[ENDED] Iron Kingdoms

Previously run games

Moderator: Game Masters

[ENDED] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Sun May 12, 2013 9:14 pm

Hello Iron Kingdoms people. I'll be using this thread to post game recaps and for general discussion.
First off I'll post the information I gave you all before the game started. There'll be nothing new in these posts, it's just for completions sake and in case we get any new players.

Countries

Cygnar

Cygnar emerged from the Corvis Treaties as the strongest and wealthiest nation of western Immoren. It was able to unite the ancient lands of Caspia with the sprawling Midlunds as well as much of Thuria’s southern fertile coasts and the forested holds of the insular Morridanes, inheritors of the bloodlines of Morrdh. Together the diverse people of these regions have pooled their strengths and united as proud Cygnarans.

Cygnar has no lack of iron, gold, timber, food, gems, quarries, or any other resource coveted by a modern nation. It is a nation boasting many great minds who have pushed advances in alchemy and mechanika to new heights, giving the nation a technological edge over its rivals. Its warjacks boast inventive armaments and bow to the will of their warcasters, who are trained by the finest military academy in the Iron Kingdoms.

From the time of the Corvis Treaties, Cygnar has bordered each of the original Iron Kingdoms: Ord to the northwest, Khador to the north on the far side of the Thornwood, and Llael to the northeast. The Bloodstone Marches made up its eastern border until the Cygnaran Civil War. The end of that religious conflict resulted in the establishment of the Protectorate of Menoth, a region governed by a theocracy that would in time become increasingly independent and hostile. While Cygnaran forces marched bravely to defend its ally Llael during Khador’s recent invasion of that nation, in the end Cygnar could not hold back the Khadoran juggernaut that seized Llael and then advanced to capture the Thornwood. The loss of these lands, including the northern Black River, has separated Llael from its southern ally and diminished any hopes for that small kingdom to regain its freedom.

Cygnar endured political upheaval in recent times when Leto Raelthorne, “the Younger,” ousted his tyrannical brother King Vinter IV, “the Elder.” The deposed king managed to escape before being put on trial for his crimes. Nearly a decade later, he reappeared from the Bloodstone Marches with strange allies, a non-human race from eastern Immoren called the skorne. Since his return, that race has created constant peril on Cygnar’s eastern border, even attempting to seize Corvis in 603 AR. While it has never been easy to wear the Cygnaran crown, King Leto has borne more burdens than any sovereign deserves.

Even diminished by the loss of its ally Llael and its territories in the Thornwood, Cygnar remains among the mightiest powers of the region. The heart of the nation’s vast mining network, industrial capacity, and most formidable military garrisons remain intact, and its citizens stand more determined than ever to fight in defence of their families and lands. Yet there persists a growing divide within the nation between those who support King Leto and others who are discontented by the privations of interminable warfare and are beginning to conspire to arrange for a different sovereign to occupy the throne.

Khador

Without question Khador’s people are tough, irascible, weathered, and proud. They learned well from those ancient days when man endured through strength and cruelty and see no reason to temper those qualities now. The north keeps deep and ancient customs derived from the time when barbaric horse lords roamed these vast lands and ruled the Khardic Empire supported by Menite priests.

To better understand these cold-hearted northerners, consider that much of Khador is frozen five months out of the year. Strong winds snap trees in half, and sudden snows sweep in so fast that entire wagon trains can vanish in mere seconds. Only a harsh people could hope to survive in such a harsh place. Khador’s military personifies this strength, with huge warjacks thundering along next to steel-hearted men and women armed to the teeth with axes and guns. In the last century enlightened leaders have done much to modernize the Khadoran military. While its mechaniks prefer simplicity and rugged design over needless complications, Khadoran engineering and mechanika is nearly the equal of Cygnar’s.

Unlike its southern rival, which relies on volunteers, Khador has conscripted its soldiers since the time of the old empire. Every adult male and any woman who wishes and is not with child serve the Motherland for some amount of time. This is a proud tradition whereby every able-bodied citizen is personally invested in the defence of their nation and knows the trials and tribulations of being a soldier.

Morrowans form the majority of this nation, but not an overwhelming one as in Cygnar, Ord, and Llael. The Menite faith is stronger in the north than anywhere outside the Protectorate of Menoth. Whether Menite or Morrowan, however, Khadorans love their sovereign above all. They are as patriotic a people as you will ever find—and that is part of why they are so unwelcoming to outsiders.

Khador has always chafed at the compromises made in the Corvis Treaties, for they glorify the days of the old Khardic Empire and seek every opportunity to restore its reach and power. Every generation a new sovereign ascends the throne and declares the time ripe to reclaim lands that are rightfully Khadoran. Even the Kossite and Skirov tribes no longer remember that they once stood as independent kingdoms free of the rule of Khards. Now all Khadorans share a burning devotion to the rebirth of the old empire and are willing to put aside personal comforts and even sacrifice their lives if necessary to achieve this goal.

Following the recent occupation of Llael, Queen Ayn Vanar declared Khador an empire once more and named herself empress, to the tremendous approval of her people. Khadoran forces swept on to batter the Cygnaran northern border and have since claimed the Thornwood Forest. The capture of this large and key area of land presages yet more bitter battles between these two great nations.

Ord

The rugged western kingdom of Ord is a land with deep history and its own rich culture, but it is also a region that has often suffered in conflicts with more powerful neighbours. It lacks the natural resources of some great kingdoms, being a moody realm of foggy bogs, wet marshes, and backbreaking hilly farmland. Land-owning castellans maintain themselves on herds of cattle and horses, aloof from the masses struggling to put food on the table. The Ordic people are tough and not easily discomfited, though. They find diversion in song, gambling, and ale rather than dwelling on life’s inequities.

Ord’s people include Thurians in the south mixed with a larger majority who descend from the old kingdom of Tordor, famed for its powerful warships, and the lure of the sea is still strong among those who dwell here. Ord’s coastal cities are a sailor’s paradise, and the nation boasts the best mariners ever to live. The Ordic Royal Navy is counted a peer among those of western Immoren’s greater powers. The Ordic army is also highly respected despite its smaller size and outmoded weaponry compared to the northern and southern powers. Its soldiers are deemed as tough as trollkin and have courage to spare, but the poverty of Ord is reflected in its reliance on simpler gear and its heavy use of defensive tactics such as fixed cannon emplacements and exploiting the difficult local terrain against potential aggressors. Ord’s clever sovereign, King Baird II, has taken measures to improve Ord’s lot and spent the nation’s meagre treasury to bolster both navy and army with certain advances, but remaining neutral in the larger wars is still deemed vital to the nation’s survival. Khador has often come snapping at Ord’s heels like a wolf after a deer, but Ordmen have long held their formidable borders and intend to avoid Llael’s fate by any means necessary.

Standing neutral has other advantages, as Ord’s merchant houses have benefitted from trade brought through the region between parties who might not otherwise be willing to interact. Certain towns in this nation have become favoured haunts of mercenaries and sell-swords of all varieties. Similarly, refugees from war-torn lands often flee to Ord, bringing with them their talents and knowledge. For a nation lacking in natural wealth, the exchange of information has become its own industry.

Five Fingers (Campaign setting)

Five Fingers, also known as the port of deceit, is an infamous city scattered across several rocky islands where the Serpent’s Tongue River spills out into the Bay of Stone. Five Fingers is a place of stark contrasts and ominous reputation. It is an Ordic mercenary haven, a last bastion of the pirates who refuse to surrender their souls to Cryx, a gambler’s paradise, and a hotbed of Thamariate intrigue. The line between law and crime is blurry here, and one can buy or sell anything imaginable if one finds the right market.

