A TOPOGRAPHY OF EVILS

DRAKKENHALL AND ITS DENIZENS

SHE ABOVE THEM ALL: THE BLUE

• Earlier in this era, if not in Ages past, Drakkenhall would not have been a
reality. Regardless of the power of old treaties with the fortified city once
known as Highrock, the Empire would not have accepted it and the forces of
the Iron Sea would have overwhelmed it during reconstruction.
But the Blue went to her old foes the Nagas, to the bloodthirsty Sahuagin, and
even to the brutal Empire, and convinced them something far worse than a
city of monsters was coming. Coming from the East. Coming … from below.
Once, the warriors of the Sea Wall counted Daemons and Sahuagin as the
worst of their foes. Now they fight against reality itself crumbling, and pray for
Storms.
• To be found: The Unassailable Fortress, the ruined halls of the former Imperial
hold of Highrock (Fortress District); in the Eye (Coastal District/varies)
HE WAITS BEHIND EVERY BLINK: THE BLACK

• Even his presence in the city of snakes is merely conjecture. The Black is
the first-born of a line of shadows, a poisoned knife in the form of a
monster, known to exist more for the deadly ha blades he gives his
chosen than for any direct action.
Nonetheless, it is widely agreed that it is thanks to the Black’s support and
a few choice removals and threats of removals of disagreeable power-
holders that the Blue’s plan for Drakkenhall was birthed successfully. It is
certainly true that fear of a blade crafted from the great drake’s tooth
keeps many unruly residents inline.
• To be found: The Veins of Poison, the deep chains of caverns and tunnels
running through and under Drakkenhall (if not further)(All districts); the
yellow, deadly smog that takes to the streets on the full moon is called the
Black’s Breath and it is said he can be found in it, wandering in his
preferred Halfling form (All districts)
THE SHADOW-DWELLERS: ETTERCAPS

• Wildly obsessed with secrets, darkness, and spider iconography, it is not clear
to outsiders what the Ettercaps’ relationships to such powers as the Prince of
Shadows, the Black, the Elven Queen of Pain, or lesser powers as the Koru
clans, the Queen of Pirates, the Red General, the Roadwardens, the Lady of
Labyrinths, and the Rulers Below is … after all, many powers claim shadows,
darkness, and vaguely creepy insect … things. However, many powers also
crave secrets, and need them as as, well, a spider needs blood.
It is widely accepted that the Prince of Shadows finds the Ettercaps hoarding
of secrets to be distasteful at best and a fatal error at worst. Your own
experience has shown that they both draw power from and struggle against
the power of the Shadow demirealm.
• To be found: Anywhere their spider minions can sneak or phase spider
monsters can simply rampage, they might be, but they dwell in the
Shadowdark, a portion of the old city developed by massive amounts of
webbing and digging and labor. Light is absent, sound is stifled, and one feels
that the relationship of predator and prey has changed when one draws near.
DARK AMONG SHADOWS: CHIT’CHI’CHI

• The Ettercap most likely to be found at all Chit’chi’chi serves as the

interlocutor between the world of the children of the light and the children of
the shadow. It is Chit’chi’chi who guides the children of light into Shadowdark,
who agrees to hear their secrets, and who brings them the secrets they have
purchased back from the depths of Shadowdark.
It is well known that Chit’chi’chi has a weakness for Ork blood, having (it is
rumored) lost several broodmates to the monsters.
• To be found: At the entrance to the Shadowdark, awaiting any who approach
to speak to the Weaver of Shadows. Drakkenhall lore holds that to speak
Chit’chi’chi’s true name to a spider is to bring it to you regardless of where you
stand – as long as even a shadow stands with you.
GOLDEN CHILDREN: GOBLINS

• It has taken an unbelievably long time, but it has come to

pass: Goblins are generally not seen as threats. They
might attack a traveler, but on Imperial roads they know
better. In Drakkenhall they definitely know better. Most
goblins not in actual armies or living dungeons or what
not self-police (read: murder) their kind into something
like order, creating an unlikely bond with the other barely
civilized race of murdering, thieving, barbarous bipeds:
wild Elves. The alliance was cemented when the Goblins
claimed the 11th “feral” Koru for their own and became
a de facto Koru clan – the only non-Elven one.
Goblintown is the hub of trade for Drakkenhall, bringing
in critical war supplies and sending out raw materials
from deep in the ocean and its tunnels.
• To be found: In Goblintown; deep in your pockets; fleeing
BIG BIG GOBLIN: RED THUMB LARGE SELL

• Red Thumb Large Sell is one of the leaders of the Goblin

community, if not the leader of the Goblin community, in
Drakkenhall. She makes her living crafting and selling
explosives of various degrees of magical and mundane
quality.
While this does net her a few Bugbears and Hobgoblins
for protection, it has also gotten her the attention of a
few less than honest Imperial servants who are
interested in “her treasure” – a particular explosive.
• To be found: In Goblintown West, selling arms; at
Siegfried’s coattails, pleading for aid
PROUD, CRUEL DEFENDERS: HOBGOBLINS

