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[[Category:DnD 5]]
 
[[Category:DnD 5]]
 
[[Category:A Game Of Drowning]]
 
[[Category:A Game Of Drowning]]
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== Геополитика ==
 
  
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Доминирующим государством в цивилизованном(читать — нанесённом на карту) мире являются Соединённые Земли Северной Короны И Малых Графств, по-простому — Империя или просто Корона. Это традиционная «империя над которой никогда не заходит солнце» - с колониями разной степени освоенности и проэксплуатированности всюду, где имперские мореплаватели нашли хоть что-то стоящее. Размер родной территории, владений и влияний легко оценить, взглянув на очевидный ирловый аналог, образца 17-18 вв.  Империя технологически продвинута и военно сильна, особенно флотом. Пороховое оружие широко распространено, паровые двигатели постепенно обретают популярность(хотя и значительно медленней, чем могли бы, частично из-за лобби разных арканистов, частично из-за ненадежности и сырости технологии). Высшие сословия(военная аристократия, успешные вкладчики торговых домов во втором поколении и далее, родственники императорской семьи и т.д.) имеют доступ к магическому образованию — закрытые школы, древние университеты-монастыри, частные академии, все что душе угодно. В военных академиях так же дают базовый курс, если кадет демонстрирует соответствующую предрасположенность.  Образование, любой формы, впрочем остаётся привилегией (платёжеспособных) городских жителей и земельного дворянства. Вдали от крупных городов и индустриальных центров, как и полагается, бушуют суеверия, недовытоптанное язычество и плебейский оккультизм.  Императрица Евгения Вторая Вестерберийская, Королева Северная, Протектор Малых Графств, Повелительница Зверей на земле, Птиц в небе и Рыб в море и т.д. и т.п. стоит у руля уже шестьдесят лет (по вежливым подсчётам ей сейчас должно быть в районе восьмидесяти, но выглядит она почти точно так же, как когда взошла на трон). За время правления снискала популярность практически у всех слоев общества: за острый ум, капиталистическую хватку, умеренную щедрость и нешуточную красоту. Верноподанные в разговорной речи зовут ее  «мама», и лучший способ начать драку с имперцем — это сказать о ней что-нибудь неуместное.
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=Timeline=
  
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Короне условно противопоставлен шаткий союз городов-государств, независимых княжеств, орденских земель и мелких королевств, под собирательным названием «Тысяча Городов». Почти каждые полвека Империя походя аннексирует и вводит в состав «малых графств» какой-нибудь пограничный кусок этой ассамблеи, что каждый раз поднимает шорох среди влиятельных политических сил в центральных областях. Около тысячи лет назад, эти земли были частью предыдущей «империи над которой никогда не заходит солнце», но серия логистических провалов, мятежей рабов и общего декаданса государственного аппарата положили этому древнему царству конец. Преодолеть эту феодальную раздробленность не представляется возможным — единственное, что могло бы всерьёз объединить постоянно грызущиеся государства, это полномасштабное вторжение Империи. А пока этого не произошло(зная мудрость Евгении II, этого и не произойдёт), столетия взаимных козней и стремление к сиюминутной выгоде надёжно держат эти территории в состоянии пороховой бочки полной пауков. Привычка имперских дипломатов вертеть местными правителями и стравливать оных друг с другом привела к тому, что большая часть простых граждан Короны считают население этих земель дураками(что, очевидно, не всегда справедливо). Провал государственности, все еще гудящий эхом сквозь времена, соседство с огромным белым пятном на карте к востоку и общая неорганизованность цивилизации делает местное население, да и общий информационно-событийный фон, значительно «страньше», чем среднестатистический житель Империи может себе представить.  
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{| class="wikitable"
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | ~'''1753'''(??) || Cristóbal Baeza discovers Igor'tpka but keeps his discovery secret.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1761''' || Three Exploratory Fleet ships are caught in a storm in the eastern part of the Gleaming Ocean. Two ships are lost. The surviving ship, HMS Corona, emerges from the storm near the north-western coast of Igor'Tpka. Her captain, Collin Moroe, is credited with the discovery of the continent.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1764''' || Bridge Isle(later Port Stonebridge, drow Naidhil'sathempe) is discovered by a second expedition led by Moroe. Expedition maps a significant portion of the north-western coastline, but is unable to progress further due to what Moroe described as "conspiracy of treacherous waters, treacherous skies and most of all relentless beasts".
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1765''' || HMS Corona returns from Igor'tpka a second time. Stories of the crew and Moroe himself spread through the crownlands. Trading companies start getting interested.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1767''' || A major expedition force, funded in large part by "Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers"(Chartermen), sets out to the continent. Waypoint Isle is settled. First contact with the drow rapidly escalates to hostilities. Several ships are sunk off the coast of Bridge Isle by drow magic. Necessity of the Navy involvement becomes apparent.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1768''' || Her Majesty's Navy and Royal Diplomatic Corps dispatch forces to bolster colonization and exploration efforts. Chartermen continue to fund expeditions and lobby heavily for the Crown increasing its interest in the continent.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1773''' || After almost a hundred days siege and a series of extensively bloody battles, Port Stonebridge is captured from the drow. A "peace treaty", establishing drow reservation at the center of the island and Crown dominion over its coasts, is signed by Collin Moroe, Honourable Charterman Ichabod Boyle, Admiral Johnathan Rothschild and the assembly of drow priestesses and commanders.  
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1776''' || Collin Moroe mounts an expedition inland with the plan to follow the river delta up to the mountain range that can be seen from the coast. Several other prominent explorers and researchers, Percival Peltier among them, join the endeavor. None of them return.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1778''' || Douglas Abbot, then a businessman of some repute, seeks funding and interest for the establishment of a settlement far up the river delta, farther inland than any other Crown settlement to date. "Bayer, Bayer & partners"(then without Normann) offer financing. Lord Francis Geigerling, modestly renowned architect, expresses interest in building up the town, expecting to create a colonial wonder. Waywheel Synod directs Jacob Coolidge to head the prospective parish.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1779''' || A suitable location is found, when prospectors report sufficient deposits of coal and plentiful silver veins in forested hills at the south-western banks of Lake Moroe(drow - Eerst'eowe). Fishmonger's End is founded. Abbot, Geigerling, Coolidge and Philip Normann are founding fathers. Abbot becomes bailiff, signing a contract with "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & partners".
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1782''' || Several drow tribes make a habit of passing near Fishmonger's End every few months. Somewhat reluctant trade is established.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1785''' || Reginald Clarke retires from Her Majesty's Navy and almost immediately finds employment with "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & partners" as warehouse headmaster at Fishmonger's End.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1788''' || Easily accessible silver veins are depleted, further extraction becomes hazardous. Funds from "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & partners" begin to dry up as a consequence.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1791''' || Mae'ense("The People") tribe settles in the hills near Fishmonger's End. Some are solicited to work the mines along the crownspeople. This influx of manpower improves the output somewhat, but not enough to avert the decline of funding.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1791/3''' || Watermill grinder near the silver mine closes, workers are fired with little to no compensation, as silver mine output fails to provide an adequate workload. Bailiff Abbot cites cost of operation as cause.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1791/5''' || Sheriff Hugo Marshall leaves Fishmonger's End, residents told he was put up for promotion. Bailiff Abbot cites declining funding and low priority of the position in neglecting to appoint or invite a replacement. Most of sheriff's staff join what is becoming bailiff's private army of goons and thugs.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1792/2''' || Having heard of Mae'ense and their settlement near Fishmonger's End, Phileas Norton, a financier and self-titled merchant prince, visits the town with the intention of exploiting trade in indigenous produce and exotica. He stays as a guest of the bailiff and rents a warehouse near the riverside harbor, but then suddenly leaves for no apparent reason. He fails to arrive at Port Stonebridge. It is believed that his private ship sunk somewhere along the river, or the drow took him for some slight or offense, or some other ill befell him on the way.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1792/11''' || Francis Geigerling dies of a fever, after returning from an inspection trip to the coal mine. He is buried at the local cemetery. Geigerling family fails to retrieve his servants, they remain essentially stranded in his estate.  
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1793/4''' || Eleanor Hayes, known to Fishmonger End's residents as Wise Elle(also Cloudy Elle, Fishmonger's Widow, and other monikers), self-proclaimed faith healer and seer, dies of a heart attack, after an apparently prolonged illness. There's no one to bury her, so Jacob Coolidge does it himself.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1793/7''' || Mycroft Osbourne, an engineer in the employ of "Ljutic's Big Lights, Lamps and Torchieres" arrives at Fishmonger's End to head the operation of lake lighthouse. Finding no lighthouse was built, or even planned, and  Geigerling dead, he begins investigation into bailiff's activities, and writes several letters to Port Stonebridge accusing Abbot of fraud and embezzlement. Osbourne goes missing shortly thereafter. The letters never arrive.
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1793/12''' || Douglas Abbot challenges the Mae'ense drow "best warrior" to a duel, with the intention of forcing them to leave. Avaeyakh, then head of his own hunter cadre, accepts the challenge and easily defeats Abbot. Bailiff's followers scatter, taking his body. Avaeyakh proclaims himself "chief of the pale people".
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|-
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| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''1794/3''' || Tejano Baeza, Sebastian Peltier, Brun Kadinger and Zane Nemo arrive at Fishmonger's End.
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|}
  
