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- | + | Four hundred miles directly north of Whitewall is the small subterranean city of Gethamane, where some 80,000 people dwell. An enclosed society, these people do not fear winter storms or barbarian attacks, while their Supernatural Gardens remove the threat of starvation. Indeed despite [[The Guild]]’s presence ensuring a constant stream of merchants passing through, and even though hunters and gatherers go out during the short summer season to harvest any food that they can obtain, the majority of Gethamane's inhabitants are born there, live there and die there. The shut-in corridors, the lit crystals that brighten during the day and dim at night, even the taste of the mushrooms that grow in the sunken Gardens, are things that become familiar to Gethamane’s children; the outside wind and sky and sun are strange to them. | |
- | + | Yet while it may seem monolithic, Gethamane is a society that stands on four pillars: the administration, the farmers, the Guard and the Guild trade. Despite its defenses sufficient damage to any of these could potentially shatter this society . | |
- | + | Worse still, Gethamanians live in fear as the circling tunnels of their city connect to an immeasurably vaster, deeper labyrinth of underways beneath Creation. Guards watch the dozens of entrances to bar the way against the things that occasionally attempt to force entrance. | |
As much as anyone else in the North, Gethamanians require constant vigilance to survive. | As much as anyone else in the North, Gethamanians require constant vigilance to survive. | ||
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''' The Guild's Arrival - RY 107 ''' | ''' The Guild's Arrival - RY 107 ''' | ||
- | + | Matters changed when a wandering Guild caravan met some of the Gethamane's hunters and were invited back to the city to trade and bring news. Bethan Redeye traded immediate food supplies in return for cloth, spices, metal and other things. In turn, the caravan leader quickly realized that the subterranean city would make an excellent base for trading ventures through the North, and recognized the inhabitants’ urgent need for outside sources of food, clothing and luxury items. | |
Thus begining Gethamane’s association with the Guild | Thus begining Gethamane’s association with the Guild | ||
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''' Death of the Founder - RY 150 ''' | ''' Death of the Founder - RY 150 ''' | ||
- | Bethan | + | Bethan died at the age of 93; survived by two husbands and twelve children. She had raised all her children to assume her responsibilities as administrator and leader, but named her secondborn son [[Gerath Redeye]] her heir. This established the tradition that the Master/ Mistress of Gethamane would choose an heir from their assembled descendants, rather than automatically passing the position to their firstborn. The office of Master or Mistress of Gethamane has stayed in Bethan’s line ever since. |
''' A Failed Coup - RY 498 ''' | ''' A Failed Coup - RY 498 ''' | ||
- | + | The only recorded coup attempt in Gethamane's history. Mineko Threebrand, a disgruntled member of the Guard, poisoned all of the then-Master's close relatives. The Master resolved the crisis by quickly adopting three popular Gethamanian's, each a descendant (even if remotely) of Bethan Redeye, as his offspring to replenish the clan. | |
- | Mineko Threebrand, a disgruntled member of the Guard, | + | |
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''' The New Mistress - RY 758 ''' | ''' The New Mistress - RY 758 ''' | ||
- | [[Katrin Jadehand]] is made | + | [[Katrin Jadehand]] is made the new Mistress of Gethamane at age 40. |
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In the worst case, her planned strategy is to expel all foreigners while closing the city gates, place all adoptees under the direct guard of their adoptive families and sit tight and wait a few years. | In the worst case, her planned strategy is to expel all foreigners while closing the city gates, place all adoptees under the direct guard of their adoptive families and sit tight and wait a few years. | ||
- | + | == THE PEOPLE OF GETHAMANE == | |
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- | + | Gethamane has little direct contact with the rest of Creation. Few Gethamanians travel, and few other people want to visit this remote bastion of civilization. None can conquer Gethamane, and Gethamane cannot threaten anyone else. Most Gethamanians know very little about the rest of Creation. | |
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- | Gethamane | + | Bethan Redeye’s people spoke Skytongue when they came to Gethamane and it remains the most common language of the city. However, Bethan was one of the more educated of her group and carried hidden knowledge from her divine parent. As such some citizens also speak Old Realm. |
It is easy to differentiate who go outside and the rest of Gethamane. The minority who spend much of their time outside (Guards, Hunters and Gatherers) show color in their cheeks, roughened skin or other signs of exposure to sun and weather. The majority who remain within Gethamane most (if not all) of their lives have unnaturally pale skins never touched by the sun and eyes adapted to shadows (exposded to sun and/or natural weather these 'albinos' are known to flinch, tremble or even break down into fits of hysterics). | It is easy to differentiate who go outside and the rest of Gethamane. The minority who spend much of their time outside (Guards, Hunters and Gatherers) show color in their cheeks, roughened skin or other signs of exposure to sun and weather. The majority who remain within Gethamane most (if not all) of their lives have unnaturally pale skins never touched by the sun and eyes adapted to shadows (exposded to sun and/or natural weather these 'albinos' are known to flinch, tremble or even break down into fits of hysterics). | ||
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=== Families === | === Families === | ||
- | Formal marriage is between men and women, but | + | Formal marriage is between men and women, but lovers of the same gender are common. Quite often, married couples have a publicly acknowledged lover who shares both their beds. Gethamane doesn’t treat unions between cousins as incest but forbids unions between adopted siblings. |
A person is known either by his personal name and then his family name or by his personal name and “of the such-and-such family.” The first usage is more common these days, but the second usage is more old-fashioned and is still adhered to among the more important families. | A person is known either by his personal name and then his family name or by his personal name and “of the such-and-such family.” The first usage is more common these days, but the second usage is more old-fashioned and is still adhered to among the more important families. | ||
Inside families, descent is matrilineal, though a woman’s current husband is legally the father of all her children, regardless if she was married to him or not at the time she bore the children. | Inside families, descent is matrilineal, though a woman’s current husband is legally the father of all her children, regardless if she was married to him or not at the time she bore the children. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Families often adopt children too, a custom that began as a way to make sure that orphans — future workers — would survive and to provide childless couples with heirs to care for them in their old age. Now the custom has a life of its own, and most large families include a few adopted members. Adoption ends all ties to the former family, legally and (Gethamanians hope) emotionally. Therefore a woman can bear a child to a man in another family, then give the child to be adopted by parents inside that family (if she is married, this requires her husband’s permission as well), at which point the child becomes a child of that family. | ||
+ | |||
+ | It is considered very rude to pry into someone’s past about something like this or suggest anyone might feel loyalty to any family other than their own, even if they are the physical child of that family. | ||
=== Adoption === | === Adoption === | ||
+ | The constant shuffling round of adoptions means that new blood gets into most of the families; there are few serious cases of inbreeding. Situations in which a youth falls in love with his adoptive sibling but is unable to marry her have inspired a number of tragic plays, which usually end with a socially improving moral about incestuous passions leading to murderous rampages and suicide or with a heroic choice of exile and virtuous separation. | ||
- | + | Family and class intertwine in Gethamane. The prosperous folk of the Outer Ring and Garden District generally belong to clans who number in the hundreds and occupy large sectors of tunnels and chambers. The poorer folk of the Upper Ring still manage to live as extended families with dozens of aunts, uncles, cousins and kin all together. Quite simply, it takes a degree of wealth to acquire enough space for a family to stay together; but a family that stays together can also economize through hand-me-down clothing, stacking relatives in bunk beds instead of renting more space and similar expedients. The truly poor live in whatever disused corners of the city they can find. Their children are lucky if they can stay with their parents until adulthood. Many waifs make their own way in the city because their parents are too poor to care for them. | |
- | + | Constant adoption prevents serious inbreeding, but many tragic plays deal with youths who fall in love with adopted siblings. (Such plays usually end with murderous rampages | |
- | + | and suicide, or one lover nobly choosing exile. Comedies end with one lover adopted into a different family, making their marriage permissible.) When a Gethamanian of humble birth shows great skill and dedication, a wealthy and socially prominent family may adopt her. Not only does this provide Gethamane with a unique form of social mobility, it prevents the leading families from becoming stagnant and complacent. | |
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=== Adopting Outsiders === | === Adopting Outsiders === | ||
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* Second, families don't want to adopt strangers who may bring disrepute on their position. Even middle/lower class who would be willing to adopt an outsider, particularly if a large payment in jade or goods was involved, want to be sure their family won’t be at risk from the outsider’s actions. | * Second, families don't want to adopt strangers who may bring disrepute on their position. Even middle/lower class who would be willing to adopt an outsider, particularly if a large payment in jade or goods was involved, want to be sure their family won’t be at risk from the outsider’s actions. | ||
- | * Third, while the | + | * Third, while the “father” and “mother” of the new adoptee are the only people who formally need to give assent to the adoption, if the rest of the family strongly opposes this course of action then pressure may be placed to prevent the adoption. Fatal accidents, such as falling into the underways never to be heard from again or tragic overdoses of common sleeping drugs have been known to occur in particularly awkward cases (especially ones involving Guild members being adopted). |
Sometimes, an outsider will do a Gethamane family such a definite favor that adoption is the only commensurate favor the family can provide in return. In that case, adoption will be offered willingly, and the outsider is made to understand exactly how large a favor is being done for him. If the outsider truly doesn’t want to be adopted, then an accepted solution is for them to have a child of his blood (or, at worst, a deserving orphan) adopted by the family in his place. | Sometimes, an outsider will do a Gethamane family such a definite favor that adoption is the only commensurate favor the family can provide in return. In that case, adoption will be offered willingly, and the outsider is made to understand exactly how large a favor is being done for him. If the outsider truly doesn’t want to be adopted, then an accepted solution is for them to have a child of his blood (or, at worst, a deserving orphan) adopted by the family in his place. | ||
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The best that outside forces can do is to arrange for future agents to be adopted as children and then attempt to influence them once they reach the age of usefulness. Alternatively, it is possible to get an innocuous outsider adopted and then substitute an agent for the adoptee, though this runs the risk of high embarrassment and social disgrace for the family concerned if it is discovered. | The best that outside forces can do is to arrange for future agents to be adopted as children and then attempt to influence them once they reach the age of usefulness. Alternatively, it is possible to get an innocuous outsider adopted and then substitute an agent for the adoptee, though this runs the risk of high embarrassment and social disgrace for the family concerned if it is discovered. | ||
- | === | + | === LEISURE=== |