• Hobgoblins are stronger than Goblins but smaller and weaker than
Bugbears; more organized than Kobolds but lacking the discipline of the
Sahuagin and Naga; they are almost-not-quiets of Drakkenhall. As such,
they struggle twice as hard to prove themselves and their value and can
be found in the nastiest areas of conflict that Drakkenhall offers. Ironically,
the sense of inferiority that drives them to such excellence prevents them
from appreciating the praise they receive. They are also cruel little
bastards, as befits their goblin lineage.
• To be found: Almost exclusively on the Beach, struggling to prove their
value as a species of almost-there’s and not-quiets. Some serve as elite
guards to certain ranked Goblins or as patrols to the west and north of
Drakkenhall proper.
TARNISHED, GIGANTIC GOLD: BUGBEARS

• Of course, even a race of utter cowards and runts has its militaristic brutal
outliers. ”Giants” of the goblin race, the population of Bugbears is enough
in Drakkenhall to form a real concern for anyone who might think to
simply pillage Goblintown (I mean, Goblins!).
Bugbears are cruel, strong, and utterly eager for violence to break out
with a total lack of regard for life, including their own. Their Goblin greed
barely eeks out a victory over their desire for bloodshed, although the
latter is sated often enough in the dog-eat-dog-eat-whomever politics of
Drakkenhall.
• To be found: In Goblintown, overseeing the market; collecting debts in
Dragon’s Den; delivering payments to a Magi or, if things are very bad, a
Rak’. The Bugbear’s strength combined with Goblin intelligence to see
Goblintown built up to the closest facsimile to a “town” that Drakkenhall
has to offer.
BOTTOM-FEEDERS, BARELY-FED: KOBOLDS

• The nature of how Kobolds are born from Dragons is best left
to the imagination and certain specific Archmage Portador de
la Luz assignments, but born from and worshipful of dragons
they are. Kobolds are the lifeblood of Drakkenhall, so
desperate for the Blue’s approval that they fulfill many of the
civic functions that things like “taxes” and “laws” and “civil
servants” would be required for elsewhere. It’s not uncommon
to find a Kobold beaten nearly to death by another for the
right to a garbage collection beat.
• To be found: The they-don’t-know-it’s-ironic Dragon’s Den
district; underfoot in their master’s laboratory; in a mine;
operating siege weaponry at the front lines (Beach District);
The Unassailable Fortress, the ruined halls of the former
Imperial hold of Highrock (Fortress District);
HIDDEN VIPERS: RAKASHAS

• Regarded by the Rakashas as generally beneath them, it was a surprise

to see not one but many – possibly dozens – of Rakashas join the Blue in
her grand experiment. These eternal shapeshifters are rumored to owe
the Blue in some way for their extravagant lightening abilities, so
perhaps that brought them to her side. On the other hand, it is well
known that they are preferred agents of the Black, who finds their
shadowy evil enchanting, and considered disgusting and vile by the
Prince of Shadows, who considers their shadowy evil … well, who knows
what the Prince thinks? Their control over fate and chaos has proven
integral to numerous battles in the War’s recent form, and their
shapeshifting and guile integral to the survival of Drakkenhall.
• To be found: When they want to speak with you. No sooner. No later.
CRUEL ENFORCERS: OGRE MAGI

• Bound by Oaths to a long-gone Imperial Icon and held alive by

obedience to the long-lost Green, Ogre Magi are honorable monsters.
They serve a critical role as trustworthy arbiters when the Kobolds don’t
have the power, the Blue Sorcerers can’t afford to simply blast everyone
from existence, and the Goblins have, well, paid for the Magi to deal
with it.
Magi existence is a cruel temporal stopgap as they honor their binding
agreements as best they can and wait for one or both of their long-lost
counter-signers to return and acknowledge the debt paid, freeing
them.
• To be found: The Unassailable Fortress, the ruined halls of the former
Imperial hold of Highrock (Fortress District)
MADNESS AND POWER: THE COUATL

• The less known about the Couatl that has chosen Drakkenhall as its nest the
better. It brings madness and it preaches insanity, despite the breed’s
reputation for wisdom. Those with the ability to survive the storm and to fly
into it can fly up and hear it discuss the importance of the key Icons of our
age, those being the Great Golden Three, the Crusading Summoner, and the
Hierophant. Enjoy your dwindling sanity as you fall from the sky.
• To be found: Circling above the sky (what does that mean where is above the
sky); In a lightning strike; Crying out to you when you’re alone (how can you
be alone they’re their)
EVEN THE DEAD SERVE THE CITY: DYBBUK