Outsiders speak of this city as a pit of vice, but Five Fingers has a rich heritage and varied citizenry. Its charm has attracted lively, bustling trade and visitors seeking commerce or entertainment from abroad. It is a thriving city of over a hundred and seventy thousand industrious souls, and it is a shipping hub for the region where class boundaries dissolve. In the clamour of a gambling den a lowly street thief can rub elbows with an Ordic castellan, and neither would be out of place. It is a place unlike any other in western Immoren. It is not the largest city, nor the wealthiest, but it is one hell of a place for fun and adventure.

Llael

Llael’s primary geographical advantage turned out to be its greatest weakness: sharing its borders with four kingdoms with few natural barriers to inhibit trade—or the movement of armies. This served to line the pockets of certain entrepreneurial nobles and merchants who exploited the shipping along the Black River flowing from Rhul to the Gulf of Cygnar. Llael’s merchants were centrally located to serve as middlemen for a variety of lucrative mercantile organizations, while its gentle valleys and lush farmlands offered few barriers to slow the advance of the soldiers who marched to seize them starting at the end of 604 AR. By the end of 605 AR Llael had become an occupied nation.

Cygnar had been allied with Llael for three hundred years, and it was only with their protection that the smaller nation had weathered numerous Khadoran assaults over the generations. It may be an overreliance on Cygnaran soldiers and mercenaries led to a certain denial among the Llaelese people about their vulnerability. Llael earned its early fame during the Rebellion for being the birthplace of blasting powder and long boasted many of the finest pistoleers and alchemists in western Immoren. Unfortunately, these talents were directed more to commercial gain and less to bolstering the kingdom’s rotting defences and inadequate military. Its people spent their time instead in appreciation for the finer things in life, from expensive locally produced wines, to great written works in their native tongue, works of art, music, and architecture, all sponsored by bickering nobles competing to control the trade that was the nation’s lifeblood.

Corruption from within hastened the Khadoran invasion and occupation of the small country. Llael’s last king had died decades before, and his heirs had all fallen prey to murderous conspiracies by those seeking to exploit the chaos. The nobles who came after allowed Llael’s small army to languish, relying increasingly on foreign aid and unreliable sell-swords instead. The nation’s renowned pistoleers became duellists and assassins for hire rather than protecting the borders. The Llaelese people suffer the consequences of this neglect, as they have dealt with not just one but two invading armies. After Cygnar was driven from Llael by Khador, the Northern Crusade of the Protectorate of Menoth moved in to seize certain eastern lands. While within these occupied lands a beleaguered Llaelese Resistance remains determined to regain the nation’s freedom, to many Llaelese their cause seems desperate and futile. Only a handful of Llaelese towns remain free of foreign influence.

The Protectorate of Menoth

For years historians and politicians both have pretended the Protectorate of Menoth was not a nation of its own because the agreements that ended the Cygnaran Civil War left it technically beholden to Cygnar’s crown. Over time those obligations proved to be a farce, and now it is clear the Protectorate stands as the youngest of the Iron Kingdoms. Indeed, while older kingdoms like Llael have fallen, the Protectorate’s survival seems more certain with each passing year.

Caspia was divided in the aftermath of the Cygnaran Civil War. The larger, western portion of the city remained part of Cygnar, while the eastern portion across the Black River became Sul, capital of the Protectorate. This placed bitter enemies in close proximity, with only towering walls and a rushing river between their heavily armed garrisons. The rest of the Protectorate stretches east and southeast into an arid and resource-poor region adjacent to the dangerous Bloodstone Marches.

Sul-Menites practice a strict form of worship and believe their only chance of evading endless torment in the afterlife is obedience to the True Law. Priests and scrutators instil a terror of the clergy in the population, teaching the people to obey without question and to expect the lash for expressing the slightest doubt. Perhaps because of these harsh measures, the Menite faith has been in slow decline for many centuries, steadily losing ground to the more benevolent message of the Church of Morrow.

The recent appearance of the Harbinger of Menoth has provided the spark the Menites have long sought to revitalize their faith. This young woman emerged from an obscure town on the fringes of the Protectorate and displayed clear signs of miraculous contact with the divine, including the fact that her feet refuse to touch the unclean earth. She sometimes communes directly with Menoth and can speak his words. Witnessing her visage has prompted thousands of foreigner Menites to immediately convert and pull up their roots to relocate to the Protectorate.

Regular clashes between the Protectorate and Cygnar have long threatened the security of both powers, and these tensions erupted into open war following Khador’s invasion of Llael. The Protectorate took advantage of Cygnar’s distraction to initiate a long-planned great crusade. The Harbinger’s endorsement of this campaign filled the hearts and minds of the Sul-Menites with unprecedented fervour and a frightening willingness to sacrifice their lives for the cause.

Violence between Cygnar and the Protectorate of Menoth escalated to a crescendo in 605 AR when the Protectorate besieged Caspia. The Menites were repelled, and Cygnar counterattacked, breaching Sul’s walls to allow Cygnaran soldiers to pour into the city. Following a year of gruelling battles, Protectorate forces eventually drove the Cygnaran invaders back and spilled through Caspia’s gates to march on Castle Raelthorne. Cygnar’s home garrison narrowly achieved victory, quieting the constant warfare between the two cities for a time but leaving a tenuous situation that could flare to open war at any time. Smaller skirmishes continue to transpire in the open lands outside Caspia and Sul on either side of the Black River, causing considerable hardship to those living in those embattled regions.

While the fighting in Caspia and Sul resulted in a stalemate, the Protectorate’s military efforts elsewhere have strengthened the nation. Its Northern Crusade in particular has met with great success. Those forces brazenly conducted operations in the Thornwood, burning the Cygnaran city of Fisherbrook before marching north to seize the fortified Llaelese city of Leryn, a centre of alchemical production and one of the greatest fortresses ever built. This has become the seat of the crusades. The Protectorate has situated most of its military might in this northern region, hoping to extend its reach toward Khador and bring the Harbinger’s message to the large Menite communities there.

Cryx

The Scharde Islands lurk in the pirate-infested coastal waters past the Broken Coast of western Cygnar. The largest isle hosting the capital of the Nightmare Empire of Cryx. The island’s jagged, foreboding coastline hints at the realm's true nature—it is a land even more grim and treacherous than it appears. Its vicious forests and ravaged mountains are home to blighted trollkin, ogrun, twisted men, savage gobbers, and warped half-breeds. These peoples may resemble races of the mainland, but the cruel culture of the island and the necromantic energies pervading this kingdom have transformed them into something malicious and vile.

The inhabitants of this land live in fear under the shadow of their ruler, the first dragon, Lord Toruk. Also called the Dragonfather, he is the source of all of his kind and deemed a god by those who must obey his governing lich lords and priests of his cult. Toruk is the source of the malignance that radiates from this island as a palpable energy, the blight that affects every plant, animal, and stone in this kingdom.

The Dragonfather has utterly dominated his territory for sixteen centuries, and his privateers terrorize the western coasts of Cygnar and Ord by preying on shipping routes and pillaging lightly defended villages for their resources and inhabitants alike. Entire communities have vanished after Cryxian raids, the inhabitants seized and presumably added to the undead armies. Although Toruk seems content to rule his remote island realm, the mainland nations fear the day he decides to expand his borders, and it seems likely this has begun to come to pass. Where once the agents of Cryx were rarely encountered abroad, now Cryxian armies have entered the battles on the mainland with greater regularity.

Ios

The elven nation of Ios has long secluded itself from the kingdoms of man, and for centuries those who crossed its borders without invitation would not return. This nation is decidedly xenophobic, although in decades past it conducted periodic trade and maintained some limited communication with its neighbours. Its ambassadors were always close-lipped and secretive even in the best of times, but several decades ago Ios sealed its borders entirely. Outsiders know little of Ios with any certainty, except that its people have their own culture and a religion entirely distinct from the rest of the Iron Kingdoms, including unique arcane techniques and their own blend of magic and technology called arcanika. To most, elves are an exotic and dangerous enigma.

