Westmark [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Westmark [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
GoriceXII
10-25-07, 10:21 AM I'm planning a part of my campaign wherein my pcs--9th-10th at this point--will become the leaders of the town watch/militia in a town called Westmark. I'm providing some background but I'd appreciate help in fleshing out this idea, through adventure/encounter ideas, ways of adding twists to what I've already written down, and so on.

The town described below is occupied by a foreign force but ideally the pcs will win it's surrender through a treaty or other plan--that will be the introductory adventure for this adventure path. What follows is what I'm planning now and why I have put up this thread.

Westmark

Westmark is the rather simply named border town at New Edom's most western point on the map, guarding the southern pass through the Stvarstrike Mountains. (which loop along from the southern coast along the Celtic border and encircle New Edom in the north to its borders with the dwarvish kingdom of Svartaheim) The region is most noted for producing good wool bearing sheep and the copper and tin mines the mountains have. Unfortunately this is also a wild area where wyverns and manticores roost, orcs and giants roam and where strange creatures from forgotten ages are now and then unearthed by unwary miners. The hunting is good--mountain sheep, deer, bear, mountain cat and wolverine are to be found. In the rolling lowlands mainly oats, barley, hay, cabbage and various fruit are grown for food. The wooded lowlands are also good territory for raising pigs, which almost rival the sheep in numbers.

Westmark itself is a town of roughly 2,000 which is the main location for mills, wool factories and smelting forges in the area. Much of what is produced is sent on to Glasstower in normal times, which is the hub of refined work in western New Edom. Most of the merchants coming to Glasstowers are carvan organizers wanting to get first to raw materials they can sell at higher prices elsewhere. The New Edomite Republic frowned on this practice, insisting on foreign merchants going to Harbourtown instead. Under the Celtic occupation several mercantilers have been permited to reside in Westmark. This has resulted in them being able to control prices in such a way as to make them rich and the inhabitants of Westmark poorer. Naturally some of this is given in revenues to the occupying forces.

Westmark was seized by surprise by foresters and barbarians in the service of Prince Obryn, who in recognition of this important service was granted rule over the region by King Cleothas. Obryn has treated the conquered people with justice according to his views, but some deeply resent the following things.

1. Private citizens are no longer part of a free militia; those who are permitted to be militia members may not keep weapons at home and are required to draw them from an armoury when drills take place.

2. Large numbers of people have been forced by the merchants who act as sutlers and suppliers to the Celtic army into poverty and have had to indenture themselves merely to feed their families.

3. The local shrines of Ishtar and Moraddin have been forced to be entirely passive--for instance the Ishtarians are only allowed to have hierodules and healers as clerics.

4. Slavery, outlawed in New Edom, is permitted. Recently this has not been such a big deal and in fact most Celtic slavery is a form of bonded servanthood rather than total ownership but from time to time criminals or captured people are sold at auction.

On the other hand a general rising is discouraged largely for the following reasons.

1. Obryn generally has Westmark and the surrounding villages and farmsteads patrolled by his own vassals, but he also has two companies of mercenaries who are so brutally ruthless that the locals are terrified of them. They are the 'bad cops'.

2. Everyone at least has enough to eat. Even the poorest labourers are guaranteed two filling meals a day, if plain and simple. Everyone is given a good ration of firewood even if they have no woodcutting rights.

3. Obryn's laws are hard but fair. They are probably harder than the Republic's laws but possibly less confusing and troubled by bureaucracy.

Local Religion

Obryn is a trifle cynical about religion but would happily if he knew of them follow Machiavelli's advice about it. He attends druidic ceremonies and the worship of Tiamat quite amiably and even makes public donations to Ishtar and Moraddin. All religions are tolerated in Westmark but only worship of the Tuatha de Dannan and Tiamat are actually playing a role in public affairs openly. The worship of such demons as are followed by the Harlaws are regarded with distaste, mostly because of the social chaos they can create. Obryn wants only one person who uses might and cunning at will: himself.

Crime

Westmark's crime is rather on the small scale. Most local crime involves poaching, petty theft and the occasional brawl among miners and local labourers when there is too much drinking in town. However there are two significant crime rings going on.