• Unwilling to cede even a modicum of power to the

miserable human – even if now it’s a “Lich” – that murdered
her brother the White, the Blue has invited the Corpse-
occupying Dybbuks to take as many bodies as they can. This
is typically just the bodies of humanoids, given the Dybbuk
lifecycle and the Lich King’s interests, but nonetheless, be
sure to see to your friend’s corpse yourself. The Kobold
corpse cart has no good plans for it.
• To be found: In the once-dead body of a human, elf, half-elf,
half-ork, dwarf, or similar.
PROBABLY HARMLESS: THE MUSHROOM FOLK
• The only race known to serve the Black who aren’t some
variant of knife- and/or poison-wielding nonsense, the
Fungaloids occupy the tunnels beneath Drakkenhall. Critically,
they serve as miners par excellence, although they lack the
sensibilities to serve as engineers. They also form a firm
(squishy?) line of defense against the chaotic incursions that
come through those tunnels underground from the water, as
well as more mundane attacks from below.
• The Funginoids have been recruited as a form of inexhaustible
labor, doing the heavy lifting and pulling while kobolds do
more dangerous and precise work and Blue Sorcerers magical
construction to create the Imperial Infrastructure Ring at
speed …
• The Veins of Poison, the deep chains of caverns and tunnels
running through and under Drakkenhall (if not further)(All
districts); the burgeoning Imperial Infrastructure Ring
HEAVY LIFTERS: SHHHUUUUUVEEEEE &
DDDDDDTHHHHHHHRRRRRRR
• Grown to be especially light-resistant, Shhhuuuuuveeeee &
Ddddddthhhhhhhrrrrrrr are twin administrators of the
Imperial construction efforts to build a great Infrastructure
Ring in record time. They radiate an inhuman calm, as if
connected to a vast network that informs their every every
movement and moment with certainty. They direct their
Fungoid kin to place great bricks and execute shirking
Goblinoids with the same utter lack of Humanoid interest (or
Goblinoid excitement).
• The burgeoning Imperial Infrastructure Ring; The Veins of
Poison, the deep chains of caverns and tunnels running
through and under Drakkenhall (if not further)(All districts);
MANY-NATURED, ALL-FOUL: MANTICORES

• The Three find the many-natured evil and intelligence of

the Manticore charming by default; it is through sheer
good fortune that they discovered that the Manticore
generally finds the wild nature of the chaos beasts of the
sea literally religiously repulsive. Manticores are the
aerial support and when needed, shock troops of the
Sand War along the beach.
To be found: Hovering above the Beach District;
returning from absolutely not raiding the Elves
THE WATER WIZARDS: NAGA

• To grant some sense of the depth of disdain the Blue holds for
the Naga, she believes that they stole sorcery from her. They
believe that she is an insane monster who thinks it created
sorcery. They have spent ages happily trying to murder each
other.
The incursions in the East have forced an unhappy alliance of
Snake and Drake, with the Naga serving as magical elite for the
Sahuagin legions. Careful of conflicted loyalties, they are also
the spear tips that are plunged into Sahuagin nests that will
not fall into line, rather than risk testing the loyalty of the
watery warriors.
• To be found: Deep underwater
THEY HOLD THE LINE: SAHUAGIN

• Bloodthirsty and near mad, it is an open question as to

why the Sahuagin are welcomed in Drakkenhall when
Orks are slaughtered on sight. That answer might be
”the need for warriors who can fight the Incursions
before they make landfall; even fight them deep
underwater and off shore.” Given that before the
Incursions Sahuagin were the frontline warriors of more
traditional attacks from the water, the answer might just
be that having them pissing out from inside the tent is
better than outside pissing in.
• To be found: Deep underwater; their own section of the
Beach District (not manning or allowed near Siege
equipment)
THE COMING STORM: BLUE SORCERERS

• Coming from a wide variety of races, Blue Sorcerers and their junkta elite
are the will of the Blue made manifest. They don’t seem to have the
layered ritual powers of an Imperial Lawmaker, but they have similar
rights (and responsibilities) to simply make decisions as they see fit. They
are, however, all empowered with at least some shard of Sorcerous power
and maybe worse? Unlimited political power. Take that as you will in a city
of one law and many monsters, but in theory they speak with the voice of
the Blue – and to obey the Blue is the one law …
• To be found: In your business at the worst possible time, generally.
A DARKNESS STRIKES: BLACK MONKS
SIBILANTS AND SNEAKINESS: SSS’DEN THREE,
FIRST OF THE SHELL

• Although human in appearance, Sss’den Three could not more clearly

radiate a radically reptilian demeanor. Sss’den Three introduced the party
to the particulars of Drakkenhall “justice” over the ruins of a family farm
and the undead remains of the farmers – the consequences of the junkta
the party had beaten being unavailable to protect the farm.
From lightening. Magical lightening.
• To be found: The Unassailable Fortress, the ruined halls of the former
Imperial hold of Highrock (Fortress District); exposing the players to
uncomfortable truths
DRUNK, DISORDERLY, REDEEMED -- DAWNSWORD

