Krond Heights and Goblin Deeps: Maps

 

The aboveground areas of the Krond Heights

 

 The underground area of the Krond Heights.

 

Original images are from the Kingdoms of Kalamar Atlas, part of the 4e campaign setting book. 

Krond Heights & Goblin Deeps, Part 11: Slaves, Cities, and Vermii

 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.

 

Krond Heights & Goblin Deeps part 10: The Lady of Webs and the Goblin Kingdom

 The Lady of Webs and the Great Queen’s Region 

North and east of the Goblin Kingdom, and east of the headwaters of the Omdal River, lie the lands claimed by the Lady of Webs and her familiar, the Great Queen. An ancient hag and her gargantuan spider familiar, the two have ruled over the Broad River Valley for centuries. On the surface, they continue a war with the wyrm Spiderslayer, but beneath the Krond Heights, they lead a nation of spiders and kobolds through the darkness. Their goals are somewhat inscrutable, and may have changed over the centuries. 

In the Spider’s Lands, passage is nearly impossible, unless you are a spider or as slight as a kobold. Webs choke many passages, and silk is used as a building material. Influence from the Lady of Webs means that kobold sorcerers and witch doctors are exalted, and that spiders are the most common familiars and enthralled animals; the kobolds even train some of the smaller spiders as humans might train a dog, and ride larger spiders as one might ride a horse. However, the chiefs of their clans are often subservient to the greater spiders; massive and gargantuan spiders who are, themselves, subservient to the Lady of Webs and the Great Queen. 

It is difficult to describe life with omnipresent spiders. Whereas the orcs and Dejy of the Broad River Valley worship and propitiate the spiders, the kobolds of the Deeps simply embrace them. They speak with them. Spiders crawl across kobold’s bodies and they do not notice, unless the spider bites them to request attention. The kobolds themselves are never prey of the spiders among them, and conflict between tribes is resolved between the spiders. Few enter the domain of the Lady of Webs and her consort, but those kobolds who leave are equally disturbing. Goblins have reported searching kobold emissaries or escorts for weapons and finding that their clothes contained egg masses, or that they would poke through blankets and several spiders would spill out and scurry to their kobold, climbing up their bodies without the kobold even blinking. Those goblins who have entered the domain of the Lady of Webs report kobolds riding on the back of spiders, tracking their movement with long spears and bows. When the two realms have clashed, goblin dead left on the field are given to the spiders, then dessicated or filled with a writhing mass of spiderlings. Goblins, superstitious to a fault, loathe the Spider Lands, but the Goblin King knows of deposits of silver and iron in the north, and alternately treats and battles with the Lady of Webs. 
 
*** 
Sidebar: Spider Legs and Bodies 
Gigantic and larger spiders have two different DR numbers, depending on whether one strikes their legs or their body. Their legs are more difficult to damage, and are immune to damage from crushing or piercing weapons. Why would anyone ever strike their legs, then? The answer is reach. If your reach does not exceed the spider’s own (two feet for Gigantic and Massive, three for Gargantuan), then you may only attack the legs. Furthermore, ranged attacks from the flanks allow the body a cover save of 16; if the save succeeds, the missile has struck the legs, instead of the body. Unsurprisingly, spider-hunting is often done with spears or other pole-arms. 
*** 

 The Kingdom Under the Mountain 

 
Built in the ruins of the dwarven kingdom of K’Ran’da, the Goblin Kingdom spans the upper reaches of the Netherdeep beneath the Krond Heights. Its tunnels allow quick passage from the Durimdar river in the Shashyf Hills to the Omdal River above Dorndern in Cosdol in a matter of days in well-patrolled safety, provided you are a goblin of sufficient rank. From its mines flow a wealth of silver, copper, and iron, each ingot stamped with the blood of the slaves whipped to death to produce it. This wealth flows through the region; the goblins use it to purchase slaves from humanoids on both sides of the mountain, to purchase food from the muscheron, even to hire spies to look into the doings of P’Bapar, Cosdol, Korak, and Norga-Krangrel. 

Almost a million goblins, male and female, live within the Krond Heights, under the dominion of the Goblin King, and another half a million slaves; some stolen, some bred for centuries in the dark. Similar to Norga-Krangrel and other humanoid realms, the Goblin Kingdom is capable of incredible mobilization, if necessary; in the event of an invasion, they could field four hundred thousand troops for a few months, with the remaining 20% of their male population staying behind to manage slaves and keep the economy from completely stagnating. 

Government in the kingdom is goblin society writ large. The “king” is a chief of chiefs, as well as the titular head of the House of Shackles and Order of Agony. The chiefs of the various tribes answer to the King, much as a sergeant might answer to a chief. However, the sheer size of the kingdom means that even this level of organization is inadequate; there are hundreds of tribes in the kingdom, and so another layer of organization is imposed, which is the city. Each city is ruled by a single chief, or a council of chiefs, who report to the king. The official religious representatives in each city advise the chief or council, and, sometimes, will take control of it for a time, until a chief comes along to dispute their claim. A chief in a city must answer to the chief of the city, but may choose to challenge him at will.  

Punishments are decided by one’s immediate superior, but failing to impose adequate punishment is, itself, a crime, so punishments for goblins tend to be harsh, though seldom fatal. “The dead do not suffer” is a common phrase among goblins; while humans may take it as an expression of nihilism, goblins use it to remind themselves that if you kill someone, you can’t torture them any further, and so almost killing them is far preferred. Many goblins, when faced with punishment, will challenge their leader’s right to punish them, forcing a dominance challenge. If the goblin wins, then it becomes the responsibility of his new leader to punish him, and he simply may not care; what is against the rules for a private is not necessarily against the rules for a sergeant or a captain. 

 *** 
Sidebar: The Goblin King 
Who is the Goblin King? What month is it? The Goblin Kingdom gains and loses kings quite rapidly, sometimes several in a year; the record is 16 kings in one year, while the longest in the office held it for almost ten years.. In theory, any goblin may, at any time, challenge the king for the crown, just as any goblin may challenge their chief. In practice, those goblins who try but are not deemed worthy will be counter-challenged by his bodyguards, a slightly irregular procedure with lower-ranked goblins, but acknowledged as how things work with the king. In practice, the king only needs to meet challenges of chiefs or those goblins famous enough to be worthy of his time. Since dominance fights are not necessarily to the death, some goblins have been kings on several occasions, replacing their usurpers or another king down the line. 
*** 
 
Approximately half of these goblins live in smaller communities in the hinterlands, near smelters or mines, farms or military outposts. The rest live in the fabled Seven Cities of the Dwarves, the Jewels of K’Ran’da, each named for a dwarven precious metal. Iron, Copper, Tin, Silver, Gold, and Platinum surround the capital, Orichalcum. Broad roads carved long ago connect the cities, with Orichalcum at the hub, Iron at the north Silver to the northeast (closest to the Broad River Valley), Copper to the southeast (near the Shashyf Hills and the Durimdal River Valley), Platinum to the south, Gold to the southwest, and Tin to the northwest. That there was a spindle of Iron and Platinum, and that the other two pairs formed alloys with their opposite (bronze and electrum) was of deep significance to the dwarves; there was a balance based on usefulness and harmony, with iron at the top and nigh-unmeltable platinum as a base. In the middle was the mythical Orichalcum, the metal of metals. Many of the broadways have fallen in the intervening centuries; the road between Silver and Copper collapsed with the fall of K’Ran’da, Gold is connected only to Platinum, and much of the path between Iron and Silver belongs to the Lady of Webs and her spiders. 