Rhul

Compared to the dynamic kingdoms of men and the strange doings of the inscrutable elves, the Dwarven Rhulfolk are a bastion of order and reason. Their society has been without major upheaval for over a thousand years, and the history of Rhul traces back longer than any other established civilization in the region. Even their armed disputes are more like duels than wars, being organized and adjudicated by the Dwarven parliament, known among their own kind as the Moot. The traditional leaders of the Moot are the Stone Lords; the most aged and respected dwarves. The other members of the Moot are representatives from the Hundred Houses, the most powerful landed clans. It is this group that is responsible for forging the laws of Dwarven society, using an incredibly lengthy set of procedural rules called the Codex.

Across all the known lands Rhulfolk are renowned for their fine craftsmanship and their prowess as engineers and builders. Any child knows the quality of Dwarven metalwork and stone craft, and the stout folk's skill at mining and love of building is matched only by their ingenuity in mechanikal engineering. Yet equally prized by outsiders is the Rhulic skill and fondness for battle. While their society is eminently stable, skill at arms and warfare is a craft undertaken with the same serious attention as any other. Every clan boasts its own great warriors, and many of these seek to earn fame and profit and to sharpen their skills in the wars outside of Rhul. This has led to an increasing emergence of highly trained and valued Rhulic mercenaries eager to take on contracts in other lands. Entire Dwarven conclaves beholden to Rhulic law exist in several of the human kingdoms, and these communities are deemed invaluable sources of skilled labour, quality crafted goods, and reliable sell-swords. It is widely understood that these mercenaries are ultimately still devoted and loyal to Rhul would immediately return to their homeland should it ever need to be defended from outsiders.
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Sun May 12, 2013 9:18 pm

Religion

The Twins, Morrow and Thamar

Humans in the Iron Kingdoms have two main patron deities. The prophet Morrow is the lord of goodness and light, and is worshipped by most humans. His fraternal twin sister Thamar is the patron of the selfish and wicked. The two started out as ordinary humans, thousands of years ago, but they came to believe that any person could improve their lot in life almost without end. After a long, hard path, they ascended into divinity and enlightenment, sacrificing their physical bodies so that they could walk the earth in spirit, providing guidance to those who needed it. The twins' journey is recorded in the weighty Enkheiridion of Ascension, the primary religious text of the Iron Kingdoms.

Sadly, the siblings fought near the end of their journey, and their paths diverged. Morrow chose the path of selflessness, deciding to guide and protect Men in their journey through life, nudging them to the path of virtue and self-improvement that he discovered. Thamar chose to guide Men in a different way. She is the whisperer in shadows, always urging people to take the quick and easy path, to maximize their short-term earthly gains and pleasures regardless of the consequences.

It is said that every human at some point has to make a choice between the two paths – that Morrow and Thamar eventually visit everyone and secretly test them. "The Volition," as the trial is called, takes the form of a moral dilemma, usually early in life. Few people can pinpoint when their Volition was, for the gods are subtle and clever, never showing themselves directly. The rare individuals that can clearly see the test and the gods before them are blessed, and almost always become clerics or paladins.

Clerics of Morrow and Thamar can be of any good or evil alignment, respectively. They attempt to emulate their patron's lives, often travelling in their footsteps and attempting the same trials the twins undertook so long ago. Those that succeed become saintly beings who Ascend to take their place at Morrow or Thamar's side. These Ascendants (good) and Scions (evil) are very rare; only a score of people have ever Ascended to either god's side. Each Ascended are powerful entities in their own right, with their own philosophy and sphere of influence.

While the Church of Morrow has a very formal structure and rich history, the worship of Thamar is a solitary thing. Rarely will one see so much as a shrine in her name, and her clerics are secretive. However, almost all of the humans in the Iron Kingdoms are strong believers in the central teaching of both siblings – you create your own destiny, and your lot in life is not fixed at birth.

Ascendants of Morrow

The following lists all the current Ascendants which serve as Morrow's most powerful divine servants and serve as patrons for those who worship the god. Having a patron Ascendant is common both for clerics as well as pious laymen.

Name/Patron of...
Asc. Angellia/History, Lore and Knowledge
Asc. Corben/Alchemy, Astronomy, and Wizardry
Asc. Doleth/Sailors and Fishermen
Asc. Ellena /Travellers and Adventurers
Asc. Gordenn/Farmers and Family
Asc. Katrena/Valour, Knighthood & Paladins
Asc. Markus/Soldiers & Town Guards
Asc. Rowan/Downtrodden & Champion of the Poor
Asc. Sambert/Smiths, Stonemasons and Carpenters
Asc. Shevann/Merchants & Bankers
Asc. Solovin/Healers, Battle-Chaplains & Midwives

Menoth

The worship of Menoth is ancient, predating the Church of Morrow by millennia. Menoth is a strict, vengeful deity, credited by most humans (even those who follow the Twins) with the creation of the world and mankind. It's unquestionable that Menoth exists, for his priests were once the powerful ruling class of the land. Alas for Menoth, the more uplifting and tolerant message of Morrow began to take hold with the people, and today the worship of Menoth is a minority faith everywhere except the Protectorate. Outside of the Protectorate, the largest minority serving Menoth is among the "Old Faith" of Khador, where many citizens cling tenaciously to the worship of their ancient creator.

Menoth is usually depicted as a masked giant, towering over his frightened worshippers. He demands adherence to a strict code of conduct – part of which is providing constant tribute to Menoth and his priests. The notion that a man may "ascend," so central to the worship of Morrow and Thamar, is blasphemy in the church of Menoth. To Menoth, man's place is to serve his creator, and his reward is to pass quietly into oblivion.

Cyriss

Cyriss, Maiden of Gears, Mistress of Numbers, also known as the Clockwork Goddess, is a fairly recent addition to the land's pantheon. Her worship became known only a few centuries ago, at about the time Men and dwarves began to build sophisticated machines and delve into new kinds of math and philosophy. Cyriss is largely unconcerned with the fate of individuals. Most of her effort is spent writing and overseeing the natural laws that govern the realm of science and engineering, though she will take action directly or through her followers when something threatens the natural order of things. She appears as a humanoid, but she is not a human goddess; her worshippers are largely human but also include a number of dwarves and even some gobbers and members of other races inclined toward engineering.

The Devourer Wurm

Although often referred to as a legendary monster rather than a god, the Devourer is the ancient foe of Menoth, bane of humanity's creator. Also known as the Beast of Many Shapes, Lord of Predators, and the Unsleeping One, the Devourer is an ancient force of natural chaos which hates everything civilized. When Menoth was the dominant religion, the Devourer was considered the great foe, although its role as enemy of mankind has been reduced since the rise of the twins.

Despite its reputation the Devourer has always drawn worshipers among many races, particularly those living in the wilds or of chaotic alignment. Many human barbarians, gobbers, trollkin, and ogrun worship the Devourer, and claim this god is the most ancient power from the dawn of the world. Since the near extinction of the human barbarian tribes, there are no longer any large territories in the hands of Devourer worshipers. The largest pockets are found in the mountains of Khador, the Bloodstone Marches, and the Scharde Islands. Small cults to the Devourer can be found across the Iron Kingdoms, usually in remote locations or in secret tunnels beneath cities and towns. Human druids in the Iron Kingdoms believe their power derives from the Devourer, but do not actually worship this entity.

