I began fleshing out the background to both the City and Sorceror King before I was able to look at Athas.org's "Wisdom of the Dry Landers," so much of my background information runs in a different direction than theirs. (I really liked a lot of the stuff they had -especially the material on language, Grey Death, and the Heartbeat Drums). I am now trying to mesh my material with theirs, but there are some points where the material will be different.
I would like to share some of the stuff I wrote and ask for some feedback.
Something is wrong in Eldaarich. Something is very wrong. An overwhelming sense of paranoia grips the populace –from the slaves, to the noble houses to the templars and right down to the Socerer-King. An outsider dropped into the middle of Eldaarich would definitely think that the entire city is infected with madness.
However, travelers just don’t “drop in” to Eldaarich. During the long arduous journey towards the City State, travelers will also undoubtedly be overcome with the sense that indeed, something is very, very wrong. Although the journey along the coast of the silt sea is perilous in itself, travel towards Eldaarich is outright deadly. Beyond the terrors of the desert lies an unseen evil that closes tighter upon travelers as they approach the city. At night awful sounds can be heard closing in from a distance. Otherworldly howls pierce the landscape. Shadows can be seen moving just beyond the limits of illumination, only to vanish when light is cast upon them. Sleepers are infected with horrific dreams of torture and madness. Morning reveals dead pack animals, missing supplies, and the onset of a sudden and horrific wasting sickenss in random travelers. By the time travelers reach Eldaarich, the City seems like a refuge. The city’s extensive battlements, walls, and guards make it feel more like a refuge than a prison, but a prison it is.
History
Eldaarich was the site of some of the greatest atrocities of the Cleansing Wars. While other Champions of Rajaat went about their tasks with mechanical cruelty and efficiency, Daskinor Goblin Death, the 14th Champion, delighted in delivering horrific deaths to those who opposed him.
Daskinor spent centuries developing both psionic and magical methods of torture, death and cruelty in order to compliment his conventional methods of depravity. Daskinor cast spells which subjected his enemies to mass-acts of dismemberment and evisceration. He delved into the foul arts of life-bending, performing sadistic experiments on the bodies of the goblin races, twisting them with horrific mutations, and infecting them with the most awful of magical infections.
Daskinor exploited the racial hatred between the Dwarves and Goblins, swelling the ranks of his genocidal army with specialized units of Arichdites: Dwarven Goblin-slayers. These forces swept across the Tyr region, rooting the Goblin races out of their underground lairs and obliterating them. The entire race was systematically pushed eastward, towards the sea, and Daskinor’s armies persued, leaving a trail of brutally broken, dismembered bodies in their wake.
In the final days of the Goblin Wars, Daskinor chased the last of the Goblin Races north from Draj. Near Fort Ral, he split his forces in two, personally leading a small but extremely powerful unit of soldiers around the White Mountains as his main force drove the Goblin Races Northward. As the Goblins approached the Elven City of Kurn, Daskinor and his forces crashed down southwards, trapping them against the Silt Sea.
Having witnessed the atrocities of Daskinor, the residents of the City of Tharset (modern day Eldaarich) offered refuge to the last of the Goblin races. Daskinor’s forces fortified the forts of Holz and South Guard and the groundwork for one of the greatest tragedies of the cleansing wars was laid. The Arichdites began construction of vast and complicated siege machinery. Thousands of Dwarven reinforcements converged on both Fort Holz and South Guard in order to eradicate their racial enemies. Miles of tunnels were excavated in preparations for the upcoming siege. All the while, and third, unseen force amassed outside of Kurn.
The siege of Tharset lasted for months. Residents slowly starved, suffered and died. Daskinor unleashed a magical pox upon the residents, causing their bodies to erupt with painful oozing boils. The contagion spread, forces amassed, tension built, and finally Daskinor unleashed an unprecedented spell of destruction into Tharset itself. Over the next twenty four hours, thousands of goblins were slowly drawn into The Black, suffering slow, painful deaths.
Despite this, Tharset was still capable of holding the Archidites at bay due to the impenetrable fortifications surrounding the city. With supplies running low, and no end to the conflict in sight, a desparate warrior named Abredorn the Red, decided to parlay for his life. He convinced those closest to him that the city was doomed, and the best they could hope for was to negotiate for their lives and that of their families. In exchange for their lives, material wealth, and the rank of nobility in Daskinor’s new City State, this group secretly pledged their loyalty to Daskinor from within the walls of Tharset. On an evening when Abredorn’s forces were entrusted to safeguard the main gate of Tharset, Abredorn himself threw open the gate.
