MALEVOLENCE (Estate of)
Location: Southwestern Blackheart, along the northern border of Shiye-Lawr, floating continent of Alphatia. HW
Area: 34 sq. mi. (90 sq. km.) centred on the crater.
Population: 300 humans, 50 gnomes, 500+ various humanoids (mostly kobolds), uncountable monstrosities.
Languages: Alphatian (Arogansan dialect).
Coinage: Alphatian Standard: crown (gp), mirror (sp), judge (cp). Blackheart sees no need to mint coins. Indeed, Blackheart mints no coins of its own, but rather accepts the coins of other Alphatian kingdoms.
Taxes: The baron accepts only one form of payment in his realm: Blood. Nobody buys anything without spilling some. He sends a portion of the fruits of his labours to the king in Shraek. These consist mainly of manufactured reagents and other alchemical equipment, weapons made in the forges, and the occasional slave to toy with.
Government Type: The baron's rule here is undisputed. In theory he owes allegiance to the king in Shraek, as well as to the Empress of Alphatia, but as of yet neither of these theories has been tested.
Industries: Torment, savagery, and wickedness.
Important Figures: Iarkainnun (Baron), Glausoraiban (Baron's Nephew), Feyad'Rauth (Baron's Nephew).
Flora and Fauna: No plant life exists within the domain claimed by Baron Iarkainnun. Vermin and insects make up most of the other life forms in the area. Many of them are vicious, poisonous creatures. Other creatures venture in from the forest on occasion, but because they have nowhere to hide they seldom last long.
Description by Furrny Mallok.
The Estate of Malevolence is a small, self-contained dominion in southern Blackheart, near the northern border of Shiye-Lawr. Even amid all of Blackheart, this place is considered to be a dark stain upon the land.
The Land
The estate is centred upon a large crater. The lips of the crater overhang the interior and are lined with gargantuan boulders. In the centre of the crater juts a craggy outcropping of stone upon the top of which is a twisted tower of bone-white stone. A single guard tower lies at the bottom of the outer crater rim, and from there a tunnel leads through the earth and to the bottom of the crater. The floor of this gaping wound in the ground is covered with hot forges, and various chemical refineries. Crude cliff-side dwellings are carved into the sides of the crater. On occasion one of these crumbles and collapses, trapping those who live inside and sending rubble onto those unfortunate to be below them.
Several acres around the crater have been scorched clear of any vegetation. The land is baked in the heat of the red sun, and is riddled with cracks that have formed in the unrelenting heat. The forest edges are scarred black where they meet the crater's clearing. No roads or trails lead to Malevolence from the outside, although there are several game trails leading away from it. Most of these are kept in use by the baron's nephew Glausoraiban, who hunts slaves on occasion.
The People
Those living in Malevolence are either broken of spirit, or degenerate of soul. Slaves lead a hard, short life, the only purpose of which being to toil in the baron's hellish foundries. The strongest, and meanest, of these slaves are culled for the baron's personal guard. These individuals go out of their way to torment those less fortunate than themselves in an effort to prove to the baron that they are deserving of their new station. Brothers turn on brothers, and children turn on their own parents. None wish to return to the life of a slave and will do anything to prevent that fate.
A small enclave of gnomes make a living working in Malevolence, either in the refineries or the baron's personal workshops. Most of these creatures are depraved individuals who practice the lost art of technology. Their experiments usually only succeed in maiming a portion of the populace (which is why the baron keeps them around at all).
Along with humans, a large portion of the slaves in Malevolence are humanoids, shipped in from Limn. The baron keeps a steady shipment of these expendable creatures flowing into his domain.
Recent History
The baron has been keeping a low profile recently. That's not unusual for most Blackheartian wizards, but normally the baron enjoys inflicting his grotesqueness upon others. The Beast has increased his usual number of slave hunts drastically, and as a consequence the baron has had to arrange for several additional slave shipments. Something is brewing in Malevolence, and whatever it is it cannot be good.
Do Miss
Malevolence is a place to be avoided at all
costs.