Dhunia

Considered a primitive religion by the "civilized" races of the Iron Kingdoms, Dhunia's worship is widespread among the more peaceful gobbers, trollkin and ogrun. According to these races, the world and all life are aspects of Dhunia, the great mother of the world. Their creation myth depicts Dhunia as their divine mother, and the Devourer as their divine father, and insists that Menoth did not make the world even if he was the creator of humanity. Further, worshipers of Dhunia do not expect to experience an afterlife when they die, but instead believe in reincarnation where their souls are recycled by Dhunia to be born again. Dhunia's faith is relatively passive and has no large agenda or plans, nor is there any form of central organization or structure. Each race has its own representation of the goddess, but the most common is a very abstract sculpture or figurine of a pregnant woman.

This religion has been tolerated by the Church of Morrow since it appears to have no designs on human worshipers, although those who believe in her are treated with condescension. The followers of Menoth are not so tolerant, and consider Dhunia simply another face of the Devourer Wurm.

The Great Fathers

The dwarves do not have a single patron deity. Instead, they worship a group of divine forefathers, the thirteen paragons that spawned their race. Each Great Father has his own personality, holidays, parables and sphere of influence, and it is common to say a prayer or a curse in a particular Father's name as the situation warrants it.

The Divine Court

Unknown to outsiders

Lord Toruk

The last of the so-called deities of the land is the most controversial, the great dragon king of Cryx, Lord Toruk. Most religions and citizens of the Iron Kingdoms do not consider Lord Toruk a god, and indeed would consider it blasphemy to refer to him as such. Nonetheless Lord Toruk has forced all of the citizens of his realm to acknowledge him as their ruling deity, and to bow down before his chosen priesthood.
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Sun May 12, 2013 9:20 pm

Five Fingers

Islands

Bellicose Island

Commonly known as Bull’s Island (not that anyone knows why), Bellicose is home to the majority of the city’s wealthy and elite. The residents of the island are incredibly paranoid (and rightly so), meaning that this is the one place in the city that actually has highly vigilant, official law enforcement.

Doleth Island

Commonly known as Dicer’s Isle due to the prolific amounts of gambling dens to found (which often leads to a high level of crime). The main landmark on the island is the Cathedral of Morrow, but is it a far gone from the impressive structure is may once have been.

Chaser Island

The twin to Doleth Island, Chaser Island serves as a hub for the city due its positioning between Captain’s Isle to the south, Doleth to the west and Bellicose to the north. The Finger’s Watch is fairly lively, leading to less crime than can be seen in other parts of the city. Its proximity to the bellows also means that the markets on Chaser have some of the higher quality locally produced gear.

Captain’s Isle

The ‘main island’ of Five Fingers is the centre for what passes as Government in the city, as well as holding a third of the city’s population. The Emerald District is the premiere entertainment district in the city and it also has the largest number of piers serving both river and sea trade.

Hospice Island

Also known as Beggar’s Isle for obvious reasons. The island is a crowded mess of the less fortunate, the poor and the angry. It is a filthy place and ripe with disease. Do not drink the water. Do not cross over onto Mute Sister Island. The island is also home to the city’s fighting pits.

The Rigs

Whilst not a separate island, the Rigs nevertheless hold a large proportion of the city’s population. When the city was forced to build upward, the rope bridges connecting the upper levels of buildings started to gain small wooden structures dangling off them which soon grew into their own neighbourhoods. There are also roped together platforms hanging off the sheer cliff sides and underneath several major bridges making it possible to traverse most of the city without touching the ground. The only place where the rigs don’t exist is on Bellicose Island because the locals simply won’t allow it to spread. They are often not considered part of the city because the Lord Governor pretends they don’t exist and the High Captains have never had any luck forcing their will on the inhabitants.

Power

The line between criminal and legitimate organisations can become blurry in Five Fingers. The High Captain syndicates hire mercenary companies to assist in policing certain areas of the city and the Lord Governor endorses this policy as a cost saving measure for the city treasury.

The current Lord Governor and reprehensive of King Baird in Five Fingers is Eilish Doyle. The Lord Governor is seen by many to be weak and ineffective, but in actual fact he has done much better than expected given the limitations of his resources and the difficulties of his office. This largely caused by a lack of support from the capital and the weakness of Five Fingers’ tax system.

The Fingers Watch is what passes for official law enforcement in the city, but they are vastly understaffed. The current Watch Commander is Darvis Middleton. There are also three Watch Captains; Sherill Ladwey is the Watch Captain for the Twin Islands of Doleth and Chaser, Nestor Parvolo is the Watch Captain for Captain’s Isle and Gervis Sculler is on Bellicose Isle. There is no Watch Captain on Hospice Isle.

It worth mentioning various mercenary companies for the role they play in law enforcement under the pay of the High Captains. The main companies active in the city are the Sons of Thuria, the Red Sheilds, Jenner’s Arsenal and the Emerald Watch.

There are four pirate High Captains in Five Fingers (Banek Hurley, Velter Waernuk, Jannish Riordan and Durgan Kilbride), formed into an uneasy agreement called the Four Star Syndicate. To call this a truce would be false, as they are constantly plotting against each other in the shadows and empowering gangs to fight each other in the streets. They have divided the city into various turfs and claimed areas, however some areas are claimed by more than one as long as their interests in the area don’t conflict (or provided they don’t decide to expand).

It also a well known and often ignored fact that there are many Thamarite cults operational in the city, imposing their own influence where they see fit.
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Sun May 12, 2013 10:08 pm

The new stuff starts here with a recap of week one.

Master,

As ordered I have kept a close eye on the two groups of newcomers calling themselves 'The Spent Bullets' and 'The Psions of Truth', a group of bounty hunters and investigators respectively. The Spent Bullets appears to be led by a Dwarf who goes by the name of 'Trigger-Finger' Tellock, and backed up by a Human Gun Mage named James Crael and the Ogrun Isoc Neutani. The Psions of Truth are an even odder asortment, including a Morrowan Priest named Dathord Haller, a woman called Faber Castell and her steamjack Huff, and, of all things, an Iosan. The Iosan has not put much of an appearance and hence I have not been able discover his name.

The two groups were summoned to the warehouse of one Zax Thoran. Up to this point there has been no-one on my radar by this name, so I do not know who this person is working for. Zax gave the groups two jobs to accomplish in return for 200gc each upon completion of each job, the first being to hunt down the serial killer 'Gallows Tom' (infamous for hanging the homeless) and the second to investigate the missing funeral ships from the Church of the Waters.

They initially traveled south to Hospice Island, the location of the majority of Gallows Tom's killings. Upon reaching Chesake Market the groups split up to perform separate investigations. The Spent Bullets asked around the market and heard of Tom's most recent killing of the leader of the local orphanage. Instead of going straight there, they went to the Church of Ascendent Rowan first because they heard that the chaplain there often helped out at the orphanage. A short while later they exited the church and went to the orphanage. The eldest child there managed to give a very rough description of Tom as well as of the incident in question; it turns out the orphanage leader was only killed becase he got in way of Tom killing one of the orphans. Upon inspecting the crime scene in an alley behind the orphanage, they found Tom's tracks leading away and to the northern coast of the island. On the way I believe they found a Thamarite medallion which they presumed was dropped by Tom in his flight from the scene. Upon reaching the coast the tracks were lost due to the shifting of the sands.

The Psions of Truth took a ... different ... approach, and went to the local pub. I believe this pub, called 'The Dying Beggar next to Prostitute' (Hospice Island never ceases to reach new lows) has since become the regular establishment for them.The Psions nevertheless somehow managed to prevail by coaxing a drunk local to tell them of how a man he called 'Fallows Tim' killed his beggar friend over by the Chatterstones. As a side note, this is the first of many times the reclusive Fallows Tim has turned up in their investigation, sometimes mistaken for Gallows Tom and other times as his accomplice, but I believe this man to be entirely fictional. The Psions then proceeded to talk to the Blackguard (the guardians of the Chatterstones), who directed them to the crime scene. Here they talked to another beggar and obtained the same rough description as The Spent Bullets.