 The cities are massive caverns, holding tens of thousands of goblins, slaves, and allies. Where they have been maintained or repaired, water flows to most of the buildings from a lake or river through a system of aqueducts; where they have fallen into disrepair, the cities may be dry or partially flooded. Waste might be taken away by sewers, or back up into the streets, or fall into a cesspool inhabited by muck men and stercuses. Giant flies buzz through the skies; some carrying goblin riders, others simply carrying disease. The walls glisten with respirating slime molds, and colonies of glowing fungus provide a constant dim light through much of the city. Rooftop prowlers haunt the ruins, rats the size of dogs may roam the street, and vermii scuttle through shadows. 

City goblins squat in dwarven buildings or construct ramshackle shanty-towns amidst their rubble. Lacking the art of the dwarves, the goblins’ own buildings are ugly blocks; functional, but only for their original function. Many of the lowest live in tents, and slaves are often kept in open pens or broken buildings. Filth accumulates everywhere, to the point where cleanliness is suspicious, indicating that a giant amoeba might have come through. Larger buildings may keep an amoeba for waste disposal, giving them just enough space for fission, then killing the offspring; more common is to simply dump waste in the street, reasoning that the slaves will get it. It would be a fire hazard, if the primary building material were not broken stones. 

At one time, the cities had well-organized layouts, with different quarters given over to different clans or guilds; now, the only remains of that organization is the tribal structure of goblins, with each chief claiming the most choice territory he is able to keep, erecting what facilities his tribe needs, and ceding that territory when a superior chief comes to the fore, abandoning facilities that may then fall to ruin. Knowing where one is going in the cities is less a matter of Cartography than Current Affairs; who has access to clean water and solid housing, and who is contributing to the maze of tents and shanties in the outer rubble. 

There are only two constants in organization: The King’s Hall, and the Market. Frequently on opposite sides of the city, the King’s Hall is where administrative tasks under the authority of the king will happen. Most often, this is a meeting place for the chiefs in a given city, where the king’s representatives will confer with the city’s chief’s and give them directives and hear their grievances. Formal challenges for higher ranks (captain or above, plus any challenge that demands neutral territory) will happen at these locations, and there’s often a bookie nearby to take bets. 

 The Market will be where individual goblins spend what coin they have, but also a place for goblins wielding authority (theirs or a master’s) to negotiate larger trades of goods. While many chiefs will prefer to be self-sufficient, the fact remains that few in the cities will have the breadth of resources under their command to maintain complete autonomy (something that the king seldom allows). So, chiefs with significant agricultural holdings will seldom have mines and smelters, those with mines and smelters may not have many craftsgoblins, and those with significant numbers of blacksmiths may have to outsource much of their leatherworking. This interconnectedness of the goblin economy keeps power from concentrating in the hands of a few chiefs, and kings have, in the past, destroyed or disabled chiefs who were able to gather too much independence. 

Like human markets, there will be a variety of goods. Raiders may sell excess weapons, slaves, or booty. If a slave has a special talent, their output might be sold, as will the work of enterprising goblins of all levels. Goblin liquor is truly foul (they use urine to regulate pH in the process), but a popular hobby among city goblins, and more than a few slaves will be prostituted for coin. Since most goblins are illiterate, there’s no market for parchment or ink; the few mages and clerics who require such things will frequently have arrangements with those who produce them, rather than gathering them at the market. Goblins do not mint coins, but copper and silver are relatively common, and are traded by weight. 

There are temples to the major faiths in each city, and a variety of shrines, totems, and chapels, as well, dedicated to a variety of deities. The House of Shackles always maintains the most prominent temple, prefering to usurp a dwarven temple to the Founder or The True and pervert it to their own ends. The Order of Agony, always more concerned with the lives of the average goblin, tends to have a number of shrines throughout the city, while the House of Knives will have a single, well-located but not ostentatious, temple in a well-fortified building. Other temples will scatter themselves throughout a city, vying for supremacy among themselves, while shamanic shrines and underground cults will have more humble (or entirely secret) locations. 

***

Hopefully, I won't forget a week this time! 

Krond Heights and Goblin Deeps, Part 9: History, Mushroom, and people on Mushrooms

 Going underground, this is the first part of the section on the Netherdeep, covering the history of the Goblin Kingdom, and the Muscheron Colonies, and the Morlock areas

History 
More than five thousand years ago, the dwarves of the Northern Mountains founded K’Ran’da, the first dwarven kingdom. Deep beneath the peaks of what they called the K’Ran’Da Heights, they hewed a kingdom out of rock, and secured it against goblins, orcs, giants, and the horrors of the deep. They farmed the valleys, raised their families, and ignored the growing threats around them, secure in their mountain homes. 

After four thousand years, K’Ran’da fell, for reasons not entirely clear today. The vermii hold that they were attacked by goblins, backed by demons, and the subsequent history of K’Ran’da certainly bears out that goblins were involved, but it is not clear that they were the instigators of the destruction, or merely its beneficiaries. Regardless, by 500 B.I.R. (Before Imperial Reckoning), the dwarven kingdom of K’Ran’da had fallen, its people enslaved to the nascent Goblin Kingdom. 

The goblins, at first owning only a single city and the farmlands outside, began a campaign to conquer the old dwarven territory. The decline of the dwarven kingdom had left the morlocks, the muscheron, the deep orcs, and the vermus in strong positions, occupying many of the cities. Others fell to vermin, such as stercuses, muck men, and spiders. Dwarven slaves, left from the conquest of K’Ran’da, were worked to death in the cities of their ancestors, until circa 50 B.I.R., when human and halfling explorers from Brandobia came to the river valleys of the K’Ran’da Heights, which the goblin accent rendered “Krond Heights”. They established themselves in the mountains, first under the protection of the giants, then the halflings joining the goblins. Still, however, the goblins remained in the Krond Heights, and did not expand into former dwarven territory in the Shashyfs. 

Early in the Imperial Reckoning, hobgoblin attacks against Eastern Brandobia increased. As the hobgoblins pushed down from the Heights, they encountered the Goblin Kingdom, and brought it into the empire of Kruk-ma-kali, formally founded in 22 IR with the defeat of Eastern Brandobia. According to goblin histories, the hobgoblins treated the goblins intolerably, ignoring the rights and privileges that should have belonged to the goblin king and his subordinates, leading to Kruk-ma-kali’s assassination by goblins from the House of Knives in 35 IR, and the dissolution of the Empire. 

