(TFT) TFT town --> Hiquet

[Rick Smith <rsmith@lightspeed.ca>]

	(C) 2004 by Richard W. Smith	

	This town or small city should be placed in mountains
beside a desert.  It should be quite isolated and not on any
major trade routes.


	The City of Hiquet
	------------------
	This small city is on the edge of the XXXXX
desert based on an artificial spring that has drilled
deep into the mountain to reach a deep aquifer.

	Apart from the spring, the city lacks natural
resources.  The city grows food on terraced fields &
this food (and water) is the town's major export.

	Other attempts to drill to this water have
failed. (A flaw in the rock caused by an ancient earth
quake carries the water down a narrow fissure.  The
existing well found it by chance, other attempts to
reach it have failed (tho only narrowly in some cases).

	The rock is fairly soft sandstone.  Any 
concerted attempt to dig to the water would succeed
but no attempt has been made for many years.

	The LaForque family have controlled all water
in the city and have traditionally ruled it with an 
iron fist.

	For the first time in centuries this rule is
being challenged, from the poorest of the cities 
inhabitants.  An increasingly well organized thieves'
guild has taken to assassination.  Led by the Patient
Man, the night has become a time of terror for those
of wealth and power.  (At least when they are not
hiding behind castle walls.)


	The Cities Leadership
	---------------------
	More than 800 meters above the desert floor
is the castle / manor of the LaForque family.  The 
current leader is 'General' Ossateem, a gross fat
man who considers himself to be a military genius
based on the military romances he loves to read. 
His military rank is assumed.  However he is not a
complete fool, he knows well enough what his power
is based on and brutally makes examples of those
that have attempted to evade his whims.
	He married a 3rd daughter of a distant 
lord for her rank.  She tired of his sexual appetites
and tried to steal a horse and escape some years ago.
Captured, she had both hands chopped off (the stumps
were healed with healing potions) and she is 
periodically tortured or raped.  She is half mad
with grief.
	Ossateem keeps more than a dozen girls 
under 16 years of age to amuse him.  Those that 
survive to 20 or so, (about 2/3rds make it) are made 
slaves of the fields or sold to the brothels or 
(very rarely) released back to their families for 
those that are especially pleasing to him.
	Ossateem is easily the most hated man in
the city.

	Ossateem LaForque.
ST 15, DX 13, IQ 12, MA 8 (fat)
Magic cloth, flesh spells etc.  -9 hits / attack.
Enchanted Morningstar: 3d+8.
Enchanted Poisoned Main-gauche.  1d+4
Wish ring w/ 1 wish, Self powering Detect Enemies 
ring (only picks up planned attacks in next 10 
seconds).  Has a pouch with 3 summon 3 hex dragon
gems (real last 15 turns) which are to be used
in an emergency.  This is on a easy to break 
string around his neck and will be thrown on the
ground breaking all three gems if he is seriously
threatened.

	
	He has left ruling the town to his son,
Maqut.

	Maqut is the real center of the city.  He
holds his father in secret contempt, and has little
or no feelings for any other person in the city 
beyond his daughter.  (She is a selfish, cruel 
girl of 14 and he thinks the world of her.)  His
wife committed suicide some ten years ago, but he
has claimed she was murdered and searching for her
killers is a ready excuse anytime he desires to 
more obviously use his power.
	With the rash of assassinations, most people
believe that she was the first victim and take his
story at face value.
	Maqut hides his contempt for others thru
a ready smile and friendly demeanor. He knows that
tormenting others for no reason just creates 
resentment, and uses his charisma and a rare 
compliment to motivate his underlings.  He is a 
very charismatic man, and most people are impressed
with him.
	He is a religious man (of a local good 
religion) and he and his priests have no problem 
with his behavior, a Lord must occasionally break
a few heads, no?  In any case the priest are well
paid.
	The most obvious way he shows his contempt
for those about him is his vicious, cutting and
very public criticisms of those who make errors. 
His people will go to extreme lengths to avoid 
making (or at least hide) any mistakes. 

	Maqut has talked his father out of cutting
off water to the city in order to fight the current
rebels.  He knows that any such action, would cause
the entire city to revolt against their rule.  
However, the general is more and more eager to lead
an attack against the poorer quarter.

	Maqut has little idea of the forces against
him.  By torturing a large number of basically 
random people he has discovered that the Patient 
Man is organizing the resistance and is now working
hard to find out more about this shadowy figure.


