City of Norok
by Alex BensonNorok is a busy industrious small city, more akin to a town. It is a compact town with a stout stone wall surrounding it. With a population rapidly rising to 3,500, the town is doing well and expansion has necessitated dwellings and buildings being constructed outside of the walls. The buildings are pretty plain and designed for function more than decor. Most businesses are attached to the homes of the residents. Mostly encompassing the ground floor of the building.
Baroness Eiralava (C21 of Razud) rules Norok. Eiralava is a young ruler, only assuming the title in AY1988. She is a ravishing young woman but has yet to marry and have an heir. She is frequently courted by admirers, all of whom she turns away.
Eiralava spent the minimum time in the military before embarking on a career as an adventurer. As such, she lacks much of the militaristic attitudes of her fellow barons. This choice also has robbed her of valuable administrative skills.
Eiralava succeeded her aunt, Miyallotricia (MU32) who abdicated rule to pursue other ventures. Her exact whereabouts are unknown. Most believe she to travelling the Empire. Others say she was accepted as a member of the Grand Council. Having no children of her own, the Baroness abdicated the title to the niece after she returned home from adventuring abroad.
Eiralava has a sister that actually administers the city. Sisistrella (F22) served for several tenures in the military as an Air Fleet Officer. She was summoned home to Norok to help her sister. She has performed this task in an orderly military manner. With plain features, she lacks the ravishing beauty of her sister. Where her true beauty lays is in her skill with a sword. "Sissy", as her sister calls her, spends several hours a day practicing her swordplay.
Eiralava and Sisisterella's mother and father are dead. Both were killed in a shipwreck while travelling back to Randel from the Isle of Dawn. The two girls were but children at the time. Parentless, both were taken into the care of their father's sister Baroness Miyallotricia. This shipwreck and the fate of the parents are well known.
Military
Norok boasts a small supply depot to equip and feed the troops in the area. Originally this supply depot was a storage facility for the arms and armours produced by the city's smiths. However, this inventory was broadened to store other articles of war. Just about any example of Randel gear can be found within the warehouses. It even includes facilities to store provisions to feed the troops.
The man appointed to oversee the storage facilities as well as the overall command of the forces inside Norok is Commander Jaechimst (F24). Jaechimst is an old warrior. He body bears the marks of that service. He is missing his left arm and walks with a distinct limp. He is always in some sort of pain but rarely openly complains. Jaechimst was given the position as a reward for his service and sacrifice. His duties are slight as he has a covey of assistants to do the work. He focuses on the security of the depot and the battle readiness of the troops assigned guard duty.
Stationed in Norok are two Standard Infantry Regiments. The 8th and the 10th Standard Infantry Regiments are some of the finest in all of Randel. Both regiments are traditionally deployed together and have the distinguishing honour of being involved in most war campaigns dating back to Landfall. Some folk even claim they fought together during the Civil War. As such, the regiments have been dubbed the "twin regiments".
The commander of the 8th Infantry is Commander Wertipor (C21 of Razud). Commanding the 10th Infantry is his wife Commander Adigya (C22 of Razud). This spousal duo work quite well together. This relationship highly accentuates the cohesion between the two regiments. The married commanders are very popular with their troops and the population in general.
University Facilities
Norok also has a sizeable magist school. This school is not unlike magic universities in other parts of the Empire. Here, mages learn the theories of magic and how to use these principles to tap the energies. They also learn how to fight with the staff and dagger.
The magist school is administered by Headmaster Dorileaun (MU28). She is a skilled magist with an affinity to teach. She has an almost unshakeable patience threshold, which annoys her faculty staff. She takes great pride in her students, even more so if that student struggled but overcame the problems. So intent on this premise, she will often spend time to tutor a student herself. This is not to say that such attentions are given to all students. No her aid is only given to students with honest potential to cast spells.