One effect of Kruk-ma-Kali’s empire was that the goblins began to look outside of their kingdom under the Krond Heights. They began to reclaim dwarven ruins and positions in the Shashyf Hills, clashing with Bylenjy Dejy and orcs of the Green Scourge. This fresh source of slave labor reinvigorated the goblin economy, and may have saved the remains of the K’Ran’dan dwarves from extinction, as new sources of labor allowed some of the population stress to be removed from them. 

More than five hundred years later, this is still much the situation. Goblin expansion has been focused on the Shashyf Hills, and their long-running war with the Green Scourge orcs is drawing to a close with the Scourge’s conversion to the Blood Drinker tribe and withdrawal across the Ghokhaagr River. The balance of power remains with the giants aboveground, but the giants have not exerted power against the goblins in the river lowlands. To the north, there is a back and forth of dente and aggression between the Goblin Kingdom and the Lady of the Webs and her spider and kobold minions, plus the depredations of morlocks, orcs, and other deep dwellers. South of the Goblin Kingdom, much of the Deeps remains wilderness, the 
domain of wild orcs, muscheron, and other creatures, with only occasional goblin scouting parties. 
 
The Muscheron Colonies 
While not a cohesive force, nor a collective power, the fungoids are counted by the goblins as being a “friendly state”; one which does not need conquering, because they’re doing everything the goblins want by simply existing and trading, but who wither and die if forced into goblin service. Somewhat bizarre and grotesque by demihuman standards, the fungoids respect the boundaries agreed to by the goblins, and their splintered nature means that they do not perceive a threat to the whole if the goblins are forced to move against one of their clade; there’s no sense of community between fungoids of different species. 

The muscheron have no defined territories; each colony is sovereign, and maintains its own tunnels and caverns. Some grow in the ruins of old dwarf outposts, others in natural caves, or in water-cut tunnels and near underground lakes. In travelling the network of tunnels left by dwarves, titanic worms, and other industrious burrowers, one might come across a fungoid colony practically anywhere the sun does not reach. Most are not immediately hostile, but are wary, and they do not like hacking weapons being wielded. 

Communicating with the muscheron colonies is a bit of a difficulty. They do not speak, and do not properly “hear”, as goblins think it, and each species has its own language, only parts of which can be sensed by non-fungoids. Over the centuries, a sign language called “Mushroom” has developed that most muscheron employ when dealing with goblins. It incorporates relatively large movements of the body, along with thumps on the ground or chest, hums, and other non-verbal vibrations as emphasis. Goblin diplomats frequently learn Mushroom, and those who deal extensively with one colony will learn some of their language. 
 
*** 
Sidebar: Talking Mushrooms 
Most Muscheron languages take place in a way that it is difficult for humanoids and demi-humans to detect or participate in. Can you thump on the floor with an exact strength with your foot? The exact strength needed being determined by the composition of the floor, which you also detected with your feet? Can you adequately spread your gills so they express shock? Tip your headcap slightly to indicate disbelief? Non-fungoids attempting to understand muscheron languages take a -25% penalty to their skill, and those attempting to speak it take a -50% penalty to their skill; someone with less than a 25% is learning the language, and can recognize that language is happening, but knows nothing about what is said, except in very basic circumstances. Mushroom, the language developed to facilitate communication with the Muscheron, imposes no such penalty, but it also faces many of the same limitations of Merchant’s Tongue; its vocabulary and scope are somewhat limited by the simplicity necessary to make it intelligible across the cultural and physiological divide. 
*** 
 
Another communication problem comes from culture. While most of the fungoids do not have a proper hive mind, the subtlety of their communication can make it seem as if they do. They lack many of the urges that drive other species; their emotions, if they even have them, are inscrutable. To goblins, they seem almost entirely survival oriented, and the difficulties in communications (and goblin lack of care) means that any art, literature, or music they may have is completely unknown. 

The muscheron, however, also simply do not care about the goblins, and there are some restrictions that the goblins find they cannot enforce. While some attempt to make the muscheron stop dealing with vermii and other non-goblin groups have been tried, the fungoids say they can’t tell the difference between a goblin, a vermus, or whatever else might come to them in peace. As such, many muscheron colonies supply everyone with food. In trade, most muscheron take waste; dead bodies, rotting leather, burnt bones, offal; anything organic that can be broken down by their fungus crops. While goblins generally don’t cart all of their waste to the fungoids (they generate a lot, and have other sources of food), enough goes in that the muscheron haven’t been expansionist in more than a century. If goblin supplies fall short, they can also cart more waste, or even trade metal items if they need to; the muscheron know the value of metal spear tips. 

The vermii use the muscheron fields as dumping grounds for bodies; goblin assassins tend to like having their work found, while the vermii find that more confusion is spread by a sudden disappearance than a dead body -- and they get paid in food for giving the fungoids a goblin corpse, so it’s a double benefit. Many smaller communities are also more assiduous about their waste disposal; while the fungus crops of the muscheron are seldom anyone’s favorite food, they’re edible by most species that aren’t obligate carnivores, and even by some who are. 

Lest life with the muscheron begin to sound idyllic, there are some difficulties. First of all, muscheron react extremely hostilely to anyone wielding Hacking weapons. On your belt or in a sheath is generally fine, but hacking weapons are forbidden to goblins going to allied muscheron colonies. They muscheron say they cannot tell the difference between goblin or vermus, orc or human, but they know those who have drawn weapons on them before. Their resistance to the damage of Puncturing and Bashing weapons means that they care less about those; waving about a club or pointing with a spear is not seen as terribly aggressive by them. They are also not immune to attack. While goblins are relatively reasonable, muscheron themselves are still regarded as food by troglodytes, unallied bugbears, and orcs. Raids by these creatures makes the muscheron edgy towards all strangers. Speaking even basic Mushroom can allay their fears, but proficiency with Mushroom becomes less common the further one moves from the Goblin Kingdom. 
 
The Morlock Regions 
Goblins destroy the morlock fungus wherever it is found, but it can take root almost anywhere in the Deeps, and grows fairly quickly, meaning new outbreaks are not uncommon. It also seems that some have a natural immunity to the morlock fungus, or, at least, a considerable resistance. This can result in them being carriers of fungal spores, especially in warm or moist pockets of their bodies. The spores will grow and propagate on their skin, and rub off where the carrier touches. The young spores attach to the rock and begin to leach lichens, minerals, and slime molds, including the respirator slime molds that help produce oxygen and reduce poisonous carbons dioxide and monoxide. The result is that morlock caverns are thick with “foul air”, which can result in suffocation if there’s inadequate circulation. Those dead areas will recover, in time, but force the morlocks to move into new areas as the old become uninhabitable. 

Some regions, such as under the mountains behind the Odril Hills and just north of the P’Bapar Pass, are almost completely filled with the morlock fungus and its victims. The P’Baparan expanse is almost entirely unchecked, while the Odril infestation is continually fought by the goblins, with outposts monitoring it, attempting to burn it back, and sometimes falling to addiction and usurpation. 

