Knights of Torisch - Knights of the Barony of Hogle

The Knights of Torisch are an order of knights that are headquartered in the First City, of the Barony of Hogle, in the

Shattered Plains.

They are allied with the Aublan Cat Riders.

Torisch of Ockett was the first Prince of the Granite Hold - the castle built by his Father (Sir Tuneyer of Ockett), the origin of the city and Barony of Hogle.  The name of the Barony comes from the name of Sir Tuneyer's family (technically, without his title from the Westron Lands, he would be Tuneyer Hogle; but he was also the lord of the Ockett Fiefdom, that he left when coming to settle the Valley).

Both Sir Tuneyer and  his son Torisch were of the Lass Indol people, and as such,they venerated the four goddesses of those people. In the early days of the migrate, before the understanding of the relationship of the Three Goddesses to the Valley, and the structure of the Church of the Three Goddesses become much more formalized, there were many who were worshippers of the Lass Indol goddesses.  Torisch himself was partial to Neuvirra Oss, the goddess of Spring and Planting.

When the extensive presence of evil creatures (as well as diabolical forces and curious sorcerous monsters left behind by the departed Old Ones) became known, it was decided that an order of questing knights would be formed in order to proactively find evil and vanquish it, before it became a threat to the new Barony and its land and holdings.  The young prince, strong of arms and admired by the fighting men of Sir Tuneyer, would be at the head of the order.

There were no orders of Paladins at the time, so the idea of holy knights of Neuvirra Oss was not in mind when Sir Torisch formed the order, but instead they became a large company of knights, having forsworn personal property, and loyalty to Sir Torisch instead.

The order exists to today, as an example of a non-church aligned order of knights that fighting men of the valley can be associated with.

From the earliest days of the order, however, they had a very important ally.  That was the friendship between the Knights and the Aublan Cat Riders.  These were a barbaric people, by Westron standards.  A group of nomadic clans, that did not build cities or permanent holdings, did not work metal, and did not have learning (either religious or magical).  They did, and still do, have a singular relationship with the great plains cats of the region.  These plains cats are similar to the great saber cats that sometimes roam down out of the Destriel Mountains (especially in the Darkearth Plains region, but really all across the north).  The plains cats, however, instead of the only the tawny color of the Saber cats, are sometimes orange or white and sometimes striped somewhat like a great tiger.  With their friendship with the Westroners, and especially the Knights of Torisch, the Cat Riders now had metal weapons and armor made available to them.  Gifts of this sort where enough to bond a Cat Rider for life.

The Cat Riders were a great ally to the Knights, and participated in a lot of quests and adventures with them. One of the main foes for both forces, however, are the cannibal-cultists of the vampire lands that emerge from the Caves at Groben.

The vampire lands are the name of an underground realm, peopled by cannibalistic human barbarians, and held in sway to a trio of vicious devils.  These poor souls are often thrust into the wars between the Gray Dwarf kingdom of Deep Delving and the vast Black Goblin Empire.  When pressures mount too high, migrating bands of the human cultists and barbarians will emerge, and have to be dealt with by the Knights and their Cat Rider allies.

In addition, the primitive men, the Oordut, who live in and around the icy upper levels of the Groben Caves, sometimes will frenzy (the shamen-chiefs of the Oordut are typically peaceful, but occasionally, for some inscrutable reason, they will begin attacking the more civilized lands around their own icy reaches), and this demands the attention of the Knights and the Cat Riders.  The very small Keepi-keepi people who dwell among the rocks scattered throughout the region are thought to be similar to the Oordut - except that they (the Keepi-keepi) are so much smaller.