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== Религия ==
 
  
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Основной(и, если спрашивать у священников — единственной) религией Короны и большей части Тысячи Городов является монотеистическое вседоменное учение об уместности и взаимосвязанности всего сущего(верховным или первым-среди-равных считается домен Knowledge). Концепция и учение зародилось около полутора тысяч лет назад на территории средних размеров провинции старого царства, в южной части Тысячи Городов(ныне наполовину поглощено морем, остальное поделено на как минимум три части разными образованиями государственного типа). Как и со многими другими явлениями, Корона этот неудобный факт игнорирует, и, в рамках имперской же клерикальной догмы, считает себя первым престолом этого учения и всей связанной с ним святости и праведности. Каждый домен вмещает в себя с сотню-другую святых-покровителей, опирается на около-исторические притчи, и все вместе оперируют отталкиваясь от сильно приукрашенной, с привнесением мифологических элементов, версии древнейшей истории. Местечковые языческие традиции — разнообразные круги друидов, поклонение духам предков или земель, кустарные ведьмы и прочее, с официальной точки зрения, являются деревенской придурью, существующей только от недостатка образования и/или порки. На деле все, очевидно, несколько сложнее, и чем дальше от очагов цивилизации, тем влиятельней(и, пропорционально, могущественней) проявляются языческие пантеоны. 
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= Places =
  
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Императрица является(как минимум в границах Короны) главой церкви, но, фактически, церковь от государственного аппарата отделена, и выполняет, в лучшем(для церкви) случае консультативные функции. Номинально подчиняющийся Императрице совет кардиналов управляет церковными делами и казной, назначает аббатов, объявляет(с позволения Императрицы) «священные походы», и рулит «социальными программами». Символом религии является крест вписанный в круг — форма креста и дополнительные орнаменты зависят от философского течения(и, стало быть, домена) в рамках конфессии. Единство оных течений, и универсальный символ всех их, выражается изображением всех допустимых форм крестов, вписанных в круг, что выглядит как колесо со спицами — от чего этот общий символ называется waywheel.
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==Port Stonebridge ==
  
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== Игор'Тпка ==  
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=== Geography ===
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<poem>
 
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Континент, открытый 25 лет назад Имперским экспедиционным флотом.  Нанесено на карту только одно(северо-западное) побережье — оплыть континент целиком пока никому не удалось: море коварное, течения изменчивые, подводные камни особо предательские, фауна агрессивная. Но подвижки есть.
 
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Центром имперского присутствия является крупное поселение местных — Ваякх'Асим'Джакка'Зан(альтернативно — Порт-Стоунбридж), обширная и архитектурно сложная система каменных и деревянных построек, занимающая целый остров в трех километрах от берега. 15 лет назад, после 10 лет неудачных дипломатических манёвров, Корона решилась на прямое военное вторжение и заняла город. По результатам сражения, впрочем, имперские стратеги пришли к выводу, что дальнейшие военные действия с местными — совершенно неуместная затея(по крайней мере, до полного выяснения обстоятельств — особенностей культуры, общей численности населения, установки разведывательных сетей и внедрения в общество аборигенов наркомании и алкоголизма). Умиротворённые аборигены оказались не сильно полезней воинствующих: после возведения необходимой инфраструктуры, праведных допросов, значительных шагов в преодолении языкового барьера и прочих рядовых колониальных процедур, выяснилось, что племя, населяющее город(по скромным подсчётам — около ста тысяч голов, сами себя они считают «маленьким» племенем) — не делит культурных сопереживаний с остальными племенами, совсем. Более того, есть все основания полагать, что до прихода имперских кораблей, город много лет находился если не под осадой, то точно в культурной изоляции, и остальные племена(что с других островов, что с континента), не скрывают отсутствия симпатий к этому племени.
 
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Порт открыт для торговли, в него стекаются все товары с трех-четырех дюжин колониальных поселений, разбросанных по побережью и вдоль рек(на этой стороне континента в море впадают три крупные реки). Сам же город закрыт и, технически, является резервацией, под чутким «совместным» управлением старейшин аборигенов и имперского дипломатического корпуса.
 
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От города-острова к берегу ведут титанические развалины каменного моста(отсюда и название), архитектура и стилистика совпадают с каменными домами на острове, но аборигены явно не горят желанием его чинить(и, при прочих равных, вряд ли обладают технологиями для такого предприятия) — Имперскими силами попытки восстановить мост идут уже семь лет, и постоянно наталкиваются на сложности. Многие острова близ побережья связаны друг с другом такими же развалинами, и, на данный момент, имперские археологи грызутся с представителями торговых домов за их сохранение(хотя бы на время) — последние считают, что лучший курс действий это разобрать остальные мосты, и применить полученные стройматериалы для ремонта важного.
 
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С континента вывозят элитные сорта дерева(для кораблестроения и прочих серьёзных нужд не годится, а вот мебель и аксессуары весьма популярны), серебро, золото, несколько видов ароматических соцветий и кореньев(быстро вошли в моду в составе горячих напитков), но основным явным(но не особо афишируемым) интересом Короны является электрум. Украшениями, предметами обихода и монетами(по крайней мере считается что это монеты) из магически-активного, доселе неизвестного металла активно меняются племена аборигенов, но откуда металл берётся — не сообщают даже под пытками, в лучшем случае отвечая что-то несуразное про «давние времена, которые лучше забыть»(примерно так же они отвечают на вопросы порядка «откуда взялся мост»). Найти крупное месторождение, а лучше — несколько, заветная мечта многих торговых домов, спущенных Короной на континент целой сворой.
 