That evening Telleck and Neutani went back to the orphanage to protect the children, believing that Tom would show up to finish the job. Their hunch was correct as Tom showed up in the middle of the night, but was quickly scared off again and escaped into the Rigs. However he did leave behind an old, short piece of frayed rope.

During this time the priest left company with the Psions to conduct his own business. However, I was preoccupied with the activities of The Spent Bullets and did not see where he went.

I will continue to send more updates on their movements as they happen,

Your faithful servant.
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Mon May 13, 2013 4:04 pm

Week two is up

Master,

The Psions of Truth were otherwise occupied during this time, so the following report is from following The Spent Bullets only.

The morning after their brief encounter with Gallows Tom, The Spent Bullets returned to the orphanage once again and tried to follow Tom’s escape route into the Rigs. It seemed at first that the Human James Crael is the only one of the group with any sort of climbing skills, as he managed to scale the side of the orphanage as Tom did to reach to roof. Once here, he spotted the roof access and he was soon joined by Telleck and Neutani. The Dwarf and Human then proceeded to climb into the Rigs and, after questioning a couple of Gobbers, successfully tracked Tom’s movement through the Rigs to the north. At the coast, Crael took ‘the fast way down’ (removing any thoughts I had of him being a decent climber). Telleck decided to backtrack for a safer way down and met Crael on the ground soon after, meeting up with the Ogrun on the way.

At the coast, they initially went to question the militia guarding one of the bridges onto Mute Sister Island (there to upkeep a quarantine on the Island due to an outbreak in plague) as to whether they had seen a man matching their description heading along the beach a few nights past. I believe that the militia confirmed they had, but assumed it to be a member of the Blackguard heading for the Chatterstones. The militia also confirmed that they had a few men out in dingies to guard against swimmers from the Island who could have seen more. A quick conversation with the Blackguard confirmed that they saw no-one coming along the beach, except for the obligatory smugglers.

The group headed to the Swap Market where they were told the man in charge was responsible for setting the rota for the militia guard and were subsequently pointed in the direction of a man named Brodert Quink, a man who works for Haggen ‘The Butcher’ Gaffer in the bloody market. Although Low Captain Gaffer is High Captain Waernuk’s right hand man, it seems likely that Quink is nothing more than a normal butcher. However, Quink did not see much either beyond a man he assumed to be of the Blackguard.

With this lead gone, they decided to try and question the smugglers. With the majority of the smugglers in the city being under the control of one High Captain or another, they try and gain an audience with Waernuk (I’m fairly certain because he was the nearest). Gaffer refuses at first, but grants them a chance to prove their usefulness by settling down the local Trollkin camp. It turns out that High Captain Kilbride had been riling up the Trollkin on Waernuk’s doorstep, spreading half falsehoods about Waernuk taking them as slaves and encroaching on their territory, whilst he himself ingratiated himself with them by providing the bare minimum of support to appear on their side. By a combination of winning the Trollkin to their side with shooting practice (with involved a lot of ego boosting to the Trollkin), pointing out Kilbride’s lack of decent support and just mocking his representative, Low Captain ‘Dainty’ Don Haggise, they somehow managed to convince the Trollkin to declare themselves independent of any High Captain. Whilst it may not have been what Waernuk ultimately wanted, it was good enough for James Crael to get an audience with him.

Waernuk questioned his smugglers himself, away from ‘prying eyes’ (a wishful thought) and returned to confirm to Crael that his smugglers had indeed seen someone scale the cliff above the Blackguard in order to climb into the Chatterstones along the roof of the cave. Crael was then told in no less words to ‘get off his land’.

On their way back to Chatterstones, the Spent Bullets were briefly joined by the Iosan, the third member of the Psions of Truth. What he had been doing up to this point I do not know, and he was quick to disappear again.

Your Faithful Servant
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Mon May 13, 2013 4:51 pm

And week three

Master,

The Morrawan Priest Haller made his reappearance at this point in time, but the Iosan has once again vanished.

Instead of proceeding directly to the Chatterstones, the group decides to go back to the Trollkin camp to arrange a drinking session (I’m assuming this was on the urging of the priest, as he claims this to be part of his religious duties – I will check up on this fact as it is the first I have heard of it). Upon asking Chieftain Bluetongue for any Trollkin who regularly go drinking with Humans they are directed to Belor, a harpoon gun wielding Trollkin who was part of the previous shooting practice. As luck would have it, Belor has a regular companion amongst the Blackguard called Oliver and he has already arranged a drinking session for tonight. By catching parts of the following conversation, I gathered that they planned to get this man drunk and steal his clothes. It seems that what I term ‘The Hospice Effect’ is contagious.

A quick visit to the Radiz camp showed that they have not been affected by Gallows Tom. It seems Tom differentiates between homeless and nomadic.

I doubt the majority of the groups actions for the rest of the night will be of interest to you, as it includes primarily boorish drunken antics and ladies of the night. However they did convince Oliver to set up a meeting with the Blackguard leader, Narsson Breggan.

By 3 o’clock the following afternoon the group had mainly sobered up and they headed to their arranged meeting at the Blackguard meeting hall. Breggan told the group of their job guarding against the risen as they come up and out of the Chatterstones (which is, of course, an old abandoned crypt), but that nothing malign has emerged for the past 30 years. He also told them the rough layout; a large primary route down with many smaller tunnels running off, as well as a large man-made area off one of the smaller tunnels (not from the original crypt). He then granted them permission to enter the Chatterstones, it being ‘no skin off his nose if they all die anyway’.

Upon entering the crypt, they find the handholds that Tom was using the scale the cliff side, diminishing talk of his climbing skills being arcane. However talk of a crypt has spurred of him being undead, and possibly that there could be multiple Gallows Toms. After walking down into the crypt for a while they hear chanting ahead and stop, extinguishing their light. The priest, who, it turns out, can see in the dark, crept further forward to see what was happening. He unveiled a scene of 20 or 30 robed individuals chanting in a natural chamber in the tunnel. He then proceeded to sneak back. After a bit of charades trying to communicate what he had seen the chanting crescendos and stops, followed by the sound of mass feet moving away. After letting enough time pass, the priest goes forward again to see the chamber bathed in a deep blue glow. Unperturbed, he continues forward and follows the robed figures down the crypt tunnel. However, when Crael entered the glow everything went dark and whining noises were heard from behind them. This was followed by a quick fight against the risen that were coming down to meet them. I can only presume this was a trap set by the robed figures. At the climax of the fight Gallows Tom, in some kind of shadow form, flitted past Telleck and Neutani and started sprinting down further into the crypt, throwing a bola behind him to trip Telleck as he runs after. Despite this, a hail of gun and bow fire managed to bring Tom down, and an Orgun sword through the skull finished him off.

By this point, the Priest Haller had backtracked in time to see the death of Tom. But it was decided that he should continue to follow the robed figures while The Spent Bullets cashed in the bounty.

Your Faithful Servant
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Wed May 22, 2013 3:31 pm

Master,

Exhibiting very atypical behavior for someone in Five Fingers, the Priest Haller decided to trust the Spent Bullets to claim the bounty whilst he himself went further into the Chatterstones on the trail of the robed figures. On their way back the Captain’s Isle, the Spent Bullets once again run into the Iosan member of the Psions of Truth (now identified as Izzen) who, upon hearing of the location of his friend, heads down into the Chatterstones to lend a hand.

After their previous run in with the mercenaries guarding the bridge between Hospice and Captain’s Isles, the Spent Bullets wisely decide to find a different route back to the Zax’s warehouse on the Rivergrav. Whilst Crael opted for the route though the rigs (stopping off to get his horse out of the stables on the way), Telleck and Neutani instead head back to the Trollkin camp to borrow a boat. Chieftain Bluetongue obliges them and sends Belor with them in order for him to row the boat back afterwards. The Spend Bullets then regrouped outside the warehouse and then obtained their bounty from Zax’s moronic assistant, who insisted that Zax told him to only give a bounty to those who actually come back for it (i.e. not any members of the Psions of Truth as of that moment).

