This is the last of the major part of the work; the rest is going to be monster stats and races. Then I'm not sure if I should do "Blood and Sunshine: Grel and Pixie Faeries" or "The High Cantons: Vrykarr Mountains, Jendasha-Jenshyta River Valley, and Rokk Woodlands." I am open to suggestions of preferences as to which to do first.
Slaves of the Goblins
Who are the slaves in the goblin kingdoms? The majority are humans, orcs, and half-orcs, with kobolds, halflings, bugans, and fieri filling up much of the remainder. Most of the humans are of Dejy or Brandobian stock, though there are some from the Young Kingdoms or further away, while orcs are split between the common orcs (either captured in war or sold by their chiefs) and gray orcs, who are war captives. Some have been slaves for generations, much as the ragged dwarves have. More dangerous slaves, such as bugbears or ogres, are often quickly used to death, as the cowardly goblins try to avoid keeping anything so dangerous. Elves and gnomes seldom survive long when enslaved by goblins.
Slaves are put to whichever uses the goblins can find for them. Some are moderately skilled craftsmen, trained by goblins and other slaves, turning out weapons and tools for the goblins. Others labor in mines, farms, smelters, or even as pack beasts for goblin caravans beneath the ground. A group of lower goblins, or a single higher goblin, might purchase a body slave, whose job is to tend to their master’s gear, prepare their food, and provide warmth and entertainment in whichever way their master(s) decide. Access to female goblins is strictly controlled by more senior goblins; access to slaves belongs to whoever owns the slave, or can usurp ownership from them by force.
Goblins use their slaves hard. Work is brutal, with no safety precautions taken. Food and warmth are rationed out parsimoniously, and any food the slaves produce for themselves (many will attempt to grow food for themselves, especially fungi, or catch rats and other vermin) may be confiscated at any time by their masters, or stolen by other slaves. Since their masters are goblins, and frequently incredibly lazy, the slave may find themselves with a second job; in addition to whatever work they are directed in, they may wind up providing more food for the goblins’ table.
Slaves that are part of a work crew are often monitored by several goblins; in a mine or a farm, three or four goblins may oversee ten or twelve slaves. The goblins might lounge, play games, or fight among themselves while the slaves work, or they might be involved in sensitive work that they do not wish to hand over to a slave. In the goblin kingdom, there are massive numbers of idle goblins whose “work” amounts to telling a slave to do something, and beating the slaves if the work is not done fast enough.
Slave revolts are common, but usually limited in scope. There is often at least one revolt every year somewhere in the kingdom, most often led by miners or others whose tools of daily work can be turned easily to weapons. Since goblin overseers are inattentive, lazy, and brutal, it takes little more than one misplaced beating for slaves to begin a revolt against their masters, bashing goblin heads with picks and claiming shields and swords for themselves. After a few days of rioting, enough other goblins will gather so the revolt can be put down. The punishments of city goblins are seldom directly fatal, but their devotion to the Flaymaster may make many rebels wish that they were. Slaves will be beaten and broken, then forced back to work. If leaders can be identified, they may be subject to especial and public torture, directed by the local priest of the House of Shackles and performed by a priest of the Order of Agony. These object lessons excite the goblins, but are meant to instruct the slaves who witness them against future uprisings.
Slaves, it should be noted, are distinct from client-races, though only barely. A slave is owned by a goblin, and is subject to the whims of their owner. There is no punishment for torturing a slave to death, unless the slave was unusually useful. The client-races, such as halflings and some humans, are not owned, but instead owe fealty to a chief or captain. Client villages are largely self-governing, though frequently with a massive tax burden, but do have some rights against unwarranted molestation. Depending on the chief, what counts as “unwarranted” molestation can vary quite a bit, and reparations are seldom paid if a chief decides it was unwarranted; the aggrieved must be content with revenge.