	Maqut LaForque.	
ST 13, DX 16, IQ 15, MA 12 (running)
Magic Leather, flesh spells etc.  -11 hits / attack.
Shield with demon in it.  Eats or damages weapons
that hit it.  -3 hits / attack.  Must feed it a 
soul a month.
Magic Fine Bastard sword:  3d+8
Ring: Persuasiveness, Reverse Missiles, Spell shield.
Ring: Telepathy (for questioning prisoners).
Ring: Insubstaniality (2 fST / turn).


	Most of the 'middle class' are cousins or
relatives of the LaForque family.  In particular,
the guards leaders are all family.

	Airquet is the chief of security.  Think
Gestapo.  He has more than 50 informers and spies, 
most concentrated in the servants and people who 
visit the castle proper.  However he has started
recruiting people in the poorer section of the 
town in hopes of gaining information on the 
Patient Man.  He is a mousy little man, not at all
a good fighter.  He has many talents for running
a spy operation, and enjoys torturing people.  He
is not as smart as he thinks he is and a couple of
his people have been  by the Patient Man and are 
feeding him false information. 
	If the Patient Man got a chance, he would
kill Airquet at once.  There is no body of similar
ability to take his place.

	Quemm is the chief of guards.  He is a
pedophile and has gained his position because his
sexual tastes amuse Ossateem.  He is a fast friend
of the general.  He is very ineffective in doing
his job, leaving it to his underlings to do the
work.  (The competition of his lieutenants has done
much to reduce the effectiveness of the guards.)
Maqut hates the man, and would love to see him 
killed.  The Patient Man knows that Quemm is an
empty drum, and has instead had his more effective
lieutenants assassinated. 

	Klimcate is the most capable of the guard
Lieutenants.  He dreams of letting the LaForque 
family being killed off, and taking over himself.
To this end, he has not done his utmost to track
down the killers, and has subtly allowed some
people to escape.  However he catches enough small
fish to make him seem more useful than most of the
other guard officers.
	The Patient Man does not realize that 
Klimcate is working against the LaForques.  As
far as the Patient Man knows, Klimcate is the 
most competent guard leader left and has twice
tried to have him killed, but so far Klimcate has
survived.  
	If Klimcate could find the Patient Man,
he would be more than willing to cut a deal, but
all attempts to privately track down the crime
leader have failed.

	Sliver is the Master of the House Staff.
He is so named by his daggers that he hones to
a sliver edge.  He loves cutting up people but
does a good job of holding this antisocial 
tendency in check until a traitor is captured.
He runs the household and is a favorite of Ossateem.
Maqut is happy with Sliver, (virtually the only
one of his father's men whom he approves of).
Sliver effectively rules the house staff and has
an uncanny ability to spot lies and people who
are hiding things.  This has saved the LaForque
family on several occasions.  
	Tho a hard master, he treats his people
quite well.  (VERY well by this cities standards.)
Even standing up for them against Ossateem three
different times in the past.  Most of the workers 
are very loyal to him.  
	Sliver approves of Maqut, and would 
prefer that Ossateem passes away.
	Sliver has married 2 different women and
they live together happily with 2 and 4 children
respectively.
	Sliver very much loves his family.  They
have been marked by the Patient Man as targets &
tools to control Sliver with, but they are well
protected in the castle and no opportunity to 
kidnap them has yet occurred.

	
	Mrot is the chief of everything else.
In particular he sees to the supplies of the 
castle, runs the stables and kennels.  He hates
the LaForques, (particularily Ossateem) and is
one of the few who is not impressed with Maqut.
Sliver does not like Mrot, who reciprocates the
feelings tho the two men work well together.
He lives in terror that he will be found to be
disloyal and bends over backwards not to do 
anything that would indicate the least bit of 
disloyalty.
	A very cowardly man, he is a weak tool
against the LaForques.  He hates the way the
lords rule this land and abuse people but lacks
the courage to oppose them.
	The Patient Man has not fathomed the
hatred that Mrot feels.  If he got the chance
he would kill Mrot in hopes that someone less
competent would take his place.


	
	A few people have been killed in the
castle proper, but the windows have been bared
and physical security has been greatly improved.

	Maqut would like to hire more guards,
but (wisely) is being very careful about who he
lets inside the circle of his walls.

	Rick
=====
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