(Note the subtle jab at D&D in the above.) "INTRODUCTION "Walk quietly," the word had gone around the place(sic). "He's angry today."Still, it was with little trpidation that the guard captain entered the presence of the Thorsz. A Red Plains orc, stolid and loyal, he had little on his conscience and correspondingly few worries. Most likely he would simply be told to have a squad sent for somebody, and that would be that. He began his formal salutation, but was interrupted. "Never mind that, Captain. Tell me this: What do you think of the new guardsmen we've been getting?"
He swallowed and tried to answer. "Well, Sire...""They >stink<, that's what! I biult that labyrinth to kill off the fools, and what do I get? THey're not even working up a sweat down there!"
"But Sire... Nothing has changed. THe first month we used that test, eight of ten died. After that fewer tried, but they were better. Still, it kills seven of ten. Or so I thought, Sire."
From a chair in the corner of the room, another voice spoke. "If you permit a comment, most gracious Sire... Captain Ayoch has hit on the problem. Nothing >has< changed. Men speak of what they do, even your guards. Can it be that the tests of your labyrinth are no longer a secret?"
"That must be it." Curiously, the Thorsz sounded calmer. :I should have seen it myself; thank you, mage. Then you've not failed me, Ayoch. You've never been required to watch the tests yourself. Know then, that my deadly test now kills scarce three out of ten those who attempt it. They fill the gargoyles with arrows, baffle the giant with images, and relieve themselves against the spider-chest. They've killed so many bears that the mages use summoned ones now. I believe it's time for some changes."
"Pardon me, Sire -- but I try to do my duty. I test every new fighter myself, as soon as the physickers say he's ready, and Trevare Spellsword meets every new wizard on the field. We've had no weaklings get through."
"Foreknowledge or no, no weakling could get through that alive. But I don't want just strong men. I want >heroes<. Come back here at the sixth hour, Captain. Bring the palace architect with you. And you" -- he turned to the wizard -- :you be here too, Irrissee. I'll want a wizards' advice on this. We're going to do a little remodeling."
He paused. "One more thing, Captain. Within the week, I want a patrol to go clean out those old ruins in Quercim -- the old towers. Take all the men that've joined in the last... hmm... three months. We'll see if there are any real heroes in that batch. And the next ones won't ahve it so easy."
He chuckled."And that's about all we have. That, and that the Thorsz's men wear red. Obviously, in my campaign, the Thorsz is not what he appears. And Irrissee is one of the Council. But it does bring up a couple points. The Red Plains are inhabited by nomadic tribes of Orcs, and lie just to the west of Ardonirane. This is partly why the Old Kingdoms, and the New Kingdoms never mixed. Nobody got through. Now, the Orcs know that it's a lot more profitable to get paid as escorts. And they know that crossing the Thorsz and the Council is very bad business. Quercim are ruins of the previous westernmost settlement of the Old Kingdoms. It hasn't been inhabited for a thousand years, when the Orcs first appeared. The supply lines were just too long. The original Death Test is indeed under the palace. But now, if you pass that, you must then take Death Test 2 to get hired. As for the layout of Ardonirane... The Palace is carved out of the southern end of the Ardoz Mountains -- the chain that splits the world east from west. The southern promontory has been (so the legend goes) carved directly from the rock and is a single piece of stone. Those who think of such things think it more likely that while it's all native stone, some fancy Mend spells made it a single piece. I wonder how deep into the mountains the palace goes, don't you?
