'THE BROTHERHOOD PROTECT US'

January 7, 1999 GM: Kenneth Newquist

Above them, the fallen city of Obsidian Bay is in the hands of their hated foes, the Scarlet Brotherhood. Now the Blackrazors must determine what they are going to do next … and how they are going to escape from the growing flames of disaster that have dogged them for the last six months.

What follows is a glimpse of what happened to Obsidian Bay after its fall to the Brotherhood.

But they had listened far too much to the lies spread by the Brotherhood’s enemies. The Brotherhood was a strict ruler yes, but a benevolent one as well. Those who worked with it, and respected its superior vision, were rewarded. Those who opposed it just needed more education.

And such was the case in Obsidian Bay. It had been under the control of a rag-tag group of former ‘adventurers’ – people who had made their fortunes by slaying others and stealing their rightful belongings. While there were other common people in the city, it was the adventurers who held sway over most of its day-to-day operations. After the Brotherhood’s liberation of the city, power was returned to the little people.

One month after the Scarlet Brotherhood’s arrival in the city, new elections were held to replace the do-nothings and politicians who had fled to Blue and formed their so-called ‘government in exile.’

Politics

New members were elected to each of the three Councils of the city – the Council of Holders, the Council of Guilds and the Council of Citizens. They in turn elected a new mayor, Sven Drasquarren. Sven is a long-time trader and merchant men with roots in the southern reaches of Keoland. His chief advisors are the former Blackrazor, Ragnar Blackmane, who serves as the Councilor of War, and Brother Ebenfeld, a Scarlet Brotherhood diplomat.

The Lord Speaker of the Council of Holders is Yoril Tarrenhold, a minor land holder who leapt to power after the liberation by buying up the lands of any deserting land owners. The Lord Speaker of the Council of Guilds is Elric Masterson, leader of the Griffins Guild. The Lord Speaker of the Council of Citizens is Xavier Miller, a businessman who owns a milling business outside of the city.

In its first official act, the new government voted to join the new Scarlet Empire, and agreed to send 30% of all taxes collected to the Brotherhood.

Landscape

The political landscape isn’t the only thing that has changed. The physical one has as well. During the liberation of the city the Blackrazor Guild created a huge sink hole just north of the Wharf Quarter. The bottom third of the sinkhole is now filled with water, and most of the city’s sewage now drains into the resulting pool. Fortunately, the majority of the waste washes out into the ocean with the tides.

In addition to exposing a portion of the city’s sewer system to the elements, the sinkhole has also opened up connections to the UnderOerth. These connections – in the form of caverns and passageways – are usually covered by water, but are sometimes revealed during particularly low tides. The resulting lake is called Everton Pond by the Brotherhood in honor of the Blackrazor Guildmaster at the time. A number of   expeditions by creatures from the UnderOerth have risen from the sinkhole (also known as the Black Gulch), but the city guard has managed to drive all of them back. The city’s adventuring guilds have already begun exploring the underground network, which is rumored to run under the entire Pomarj peninsula (including connections to the Obsidian Maze).

Law

The Four Freedoms of Obsidian Bay have been temporarily suspended, until such time as order has been restored to the city. Although things have been relatively peaceful for several months, a state of emergency still exists and martial law is still the rule in the city. The new Lord Mayor, Sven Drasquarren, is the ultimate authority in the city and uses that authority to insure that anti-Brotherhood terrorists are put down quickly and efficiently.

Anyone suspected of working against the will of the Brotherhood can be arrested and detained until such a time as evidence can be presented of their guilt.

The all of the senior judges in the Conclave of Justice fled when the city was captured. The conclave has been refilled with common men, who replaced those followers of the ‘alleged’ gods of good and neutrality. The new Lord Justice is Iser Ballakin, a former merchant trader whose trade lines ran from the Hold of the Sea Princes to the ports of the Sea Barons.

Military

The City Guard’s ranks took a heavy hit during the Battle of Blue and the subsequent liberation of Obsidian Bay. A number of guardsmen were also in the field as part of the Army of Obsidian Bay, which had been deployed to stop the advancement of Turrosh Mak’s forces out of Stonehiem. They aborted their mission after Obsidian Bay’s change of alliegence. Most of its officers either fled into the Drachensgrabs or retreated to Blue. Some of them however, did return to the city.

The Citizen’s Guard and militia have been disbanded, but the City Guard’s ranks have been bolstered beyond their pre-invasion numbers to 750 men. Some of these men – about 300 of them -- are immigrants from the Hold of the Sea Princes and the Brotherhood’s other holdings. The rest are natives of various abilities and intentions. It is muttered on the streets now that the ‘new’ guard is a cutthroat bunch of legalized thugs who use their positions to make life as easy as possible for themselves. Anyone who overhears such mutterings should be reported to the proper authorities immediately.