  
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Торговля с аборигенами ведётся, хоть и без особого энтузиазма с обеих сторон(и без официального одобрения). С этим связан интересный и широко разошедшийся анекдот — дипломаты из первых партий поначалу считали(особенно увидев монеты из электрума), что аборигены понимают концепцию валюты и стадию бартера можно миновать. Со временем выяснилось, что это не совсем верно. По загадочной(для первых дипломатов) причине, аборигены выше всего ценили при обмене серебряные монеты, а медные и золотые либо не брали вообще, либо отказывались различать их стоимость. Разгадку позже нашли уже купцы: обмен монет на монеты, или монет на товары, аборигены видят как бартер произведениями искусства. На медных и золотых монетах имперской чеканки изображены монарший сигиль и waywheel, а вот на серебряных — профиль Императрицы. Детализированный портрет красивой женщины в металле, таким образом, местным видится куда более интересным и привлекательным.
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~14 sq.km., evidence of landfilling at southern coast and around the two bays at western coast. The bays are separated by a wide rocky ridge.  Stone buildings atop said ridge are believed to be the temple district of the drow palace complex that goes deeper inland.
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Eastern coast hosts what appears to have been the gatehouse of the Great Bridge and assorted structures of similar architecture. Those structures appear to have been abandoned by the locals some years prior to the exploration fleet's arrival(one assumes around the same time the Bridge collapsed/was sabotaged), and are now occupied by the colonial branch of Crown University.
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Northern coast is almost entirely jagged cliffs. Several sea caves were identified but could not be safely reached for exploration. Remains of crane-like mechanisms atop some of the cliffs and unmaintained but complex network of rope bridges at the majority of cliff faces suggest existence of an auxilary harbor(or sea-mining operation of some sort) here at some point in the past.
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Under Colonial Administration, western, eastern and southern coasts are all claimed as holdings of the Crown, though no territory is claimed deeper than 3 km. inland. The entire rest of the island is drow reservation.  
  
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Сам континент в основном покрыт мрачными заболоченными джунглями характерно серого цвета(из-за повсеместно распространённого висячего мха). Если глядеть в подзорную трубу, далеко в глубине континента можно увидеть горы(так далеко, впрочем, пока не дошла ни одна экспедиция). Мутные реки, густые туманы, частые дожди — это не курорт. Практически вся фауна состоит из видов неизвестных науке — немногочисленные учёные, не струсившие явиться на континент лично, открывают новые виды чуть ли не каждый день.
 
  
−
Аборигены — совершенно явно не люди, что произвело фурор в имперских университетах, и заинтересованные академические круги до сих пор будоражит. Централизованной антропологической экспедиции пока организовано не было, но и без оной понятно, что научное сообщество столкнулось с существованием сразу двух видов разумных существ.  
+
=== Notables, Names, Places and Sights.===
  
−
Наиболее многочисленная группа — жилистые, быстрые, с кожей чёрной как смола. Все встреченные племена состоят в основном из них(общее самоназвание не удаётся установить, каждое племя называет себя именем племени). Кроме внешнего вида, племена, судя по всему, ничего не объединяет — некоторые ведут оседлый образ жизни, другие кочуют, одни скрываются в джунглях при виде человека, другие активно идут на контакт; все говорят на совершенно разных диалектах(хотя какие-то общие корни и мифологические концепции удалось установить).
+
* The Twin Bays - Bay of Her Eminence and the Bay of St. Vecna. Western coast.
  
−
Вторая группа — серокожие молчаливые гиганты, судя по всему, находится в добровольном подчинении у первой. В каждом племени есть отряд(Стая? Стадо?) таких существ. Им доверяют  транспортировку тяжестей, охрану, уход за животными и прочие подобные задачи, которые цивилизованный человек поручил бы слугам; однако, по наблюдениям, слугами(по крайней мере, в имперском понимании) эти существа не являются — они едят у того же костра что и остальные аборигены, спят в тех же шатрах и единственное, что заставляет думать об их подчинённости — это их полное неучастие в племенной политике.
+
* Temple Ridge - rocky ridge separating the Twin Bays. Western coast.
−
</poem>
 
  
−
== Вводная ==
+
* Promenade - a never-quite-finished project to connect the Twin Bays by building a stone pier around the base of Temple Ridge. Mostly under construction, now and for the forseeable future. Western coast.
  
−
Процесс добровольного коммерческого освоения новой колонии прост. Корона выдала большинству торговых домов лицензию на свободную колонизацию. Те, в свою очередь, части этой лицензии перепродают частным лицам в таком формате: гражданин приходит в филиал торгового дома, демонстрирует рекомендательное письмо, диплом, или какой другой документ, утверждающий что у него есть полезных навыков и умений. Дальше торговый дом оплачивает гражданину корабль до колонии, проживание и еду, а тот взамен соглашается эту инвестицию отработать на одном из колониальных предприятий, принадлежащих этому торговому дому. Как только гражданин этот долг отрабатывает — добро пожаловать в новую жизнь, пили что хочешь, строй где хочешь, заводи своё дело(в случае чего, тот же торговый дом с радостью выдаст тебе на это дело ссуду). Партия — как раз такие граждане, у каждого из которых есть контракт от «Байера, Байера, Нормана и Партнеров», согласно которому им надлежит проследовать в поселение с чарующим названием Удильный Предел, подать документы местному бейлифу, и следовать его указаниям, until such a time когда этот самый бейлиф не решит, что ваш долг оплачен(~1,5k gp в лицо).
+
* Colonial Administration Building and Port Stonebridge urban sprawl("The Districts"). No less than a third of town buildings are repurposed drow construction. Southern coast.
  
−
== Story so far ==
+
* Her Majesty's Navy garrison, fort network and harbor. Bay of Her Eminence, western coast.
−
<poem>
 
−
Удильный Предел образовался ~10 лет назад, с прицелом на будущий контроль над удобным ватервеем вглубь континента(с этим, пока, не срослось). Конкретное место выбрано за то, что рядом нашлись серебро и уголь, а так же за стратегически удобную возможность снабжать поселение(и Порт-Стоунбридж) большим количеством озерно-речной рыбы.  
 
  
−
~8 лет назад мимо Удильного Предела лег кочевой маршрут аборигенов, начался вялый товарный обмен.
+
* Trade port, Shipwright's Guild Building, Port Authority Terminal("Coinhouse"), Guild Warehouses. Bay of St. Vecna, western coast.
  
−
~5 лет назад легкодоступные верхние слои в шахтах были выработаны, поток ресурсов из поселения начал снижаться, а вместе с ним и интерес ББНП к серьезным вливанием в развитие оного. Все стабилизировалось на статистически приемлимом уровне.
+
* "Flint's Lock" Officer Club, "Waxing Moon" brothel & cabaret, "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners" colonial branch HQ and employee hostel. The Districts, southern coast.  
  
−
~2-1.5 года назад одно из кочующих племен внезапно решило осесть на холмах близ поселка, с тех пор и поселок и аборигенский палаточный городок расширились до такой степени, что слились в одно образование. Довольно быстро, в ходе обмена товарами и услугами, часть аборигенов удалось приобщить к работам в серебряной, а потом и в угольной шахтах. Это позволило выдать слегка больше ресурсов, что повлекло более щедрые донации от ББНП, но продлилось недолго перед тем как стабилизироваться опять.
+
* Guild Market Hall("The Shakedown") - a market hall bult in and around the gates from the trade port, opposite Port Authority Terminal.  
  
−
~1-1.5 года назад доселе эксцентричное поведение бывшего бейлифа перешло в активно тираническое, он собрал вокруг себя банду крепких мужиков( извне конторской структуры ББНП, которые трясли население, собирали неуместные дополнительные налоги, начинали драки с аборигенами етц.), настроил против себя местного священника, сильно нервировал легальных служащих и вообще лютовал.
+
* Market Hospital - an establishment adjacent to Guild Market Hall, trading lodgings for menial work. Has a small chapel(Life).  
  
