Bright Iron Fastness - River Jarl Steading (3)

The current Jarl of Bright Iron is called Garret Fingolsson.  His name is a curious one for a Storm King barbarian - since it includes a Westroner first name, but it was the name his father (Fingol the Just) gave him.

Old Fingol Olavson (called Trollbane in his youth) was visited by wandering priests of the Order of Brother Rudiger.  It was in his youth, shortly after his father, Olav, died.  In order to secure the Steading, young Fingol had to fight and kill his father's brothers (one of which was nicknamed Ymir the Troll, which is where Fingol's nickname of Trollbane came from).

After this family feud was over, however, a traveling Brother of the Order of Brother Rudiger had come out of the Shadow Woods to the east.  Single handedly, the traveling priest had crossed the Blood Veldt, surviving the Sword People, and had come to Bright Iron to preach the virtues of hearth safety and home protection for the poor and down trodden.  The message resonated with Fingol, and he converted from the faith of his fathers (reverence for the Storm King), to this new strange religion of the Three Goddesses.  In so doing, he also began to mimic Westroner culture and Westroner ways.

Fingol waged war on his neighbors who sought to wipe out his ways, and his people that abandoned the old culture.  In this he was not only relentless, but also quite successful.  His smaller but persistent fleet had waged war on the many trading vessels from Seawyrm, an he also raided the Orc Clans to the south east of Bright Iron.  He held an uneasy peace for many years with the woman warriors from the steading of the River Raven.  The money and treasure that his successful campaigns won him were spent on building a large, fine castle of pure white stone, brought from far south on barges up the Greywater river.  This castle, in stone, is unlike the steadings of the other River Jarls, and more closely resembles a fine stone castle of a wealthy Westroner barony.  Naming it Bright Iron Fastness, it his spiry towers toped with sharp peaks made of the curious Bright Iron, or star metal, that is found in some of the quarries in the area.

Bright Iron Fastness - with its towers skytopped in star metal.

This is the world that Garret Fingolsson was born into, and now rules over.  His is a curious mix of traditional Storm King culture, with some of the behaviors, values, and trappings of more typical Westroner culture.  Officially, his "court" speaks Westron, and writes all official documents in Westschrift.  Unofficially, many of the common people (and some higher up on the social scale) speak Destrikking.  Few remain, however, who can read and write the Ainark Runes.

Garret actually tries to foster the home and hearth life style that is common to the Order of Brother Rudiger, which means supporting agriculture and homesteading more than blood feuds and viking raids.  He has a strong fyrd, however, with a loyal corps of huscarls, that are constantly engaged in warfare against the Orc Clans, and occasional freebooters from the other Storm King steadings.

Immediately southeast of Bright Iron, just on the outskirts of the tended agricultural lands under the protection of Jarl Garret's fyrdmen, lay the lands of the Stone Houses.  The Stone Houses are curious round structures, long since out of use by their original inhuman builders, made of stacked stones.  The are similar to a Broch, or round house, that is built by some of the distant Storm King barbarians, however the roofs are all long since rotted off, and some of the stone walls are crumbling. What is curious about the structures, is that they are built for giant beings.  Larger than an ogre, whomever it was that first peopled these stone houses must have been of a great stature, perhaps 15 feet tall?  The typical stone house (as pictured below) has a first story that is partially underground, and then usually two more stories above that, and a peaked roof.  Sometimes the roofs are present (when they were made out of slate or other stone) and sometimes they are long gone (when they were made out of material that would have rotted with age, such as wood or thatch).  The typical structure is approximately 70 tall (at the peak of the roof), and about 80' across the base, at ground level.  Of course, there is variation, so some exist that are taller or shorter, and either bigger or smaller around.

For a long time, back before the Elves retreated to the Seely realms, the early humans in this region would commune with the spirits that haunt the stone houses, learning much from them.  Then they began using the stone houses as hallowed places of the honored dead - depositing chieftains, warriors and shamans among the stone buildings, and decorating them with fine implements and ornaments made of all types of fine metals.  The number of ghosts and spirits in the area grew and grew.  For generations, however, it has been avoided by most people, reputed to be a place of horrible fetches and liches, and other undead beings.