Muscheron responses to the morlock fungus vary. Some ignore it, able to resist it in their own right but not interested in combating it. Others regard it as a scourge or invasive species in their gardens, and resist it just as the goblins do. And some join with it, symbiotically, treating morlocks as members of their own species, and introducing outsiders to the morlock fungus to encourage joining and harmony. These last are extremely dangerous; the muscheron cultivate the fungus and ensure that the morlocks themselves are fed, and prevent the fungus from depleting the respirator slime molds, keeping their hybrid colony healthy, longer. Morlocks, after all, need not be human; many colonies will have bugbears, orcs, and sleestacks among their numbers, living in blind, drugged harmony.  

 

***

 Next week: The Lady of the Webs, and some miscellaneous critters... including the tunnel hag. 

Krond Heights and Goblin Deeps, Part 8: Orcs of the Heights, and the Ladies of Salt

The Orcish Nations

Orcs may outnumber every other species on the surface of the Krond Heights. Whereas the giants are few, but mighty, and humans prefer to live near the rivers, the orcs range throughout the entire Heights, mostly in small bands that barely acknowledge relationships. In the east, common orcs are most plentiful, many filtering up from the Blood Drinkers and the predecessors, the Green Scourge, or fleeing the same. In the west, orcs from Cosdol and the Odril Hills push into the mountains, while snow orcs spill down from the high glaciers and from the north, and gray orcs bubble up from the Netherdeep. In the middle, they mix; green and grey, white and green, grey and white. Physically, the result is largely indistinguishable from a common orc; perhaps a bit lighter of skin, and more tolerant of the light of day, but no more distinguished. Socially, however, the Krond Heights orcs are a breed apart.

Krond Orcs

As is known, snorks do not subjugate their women completely; their smaller tribes and less abundant resources make this impractical. Even in the relatively rich lands of the Krond Heights, this social feature of snow orcs continues; tribes are seldom larger than 40 members, and the women, while not co-equal with the men, are not their chattel. They gather food stuffs, make the tools of the tribe, and defend the camp. Though slighter than male orcs, they are still strong, and many are skilled with spear, bow, or even the humble sling.

Smaller orcish tribes also lead to fewer slaves being kept, but here the grey orcish cultural influence becomes evident; whereas snorks might butcher all who oppose them for meat, Krond orcs take slaves and pass them along to giants and ogres, who will make use of them. This isn’t to say some slaves aren’t eaten -- no orc goes hungry while there are slaves about -- but they are kept alive until they can be sold, or are needed for food.

There are very few black orcs in the Krond Heights, and no spawning pools to create them; the underground spaces that might have been used to create them all belong to goblins. Since so many orcs serve giants alongside ogres, much of the black orc social role is filled by orc-ogre hybrids, the orgrons. With the greater independence of Krond orc women, some are born to orcish mothers from ogre or orgron fathers. Half-orcs are also not uncommon among the Krond orcs, with not a few orcish women getting them from prisoners before those are sold on.

Common Orcs

Common orcs are more abundant near the Sanakir Hills in the east and the Odril Hills in the west. The Broken Fang tribe of Cosdol, and the Blood Drinkers of the Sanakir Hills are two large, relatively traditional tribes of orcs. Massive, with thousands of members spread over a large area, the presence of the giants above and morlocks below have prevented their expansion into the Krond Heights in a significant manner; they are there, and they have subsidiary tribes of common orcs who operate in the Heights, but they must give at least lip service to the giants or face annihilation.

The Blood Drinkers are not exerting much outward pressure, though they are causing it. While they seek to consolidate their holdings in the Sanakir Hills, they have not been active in expanding that territory, instead forcing dissident common orcs out, including into the Krond Heights. The Broken Fang are in the midst of a war with the goblins out of Gold; the Fang believe the war is about to end, but do not realize quite how much opposition the goblins can muster. Add in the giants above, and their own growing internal religious strife, and they may have bit off more than can be chewed with broken fangs.
Common orcs contribute much of the metalworking of the region; snorks have lost the skill and the gray orcs rely on others to do the work. As such, common orcs have a significant material advantage in conflicts against other orcs; chainmail against wooden or stone clubs, metal swords and axes against furs (or, in gray orc cases, mere skin). However, they run into significant social problems in the Heights, as it is hard to maintain the larger groups; communication between groups breaks down in the mountains, and so tribes fracture and splinter, which the common orc social structure handles poorly. Absent authority figures, one orc will take control, and likely make himself the new chief of a new tribe, and often resent being “demoted” if the new tribe encounters the old.

Gray Orcs

Gray Orcs roil beneath the surface, sometimes making forays above ground, but largely limited themselves to the Netherdeep. Conflict with the goblins leaves them few avenues to the surface, and severe agoraphobia leaves them with little interest. The gray orc strain in the Krond Orcs comes from days before the goblins consolidated power, and occasional groups that become isolated and join with the surface orcs for survival.

Beneath the surface, the gray orcs are a constant source of small problems for the goblin kingdom, but they lack the organization to significantly affect stability. A thousand orcs will briefly overrun an area, or break into a goblin city, and they will be squashed and the survivors will be enslaved. The orcs lack an awareness of goblin strength and organization, seeing them only as foes to throw themselves against, territory to be taken, not as a nation that will resist them. And so the gray orcs are enslaved en masse by the goblins, their warriors, women, and whelps laboring to goblin glory.

***
Sidebar: Deep Half-orcs

Deep Half-orcs are relatively rare, largely occuring only as slaves of the goblins. However, a half-orc of deep stock may exhibit the agility of his orkin heritage, as well as their greater night vision. At the player’s option, they may replace the standard half-orc +2 to Constitution with a +1 to Dexterity, and/or replace standard low light vision with extreme low light vision and a -1 penalty to attack and defense in twilight, and -2 in full sunlight.
***

White Orcs

The white orcs, also called Snow Orks or Snorks, are hugely influential in the Krond Heights. Many ally themselves with the Hoar Frost Giants, serving as a mixture of shock troops and foresters; they hunt the lesser game that doesn’t interest the giants, track the greater game that does, and harry the giants’ enemies with raids. More pragmatic and less lazy than their common orcish kin, their tribes are also smaller, seldom more than forty at a time, and with few, if any slaves.

As a result of giantish patronage, the snorks have a great reach aboveground, and can be found almost anywhere above five thousand feet in elevation, and not uncommonly down to three thousand feet, especially in winter or where the glaciers extend. Their lack of penalty in sunlight makes them more adventurous during the day, but still prefer the night for many operations. Their homes tend to be clefts in the rock, where they can acquire shelter at minimal effort. This puts them into conflict with kobolds, who also like these clefts, but the snorks don’t consider this a particular problem; kobolds are, after all, technically edible, and that’s the sort of technicality a snork can be counted on to take advantage of.

Snorks prefer raids and hunts, but some groups also attempt trade with humans under the same giantish master. These trades are seldom, as the orcs don’t have much the humans want, but selling a few yearling llamas or iron knives for hard silver can be a good deal for the villagers. The orcs, for their part, prefer to head over to another giant’s territory and steal twice as much, while keeping their silver for important things.