In Westmark there is a thieves' guild that is partly a gang of cutpurses and robbers who have their stolen goods fenced and then sold via a corrupt royal bondsman, and partly a collection of prostitutes. The *****s mainly cater to the Celtic soldiery, though some locals are taking to the idea. However for locals this venue has in other times been filled by Ishtarian hierodules as a form of worship. Prostitution is not exactly illegal in the Celtic Kingdom but it is often a cover for other activities, such as illegal gambling and drug use. The drugs mostly come from Nala via Kedward Bone's operation.

There is also an operation involving one of the merchants who is trying to corner the market on caravans and their security. He is in collusion with one of the mercenary captains. Problems with banditry and theft in fact really come from this mercenary company, which is bored with occupation anyway. For the right fees this merchant is able to guarantee a good solid mercenary outfit to act as guards, and to provide the right contacts and so on. Between the two they have managed takeovers of other operations and property enough to make them both rich.

In addition to this property owners are growing corrupt in Westmark. A number of property owners who rent space to labouring families have begun cruel practices to enrich themselves, including renting out the work of the poor as a way of paying of debts that may never be paid off.

Besides all this Westmark has a garrison of mostly bored soldiers, whether mercenaries or vassal troops, who often have too little to do apart from training and cleaning weapons, and who at times act in an outrageous fashion, further antagonizing the locals. Prince Obryn attempts to rein this in but it is difficult in wintertime. These incidents are relatively few due to the fact that he is perfectly willing to lop off offending hands or heads. His crack guard of shieldmen prevent people from thinking of provoking him lightly, as does his own personal prowess. Even the two tough mercenary captains are wary of personally provoking the prince.

Outside Dangers

In spite of tales of wyverns, manticores and giants, these rarely trouble Westmark and the areas near it. The regular dangers are wild beasts that grown hungry in winter and orcs.

Winter does not intimidate orcs much and they see the human settlements as potential targets for raids. These have not aligned with the Celts and will not--the mercenary captain Falk mistakenly saw to that by violating two of their most sacred places, thinking it would teach the orcs to attack supply caravans. Now the orcs seem to see it as a sacred duty to attack the humans in the area, between which they do not differentiate.

Races

Humans overwhelmingly predominate this area. However there is a small dwarvish community that was largely encouraged to move into assist with mining and smelting. Since properly speaking they are residents but not citizens they have been treated with great respect by the Celts who want to keep their services.

It is not uncommon to encounter half orcs in the region. 'Half Orcs' covers a variety of kinds of people, from people who simply visibly have some orcish blood to orcs who have some human ancestry to actual literal half orcs, the result of a forced or willing liason between orc and human. Half orcs fall into three main categories.
1. Half orcs who are accepted as orcs by their own folk. A child of a slave or adopted person in an orcish tribe who is able to prove their courage, strength and cunning may be fully accepted. If this is the case they are considered orcs, not half orcs, and may actually resent being told they look human.

2. Half orcs who are accepted as humans by other humans. They may look ugly to most people or a little strange, but they are not thought of as half orcs or having orcish blood.

3. Half orcs who are known to be half orcs by other society. The orcs would definitely reject such a person if they had not proven worthy to be accepted as full members of their tribe. The humans might vary in reaction. They might pity or despise such a person, they might accept them only reluctantly, but for such people who are not able to deceive their way into either society the reality is that their folk see them as neither fish nor fowl. Such half orcs often either become solitary and sullen or may even turn to some form of crime. One of the few groups that will accept them is the cult of Tiamat--these fanatics believe that all must be transformed and purified by being dragon-touched anyway, and that all normal mortal flesh is imperfect.
Sir_Wolfgar
10-25-07, 03:29 PM Well, If I was one of your players, when I approach this town with the goal of it's eventual freedom, the first thing I would do is git rid of the mercenaries. That would help destabilize Prince Obryn's rule, and it would endear the public to the party.