Inside a 60' stone wall studded with towers, huddling against the sheer cliff facec below the Palace is Highton. As it's name implies, this is the high rent district. In fact, the Thorsz explicitly claims all land inside the stone walls, and charges high rents to those who live there. It's also a political hotbed. In fact, if you're out of favor at Court, you may find that your lease has been cancelled. Surrounding Highton is a berm and log palisade enclosing Midton, which is, again, the middle-class section of the city. Most of the palisade borders the Thorsz Road, which is the east-west trade corridor through Ardonirane. A matching palisade was built on the south side of the road when the tolls went into effect. Extending south from the massive gate complexes at the ends of the road are not-so-simple earthworks going all the way to the sea. To the east is Loeton, the low class but cleaner part of town. Just to the west is the Thorsz Road spur that goes to the docks. To the west of that is called the Pitwash. "Wretched hive of scum and villainy" doesn't begin to describe it. Did I mention that secretly the Council pretty much controls crime, too? So they get their cut of the Black Market and everything else. When you've had centuries to build on, you can do well for yourselves... To the west of Highton and Midton, and going north far enough to be adjacent to the mountains, but not in the city proper, is Soldier's Round. There's some earthworks here, but only because the mercenary units that camp there want some protection. This is where the mercenaries hang out waiting for contracts. And the Thorsz is always hiring. Most of his actual army, however, patrols the mountains, making sure there's nobody slipping through wihtout paying, or surreptitiously trying to set up Gates.
Neil Gilmore raito@raito.com Quoting Gavin@TheFantasyQuest.com:
I just caught up, Neil. I love your campaign teaser! Great ideas. For my edification - as well as for The Record - Where are the various sourcesof information for Ardonirane and The Thorsz? Gavin Gossett The Fantasy Quest (615) 944-3805 Gavin@TheFantasyQuest.com -----Original Message----- From: tft-admin@brainiac.com [mailto:tft-admin@brainiac.com] On Behalf Of raito@raito.com Sent: Monday, March 28, 2011 11:38 AM To: tft@brainiac.comSubject: (TFT) More from my campaign.Well, the list certainly perked up for a while, didn't it? Here's some more stuff from my campaign, which has been in recess for a longtime. Still, I could pick it up again at any moment. The main city is Ardonirane -- the Thorsz's city. I took a bunch of the Flying Buffalo Citybooks and have converted some of the material to TFT. They're pretty good for some things. The various places, people and adventures are occasionally interwoven, and the descriptions are good enough that adaptation is pretty easy. Anyway, as you may remember, The Thorsz is aided by the Council of 13. They took over 435 years ago, and have run things ever since. Ardonirane sits between the 'older' (culturally) part of the continent (think mostly feudal Europe), and the 'newer' (think more Conan and orcs and weird stuff). The city itself straddles a narrow east-west plain between a mountain range and the sea. Actually, it sitsalong a very long line where 2 plates are coming together. North, they makemountains. South, they make the sea.The Thorsz makes most of his fortunes by charging for good moving throughArdonirane. One charge to come in, another to go out. Unless you use the walled highway though the city, in which case you pay once, but pay more. He also hashis army preventing things from moving through the mountains, and the navy preveting movement by sea. You want to get stuff from the newer to the oldersections of the world? The THorsz takes his cut. He also has his spies, temporal and magical looking out for people messing with his cash flow by using Gates.Why is this background important? Because one of the 13 has not been on the Council for 435 years. Because one of the originals wanted to go public withtheir method of government. Because there was a pretty big flap about it.One of the citybooks has a middle-class bakery in it. At the bakery is an old guy who helps out. He's the original council member, but he doesn't know it,because his mind got kind of blasted in the fight with the rest of the council. You can also find his old lab if you know where to look. There's not much left, but it's still a worthwhile trip. You'll lose money going on that trip, but gain information.It's also worth noting that the Thorsz does not exist. In fact, he never existed. But the Council fgured that it would be better to have a hero as afigurehead than a bunch of conniving political wizards (and they were right). Every time the Thorsz is seen, he's an illusion. So what if he gets disbelieved on occasion? The Thorsz is a busy guy. He can't be everywhere. So not only doeseveryone know that the Thorsz exists, but they accept that he's occasionallyproxied by illusions. And the Council keeps all the power. That doesn't even begin to cover all the stuff going on, but it's a start. There's the secret industrial magic installations, for example...Neil Gilmore raito@raito.com =====Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com. Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body"unsubscribe tft" =====Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com. Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body"unsubscribe tft"
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