***
Sidebar: Half Snorks

Half-orcs of white ork ancestry are also not common; the orcs keep few slaves, and the people of the Krond Heights keep few half-orcs. Half-snorks, however, may purchase the Temperature Tolerance (cold) talent for 5 BP.
***

Lake Vrasten and the Ladies of Salt

In the center of the Krond Heights there is a large, glacier-fed, salt lake. Named for a Brandobian explorer, Lake Vrasten has no aboveground outlets, and its underground outlets are little more than seepage; as a result it is quite salty, with a salinity that ranges from 100-320 g/kg, depending on the season (by comparison, sea water averages around 35 g/kg). It is least salty in the late spring (around Declarations), when inflow from the glacier-fed rivers is at its greatest; it is most salty in late Arid/early Reaping, when most of the summer evaporation has occurred, but before winter snows begin to moderate the salinity. The spring thaw also greatly increases the lake size, doubling its surface area as it spreads shallowly over the salt pan surrounding the deeper waters at the center. Over the summer, these shallows evaporate, until it settles on its winter size. Depth in the spring is relatively shallow; 3 feet is not uncommon for broad stretches, with occasional “ponds” of 20 feet. The central waters, however, are deep; while never properly sounded, they are definitely more than two thousand feet deep, and may be as much as a mile. The ancient dwarves, and the modern goblins, do not mine too close to the lake, for fear of flooding. Both have had accidents that resulted in massive destruction, and both, independently, developed deep superstitions about halite (rock salt), considering it unlucky.


***
Sidebar: Halite and Superstition

Dwarven characters (or others with significant mining experience) with the Superstitious quirk might choose to replace result 3 “Thinks the world is flat” with “Considers rock salt to be unlucky”, similar to number 7 on the Superstitions table.
***

The area around the lake is not well-inhabited. Some clans of kobolds live on the edges, as salt is the only flavor they really taste, but the shifting water levels and high concentrations of salt make it a poor home for most life. Goblins, too, do seasonal salt gathering in a few places, mostly in the late summer. The salt flats are home to small crustaceans that thrive when the lakes are high and hibernate when they are low, as well as the birds and small mammals that feed on them. The deeper water is home to a number of species of shrimp and some few fish, capable of metabolizing or passing the salt. Aside from birds, who feed on the crustaceans and the ever-present brine-flies, there is little wildlife over 12 inches in length.

What is present at Lake Vrasten is magic. Lake Vrasten seems to draw magic out of people; any effect using spell points cast within the area of the lake (either on the water or on the salt flats that mark the greatest extent of the lake in spring) has a percent chance equal to its level of automatically double in cost, with no additional effect; only Apprentice and Journeyman spells and effects are immune. This applies to spells cast by mages and sorcerers, wands that emulate these effects, or any magical items that draw upon Spell Points. Even Rogues, should they possess Supernatural Affinity, may find themselves drained of their few spell points when using some of their tricks. Keyholders who will visit Lake Vrasten during the day roll 2d6+4 to determine how much magic they should expend; they are never instructed to cast all their magic, and quite often told to expend none.

Despite this hunger for magic, the area is rich in ley lines. Attunement to a nearby line ceases the drain of magic from the land, provided one can access the line while casting spells. An Ore line twists and shifts through the salt with the seasons, rearranging itself with the flood and retreat of the water. The deeper parts of Lake Vrasten reportedly have a Water line, though that can be difficult to access. And a certain point on the shore of the lake, near the edge of the perennial deep water, has a single, powerful, Blood Line rising from the ground and into the sky. The Ore line is always tied to this Blood line in a vortex; the Water line will, at times, connect to form an Evran Knot. While most Blood lines dissipate after a few days, this line has been present for as long as dwarven histories exist; the first records of the lake mention the Blood Line, and the Ladies of Salt.

The Ladies of Salt are a covey of hags of ancient power, dedicated to the Riftmaster. Their membership is not constant; there have been as few as three and as many as eleven hags at any one time, as some members choose to leave or new members join. Fanatically devoted, they attune themselves to the Ore and Blood lines, and attempt to keep others from doing the same. Unlike many hags, they are not profligate users of magic; they know the value of a well-placed enchantment, no doubt, but do little with magic that flesh can accomplish, and prefer alchemy to incantations. Currently, the Ladies are only three in number, and they maintain some alchemy workshops and shrines to the Riftmaster around the periphery of the lake’s greatest expanse (some watched over by the local kobolds, or home to other servants).

They tolerate no shamans or witch doctors; even those with minor shaman gifts (such as the Spirit Favor Talent) will be given at most a single warning before being killed. Spirit favors requested in the Lake have a chance equal to the level plus the absolute value of the reaction roll to draw their attention, and rumors from shamans nearby state that they have killed the spirits of the Lake and Salt within their domain. How this could be done is not known, but it is also said that even spirits avoid the place now.

The Ladies are not expansionist; they exert little power outside of Lake Vrasten, save to protect their homes and against those who would interfere with their charge. They do, however, consult with other, nearby, powers; giantesses are known to come to them, as are some women of the human and halfling populations. They have, in the past, had members who were not proper hags; demi-human, humanoid, or giant women who have joined them, or tunnel hags who have lived nearby, but, at present, there are only three, and all are hags of the usual sort. It is not that they do not deal with men, but, traditionally, consulting them has been the privilege of women, and most communities have stories of the evil fates they have inflicted upon men who displeased them. It is known that they have extensive libraries, taken in trade over the centuries for other bits of wisdom, and that they treat fairly with Keyholders and those anointed to the Riftmaster; one of them is always a cleric of his, in addition to her other magic, and the others are acolytes.

***
Sidebar: The Mystery of Lake Vrasten

No one, perhaps even the Ladies of Salt, know what lies beneath Lake Vrasten. Rumors and theories abound, of course, including ancient Titans, dead Gods, slumbering undead, or the first dragon. All that is known is that Lake Vrasten is hungry for magic, and that the Ladies have dedicated centuries to keeping it from getting enough.
***

Krond Heights and Goblin Deeps part 7: Lords of the Heights, Her, and the Dragon

 

Lords of the Heights

There are six giant kings in the Krond Heights, and almost two thousand giants. They live in bands of twenty or thirty individuals, men and women, in many ways the stereotype of nobility; responsible for little save their own pleasure, they lounge in indolence between bouts of hunting or making sport of war. Their needs taken care of by their lessers, they entertain themselves, with no superiors save their chiefs, their kings, and Her.

 

The essential unit of organization for giants is the individual; every giant and giantess is free to determine their own lives and allegiance. If a giant does not like his chief, he can freely leave and seek another, or try to convince others to join him. Does he want to usurp his king? He will need enough force to overcome his king’s loyal followers, but he can try to do that. While the roles of women are slightly constrained (there are no female chiefs, no queens), they have no obligation to stay with a chief they find unworthy, a king they find inadequate. This striking out on one’s own may be difficult, and it may involve some hardship, but no giant will stop them; they are sufficient unto themselves.