• The Agent-in-Charge of the Imperial Barracks of Drakkenhall, Saidin

Dawnsword is stuck between being responsible for dozens of Imperial
lives and representing Imperial power and having, essentially, no power at
all to do either in order to maintain “peace” between Drakkenhall and
Axis. So he is an AiC, not an Ambassador, and he serves a friendly power,
not an Empire, and he drinks his faith away every day because that’s his
duty, not out of a vague, sad, dissolution of self.
• Dawnsword was revealed to be responsible for keeping the barracks in
opiates, believing that by keeping the Imperial presence “quiet” he was
preventing what used to be essentially an annual slaughter of the
Imperial presence by the locals. He died, redeemed and heroically, in
combat with a vicious Hobgoblin.
• To be found: The Imperial Barracks, drinking; Goblintown, buying
“vitalics” for his soldiers (and drinking).
 THE IMPERIAL GARRISON
• Cast-offs, rejects, and victims of punishment from across the Empire, the
Imperial Garrison of Drakkenhall is the posting of Last Resort for those
who haven’t earned a death sentence but only just barely. Stripped of
whatever rank or honor they might once have held, these soldiers find
themselves guarding the peace in a region that craves violence, Imperial
Honor in an area that denies the Empire, and their own self-worth in a
world that spits on it. The lucky ones find ways to occupy their time
guarding merchants or fighting on The Beach; the less lucky find their
lives drifting away on a haze their AiC is only too happy to sell them.
• To be found: The Imperial Barracks, drinking and or doing drugs; the
front-lines of the Beach; Goblintown, escorting traders
 THE BURNING WALL

• Named for the rich red character of its supporting earth (clay?), and not
at all as a subtle jab at the missing Red, The Burning Wall holds the
Western portion of Drakkenhall against the rare attacks from monsters,
elves, and what not from the West.
• The Wall is pierced at multiple locations by disrepair, but in particular by
the Pirate Gate, the Halfling Gate, and the Breath of the Blue, leaving the
Shadowdark and the Imperials exposed.
 THE GREAT ROADS AND DOCKS
• Several major roads connect Drakkenhall and the world at large. The
Pirate Road hugs the northern coastline of the Midland Sea (and, perhaps,
connects certain semi-legal communities). The Hobbit road runs further
North, although both terminus in the West at Axis. The Elf road runs
directly to the Queen’s Wood, to a dark hollow, and what is delivered
there is not discussed in light or darkness.
• The Imperial Roads run under Drakkenhall, blatantly countering the
Black’s claim to dominance of those regions, and in a feat of another Age,
run under the great Koru Straits, although less impressively they have only
recently begun to be reconstructed in a Northerly direction.
• Most of the dockspace has been allowed to run to ruin, but the Blue
herself ensures at least two massive dockworks functions. This allows for
the massive export of materials that forms the industrial heart of
Drakkenhall.
 THE CRUSADER’S DIG SITES

• The local Crusader Redeemed, Sworn, and bound Daemonics can be

found almost exclusively either digging, camped out near their dig sites,
or negotiating new rates for supplies and labor for their dig. They aren’t
the only faction interested in what Highrock’s bones might have to say,
but they are the only faction to pursue it with such bastard singular-
mindedness. Rumor has it that Incursion-beasts have been writhing
around them and they’ve simply dug on, waiting for Storm and Sahuagin
to fix it.
 THE RATKING TAVERN
• One of the very few places where an Undead can get a drink around here,
the Ratking is the brainchild and dream of an outcast Vampire and Lich
who dreamed of life outside of the strict cast society of the Undead
Courts. Here, indeed (indead?) they have found it, with the Ratking a
favorite mixing place for the various non-Goblinoid, regardless of
breathing status, of all races in Drakkenhall. The owners maintain a fine
reputation for solving any problems through subtle mixes of vampiric
hypnosis, undead magic, before simply annihilating anything stupid
enough to threaten a Vampire Lord and a Lich in their Blue-granted lair.
• Beyond that, Rynar Avann and Daeree Duiservs are known to carry an
uncommon stock of vintages for the living and the dead alike!
 IMPERIAL INFRASTRUCTURE RING

• With no warning or discussion, construction bearing all the marks of

Eastern Imperial craftsmanship but at a speed that beggars belief has
arisen – at the very location which the Sahuagin would have claimed as
their own …
 THE HIGH DRUID’S ”FOREST”

• As a consequence of some deal or perhaps simply as a step taken by one

icon at the feet of another, acres of Drakkenhall that were simply rubble
are now rubble grown over with old wood forest. Old wood forest … less
than a few months old.
• Creatures haunt the forest that radiate predatory instincts, setting off the
same instincts from within Drakkenhall, creating ill-will for both sides.
• One druid, Joane Yarlyth, routinely walks the perimeter of the forest and
is available to speak with the denizens of the “city of monsters,” as she
very politically calls her interlocutors.
A GEOGRAPHY OF GIANTS
THE GREAT POWERS OF THE WORLD
 THE GREAT ROADS
• Maintained through sweat and backbreaking labor but only truly possibly
through the ritual magic of the Archmage and their cadres, the great
Roads of the Empire make land based travel possible. Their magic both
maintains the quality of the roads and the safety of the travelers and
goods upon them. Not all roads are maintained at all locations!
• The Imperial Road: tallest and narrowest of the roads, typically set to the
sea-most side of the construction.
• The Legion road: Next tallest of the roads, and widest. Capable of being
magically adjusted on the fly by Imperial Hedge Wizards to suit the needs
of larger or smaller forces.
• The Merchant road: Next tallest of the roads, and wide enough across for
three wagons.
• The People’s road: more accurately “the space next to the roads, but still
magically protected from harm if not magically easy to travel.”
 THE FOUR LEGIONS (AND THE FIFTH)
• The Legions are organized around the four great fronts that
the Empire faces, as well as the Fifth Legion which serves as
a resupply, transfer, and last resort legion.
• The Legion of the Wall: these soldiers hold the Eastern wall
against the incursions (and now Incursions) from the Iron Sea.
• The Legion of Sand: these soldiers hold the soldiers and
monsters from the Red Wastes back.
• The Legion of Frost: these soldiers fight alongside the
Crusader’s forces against the Barbarians, Orks, and Daemons
of the North.
• The Legion of the Hearth: these soldiers fight in the
Gladiatorial arenas of Axis as they serve their time defending
the capital.
• The Winged Legion: These are the soldiers currently moving from posting to posting, in minor postings outside Legion-
proper deployments (such as Drakkenhall), and otherwise in-between fronts. However, it is also those soldiers posted to the
First Talon or otherwise in service of the Imperial Dragon Wings.
 THE HARMONISTS AND THE DEAD MEN