- | + | Gethamane encourages (to an extent) a culture of leisure. Citizens who perform sufficient labor to earn their Dole can do whatever they want with any spare time. | |
- | + | "Proper-thinking citizens" (as they describe themselves) fill their leisure hours with: | |
+ | * quiet exercise | ||
+ | * productive crafts (carving imported driftwood is currently very fashionable) | ||
+ | * watching morality plays | ||
+ | * writing epic poetry modeled on barbarian sagas that celebrates honor and virtue | ||
+ | * playing instruments (wind instruments are more generally used than soft string instruments. Drums are never played for recreation; reserved for the Guard’s use). | ||
- | + | However Gethamane has its darker share of pleasures. Behind closed doors (or pulled screens) wide variety of drugs are taken, from imported opium and qat to hallucinogenic local mushrooms. Casual sex, quite outside of marriage, and vicious sessions of gossip and destroying reputations are all common. Some Gethamanians seek pain instead of pleasure, leading to private sessions of sadomasacisim between consenting (or paying) adults. Scarification is currently fashionable, sometimes undertaken using drugs to intensify the pain. | |
- | + | While the more regular citizens disapprove of these past times, they are a recognized part of life in Gethamane. Bethan Redeye realized she needed a viable breeding population in the city and recognized there would always be those who disliked the system she had established. As such she felt it better to offer a cultural escape, rather than drive them out of the mountain. | |
- | + | Regardless of activity, Gethamanians are quite strict that indecorous amusements not leave a mark Even the young who want to shock their parents keep their scars or welts hidden beneath clothing, so they can show a placid, pale and unmarked face in public. It’s the height of bad manners to suggest that your next-door neighbor copulates with imported goats in his silk-hung bedroom. Unless, of course, it should be audible through the walls — in which case, it becomes a matter for public discussion, and the general condemnation of your neighbor will be on the grounds of his incompetence for not keeping the sound down. | |
- | + | Most importantly Gethamane insist on keeping the noise down. Many ears are listening… and no matter what you do or where, you want to hear the distant alarm-drum or the nearby hiss or scuttling that means the horrors are loose and you must run or fight for your life. | |
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- | Gethamane | + | |
- | + | === GOD BLOODED === | |
- | + | Gethamane’s limited contact with supernatural creatures means the city has almost no God-Blooded citizens or other half-breed Essence channelers. | |
- | + | Gethamanians rarely try to enlighten their own Essence either, due to their cultural isolation and lack of any institution to encourage this practice. The Guard wants to recruit thaumaturges for the enchantments, talismans and alchemical medicines they can provide. The city has few skilled thaumaturges, though. Thaumaturgically proficient outsiders who want to join the Guard can easily wangle adoption into a family with strong traditions of Guard membership. | |
== MAKING A LIVING == | == MAKING A LIVING == | ||
- | Gethamane | + | However strange Gethamane seems to outsiders, its people still need to eat, craft tools and otherwise secure their livelihoods—even if they do things a little differently. |
- | * | + | * The farmers maintain the magical Gardens. |
* Hunter-gatherers bring additional food and other commodities from outside, and act as 'scouts' | * Hunter-gatherers bring additional food and other commodities from outside, and act as 'scouts' | ||
- | * The | + | * The Guard preserves civic order and defends against the monsters of the underways. |
* Artisans fashion the tools and implements needed for daily life. | * Artisans fashion the tools and implements needed for daily life. | ||
* Merchants trade with the Guild and other outsiders. | * Merchants trade with the Guild and other outsiders. | ||
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Gethamane is mostly gender-neutral. Both genders can freely work as craftsmen, as gatherers outside (though hunters are usually male), as merchants or negotiators. | Gethamane is mostly gender-neutral. Both genders can freely work as craftsmen, as gatherers outside (though hunters are usually male), as merchants or negotiators. | ||
- | However, there are certain areas | + | However, there are certain areas which each gender tends to get shunted. The Guard is approximately 75% male, while the farmers are approximately 80% female, though both will take members of either gender. |
- | + | Gethamanians often follow the same occupation as their parents. | |
- | ==== | + | ====HUNTING AND GATHERING==== |
- | + | Hunter-gatherers supply far less food than the Gardens, but other Gethamanians value their contribution a great deal. The Gethamanians could live exclusively on fungi from the Gardens (and have in the past, for years at a time) but the hunters and gathers supply ''flavor''. The hunters bag reindeer, ducks and other game. The gatherers collect edible lichen, berries, bulbs from winter-hardy herbs and other foodstuffs. Hunters and gatherers can keep a 1/5th of what they bring to the city, to feed to their own family or sell. The rest goes to the Garden District depots for distribution as part of the Dole. | |
- | Over the centuries, the | + | Over the centuries, the hunters and gatherers absorbed just about every trade that involves bringing raw materials into Gethamane. Logging and mining is also considered a form of gathering (Gethamane operates a few small mines for copper, salt and mica. The Guild operates several more, and Gethamane still gets most of its metal from the Guild). |
+ | |||
+ | Some Gethamanians keep sheep and goats. During the brief summer, their herds graze on the mountain slopes. The animals spend the long winter inside the city with their owners, though. Gethamanians usually pen these animals in sections of the Upper Ring, among the poor. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Their owners harvest huge amounts of hay to feed their beasts over the winter; as a result, animal husbandry is also treated as gathering. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Hunter-gatherers also act as scouts, bringing information on local movements back to Gethamane. The Guard even pays a small bounty for useful reports. In general, the Mistress of Gethamane is aware of what’s going on for a couple of days’ journey around the mountain — farther if good weather allows for farther observation from the mountain’s heights. | ||
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==== Administration ==== | ==== Administration ==== | ||
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The Garden District includes the rooms and offices of Gethamane’s ruler, passed from Master to Mistress for centuries. It’s a point of pride to change as little as possible from Bethan Redeye’s original sparse furniture and belongings. | The Garden District includes the rooms and offices of Gethamane’s ruler, passed from Master to Mistress for centuries. It’s a point of pride to change as little as possible from Bethan Redeye’s original sparse furniture and belongings. | ||
- | === | + | ====FARMING ==== |
- | + | The Gardens occupy a complex of long, dark caves. | |
- | + | The entrances have light crystals, but the Gardens themselves are dark except for faint luminous streaks that mark the edges of paths and growing fields. Various sorts of fungi grow in shallow, bathtub-sized trays set in the floor. Only a few trays are cracked and no longer function. The entire circular array of chambers is two miles wide—probably the most productive acreage in Creation. The dung and offal that the farmers dump in the trays are wholly inadequate to sustain the mushrooms and other fungi that grow with unnatural speed to feed tens of thousands of people every day. | |
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- | + | Despite the unsavory fertilizer, the farmers keep the rest of the Gardens swept and scrubbed spotlessly clean. The farmers do not speak much as they work. Some farmers push barrows full of dung through the narrow paths between trays, then spread this fertilizer over the chosen beds. Other farmers add bits of the fungi they intend to grow or add water from wheeled tanks. A few hours later, the farmers trundle past with a new set of barrows for the harvest. | |
- | |||
- | + | === Religion === | |
- | Most | + | Most Gethamanians are not very religious and leave such matters to the chosen priests. They only go to the three temples when they have particularly urgent concerns or if they hope for prophetic dreams. Similarly, most people don’t bother with luck charms or amulets. Citizens who have frequent commerce with outsiders sometimes buy luck charms from them, but this is often more a political statement than a serious petition to external deities. |
- | + | [[Gods of Gethamane|Gethamane’s gods]] make few demands — they haven’t even given their names — and other gods show little interest in the City. | |
- | Gethamane | + | While they would not deny any deity’s powers, the gods of Gethamane seem to have made their demands quite simple, and the people of Gethamane acquiesce and leave well enough alone. |
- | + | All temples to gods other than those of Gethamane must legally lie within the Guild District. The city sets aside several rooms for visitors to dress in whatever temporary temple trappings they want. Gethamane has no objection to travelers worshiping the Unconquered Sun, any more than the city would object to any other god. As long as worshipers do not break Gethamane’s civil laws, the city government turns a blind eye. However, NO Immaculate temples are permitted (a centuries-old holdover from an encounter with exceptionally high-handed missionaries that went badly). | |
- | + | Small portable travelers’ shrines are politely ignored, but can be used as an excuse for arrest if the Guard has some reason to harass the people involved. There are very few permanent temples in the Guild District, but there are several rooms that are available to passing caravans who want to arrange set worship for several days. | |
- | + | === Funeral Rites === | |
+ | The dead of Gethamane are cremated in the essence-fires of the three temples by the priesthood. Families keep the ashes in small ornamental boxes, scatter them on the mountain slope or add them to the fertilizer for the Gardens. It is illegal to dispose of dead bodies in any other way. | ||
- | + | However, some inhabitants of the city (most notably '''Ellewan Dassen''' of the Outer Circle) have training in embalming — and even taxidermy. There are families throughout Gethamane who, not wishing to be parted from those they love, manage to conceal the preserved corpses of their ancestors in hidden rooms and private quarters. The occasional discovery of an embalmed body provokes an immediate search of the area by the | |
- | + | Some families do not want to relinquish the bodies of their loved ones, however, leading to a small industry of illicit embalming and taxidermy. These families bribe suitable bureaucrats to attest to a body’s cremation, then actually have the corpse preserved. Now and then, an embalmed (or stuffed) corpse is discovered in a hidden room or secreted in a family’s quarters. This always leads to a search of the area for other bodies and the arrest of everyone involved. No one knows the full extent of mortuary crime, but it is especially common among the rich families of Gethamane, who can afford the needed bribery and have the space to hide their ancestors. | |
- | + | Despite this illicit ancestor reverence, Gethamane has no true ancestor cult as Gethamane has no ghosts at all. Gethamanians accept this as normal. | |
- | === THE RULING CLASS | + | |
+ | The religion of Gethamane leaves few of its citizens rising as ghosts. Some inhabitants say that this is due to the profoundly materialistic outlook of most of the citizens — they leave the religion to the priests, who are vastly divorced from the practical world around them and spend their time being rationally afraid of the monsters beneath their feet. Those citizens who do rise as ghosts do not survive to flee the city. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == SOCIETY == | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamane is one of Creation’s most orderly societies. It is not a place where dissent can be tolerated. People either conform or leave. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The security of the Dole keeps Gethamanians in their city, but organizing the production and distribution of so much food from a single source requires extensive control of people’s lives. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Like most societies, Gethamane has its divisions of class, wealth and occupation. The four rough tiers of society are the Council, the moderately wealthy and respected (who mostly dwell in the Outer Ring), the poor (who dwell in the Upper Ring) and the truly homeless, poverty-stricken and family-less outcastes (who live anywhere they can). | ||
+ | |||