Cutaway of a Stone House - for scale, consider the inhabitants to be 15' feet tall.

During the reign of Fingol, those in the steading that were stubborn about giving up the reverence of the Storm King and his court were slowly identified and either forced to adopt the religion of the Church (of the Three Goddesses), or they were driving out of the steading.  A large number of traditional skalds (bards) and priests of the Storm King (even joined by worshipers of Helgor, the Black Chieftain) sought refuge and shelter among the Stone Houses.  Some of these were infected by the otherworldly beings living there, and became a particularly ghastly type of undead being known as a Helgorfiend. These beings are enraged when confronted by living people (human or otherwise), and will attack viciously (even suicidally) on sight.  They will attempt to bite the poor victims, and in so doing have a chance to convert them to Helgorfiend as well.  Stats will come in a future posting.

This Steading is very close to the area, in the Sildur Reaches, known as The Scorch, and it has some ties to the men of this holding.  Very important ties.

Modern Languages

Many characters in a game will have access to multiple languages, and I think it is only fair to enumerate them for the setting.

Far and away, the most common language for Humans (and those dwelling with them) in the Valley is Westron.  This language is a modern variant of the original language spoken by the Human settlers who came into the Valley from the west.  The language has changed over the past 1500 years quite a bit, and when written word and documents are encountered written in the original form, it is referred to as Old Westron (generally not understandable by speakers of the modern language - like old english, there may be a few word similarities, but no fluency could be expected).  There is a written form that is very similar to our roman letters, called Westschrift.

Destrikking - This is the language of the Storm King tribes, although it is frequently called the "Northern Tongue".  The written form is in runes called the Ainark Runes.  Following a storyline of something written in Ainark would be difficult, but it is perfectly suited for recording spells and also associating great deeds with the names of heroes.

Holab - This is the language of the tribes of the Sun King, in its basic form.  There are two very different dialects, which we will call Eastern Holab, and Western Holab.  Details on the Sun King tribes will be coming soon, but for now just remember that those speaking Eastern Holab want to kill you and remove your organs for sacrifice.  Those peaking Western Holab want to kill you and eat strips of your flesh in order to capture your magic.  Clearly a travelogue, with lots of cheerful drawings and translation of common phrases would increase tourism in the area.  While both languages are mutually exclusive in spoken form, they share the same written language, which is very simple and not capable of conveying any nuance.  Sun King tribal wizards and shamans will usually employ some complex method of recording magical spells that involves complex knotted strings with hollowed out stones of different colors on the mesh the strings form.

Elves have a traveling language that they employ exclusively (when not speaking a Human tongue) while in the Valley, at least Wood Elves and High Elves.  They call it Eldarin and it differs from the language of Faery that they speak while in the Seelie Realms.  In an effort to mark their departure from Seelie culture entirely, the Gray Elves have their own tongue, which is completely different, it is called Elanarif.  Both of these have their own written form. It is considered highly heretical for an Elf to use the language of the Seelie Realm on this side of their portals.

The Dark Elves have their own language, as well, called Mortiggo it incorporates some languages of Goblyn (see below), and any words it has for surface geographical features (such as Tree, Mountain, Grass, etc) come from Eldarin.  The Dark Elves have a complex runic written form, called Mortine Runes.

The Dwarves have a language of their own, which they call Ardspeke.  It is written as Ardrunes.  Gnomes have a different spoken language, known as Kurakka Kurad, but it borrows the Dwarven runes for its written form.

The Goblyn races (Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Ogres, Hobgoblins, etc) each have their own racial tongue, although there is a simple lingua franca used amongst them that is simply called Goblyn Speech, or sometimes referred to as the Black Tongue.  It exists in a very crude runic form, called Goblyn Runes.