This could be accomplished in a few ways, like a direct attack on the merc's leadership, or perhaps some scare tactics like poisoning the mercenaries food supply (evil but effective). The players could also steal the mercenaries' payroll, thus making conflict between Prince Obryn and the mercenary leaders. (Edit: Then they could use the stolen money to buy off the mercenaries.)

Since you have already started some hostilities between the orcs and the mercs, encourage the players to take advantage of them. I'd spread some rumors about a large orc camp in the area, or have the players disguise themselves as orcs and attack a Celtic caravan, letting some people escape to spread the word. When the mercenaries come out of the town to fight the orcs, the players will actually be luring them into a trap where they and their allies can deliver a crushing blow.

After the mercenaries are gone, (once again, if I was a player) I may seek out if Prince Obryn has any political enemies either in town or back in the Celtic homeland, and try to make trouble difficult for him there. I also would do some basic guerrilla warfare, and either frame the orcs for it, or allow for the players to become a sort of Robin hood type hero for the towns folk.
GoriceXII
10-26-07, 10:48 PM Thanks, those are good suggestions for my players certainly and I might be able to use them via friendly npcs to guide them if they're at a bit of a loss.

My players are likely to arrive with their own followers and possibly even soldiers--I'm not sure what they'll do about that exactly though. They might prefer once they've captured the place to raise a militia locally. At any rate this will be their commission once they have it.
taradusis
10-27-07, 03:58 PM Perhaps a bunch of craft people to rebuild the economy?A public works project like a stadium uses a lot of labor?Regular plays and games please the populace?RANDOM THOUGHTS.
taradusis
11-11-07, 09:02 PM The size of the militia will be roughly 100 people?Do they have a barracks?The barracks plus a new jail could be public works projects?I would suggest to the party that they train the militia to resist bandits and orc raids.This would lead to a "Magnificent Seven"type of scenario?
GoriceXII
11-12-07, 03:18 AM I like the idea of retraining the militia and fighting bandits and orcs.
How would they attract more craft people?
taradusis
11-12-07, 11:42 AM For a town of 2000 you could use the local Experts,be about 20 of them?Could also go to a nearby city like Glasstower and hire a dozen hirelings and get some supplies,guarding this caravan is a mini-adventure.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
GoriceXII 10-25-07, 10:21 AM	I'm planning a part of my campaign wherein my pcs--9th-10th at this point--will become the leaders of the town watch/militia in a town called Westmark. I'm providing some background but I'd appreciate help in fleshing out this idea, through adventure/encounter ideas, ways of adding twists to what I've already written down, and so on. The town described below is occupied by a foreign force but ideally the pcs will win it's surrender through a treaty or other plan--that will be the introductory adventure for this adventure path. What follows is what I'm planning now and why I have put up this thread. Westmark Westmark is the rather simply named border town at New Edom's most western point on the map, guarding the southern pass through the Stvarstrike Mountains. (which loop along from the southern coast along the Celtic border and encircle New Edom in the north to its borders with the dwarvish kingdom of Svartaheim) The region is most noted for producing good wool bearing sheep and the copper and tin mines the mountains have. Unfortunately this is also a wild area where wyverns and manticores roost, orcs and giants roam and where strange creatures from forgotten ages are now and then unearthed by unwary miners. The hunting is good--mountain sheep, deer, bear, mountain cat and wolverine are to be found. In the rolling lowlands mainly oats, barley, hay, cabbage and various fruit are grown for food. The wooded lowlands are also good territory for raising pigs, which almost rival the sheep in numbers. Westmark itself is a town of roughly 2,000 which is the main location for mills, wool factories and smelting forges in the area. Much of what is produced is sent on to Glasstower in normal times, which is the hub of refined work in western New Edom. Most of the merchants coming to Glasstowers are carvan organizers wanting to get first to raw materials they can sell at higher prices elsewhere. The New Edomite Republic frowned on this practice, insisting on foreign merchants going to Harbourtown instead. Under the Celtic occupation several mercantilers have been permited to reside in Westmark. This has resulted in them being able to control prices in such a way as to make them rich and the inhabitants of Westmark poorer. Naturally some of this is given in revenues to the occupying forces. Westmark was seized by surprise by foresters and barbarians in the service of Prince Obryn, who in recognition of this important service was granted rule over the region by King Cleothas. Obryn has treated the conquered people with justice according to his views, but some deeply resent the following things. 