Meanwhile Haller had followed the robed figures into the man made clearing off of the Chatterstones, which he correctly identifies as a temple but is not able to identify the God it is dedicated to. However, he remained blissfully unaware that the robed figures were in fact conscious of him following them. As they settled down, Haller started to approach the leader and was quickly surrounded by the rest of the robed figures. Contrary to my own predictions he was unharmed by the group, merely questioned as to why he was here and how he came to possess the Thamarite medallion of Scion Lukas. It was revealed during this exchange that this was a meeting of The Shroud (a cult of Thamar specializing in death magic) and that they did not worship Lukas. The medallion of Lukas was taken, and the Priest was allowed to leave. He met with Izzen on the way out (who I believe was adamant about going back in) and led him back out the Chatterstones. As opposed to the Spent Bullets decision to avoid the bridge, the pair head straight for it and pay the toll (after some heated arguments from the Iosan). The group collecting the tolls proudly identified themselves as the Emerald Watch. At this point the pair split up, with Izzen heading to Zax’s warehouse to collect his bounty and Haller heading to the Church of the Waters to follow up on their other case regarding the missing funeral ships.

At the Church of the Waters, Haller met with Father Gold Renolvo. It is worth mentioning at this point that the Father came up in Haller’s conversation with the Shroud leader, insinuating that he was or soon to be a member of the Fallen sept of Thamar (Morrowan priests who have converted to Thamar worship). However, I can neither confirm nor deny this rumour at this time. But the Father was very friendly and described in as much detail as he could the disappearances of his funeral ships. He revealed that the captain of his ships, one Captain Baylish Wenhorn, has been on all four ships at the time of their disappearances, and that some of the crew had survived being on the first to go.

After the Spent Bullets and Psions of Truth reconvened at the docks, they questioned these crew members and inspected the remaining ships. The crew all claim to have been knock out when the attack started and that they don’t remember anything except an odd smell. They also pointed them in the direction of the Basalt Piazza (an extremely up market drinking hole) if they wanted to find Captain Wenhorn. The ships all seemed to be in order.

It was at this point that the group was accosted by a group of 9 of High Captain Kilbride’s thugs who, based on their previous work for High Captain Waernuk, were instructed to deliver to them an ultimatum; work for Kilbride, leave the city or it gets bloody. But in typical fashion, these goons were more concerned over their own survival and were quickly intimidated by the group (I feel the Ogrun helped here a lot).

True to the crew’s word, the captain was in the Basalt Piazza. In order to get near to him, Crael and Haller played to part of wealthy humans and Izzen was their indentured Iosan. The ruse worked and the pair of humans conversed with the captain and convinced him to let them on his ship this evening with some sob story about Crael’s dead aunt. Keeping in character, they then watched some awful play about a romance between an Iosan and a Gobber. During time, Izzen spoke to the other slaves in the slave pen and found out that the captain had been coming here more often in the past two weeks and in more expensive clothes and jewelry each time.

Based on the odd smell, Telleck went out to by some gas masks. I believe their plan is to wait for the ship they will be on to be attacked and to then put on the masks and take out whoever is behind it all.

Your Faithful Servant
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Fri Jun 14, 2013 11:43 am

Master,

True to their plan, the Iosan Izen was placed in a coffin and was taken aboard the funeral ship. The group all stayed below decks from the start of the voyage, I believe they were supposed to be portraying that they were in mourning over the ‘dead aunt’. In actual fact they were below decks so they could all wear gas masks without raising suspicions.

Upon hearing thuds from above decks, Telleck and Neutani rushed upstairs with the others remaining behind to guard the helpless Iosan. On deck, the last of the crewmen were succumbing to the knockout gas, with the captain standing there unaffected. Telleck immediately leveled his rifle at him and demanded his surrender, but before anything else could happen the captain was picked up on wind currents and thrown overboard. Under this distraction, a mechanithrall managed to climb up the side of the boat and attempted to drag Neutani off the side. In hindsight, the ogrun may not have been the easiest choice of targets for this, as he managed to throw the mechanically enhanced zombie off him and back into the water before he was dragged very far. But this did buy time for more risen to climb the stern of the ship and charge into the ogrun. In order to avoid hitting his comrade, Telleck put aside his rifle and charged into the fray with knuckle dusters.

It was at this point that a female human servant of the Cryx (the identity of the group was confirmed afterwards) flew onto the ship on air currents and proceeded to send razor sharp winds into Telleck. Whilst the standard risen failed to do excessive lasting damage to pair, they did buy time for the mechanithrall to climb back up and re-engage. Correctly judging melee skills to the be lacking Telleck tried to back away from the monstrosity in order to take a shot at the female, but all he managed to do was get his throat ripped out by the mechanithrall on the way and then lie on deck spurting blood.

Deciding to finish off the dwarf while she could the female picked Telleck up in a mini tornado, preparing to throw him over board and to his death. However, in true ogrun style, Neutani slaughtered his way through the remaining risen and the mechanithrall causing he female to flee the ship. Knowing his friends life was quickly draining away, Neutani ran below decks and fetched the priest who managed to stem the flow of blood from Telleck’s throat.

This was followed by a rather comical scene as the ogrun tried his hand at navigation and sailing and ended up going in the exact opposite direction he was heading for and crashed into the docks on Doleth Island. I believe he claimed this to be good enough. On shore, an alchemist of the order of the golden crucible saw the sorry state that Telleck was in and offered his services in patching him up for a modest fee.

The following morning, the pair went back to see Father Renolvo and recounted their harrowing tale (Telleck now in position of a somewhat 'gruffer' voice). Renolvo confirmed that Captain Wenhorn had not resurfaced from last night’s failure, but that the crew had returned safely. He also mentioned the naval port commander who is good friends with the captain and who might know of his whereabouts.

After a quick interrogation session, the commander revealed the identity of Scarrow, one of the Cryxian agents who is currently also serving as one of the Lord Governor’s trusted aides, and who was also having meetings with Captain Wenhorn. He revealed this in the belief that the pair would keep his snitching secret, not truly realizing that nothing ever remains a secret long in Five Fingers.

Your Faithful servant.
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Fri Jun 14, 2013 11:45 am

Master

Displaying all the subtlety I’ve come to expect from these people, Izen used his mechanical arm to smash his way out of the coffin having apparently been forgotten by his partners (or he could have been left there on purpose, it would fit the general anti-Iosan attitude exhibited by most humans), and caused mass panic among the dockworkers of Doleth. He then proceeded to go to the pub.

Mid-drink he was approached by a lieutenant in the Fingers Watch by the name of Morton Rorke, who offered him a ‘simple’ delivery job. He needed a package picked up from the workshop of freelance alchemist Jorvis Torm on Doleth and to deliver it to the docks of the Wakes Isles. He was also warned that this package was extremely dangerous and was to not be opened under any circumstances. Just as the conversion moved onto payment, the human Crael showed up to try and drive the price up with talk of hazard pay and toll bridge expenses.

After Rorke left, the pair went straight to Torm’s workshop to collect the package only to be met by two guards from the Order of the Golden Crucible blocking their way inside, claiming that some of the senior alchemists were inside searching the workshop. Not being very bright, the guards were easily distracted by Izen’s small talk as Crael sneaked around the building looking for another way in. In short order he managed to find the trapdoor leading down into the alchemist’s basement, so he went back to Izen and the pair planned a stealthy operation into the building.