+ | The upper classes adopt an attitude of generously appreciating the work of their lowergraded fellow citizens, while the lower classes openly scheme to raise their families’ status, secure dwellings in the Outer Ring (or even near the Gardens) and, some day, possibly gain seats on the Council. This is viewed as perfectly normal in Gethamane, and many popular comedies showcase witty servants or lower-class Guards or artisans manipulating circumstances so that they come out ahead of the game — or even get formally adopted by the Master of Gethamane as a possible heir. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == THE RULING CLASS == | ||
Bethan Redeye's descendants still rule Gethamane. The city’s monarch, called the Master or Mistress, chooses a successor from the Bethanite clan — usually a from their offspring, but sometimes from remote cousins. The monarch always must have a designated heir, though the designation can be changed at whim. | Bethan Redeye's descendants still rule Gethamane. The city’s monarch, called the Master or Mistress, chooses a successor from the Bethanite clan — usually a from their offspring, but sometimes from remote cousins. The monarch always must have a designated heir, though the designation can be changed at whim. | ||
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Gethamane is a structure shaped by the necessity of organizing food distribution and defenses against the underways. . | Gethamane is a structure shaped by the necessity of organizing food distribution and defenses against the underways. . | ||
- | === THE INTELLIGENCERS === | + | === THE MASTER’S INTELLIGENCERS === |
+ | |||
+ | What the clerks don’t know, spies must discover, for Gethamane cannot afford any disruption. Civil unrest could leave people starving, and leave the city vulnerable to invasion from below. | ||
- | Unofficially, Bethanites gather information for the current Master or Mistress. Everyone in Gethamane knows this — only the rawest, most ignorant newcomers from outside would be unaware. As such the Mistress of Gethamane has to look outside her family for operatives to get further information. | + | Unofficially, the Bethanites gather information for the current Master or Mistress. Everyone in Gethamane knows this — only the rawest, most ignorant newcomers from outside would be unaware. As such the Mistress of Gethamane has to look outside her family for operatives to get further information. |
- | [[Shakan]], the current Head Intelligencer solves this with blackmail. All his agents watch for criminal behavior, and use that information to recruit new operatives, using their loyalty to their family by inspiring fear that their families will suffer for the agents’ acts. Once the agents have | + | [[Shakan]], the current Head Intelligencer solves this problem with blackmail. All his agents constantly watch for criminal behavior, and use that information to recruit new operatives, using their loyalty to their family by inspiring fear that their families will suffer for the agents’ acts. Once the agents have been working for him for long enough, that in itself is another reason to fear exposure. Indeed, Gethamanians despise the Intelligencers and exposed agents suffers worse ostracism than they might have received from her original crime. |
- | Shakan has agents throughout society, except the temples (the priests are generally too preoccupied with their rituals to do anything significantly illegal) while he has agents among the foreign merchants, he distrusts them and cannot be totally certain of their loyalty. He currently has no agents who are Guild members but would like to gather some. | + | Shakan has agents throughout society, except in the temples (the priests are generally too preoccupied with their rituals to do anything significantly illegal) and while he has agents among the foreign merchants, he distrusts them and cannot be totally certain of their loyalty. He currently has no agents who are also Guild members but would like to gather some. |
=== THE COUNCIL === | === THE COUNCIL === | ||
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People who don’t belong to Gethamane’s families and who, thus, aren’t citizens of the city form the underclass, | People who don’t belong to Gethamane’s families and who, thus, aren’t citizens of the city form the underclass, | ||
however well-born or rich or gifted they are. They simply aren’t given the same consideration and respect that locals get. Shops overcharge them, the Guard treats them with distant curtness, they aren’t allowed anywhere near the gardens and, when found outside the Guild quarter or the temples, they are politely encouraged to go back there and reminded none-too-subtly of the laws prohibiting a stay of more than a month. The people who really suffer are those outsiders who have been adopted and who should be treated like normal citizens but don’t yet look or behave properly. To be fair, once local citizens are aware that the apparent foreigner they’re talking to or dealing with has been properly adopted, they will give him fair and civil treatment. | however well-born or rich or gifted they are. They simply aren’t given the same consideration and respect that locals get. Shops overcharge them, the Guard treats them with distant curtness, they aren’t allowed anywhere near the gardens and, when found outside the Guild quarter or the temples, they are politely encouraged to go back there and reminded none-too-subtly of the laws prohibiting a stay of more than a month. The people who really suffer are those outsiders who have been adopted and who should be treated like normal citizens but don’t yet look or behave properly. To be fair, once local citizens are aware that the apparent foreigner they’re talking to or dealing with has been properly adopted, they will give him fair and civil treatment. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == GEOGRAPHY == | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamane does not pretend to control any territory beyond the slopes of its own mountain, but its hunters and gatherers see most of what happens within the nearest 20 miles or so. The hunters sometimes venture farther, out of the mountains and all the way to the White Sea shore. | ||
+ | Sheltered valleys within the mountains sometimes hold patches of taiga that the Gethamanians cultivate and harvest with care—a tree can take 50 years to grow 10 feet high. Tundra covers the lower mountain slopes with hardy lichen, moss and patches of grass and herbs. The icy upper slopes are nearly barren. This far into the North, in a direct line from the Elemental Pole of Air, winter lasts much of the year and the growing season is just three months long. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | There are two great gates to the city, one on either side of the mountain at north and south, and a number of higher passages that lead to the outside, all well-concealed and easily closed, that the gatherers and hunters use when going out to collect food and hunt. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | At the base of the mountain, in its heart, lie the long sunken Gardens. Next to them are important civic buildings such as the Courthouse, the Dole distribution center, the Master’s quarters and the Guardhall. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Farther out, toward the sides of the mountain, lie the tunnels and rooms that have been claimed as territory by the various families, and are used for accommodation, crafting and storage. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | === THE SUBTERRANEAN CITY === | ||
+ | |||
+ | In Gethamane, social rank goes along with depth in the mountain. The closer a person is to ground level, where the sunken Gardens are, the higher-ranked she is. Gethamane consists of five layers: | ||
+ | |||
+ | * the Temple District at the top; large open rooms decorated with jewel-encrusted carvings of mountains and enormous flying creatures. | ||
+ | * the Upper Ring below that; | ||
+ | * the central Guild District; where the Guild may stable and house its caravans, trade with the people of the city and maintain a permanent market. | ||
+ | * the Outer Ring, by far the largest sector of the city; | ||
+ | * the Garden District at Ground Level, with the Gardens themselves at the center. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Proximity to the source of the Dole makes the Garden District the most prestigious sector of Gethamane, while the Upper Ring’s distance renders it the least desirable place to live in the city. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === THE OUTER SLOPES === | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamane’s hunters and gatherers travel the slopes of the mountain and the surrounding tundra under all conditions short of howling blizzards. The appalling winter weather and marauding icewalkers makes it impossible to maintain stable farms during the winter, but hardy orchards and perennial crops mean that there is some cultivated food to harvest in the brief summer and autumn. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Otherwise, there are mosses and ferns to gather and local wildlife to hunt down. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | About half a mile further up the mountain, a dozen small, well camouflaged tunnels lead from the icy slope to clusters of chambers and from there to the Temple District and Upper Ring. Over the centuries, the Gethamanians also installed a variety of locking cast-iron doors, false tunnels, dropfalls and other traps for uninvited visitors. Nobody in Gethamane can translate the ancient script carved around the entrances. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The dozen exits that the hunter-gatherers use are all positioned high up on the mountain, spaced in a loose circle around the peak, nearly a day’s downhill travel from the main entrances. The hunters’ exits are stone gateways sufficiently wide for five men to walk abreast through them and 10 feet high. Stone passages (trapped by the Guard to enable collapse if necessary) 20 feet long lead back inside to large rooms that the hunters and gatherers use to store their equipment and hunting weapons. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === THE ENTRANCES === | ||
+ | |||
+ | The two great gates of Gethamane are carved from stone, a foot thick and gleaming the distinctive hues of jade and orichalcum alloys (pale blue | ||
+ | in the north, reddish in the south) and reinforced with heavy enchantments of warding and defense laid on them. Inside, large wheels move stout bars to lock or unseal the gates. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A tunnel 50 yards long, 10 yards high and 10-yards wide leads from each gate to a large antechamber, which has heavy orichalcum-infused adamant portcullises at each end. For security only one porcullius will be raised at any one time. Guards constantly man these posts. Any minor brawl or scuffle in the gate passages or antechambers will be dealt with brusquely and effectively. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The antechamber guards record the names and brief descriptions of every visitor to Gethamane. All who enter Gethamane have their names taken down, together with a brief physical description, usually no more than “black-haired woman” or “man with limp.” Noticeable characters, such as Solars traveling openly, are likely to have more details noted down. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Free visitors must pay a silver dinar to enter. Slaves pay half a dinar (a concession to the Guild). Visitors short of cash can register to pay through labor: Plenty of menial tasks always need doing, such as cleaning passages. Slave caravans usually pay for the slaves’ entrance in this manner. None enters the city without registration, though. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In the case of a cash shortage, the Guard is willing to take down the character’s name and details and either take the payment in goods or allow the character to make the payment later by doing civic work for Gethamane, with the amount to be adjudicated by one of the Bethanites (while this work is usually menial but necessary, particularly dangerous but penniless adventurers may be asked to undertake an expedition into the underways, with promises of significant extra recompense if they succeed.) Masters of slave caravans often arrange for their slaves to work off the fee in labor while staying in the city, rather than pay. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Each antechamber also holds the keys to a set of explosives and sorceries set into the 50-yard tunnel leading to it, which should (it has never been tested) collapse the tunnel when activated. This is a last-ditch defense to be used if the outer gate falls. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In the event of serious trouble, a runner is always on duty to contact the Guardhall, and more Guards can be mobilized at a moment’s notice. The Guard tends toward firmness and severity. The constant awareness of the horrors lurking in Gethamane’s underways leaves the Guard on edge. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Guards quickly move in to capture anyone who makes a ruckus, while drumbeats signal for reinforcements and a runner races to the Guard’s headquarters. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === THE STRUCTURE === | ||