Magic

It is illegal to practice magic in the city without the approval of the Lord Mayor’s Bureau of Wizardry. The bureau has replaced the Guild of Wizardry and the Obsidian Tower as the magical authority in the city. All mages in the city must register with the Office, which charges a 1,000 gold piece yearly licensing fee. This allows the mage to practice non-offensive, non-combat magic in the city.

In addition, all magic items must be registered with the bureau. The registration fee is 1 gp per 100 gp value of the item, as appraised by the bureau. Failure to register magical items can result in immediate imprisonment.

Religion

The organized churches of Pholtus, Trithereon and Mayhiene have been banned in the city, although their followers are still allowed (organized church services are not). The Church of St. Cuthbert, with its large following, is still allowed, as are the churches of Rao and Zilchus.

Ironsoul, the wise and good leader of the Church of St. Cuthbert, had to flee to Blue after being charged with subversion by the Brotherhood-backed government. Justiceseeker, the leader of the loose-knit church of Trithereon, was murdered during the invasion, and his successor, Kalib Ironfist, fled the city after its liberation. Both churches now lack high-level leadership.

A handful of churches to evil religions have appeared since the fall. The church of Nerull has a small temple (supported by the Followers of the Skeletal Way) and the church of Hextor has built a not-unimpressive building of their own. The god Ralishaz – while not an evil power – now has a presence in the city in the form of Clasium, an 8^th level follower of the god of chance and misfortune.

The Business Guilds

As the bad wood was cut from the political trees, the guilds underwent their own transformation. New guild members – lured by new lower standards – signed up as new, more liberal, less restrictive senior guild members took control. These business guilds continued operating, perhaps not at the same levels as before, but they kept working.

The Thieves Guild Reborn

The Thieves Guild, banned five years earlier during the Greyhawk Wars of C.Y. 583, has been reborn under the leadership of Jasper Silverbreak. Silverbreak is a new thief to the area, having arrived in the last two years. He spent some time adventuring in the Obsidian Maze, but made a name for himself providing protection for caravans moving between Obsidian Bay and the other cities on the Pomarj.

Its rumored that he has connections with some of the humanoid bands – particularly orcs – marauding through the countryside but that has never been confirmed. It has also never been confirmed that he was responsible for ordering these bands to attack those who refused to hire him to guard their merchandise. It is further rumored that he has connections among the Scarlet Brotherhood and their whispered allies, the Dark Circle. The ranks of the Thieves Guild have swollen since its formation, with nearly 200 people now pledging allegiance to Jasper. Many of these are from the poorer reaches of the city and had worked in the Poorman’s Guild before jumping ship for easier and more lucrative work.

The Adventuring Guilds

The liberation of the city forced a major restructuring its adventuring guilds. Some of the guilds – such as the Orcslayers Guild and the Band of Pholtus – have been outright band as being subversive, genocidal, or both.

The Ralleymen still exist and are still led by Garth Bloodrunner. Bloodrunner's crew always sold their services to the highest bidder, and that has not changed. However, over the last few months he has grown disillusioned with the Brotherhood’s cronies in the city, whom he feels are at the very least, dishonorable and untrustworthy. He keeps his opinions to himself though and the world at large does not know how he feels.

Secretly, he is in contact with a number of resistance fighters – namely the leaders of the Orcslayers – and keeps them appraised of the goings-on in the city (such as he understands them).

The Invincibles Guild has been taken over by Devin Mastif, the nefarious, underhanded son of the city’s one-time Counselor of War, Gunther "Ironstrike" Mastif.

The Griffin's Guild’s ranks were all-but-depleted during the flight from the city, but its ranks have been refilled under the leadership of Elric Masterson. The half-elf warrior-mage wrested leadership of the organization with the blessing of the Council of Guilds ("We need some new blood in there" the voters were heard to have said.).

There are also a number of new guilds in the city.

The Goldseekers Guild has about 50 members and is dedicated to finding abandoned metal mines in the Drachensgrab Hills. They have a good deal of folk knowledge about the history of the pennisula, especially with regards to the time when the lands were held by Keoland and the Principality of the Ulek. Nearly half its members are demi-humans (mostly dwarves, but there are about five gnomes).

The Friends of the Humanoid Masses (also known as Fothma): This bizarre guild of about 40 members works to help the orcs, goblins and other races on the peninsula. It has close ties with a number of the major and minor tribes, and has been known to go on adventures with heroes from those tribes.