Forest Folk usually will speak Westron, as will Halflings.

Giants will speak a confused mashup of Westron and Goblyn Speech, except for Frost Giants, which speak the Northern tongue exclusively.

Dragons do not speak modern languages.

The Saurian Races (Lizard Men, Kobolds, Yuan Ti, Turtle Folk, etc.) speak a language called Saurial (it is difficult for mammalian mouths to pronounce).  Their written language is mostly a simple script of horizontal and vertical scratches.  Much of their knowledge (as it is) is transmitted by unspoken low frequency sounds, and the same is true for spell casters of this race.  They will record spells by committing the instructional form of them to memory as a simple song played on a drum or flute, and accompanied by what sounds like a guttural humming or moaning.  This is repeated when a saurian spell caster needs to re-memorize a spell, or teach it to another.

Orcs - Recommended

The first two parts of this series:
1. Orcs - Considered
2. Orcs - Defended

Made the case that Orcs are not only popular and useful, but a good opponent for adventurers.

I will go one step further and recommend that you use them in a game, very soon.

First, there are a lot of orc resources available. If you don't have the miniatures to use, then these paper figures are an excellent resource. As are these, by the same artist. If you would like to include allies for your orcs, then there are also goblin figures and kobold figures.

Second, there are great online dungeon and treasure generators. If you want excellent, free, maps of dungeons and castles - and any other encounter location - then you could do much worse than to check the online Map archive at the Wizards of the Coast website.

Now, take your dungeon, with treasures. Add some traps (difficulty to find and disarm appropriate to the level of the scenario, and also to the likelihood of a thief being with the players). More if you like them. A couple of magic fountains, and some interesting dungeon flora and fauna (fungus with magic effects; natural dungeon dwellers such as bats, giant ticks, stirges, or other party guests) should round out things nicely. Help from AEG's Toolbox, or the (most excellent) 1st Ed. AD&D DM's Guide, or the new Engineering Dungeons title from Troll Lord games should all help.

Once the basic environment is set, then you can add your orcs. Lots of them. In interesting and diabolical combinations. Have a good half dozen or more per populated room (about 50-70% of the rooms should have some sort of challenge in it - either a monster, some orcs, or a puzzle/trap). Make the Orcs have a level approximately 1-2 HD lower than the players. If you need lesser creatures, then a subservient tribe of orcs, or lower caste orcs, or some of the lesser beings - such as goblins or kobolds can be used.

When placing the orcs in the dungeon rooms, and setting up the architecture of the rooms, consider it a challenge. The Orcs aren't stupid, and are quite martial minded, and they would set up all sorts of defensive mechanisms. So you have a few trapped hallways? The orcs should know the way around. They can dig (in a fashion) and if taking up a semi-permanent residence in a dungeon complex, they would set all sorts of traps, ambush points, and escape tunnels. In other words make it a Challenge for the players.

Example Room:

43 - This room once served as the meditation room for the priestess of lolth who built the dungeon. It contains some lovely tapestries on the wall with Drow artwork and motiffs in the designs (very heavy, but worth approx 900gp to a collector). The room has a stone gargoyle carved in the north wall, with a fountain flowing out. The water in the fountain is magical, and will serve to immaculately clean any metal implement (and restore it to perfect working condition - sharp, repaired, shined) that is placed in it. In the room, seated at a heavy wooden table, in chairs that were once upholstered, are four orc warriors {4HD, 25hp, AC16, +6 to hit, broadsword (init+8, dam2d4+3)}. Around the upper level of the room, on the east and west walls there are small eyeslits that can be viewed from the gallery level of the third level of the dungeon (rooms 32 and 34). There might be anywhere between 4 and 8 goblin archers {1HD, 5hp, AC13, +2 to hit, short bow (init+6, ROF2, dam1d6)} on each side. In a hollow compartment of one of the table legs there is a potion of heroism and a map through the ankheg maze on level 6.