+ | |||
+ | The passages of Gethamane are square shaped, their walls and ceilings dark gray and slightly rough. While smaller rooms are generally plain and of much the same structure as the passageways, the larger rooms and halls are covered in intricate and beautiful carvings. Some rooms have stone doors, while others have newer doors of timber or stretched hide. Timber and hide are also frequently used to erect partitions across rooms or passageways or to mark the limits of a family’s territory. The older or wealthier families have heavier, metalnailed bulwarks or elaborately painted screens, while poorer families must make do with roughly tanned leather, pieces of wood cannibalized from merchants’ carts and other temporary makeshifts. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The underways themselves are quite different in structure from the upper city. The stone from which the underways are carved is black, rounded and faintly slick to the touch. There are several dozen known entrances to the lower tunnels from the city, and the Guard watches them all and keeps records of all activity passing through the entrances in either direction. | ||
+ | |||
+ | It is a crime against the Second Law of Gethamane (trespass on another’s goods) to damage the structure of the city or to damage or break one of the glowing crystals that illuminate it. (It requires three levels of aggravated damage to weaken a crystal and reduce the light by half and six levels of aggravated damage to break one.) The usual penalty is a heavy fine in jade or goods and enforced service to the city in a menial capacity. The Masters of Gethamane have always wanted to discourage such behavior by example. There are wells sunk throughout the city, though far more on the lower levels than the upper ones. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Most Gethamanian tunnels are square or rectangular. | ||
+ | The floors and ceilings are the mountain’s own dark gray stone, | ||
+ | plain and slightly rough. Other forms of stone or concrete | ||
+ | sometimes cover the walls. Smaller rooms tend to be plain, but | ||
+ | intricate and beautiful geometric carvings adorn the walls of | ||
+ | larger passages and chambers. Some rooms have stone doors; | ||
+ | others have new makeshift doors of wood or leather. | ||
+ | Gethamane’s current population exceeds that of the | ||
+ | old City of the Mountain Gateway. Many Gethamanians | ||
+ | live in apartments formed by partitioning larger chambers | ||
+ | or passages. Wealthy families mark their compound with | ||
+ | screens of metal or elaborately painted wood. The poor make | ||
+ | do with makeshifts such as leather, cloth, paper or scraps of | ||
+ | wood salvaged from a merchant’s cart. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamane consists of hundreds of twisting corridors that connect countless rooms. Its large halls are covered in intricate and beautiful carvings of unknown plants and beasts, strangely designed pictures that haunt the memories of visitors. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === UTILITIES === | ||
+ | |||
+ | Large crystals of pale violet set in the walls and ceiling emit a clear white light. The crystals glow brightly during the | ||
+ | day outside (even brighter than most days) and dim when night falls. Still, the crystals stay bright enough for most people to continue working on all but the most demanding tasks. Guards can patrol, farmers to labor, Guards to patrol and merchants to bargain. Gethamane is alive and busy all round the clock, with citizens working during the “day” or “night” depending on their personal preferences. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamanians cover the crystals if they want darkness, but few people outside the visitors’ section ever do so. Most Gethamanians are used to constant light: True darkness frightens them. Damaging the crystals is a major offense. Gethamanians learned centuries ago that removing a crystal from its setting darkens it forever. | ||
+ | |||
+ | For water, Gethamane has at least four large public fountains on each level and citizens draw off water as needed. Additionally the Outer Ring has two working bathhouses whose large, tiled pools magically heat the water in them. Two others no longer function. These bathhouses were all declared to be city property in the early days of the city and remain such. Even the wealthiest families must either come to the public baths or heat basins of water in their own homes. As such they are considered social as well as hygienic locations, and were clearly used by the previous inhabitants, as the caves in which the springs are situated were laid out for bathing, with some small pools to one side for private use and other large pools for general use. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamane's laws forbid anyone restricting the use of a well save "at the will of the City in time of trouble”. Any damage to a well is a crime against the Second Law, garnering similar penalties as damage to the light crystals. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Unfortunately, most of the city’s internal plumbing corroded to uselessness during the long vacancy. Gethamanians make do with chamber pots and rather stinky non-flushing commodes. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == THE OUTER RING == | ||
+ | |||
+ | Farther in from the antechamber, the tunnels branch out and become more complex, going up and down as well | ||
+ | as to left and right. Traveling upward but directly ahead leads to the Guild area. The direct passage is well-marked, with Guard posts along the way, officially to prevent merchants from getting lost but unofficially to keep an eye on anyone leaving the main passages. Farther out to the side lie the dwellings of the middle classes of Gethamane — long-established Guard and farming families, respected artisans and hunters and prospectors who have done well from expeditions into the underways. | ||
+ | |||
+ | These sets of rooms have usually been in the hands of a single family for generations. The rooms grow cluttered | ||
+ | with the family’s heirlooms and detritus and are frequently crowded, if the family has grown and not married or | ||
+ | adopted its children out to another family. Rooms in this area are seldom free and only become so if an entire family should perish without willing its property to anyone else or if some crime against the city should result in a family being exiled, slain or enslaved. In such a case, ownership of the rooms reverts to the Council, and the Master of Gethamane chooses to whom they are awarded. (The Guild has been trying to get its hands on some of these rooms for centuries now, but previous Masters have avoided deeding these rooms to anyone connected with the Guild, however high a bribe is offered.) | ||
+ | |||
+ | This is also the area that contains public buildings that aren’t important enough to be in the central area with | ||
+ | the Gardens and the Council buildings, but are useful to Gethamane as a whole. Craft halls, minor associations, | ||
+ | schools and similar establishments can be found in this area. Either they are set up in rooms that are rented to them by particular families, or a major family from the organization owns the rooms and charges a small fee to all the other members. It is very difficult indeed for a new organization to get itself territory in this area. To do so would require a debt of gratitude by, or the major blackmail of, one of the families who could rent the organization a room. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Naturally, not every single room is occupied or claimed. However, the few rooms that are left are far to the edges of the Outer Ring and have often been used as dumping grounds for rubbish for centuries or are close enough to a family’s territory that the family could make a plausible case before Gethamane’s judges for owning the room. Some thieves in the area use such rooms as lairs, building nests in the years of collected litter and detritus. While the beauty of Gethamane’s structure is evident, so is the clutter of centuries of inhabitation. Families react to the buildup of their own rubbish by shifting it into other people’s areas or dumping it in public places — while trying not to get caught doing so, of course. The people who own property in this area consider themselves the pillars of Gethamane, the ones who actually get the work of the city done. While they are courteous to visitors (especially wealthy ones), they will call the Guard to chase away beggars, lowlifes, bravos or other undesirables. Several acting and entertainer families own properties in this area and use them to present performances. While these families are not considered high society, or even upper middle class, the Gardens and the Outer Ring both tolerate them rather than drive them into the Upper Ring. After all, if these families should be based there among the poor, it would be that much harder for the rich to visit them and enjoy their performances. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Some of the more notable locations in this area follow. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === TIMBER HALL === | ||
+ | |||
+ | This large room is surrounded by several small ones and is the center of work for most of the local carpenters, woodcarvers, furniture makers and other woodworkers. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Wood collected by the gatherers outside or brought in by the Guild and purchased by local merchants is carried here to be crafted by its owners or resold. The actual owners of the rooms, the '''Ragith family''', make a handsome profit out of charging a very low toll fee to everyone who enters and a higher fee to those who want to rent one of the small rooms for a long-term project or a private meeting. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | CHARACTER CONCEPTS FOR THE OUTER RING | ||
+ | |||
+ | Warrior: Janissary Vault Member, Guard | ||
+ | |||
+ | Holy Man: Temple Priest, Philosophy Cell Member | ||
+ | |||
+ | Savant: Philosophy Cell Member, Historian | ||
+ | |||
+ | Criminal: Petty Thief, Merchant Preying On Newcomers | ||
+ | |||
+ | Entertainer: Actor, Flautist | ||
+ | |||
+ | Bureaucrat: Dole Checker, Gate Clerk, Timber Hall Accountant | ||
+ | |||
+ | == THE UPPER RING == | ||
+ | |||
+ | This section is where the poorer citizens of Gethamane dwell. It covers the area from above the Outer Ring and | ||
+ | over the Guild District, up to and around the temples. | ||
+ | |||
+ | While the main thoroughfares are kept clear and patrolled by the Guard, the back passages can go unseen by official eyes for months. The area as a whole ranges from cleanbut-shabby, in the better and more aspiring parts of the district and along the main passages, to filthy, cramped and utter squalor. A lot of the inhabitants keep livestock (goats, chickens or pigs) and can’t be bothered to drag dung and waste all the way to one of the small gatherers’ gates to dump it or even to sell it to one of the dung collectors who cart it down for fertilizer in the Gardens. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The trip to collect the Dole can take 1-3 hours just to reach the Gardens, not to mention the wait at the Gardens to sign off on the Registers. In the remoter parts of the Upper Ring, it’s common for family representatives to be ambushed for the food they’re carrying while on their way back. As a result, groups from a particular set of caves often travel together, for mutual security. There are a number of gangs in the area, ranging from just a few members to several dozen in size. The Guard cracks down on any large gang that it can find and press criminal charges against, but a few gangs slip through the nets. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Such an environment breeds disease and encourages scavengers. Despite the use of small charms and the burning | ||
+ | of certain poisonous herbs, rats lurk in the garbage, lice and worms infest the poorest inhabitants and it is rumored that certain dark creatures from the underways have escaped the Guard and now hide in the remotest passageways and caves, emerging to prey on those citizens nearby. Disease is also common, most commonly pneumonia or influenza or minor diarrhea and vomiting. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Another breed of scavenger found in the Upper Circle is the amateur treasure-hunter and scrollsearcher, who believe that the accumulated trash of generations and the unexplored nature of some of the less pleasant passages may hide the secrets of Gethamane. | ||
+ | |||
+ | (Occasional interesting finds have happened, but purseslitting, unpleasant diseases and general social condemnation are more common.) Tunnel preachers also wander these corridors, talking wildly about apocalyptic “end times” or claiming to represent the true gods, as opposed to the “false gods” worshiped in the temples. | ||
+ | Ten of the 12 small portals used by hunters and gatherers to collect food outside of Gethamane branch off the Upper Circle. These portals are kept well clear and guarded, and the families who live nearby and who practice | ||
+ | this as their occupation are among the better-off dwellers in the area. These families are prosperous and so | ||