The role of the ragged dwarves and vermii deserves special mention, however. Ragged dwarves do not take part in riots, and evacuate as soon as they begin. Though technically slaves, they are treated more as a client race, just with few rights, except as determined by their usefulness. The dwarven reputation as smiths and miners, and the goblin love of torturing them, helps to protect them from some of the abuses other slaves suffer. But, they are adept at ensuring that riots happen and are at least briefly successful. If put to making chains, they may work in weak links. They make sure tools will be adequate weapons, share rumors of abuse, and froth up hatred of the goblins at every turn. More overt actions, they leave to the vermii; slave rebellions will receive food and supply through vermii boltholes, ratmen thieves will plant weapons and assassinate counter-revolt leaders, and, occasionally, start a revolt themselves by pinning crimes upon slaves. Almost anything is justified in their war against the goblins.
Cities in Brief
Orichalcum - The largest and best-preserved of the cities is Orichalcum, the former capital of K’Ran’da, and the current capital of the Goblin Kingdom. The center of the broken wheel of the kingdom, Orichalcum is home to two hundred thousand goblins, and more than fifty thousand slaves. Its status as capital is titular, but, depending on the king, sometimes only notional; some kings, chiefs from other cities, will stay in their home city, traveling to Orichalcum only at need. Other chiefs, with grand notions of empire and overestimations of their support, have opted to travel the kingdom, and often been killed on the way.
The King’s Palace is of dwarven make, a carved column in the middle of a shallow lake. The lake is carefully tended by a single tribe, and zealously protected against pollution. From the lake, they take fish, crustaceans, and mussels, and they maintain the ferries which bring the king and chiefs across the lake. This tribe is carefully neutral in kingdom politics; their only concern is the lake, and those who befoul it may find themselves challenged. There are occasional rumors that the tribe may be heretical, worshiping The Bear or the Mother of Elements, or perhaps some shamanistic cult, but many of the kings protect them, and no proof has ever been found.
Orichalcum is also notable as it has the only open temple of the Landlord. He is allowed shrines in other cities, but the temple in Orichalcum stands in the center of the market. The Profiteers have made a name for themselves for fair weights and measures, as well as buying surplus at cheap prices and hoarding it against future needs; jerked and salted fungus is no one’s idea of a great meal, but it travels well and positions the Profitmaker for riches if rapid mobilization is needed. They are frequently on the lookout for slaves with a talent for accountancy and salesmanship, and some of their slaves are even ordained, though never above Apprentice in temple rank.
Iron - The northern city of Iron is a mining town, its shallow roof made lower by the smoke from the smelters. Near the headwaters of the Omdal river in Cosdol, the land around their entrances is heavily logged and pockmarked with charcoal heaps. Goblins from the city darken their skin and hair with charcoal dust, making them appear black. Iron also has forges, and is home to a third of the ragged dwarves, who labor building tools and weapons for the goblins from the time they are very young; it’s not unusual to see youths of twenty or thirty years old working the bellows, while even younger dwarves may be running water or messages. These three concerns; mining, smelting, and smithing; are each controlled by a separate tribe, with exterior operations (food and charcoal production) controlled by a fourth. The four tribes hate each other intensely, and lesser tribes roughly ally with one of the four, changing alliances as suits them or lost challenges demand. Challenges between the tribes are quite common. The Field of Iron, an old dwarven ampitheater, is the traditional venue for inter-tribal challenges in the city, especially involving sergeants or above. The Field is littered with chunks of masonry and is a treacherous field to contest, but it makes for exciting betting.
Silver - Silver, which stands on the border with the Lady of the Webs and her kingdom of spiders and kobolds, is a frequently uneasy place. Kobold traders are common, and the smelters of Silver work for hire to the kobolds as frequently as they do producing goblin silver. The goblins here also deal often in silk, produced by spiders and woven by Dejy slaves taken from the Broad River Valley. Goblin chiefs looking to reward followers or favor certain she-goblins travel to Silver to take part in their markets; some of the ragged dwarves there maintain the skills of whitesmiths, coded in games and stories, and passed by word of mouth. A rare potable available in Silver is kobold wine. Made with grapes from the Broad River Valley and given an extra kick with spider venom, it provides a potent high and can induce visions.