The Cat Riders are known as the Aublan Cat Riders for the one thing in their culture that passes for

a permanent holding.  Usually the clans are divided up into two "nations" - the Northern Hunt, in the plains north of the King's Highway, and the Southern Pack, from the plains south of the King's Highway.  The whole region is referred to as the Aublan Valley.  Each summer, for a week before, and a week after the summer solstice, representative warriors from all the clans will gather at a particular spot of the King's Highway, on both sides of the mighty mound.  At the top of the mound, along the Highway, at this point, there is an ancient structure of the Old Ones.  It is a very tall alabaster tower, with a ringed round wall around it.  Written on the wall, in several locations, is the word Aublan. It stands in the middle of the mound of the King's Highway, dead center in the highway itself, with the road passing on either side.  There is neither gate nor door through the ringed wall, but inside there is an opening into the tower.  It is said to be the home to a curious race of dormant gargoyles, yet the rite of passage of a young member of the Cat Rider clans who want to become a clan chieftain, or a Khan of either the Northern Hunt or the Southern Pack, is that they must climb to the top of the tower of Aublan, awaken one of the alabaster gargoyles, and do battle with it.  It is not known what other secrets the tower of Aublan holds, but it might be worth exploring, by the brave and prepared.  But not when the massed clans of the Cat Riders have gathered for their summer ritual.

Cloud Pillars of Werms

If you have visited the city, then you know that the pillars that rise up out of the Cambio Delve - those that the city of Werms is built upon - are constantly enshrouded in banks and banks of fluffy white clouds.

This, alchemists will tell us, has to do with the difference between the temperature and conditions of the airs that blow down out of the Destriel Mountains across the opening of the Delve, and the conditions of the rising airs that come up out of the abyssal depths of the Delve. An explanation that only matters to an alchemist, I know, but that is what it is.

Each pillar has its own name, of long tradition in the history of the ancient city, and some are known for certain structures that mark them as landscapes. Common features among many of the pillars are the irregular shape of their topmost tips - although the Westron builders have tamed that through building up stone structures in different layers, and at different heights, still the streets among those structures are very "hilly" in nature. On almost all of the pillars (the only exceptions being The Spire and Ancro Pillar) there is some natural water source. Some of these were natural, and others have been created through the centuries, by magical means. Much of the foodstuffs of the city, however, are grown in the pastoral lands in the rolling hills surrounding the Delve. Below are some brief descriptions of the different pillars.

A. Eindar Pillar - Eindar Pillar suffers somewhat in beauty and spendor because it is right next to the Mound of Etro. It is home to several notable sectors of town, including some noble villas, a number of highly skilled smiths (silver smiths, gold smiths, etc), and houses the main Aery of the City Guard Gryphons. Eindar Pillar has stone bridges connecting it to Learan Rock (B) and also the Mound of Etro (G). The abandoned lower city structure on Eindar Pillar is some of the oldest in the city, barring the Globe Keep on the Mound of Etro, and there are layers and layers of city buried underneath some. Much of the original layer consisted of villas owned by the leading equestrian families that served Baron Ap Etro. Among them was the famous Harmalan family. The ruined Harmalan villa is the location of the web-lair of Ostigaar.

B. Learan Rock - Learan Rock is home to many wealthy residences. Few businesses are here, other than personal service businesses (tailors, haberdashers, furriers, bath houses, and similar, but fewer than supposed because many households have their own skilled servants).

C. Pili Ronser - Pili Ronser is one of the few stone abutments that were originally settled by the Lass Indol people that traveled with Baron Ap Etro when they settled the city. They strong influence of these people is the reason for the Cathedral of Frigia Nor being here in Werms, and it is located on Pili Ronser. Pili, by the way, is a Lass Indol word meaning speartip. Pili Ronser is connected by stone bridges to Morning Glow (F) and Learan Rock (B). The Cathedral, is called Skyhome, and features a number of high soaring towers, with bronze exteriors, that shine brightly in the sun, when it fingers between the clouds.

D. Pili Timro - The two civic institutions that the Baron is most proud of are located here, along with much housing for artisans and craftsmen. The first institution is a school for the children of the "middle classes". In a Westron style city, that means the children of skilled labor, guild members, and merchants. It is simply called the Academy. Outside the Barony, it is referred to as the Werms Academy. It is one of a few such in the whole Valley, but a few hundred years back, Baron Hio Ap Yelton ("The Scribbling Baron") thought the Barony would benefit from widespread literacy.
The second such institution is the Baronial Preserve. This is a sort of public park, where all sorts of exotic animals and captured monsters and odd foreign people are kept on display.