−
Где-то тогда же, сначала шахтеры, а потом и релейтед народ, начали "мазаться", как это на местном жаргоне называется - за небольшую мзду серебром просить у колдуньи(шамана? жрицы?) племени нанести на них трибальных татух. Основная польза от этого - защита и более продуктивное сотрудничество с серыми гигантами, которых племена аборигенов таскают с собой ради выполнения всяких тяжело-физических задач(и, которые, очевидно, являются основным вкладом аборигенов в местное шахтерское дело).  
+
*Crown University Of Natural Sciences and Thaumaturgy campus and main building(The Gatehouse). Eastern coast.  
  
−
~3 месяца назад бейлиф со своей бандой вызвал аборигенов "на разборки"(for unknown reasons and to unknown ends). Аборигены выставили со своей стороны Авайаха(на тот момент являлся то ли главой воинов, то ли главой охотников - аборигенальные соц.структуры сложно понять). После стычки от которой не осталось свидетелей со стороны колонистов(ну или, текникли, людей которые готовы признаться, что они были свидетелями), в которой он надежно победил, Авайях решил, что он теперь "вождь/начальник бледных людей".  
+
* "The Keyhole", university staff pub(which is barely any different than a student pub). Eastern coast.
  
−
Со стороны священника это вызвало ряд протестов, но конторная иерархия(работники складов, крохотная канцелярия, персонал производственных домов) была по горло сыта бывшим бейлифом, и они решили, что хуже быть не может. Авайях выбрал начальника склада своим "зам-мером", и заставляет Реджинальда Кларка обучать его премудростям бледного правления(в том числе грамоте). Абориген, судя по всему, не видит во всем этом ничего странного, а напротив - имеет серьезные амбиции, и в себе уверен. Разубеждать его никто не спешит.  
+
* Cathedral of the Arcane Revealed(Knowledge, Arcane, Trickery, Light). Eastern coast.  
−
</poem>
 
−
== Loot and EXP == 
 
−
===Hut Loot ===
 
  
 +
* Church of Last Rites(Storm, Death). Bay of St. Vecna, western coast.
  
−
* 2x Wyrd Effigy
+
* "Ljutic's Big Lights, Lamps and Torchieres" Guildhouse. Eastern coast.
−
* Necklace of Prayer Beads(unfinished)(1 pearl of Blessing, 2 pearls of Curing, 2 pearls of Smiting, requires a mundane necklace to attach to)
 
−
* Wand of the War Mage(+1)
 
−
* 3x Holy Symbol(The Wheel)
 
−
* 4x Component Pouch
 
−
* Rusted Blade (+1 dagger, damage is Poison instead of Piercing)
 
−
* Triple Snake Squeezins
 
−
<pre>
 
−
Wyrd Effigy
 
−
Wondrous item, rare, requires attunement - the user must concentrate for at least a minute, clearly imagining a target the the user knows about
 
  
−
As an action, the user may cast Bestow Curse(as if cast from a 5 lvl slot) on the desired target. Effigy can only be attuned to a single target a time, and can only be attuned once per day.
+
* Black Harbor - delegations of Stonebridge drow are allowed to use this collection of wooden piers and boatsheds to fish or sail to Collin's Clearing and trade for food. Eastern coast
−
Effigy can only curse on target at a time and can not be re-attuned while a target is cursed.
 
  
−
</pre>
+
* Staring Street - a wide street leading from the drow reservation towards Black Harbor. The only place in the city where crownspeople are allowed, though not encouraged, to interact with the Stongebridge drow. Occasional drow traders, rare entertainers and exiles from the reservation set up their tents here.
  
−
* Weee, levelup! (+unknown XP)
+
* "Rush Fair" Market - a marketplace set up some way to the side half way through Staring Street, occupying a pre-existing city square that apparently served a similar function for the Stonebridge drow. It is chartered to operate for three days every two months(during which the majority of stalls at the Guild Market Hall are closed for business), but it tends to spring up whenever a ship carrying especially desired goods makes port, or the drow send out a large trading party from the reservation.
  
−
=== Valuables ===
 
−
* Silver-frame bracelet of thin quartz plates.(25gp)
 
−
* A pouch of moss agates(9 gems, 10gp each)
 
−
* Coins 8E/49S/5G
 
−
=== Taken ===
 
−
* potion of healing
 
−
* <strike>Map(defaced)</strike>
 
−
* Gunpowder, keg. 2 gunpowder horns(empty)
 
−
* <strike>Bullet satchel(79 bullets)</strike>
 
−
* Musket x2
 
−
* <strike>2 Drow Spears(poisoned)
 
−
* 1 case of drow javelins(4)
 
−
* Drow Longbow(no string), 3 bone arrows(poisoned)</strike>
 
−
* Quiver of heavy bolts(41 total).
 
−
* 50 ft. hempen rope, 2 pairs of manacles, length of chain.
 
  
−
=== Burned ===
+
== Waypoint Isle ==
−
* 3 Heavy Crossbows.  
+
 
−
* 2 heavy knives(daggers that aren't Thrown).
+
Relatively small island approx. 2 km away from Port Stonebridge. Was a staging point for the siege and eventual storming of the city and, therefore, technically the first Crown settlement on Igor'Tpka. Currently considered a prestigious location to settle or work in, due to the fact that "Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers" chose to locate its colonial HQ here.
−
* Mace, two shortswords/scimitars, four heavy knives(daggers that aren't Thrown).
+
 
−
* "Watermill Thug' Pack" - backpack, hammer, 10 pitons
+
 
−
* 5 bedrolls
+
=== Notables, Names, Places and Sights.===
 +
 
 +
* "Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers" colonial branch HQ.
 +
 
 +
* Waypoint Lighthouse. Main lighthouse for Port Stonebridge
 +
 
 +
* Her Majesty's Navy maritime patrol contingent harbor.
 +
 
 +
* Manors and townhouses of several colonial officials(including the Governor) and prominent citizens("The Posh Row").
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Collin's Clearing ==
 +
 
 +
A somewhat struggling(understandably) farming community at the mainland side of the Great Bridge. The plantations themselves are mostly the legacy of Stonebridge drow, taken over by the colonists.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Mangrove Cove ==
 +
 
 +
Small settlement which was founded as a staging point for Crown University's field work endeavors, located some 5 km. down the mainland coast from Collin's Clearing.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Fishmonger's End ==
 +
 
 +
Founded in 1779 by Douglas Abbot, Phillip Normann, Francis Geigerling and Jacob Coolidge, as an ambitious project to create a settlement farther inland than any other to date. Not long after Collin Moroe's apparently ill-fated expedition, it sent a powerful statement of "doing what the Great Explorer couldn't do". Rickety sprawl of huts spread around several capital buildings designed by Geigerling in the initial phase of settlement; the hills to the north-west are covered in drow tents. 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Notables, Names, Places and Sights.===
 +
 
 +
* Abbot Street - a central(and the only proper) street of the town, attempts to lay down a proper pavement still evident here and there. Leads from the riverside harbor towards the master warehouse, then bends to the west and terminates abruptly several "blocks" of huts away from the marketplace.
 +
 
 +
* Riverside Harbor - loads and unloads the Company's steam-boat, that comes every one or two months.
 +
 
 +
* Company Warehouses - a collection of mostly brick or brick & wood warehouses, belonging to Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners. Riverside harbor.
 +
 
 +
* Master Warehouse - where goods are counted and distributed. Reginald Clarke's office and quarters. Several other clerks apparently also work here, but are rarely seen. Bend of Abbot Street.
 +
 