***
Sidebar: Kobold Vision Wine
Kobold Vision Wine can induce true visions, if taken in large quantities and one is very lucky. After three drinks of the brew, roll d20p, with only the Mental Saving Throw modifier from Wisdom added (no level or other bonuses). If the total exceeds 40 (requiring several penetrations), then the drinker is granted a single answer to a single question as if they had cast the clerical spell Commune with Higher power. If the total does not exceed 40, they will still receive a vision related to a question they have, but the vision will only be correct accidentally. The GM should make this roll in secret, and probably toss a couple d6s to obfuscate whether or not the d20 penetrated. Each glass is 10sp.
***
Copper - Standing in the southeast, Copper is practically a second capital. Expansion into the Durimdar River Valley and Shashyf Hills means that a good portion of goblin wealth flows through the city before travelling to Orichalcum. Several recent kings have made their de facto capital in Copper, but the pull of Orichalcum usually draws their successors back. There are not many ragged dwarves in Copper, but those that escape the kingdom usually do so through the Copper Gates.
During the fall of K’Ran’da, Copper suffered a partial cave-in. Never far from the surface, there is now a shaft of sunlight that falls into the city on certain mornings, and the air is much fresher due to this link to the outside. One result is that wargs feel far more comfortable here, and a quarter of the city, near where that shaft of light will fall, is given over to wargs. The Wolfen Quarter, as it is known, has a small garden of grass and plants for those wargs who want to walk on something other than stone for a while. The garden is maintained by a captive dryad; her tree grows in the center of the garden, and while she is frequently harassed by wargs and goblins looking for sport, she is prevented from acting too openly in anything but self-defense by threats of fire to her tree.
Because of its location, Copper is something of a frontier town, with the attendant problems. Those goblins who have been living wild in the Shashyf Hills for months find their first taste of civilization back in Copper, and so much of the market is given over to alcohol, prostitution, and bloodsports. Any goblin with serious business will push on to Orichalcum; any goblin looking to make a quick pound of silver will set up in Copper. Unsurprisingly, there’s an active House of Vice in Copper.
Platinum - Nearest to Lake Vrasten on the surface, Platinum is the smallest city, and also home to the only school of magery in the Goblin Kingdom. Small, but with great influence, goblin mages are forbidden to challenge non-mages, but are likewise protected from challenge. The school sits in the old dwarven magical school of Platinum, but has only a score of “serious” students (i.e. mages and sorcerers) at any one time. More common are fighter/mages, mage/thieves, demi-sorcerers, and witch doctors, of which there may be up to one hundred. These “lesser” students are not members of the tribe that controls the school, but are considered tuition students, paying for the privilege of instruction in the magical arts. Platinum also does a large amount of trade in salt, hauled from the salt flats near Lake Vrasten. Their primary import is food; there are few farms within easy reach of the salt-choked rock of Platinum, and so both Gold and Copper sell their food there.
Gold - Before the growth of Copper, Gold was the breadbasket of the kingdom, and still produces a large amount of food from its halfling-run farms in the river valleys. However, two hundred years ago, the broadway from Gold to Orichalcum was destroyed by some mating titanic worms, and the goblins have not been able to repair it due to the extensive damage and their lackluster engineering. Thus, all Golden commerce must travel through Platinum before reaching Orichalcum. With the increased resources coming in from the Shashyfs through Copper, Gold’s influence has declined.
With that decline in influence has come a decline in its military power, which is disturbing, given its proximity to the morlock regions of the western Krond Heights. Gold’s food supplies now feed a tenuous network of outposts stretching south and east from the kingdom strongholds. These outposts seek to hold back the morlock hordes, and house not only goblin warriors, but what mages they might hire from Platinum.
Gold is also the site of the home temple of the House of Knives. The House of Knives, and its associated guild of clerical and non-clerical assassins, continues to play an important role in goblin society, helping to guide challenges to the most appropriate result, usually by crippling one contestant before the contest begins. They are also active in foreign affairs, however, and the occasional goblin assassin will be dispatched against bugbear, ogre, halfling or human targets in the river valleys. Legend within the House says that one assassin, in days of yore, murdered a giant king, even managing to pin the crime upon another giant.
