The GM
GM, 39 posts
Fair Winds and
Following Seas
Tue 8 May 2018
at 18:57 | 0: Stormreach Information and Notes | |
Stormreach is a colonial port city at the tip of Xen'drik, and the base of Khorvaire's exploration and exploitation of the dark continent.
Xen'drik was the home of the ancient Giantish sorcerer-kings, and the ruins hold many mysteries.
The drow were their slaves; freed when the Age of Giants ended.
The thri-kreen insect people also lived here at Stormreach. They are gone, now.
Sahuagin live in the sea and the islands nearby.
| Grand Vizier: | FIVE THINGS EVERY STORMREACHER KNOWS ABOUT
The Storm Lords: Stormreach is a small city, and the Storm Lords are prominent public figures. The streets buzz anytime new gossip emerges about Lord Jonas Wylkes or whenever the Lassites throw a party at Molou’s Distillery.
Lady Kirris Sel Shadra maintains a low profile, but people are always speculating about
the power she wields in the shadows. People might love them or hate them, yet the Storm Lords are a common topic of conversation whenever people gather.
Tall Tales of Xen’drik: Every Stormreacher can spin tales of horrific monsters, lost expeditions, and fabled treasures found in the depths of Xen’drik. Some stories are passed down over the generations. Others are embellishments of personal experiences in the dungeons below the city or on trips to the continent’s interior. When people gather in Stormreach taverns, they typically tell tall tales, with each storyteller trying to top the one before.
Languages: Stormreach is extremely cosmopolitan for its size. The inhabitants not only deal with a steady influx of travelers and merchants from Khorvaire but also with drow, elves from Aerenal, giants, and sahuagin. Most Stormreachers learn at least one additional language. Beyond this, a number of words and phrases from other languages have fallen into the basic vocabulary. A Stormreacher might not speak Sahuagin, but he
can certainly swear in it.
No Justice: The Stormreach Guard serves the Storm Lords and their interests. The guards are a force to be avoided, not a source of security. They arrest and
sometimes execute criminals, but only if this benefits the Storm Lords; no moral principle is at work.
Gangs and Militias: Groups described as gangs are typically criminals driven by selfish desires. Whether they are muggers, pickpockets, burglars, dreamlily dealers, or worse, they prey on the city’s people. Militias are armed groups based on political or religious ideology. Often they are supported by the inhabitants of their wards, who perceive them as a source of stability and vigilante justice. W hether they support or despise them, Stormreachers are familiar with the gangs and militias in their home wards.
The Age of Giants came to an end in a wave of epic magic and dragonfire. Compared to much of Xen’drik, the ruins of Stormreach are well preserved; the colossal watchman is almost untouched. Other sections of the city were partially buried but otherwise left intact.
Many wonders are hidden beneath the city, along with terrible things.
THE AGE OF PIRACY
The first Khorvairian humans to make landfall were pirates. They wanted an outpost to repair and resupply their ships, and the crumbling docks of Stormreach seemed a good foundation for such a hideout. They found a city in ruins, marked by the civilizations that had come before. The pirates clashed with giants, drow, and sahuagin, but they were mysteriously spared the horrors that befell previous settlers. A century passed without plague or warfare, and the pirates prospered. They began searching for opportunities on the continent and discovered both relics in the interior and the power of kuryeva (SX 23).
Over the years, piracy became an increasing problem in the Thunder Sea. Both this and opportunities in Xen’drik caught the attention of the Dragonmarked houses.
House Tharashk saw the shiploads of dragonshards the pirates were capturing from the Riedrans and wanted to establish their own prospecting operations in the shattered land. Scholars and artificers seized the relics retrieved from the interior and wanted more. But between harsh weather, the sahuagin, and the constant
threat of piracy, travel was simply too dangerous.
In 800 YK, representatives of the Twelve appealed to Galifar to bring an end to the pirates’ depredations and establish a port in Xen’drik. As Galifar turned its power toward the south, five of the pirate lords, now called Storm Lords, chose to work with the kingdom in exchange for amnesty and authority within the new city. Though it pained the king to work with pirates, the Storm Lords had invaluable knowledge and influence, and defeating the pirates would have been a costly campaign. The
king agreed to the offer, and the Stormreach Compact paved the way for Stormreach as it is today. |
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