1. Private citizens are no longer part of a free militia; those who are permitted to be militia members may not keep weapons at home and are required to draw them from an armoury when drills take place. 2. Large numbers of people have been forced by the merchants who act as sutlers and suppliers to the Celtic army into poverty and have had to indenture themselves merely to feed their families. 3. The local shrines of Ishtar and Moraddin have been forced to be entirely passive--for instance the Ishtarians are only allowed to have hierodules and healers as clerics. 4. Slavery, outlawed in New Edom, is permitted. Recently this has not been such a big deal and in fact most Celtic slavery is a form of bonded servanthood rather than total ownership but from time to time criminals or captured people are sold at auction. On the other hand a general rising is discouraged largely for the following reasons. 1. Obryn generally has Westmark and the surrounding villages and farmsteads patrolled by his own vassals, but he also has two companies of mercenaries who are so brutally ruthless that the locals are terrified of them. They are the 'bad cops'. 2. Everyone at least has enough to eat. Even the poorest labourers are guaranteed two filling meals a day, if plain and simple. Everyone is given a good ration of firewood even if they have no woodcutting rights. 3. Obryn's laws are hard but fair. They are probably harder than the Republic's laws but possibly less confusing and troubled by bureaucracy. Local Religion Obryn is a trifle cynical about religion but would happily if he knew of them follow Machiavelli's advice about it. He attends druidic ceremonies and the worship of Tiamat quite amiably and even makes public donations to Ishtar and Moraddin. All religions are tolerated in Westmark but only worship of the Tuatha de Dannan and Tiamat are actually playing a role in public affairs openly. The worship of such demons as are followed by the Harlaws are regarded with distaste, mostly because of the social chaos they can create. Obryn wants only one person who uses might and cunning at will: himself. Crime Westmark's crime is rather on the small scale. Most local crime involves poaching, petty theft and the occasional brawl among miners and local labourers when there is too much drinking in town. However there are two significant crime rings going on. In Westmark there is a thieves' guild that is partly a gang of cutpurses and robbers who have their stolen goods fenced and then sold via a corrupt royal bondsman, and partly a collection of prostitutes. The *****s mainly cater to the Celtic soldiery, though some locals are taking to the idea. However for locals this venue has in other times been filled by Ishtarian hierodules as a form of worship. Prostitution is not exactly illegal in the Celtic Kingdom but it is often a cover for other activities, such as illegal gambling and drug use. The drugs mostly come from Nala via Kedward Bone's operation. There is also an operation involving one of the merchants who is trying to corner the market on caravans and their security. He is in collusion with one of the mercenary captains. Problems with banditry and theft in fact really come from this mercenary company, which is bored with occupation anyway. For the right fees this merchant is able to guarantee a good solid mercenary outfit to act as guards, and to provide the right contacts and so on. Between the two they have managed takeovers of other operations and property enough to make them both rich. In addition to this property owners are growing corrupt in Westmark. A number of property owners who rent space to labouring families have begun cruel practices to enrich themselves, including renting out the work of the poor as a way of paying of debts that may never be paid off. Besides all this Westmark has a garrison of mostly bored soldiers, whether mercenaries or vassal troops, who often have too little to do apart from training and cleaning weapons, and who at times act in an outrageous fashion, further antagonizing the locals. Prince Obryn attempts to rein this in but it is difficult in wintertime. These incidents are relatively few due to the fact that he is perfectly willing to lop off offending hands or heads. His crack guard of shieldmen prevent people from thinking of provoking him lightly, as does his own personal prowess. Even the two tough mercenary captains are wary of personally provoking the prince. Outside Dangers In spite of tales of wyverns, manticores and giants, these rarely trouble Westmark and the areas near it. The regular dangers are wild beasts that grown hungry in winter and orcs. Winter does not intimidate orcs much and they see the human settlements as potential targets for raids. These have not aligned with the Celts and will not--the mercenary captain Falk mistakenly saw to that by violating two of their most sacred places, thinking it would teach the orcs to attack supply caravans. Now the orcs seem to see it as a sacred duty to attack the humans in the area, between which they do not differentiate. Races Humans overwhelmingly predominate this area. However there is a small dwarvish community that was largely encouraged to move into assist with mining and smelting. Since properly speaking they are residents but not citizens they have been treated with great respect by the Celts who want to keep their services. It is not uncommon to encounter half orcs in the region. 