+ | well-regarded that they even manage to adopt or marry into Outer Circle or Garden District families from time to | ||
+ | time. The best known of these families, the Otist family, even holds a seat on the Council. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Few in this district can afford expensive instruments or other gear for entertaining. Singing, however, is common, and some paupers with truly incredible voices have been adopted into better families or have made careers for themselves in the Outer Circle or the Guild District. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Another major leisure activity here is cooking. Even the poorest family has a set of recipes for preparing Dole fungi and any scrapings that they can get their hands on, and small stalls offering to season and cook a meal on the spot line some of the better thoroughfares. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === THE WAREHOUSES === | ||
+ | |||
+ | When the hunters and gatherers bring in game and food from outside, they can’t necessarily haul it down to the main food stocks in the Garden District, nor do they want to keep the game in their own homes — it’s too great an invitation to thievery. So, they bring the food and game here. These large sets of caves are owned by the city and may be used by citizens to store food on payment of a tithe of approximately one-twentieth of the food’s value (or of the food itself) to the city. There are five of these warehouses, set roughly in a circle round the district and each one close to two of the gathering entrances. The warehouses are heavily patrolled by the Guard and are manned by junior Bethanites who are judged by their elders to need seasoning. The corridors around the warehouses are constantly hustling with merchants, beggars, hunters and gatherers and people trying to strike a quick bargain over suspiciously overripe deer haunches or similar dubious goods. Incidentally, the poorer caves near here have some of the worst rates of dysentery in all Gethamane. The families buy their food cheap, and, sadly for them, they get what they pay for. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Five large warehouse-chambers, spaced around the Upper Ring, are kept cold with ice brought from outside. The city owns these chilled warehouses. Any Gethamanian can store food here, at a cost of one-twentieth the food’s value (or of the food itself). Hunters and gatherers often use this option, since keeping large amounts of valuable meat or vegetables in one’s home invites thievery. Plenty of Guards patrol the warehouses to protect their contents. The corridors near the warehouses bustle with merchants, beggars, hunters, gatherers and other citizens trying to strike deals. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Wealthy Gethamanians can enjoy fresh reindeer steaks with cloudberry jelly. The poor hustle for suspiciously overripe snowshoe hare carcasses. It’s no accident that the poor folk | ||
+ | of the Upper Ring suffer rates of food poisoning much higher than in the rest of Gethamane. | ||
+ | |||
+ | CHARACTER CONCEPTS FOR THE OUTER RING | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Warrior: Gang Member, Guard | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Holy Man: Temple Priest, Apocalyptic Tunnel Preacher | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Savant: Archaeologist, Unethical Experimenter | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Criminal: Con Artist, Dole Fraud, Food Hijacker, Rebel | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Entertainer: Cook, Street Singer | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Bureaucrat: Hospital Staff, Warehouse Manager | ||
+ | |||
+ | == THE TEMPLES == | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamane’s three temples are all large, open rooms located near the top of the mountain and distinguished from other chambers by jewel-encrusted carvings of mountains and enormous flying creatures (the decorations also include traces of orichalcum, moonsilver, starmetal and jade, though in such small quantities that it would take days of very public work to extract a useful amount) Blue-white Essence fires burn above the three circular altars. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Almost everyone entering these rooms is struck by an eerie sense of presence and watchfulness. Those who spend the night sleeping in a temple report being haunted by vivid, confusing dreams. Most dreamers remember only fragments of these dreams, though memories of frantic searching or desperate flight are common. Many then spend the next few nights in sleepless dread or eager anticipation, and some find new answers to problems that were troubling them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | People who enter the temples feel an eerie sense of being watched, but no deity has ever manifested. Those who sleep in a temple experience vivid, confusing dreams, often of frantic searching or desperate flight. Some dreamers find answers to questions that bothered them. This is the chief reason why Gethamanians visit the temples. More likely, dreamers spend the next few nights in sleepless anticipation or dread. A few feel called to serve as priests. A very few wake in screaming terror. They cannot remember their dreams but cannot bear to spend another minute in the city. Gethamanians know that such people may injure or kill themselves if kept from escaping. Fortunately, they seem to recover their wits once they depart and can no longer see the mountain. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Very few who sleep in a temple feel called to serve as priests afterward. This started in the first days of the city, when several loners chose the temples as their base. On waking they respectfully informed Bethan Redeye that they could no longer work in any other capacity, as they felt duty-bound to tend the temples and perform rites of propitiation. Bethan and her people were not particularly surprised to find the unknown gods of the city demanded some form of worship and were, in fact, quite relieved to find it was something so minor and easily performed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Mistress not only gave leave for the few chosen ones to remain as priests, but established that any citizen choosing to become a priest, and accepted by the other acolytes as such, should receive a portion of the Dole similar to a mid-rank Guard or farmer, as the priests were doing vital work for Gethamane. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamanians do not become priests deliberately. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Priests abandon their old lives. They offer flowers and animal blood on the altars. Late at night, the priests cover the temple floors with complex designs drawn in ink, colored | ||
+ | sand or, occasionally, their own blood, while chanting in an unknown tongue. The priests cannot explain either their mandalas or their liturgies, but they feel driven to perform both. Afterward, they clean and polish the temples. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Priests who have been called to service leave their previous lives behind and work at the temple. They keep the temples clean and well polished and make offerings of flowers and animal blood upon the altars. Late at night, the priests also perform odd ceremonies during which they cover the floors of the temples with elaborate patterns drawn in ink, colored sand and, sometimes, their own blood. Chanting in unknown tongues, the acolytes sometimes disturb the sleep of those who live nearby. The priests assiduously clean up the patterns afterward, and, if interrupted during this cleaning, they become extremely agitated and beg leave to finish their task. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Occasionally, someone who sleeps in a temple is driven mad and flees from Gethamane, never to return. Attempts to restrain these unfortunates have proven extremely difficult. If bound or locked up within Gethamane, they invariably injure themselves in their raving attempts to escape. They are unable to give details of why they are so terrified or why they must leave, but struggle in an inarticulate frenzy, screaming and thrashing as they attempt to break their restraints. Those lunatics who do not perish in the wastes outside quickly return to sanity once out of sight of the mountain city but consistently refuse to return to or speak of Gethamane again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Savants and wise men alike have come to study the patterns that the priests make on the floor, but the researchers have been unable to deduce anything from the patterns. One visiting scavenger lord suggested that the markings bore some resemblance to certain diagrams that he’d seen on a scroll that came from the Mountain Folk within the Realm, but, unfortunately, he was unable to pursue his theories further, as he went to investigate the underways and never returned. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | There is no clear hierarchy among the acolytes. Gethamane's Master/ Mistress appoints a High Priest/ Priestess so the Council have someone with whom it can interact and discuss matters such as organization, provision of the Dole and exorcisms or warding prayers. The current High Priest is '''Chilitos''', who belonged to the Varenne family (notable for its poverty, bad hunters and worse gatherers) before leaving to join the priesthood. All other priests are referred to as Father or Mother, however old they may be. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A ceremonial 15-Guard group (three per temple) is always in attendance, though this is correctly viewed as a soft assignment and is used as a minor reward for Guards who need a restful job for a few weeks. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In addition to propitiating Gethamane’s nameless gods and assisting people who want to dream in the temples, the priests act as exorcists. When Gethamanians feel that some malign influence affects their lives, they call in a priest to conduct banishing rituals. These ceremonies involve lots of community participation. When the malign influence is a grudge between neighbors, the shared ritual can help ease the conflict. Yet, some priests study the thaumaturgical Art of Warding and Exorcism (in case the malign influence is a rampaging demon or other supernatural horror. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | In cases of demonic activity, strange phenomena or anything that might be seen as requiring divine intervention, the priests are willing to come to any part of Gethamane and perform rites and services to banish evil influences. While the gods of Gethamane are little help, the priesthood does contain a few genuine thaumaturges trained in the Arts of Warding and in rituals, which have been passed down through the centuries. The most expert of these priests is Mother Sansen, a gentle old woman always willing to believe the best of everyone, whose skill at warding is far more a matter of natural talent than an urge to battle evil influences. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The three temples themselves are surrounded by a net of smaller rooms and passages. These are used by the priests for accommodation, for private confession and counseling and for storing items for their ceremonies. The passages from the temples through the Upper Ring and down to the Outer Ring and the Garden and Guild Districts are kept well clear by the Guards and are regularly patrolled, as there have been times when particularly poor or desperate Upper Ring inhabitants have assaulted or robbed rich citizens on their way to the temples. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == THE GUILD DISTRICT == | ||
+ | |||
+ | Guards direct all visitors to the Guild District of Gethamane, the site of most of the city’s commerce and one of the busiest parts of Gethamane. Guild caravans and other merchants move in and out, citizens of Gethamane visit to do business and the Guard is always checking for any breaches of the city’s laws. There are Guard checkpoints at each of the 20 passageways leading to this area, though some checkpoints are only manned by a couple of the Guard at any given time. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The central three large chambers of this district hold the main markets. Surrounding rooms serve as storage, while rooms farther out are used for accommodation, both for travelers, merchants and slaves. Lesser merchants and miscellaneous travelers rent rooms from the Guild or from Gethamanian owners. Some visitors just camp in the warehouses or disused corridors. All the stalls are made from wood, though some have been in their current location for decades, passed between allied trading groups when one leaves the city and another enters. Truly old stalls are a sign of prestige, and the stallholders can command respect from all the nearby merchants. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Instead of trying to regulate stall space and locations, Gethamane's government allows the merchants themselves — and primarily the Guild — to sort things out. Naturally, this means that Guild members get preference, while non-Guild merchants get shunted to any small leftover areas. It also means bribery is frequent and heavy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Guard move in if a situation descends into open brawling or destruction of property, but stay out of things otherwise. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Guard watches the Guild District closely. Guards at each entrance keep careful records of everyone who enters and leaves, and what they bring to the city. In daily sweeps through the district, the Guard seeks and removes people who overstay their one-month welcome. Guards also remind visitors who have a day or two to go that they should prepare to leave soon. The Guild District sees a constant turnover as traders come and go. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Guard patrols make daily sweeps through the Guild District to locate and remove people who have outstayed their month and to remind those who only have a day or two left that they should be preparing to leave the city. There are always a few fugitives hiding in the Guild District, overdue to leave and trying to avoid the Guard. Guild mercenaries (unless ordered otherwise) cooperate with the Guard in locating these targets — particularly if the person in question is an independent merchant or otherwise antithetical to Guild interests. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === THE THREE MARKETS === | ||