Abredorn and his forces looked on as the Arichdites swept into the City, finishing off the remainder of the goblins and then punishing the rest of the populace. As Daskinor had promised, every man woman and child in Tharset was put to the sword.
When the Arichdites achieved complete victory, the remainders of Daskinor’s Armies merged with those of Borys from the North. Volleys of arrows darkened the sky while the two armies swept into Tharset slaughtering Dwarven Arichdites. Those who survived both the arrows and swords of the combined armies fled into the seige tunnels beneath the city. Borys and Daskinor filled the tunnels with fire, poison gas and water, burning, choking and drowning the remaining Dwarven Armies. Thus, in a span of two days, the City of Tharset was the site for two great betrayals and to different atrocities.
His goal achieved, Daskinor then claimed Tharset as his own, declaring it to be the first city of the second Blue Age. The dead were swept into the sea, to wash away on a red tide. Daskinor’s officers were granted vast tracks of land, becoming the first noble families of the new city-state. Abredorn and his group of traitors became the closely watched advisors to Daskinor. They became the city’s first templars. And Daskinor christened his new city as “Eldaarich,” or “Final Victory” in the now-dead language of the Goblin Races.
I'll post more later, but I would be interested in hearing about what people think.
ITF
That was beautiful,
.It could use a polish to truely make it shine, a few minor changes in phrasing here or there, but thats amazing
The mood is well captured, the insanity and apocalyptic atmosphere of the cleansing war. The historical plot is compeling, and the story flows quite well. In fact your tale has brought up a whole crop of new ideas about Rajaat, his champions, and the clensing war that I don't think anyone has really discussed on the boards, though I may be wrong about that last part as I am a relative newcomer to the boards.
Btw, excellent representation of Dakisnor! It could explain a huge part of is madness!
I'll post more later, but I would be interested in hearing about what people think.
Ok, I'm hooked.
Want more!
:D
From the beginning, Eldaarich flourished. The mudflats outside of the city made a miraculous recovery from defiling magic, producing copious quantities of faro, grain, and fruit. Outlying villages mined copper, iron, and coal. However, nothing produced in the Villages has ever been kept by the Villagers. Everything belongs to Daskinor, although the officially, “everything belongs to everyone.” Daskinor’s templars have appropriated everything produced in the villages, taking it into the city where it has been refined into finished products. The finished goods have then been redistributed to the Villages. Farmers have harvested wheat, the templars have appropriated it and returned later with stacks of puffy flat-bread. Miners have produced ore and coal and the templars have taken it and returned with iron tools.
The city prospered. Although corrupt templars and even Daskinor himself pocketed a great percentage of the wealth created in the villages, there was still enough left over for the villages to thrive. This prosperity encouraged the belief that Eldaarich would indeed be the model city to herald the return of the Second Blue Age. Thus, while the Cleansing Wars ravaged other cities, Eldaarich rebuilt itself and thrived. The communal economy fostered a sense of inter-dependence and cooperation amongst the villagers. The populace became convinced that their city was a refuge in the midst of a violent, chaotic and threatening world. They really believed that they were collectively striving to create a brighter society in Athas.
But the prosperity of Eldaarich proved to be as precarious as the lies upon which it was founded. His task finished, Daskinor became afflicted with a deep sense of despair and purposelessness. He shut himself out from the City, and when Albeorn laid siege to the Elven civilization immediately north of Eldaarich, Daskinor was nowhere to be seen. Albeorn’s powerful defiling magic reached all the way to the city, turning once verdant mudflats to ash. Rapacious templars horded food, and the powerless villagers quickly began to accuse others of “not working hard enough for the freedom of the city.”
Stories of Daskinor’s depravity during the Cleansing Wars began to surface. Children were being born with strange birth defects: some with twisted, defective hands, others without eyes, and many without tongues. Unrest grew as poverty and starvation increased. As the fatalities mounted an entire village of iron miners on the outskirts of Huuros decided that they would be better off trying their luck in the wastes beyond Eldaarich instead of waiting for aid from an absent king.
Unfortunately for the villagers, the Red Brotherhood learned of their plan to escape, and word soon reached Daskinor. The Sorcerer-King himself lead a punitive party against the village. Unholy magic that had not been seen since the fall of Tharset was unleashed upon the populace. None were left alive.
Daskinor and his Red Brotherhood squashed any word about atrocities in the Outer Huuros. Rumors about Cleansing War outrages were squelched as well. Daskinor wasted no time in painting such malcontents as “traitors” and “agents of the enemy.” Psionicists were dispatched to regularly patrol the private lives and thoughts of the citizenry. Templars tightened their grip on the populace. Paranoia increased. Members of this crumbling society wasted no time in leveling accusations at others in order to remove scrutiny from themselves.