• Following the Siege of Harmony, the surviving 13

Legionnaires found themselves referred to simply as
“Harmonists” by Goblin Merchant and Imperial Messenger
alike.
• Drakkenhall once again attracts spitfires, outlaws, and
would-be heroes to its ranks – but once again, it’s a posting
full of risk and danger. Those sent to the Dragon are those
already written off by their commanding officers, seen as no
better than a dead man in their current unit – dead men,
being sent to face death, lead by those who conquered it.
 IMPERIAL MESSENGERS
• Independent, elite, and each a force of the Empire unto
themselves, the Imperial Messengers are charged with bringing
The Word As Spoken across the length and breadth of the
world.
• Their methods are secret, as are their recruitment and
retirement policies. It is not even known how they decide what
messages to take, or how one – other than the Emperor,
presumably – would request it. It is generally believed that if
the Imperial Messengers accept the task of bringing a message,
it will be delivered at any cost – someone, regardless, will pay.
• Virtually all Imperial Messengers wear some variant of body-
covering robe and face-covering mask, although they will
remove these freely enough for ease of discussion or comfort –
there is no apparent tradition of anonymity, or if there is, it is
kept to as much in the breach as the observance.
• One telling feature of Imperial Messengers is the fine, detailed tattoo work proclaiming their utter and unbreakable loyalty
to the Dragon Throne and the Emperor on their hands and, if rumor is to believed, on their heart itself.
 AXIS, HORIZON, AND GLITTERHAGEN
(AND FIRST TRIUMPH?)
• The western powers hold the Empire together through military, financial,
and magical might. More so than any of the other great cities, Axis,
Horizon, and Glitterhagen move and act as members of a single body
politic, not merely nation-states bound to each other through tenuous
ties.
There are those who argue – if not to anyone’s face – that the reality is
that First Triumph is as much a part of the great Western Power block as
any of the other three. Given the intimate relationship between the
Crusader’s and the Emperor’s forces, as well as the symbiotic relationship
between the two powers, it’s hard to see the modern Empire without
First Triumph where a Hellhole once stood.
 YOU’RE A WIZARD …
SIGNATURE ITEMS FOR THE SEVEN CITIES AND BEYOND
 HOW DO YOU DEFINE A CITY WITH TRINKETS?

• Single-use magic item creation is limited almost entirely by wealth and

the availability of magic users. Single-use magic item reliability relies on
the availability of well-trained magic users and meticulous systems of
production.
• Perhaps predictably, Axis’ military forces are superbly equipped with
healing “potions” which are closer to solid rations dispensed from a
cunningly engineered quick-dispenser worn at the waist. Contrast that
with the murky “potions” that Blue Sorcerers source at their own expense
and you begin to see the difference that “trinkets” make in the life of a
city-state
 AT THE GROUND LEVEL, TRINKETS MATTER MORE…
• Two magical items speak to the nature of rule in Axis and in Drakkenhall in
particular: selfsticks and sirens.
• Selfsticks are simple 30cm long sticks made of light wood that the owner can, with
a command word, cause to disintegrate. When they do so, any vested enforcer of
the law of Axis can see an aura upon the selfstick user of their legal status in Axis
and current health. The effect lasts for a few days, typically. Selfsticks are created
en masse and distributed to citizens and slaves alike so that in case of an
emergency situation, order can be maintained.
• Sirens, on the other hand, speak to the very nature of life in Drakkenhall. In order
to accept license to build in Drakkenhall, you accept certain magical terms in
addition to certain ”legal” ones. One of those terms connects your structures, no
matter the material, fatally to these siren items. Mud, wood, brick, or magical
metal – if a properly ordained servant of the Blue crafts a siren and you don’t stop
them before it finishes activating, your building is coming down. Such is life in
Drakkenhall – even the buildings kneel before the Blue.
 GLITTERHAGEN AND SHADOWPORT HAVE THEIR
OWN NOTEWORTHY LOCAL CRAFT ITEMS AS WELL …
• Glitterhagen locals are loathe to share the best places to purchase a good natural
eye, in part because tourists and visiting merchants are the very people a natural
eye are indented to let you take advantage of. Created by a few rare Druidic forge
crafters, natural eyes are perturbingly realistic eyes which when ingested grant the
user an hour or so of acute awareness of every twitch, movement, breath, or
other minutiae in any humanoid they focus on. Naturally, this gives some
advantage in any form of negotiation. Victims of these items are given to calling
them predator’s eyes.
• Perhaps predictably, Shadowport does its best to ensure any all visitors get access
to impregnable purse oil, an oil (naturally) which renders the opening of any purse
or bag as secure as a vault for an hour. Emboldened against theft, visitors are
perhaps less careful than they should be and fail to notice razor sharp blades
cutting the bottom of their purses, jewelry being bumped off of them in a
handshake deal, or their purse simply being lifted entirely to be opened later at
leisure. And even if all that fails, the oil itself leaves a scent that trained beasts can
follow for kilometers, retrieving the purse while its owner sleeps peacefully …
 WHAT IS THE SIGNATURE OF A BLEND?