 

Why give allegiance to chiefs or kings? Because the concentration of giants allows ease. One giant may keep a handful of slaves; three giants can keep a stable, and twenty giants can keep a region under control. Why toil for your bread and beer if someone else can do it for you? The hunt is enjoyable, shepherding is drudgery, so leave it to the drudges. Giants are the pinnacle of creation, the mightiest of mortals, who once touched the divine and threatened to bring it low. It is right that other creatures serve them; it is just that they rule over all. If a giant bends his knee to a chief, if a giantess heeds the words of a king, they do so because they choose, and that elevates the chief, ennobles the king, for he is chosen by the mightiest to lead them in glory. And so, each king is leader of some three hundred giants, each of whom subscribes to his leadership voluntarily.

 

Most giants will be at leisure for most of the month, taking only a few days off from lounging to hunt or manage their lessers. They may practice weapons, drink, play music, or tell stories, but their goal is to enjoy themselves. Chiefs have a few more responsibilities, generally involving staying on top of what needs doing, and directing other giants to do it. They rule by dint of strength, charisma, and the cunning to make sure that the highest ranked giants get the choicest “assignments”, and the lowest ranked have the most scut-work. Does someone have to supervise the stacking of firewood? Give it to Snorri the Young. Want someone to lead a raid into a human village? Give it to Bor the Bold.

 

Rank within a chiefdom is an ephemeral thing; unlike goblins, it is not assigned based solely on who can beat up who, but on whose Fame and Honor eclipses whose. A mighty poet might rank higher than an unlucky but powerful warrior, or an untried wizard. Of course, Fame and Honor can be gained by dragging others down; defeat a poet in a duel and your fame might go up, though he may savage your honor with a satire. Men and women do not have separate hierarchies, and it is an unwise adventurer who assumes a frost giantess is less able combatant than her brothers, and a giantess who feels slighted by a male giant is well within her rights to challenge him to a duel, savage him with poetry, or otherwise prove her superiority, though she must, likewise, fear the challenges of giantish men.

 

The chief god of the Hoar Frost is the Emperor of Scorn, because they know they are the greatest beings in creation, and their scorn is heaped upon mortal and god alike. The giants were so great that the gods were forced to cast them down or lose their own seats; other mortals quake before the coming of the Hoar Frost, and cannot withstand the cold that is the nature of the world. Many of the lower ranks also worship with the Way of the Berserk, while it is regarded as more “noble” for chiefs and kings to prefer the Temple of Armed Conflict.

 

The giants themselves do not engage in trade; some diplomacy between kingdoms, of course, but no bartering of gold for goods. Their lessers may engage in trade, providing goods in exchange across kingdom boundaries, but the giants themselves do not concern themselves with such. Such trade links are tenuous, and tend to be more for convenience than need; it may be easier to acquire something from a nearby village loyal to another lord than to seek it out from deeper in one’s own kingdom, but those links may be severed if hostilities erupt. Hostilities erupt relatively infrequently, however. Conflicts between individual giants, even individual chiefs, are more often settled with a brawl than with battle. Far more common is a raid by one chief’s followers on the villages of another chief, and retaliatory raids against the villages of the first chief (or an unrelated third). The giants direct these partially for the scant plunder they receive, but mostly to keep their orcs and ogres busy; bored barbarians break things.

 

North of the Omdal river, near the goblin city of Tin, is the domain of King Skjor. Skjor’s domain is cold, but its western slopes are verdant in the brief summer, and it, combined with the relative protection of the low valley, has made Skjor very rich. Skjor is one of the few giants to keep wyvern pets, of whom he is extraordinarily fond and proud, though he has little to actually do with their care. Years ago, he captured an apprentice of the Wyvern Widow, hag of the Shashyf Hills, and uses a magical collar to keep her in thrall. She raises and trains the wyverns to his specifications, and determines, with some prodding from Skjor, which eggs he may eat or share. Skjor allows her to brew her stew, as he wishes to keep her alive indefinitely, but he parcels it out sparingly; she is mad with desire for the stew, and he withholds it until she begins to fade. Skjor regularly uses his wyverns to hunt in the goblin lands, which causes retaliatory raids from the goblins. He’s widely hated by his own subjects, and his population has dwindled because of this, but there is a cadre of loyal giants (his own children, largely) who stay with him. Combined with his control of Krenge’s apprentice, he is difficult to effectively challenge for the kingship.

 

Adjacent to the Shashyf Hills is the realm of King Brunnar. Brunnar’s chieftains are restless; many have moved from Skjor’s realm, resulting in conflict for resources. While Brunnar wants to expand north, most giants are unwilling to do the work necessary to make that happen; instead, they, too, raid the goblins in the Shashyf Hills, and lord over the hill giants. Brunnar himself contributes to this with overwhelming laziness; he’d like to extend to the north, but he can’t be bothered to make the decisions necessary to make it happen, nor can he stir himself to reign in his chiefs. As such, many resources are destroyed by warring chieftains, driven by the fear that their opponents will secure them. For their part, the goblins in the Shashyfs are less inclined towards raids than towards preventing them; they murder giant scouts, plant false information, and, on occasion, cripple giant chiefs, weakening them enough for other chiefs to take over. Were Brunnar not isolated from the rest of the giants by the Ladies of Salt, and bolstered by giants who hate Skjor, he might have been deposed long ago; as it is, those who thrive on chaos within the giantish ranks find his realm a refuge, and their departure a bit of a relief for other giants.

 

Balgrim has a large, rich, territory in the central Krond Heights, encompassing the glaciers and the rivers that feed lake Vrasten. While his eastern-facing, central territory is less verdant than that of Skjor, it covers a huge variety of territory, has great mineral wealth, and good pasturage for llamas and alpacas. It is also rich hunting ground, with yetis, gargoyles, and wyverns (Balgrim does not have a mated pair, but he does have a pair of young males). But, however, he lies between Her and the Ladies of Salt. He cannot expand, as the forces on his eastern and western borders are too powerful for even a band of giants to resist. Balgrim, for his part, is content with this; a younger giant might try to push the boundaries, but Balgrim has decided that the land is rich, his time is long, and there are more important things to worry about than the bogeymen at his borders. To keep the peace, he limits raids onto goblin territory, reasoning that there are plenty of other things to hunt, and goblins aren’t much sport. “I stepped on a village of creatures that barely clear my ankle” is not courage, and wins you no fame with Balgrim.

 

Above the Odril Hills is the realm of Eorlund, a somewhat unusual giant. “Eorlund” was the giantess, Brenna, who ventured to the Ladies of Salt and acquired a magic beard through them. It bonded with her, and she became Eorlund; a giant, but “cursed”, to the giantish mind, to have no sons. This was nearly three hundred years ago; now king, father, and grandfather, Eorlund has begun to consider which of his daughters might wish the beard upon his death. As such, he constantly challenges his many daughters, demanding great deeds of them. Their mothers and husbands jockey for position, for there is a rumor that Eorlund will bestow a great treasure upon whichever daughter he names his heir.

