains orderly and quiet, many happy that a kind of peaceful order is restored, but others fearing retribution of an unknown leader and his forces, who have replaced city guards. However, any abuse of power is blamed on the former nobles, who have also retreated to their furthest estates or have completely abandoned their lifestyles. Very few have tossed in their support to the Commander; among them the House of Kinstain and Bowsprit.