• Concord prides itself on its extensive blend of cultures, but few local creation
stands out.
• Although a product of Santa Cora, proud ears are a favorite of the more tense
meetings of Concord. Too expensive for regular use, proud ears not only grants the
user comprehension of a specific language (set at creation with the aid of a
speaker of that language), it creates the illusion that the person is speaking the
user’s native language. They both see and hear someone speaking their own
tongue. Given how many decision makers in the Elven and Dwarven communities
in particular are monolingual, its arguable that proud ears is as integral to Concord
as nails and lumber.
 PEACE ABOVE ALL
• Santa Cora’s peace keepers all serve to, well, keep the peace, but are organized as
is all of the bureaucracy there – along the lines of the Gods of the Dark, the Light,
and the Mysteries. How a squad of peace keepers is equipped varies wildly,
depending on the Order they serve.
• Lighthouse guards are granted righteous guardian tokens. These can be snapped
in half, filling a large area with a hazy smoke. This smoke contains thousands of
motes of semi-sentient light that judge those who are in the conflict or merely
bystanders and then defend those caught up in a battle that isn’t theirs, granting
anyone not actively in a combat +4 to all defenses until they can flee or the
combat ends.
• Shadowtower guards are granted final answer tokens. Snapped in half, these grant
the warriors of the tower a perfect understanding of the relevant laws and the
information available to them, allowing them to act as judge, jury, and executioner
on the spot. There is no recourse or appeal.
• Mysterykeeper guards have a variety of answers to a variety of situations, none so
common as to be quantifiable.
 DEATH AND BIRTH
• On the undying island of the Lich King, status is being perpetually rewritten as the
Eternal Peerage struggles amongst itself for the scraps of power their Lord spares
for them. The vassal’s writ removes one from the book of status for a short period
all together, granting one the all together terrifying status of outsider. Used
historically as often for the freedom to say just awful, nasty things without
repercussion as to assemble (re)kill squads to eliminate entire other noble lines
with just as little repercussion, The vassal’s writs are tracked as closely as any
Scroll of Turn Undead might be (although they are considered far less crass).
• New Port barely has a signature drink, let alone a signature one use magical item.
However, as a place to aquire true magical items, it has rapidly developed a
reputation that outmatches its age. Full of scrappy, upstart adventurers, merchant
would-be princes, and actual would-be princes, New Port is also just recovering
from an attack by the Stone Thief that left it battered but saw numerous escapees
– and they brought with them powerful treasures thought long lost …
 SIT A WHILE, AND LISTEN (TO THE SCREAMS)
• Old Town, Twisp, and Burrow, are locked in a conflict that is Ages, millennia old,
and unlikely to be resolved soon short of bloody war and even then? The losers
will die cursing the winners cause.
Do. Not. Claim a favorite type of pie in these cities. Don’t do it. Just don’t get
involved. And if you must, do it with a swift draught of a draught of affability, a
sweet mead that leaves the imbiber as generally likable in their behavior as the
Halflings of Three Towns themselves. But oh, the morning after … (unless you’re a
halfling, in which case this item simply functions as a strong mead, regardless of
your temperament).
• First Conquest understands sacrifice. These Twin Brands of Service allow one user
to activate their brand, re-igniting it, to take from themselves and give to the user
of the other brand all basic bodily needs for 24 hours. For 24 hours the other user
won’t need to sleep, eat, drink, or use the restroom – but the first user will find no
relief, no matter how they indulge. Clever saboteurs who attempt to “overload”
someone through the brand will find that First Consequence understands
grotesque, unnecessary levels of retaliation as well.
 THE PIT AND THE WALL
• Where the Diabolist calls home changes from week to week, day to day, hour to
hour, but she has a few regular hellholes. And while if anything, a defining feature
of being around the Diabolist is that you can have any magic item you want … for a
price … a common item that doesn’t exactly cost your soul is the negotiator. A bit
pricey for most, the negotiator clears a roughly ten foot by fifteen foot space and
creates a lovely if not sumptuous room complete with a musician, fresh finger
food, and mild aromas reminiscent of the potential clients favorite memory. The
Diabolist is always happy to sell her servants these trinkets – or to meet in one.
Just don’t ask what that aroma is …
• The Sea Wall has held, even as it’s rebuilt further and further inland, for Ages. The
soldiers there don’t consider lockets of home to be a “signature” magical item, but
Axis and Horizon consider their production as important to the Eastern Theater as
healing potions and swords. Small lockets in the shape of the Imperial mark, when
held to a soldier’s temple and a word of power spoken, they bring soothing visions
of the West, of the Empire, and of all that the soldier fights for. As many soldiers
owe their sanity to these lockets as owe their lives to a cleric’s healing spells.
 FLOWERS AND STONE

