Journey to Lugash

[Kenneth New]

This thread is for discussion of the next Elocia story (starting after Luke finishes Part 2 of Rise of the Runelords).

Previously in Elocia:

At a dinner party the Heroes of Elocia threw to celebrate their defeat of the Cult of the Frog (a.k.a. the Becoming God, the Lord of Appetites and the Hunger Incarnate), which not-so-coincidentally was also a venue for forging a peace among the crime factions of Elocia, the Heroes were approached by a young woman in her twenties. She had come into the house among the catering staff (and a little checking afterword confirmed that she was indeed a hireling of Durhanna's catering company), but had private business to put before the Heroes.

Introducing herself as Samara Kashran, she claimed to be the heir to House Kashran of Lugash, a family that once was part of the Belshariq Consortium. This now defunct group of Lugashy noble families controlled the beryl mines of the southern uplands before the fall of Lugash. She believes that she can safely bypass the traps and open Larkan's vault, which holds a sizable treasure in gems. She needs the help of Heroes in order to retrieve this fortune and to reestablish her family's position, which has declined precipitously in the years since they fled to Elocia. In return she has promised them a fifth of the treasure within the vault to share among themselves.

Knowledge Check

The characters know the following information based on the Knowledge History check (you may take 10 if you desire).

Result 5

Lugash is a place across the sea. A large minority of the population of Elocia came from Lugash because of war.

Result 10

Lugash was once a great city-state across the Straits of Thus from Elocia. It was known far and wide as the City of Emeralds because it was the center of trade in those stones for the entire region. The region was conquered by orcs over a hundred years ago, causing many of its citizens to flee to Elocia. Although the emerald trade still exists, the quality has diminished since the orcs have taken over the city.

Result 15

Lugash, the Emerald City, was a shining beacon of culture and prosperity. Its people were famed for their art, literature and jewel-making. In addition to the beryl mines of the eastern mountains, the city controlled gold mines in what is now the Kouridanean Marches (in Kastria) and even constructed a trade enclave in the Inarion Bay (now known as Elocia). Over time, they lost most of their overseas holdings, but retained control of the beryl mines and a fleet of merchant ships powerful enough to protect their trade routes.

250 years ago, the Witch Queen Xandia conquered Lugash with a force of orcs, ogres and minotaurs. The region became her southern capital. The nobility of the city swore allegiance to her, and it was Lugashy ships that carried the orcish troops across the Straits of Thus to attack Elocia. When she was killed (1200 Livonian Time) by the Five Heroes, fighting broke out between the governor of Lugash (a human) and the orcs of the Bloody Banner. The orcs won and hundreds of Lugashy fled to other lands (mostly to Elocia and the Zokhari states).

Lugash is now a kingdom run by orcs. The Bek-Utang of the Bloody Banner rules with a blood drenched fist over an oppressed population of humans. The beryl trade continues, although the quality of the gems has diminished greatly over time.

Result 20

In addition to everything listed above, the character knows that Lugash was famous not only for gem cutting and the beryl trade, but also for the Izcada, a highly regarded school of wizardry. Most of the noble families had wizards in their employ, and more than a few of them were led by powerful wizards. The Izcada fall to marauders during the conquest, but its most powerful mages were said to have escaped to a magical stronghold called the Tower With No Doors.

The resistance against the Orcs has been led by the Servants of the Sacred Flame since the fall of the City. The Gabrazda, the most sacred site of the their faith, fell to the orcs decades ago and the order has taken to hidden caves in the mountains, especially the badlands of the northern peaks.

The Order of the Burning Heart once trained wandering justiciars who protected the people from injustice and oppression. Their citadel still stands in the dormant cone of Mount Gabral, but stories tell of how the sacred order has become warped by their century and a half of struggle against the orcs, and has now become an order of assassins - killing orcs and collaborators alike.

In modern Lugash, the population is still mostly human, with an orcish warrior class that rules with a savage hand. But many humans are also part of the power structure in Lugash. Orcish culture values strength and power. Those who are capable of defending themselves and taking what they want are able to rise high. Some humans have been inducted into the Bloody Banner itself, and the order has many half-bloods.

The orcs of Lugash worship many bloodthirsty gods (The Bloody Beast, The Dark Mother and the Faceless God are chief among them). The Cult of the Sacred Flame, the Church of the Lords of Light and a few other religions are actively suppressed by the Bek-Utang and the major cults. This means that they have no publicly acknowledged presence; however, many of these suppressed cults are rumored to have closely guarded missions in the region.