E. Avin Rock - This is the location of many of the professional guilds (other than the Alchemists Guild, which in Werms is rather small, but is also isolated on Aster Height). One of the more notable guilds is the Fellowship of the Shield (a fighters and mercenaries guild). The horses, servants,and squires of the Baron's knights are also found here, and there is a rivalry between the royal men at arms and the sell-swords and bravos of the Fellowship. The Baronial knights maintain a very large stable compound across the stone bridges on the surrounding countryside. Only the horses of senior knights are permitted on the Rock. Needless to say, other than frequent (but rarely deadly) duels between the royal knights and the sell-swords, there are also ongoing rivalries with the city guard, and especially the gryphon riders. The knights consider them common soldiery.

F. Morning Glow - Location of many of the wealthiest villas and estates. The private residence of many professionals is located on Morning Glow. The name comes from the veins of exposed metal in the stone of the pillar (dwarves believe it is a form of "goblyn gold" that shines but is worthless) that shine so brightly in the sunrise.

G. Mound of Etro - This is the location of the Globe Keep - the capital building of the city, and also the seat of power for the Barony of Werms. Bridges exist between the Mound of Etro and Eindar Pillar (A), Pili Ontoom (H), the Pillar of E'Dlum (L) and The Spire (M).

H. Pili Ontoom - In addition to many artisans and craftsmen making their home on Pili Ontoom, it is also the location of a small Monastery. It is a mixed gender monastery dedicated to St. Gianna.

K. Toan Rock - The Hospital of Allumes is located on Toan Rock, as are a number of herb and spice merchants. Many of the herb merchants own walled villas here, and the smells of their herb gardens fill the air of the whole Rock. Allumes Hospital is run by an order of sisters of St. Lilliane, and Paladins of the Brotherhood of the Sword (Sword Brothers, as no other titles or rank is recognized in that order). The Sword Brothers are not permanently attached to the hospital, but in their questing across the North of the Darkearth Plains, they check in at the hospital at least annually when possible.

L. Pillar of E'Dlum - This is the location of the Cloudhome Cathedral (the main cathedral of the Order of St. Leiathar, of the Nadene branch of the Westron church), as well as a number of private villas, and some very high end specialist businesses (poetry tutors, specialist jewelers, etc). There are stone bridges connecting the Pillar of E'Dlum with the Mound of Etro (G), Toan Rock (K), and Tuvril Quarry (P). Some of the wealthier and more selectives of E'Dlum work very hard to keep the market on the Tuvril Quarry bridge shut down as much as possible, and they discourage visitors from that pillar, since they have a dim memory of when it was a working rock quarry.

M. The Spire - The Spire is named not so much for the pillar itself, but for the curious structure that arises from it's top surface. It is a very tall (180') very large (60' diameter) pillar of marble. Approximately every 30' or so, moving up the pillar, are large porticos wrapping around (always exactly) half of the pillar, and extending out 60' into space with no visible means of support, but apparently of the same marble as the pillar. There are no stairs or carved ladders between these layers, but there are stone railings around the outer edge of each porch. The top is topped with a massive platform, a full 180' across and surrounded by the same 4' high railing as the other layers. It existed when the city was formed, and space on the 'spire' quickly became a very prestigious premium. Today it serves as home to visiting dignitaries from other cities, churches, and magical schools.