• Leaving the Elven Court can be brutal for many of Elvenkind. The Chaos of their
near-realm fades and the reality of the Dragon Empire intrudes and for many an
Elf, things are simply too … cold. Their embrace made real channels the chaotic
bounty of the ruler of the Elven Court, extending the reality-warping effect of the
Court far further and only gradually allowing its effects to fade. Of course, some
unscrupulous users have found these cloaks have other purposes when used
further afield, on non-elves, or both …
• Dwarves place a high value on drink and a high value on tracking individual wrongs
done and righted to a high degree of accuracy. Often those wrongs and rights
accrue while said drink poured as well. A dwarven spirit of challenge addresses
both needs, functioning as a (strong) dose of spirits and at the same time granting
the user perfect recollection of all of their grudges and the status of all of said
grudges.
THEY ILLUMINATE SO LIGHTLY
THE ICONS THAT WILL BE OR WERE
 THE COMMANDER
• Rumored to have been a simple farmer to whom tremendous power was
passed, or one who seized said power, the Commander was the military
mind bar none of several ages. Loyal to no gods, notoriously concerned
with the safety of her troops, unconcerned with race or creed, and
brutally demanding that her soldiers be the very best, give everything,
live and yes, die when she said so – eventually she went from simply
being the template Imperial military code was forming up around to being
an Icon around which the Imperial military was forming up around.
• Common soldier wisdom holds that she was betrayed from above, left to
die with too little support, too few soldiers, and too little trust. That the
Empire doesn’t have room for another Icon and there are consequences
for the little people trying to do big things.
• Common historical wisdom also holds you can only go on missions you
assign yourself for so long while still calling yourself a “loyal soldier” …
 THE RED SWORD

• Sitting on the knife edge of Icon, the Red Sword is a position that dates
back to the 11th Age when the Veterans of the Red Waste, of the Legion of
Sand, took up certain previously unknown unit markings and standards.
The position has been seen and converted to a local form by the Legions
of the Wall, Frost, and Hearth – a member of the command staff whose
role it is to think like that enemy of the soldier -- the assassin; to ponder
guile, stealth, treachery. To think in ways too vile to consider.
When the time inevitably comes and those ideas arise in a command
discussion, it is to the Red Blade to say “No. Those are my plans, and have
no place in the mind of a soldier. We must not.” Little wonder they are as
berserkers when finally allowed the freedom of the battlefield.
 THE MERCHANT

• Competing dangerously with the Prince of Shadows and the Diabolist, the
Merchant will take you for everything you have and give you less than you
thought you were getting … but will be there the next day to do it again
with papers to indicate it’s all legal. And they’re extraordinarily unlikely to
have hired goons break your legs – if anything, you’re likely to attack
*them* out of frustration and find the full resources of where ever you
are turned against you to protect this upstanding citizen.
 THE PIRATE QUEEN

• The Archmage’s wards and who knows what else keeps the Midland Sea
safe for sea travel – from monsters. The Pirate Queen and her fleet are
monstrous, but not the kind that wards can stop. On a ship of human
bone with sales of Elven flesh, the Pirate Queen and her Raven-born child
hunt down any ship that enters the Northeast – and rumors say her
hungers reach even further, following deals with the Diabolist *and* the
Lich King itself. Her end goal seems to be much more than simply a few
more imperials to rub together …
 THE LADY OF LABYRINTHS

• Appearing alongside the occasional living dungeon wouldn’t be quite the

notice worthy, metaphysical pressure-worthy-issue that brought the so-
called Lady of Labyrinths to the broader mind where icons live. She was
instrumental in the summoning of the living dungeon which absorbed the
direct child of the Black (Ten Fang), and which then saw its death at the
hands of an Imperial party sent to clear the dungeon – arguably, a tragic
miscommunication.
Regardless, for months her efforts have resulted in Santa Cora, Horizon,
and Axis cooperating to try and quell the massive blight spreading from
the sight of Ten Fang’s death while at the same time trying to rescue the
brave adventurers, believed to be held in a fugue state in the Dungeon.
She is believed to have said “Oh, I do seem to have an impact, don’t I?”
 THE CRYSTAL DRAGON