+ | |||
+ | The '''Food Market''' sells all sorts of food, raw or prepared. The room has a pungent tang to the air, from centuries of food being exposed and sold here. Experts can sniff the air 100 yards down the corridors and recognize new shipments of cheese, pork, or other foodstuffs have arrived. Large stalls selling raw or preserved foods are at the center of the cave, while the smaller ones farther out provide luxury foods (including wine and beer), snack stalls, or cooking services. The biggest stall here is owned by Gethamane itself, selling food from the fungal gardens at a low price, undercutting most of the other food stalls present and bringing more revenue to the city government. | ||
+ | |||
+ | This cave is also the venue for those selling drugs and medicines, which can be found at the northern end of the room. These merchants often hire local citizens to serve as security and prevent petty theft from their stalls. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The '''Metal Market''' deals in metal and stone goods, both raw materials and finished products (the primary trade here is weapons, and the iron and steel necessary to produce them). This market is the noisiest (and smokiest) of the three, as around 25% of the stallholders offer on-spot smithing services and have brought in their own anvils and other equipment in order to be able to work onsite. As with the Food Market, some smithy stalls are passed between traders as one group enters and another leaves. This practice is more common here, as it allows merchants to avoid having to move all the equipment. | ||
+ | |||
+ | This is also the traditional spot to sell treasures recovered from the underways, even in the (admittedly rare) cases when such items are not mineral in nature. Many merchants here are very willing to buy anything that can be recovered from the underways. Treasure-seekers who proclaim their discoveries too loudly are likely to be besieged by Guildsmen and other traders offering them prices for whatever found. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The '''Wood Market''' began by selling timber, firewood and furniture, then branched out into cloth, books, and maps. It has now become a catchall for any commodity or service that doesn’t deal with food or metal. Space is at a premium, and the Guard is frequently called to break up squabbles or stop brawls. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Knowledge is the Wood Market’s most distinctive trade: petty thaumaturges, charm-sellers, diviners, guides to the city and the surrounding countryside, books, and of course “true and verifiable” maps to the underways. The Guard turns a blind eye to such frauds, as Gethamanians believe anyone stupid enough to fall for such a scam deserves whatever happens to him. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === TRIBUNAL CAVE === | ||
+ | |||
+ | The most opulent chamber in the Guild District is the Tribunal Cave, located directly above the Courthouse (though there are several layers of rock and passageways in between). Its chairs and divans are made from wood imported from the distant South, silks brought from the Far East and West, jade that could grace the Blessed Isle itself. Ornaments of porcelain and jade serve to impress visitors with the Guild’s wealth. One cabinet holds a selection of alcohol and drugs that, though not actually illegal, would certainly draw the Guard’s attention. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In short Tribunal Cave is designed and decorated to impress, and is reserved for high-level consultation among visiting Guildmasters and wealthy or powerful merchants to have earned the Guild’s respect. Meetings range from staid discussions of tariffs and commercial law to wild debauches — with a contract and pen offered at a strategic moment. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Guild mercenaries always stand guard outside Tribunal Cave. The Guild doesn’t trust the Guard anywhere near the room. There have been several occasions when Guard representatives took advantage of criminal charges and evidence of lawbreaking elsewhere to search the place for incriminating documents; indeed, the Guard takes any opportunity to investigate private Guild quarters, on the “guilty till proven innocent” principle. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === THE DWELLINGS === | ||
+ | |||
+ | In principle, accommodation in the Guild District is available for whoever wants it. In practice, people who’ve arrived move into any rooms that are vacant, often squatting in warehouse space or even the corridors if nothing better is available. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Guild itself partitions and arranges the caves it controls so that any visiting members have somewhere to sleep and put their goods, even if it’s just a corner of a shared cave or a small pocket of a room near the edge of the district. Other merchants can either pay the Guild or owe the Guild members a significant favor or scrabble for space in the area that’s left, often forming temporary coalitions to secure themselves some room. If this degenerates to open fighting, the Guard moves in to restore order, arresting everyone. (A few of the Guard take bribes, but not many.) | ||
+ | |||
+ | High-ranking Guild members and rich merchants get dwelling areas close to the markets, while poorer Guild members and merchants are situated nearer to the passageways coming up from the gates. Truly poor merchants or travelers find themselves left to struggle for living space in the areas to the far east and west, distant from both the gate passages and the markets. Of course, the one-month residency rule keeps people rotating in and out at a fairly rapid pace, but the basic principles of who lives where remain constant. The Guard uses its records at each gate to keep track of who are due to leave Gethamane at the end of their month. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | === RIOTS IN THE GUILD DISTRICT === | ||
+ | |||
+ | There are many possible causes for riots: arguments over space, accusations of theft, claustrophobia, culture shock from the surroundings, etc. It’s very easy for a crowded group of people to become a screaming mob. When this happens, any important merchants present barricade themselves in, and the Guildmasters themselves retreat to Tribunal Cave, while sending in mercenaries to crack heads and disperse the crowd. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Guard may intervene if it thinks it’ll be easy to break the riot up in the early stages, or the Guard may just close off the Guild District and wait for things to die down. Any surviving rioters are liable to be tried on charges of breaking all three of the Rules and are likely to be fined for everything they possess. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The citizens of Gethamane don’t care if most of the foreigners in the Guild District kill each other. There will always be more outsiders, coming to trade or to explore the underways in the hopes of finding treasure. However, locals flee the Guild District themselves if they know a riot’s starting and are (from experience) quite good at spotting the tell-tale signs of rising aggression. This generally alerts the Guard, which moves to break things up or shut the district down. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | CHARACTER CONCEPTS FOR THE GUILD DISTRICT | ||
+ | |||
+ | Warrior: Cheap Thug, Guild Mercenary, Traveling Weaponsmaster | ||
+ | |||
+ | Holy Man: Devout Missionary, Visiting Immaculate | ||
+ | |||
+ | Savant: Archaeologist, Realm Dilettante, Scavenging Treasure-Hunter | ||
+ | |||
+ | Criminal: Con Man, Map-Seller, Pickpocket, Scam Merchant | ||
+ | |||
+ | Entertainer: Actor, Courtesan, Minstrel | ||
+ | |||
+ | Bureaucrat: Administrator, Guard Clerk, Guild Accountant | ||
+ | |||
+ | == THE GARDEN DISTRICT == | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Garden District is the heart of Gethamane - containing its food sources, its government, its records and laws. It lies directly below the Guild District, with the Outer Ring equidistant from the pair | ||
+ | |||
+ | Truly rich families have small cave complexes here, and the Guardhall is located next to the Gardens themselves. Any outsiders seen in this area are questioned by passing Guards as to where they’re going and what they’re doing — doubly so if they seem poor or shabby. The Gardens themselves are the most heavily guarded area in all Gethamane - more so than the Council Chambers. | ||
+ | |||
+ | This district also holds most of the known entrances down into the underways. These are all protected by groups of 6-10 Guards, and each group carries a drum to signal the alarm in the event of any incursions from below. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | === THE GARDENS === | ||
+ | |||
+ | This complex of long, dark caves lacks the lighting of the rest of the city. A few light crystals burn in the entrances, enough to make it easy for people to enter and leave, but most of the space is shadowy, lit only by faint glimmers of luminescence from particular fungi that mark the boundaries of the caves or the edges of growing fields. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Other than the long trays of black obsidian mirrors set along the floor, briming with varieties of fungi in varying shades, the Gardens are spotlessly clean - scrubbed and swept daily with ritual precision. Some trays have been cracked or damaged, but most are still whole. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Narrow paths between the trays allow the farmers to care for, and collect, the vegetation - piling it in barrows as they pass. The rooms themselves are quiet, with the distant seeping of water from the springs that feed the caves whispering in the background and the farmers only breaking silence to make necessary conversation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The walls are composed of the same substance as the rest of Gethamane but traced with ancient writings and diagrams. Centuries ago, Bethan Redeye’s people to deduce the basic functioning of the Gardens from these diagrams and, with a lot of trial and error, grew the fungi that now feed the city. These days, no farmer would dare tamper with the ancient procedures or do anything that might risk the regular crops. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | The harvest goes to depots where the farmers issue the Dole. Minor administrators check the identity of each claimant and issue the requisite amount of food for the | ||
+ | citizen’s family. Several Guards stand watch at every depot. | ||
+ | |||
+ | These parts of the Garden District stay constantly busy, with queues of people waiting for the Dole and actors, musicians and other entertainers hoping to make a bit of silver by amusing them. The core of the Gardens holds a knot of small, oddly shaped caves with a pedestal in the center. The fungi overflow the trays here to cover the floor and walls, though never the pedestal. Glyphs engraved on the pedestal make the Garden’s basic operation obvious to anyone who studies them. Back | ||
+ | in the first Age, a Dragon-Blooded manager of the Gardens wrote these instructions using the Craft Icon Charm (see The Manual of Exalted Power—The Dragon-Blooded, | ||
+ | p. 130). Advanced procedures (involving alchemical treatments, special lighting conditions and the like) enable the Gardens to produce any sort of vegetable matter, but these are scribed on the walls in ordinary Old Realm script—and bioengineering jargon that few people in the Second Age | ||
+ | could possibly understand. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Over the centuries, the Gethamanians figured out that this cave is a powerful manse (Earth ••••), whose power is entirely devoted to fueling the Gardens’ magical fecundity. It has no known hearthstone. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | At the opening of this set of caves is a side passage to a set of warehouses that store most of the city’s fungus | ||