The Followers of the Skeletal Way: Are a guild of about 50 members who openly worship the God of Death, Nerull as they provide a variety of brutal services (namely ambushes, assassinations and such).

Possibly the most powerful – and certainly the most chaotic -- guild in the city, however, is the Blackrazors Guild. The guild was instrumental in the Brotherhood’s liberation of the city. Its leader, Damaculas Everton, had worked with the Brotherhood to coordinate the surprise invasion of the city. Furthermore, its senior members found powerful magics while adventuring in the Drachensgrab Hills and returned to use them against the city’s corrupt leadership.

Meanwhile, its junior members managed to trick the city’s leadership into believing that the invasion was coming from land, rather than sea, thus hastening the city’s fall. Damaculas Everton was killed during the fight for the city’s liberation. This was a tragic set back, compounded by the fact that many of the guild’s junior members had been chosen to leave the city after its liberation.

Fortunately, one of the senior members chose to fill the leadership vacuum. While the other senior members choose to follow other paths, Aaron Windstalker assumed the mantle of Guildmaster. Under his leadership, the guild’s ranks have swollen to 150 individuals. Together with former Blackrazor Ragnar Blackmane and Fulgar, he led expedition after expedition to the Obsidian Maze, finally raising enough money to build a new three story manor house on the guild’s property.

Peacekeeping in the city

As under the ‘old system’, the city guard is charged with keeping peace in the city. Unlike under the old system though, the city guard is a constant presence. Disturbances in the old days were generally responded to in 10 to 20 minutes. Response time is now under five minutes. Patrols are constantly making their rounds of the city looking for anything that looks out of place. Attacks on patrols are not permitted – any one caught doing so is immediately detained in the Citadel. Sentencing – usually later that night – is for 5 to 10 years of hard labor.

The city guard patrols are augmented by Thieves Guild enforces who ‘help’ the guard by maintaining a presence on almost every street corner and in the city’s taverns. They collect information on possible dissidents, and pass that information to the guard, who then rounds up trouble makers.

Insurrgents are either imprisoned (if they have a respectable following among the city population, like the St. Cuthbert cleric Ironsoul) or executed (in the case of members of renegade groups like the Band of Pholtus). Those executed for insurrection/rebellion are hung before a crowd in Amber Theatre or the new "Blood Pit" (formerly the battle grounds of the temple of Kord). Their bodies are then strung up before the city’s gates.

In the case of particularly troublesome individuals, the former Blackrazor Ragnar Blackmane has been known to make appearances to deal with the individuals. Blackmane – a one-time barbarian berzerker who now wields powerful magic in addition to his bastard sword – is a feared and lethal enforcer. He is often backed up by elite members of the city guard and several Scarlet Brotherhood advisors.

The Scarlet Brotherhood

The Brotherhood maintains a powerful contingent within the city. They have a force of 500 men – mostly Ameigo Jungle natives – stationed in the area surrounding the shipyards and docks. The Brotherhood maintains a powerful navel presence – in addition to controlling the city’s three warships, the Brotherhood has four warships of its own.

It also has an elite group of ‘advisors’ in the city, the most well known of which is Brother Ebenfeld. Its known that these advisors often act on behalf of the Brother to help put down particularly troublesome insurgents, or deal with invaders from the Black Gulch.

The rebellion

For some reason, not everyone has accepted the benevolent rule of the Scarlet Brotherhood and the city’s new leadership. There are four groups of note in the city:

The Orcslayers Guild: The Orcslayers are now an underground unit primarily operating outside of the city. They have found tunnels leading into the city from UnderOerth and have ‘encouraged’ certain monsters from that realm to attack through the Black Gulch. They have also been responsible for hit and run raids against trading caravans moving between Obsidian Bay and Stonehiem. They turn over what supplies they can to the Obsidian forces hiding in the Drachensgrabs. They also maintain a small contingent in the city – this contingent seeks out new recruits and, when possible, conducts rescue missions to free captured rebels. There is a bounty of 1,000 gold pieces on the head of every Orcslayer guild member. They have been branded xenocidal maniacs by the new government.

Nightslayers: A group of freedom fighters living in the sewers beneath the city. The members of this group – believed to number no more than a dozen men and women – are all former members of the NightSearchers, the city’s elite recon unit. They are led by the city’s former intelligence chief, Jander Drachen. Drachen was freed after the Brotherhood’s invasion by the Blackrazors accidental creation of the Black Gulch – he had been held in a subterranean prison which was ruptured by the gulch. This group keeps a very low profile, acting visibly only in extreme cases.

This page was last edited on 08/27/99 -- The Griffin's Crier