 +
* Bailiff's Townhouse - currently occupied by Avaeyakh and his band. Abbot Street.
 +
 
 +
* Geigerling's Townhouse and "Brick Factory"  - mostly abandoned, most entrances are barred or bricked-off. Geigerling's servants still live here.
 +
 
 +
* Triplets  - three brick & wood buildings, connected at second-story level, used to house storage, laboratory and lodgings for the alchemists in Geigerling's employ. Most left before his death, as the funding to settlement dried out and the "Brick Factory" failed to begin operation. Abbot Street, opposite Geigerling's townhouse.
 +
 
 +
* Company Store - a two-story brick & wood building with a shop window(shuttered). A minute walk from company warehouses, Abbot Street.
 +
 
 +
* Post Office - a narrow building, with the sign of Royal Colonial Postal Service above the door. Abandoned. Several huts and driftwood houses cling to both sides. Abbot Street, near riverside harbor.
 +
 
 +
* Weavers' Building - initially a one-story brick building, with an uneven and clearly unplanned-for wooden upper level and roof. Workers here make sails and nets for the fishing boats(at least the ones owned by people still working for the Company). Abbot Street.
 +
 
 +
* Sheriff's Office & Jail - a local stone & wood building used to house the Sheriff's office, his lodgings and jail(one communal and four solitary cells). Now converted into a warehouse. Abbot Street, one building over from master warehouse.
 +
 
 +
* Drow Hill - one of the hills occupied by the Mae'ense, the closest one to the town.
 +
 
 +
* Marketplace - cultural center of the town, naturally. Trade, such as it is, peaks at the beginning and end of day shifts at the mines. Base of the Drow Hill.
 +
 
 +
* Fishbarrel Taphouse - the only available watering hole in town. Two of the four walls are constructed out of stacked barrels, which gives the establishment its name. The roof is made out of sailcloth, and is in a shape that's clearly very much drow-tent-inspired. Marketplace, dead center.
 +
 
 +
* Netted Isles - a stubby chain of small lake islands, connected to the mainland by flimsy network of wooden bridges and walkways. A site was cleared for the construction of a lighthouse here, but it was since covered in fishing huts and refuse pits, as are the rest of the islands.
 +
 
 +
* Lakeside Harbor - chaotic web of wooden piers extending from the banks of Lake Moroe and Netted Isles(and piers extending from those piers).
 +
 
 +
* Church(Light) - where Jacob Coolidge tends to the needs and works for the good of his parish. He decided not to give the church a name yet. Pastor himself lives some way behind the church, in a small cottage with a lake view.
 +
 
 +
* Cemetery - the death toll of settling and living here is apparent in rows upon rows of waywheels marking the graves, extending quite a distance, parallel to the closest bank of the lake.
 +
 
 +
* Long Road - exits at the west of town, going by the drow tents, and eventually leads to the silver mine.
 +
 
 +
* Short Road - exits at the south-west of town and leads to the coal mine.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Apex Altar ==
 +
 
 +
Preserved remains of drow temple complex at the top of a hill amidst overgrown ruins of an ancient drow city. Two day's way from northern bank of Lake Moroe.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Stone Of High Grass ===
 +
 
 +
Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. A two week's way down the coast from Mangrove Cove
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Stone Of Birds ===
 +
 
 +
Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. Eastern bank of Lake Moroe
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== T'weadth'eowe ===
 +
 
 +
Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. A smaller lake, three day's way north-east from Lake Moroe.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Bowing Spire ===
 +
 
 +
Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. A day's way east from Apex Altar.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
= People & Companies =
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Empress Eugenia II of Andsvarr ==
 +
 
 +
Her Imperial Majesty Eugenia the Second of Andsvarr, Queen of Noewyddland and Andsland and of Her other Realms and Territories, Star of the North, Jarl of Andsvarr, Thulestaad and the Old Sea, Protector Of Counties In The South and East, Benevolent and Rightful Mistress Of Crown Dominions Beyond the Seas, High Guide of the Waywheel Most Knowing, Commander Supreme of Her Armies on Land and Ships on Water.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Companies ==
 +
 
 +
=== Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners ===
 +
 
 +
* Speciality: Silver mining, bulk goods, civic colonial sponsorship & logistics, moneylending
 +
 
 +
* Chief Representative: Phillip Normann, primary partner(since 1779), colonial branch HQ, Port Stonebridge
 +
Apparently bought the right to manage and govern Fishmonger's End from Colonial Administration at some point during the last five years.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers ===
 +
 
 +
* Speciality: Banking, Navy and Exploration Fleet contracts, military and civic colonial sponsorship & logistics, worldwide trade
 +
 
 +
* Chief Representative: Honourable Charterman Moubray Boyle(oldest son of the late Ichabod Boyle), hereditary branch director, colonial branch HQ, Waypoint Isle.
 +
 
 +
The oldest trading company under the Crown, the company representatives were called "Chartermen" for so long, the company adopted the title into its hierarchy. Over the course of its history, the company arose to account for easily more than a third of all the world's trade(including whatever happens in the Thousand Cities). Were a major player in and lobbyist of Igor'tpka colonization, and remain so to this day. It is rumored that Her Majesty Eugenia II Herself is among the company's shareholders and it is known that a significant number of Colonial Administration functionaries also hold positions within the company.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Her Majesty's Esteemed Guild of Shipwrights in Lands Under Her Majesty's Law ===
 +
 
 +
* Speciality: construction and maintenance of sailing ships and steam-powered vessels
 +
 
 +
* Chief Representative: Lord Barnabas Hawthorne, Shipwright's Guild Building, Port Stonebridge
 +
 
 +
Since the majority of maritime engineers, shipwrights and sailmakers at least apprenticed with the Guild, or still hold membership - most every letter of passage, ticket or company contract of transportation contains a clause for the paying of tax to the Guild.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Colonial Administration ===
 +
 
 +
* Governor: Speaking Peer Hamish Boyle(younger brother of Ichabod Boyle), Port Stonebridge Administration Building
 +
 
 +
* Port Authority Officer: Hoyt Pickering(Chartered Merchant), Port Authority Terminal, Port Stonebridge
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== People ==
 +
 
 +
=== Avaeyakh ===
 +
 
 +
Leader of one of the Mae'ense hunter cadres, and now also a band of "smeared" crownspeople; Mae'ense drow. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Alive and well.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Blackhanded Pete ===
 +
 
 +
Avaeyakh's second-in-command; crownsman(?). Apparently a crossbow enthusiast.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
==== Lean Dean ====
 +
 
 +
Another senior member of Avaeyakh's band; crownsman(?).
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Douglas Abbot ===
 +
 
 +
(Ex-)Bailiff of Fishmonger's End; crownsman/abomination. Dead(twice).
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Bobby Smith ===
 +
 
 +
Member of bailiff's old gang; crownsman/abomination. Dead.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Phillip Normann ===
 +
 
 +
Primary partner of "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners"; crownsman. His seal is on your papers
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Allen Whitwick ===
 +
 
 +
Superintendent of "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners" on Igor'Tpka; crownsman. Signed your papers. Listed in Abbot's notebook.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Alodie Thatcher ===
 +
 
 +
Assigned Post Officer for Fishmonger's End; crownswoman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Deceased
 +
 
 +
=== Eleanor "Fishmonger's Widow" Hayes ===
 +
 
 +
Seer, faith healer, hedge witch; crownswoman(?). Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Deceased.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Francis Geigerling ===
 +
 
 +
Lord, comes from an old noble family; crownsman. Chief architect at Fishmonger's End. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Deceased.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
==== Rupert Myles ====
 +
 