The Heroes in the game are tough enough. So when designing a challenging adventure, make it nasty, make it fun, and make it surprising. I recommend the orcs. If they aren't enough, toughen them up with magic, bugbears, or trolls. Yeah, trolls. ooooooh.....

Tags: orcs

Orcs - Defended

Orcs are cooler. Nuff sed.

Here are some stats (increasingly levels of interest) of orc warriors. Note these use the houserules from our C&C campaign - which means weapon specialization, advanced initiative rules, and non-weapon proficiencies

1st Level - warrior
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1HD 6HP AC15 (scale mail and shield), broadsword (+2, 3/2 att, init+6, 2d4+2dam), throwing axe (+1, rng10, init+4, 1d6dam) saves:Phys, skills: fire building, direction sense, language(common), animal lore

3rd Level - hunter
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3HD 18HP AC16 (scale mail, shield, dex), short bow (+6, rng60ft, 2 att, init+6, 1d6+1dam), large mace (+4, init+8, 1d10+1dam), dagger (+4, init+2, 1d4+1dam), saves:Phys, skills: tracking, running, bowyer/fletcher, language(common)

5th Level - mercenary
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5HD 30HP AC16 (steel breastplate, dex), flamberge (+7, 3/2 att, init+8, 2d4+6dam), hvy crossbow (+6, 1/2 att, init+10, 1d10+1dam), battle axe (+6, init+6, 1d8+2dam), saves:Phys, skills: riding, gaming, weather sense, direction sense, language(common)

7th Level - captain
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7HD 49HP AC18 (full chain, shield, dex), long sword (+10, 2 att, init+6, 1d8+4dam), godentag (+9, 3/2 att, init+6, 1d6+5dam), saves:Phys, skills: healing, language(common), rope use

Tags: orcs

Orcs - Considered

Orcs are probably one of the favorite races in mine (and most people's) Roleplaying (see my article below about the Extensive influence Tolkien has had on my gaming history). Bad guys, foils, cheap sword-fodder - sure, but they are also a fascinating thing to consider. Imagine a race that is (perhaps) created as a shadow of other more gifted races; have a short lifespan; dwell in the nastier parts of the world; are not gifted with magic, intelligence, nor culture; live and die by the sword alone. Could such a race exist? I mean, outside of Stalinist era Russia.

I have portrayed them (and seen them portrayed) as elemental embodiments of filth and hatred; as a variation on Neanderthal man; as anti-Elves; as just another fantastic humanoid "why-can't-we-all-get-along" race; and as the comic relief bad guys that pale before the true evil (as in the Warhammer universe). I believe I will continue with my strange mix of perhaps the first three concepts I listed above. Some sort of embodiment of filth - a primitive sort of man with stone age abilities thrust into an age of iron - and the antithesis of the harmonious and magical Fey folk.

One last thought - a great old friend of mine summed them up thus: "An orc is often not encountered unless he (and it almost always males encountered, outside of a lair is performing some task for the tribe - be it scouting, hunting or raiding. Even the practice of exiling the weaklings serves the tribe - for it continually tests the lands bordering the tribe for their strength to contain stray orcs. A patrol of orcs is a cunning, animalistic machine that seeks the best advantage against any foe, and will seek to strip all manner of weapons, armor, food, goods, and wealth - all the while reveling in the most brutal techniques of taking these. On the other hand, an army of orcs is a fearsome sight - it is the whole tribe, on the move, for the single purpose of accomplishing some fearsome martial feat. Destruction of a neighbor, establishing a new tribal home, or performing the bidding of some stronger, charismatic ally - these are but a few of the possible motives that a tribe could have for going to war. As it represents the life of the tribe - for all of the warriors (the strength of the tribe, and also its ability to recreate and propagate) are involved, and the stakes in this game are life and death. The next level of organization - a host of tribes - is almost too terrible to consider, when one thinks of the effects it would have on a civilized land."

Hail the filthy orc, my friends, and do not underestimate him.

Tags: orc, tolkien, Za Frumi