However, before their expert could be implemented, the workshop exploded in a fierce green fireball with enough force to through the both of them to the ground. Springing into action, Crael, under false gallantry, helped the two crucible guards lift debris from the front door only to slip in by himself at the first opening big enough. Izen instead opted for the basement access. With a quick glance around Crael found numerous scattered old bones on the floor and a discarded knife wedged into the floorboards with the remains of a half burnt red rag tied to it with the word ‘skiffs’ still just visible before being burnt away. Izen then used his mechanical arm to break through the fire weakened floorboards, making an easy escape route for Crael.

What passes for the Five Fingers emergency services eventually managed to put the fire out and Crael took another opportunity to examine the remains of the workshop, in which he discovered the ash coated runes of the bones and several toppled vials labeled ‘alchemists fire’, but no package for collection.

Questioning the locals the pair managed to get the name ‘Bloody Skiffs’, a gang operating on West Porpoise Isle who wear red bandanas around their heads or arms. On the hunt for the package, they head on that direction. On the way they are briefly stopped by a group of Fingers Watchmen who questioned them as to their involvement in the fire and death of Jorvis Torm. Listening to their story, the guards agree to accompany them to the docks of West Porpoise to confront the Bloody Skiffs.

The pair and their guard escort approached the Skiff’s barge only to find it apparently deserted. Some of the watchmen at least made a show at this point of having a look around the barge and, true to form, they found nothing and start to leave. However, the two morons that the Golden Crucible hired as guards decided that this surely couldn’t be the case and heedlessly charged onto the barge, where upon they were summarily jumped upon, bludgeoned unconscious and dragged behind the cabin. Taking this as their cue, Izen and Crael launch their own attack on the barge and the suddenly appeared gang members. The pair managed to make quick work of the majority of the scum, but before they could perform a full sweep of them the two crucible guards made a reappearance, looking extremely happy, and proceeded to attack them. At this point a large ogrun burst out from the cabin, declared himself Brak Seabracker, yelled at the pair to get off his ship, and then threw Izen overboard. Luckily they were still at the dock, so the Iosan was able to easily swim to shore. Not feeling up to tackling an angry ogrun by himself, Crael decided to back off and tried to rouse the city watch into action. It was to his dismay, however, that at this point the ogrun and bodies on the barge all ceased to exist once again.

Not to be dissuaded, Crael goes back onto the barge and shoots madly into the cabin, enraging the ogrun inside who breaks the illusion by charging out in an attempt to gut him. Back on shore Izen rallies the watchmen and gets them to charge onto the boarding ramp of the barge to take the ogrun down, successfully fulfilling the role of ‘meat shield’. Seeing his pet in trouble, a human necromancer, I believe his name was Slivto, comes out the cabin in order to make Crael bleed out of every orifice. However, as a last ditch effort, Crael managed to shoot the necromancer in the head and held on to remaining his morsels of blood. With the necromancer gone, the ogrun eventually went down to numerous cuts from Izen and the massed guards. With the Bloody Skiffs dispatched, a quick search of the cabin revealed the package that the two of them were after from Jorvis Torm’s workshop. Then, in traditional fashion, they went to the pub.

But a peaceful drink eluded them, as they were met by a watchmen under Lieutenant Rorke shortly after arriving who demanded that they hand the package over. Refusing to do so, Crael jumped out the window in pointless flamboyancy with the package and put as much distance between him and the pub as possible. Izen, who wasn’t as quick to react, was put under arrest for the murder to Jorvis Torm. Still wanting to deliver the package to Rorke, Crael made his way to the Wake Isles. He was let in by Haggen ‘The Butcher’ Gaffer without any fuss and was led in to see Rorke. Rorke took the package and opened it up to reveal a bright green glow, berated Crael for being so naïve, and ordered his arrest too. A couple of thugs managed to grab hold of him before he could move, but casting a thunderbolt onto his bullet and shooting himself in the chest he managed to propel himself out of their grip and into the river. In the confusion of what he just did, he managed to swim away before anyone could react.

Your faithful servant.
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Fri Jun 14, 2013 11:45 am

Master

Following on from his brief swim, Crael had spread word around that he was after some help from skilled individuals in breaking his friend out of Blackstone Prison. Shortly after, he was met by a Nyss who claimed that his employer, Lasgston Fergurn of Dorne and Fergurn Barristers, wanted to help and had sent him to do so.

Their first task, however, was to try and clear their names so that Crael wouldn’t be arrested on sight. In order to this, the Nyss scouted out the guards who had assisted in the pair in taking out the Bloody Skiffs and whose testimony could clear them. Not being very subtle though, he was almost immediately spotted by the watch sergeant as he was following him to determine where he lived (I believe so Crael could talk to the man himself). He instead hired a street urchin to do his job for him.

Doing his own snooping around, Crael managed to blunder his way into the presence of Low Captain Dagson Canterwell, High Captain Hurley’s right hand man, at the Steam and Iron Workers Union #20. With vengeance in the fore front of his mind, he traded favours with the low captain for him to ‘cause problems’ for Morton Rorke. He was told he would be contacted at a later date for his end of deal.

Meeting back up, the pair decide to bring the testimony of the watch sergeant to Watch Captain Ladwey of the Twin Islands (Doleth and Chaser). In order to do so, the Nyss this time sought out Canterwell and traded another favour. True to his word, Canterwell set up a meeting between the pair and the Watch Captain. After hearing the testimony, she immediately cleared their names as best as she could (by which I mean cleared on Doleth and Chaser, but possible not the other islands). However, this wouldn’t be enough to get Izen out of prison as the prison was firmly in the pocket of High Captain Riordan and if he didn’t want to let the Iosan out then the Iosan wasn’t going to get out.

The next day, Canterwell came back with his favour ‘request’ of the duo, which was to destroy a shipment coming into the Rivergrav this evening. Planning take out the existing shore party and take their place, the Nyss climbed onto the roof of a nearby warehouse to gain a clear field of fire. Crael broke into the warehouse and took up position in the doorway, and Neutani just stood around the side so he could charge in. The group made quick work of the shore party, which included an alchemist, leaving one alive to answer their questions. Proving very pliable, the survivor told the group everything they wanted to know, including that the people aboard the barge were expecting to be presented with a small wooden sculpture of a leopard to let them know the shore party were legitimate. They send the survivor into the water to fetch the sculpture (it having been in the possession of the alchemist who had blown up) and other pieces of loot, but he unfortunately drowned.

The group then get ready for the shipment to come in, Neutani acting the shore party and the others back in position on/in the warehouse.

Your faithful servant.
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:33 pm

Master

The plan to obtain to cargo went off without any issues. Neutani was initially questioned by the crew of the barge, but upon brandishing the wooden leopard sculpture he was allowed to go aboard and collect the shipment, which turned out to be four barrels of alcohol. Whilst he was aboard the barge, Neutani noticed the presence of a bloat thrall (not that he knew what it was called) and decided to ignore it and then forgot to mention it to the others.

With the barge gone and the barrels in their possession, they crack one open and take a look inside. It was a very dark liquid and, upon tasting it, the Nyss and Crael identified it as a very fine brandy. Deciding to sell their loot instead of destroying it as commanded by Canterwell, the Nyss uncovers the nest of a sea creature to hide it in until they can come back to fetch it the morning with a cart.

Renting a cart and a hovel in Dags Ward, the group return to the location of the brandy and load up (avoiding a very drunk sea creature). With the brandy ‘safely’ stored in Dags Ward, they head onto Bellicose Island to visit the Nyss’ employer, Lasgston Fergurn, thinking he would either want some fine brandy or would know of someone who would. However, Fergurn was very cautious and would not agree to anything until they told him where they got it from. Having heard of similar shipments coming in, Fergurn identified the substance as Brackbrandy. In case you were not aware, Brackbrandy is the most addictive substance on Caen and part of the withdrawal symptoms result in death. Suddenly, the group didn’t want to sell it anymore, the Nyss and Crael having drank some the previous night.