 +
Majordomo at Francis Geigerling's townhouse/factory; crownsman.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Hugo Marshall ===
 +
 
 +
Sheriff at Fishmonger's End, assigned by Colonial Administration; crownsman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Missing, presumed dead.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Graham Bradshaw ===
 +
 
 +
Foreman at the coal mine; crownsman(?). Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Deceased
 +
 
 +
=== Gustav Carlyle ===
 +
 
 +
Foreman at the coal mine; crownsman(?). Marked in Abbot's notebook with an "?".
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Jacob Coolidge ===
 +
 
 +
Waywheel Cleric, pastor of the Fishmonger's End parish; crownsman. Marked in Abbot's notebook with an "?".
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Meredith Irwin ===
 +
 
 +
Proprietor of Fishbarrel Taphouse; crownswoman(?). Crossed out in Abbot's notebook.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Mycroft Osbourne ===
 +
 
 +
Engineer in the employ of "Ljutic's Big Lights, Lamps and Torchieres"; crownsman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Missing, presumed dead.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Phileas Norton ===
 +
 
 +
Financier and self-titled merchant prince; crownsman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Missing, presumed dead
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Reginald Clarke ===
 +
 
 +
Retired Navy officer, warehouse headmaster of Fishmonger's End, now also vice-bailiff; crownsman. Marked in Abbot's notebook with an "?".
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Sebastian Dahl ===
 +
 
 +
Shipwright's Guild representative in Fishmonger's End; crownsman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Sannah'Va ===
 +
 
 +
Seer, fortune teller, shaman; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Suoh'To & Kaah'To ===
 +
 
 +
Share the title of "best warrior" and war-time leadership duties; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Ruhnae ===
 +
 
 +
Leader of one of the Mae'ense hunter cadres; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Mai'thare ===
 +
 
 +
Leader of one of the Mae'ense hunter cadres; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Thul'Amne'Va ===
 +
 
 +
Shaman, spiritual leader; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Shomaekh'Va ===
 +
 
 +
Spiritual leader, elder; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Thauthal'Va ===
 +
 
 +
Spiritual leader, elder; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Eithlaeme'Va ===
 +
 
 +
Shaman, spiritual leader; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Freshwater Winston ===
 +
 
 +
Owner of a fishing ship from Fishmonger's End, crownsman. Thinks you owe him a favor.
 +
 
 +
=== Tommy & Frank ===
 +
Lake fishermen from Fishmonger's End; crownsmen. Sailed with you on Lake Moroe.
 +
 
 +
=== Soul of the Forest ===
 +
A tree spirit trapped in spider webs in the overgrown ruins near Apex Temple; dendroanimistic apparition.
 +
 
 +
=== Naat'ste ===
 +
An ancient drow spirit locked within the ruins of Apex Altar; genius loci.

Latest revision as of 12:14, 23 February 2020


Timeline

~1753(??) Cristóbal Baeza discovers Igor'tpka but keeps his discovery secret.
1761 Three Exploratory Fleet ships are caught in a storm in the eastern part of the Gleaming Ocean. Two ships are lost. The surviving ship, HMS Corona, emerges from the storm near the north-western coast of Igor'Tpka. Her captain, Collin Moroe, is credited with the discovery of the continent.
1764 Bridge Isle(later Port Stonebridge, drow Naidhil'sathempe) is discovered by a second expedition led by Moroe. Expedition maps a significant portion of the north-western coastline, but is unable to progress further due to what Moroe described as "conspiracy of treacherous waters, treacherous skies and most of all relentless beasts".
1765 HMS Corona returns from Igor'tpka a second time. Stories of the crew and Moroe himself spread through the crownlands. Trading companies start getting interested.
1767 A major expedition force, funded in large part by "Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers"(Chartermen), sets out to the continent. Waypoint Isle is settled. First contact with the drow rapidly escalates to hostilities. Several ships are sunk off the coast of Bridge Isle by drow magic. Necessity of the Navy involvement becomes apparent.
1768 Her Majesty's Navy and Royal Diplomatic Corps dispatch forces to bolster colonization and exploration efforts. Chartermen continue to fund expeditions and lobby heavily for the Crown increasing its interest in the continent.
1773 After almost a hundred days siege and a series of extensively bloody battles, Port Stonebridge is captured from the drow. A "peace treaty", establishing drow reservation at the center of the island and Crown dominion over its coasts, is signed by Collin Moroe, Honourable Charterman Ichabod Boyle, Admiral Johnathan Rothschild and the assembly of drow priestesses and commanders.
1776 Collin Moroe mounts an expedition inland with the plan to follow the river delta up to the mountain range that can be seen from the coast. Several other prominent explorers and researchers, Percival Peltier among them, join the endeavor. None of them return.
1778 Douglas Abbot, then a businessman of some repute, seeks funding and interest for the establishment of a settlement far up the river delta, farther inland than any other Crown settlement to date. "Bayer, Bayer & partners"(then without Normann) offer financing. Lord Francis Geigerling, modestly renowned architect, expresses interest in building up the town, expecting to create a colonial wonder. Waywheel Synod directs Jacob Coolidge to head the prospective parish.
1779 A suitable location is found, when prospectors report sufficient deposits of coal and plentiful silver veins in forested hills at the south-western banks of Lake Moroe(drow - Eerst'eowe). Fishmonger's End is founded. Abbot, Geigerling, Coolidge and Philip Normann are founding fathers. Abbot becomes bailiff, signing a contract with "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & partners".
1782 Several drow tribes make a habit of passing near Fishmonger's End every few months. Somewhat reluctant trade is established.
1785 Reginald Clarke retires from Her Majesty's Navy and almost immediately finds employment with "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & partners" as warehouse headmaster at Fishmonger's End.
1788 Easily accessible silver veins are depleted, further extraction becomes hazardous. Funds from "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & partners" begin to dry up as a consequence.
1791 Mae'ense("The People") tribe settles in the hills near Fishmonger's End. Some are solicited to work the mines along the crownspeople. This influx of manpower improves the output somewhat, but not enough to avert the decline of funding.
1791/3 Watermill grinder near the silver mine closes, workers are fired with little to no compensation, as silver mine output fails to provide an adequate workload. Bailiff Abbot cites cost of operation as cause.
1791/5 Sheriff Hugo Marshall leaves Fishmonger's End, residents told he was put up for promotion. Bailiff Abbot cites declining funding and low priority of the position in neglecting to appoint or invite a replacement. Most of sheriff's staff join what is becoming bailiff's private army of goons and thugs.
1792/2 Having heard of Mae'ense and their settlement near Fishmonger's End, Phileas Norton, a financier and self-titled merchant prince, visits the town with the intention of exploiting trade in indigenous produce and exotica. He stays as a guest of the bailiff and rents a warehouse near the riverside harbor, but then suddenly leaves for no apparent reason. He fails to arrive at Port Stonebridge. It is believed that his private ship sunk somewhere along the river, or the drow took him for some slight or offense, or some other ill befell him on the way.
1792/11 Francis Geigerling dies of a fever, after returning from an inspection trip to the coal mine. He is buried at the local cemetery. Geigerling family fails to retrieve his servants, they remain essentially stranded in his estate.
1793/4 Eleanor Hayes, known to Fishmonger End's residents as Wise Elle(also Cloudy Elle, Fishmonger's Widow, and other monikers), self-proclaimed faith healer and seer, dies of a heart attack, after an apparently prolonged illness. There's no one to bury her, so Jacob Coolidge does it himself.
1793/7 Mycroft Osbourne, an engineer in the employ of "Ljutic's Big Lights, Lamps and Torchieres" arrives at Fishmonger's End to head the operation of lake lighthouse. Finding no lighthouse was built, or even planned, and Geigerling dead, he begins investigation into bailiff's activities, and writes several letters to Port Stonebridge accusing Abbot of fraud and embezzlement. Osbourne goes missing shortly thereafter. The letters never arrive.
1793/12 Douglas Abbot challenges the Mae'ense drow "best warrior" to a duel, with the intention of forcing them to leave. Avaeyakh, then head of his own hunter cadre, accepts the challenge and easily defeats Abbot. Bailiff's followers scatter, taking his body. Avaeyakh proclaims himself "chief of the pale people".
1794/3 Tejano Baeza, Sebastian Peltier, Brun Kadinger and Zane Nemo arrive at Fishmonger's End.