Ogmund is king above the Sanakir hills, south and east of the Ladies of Salt. Ogmund desires an empire, to rule the lowlands, but has chosen the uncharacteristic method of trying to entice the hill giant into an alliance as his shock troops. This is going as poorly as one can imagine; while they are glad to trade slaves for metal weapons, they feel no obligation to Ogmund for these trades, and will go back to using wood, stone, and hide as soon as the metal corrodes to uselessness. Tired of this pining and plotting, his brother, Bali, has begun a rebellion, rallying perhaps a quarter of the giants to his side. Bali has less support than might be expected because he is considered malformed; a mere 10 feet tall, with a moderate limp, no left hand, and no left eye, he is ferociously intelligent, and a capable warrior and wizard. His smaller height was his destiny from birth; his disabilities are the result of their father attempting to rid himself of a less-than-perfect son by feeding him to a giant amoeba. A great flash of light from Bali’s nascent magical powers destroyed the amoeba, but not before Bali lost his left hand, left eye, part of his left foot, and suffered a great deal of scarring.

 
P’Bapar Pass, between Cosdol and P’Bapar, is the realm of Tormund the Last. Like Eorlund, Tormund is an older giant, likely in his last decades, but whereas Eorlund has a surplus of heirs, Tormund has none. His children and grandchildren have, over the last century, died in a variety of accidents, wars, and raids-gone-wrong. Only one son survives, and he went mad when his wife and children were devoured by the king’s own wyverns in a hunting accident. Even his crown is missing, stolen in the night by forces unknown. While his territory is vast, and access to P’Bapar Pass makes it rich for raiding, Tormund himself is regarded as cursed. He is still acknowledged as king, and his people follow orders, but he is barred from the steadings of his kingdom. No one is trying to seize his position because they are unsure if the curse resides on Tormund himself, or the office.

 

Her

 

The Hoar Frost kings are varied; their geographies influence their needs, and thus their choices. One factor, however, weighs heavily on all their minds: The presence of Her, of She without a Name. An Elder Troll, She is an ancient cousin of the giants. To understand their relationship, one must understand a little of the deep history. When the titans fell, and those who had not directly opposed the gods became the first giants, each cast about for some substitute for the great powers they once wielded. Many turned to elemental spirits, similarly outcast, and became the progenitors of the giantish races. Some, however, turned to the land itself, drinking deep of Tellene’s own power, and became the first trolls, the Elder Trolls. When the War of the Gods erupted, some of those Elder Trolls were corrupted by the lost god of Chaos and Evil, becoming Demonic Trolls; the Elder Trolls remained pure, free of that corrupting divine influence. Today, only six Elder Trolls remain, and only one is female. She is known by the giants of the Krond Heights only as Her, and Her domain is a peak in the Western Krond Heights, and the deeps below it.

 

She is relatively young, being only a thousand years old. She slew her mother some six hundred years ago, and the brief loosening of trollish grip on the Krond Heights resulted in a great war between the giants, followed by Her own reminding of the giants of Whose range they inhabited. As the sole remaining female Elder Troll, she is sought after by the others of her race, but they keep a distance, for a conflict between Elder Trolls will be a terrible thing, and the immortals have time to wait. It is known that She talks often with the Ladies of Salt, and seems to have an affinity for other hags. She brooks no intruder to Her realm, and it is said that to learn Her true name is to forever let Her know your location, and to speak Her name without leave is to call Her to your side in a wrath. How much of this is true is unknown, but when She regained the power that slipped from Her mother’s grasp with her death, She slaughtered one giant in every ten, placing their heads in the beds of their chiefs without making a sound… or leaving any more of a corpse.

 

Her servitors are mostly trolls; they are poor servants, and She treats them more as guard dogs, carefully ensuring their loyalty by feeding them, and maintaining Her dominance with frequent beatings. Her mountainsides are home to many capritaurs, partially because She has a great hatred of gargoyles, and destroys any that sully Her mountain. She is far enough from the Goblin Kingdom that they know of Her domain, but seldom interact with it; from the giants, She takes irregular tribute, simply removing what She sees as Her due. The giants are tremendously afraid of Her, and a few giantess shamans claim to have been trained by Her, enhancing their prestige… though what truth there is to these claims is also unknown.

 

The Dragon and Her Terrace

Chezzedreth, the great white dragon, is said to reside at the Terrace of Infinity. This is, of course, somewhat inaccurate; no dragon, especially one of her age and power, would have only a single residence, and certainly not one so exposed. However, it is known that she will frequently alight there, when she is active, and has shown great interest in any goings-on there. She does not forbid its use, but it is known that using the Terrace is on her sufferance.

 

Like Her, Chezzedreth is unique; to the knowledge of all, she is the only female dragon on Tellene. However, on the occasions when she has been addressed in a formal manner, she has requested the title of “Her Greatness, Chezzedreth, of the Terrace of Infinity and Krond Heights”. Unlike Her, she receives no special attention from the male dragons; she is Dragon, and other dragons react to her as such, not based on any demihuman conception of sex or gender.

 

Most recently, Chezzedreth was active in the Odrill Hills, beginning about ten years ago (553 IR). For six years, she ravaged the hobgoblins of the hills, before returning at least to the Terrace of Infinity. She has not been seen since 559 IR.

 

The Terrace of Infinity is one of the highest points in Tellene, bitterly cold even in summer, with air so thin that most mortals cannot breathe without magical assistance (Chezzedreth, of course, has no problem). It is a spire, reaching more than a mile above the mountain from which it extends, with a staircase circling it to the top. The stairs themselves dwarf most mortal’s strides; each is two feet high, and four feet across. Those who have reached its height describe a plateau of pitch-black basalt, inscribed with arcane circles and sigils. Those with Master Level Arcane and Divine Lore who study the symbols claim that there is deep knowledge in ancient languages transcribed there. Many have made maps of those sigils; no two maps agree, even if made at the same time.

 

It is said that from here, the Gods surveyed the world the Creator had made, and that from here the Titans challenged those same gods. Those who have magical assistance to their vision claim at they can see the K’Asa Mountains, across the breadth of the Sovereign Lands, from this vantage. Chezzedreth will visit this peak often, when she is active, and survey the world below. Then she will disappear, only to reappear in a dragon’s time, from some other place in the Krond Heights.

 

The Terrace of Infinity is not far, as the dragon flies, from the mountain of Her, nor from the powerful Ladies of Salt. It is unknown what the relationship between Chezzedreth and these two other power loci may be. Chezzedreth has not openly warred with either, and has not been seen near Lake Vrasten. For Her part, She is aware of Chezzedreth (how could She not be?), but if they communicate, collaborate, or are constestate is unknown.

***

 Next Week: The Orc of the Krond Heights and the mysterious Ladies of Salt 

Krond Heights and Goblin Deeps part 6: Halflings, with Bugans at a Glance

 Halflings

The halflings of the Krond Heights followed human explorers from Brandobia and Eastern Brandobia into the mountains, settling in the congenial river bottoms while their tall companions took the sunnier middle heights. Brandobian society has always looked down upon non-humans, and the halfling hope was to find homes that would allow them to start anew. They did so, but not in a way that was expected.