N. Stomal Rock - Any visitor to Stomal is completely aware of two things immediately.
First are the artificial platforms surrounding the outskirts of the pillar. These house row after row of giant bee hives, tended by a number of stone golems. The walls of the pillar, reaching down as far as light can travel, are covered with a family of differing flowering vines called "The flowers of the Moons". The do blossom in three distinct types - white, red, and golden - correlating to the three moon Goddesses, daughters of Magenta. All three produce blossoms of a gargantuan size, and enough to satisfy the giant bees. The golems are controlled by a number of magic using merchants who sell the products of the bees (honey and wax).
The second noticeable item immediately apparent on visiting Stomal rock are the number of layers of city that have been covered over. And from exposed vents and shafts from the older parts, trails of smoke indicate that they are still occupied by hundreds of peasant families.

P. Tuvril Quarry - The quarry is so named because it is made of several types of very hard stone, including granite and marble, that were exposed on the top surface of the pillar when the city was settled, and for hundreds of years lay open as a baronial quarry. Eventually, the space was needed, and the mining and quarrying operations began to dig deep down shafts into the pillar, as layers of stone city structure was built overhead. In digging down, the miners uncovered veins of rich metals and also several cave systems, some inhabited.

Q. Den Kar Pillar - The second highest pillar, after the Mound of Etro, Den Kar is a home for wealthy residents on the surface, and progressively poorer laborers and peasants in the lower levels. A number of those residences belong to wizards and sorcerers, and feature tall towers rising up above the walled residences themselves.

R. Ditro Pillar - Other than the many market stalls and open bazaars that line the stone bridges between pillars, the open market at Ditro is the largest area given over to trade and mercantilism in the city. Located because of the Western Gate, all other stone bridges leading from Ditro (to Den Kar) are heavily guarded and feature stout gate houses. Outsiders from the surrounding countryside are frequently seen in Ditro. The lower levels of this part of the city are full of all manner of criminals, even though they make practice their crimes throughout the city. In fact, the thieves and assassins guild pretty much make sure no crimes are committed in Ditro against citizens of Werms, as sort of an unspoken truce with the city guard.

S. Aster Height - This isolated pillar is the home of the small, but active guild of Alchemists. The Alchemists and their guests travel back and forth to the heights via means of potion and other magical devices. There is an uneasy peace between the Alchemists and the city guard, as the guild maintains a colony of pseudo dragons here on the pillar, and occasionally the gryphons belonging to the city guard will eat an unsuspecting young pseudo dragon just learning to fly. Repercussions are frequently out of proportion, but the guild members are fond of their little draconian pets.

T. Usal Rock - While this pillar is mostly uninhabited, and undeveloped, it is used as a training field for the city guard, especially the gryphon riders. There are some crude barracks and stables constructed here, but almost all consumable needs (water, food, etc) need to be brought by the troops when they come for periods of training.

U. Ancro Pillar - This pillar sat empty for the first 200 years of the city's history, but eventually Ancro the Summoner came and established the magical school of conjuration and summoning, called the "Demesne of Planar Knowledge and Magical Petitioning". This pillar, and the school, in contrast to the remainder of the city, are always surrounding by swirling black clouds. The remainder of the pillar, aside from the school of magic, is given over to feudal peasants that serve the school, tending little patches of gardens and penned animals. The small number of craftsmen that are required to support the activities of the school are also here.

Lass Indol - people of the four seasons

The Lass Indol were a people from out of the west that worshiped the four seasons, and had a matriarchal culture based heavily on music, and magic based on music. It is suspected that the Skalds of the Storm King barbarians have a lot in common with the poet-sorcerers of the Lass Indol.  Over the centuries, these folks, although retaining a marked preference for music, have slowly been assimilated into Westroner culture.  Even their own deities (actually personifications of the seasons) were adopted into the Westron church, as demigods associated with Corrise (the Goddess of Agriculture).  The four demigods are Neuvirra Oss (demigoddess of Spring and Planting), Elongar Suu (demigoddess of Summer and Growth), Olimo Vis (demigoddess of Autumn and the Harvest), and Frigia Nor (demigoddess of Winter and of Feasting).

The Corrisan branch of the Westron Church maintains cathedrals to the four demigods.  The cathedral of Frigia Nor is located in Werms.