'Half Orcs' covers a variety of kinds of people, from people who simply visibly have some orcish blood to orcs who have some human ancestry to actual literal half orcs, the result of a forced or willing liason between orc and human. Half orcs fall into three main categories. 1. Half orcs who are accepted as orcs by their own folk. A child of a slave or adopted person in an orcish tribe who is able to prove their courage, strength and cunning may be fully accepted. If this is the case they are considered orcs, not half orcs, and may actually resent being told they look human. 2. Half orcs who are accepted as humans by other humans. They may look ugly to most people or a little strange, but they are not thought of as half orcs or having orcish blood. 3. Half orcs who are known to be half orcs by other society. The orcs would definitely reject such a person if they had not proven worthy to be accepted as full members of their tribe. The humans might vary in reaction. They might pity or despise such a person, they might accept them only reluctantly, but for such people who are not able to deceive their way into either society the reality is that their folk see them as neither fish nor fowl. Such half orcs often either become solitary and sullen or may even turn to some form of crime. One of the few groups that will accept them is the cult of Tiamat--these fanatics believe that all must be transformed and purified by being dragon-touched anyway, and that all normal mortal flesh is imperfect.
Sir_Wolfgar 10-25-07, 03:29 PM	Well, If I was one of your players, when I approach this town with the goal of it's eventual freedom, the first thing I would do is git rid of the mercenaries. That would help destabilize Prince Obryn's rule, and it would endear the public to the party. This could be accomplished in a few ways, like a direct attack on the merc's leadership, or perhaps some scare tactics like poisoning the mercenaries food supply (evil but effective). The players could also steal the mercenaries' payroll, thus making conflict between Prince Obryn and the mercenary leaders. (Edit: Then they could use the stolen money to buy off the mercenaries.) Since you have already started some hostilities between the orcs and the mercs, encourage the players to take advantage of them. I'd spread some rumors about a large orc camp in the area, or have the players disguise themselves as orcs and attack a Celtic caravan, letting some people escape to spread the word. When the mercenaries come out of the town to fight the orcs, the players will actually be luring them into a trap where they and their allies can deliver a crushing blow. After the mercenaries are gone, (once again, if I was a player) I may seek out if Prince Obryn has any political enemies either in town or back in the Celtic homeland, and try to make trouble difficult for him there. I also would do some basic guerrilla warfare, and either frame the orcs for it, or allow for the players to become a sort of Robin hood type hero for the towns folk.
GoriceXII 10-26-07, 10:48 PM	Thanks, those are good suggestions for my players certainly and I might be able to use them via friendly npcs to guide them if they're at a bit of a loss. My players are likely to arrive with their own followers and possibly even soldiers--I'm not sure what they'll do about that exactly though. They might prefer once they've captured the place to raise a militia locally. At any rate this will be their commission once they have it.
taradusis 10-27-07, 03:58 PM	Perhaps a bunch of craft people to rebuild the economy?A public works project like a stadium uses a lot of labor?Regular plays and games please the populace?RANDOM THOUGHTS.
taradusis 11-11-07, 09:02 PM	The size of the militia will be roughly 100 people?Do they have a barracks?The barracks plus a new jail could be public works projects?I would suggest to the party that they train the militia to resist bandits and orc raids.This would lead to a "Magnificent Seven"type of scenario?
GoriceXII 11-12-07, 03:18 AM	I like the idea of retraining the militia and fighting bandits and orcs. How would they attract more craft people?
taradusis 11-12-07, 11:42 AM	For a town of 2000 you could use the local Experts,be about 20 of them?Could also go to a nearby city like Glasstower and hire a dozen hirelings and get some supplies,guarding this caravan is a mini-adventure.