[Luke Porter]

The journey for the Heroes of Elocia to Lugash was an uneventful passage across the narrowest part of the Sea of Endemion. Upon the arrival of the heroes, they were struck my the massive size of the walls of Lugash. At least 50' high and 20' thick, massive construction which was awe inspiring in the moonlight. What the moonlight hid was just as notable, the walls themselves were in a dreadful state of disrepair. The portcullis at the gate was a mass of solid verdigris, and the gate itself look as though, while it may be closed with some effort, reopening it would be almost impossible.
The rowdy streets of Lugash in the dead of night were filled with orcish laughter and mayhem. the heroes themselves were in little danger form being waylaid in the streets, with three suits of full plate among them, there was the assumption that the heroes could keep their possessions.
the heroes and their charge told lodgings in a very nice inn <ed. note: the name of which escapes me> with a door guard and a very stout door. This, the heroes came to learn was not peculiar to this inn, rather the custom for all who could afford it.
The next morning, while conversing with some merchants in the inn, the heroes learned that the Bek-Utang of Lugash was dead, and struggling over the Bloody Banner (the symbol of the Bek-Utang) were three warlords:

Durzog- a smarter than average berserker (that is to say very intelligent for one of the Urhag as a whole, not just for the berserkers) who controls the urban centers. He is content to grow rich off of the largess of the country, he is selectively aggressive, and prefers to intimidate his way into power.

Kurkon- he is the puppet to the Temple of The Lord of Slaughter. He has demonic minions at his beck and call and his mother is called the Mother of Demons, for she has congress with them. He may be a half Orc. He controls the traffic up and down river & will accept tribute in either lives for his bloody god, or coin/riches.

Haulkrid- an Orc warlord who controls the eastern mountains, hen and his band have an intense hatred for Humans, as it is humans who do the raiding of his settlements and lands. He is said to violent (even for one of the Urhag) and aggressive. He advocates something close to genocide of the humans.

After learning of these three powers, the heroes split up into groups of three to find different sources of aid.
Tali, Andrea, and Timon went scouring the market place for goods and for information on who could sell high priced things, safely. There is no real place for a thieves guild, when nearly all things are legal. This was of much concern to Tali, who relies on the specialty and nature of her services to drive the price. In a land of lawlessness, there are no forgers, only scribes. By asking pointed questions, these three heard the name Selena, a woman who sells specialty good from her fortress-like home.
At the same time, Father Cassander, Sgt. Fang & Golo went searching for the outlaw Church of Light rumored to be ensconced in Lugash. Golo's keen eyes were able to spot the iconography that Cassander and Fang told him to look for. In a rather short time they were being ushered down the back alley of an herbalist's shop and to an unremarkable door. When they were let in, a wave over magic passed over them, but did not stop them -or explode. Then they entered a small shrine tended to by one idler man called Tamuus. He was the keeper of this shrine, one that fell outside the hierarchy of the Church back home. This was of mild discomfort to Father Cassander, not knowing the proper forms of address and propriety ... not that Cassander would ever let such discomfort show on his face. From Tamuus, these three learned of Mattus, the leader of the resistance in the town of Keshram, where the heroes are headed. He is a healer and runs a clinic for those who can afford his services, he has the local authorities convinced that he is a man-witch of some sort.
The next day, all of the heroes decided to take a trip to see Selena. This was no mere shop, or house for that matter. Cassander has seen garrisons less well fortified, this included several gunners -human gunners- with firearms from Deladun, the dwir enclave which gave refuge to some of the humans from Lugash some 150 years ago. These were 'Mountain Men' human partisans and freedom fighters. These were the bane of Haulkrid and the folk of his banner.
Selena herself was quite knowledgable and recognized the Heroes of Elocia on sight. She even knew we resided in the House of the Frog. She was a woman most remarkable well connected. She was also a human resistance leader. She has in her employ at least one Diviner and one person who can enchant arms and armor, she left clues that this person was a priest. Perhaps, Tamuus? She offered us each the basic enchantment on one piece of our arms or armor, if we were to decapitate the temple of The Lord of Slaughter. Unfortunately, the heroes, were a bit thick on this & needed to sort it out amongst themselves.
She did provide us valuable information as to Larkan's Legacy, the treasure we were aiding our charge in retrieving. First off, it had never been retrieved, Larkan himself was a powerful magician, and his manse was haunted or cursed or something, no one who sought the treasure had lived to tell the tale. Of course that also might have something to do with the wyverns who'd taken up residence there, too.
After an illuminating conversation with Selena, the Heroes of Elocia retired to their in. To do what they seem best at - argue. Long into the night, the heroes threw out wild conjecture and supposition, very rarely (if ever) making many cogent points [Cassander being particularly bad long winded on this occasion]. The heroes went to an uneasy sleep with what they thought was a consensus.
In the morning Andrea, in many ways the group's pragmatic center, shone fresh light on the situation. The plan was changed, the heroes where going to leave their charge in the inn and take on the Temple of The Lord of Slaughter, return for their reward and then proceed up country.

[Kenneth New]

Level 9!

All characters should be 9th level as soon as you rest for the day. I'm fine if you want to sleep in house before going outside, just let me know ASAP.

FYI, I had made a mistake on my Excel spreadsheet and you all were gaining xp really slowly. You were about 20,000 xp behind where you should have been. It isn't an issue because y'all have just barely enough xp to reach 9th once I corrected the problem. (I was dividing xp by 7 twice instead of once.)

[Luke Porter]

I believe we will take you up on th eoffer to rest up for the night in Larkan's Mannor