Fear gripped the populace. Daskinor vanished into the confines of his palace, and soon nights in Eldaarich became punctuated by an unholy keening. And so it went, for years, decades, and Kings Ages, until the nighttime howls from the palace became as ubiquitous as the grey silt in the wind. Eldaarich had settled into a climate of fear and paranoia. Reprisals were frequent and swift. Petty criminals were routinely accused of “colluding with the scunth (outsiders)” and publicly executed in order to demonstrate the “security” of the city.
Just when it had seemed that the atmosphere of persecution and paranoia couldn’t get worse, over two Kings Ages ago, during The Year of the Messenger, the sounds from the palace suddenly stopped. Reports began to come in of lost roadways suddenly appearing, lined with the pikes bearing the severed heads of some long-forgotten race. Travellers in the wastes around Eldaarich would vanish inexplicably. In villages on the periphery, residents would be found brutally murdered –their bodies bearing marks and wounds which had not been seen for ages. Other places suffered through the random appearances of a inexplicable pox. At night, residents of Eldaarich would hear the voices from the darkness, calling to them out from the wastes. Daskinor suffered from dreams of persecution from the hordes that he massarced. Some nights the dead could be heard clawing against the walls of Eldaarich.
Like an overstressed rope, the mind of the Sorcerer-King unraveled and snapped. Cries of treason became more frequent, and bloody exactions followed. Huge swaths of the population were put to the sword. Both Daskinor and his citizens toiled to fortify their cities and villages. Eldaarich and its villages became one vast, sprawling prison.
In the next section I will touch briefly on "Society and Culture," although I believe that this topic has been covered pretty adequately already. While I like the idea of the "Red Guard," it sounded too much like China's Cultural Revolution, so I changed the name to "Red Brotherhood." I am also toying with the idea that the children born with birth defects bear "the mark of Abredorn," and thus become members of the "Red Brotherhood." (The defects are curses -no tongue for his words were the downfall of the City, a thick, clawed and inarticulate hand -the hand that threw open the gate of the city, no eyes -to spite the eyes that idly watched while the inhabitants of Tharset were slaughtered.)
I love the ideas about the Grey Death, Literacy, and the Heartbeat Drums. I think that I can keep these ideas intact without contradicting any of the material that I have here. In regards to Eldaarish slogans, here are a few more of my creation:
"Freedom does not come without sacrifice"
"You must work for freedom"
"Can you trust your neighbor?"
"Has your neighbor filled his quota?"
Lastly, I'd like to hear ideas about the types of undead I could populate Eldaarich with. There were so many terrible atrocities at Tharset, it would be a crime to simply populate it with wraiths.
itf
Lastly, I'd like to hear ideas about the types of undead I could populate Eldaarich with. There were so many terrible atrocities at Tharset, it would be a crime to simply populate it with wraiths.
Especially since wraiths are not formed during atrocities.
itf
There were a lot of great (inspirational!) ideas that I gleaned from "Wisdom of the Drylanders" and your "Lost Cities" teaser. Any word on when all of it will be coming out? I'd be interested in hearing what areas will be covered.
itf
Daskinor never talks directly to anyone. This doesn't mean that he doesn't hold audience with others. It is just that he addresses those in his presence as if he is talking about them to some unseen, third party. During the course of these conversations, Daskinor often seems withdrawn when talking, looking to both his left and right, and briefly fixing his attetion upon those in his presence -almost as if it is an afterthought.
For example:
Templar: "Sire, the Neshtap you requested is here." (Leaves the room.)
Daskinor: "Good. Ahh... yes, we've heard about this one. We were wondering about those outlanders he met with. Did they give him the item we requested?"
Neshtap: "Your highness, they have heard rumors of the item you seek. Their records indicate that a band of Elven raiders transported it to lands far to the East, past the Anattan Wastes..."
Daskinor: "Bah! Albeorn... incompetent! I should have put my dagger between his shoulder blades when we sacked Tharset..."
Neshtap (confused): "Sire?"
Daskinor (looking elsewhere...): "Probably rotting in some Elven shanty outside of some god-foresaken oasis. We must learn more about these Elves."
Neshtap: "We asked them more about the -"
Daskinor (suddenly locking his gaze with the Neshtap): "Am I talking to you?!"
Neshtap (nervously looking around the empty room...): ...
Daskinor (looking elsewhere again): "Idiots... always interrupting me when I am talking to someone else. Anyways, about this item -we must find it. But first, we need more information on those Elves..."
Neshtap (confused and shifting uncomfortably...)