Not accepting a fate relying on consumption of Brackbrandy, Crael immediately heads to the Golden Crucible in search of a cure. After being told repeatedly by an alchemist that there is no such thing as a cure for Brackbrandy, Crael bulls his way into seeing an elder. This particular elder had been working on a cure to Brackbrandy in the past, having been hired to do so by a person of apparent high importance. However, he confirmed that a cure does not exist. At least with the resources he currently has available. If he had ingredients from the Sharde Isles, where the Brackbrandy is brewed, be might be able to concoct something. He also hinted that, if they were going to go on an expedition to the Cryx controlled Sharde Isles, that they should speak to the Five Fingers Lord Governor, Eilish Doyle, first.

And so the group starting brainstorming ideas of how to gain an audience with the Lord Governer, and somehow reached the conclusion that the simplest and quickest way would be for Crael to seduce a highborn lady. As luck (or unluck depending on your point of view) would have it, Crael soon after bumped into Eliana Mateu, daughter to the richest merchant house in the country. Crael then decided that the easiest way to seduce such as highborn lady was to pose as the notorious and yet mysterious Master Holt. Completely overcome by the appearance of such a character and the daring tales of high sea nobility, the good lady soon succumbed to Crael. Meanwhile, the Nyss was at work back in Dag’s Ward getting a much needed security upgrade for their hovel.

The next day, Crael was confronted by the young Alvor Cathor as he was out looking for Eliana. Angered by the advances that ‘Master Holt’ had been making on his betrothed Alvor challenged Crael to a duel, but Crael managed to talk his way out of it and actually became friends with the idiot (still under the guise of Master Holt of course). It was also at this time that the Nyss succumbed to the lure of Brackbrandy and took his second drink of the substance.

With another new day dawning, Crael this time went out in search of Alvor, thinking that this was a better way in to see the Lord Governer. Once again, he failed to find the person he was after and is instead found by Zax Thoran, his original employer in the city. Zax drags Crael over to a pub called the Laden Galleon, where upon he, not very dramatically, reveals his identity as Belchor Degrata (not that Crael knew who that was) and that King Baird had ordered him to watch over his grandson, Alvor Cathor, and that Crael should back away. The Nyss was meanwhile contacted by his employer, Fergurn, who informs him that High Captian Riordan is after a barrel of Brackbrandy in return for letting Izen out of Blackstone Prison. Agreeing to these terms, they strap a barrel to Neutani’s back and start to head over to Bellicose.

On the way, however, they were ambushed by a group of pirates from the rigs and a Nomad heavy warjack. The pirates were dispatched relatively easily, but for some reason the Nomad could continue on without a controller. The onslaught of the heavy ‘jack forced the group to flee, and a final blow from its battleblade laid Neutani out for the count. The Nyss and Crael were forced to leave the barrel of Brackbrandy behind in order to drag Neutani away. Instead of giving chase, the Nomad simply picked up the barrel and walked away.

Yur faithful servant
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:33 pm

Master,

Refusing to be outdone, the Nyss left Crael to look after Neutani and took to the rigs to follow the nomad. Managing to proceed a bit more subtly than his last tracking excursion in the rigs, he was able to follow the nomad to the bridge to Captain’s Island, where upon it was met by Low Captain Hagger ‘The Butcher’ Gaffer (not that the Nyss knew the identity of him, he just saw a man dressed as a butcher). Gaffer was able to secure passage the passage of the nomad over the bridge and continued to accompany it on the rest of its journey across Captain’s Island to the bridge to Hospice where he once again secured passage with a quick word to the guards. Seeing that the pair were heading onto the Wake Isles (High Captain Waernuk’s territory) the Nyss decided to act and shot the Low Captain in the shoulder and quickly finishing him with a second shot to the back of the neck. Seeing his escort collapse, the nomad ran the rest of the way onto the Wake Isles with the brackbrandy still under its arm. As is his nature, the Nyss quickly jumped down from the rigs and took what he could off the corpse, in this case his cleaver with an odd green glow emanating from the hilt, before fleeing into the night. Heading back to the ambush site, he was able to quickly track down Crael and Neutani by following the large ogrun smear in the dirt leading to the Order of the Golden Crucible.

During the time it took for Crael to get the Order to heal Neutani, the Nyss decided to test out his new cleaver on a pig. But he was quite horrified by the result as the flesh of pig dissolved away, leaving just a skeleton still walking around. Not one to leave such a glorious creation standing, he draw his claymore and ended its unlife. A powerful feeling of nausea also overcame the Nyss, being unaccustomed to utilizing Cryxian paraphernalia.

Once again forgetting about their incarcerated friend, the group went to see Low Captain Dagson Canterwell in order to finally arrange a meeting with the Lord Governer in return for another favour. Canterwell accepted, but also demanded the Cryxian cleaver as so his men could study it. The favour that Canterwell tasked them with was to assassinate a particular member of the Fraternal Order of Wizardry, identified only by a picture, who they believed to be close to High Captain Riordan.

This fell within the expertise of the Nyss, so later that night he scaled the cliff face adjacent to the Fraternal Order Lodge, climbed the walls and up onto the roof. He had also prearranged a signal for Crael and Neutani to start a distraction in order to better hide his movements once within the Lodge. So, Crael and Neutani, posing as merchants began a routine of blunders, arguments and ogrun rage sessions outside the walls of the Lodge. Nevertheless, their display was enough to keep the attention of the Lodge members outside and not on the Nyss skulking around inside, as well as drawing the attention of all nearby guards. They were promptly thrown off the island.

Inside the Lodge, the Nyss found the office of the wizard he was after and indentified his name to be Conleth Norwick (based on a portrait matching the picture he had) and uncovered both his ledger and a small bag of ashes of urcaen (used to corporealise incorporeal creatures). He then went down the servants quarters and managed to convince a terrified servant to reveal the location if this man’s bedroom. Upon reaching the bedroom, the Nyss managed to notice a series of scrapings on the threshold with he correctly guesses to be a magical ward. Backing off, he climbed back on the roof and swung in through the window instead. This of course woke Norwick, but the Nyss cut him down before he had a chance to react. The Nyss quickly made his escape back out the window.

The following morning, the city was abuzz with the news that a wizard was cut down in his bed last night in the middle of the Fraternal Order Lodge. Before the group had a chance to go back and see Canterwell, Lagston Fergurn contacted the Nyss and arranged to meet up. It seems that Fergurn was able to recognize the handywork of his hired Nyss and decided it was prudent to warn that Norwick was not only in with High Captain Riordan but was also an infernist, a dangerous type of magic that is outlawed in this, and indeed most, countries. This meant that Riordan would be even more furious than normal seeing as how his pet infernalist had been killed and was offering huge sums of money to anyone who could identify his killer. In order to keep what Fergurn viewed as his investment in check, he threatened to go to Riodan with what he knew if the Nyss didn’t stay in line and stopped killing without his orders (putting special emphasis on him not killing any more infernalists).

Meeting back up with Canterwell, he had held up his end of the deal and set up a meeting with the Lord Governer. In order to stop himself from sweating and shaking, Crael finally takes his second swig of Brackbrandy. The group head over to the Governor’s District and are shown in by Canterwell to see the Lord Governor, who also had High Captain Banek Hurley standing by his side. The Lord Governer (or, as I suspect, High Captain Hurley) agreed to finance the group on their expedition to the Sharde isles and provide them with ship and crew.

Your faithful servant.
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:01 pm

Week 10 (final week for a while) soon
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: [ACTIVE] Iron Kingdoms

Postby Dave! Yognaught » Mon Sep 09, 2013 11:24 am

Game has ended due to not wanting to return to an old game with a predominantly new group of players.
Dave! Yognaught
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 4:01 pm


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