In the mountains, the kingdom of Kruk-ma-Kali began long before it’s “official” inception in 22 IR; the goblins took the abandoned K’Ran’dan city of Gold in 15 IR, and began expanding into its nearby valleys soon after that. They quickly subjugated the halfling communities, and were on the verge of destroying them when certain halflings came to the goblin chiefs with a proposal: Leave us our settlements in peace, and we will provide you food and fealty. The goblins, loathe to do the hard agricultural labor, saw the advantage of having a client-race, and agreed. The result is that halflings are mostly unmolested, and have even thrived as a useful client of the goblins.

 

***

Harfoot Halflings

The standard halfling of the Krond Heights is a Harfoot, or Stout, halfling. As such, they do not have the ability to Hide in Natural Surroundings, and instead have a free mastery die in Blacksmithing. Because of the heavy tribute due to the goblins, halfling and bugan BMI in the Krond Heights is rolled on a d12p (maximum 20), not a d20.

***

 

A few rules govern the halfling and goblin interactions. Fear of execution, and a general lack of fun (most of the halflings don’t fight back), are the levers that keep goblins in line. Any crime against a halfling that is judged against the goblin results in the goblin’s execution. Goblins may still strike halflings at will, but any severe injury or maiming (much less killing) may be reported by a halfling to their overseer, or to the superiors of the goblin in question. If the goblin is found guilty (as they sometimes are, especially if there are several witnesses, or if the goblin is politically inconvenient), then the goblin is simply killed. This applies to halfling women, as well, and rape by a goblin tends to get the halflings up in arms. While it is technically illegal for halflings to kill goblins outside of formal challenges, more than one goblin has been lynched by an angry mob, with few repercussions on the mob. Goblins are allowed largely unrestricted petty theft, though major thefts may, again, be reported and result in the goblin’s execution.

Halflings who strike a goblin are considered to have challenged the goblin, even if the strike is in retaliation for something. Halflings who don’t want to challenge goblins must endure their beatings without retaliating. Such informal challenges are relatively common among goblins, and can result in a beating, provided no weapon is drawn. If the halfling wins, he is often challenged by another goblin as soon as they are able (a number of days equal to the halfling’s fingers is standard), and again, repeatedly, until the halfling is beaten or, more rarely, until the local goblins don’t dare stand against him. Some rare halflings enter the goblin ranks this way, and there are even small cadres of halflings who function within goblin society, with halfling sergeants answering to goblin captains.

Halflings are also limited in the weapons they are allowed to keep, more strictly than the humans are by the giants. They are allowed no armor, though padded jackets and the like are not considered armor. They may have knives, daggers, clubs, staves, and slings. They also have a number of agricultural tools which may be pressed into service as a weapon, such as flails, mauls, axes, and scythes. There are even some pole-arms, such as bills, fauchards, and guisarmes, though these are not handy for halflings, being too large.

 

***

Halfling Sized Weapons and Tools

Halflings make use of a number of tool-like weapons that are sized for their diminutive frames. When a Large weapon is resized for halflings, reduce its effective reach by 1 foot per 5 feet of length (in addition to the halfling’s own penalty), reduce the damage die size by 1, increase the speed by 2, and remove the +3 to damage. Thus, a halfling using a medium-sized scythe would see it do 2d4p damage, with a reach of only 2 ½ feet; -1 foot for a halfling sized weapon, and -1 foot for being in the hands of a halfling. A halfling-sized long spear would do 2d4p damage, with a 9 foot reach; the spear’s normal 13 foot is reduced by 3 for being halfling-sized, with another 1 foot penalty in the hands of a halfling). In no case can the reach of a weapon exceed three times the height of the wielder; a halfling using a 10 foot spear needs to be at least 3’4”.

***

 

Like the humans up the mountains, the halflings grow grains, vegetables, and raise herd animals. In the Omdal river valley near the city of Tin, these animals are most often sheep, with some llamas and goats; near Gold and the other lands that drain to Lake Vrasten, these are almost exclusively llamas, though some goats are also kept. Grains near Tin are wheat, barley, and rye; near Gold, they grow far more rice. The vast majority of this food is taken by the goblins, with the halflings receiving only slightly more than subsistence levels of food, which they stretch as far as they can.

The official religion of the halflings is that of the Shackler; they are reminded that they are slaves of the goblins, granted extraordinary freedom by the beneficence of their masters. The Shackler’s priests inform them, again and again, that they can be wiped out at their master’s whim, and that only their continued usefulness makes them worthy of slavery, not death. Attendance at four services to the Shackler each year is mandatory, though, aside from the summer solstice, there is flexibility on which services a halfling attends. All must attend the summer solstice festival, and the individual beaten is always some criminal from the year before, or a priest or anointed follower of another religion. Being anointed to the Shackler affords a halfling a degree of protection from goblin predation, though it results in social opprobrium from most halflings. “A very useful halfling” is a common phrase to describe such a one, and variations in tone can make that a statement of true approval or deepest scorn.

More respectable halflings follow The Home Foundation, the House of Life’s Fire, Church of Everlasting Hope, or The Founder’s Creation. Becoming anointed to one of these is dangerous, as the priests of the Shackler may use them in the summer solstice ritual, but they align more closely with the average halfling’s values. There have been attempts in the past by the Face of the Free to begin a cult in the valleys, but they have been stymied by the average halfling’s willingness to “not upset the apple cart because of a few bad apples”, and the goblins’ willingness to slaughter villages who shelter dissidents.

---

Bugans at a Glance

 

Ability adjustments

-3 Strength

-1 Wisdom

+2 Dexterity

+1 Constitution

-2 Looks

-1 Charisma

 

Bugan Pros:

One free purchase of Hiding, Sneaking, and Listening

Harder to hit: +4 to defense

Hiding in Natural Surroundings (in the Krond Heights, they have Blacksmithing, instead)

Low Light Vision

+10% to Observation when scent is involved.

 

Bugan Cons:

Size small for HP and Knock-backs.

Short stature means they move at ½ the speed of humans.

-1 foot reach with weapons

Native Goblin Language (must purchase others).

 

Preferential Talent Access:

May purchase the following talents at 50% BP cost:

*Blind-fighting, Pain Tolerant, Poison Resistant, Tough as Nails, Crack Shot, Greased Lightning (for slings only)

 

Fighter 30

Ranger 35

Barbarian 40

Thief 25

Rogue 50

Assassin 45

Mage 75

Fighter/Mage 55

Fighter/Thief 25

Mage/Thief 50

Cleric 40

 

Bugans are halflings with significant goblin blood, but raised in the halfling and bugan communities of the Krond Heights river valleys. Though their reactions are a touch slower than a standard halfling, they have better (and bigger) ears and noses, and large eyes that drink up light on dark nights. In their own communities, bugans have relatively few social problems, and are treated as any other halfling might be; outside of the Krond Heights, bugans whose goblin blood is revealed find most races react to them more negatively.

---

Short entry this week, because next week will be about the Hoar Frost Giants and, if I think there's room, Her.