Daskinor: "Hmmm... it seems that more information is not available. Perhaps we should pull off the arms of the Neshtap that failed us..."
Neshtap: "Excuse me sire, but I did hear that it was the Dawn Chaser's tribe that acquired this item."
Daskinor: "Perhaps our Neshtap isn't as incompetent as it seems. Do you think that he transcribed everything like we asked?"
Neshtap (producing a scroll): "Your highness, here is the information you requested."
Daskinor (taking the scroll): "Ahh... very well."
Daskinor (after taking his time to read the whole thing): "What? Who is this one? What is he doing here? An assassin?"
Neshtap (looking around): "Sire?"
Daskinor (shouting): "Guards!!! An intruder! Take him away!"
Neshtap: "But your highness, you requested my prese-"
Daskinor: "Take that one away and lock him in the dungeons! And bring me the incompetent guards who let this assassin sneak in!"
Although Daskinor maintains the illusion of humanity in his everyday appearances, his actual visage is very inhuman. At nearly ten feet tall, Daskinor towers over most humans. His flesh is shrivelled and drawn, covered in a hairless black-grey hide. His face has elongated into a snout, and two long sharp teeth protrude from the bottom of his jaw. Surprisingly, his Cleansing Wars scars have stayed with him, covering his dark skin with mottled pink patches from his chest to his face. A layer of thick, knotted scar tissue surrounds his left eye. The eye itself is a cold dark orb, undamaged and shining with a penetrating acuity.
It is unclear how much of Daskinor's madness is genuine. There is no doubt that he is, indeed mad, but he is certainly not stupid or reckless. Daskinor is still capable of feats that require great planning and cunning. He has "feigned" insanity in the past in order to distance himself from other Sorceror Kings or in order to avoid the Dragon's Levy.
Daskinor resents those Soceror Kings who failed their assigned task -although he willfully participated in the betrayal of Rajaat, he still believed in the worth of purging Athas of the rebirth races. He looks upon those who failed to eradicate their assigned race as failures and imposters. He is found of addressing Keltis as a "pretender." While other SK's chalk such talk up to Daskinor's insanity, Daskinor knows that a few Lizardmen escaped Oronis's grasp.
Daskinor's insanity lies in the two curses that he possesses. First, he is addicted to the Screaming Maw -a weapon he relied upon during the Cleansing Wars. Often times, the third party he talks to is the Maw itself (even though he keeps it looked in the Catacombs beneath his fortress.) Most of these times these conversations are imagined, rather than real (he must be in the presence of the Maw in order to communicate with it.)
The second aspect of Daskinor's insanity lies in the curse that was enacted when the last Goblin was killed. Although many believed that Daskinor killed the last goblins when Tharset was sacked, that is only partially true. Daskinor was not only addicted to the maw, he was addicted to maiming and butchering goblins. Before the Cleansing Wars were over, he resurrected Parthrix, the last Goblin King torturing him beneath his Citadel in Eldaarich. Daskinor spent millenia killing, resurrecting, granting immortality upon, killing again, and raising Parthix. Parthrix's agonized cries became a part of life in Eldaarch but in the 188th King's Age Daskinor finally managed to kill Parthrix permanently. No wish or resurrection spell can ever bring him back. Daskinor killed and raised him too many times.
During Parthrix's final dying moments, he uttered a curse upon Daskinor, and soon thereafter, the countless goblins Daskinor banished to the Black began to try and crawl their way back onto Athas. Daskinor's paranoia is somewhat justified in this respect, as the legions of goblins have only one purpose in returning: to exact their revenge upon Daskinor.
However, Screaming Maw or not, and Parthrix's curse non-withstanding, Daskinor was sick well before the end of the Cleansing Wars. Daskinor was a cruel and sadistic man who lived to inflict pain upon others. He lost his humanity long before Rajaat made him immortal.
Surprisingly, the Sorceror King closest to Daskinor is Oronis. Daskinor's reactions towards him vary from neglect to outright aggression, but Oronis is always gentle and empathetic towards Daskinor. The two of them were apparently very tight during the Cleansing Wars and now Oronis looks upon Daskinor as something that he could have possibly become had things went differently. Oronis willingly took on the role of Daskinor's "ward," not only to avoid the Dragon's levy, but also out of a sense of obligation which the world has long forgotten.
This is typical of Oronis's behavior however. Oronis has seen too much failure and destruction in the world to feel that Athas is going to be saved. He likes to think that he has a "pragmatic" outlook on the world, but he often indulges himself by engaging in pointless, but ideologically meaningful actions -such as watching over Daskinor. Oronis feels that these meaningless gestures actually help him preserve his humanity without endangering the lives of others.
More to come later...
itf