• Very little is known about the Chromatic, the first great non-Metallic
Wyrm. It is widely accepted that the Metallics have always been utterly
represented by one magnificent Gold, not just the greatest of their kind
but the greatest of the types of Metallics. On the other hand, the
Chromatics were once simply Crystal Dragons, united in purpose and
power and represented by brutally powerful Crystal Dragon.
• Believed to have been killed, shattered, or otherwise metaphysically as
well as physically savaged by the Elves in the 1st Age, the Crystal Dragon
was unmade and the sub-races of the Chromatics were born from the
cast-offs, the surviving shattered offspring of the Crystal.
A CAVALCADE OF BLOOD
THE FIRES THAT BURN
 THE BLOODY THORNS: DIABOLIST VS CRUSADER
• Perhaps the only war to the death, to the existential death being fought in
the modern era, the Diabolist and the Crusader serve two utterly different
sets of masters and demand two utterly different sets of goals. The
Diabolist, it has been frequently remarked, would be fine with the
Crusader if the Crusader would be fine with her; the Crusader, it has been
frequently remarked, will be fine with the Diabolist when she has her skin
stretched thin enough to serve as a drum head, a banner, and a
tablecloth.
So the Diabolist sabotages and rends the Crusader’s forces from within,
ensuring that any attempt on her Hellholes are as much efforts in self-
destruction as anything else, while the Crusader hones and tempers her
forces (and earns respect and favors) in more mundane conflicts while
she sharpens her blades and assures her Gods of triumph
 TO THE RAGGED END: ORK LORD VS. CRUSADER &
IMPERIAL
• If there is a fight that the Crusader and Imperial find easy common cause in, it is fending off the revitalized
Orkish waves from the North. Orks have been a menace for millennia but in much the same way that
wasps might be – dangerous, but simply not an existential threat.
That has changed with the return (?) of the Ork Lord. Now Orks patrol as far South as Glitterhagen; Orkish
shamans reach pacts with nature, daemon, or holy spirits alike; and Orkish warriors wear equipment
crafted to their frames, not just stolen and hewn to them.
With a more foolish Bloodbringer under the Crusader, or a more conservative Icelord at the head of the
Legion of Frost, these signs might be put off until it was too late. However Bloodbringer Twice-Dead and
Legatus Feralnix are neither foolish nor conservative, and luckier still, respected each other and each
other’s experience.
Both forces, however, have suffered critical bleedings at the hands of the wild Northern Barbarians, who
seem to care not for breed nor blood, only that their lands are being impinged upon …
 THE RED SANDS SHOW NO BLOOD:
IMPERIALS AND FERAL DRUIDS VS THE RED
• Many are lucky enough to believe that the Red Wastes simply consume
anything that try to escape them. That the Red itself simply destroys
anything that tries to make the Wastes their home. Such fortune, to live in
such beautiful ignorance. The Legion of Sand, and their half-Feral Druid
allies know far better – the Red Wastes don’t destroy the Things that
come from there. They hone them. They prepare them. They burn them,
yes, but only the weak. The pitiable.
Those who live are more than Daemon, more than man, and more than
beast. Those who live are the Red’s own chosen bastards, bred on fire and
pain and eager to serve it to the weaklings who didn’t have to suffer like
they did.
HUNGRY WATER: IMPERIALS VS THE IRON SEA

• For ages, the waters of the Empire have been deadly. With the passing of the Great Seal, the Midland
Sea was rendered safe and the other waters … less so. Now, the rivers of the Empire conceal numerous
deadly threats and the Iron Sea is a hungry predator itself. The Legion of the Wall has stood against the
Hungry Sea for literal Ages as Sahuagin, Daemons, and worse came from it. The Imperial War Academy
generally holds the Wall as the most dangerous of the postings, with it being so far from support,
fighting in such a hostile territory, and surrounded by the madness of the Wild Wood and for so long
the dark ruins and potential overrun of the North.
Now the Legion of the Wall finds itself “supported” by Drakkenhall to the North even as the foes from
the sea grow more and more madness inducing, less and less comprehensible. It is said that the Legion
of the Wall has had to call upon Draconic fire more often than any of their Legion siblings in recent
years, a shameful claim certain to result in fisticuffs if said to a Legionnaire's face.
 WAR ON THE SAND: THE THREE VS. THE IRON SEA

• Shattering blasts of lightening announce participation of the Blue in the

war for the Eastern coast, even as her foes attempt to suborn her tools
and use them to enter the city she defends. Hazy swamps of poison sink
into the air throughout the underground beneath the city, choking
infiltrators and allowing the Black’s chosen free passage.
And throughout, all gratefully whisper that the Red has made no
appearance, for it will come only once. And then only to ensure that there
are no victors, no victors – ever.
 HEAVEN AND HELL: THE PRIESTESS AND THE LICH KING
• Wildly regarded as “the worst of all possible ideas” by those outside of
her confidence who are aware of it, the Priestess’ shadow war against the
Lich King gains momentum every season. Her Deathhunters look for
particularly vulnerable sites of potential undeath, those locations where a
deformation of the rites of the dead would force a particularly powerful –
that is, expensive – manifestation of undeath. Such sites found, her
Deathhunters will defile multiple sites at once, creating multiple
manifestations of undeath at once for reasons unknown.
The Priestess’ willingness to accept all gods, Light and Dark, as valid
aspects of reality is well known; so is her sworn oath to see the Lich King
broken and unmade upon her scepter and faith. When the Lich King finds
a way to strike back, it is likely to shatter one if not both.