Places

Port Stonebridge

Geography

~14 sq.km., evidence of landfilling at southern coast and around the two bays at western coast. The bays are separated by a wide rocky ridge. Stone buildings atop said ridge are believed to be the temple district of the drow palace complex that goes deeper inland. Eastern coast hosts what appears to have been the gatehouse of the Great Bridge and assorted structures of similar architecture. Those structures appear to have been abandoned by the locals some years prior to the exploration fleet's arrival(one assumes around the same time the Bridge collapsed/was sabotaged), and are now occupied by the colonial branch of Crown University. Northern coast is almost entirely jagged cliffs. Several sea caves were identified but could not be safely reached for exploration. Remains of crane-like mechanisms atop some of the cliffs and unmaintained but complex network of rope bridges at the majority of cliff faces suggest existence of an auxilary harbor(or sea-mining operation of some sort) here at some point in the past. Under Colonial Administration, western, eastern and southern coasts are all claimed as holdings of the Crown, though no territory is claimed deeper than 3 km. inland. The entire rest of the island is drow reservation.


Notables, Names, Places and Sights.

  • The Twin Bays - Bay of Her Eminence and the Bay of St. Vecna. Western coast.
  • Temple Ridge - rocky ridge separating the Twin Bays. Western coast.
  • Promenade - a never-quite-finished project to connect the Twin Bays by building a stone pier around the base of Temple Ridge. Mostly under construction, now and for the forseeable future. Western coast.
  • Colonial Administration Building and Port Stonebridge urban sprawl("The Districts"). No less than a third of town buildings are repurposed drow construction. Southern coast.
  • Her Majesty's Navy garrison, fort network and harbor. Bay of Her Eminence, western coast.
  • Trade port, Shipwright's Guild Building, Port Authority Terminal("Coinhouse"), Guild Warehouses. Bay of St. Vecna, western coast.
  • "Flint's Lock" Officer Club, "Waxing Moon" brothel & cabaret, "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners" colonial branch HQ and employee hostel. The Districts, southern coast.
  • Guild Market Hall("The Shakedown") - a market hall bult in and around the gates from the trade port, opposite Port Authority Terminal.
  • Market Hospital - an establishment adjacent to Guild Market Hall, trading lodgings for menial work. Has a small chapel(Life).
  • Crown University Of Natural Sciences and Thaumaturgy campus and main building(The Gatehouse). Eastern coast.
  • "The Keyhole", university staff pub(which is barely any different than a student pub). Eastern coast.
  • Cathedral of the Arcane Revealed(Knowledge, Arcane, Trickery, Light). Eastern coast.
  • Church of Last Rites(Storm, Death). Bay of St. Vecna, western coast.
  • "Ljutic's Big Lights, Lamps and Torchieres" Guildhouse. Eastern coast.
  • Black Harbor - delegations of Stonebridge drow are allowed to use this collection of wooden piers and boatsheds to fish or sail to Collin's Clearing and trade for food. Eastern coast
  • Staring Street - a wide street leading from the drow reservation towards Black Harbor. The only place in the city where crownspeople are allowed, though not encouraged, to interact with the Stongebridge drow. Occasional drow traders, rare entertainers and exiles from the reservation set up their tents here.
  • "Rush Fair" Market - a marketplace set up some way to the side half way through Staring Street, occupying a pre-existing city square that apparently served a similar function for the Stonebridge drow. It is chartered to operate for three days every two months(during which the majority of stalls at the Guild Market Hall are closed for business), but it tends to spring up whenever a ship carrying especially desired goods makes port, or the drow send out a large trading party from the reservation.


Waypoint Isle

Relatively small island approx. 2 km away from Port Stonebridge. Was a staging point for the siege and eventual storming of the city and, therefore, technically the first Crown settlement on Igor'Tpka. Currently considered a prestigious location to settle or work in, due to the fact that "Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers" chose to locate its colonial HQ here.


Notables, Names, Places and Sights.

  • "Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers" colonial branch HQ.
  • Waypoint Lighthouse. Main lighthouse for Port Stonebridge
  • Her Majesty's Navy maritime patrol contingent harbor.
  • Manors and townhouses of several colonial officials(including the Governor) and prominent citizens("The Posh Row").


Collin's Clearing

A somewhat struggling(understandably) farming community at the mainland side of the Great Bridge. The plantations themselves are mostly the legacy of Stonebridge drow, taken over by the colonists.


Mangrove Cove

Small settlement which was founded as a staging point for Crown University's field work endeavors, located some 5 km. down the mainland coast from Collin's Clearing.


Fishmonger's End

Founded in 1779 by Douglas Abbot, Phillip Normann, Francis Geigerling and Jacob Coolidge, as an ambitious project to create a settlement farther inland than any other to date. Not long after Collin Moroe's apparently ill-fated expedition, it sent a powerful statement of "doing what the Great Explorer couldn't do". Rickety sprawl of huts spread around several capital buildings designed by Geigerling in the initial phase of settlement; the hills to the north-west are covered in drow tents.


Notables, Names, Places and Sights.

  • Abbot Street - a central(and the only proper) street of the town, attempts to lay down a proper pavement still evident here and there. Leads from the riverside harbor towards the master warehouse, then bends to the west and terminates abruptly several "blocks" of huts away from the marketplace.
  • Riverside Harbor - loads and unloads the Company's steam-boat, that comes every one or two months.
  • Company Warehouses - a collection of mostly brick or brick & wood warehouses, belonging to Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners. Riverside harbor.
  • Master Warehouse - where goods are counted and distributed. Reginald Clarke's office and quarters. Several other clerks apparently also work here, but are rarely seen. Bend of Abbot Street.
  • Bailiff's Townhouse - currently occupied by Avaeyakh and his band. Abbot Street.
  • Geigerling's Townhouse and "Brick Factory" - mostly abandoned, most entrances are barred or bricked-off. Geigerling's servants still live here.
  • Triplets - three brick & wood buildings, connected at second-story level, used to house storage, laboratory and lodgings for the alchemists in Geigerling's employ. Most left before his death, as the funding to settlement dried out and the "Brick Factory" failed to begin operation. Abbot Street, opposite Geigerling's townhouse.
  • Company Store - a two-story brick & wood building with a shop window(shuttered). A minute walk from company warehouses, Abbot Street.
  • Post Office - a narrow building, with the sign of Royal Colonial Postal Service above the door. Abandoned. Several huts and driftwood houses cling to both sides. Abbot Street, near riverside harbor.
  • Weavers' Building - initially a one-story brick building, with an uneven and clearly unplanned-for wooden upper level and roof. Workers here make sails and nets for the fishing boats(at least the ones owned by people still working for the Company). Abbot Street.
  • Sheriff's Office & Jail - a local stone & wood building used to house the Sheriff's office, his lodgings and jail(one communal and four solitary cells). Now converted into a warehouse. Abbot Street, one building over from master warehouse.
  • Drow Hill - one of the hills occupied by the Mae'ense, the closest one to the town.
  • Marketplace - cultural center of the town, naturally. Trade, such as it is, peaks at the beginning and end of day shifts at the mines. Base of the Drow Hill.
  • Fishbarrel Taphouse - the only available watering hole in town. Two of the four walls are constructed out of stacked barrels, which gives the establishment its name. The roof is made out of sailcloth, and is in a shape that's clearly very much drow-tent-inspired. Marketplace, dead center.
  • Netted Isles - a stubby chain of small lake islands, connected to the mainland by flimsy network of wooden bridges and walkways. A site was cleared for the construction of a lighthouse here, but it was since covered in fishing huts and refuse pits, as are the rest of the islands.
  • Lakeside Harbor - chaotic web of wooden piers extending from the banks of Lake Moroe and Netted Isles(and piers extending from those piers).
  • Church(Light) - where Jacob Coolidge tends to the needs and works for the good of his parish. He decided not to give the church a name yet. Pastor himself lives some way behind the church, in a small cottage with a lake view.
  • Cemetery - the death toll of settling and living here is apparent in rows upon rows of waywheels marking the graves, extending quite a distance, parallel to the closest bank of the lake.
  • Long Road - exits at the west of town, going by the drow tents, and eventually leads to the silver mine.
  • Short Road - exits at the south-west of town and leads to the coal mine.