+ | supplies. (Small caves elsewhere in Gethamane hold separate emergency caches, in case of sabotage or disaster.) | ||
+ | This is where the Dole is issued, and a detachment of the Guard is always on duty there together with several of the administration to check the identity of each citizen and issue her with the supplies for herself and her family. This area and the corridors leading to it are always busy and often full of citizens queuing and entertainers (flautists or actors) and cooks diverting the citizens’ attention. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === OTHER FOOD === | ||
+ | |||
+ | The previous inhabitants of Gethamane managed to grow a wide variety of vegetables in the Gardens. However, this process required specific spells, treatments, densities of light, particular handling and other things that Bethan’s people could not possibly translate from the instructions on the walls. Bethan’s people were lucky to be able to grow mushrooms from the pitiful stock of food that they had left. Fortunately, mushrooms were some of the | ||
+ | easiest foodstuffs for the Gardens to reproduce. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A Twilight Caste with appropriate lore in sorcerous bioengineering and First Age architecture might be able to translate the inscriptions, understand the instructions and arrange the Gardens so that other vegetables and fruits could be produced. However, it would take a miracle for the citizens of Gethamane to allow anyone other than the farmers or other highly trusted citizens inside the Gardens. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === THE FUNGUS DEMESNE === | ||
+ | |||
+ | Hidden in a knot of caves at the center of the Gardens is a field of undulating fungi, ivory sheets of mushrooms and yellow tendrils that curve inward toward a dark pedestal at the center. This is where the cultist farmers come to sacrifice their victims, unaware that it is actually the center of a broken Manse (Earth-aspected, currently Demesne ••••). Shattered by Vodak’s emergence and has never been repaired, the energies it Demesne emits have made it easier for the farmers to keep the Gardens flourishing. | ||
+ | |||
+ | This Demesne is one of the greatest secrets of Gethamane: only the inner circle of farmers, the Mistress and her Head Intelligencer know. Even though they don’t know that it is a Demesne, they do know that it is a place of power. A restoration program costing Resources 4+, organized by an expert of Lore 4+ or higher, could recap the Demesne, restoring it to Manse 4. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | CHARACTER CONCEPTS FOR THE GARDEN DISTRICT | ||
+ | |||
+ | Warrior: Council Bodyguard, Guard, Guild Assassin | ||
+ | |||
+ | Holy Man: Cultist Farmer, Priest Adopted Into Guard | ||
+ | |||
+ | Savant: Librarian, Mapmaker, Teacher | ||
+ | |||
+ | Criminal: Dole Thief, Garden Saboteur, Spy | ||
+ | |||
+ | Entertainer: Actor, Flautist, Poet | ||
+ | |||
+ | Bureaucrat: Administrator, Court Assistant, Records Savant | ||
+ | |||
+ | === THE ADMINISTRATION === | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Council Chambers, the Courthouse, the Hall of Records, the Hall of Maps and the City Library are all | ||
+ | clustered into one large cave complex, which backs onto Guardhall. This area is where the courts try cases, where | ||
+ | citizens can come to check on property records and maps of Gethamane (outsiders must pay a small fee to check | ||
+ | the maps), where the city keeps the Dole lists and records of visiting outsiders and where children go to receive any education beyond the most basic reading and writing. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Bethanites provide much of the staffing and organization here, but there is a healthy leavening of citizens from | ||
+ | other families. | ||
+ | |||
+ | These caves are incredibly busy round the clock, with clerical and administrative staff taking advantage of | ||
+ | Gethamane’s lighting system to keep on working throughout the day, simply changing desks with their replacements | ||
+ | when the next shift comes in. Likewise, children are schooled and drilled in shifts, resulting in mobs pelting | ||
+ | through the tunnels at each shift change. The only group that doesn’t work round the clock is the Council, though | ||
+ | it may spend several days in constant session debating a particularly knotty problem. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Katrin Jadehand, Mistress of Gethamane, has her rooms and offices at the heart of this group of caves. These | ||
+ | rooms are the hereditary quarters and workrooms of the Master of Gethamane, and it is a matter of pride to change | ||
+ | as little as possible from Bethan Redeye’s original sparse furniture and belongings (or at least to rebuild and replace in the same style). Katrin is in her 50s and has been Mistress for 10 years now, having been both the previous Master’s choice and a popular favorite. Her primary concern is Gethamane’s survival and stability, and she is prepared to ally with a stronger force if absolutely necessary. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | === THE GUARDHALL === | ||
+ | |||
+ | This set of caves is the central headquarters for the City Guard of Gethamane, combining the functions of training area, staging depot, holding cells and emergency marshalling point. Although much of the rest of the city lacks color, the entrances to the Guardhall are clearly marked by bright red pennants and the doors are all high-quality iron or ironstudded wood. Driven by the need to combat the creatures from the underways, Guards are much better physically trained than most of the rest of the city and have the statistics of elite troops. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Guard always wants to recruit thaumaturges. They are not necessarily trusted, but their use in combating the | ||
+ | creatures of the underways is undeniable. However, few in Gethamane have the talent, and fewer of those have the | ||
+ | education. If any thaumaturge from outside Gethamane shows an interest in joining the Guard and seems of reasonable character (or at least, doesn’t sacrifice small animals in public) then a rapid adoption into one of the more Guard-centric families of Gethamane can be arranged to make him a citizen. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dragon-Blooded outcastes are similarly welcome however Deathknights and necromancers are NOT, as even the most enlightened member of the Guard finds them too uncomfortably close to the creatures of the underways. | ||
== FEAR == | == FEAR == | ||
Line 374: | Line 731: | ||
It’s the knowledge that beneath your feet, separated by only a layer of stone, are inhuman creatures who want to drag you into the darkness and kill you... | It’s the knowledge that beneath your feet, separated by only a layer of stone, are inhuman creatures who want to drag you into the darkness and kill you... | ||
+ | |||
+ | == THE UNDERWAYS == | ||
+ | |||
+ | The delvings that extend deep underground are black, | ||
+ | rounded and faintly slick to the touch. To those who know | ||
+ | of the Mountain Folk, the delvings bear the unmistakable | ||
+ | stamp of Mountain Folk work. There are no regular light | ||
+ | sources in the underways: while occasional troves of jewels | ||
+ | down here include such rarities as glowstones (and random | ||
+ | patches of luminous moss or burning pockets of gas may | ||
+ | offer light to the passing traveler), these cannot be depended | ||
+ | upon. | ||
+ | There is no actual law in Gethamane forbidding | ||
+ | people to go down into the underways. However, all the | ||
+ | inhabitants know that dangerous horrors emerge from the | ||
+ | tunnels, and the citizens are not so blatantly and recklessly | ||
+ | stupid as to go throwing themselves down a monster’s | ||
+ | gullet. Early Masters of Gethamane realized that it was | ||
+ | impractical to prevent outsiders from trying to go below, | ||
+ | however. It was simpler to warn them of the dangers and | ||
+ | then collect a share of any findings if they should actually | ||
+ | emerge alive. | ||
+ | |||
+ | At least a dozen tunnels descend from the Garden District | ||
+ | and the Outer Ring into deeper layers, called the underways. | ||
+ | Rounded tubes and irregular caverns replace Gethamane’s | ||
+ | square corridors and circular or rectangular chambers. The | ||
+ | rock darkens from gray to black. The highest layers of the | ||
+ | underways continue the concentric circular design of the | ||
+ | city, but the deeper reaches become twisting, apparently | ||
+ | random tunnels and caverns with no limit ever discovered. | ||
+ | The underways have no light crystals. | ||
+ | People do not live in the underways, but horrible and | ||
+ | deadly creatures sometimes emerge from them to attack | ||
+ | the people of Gethamane. Every entrance to the underways | ||
+ | has a gate of iron bars—but that doesn’t stop every | ||
+ | potential intruder. | ||
+ | Despite the danger, people sometimes come long | ||
+ | distances to visit the underways. Sometimes they return | ||
+ | with treasures: strange artifacts, jewels—such as vibrantly | ||
+ | violet diamonds—and rare ores hacked from the walls of | ||
+ | distant caverns. Explorers even find small quantities of | ||
+ | soulsteel. Sometimes, of course, explorers do not return | ||
+ | at all. Gethamane’s leaders permit these explorations, in | ||
+ | return for half of whatever valuables the explorers bring | ||
+ | out of the underways. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | === GETHAMANE’S SHARE === | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamane doesn’t impose an outright tax on anything brought out of the underways as searchers would find new ways to hide their findings or to kill any Guards who saw them carrying treasure. Besides, anyone capable of going into the underways and surviving will certainly be capable of bilking any tax collectors sitting at the entrance. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Instead the Guard is instructed to take careful note of any valuables (or 'mysterious large sacks') being carried by treasure-seekers who come out of the underways alive. A high-ranking Bethanite (with a Guard escort) then visits the treasure-seekers after they’ve had the chance to relax, and politely suggests a contribution toward Gethamane’s upkeep would be 'wise'. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Failure to make a generous donation can lead to the individuals being escorted out of Gethamane, without the chance to collect supplies — whatever the current weather conditions outside may be — with a permanent prohibition against returning. This reasonable approach usually results in Gethamane getting some sort of contribution — especially if the treasure-seekers want to dare the tunnels again in the future. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamane Citizens who bring treasure up from the underways are expected to contribute a 1/3rd (or an equal value in goods or service) to the city’s treasury. Failure to pay results in their Dole being cancelled in forfeit. The valuation on the artifacts brought up from below is as fair and as well judged as possible. Afterall, citizens capable of surviving the underways are a resource the government likes to cultivate. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === CREATURES OF THE UNDERWAYS === | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | CTHRITAE | ||
+ | Description: This Darkbrood is mostly ignored by Vodak, as they were the creations of the Primordial whose blood formed Vodak, and while the hekatonkhire has no such thing as empathy or affection, some deep note in its personality is satisfied by leaving the cthritae alone. They are man-sized centipedes apparently chiseled out of onyx and black opal, with grinding mandibles that drip mercury when they salivate. They run in packs of at least 12 and are hermaphroditic, being able to mate with each other and leave their eggs inside suitable food sources to hatch later. | ||
+ | |||
+ | While the cthritae only require rock and water to live on, they physically enjoy ripping living flesh apart, rolling themselves in blood and tearing open human guts. | ||
+ | The cthritae exude a natural adhesive from their insectoid legs that allows them to run up vertical surfaces or cling to the ceiling for up to an hour. They lack human intelligence but are successful carnivores and | ||
+ | proficient in the art of stalking prey. Normally, they only hunt to kill, but if they wish to breed, they will seek out warm-blooded creatures, sever the tendons in their arms and legs, mate and lay eggs and | ||
+ | then force their eggs down their prey’s throat. The eggs hatch within a few hours, and the infant cthritae grow to full size within a day. If entering an area with plentiful | ||
+ | breeding stock (human or animal), cthritae automatically enter into a breed-and-hatch cycle that continues until they have used up all available hosts in the vicinity. The | ||