Tin - Tin lies near the Omdal River, and has the largest population of free non-goblins under its control; ironic, since the Omdal River Valley was the original home of the goblins who became the kingdom. Tin lost influence over the centuries due to several factors. Being the oldest territory, the goblins who remained behind tend to be the less ambitious, and the nearby giant kingdom discourages goblin expansion, while sheltering the goblins from many outside forces. Many halflings and bugans live in the river valley, as do some client-race humans, and a number of bugbears, ogres, and even orcs.
Lacking significant mineral resources, much of Tin’s trade goes to Iron for the products of its forges, but there is some that goes up to the nearby giants. This overwhelmingly agricultural economy has resulted in a small but dedicated cults to The Raiser penetrating goblin society. Originally a dualistic cult that worshiped the Locust Lord as opposite of the Raiser, halfling clerics have slowly moved the cult from appeasing the Locust Lord to actively courting the Raiser. This is, needless to say, highly illegal. While halflings may worship the Raiser themselves, under restrictions, that they are converting some goblins has not yet been revealed to the kingdom and its conjoined church and state hierarchies. If a purge were to happen because of this, the resulting challenges as survivors sorted out the new order, to say nothing of chiefs moving in on newly vacant territory, might strain even the goblin dominance system.
The Vermus War
The Goblin Kingdom has been at war with the ratmen since its creation. As K’Ran’da fell, vermus influence grew in the cities; blocks and quarters were abandoned, becoming a ratman paradise of lost food and sturdy houses filled with junk. The goblins, however, moved in soon after, evicting the ratmen even as they enslaved the remaining dwarves. The ratmen, forced back into burrows and middens, began to fight back against the goblins in the ways a rat might… theft, disease, and assassination. The goblins, violent among themselves and flush with victory, hardly noticed. The Vermus War continues to this day.
Against a human or dwarven foe, the ratmen’s tactics would be devastatingly effective. Their thefts and assassinations disrupt production; poison and disease damage the population, possibly grinding everything to a halt as the disease runs its course. Each dead human or dwarf represents years, possibly decades or even centuries, of experience. Against goblins? The tactics are a hindrance, but not a crippling one. There are simply too many idle goblins, and they are efficient about replacing anyone who can’t hack it; assassinate one, and his replacement steps forward. Poison a work crew and another takes its place. Plague wipes out an entire tribe? There is another tribe eager to step on their corpses. Even the king is disposable when your society is essentially made up of shark teeth… vicious pieces of sharp bone that are replaced the moment they break. The goblins are not as skilled as their human or dwarven counterparts, so less is lost in knowledge, and if you kill a number of slaves (something both the vermii and ragged dwarves have avoided doing to date), then the goblins will go out and steal more. The vermii lack the strength to truly dislodge the goblins, lack the connections to drive other humanoids to attack them, and the ragged dwarves are unable to provide either.
And, so, the vermii snip and snipe. Kill one goblin to slow the pace for a few days. Incite fights through theft. Their greatest successes have largely been accidents, when they’ve located some deep orcish tribe and sent them to war against the goblins, or attracted two worms to mate on the broadway between Gold and Orichalcum (the goal had been to eliminate a single goblin caravan with a worm attack; that the two spent a month digging tunnels and mating, destroying the entire broadway, was an unexpected coup). The goblins, for their part, respond by wiping out vermii nests, which fails to work because the vermii simply move, abandoning one place to scatter to a score of other nests that they have set up in advance; loss of one place affects the vermii slightly less than loss of one goblin does the kingdom.
The new thrust from the vermii has involved the dwerro magicians seeking out dupes in the Netherdeep. Using simple spells such as Disguise and Charm, they learn the ways of the gray orcs and send them into battle against the goblins. A common disguise is of the mythical shadow elves, though many ragged dwarves find they can get the same results by pretending to be a goblin hiring deep orc mercenaries. Schemes that involve stirring up the fungoids have been considered, but no practical way of deceiving the sightless mushroom people has been discovered, yet. Occasional apocalyptic plans about morlock fungus are suggested, but it’s recognized that poisoning a city with morlock fungus may be a tunnel too deep. Dwerro and vermus both hate the goblins, but not quite enough to engage in the wholesale slaughter of their slaves.
No comments:
Post a Comment