Norok boasts another part of the University. This other section is the skyship school. This school is the introductory course for Air Fleet Cadets. Here, they are taught the basics of skyship design, use, maintenance, and tactics. To do this, the school has several classrooms. However, most teaching is done "hands on" with the school's trio of training skyships. These skyships are roughly the size of Korvettes, yet lack any armaments. Safety features are installed to allow faculty staff members to correct student initiated mistakes quickly. Further training is gained at one of the skyship bases under actual command and actual fighting skyships.
The skyship school administrator is Headmaster Pavellstist (MU32). He is an aging mage that served as 1st Air Fleet Admiral in his youth. Now, he serves as the headmaster of the school. He is a stern teacher. He loves to fly as much as he loves spreading that joy to others. He is highly protective of his three training ships. The fact that he was the magist that conjured their hulls is well known. Also well known is the wrath he exudes to any student damaging or abusing any of the equipment.
Aiding the Headmaster is retired Captain Plostratists (F22) of the Air Fleet. His job is to initiate Aerial Marines into the Air Fleet. Highly enthusiastic, his favourite exercise is rappelling from the decks to the ground below. He does this in full armour and carrying a full kit of gear and weapons. He finds great amusement in the reactions the cadets show at their first experience of this troop insertion manoeuvre.
Industries
Norok has a reputation as being an arms producing town. From the town's forges come most of the kingdom's standard issue weapons and armours. Production continues year round. All smiths are required to produce the most common armour type, chainmail.
Norok has a section devoted entirely to the foundries and smiths. Their primary products are weapons and armours for the Randel Armed Forces. There are also smiths of high skill and expertise that do perform side work such as customised armours and weapons as well as doing the crafting for items bound for enchantment. Most of these specialised smiths were trained by dwarves of Stoutfellow.
One such smith is Wyllonstin (F12). He is one of the most sought after smiths in Randel. His specialties are weapons destined for enchantment. An old soldier himself, he is fluent with the wants and needs of the common soldiers as well as the high paying officers. Wyllonstin focuses on the specialty wares and lets his workers work on the gear slotted for the common soldiers. In his shops, he has some thirty smiths working for him. Under his supervision, these smiths primarily churn out chainmail and broadswords.
Customs:
The people of Norok are an industrious folk. To an outsider, they seem to be busy bodies. The people of Norok work from sun up to sundown, with a three-hour break around noon. At dusk, the businesses and schools shut down. The exception being the wine houses. Norok boasts a large number of wine houses. After dusk, the majority of the populace can be found in these drinking establishments, even bringing their children with them. In them, the people are laid back and even lethargic. They sit around and quietly talk about matters. It is customary for these wine houses to be closed at midnight.
DM Notes:
Eiralava sees no future husband from the throngs of eligible spellcasters. Her heart belongs to Ezzrenaero a former adventuring companion. She has lost contact with him and even heard rumours of his death. Since he was last reported in Norwold, anyone coming from that area will be summoned and inquiries made. She currently believes him to be either dead or with someone else.
In truth, Ezzrenaero is dead. He perished while foolishly assaulting a red dragon's lair in Norwold with but two companions. These two folk also perished. Any adventurers coming across his remains, his enchanted sword +2, or his signet ring bearing Eiralava's name may be able to identify him. Eiralava will be saddened but relieved at the news of his death.
It should be noted that she is rapidly losing her patience with her lost love. In her mind, he should also be making means to come to her. As such, she has begun to subtly look out for a potential love interest. However, she does not place the charlatans that are vying for her in Norok. She would prefer someone that she can relate to, someone that has been out and experienced the world.
Despite a perceptible and expected resentment between the two, Eiralava and Sisistrella are close and supportive of each other. Each are realists in regards to their roles. They are quite content and each is grateful for the other aid in matters. An attack, physical or verbal, against either will gain the wrath of both.
Eiralava's aunt, Miyallotricia, is
travelling abroad. She is also a member of the Grand Council. It
was her niece's tales of adventure that prompted the former
Baroness to venture out and travel. Albeit, she limits her journeys
to the Empire's more civilised holdings.