Apex Altar

Preserved remains of drow temple complex at the top of a hill amidst overgrown ruins of an ancient drow city. Two day's way from northern bank of Lake Moroe.


Stone Of High Grass

Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. A two week's way down the coast from Mangrove Cove


Stone Of Birds

Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. Eastern bank of Lake Moroe


T'weadth'eowe

Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. A smaller lake, three day's way north-east from Lake Moroe.


Bowing Spire

Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. A day's way east from Apex Altar.


People & Companies

Empress Eugenia II of Andsvarr

Her Imperial Majesty Eugenia the Second of Andsvarr, Queen of Noewyddland and Andsland and of Her other Realms and Territories, Star of the North, Jarl of Andsvarr, Thulestaad and the Old Sea, Protector Of Counties In The South and East, Benevolent and Rightful Mistress Of Crown Dominions Beyond the Seas, High Guide of the Waywheel Most Knowing, Commander Supreme of Her Armies on Land and Ships on Water.


Companies

Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners

  • Speciality: Silver mining, bulk goods, civic colonial sponsorship & logistics, moneylending
  • Chief Representative: Phillip Normann, primary partner(since 1779), colonial branch HQ, Port Stonebridge

Apparently bought the right to manage and govern Fishmonger's End from Colonial Administration at some point during the last five years.


Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers

  • Speciality: Banking, Navy and Exploration Fleet contracts, military and civic colonial sponsorship & logistics, worldwide trade
  • Chief Representative: Honourable Charterman Moubray Boyle(oldest son of the late Ichabod Boyle), hereditary branch director, colonial branch HQ, Waypoint Isle.

The oldest trading company under the Crown, the company representatives were called "Chartermen" for so long, the company adopted the title into its hierarchy. Over the course of its history, the company arose to account for easily more than a third of all the world's trade(including whatever happens in the Thousand Cities). Were a major player in and lobbyist of Igor'tpka colonization, and remain so to this day. It is rumored that Her Majesty Eugenia II Herself is among the company's shareholders and it is known that a significant number of Colonial Administration functionaries also hold positions within the company.


Her Majesty's Esteemed Guild of Shipwrights in Lands Under Her Majesty's Law

  • Speciality: construction and maintenance of sailing ships and steam-powered vessels
  • Chief Representative: Lord Barnabas Hawthorne, Shipwright's Guild Building, Port Stonebridge

Since the majority of maritime engineers, shipwrights and sailmakers at least apprenticed with the Guild, or still hold membership - most every letter of passage, ticket or company contract of transportation contains a clause for the paying of tax to the Guild.


Colonial Administration

  • Governor: Speaking Peer Hamish Boyle(younger brother of Ichabod Boyle), Port Stonebridge Administration Building
  • Port Authority Officer: Hoyt Pickering(Chartered Merchant), Port Authority Terminal, Port Stonebridge


People

Avaeyakh

Leader of one of the Mae'ense hunter cadres, and now also a band of "smeared" crownspeople; Mae'ense drow. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Alive and well.


Blackhanded Pete

Avaeyakh's second-in-command; crownsman(?). Apparently a crossbow enthusiast.


Lean Dean

Another senior member of Avaeyakh's band; crownsman(?).


Douglas Abbot

(Ex-)Bailiff of Fishmonger's End; crownsman/abomination. Dead(twice).


Bobby Smith

Member of bailiff's old gang; crownsman/abomination. Dead.


Phillip Normann

Primary partner of "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners"; crownsman. His seal is on your papers


Allen Whitwick

Superintendent of "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners" on Igor'Tpka; crownsman. Signed your papers. Listed in Abbot's notebook.


Alodie Thatcher

Assigned Post Officer for Fishmonger's End; crownswoman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Deceased

Eleanor "Fishmonger's Widow" Hayes

Seer, faith healer, hedge witch; crownswoman(?). Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Deceased.


Francis Geigerling

Lord, comes from an old noble family; crownsman. Chief architect at Fishmonger's End. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Deceased.


Rupert Myles

Majordomo at Francis Geigerling's townhouse/factory; crownsman.


Hugo Marshall

Sheriff at Fishmonger's End, assigned by Colonial Administration; crownsman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Missing, presumed dead.


Graham Bradshaw

Foreman at the coal mine; crownsman(?). Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Deceased

Gustav Carlyle

Foreman at the coal mine; crownsman(?). Marked in Abbot's notebook with an "?".


Jacob Coolidge

Waywheel Cleric, pastor of the Fishmonger's End parish; crownsman. Marked in Abbot's notebook with an "?".


Meredith Irwin

Proprietor of Fishbarrel Taphouse; crownswoman(?). Crossed out in Abbot's notebook.


Mycroft Osbourne

Engineer in the employ of "Ljutic's Big Lights, Lamps and Torchieres"; crownsman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Missing, presumed dead.


Phileas Norton

Financier and self-titled merchant prince; crownsman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook. Missing, presumed dead


Reginald Clarke

Retired Navy officer, warehouse headmaster of Fishmonger's End, now also vice-bailiff; crownsman. Marked in Abbot's notebook with an "?".


Sebastian Dahl

Shipwright's Guild representative in Fishmonger's End; crownsman. Crossed out in Abbot's notebook.


Sannah'Va

Seer, fortune teller, shaman; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.


Suoh'To & Kaah'To

Share the title of "best warrior" and war-time leadership duties; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.


Ruhnae

Leader of one of the Mae'ense hunter cadres; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.


Mai'thare

Leader of one of the Mae'ense hunter cadres; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.


Thul'Amne'Va

Shaman, spiritual leader; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.


Shomaekh'Va

Spiritual leader, elder; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook


Thauthal'Va

Spiritual leader, elder; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook


Eithlaeme'Va

Shaman, spiritual leader; Mae'ense drow. Listed in Abbot's notebook.


Freshwater Winston

Owner of a fishing ship from Fishmonger's End, crownsman. Thinks you owe him a favor.

Tommy & Frank

Lake fishermen from Fishmonger's End; crownsmen. Sailed with you on Lake Moroe.

Soul of the Forest

A tree spirit trapped in spider webs in the overgrown ruins near Apex Temple; dendroanimistic apparition.

Naat'ste

An ancient drow spirit locked within the ruins of Apex Altar; genius loci.

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