+ | resulting packs then split up to hunt in different directions. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Cthritae can actively chew through normal rock at a speed of one foot per hour but would need to know that there was a reason to do so, such as breeding hosts (they would not start suddenly digging up toward Gethamane but might start chewing through a door if they had seen prey vanish behind it and close it in their faces.) | ||
+ | |||
+ | While cthritae are not killed by sunlight, they dislike it and also dislike unroofed spaces such as the open air. They are considered creatures of darkness for the purposes of Solar Charms and anima powers, fleeing from the anima powers of both the Zenith and the Dawn Caste. | ||
== DISREPUTABLE FOLK == | == DISREPUTABLE FOLK == | ||
- | Most Gethamanians like to think of their society as prosperous and orderly, controlled and smugly secure | + | Most Gethamanians like to think of their society as prosperous and orderly, controlled and smugly secure. Nevertheless, the city has its poor, its discontented and indeed its actively criminal. |
- | |||
- | |||
- | + | ===THE JADE HOSPICE=== | |
- | + | Founded near the temples in the early days of Gethamane, this hospice is the biggest and most overworked | |
+ | in the city. The hospice is staffed partly by priests, partly by trained healers and partly by citizens who are | ||
+ | working off legal penalties or have chosen this way of repaying their Dole. While it is not necessarily the beststaffed or most highly skilled hospice in Gethamane, the Jade Hospice is kept busy dealing with the Upper Circle’s constant stream of injuries, illnesses and assault victims. | ||
+ | The courts regularly sentence mild offenders to serve as unskilled labor or nursing staff here, and the staff is | ||
+ | constantly coming and going. The Director of the Hospice, matronly Enath Daur of a prosperous farmer family, | ||
+ | holds one of the farmer seats on the Council. She was elected at the time because the faction couldn’t agree on | ||
+ | any other candidate, and she has since used her position to make sure that the Upper Ring is not further marginalized. | ||
- | + | Not far from the temples lies Gethamane’s largest charity | |
+ | hospital, the Jade Hospice. Citizens who volunteer as a way | ||
+ | to earn their Dole, and minor lawbreakers who pay their debt | ||
+ | to society as unskilled labor or nursing staff, assist the staff | ||
+ | of priests and healers. The hospice sees a constant stream of | ||
+ | sick and injured poor people from the Upper Ring. The Jade | ||
+ | Hospice does not have the best-trained staff of Gethamane’s | ||
+ | hospitals, but it currently has the most reliable funding. Its | ||
+ | director, the matronly Enath Daur, comes from a leading | ||
+ | farmer family. She also holds a Council seat, where she works | ||
+ | to improve the lot of Upper Ring folk, or at least make sure | ||
+ | they are not further marginalized. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===THE JANISSARY VAULT=== | ||
Not everyone in Gethamane relies on the Guard for | Not everyone in Gethamane relies on the Guard for | ||
Line 403: | Line 852: | ||
Janissary Vault, but the business has stayed independent | Janissary Vault, but the business has stayed independent | ||
since it began 50 years ago. | since it began 50 years ago. | ||
- | |||
The Vault’s mercenaries are about evenly divided | The Vault’s mercenaries are about evenly divided | ||
between outsiders who managed to wangle adoption into | between outsiders who managed to wangle adoption into | ||
Line 417: | Line 865: | ||
- | Not all of Gethamane’s fighters go into the Guard — or manage to stay there. Those who were expelled from the Guard or were unable to endure its discipline or those who have entered Gethamane from outside and been adopted by a local family are all welcome to join the Janissary Vault. | + | Not all of Gethamane’s fighters go into the Guard — or manage to stay there. Those who were expelled from the |
- | + | Guard or were unable to endure its discipline or those who have entered Gethamane from outside and been adopted | |
- | This organization has been operating for 50 years now (previous Masters discouraged the formation of any such organization) and provides hired bodyguards, warriors and general thugs. | + | by a local family are all welcome to join the Janissary Vault. |
- | + | This organization has been operating for 50 years now (previous Masters discouraged the formation of any such | |
+ | organization) and provides hired bodyguards, warriors and general thugs. | ||
While the Janissary Vault publicly proclaims that it abides by the laws of Gethamane and would never even consider doing anything remotely illegal, in practice, a sufficiently intelligent and discreet hirer can buy services up to — though usually not including — murder. (The current Vaultmaster doesn’t want to give the Council any excuse for a crackdown.) Being in the Janissary Vault is not considered genuine service to the City, so members only get the basic Dole. As a result, they are constantly on the lookout for potential work. | While the Janissary Vault publicly proclaims that it abides by the laws of Gethamane and would never even consider doing anything remotely illegal, in practice, a sufficiently intelligent and discreet hirer can buy services up to — though usually not including — murder. (The current Vaultmaster doesn’t want to give the Council any excuse for a crackdown.) Being in the Janissary Vault is not considered genuine service to the City, so members only get the basic Dole. As a result, they are constantly on the lookout for potential work. | ||
Line 435: | Line 884: | ||
- | + | ===THE PHILOSOPHY CELL=== | |
- | A collection of public meeting rooms in the | + | A collection of public meeting rooms in the Outer Ring |
+ | hosts an informal club of amateur intellectuals and pseudointellectuals. | ||
+ | Members range from young people who want | ||
+ | to pick up some radical ideas with which to shock their | ||
+ | parents, to careful scholars of Gethamane’s many mysteries. | ||
+ | In between are unlicensed thaumaturges, drug addicts, | ||
+ | devotees of self-created religions and people who just want | ||
+ | to argue. Most members are harmless and frivolous. A few | ||
+ | regulars are serious and capable savants, varying widely in | ||
+ | their ethics—from Serret of the Bethanites, a painstaking | ||
+ | amateur historian of the city, to the alchemist Tazar Pellan, | ||
+ | who tests his concoctions on people who want “mystical | ||
+ | experiences,” to Damaithe Yarni, a thaumaturge and closet | ||
+ | demonologist. | ||
- | |||
- | |||
- | + | The Philosophy Cell is a haven for would-be sorcerers, religious ascetics, devotees of self-created religions, | |
- | + | drug addicts and amateur historians attempting to discover the true history of Gethamane. Members are generally | |
- | + | young people from the middle and upper classes, possessed of more money and spare time than sense and with ambitions that soar beyond the mundane matters of fungus farming and guarding the entrances to the underways. The | |
- | + | Philosophy Cell has spread from a single-room debating society to encompass several rooms that are officially listed as public meeting places. The current occupants aren’t actually breaking any laws, but the Guard could easily move in and clear the place out if they wanted to. | |
- | + | ||
+ | Even though this is a hangout for the young and frivolous, serious research does take place here, and a | ||
+ | number of the regulars are professional and capable in their respective fields. Notable members include Damaithe Yarni (a thaumaturge and secret demonologist), Serret of the Bethanites (a painstaking but reliable historian — who is, of course, reporting everything that he observes) Tazar Pellan (a cold-blooded alchemist testing out some of his concoctions on those wanting mystical experiences) and Arik Varken, who is willing to try anything that will shock his family. | ||
+ | === THE RAT’S NEST === | ||
- | + | This abandoned storehouse and junkyard far to the east of the Outer Ring serves as home to Jaxar, a Guild | |
+ | agent, and her group of child-thieves. Jaxar is 40 years old, but she is a dwarf with a preternaturally young face and, from a distance, can easily pass as a child. She was dropped off here by the Guild five years ago to build up a base for action and to pass on regular reports on Gethamane. Since then, she has deftly managed to avoid registration for the Dole. She is a simultaneous den mother, admired leader and scary outsider to her agents. Jaxar’s agents are all children of 14 years or less, mostly from the middle or upper classes, who regard the whole “Society of Thieves” as a huge game. The children regularly execute pranks or petty thefts for her or pass on gossip that she can send in to the Guild. As of yet, considering what might happen if she chooses to pass information about the children’s crimes to the Guard, none of the children have realized how deeply they are in her power. | ||
- | + | Jaxar is a capable blackmailer and good practical psychologist. Once those children grow to maturity, they will sink all the deeper into her power and, quite possibly, become permanent agents for the Guild. | |
+ | A gang of juvenile thieves makes its clubhouse in an | ||
+ | abandoned, junk-filled storehouse in the eastern sector of | ||
+ | the Outer Ring. Most of the children come from middle- or | ||
+ | upper-class families and think that their “Society of Thieves” | ||
+ | is all a grand game organized by their leader, Jaxar. The | ||
+ | children commit petty thefts, pull pranks and generally | ||
+ | cause mischief. | ||
+ | The children know that Jaxar isn’t really a fellow child, | ||
+ | but they don’t think of her as really a grown-up, either. Jaxar | ||
+ | is a dwarf with a preternaturally youthful face… and she works | ||
+ | for the Guild. The children do not realize that the gossip | ||
+ | they pass to their young-old playmate goes to the Guild— | ||
+ | or that exposure of their naughty deeds could disgrace their | ||
+ | families. Jaxar watches their parents to gauge who she could | ||
+ | blackmail through their children’s misdeeds. She expects | ||
+ | to build a cadre of citizens in Gethamane’s upper class who | ||
+ | serve the Guild to avoid disgrace. | ||
- | |||
- | + | ===SEVENTH HALL=== | |
- | The bitter but cowardly | + | Despite their poverty, the Rasri family of dung-carriers, |
+ | sweepers and garbage pickers have held this set of chambers | ||
+ | in the Upper Ring for many years. They now use the Seventh | ||
+ | Hall as the meeting place for a conspiracy of other poor and | ||
+ | discontented Gethamanians. The conspirators are angry | ||
+ | with the city’s government and want to replace it with the | ||
+ | Guild. They imagine that they would get rich if they could | ||
+ | own slaves to do the drudgery they currently perform, and | ||
+ | that the Guild could make Gethamane the mightiest nation | ||
+ | of the North. Family patriarch and conspiracy leader Yftar | ||
+ | Rasri seeks Guild support for his conspiracy. So far, the Guild | ||
+ | rejects his advances as obvious attempts at entrapment. | ||
+ | |||
+ | This set of caves toward the outer edge of the Upper Ring is officially owned by the Rasri family, whose members | ||
+ | have a long history of jobs such as dung-carriers, garbage-pickers, cleaners and general menial work. Seventh | ||
+ | Hall has lately become the gathering-spot for a conspiracy of lower-class citizens of Gethamane who are | ||
+ | angry with the current administration and see the Guild as the solution to all Gethamane’s problems. These conspirators believe that unlicensed free trade and the introduction of slavery will not only free them from the current burden of drudgery, but will also make Gethamane the mightiest city in the North. Yftar Rasri, the bitter but cowardly patriarch of the family, is also the de facto leader of the conspiracy. While the conspirators haven’t yet managed to make credible contact with a Guild representative — a previous attempt was rejected by the Guildsman in question as “an obvious case of entrapment to give the Mistress more ammunition against us” — it’s only a matter of time. | ||
== LEGAL SYSTEM == | == LEGAL SYSTEM == | ||
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Crime, in Gethamane, was defined by Bethan Redeye as “trespass on person, property or domain.” This was further codified by her grandson '''Senet''' into the Three Rules, which are the main source of Gethamane’s law and have been clarified over the years by other Masters and Mistresses of Gethamane. | Crime, in Gethamane, was defined by Bethan Redeye as “trespass on person, property or domain.” This was further codified by her grandson '''Senet''' into the Three Rules, which are the main source of Gethamane’s law and have been clarified over the years by other Masters and Mistresses of Gethamane. | ||
- | Trials take place weekly in the Courthouse in front of three judges: | + | Trials take place weekly in the Courthouse in front of three judges: one a Bethanite, one a senior member of the Guard and one a senior member of the farmers. (Lately, there has been a movement among the artisans, the merchants and the hunters and gatherers to permit other judges from their ranks, but it lacks support among the Guards and farmers.) |
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | (Lately, there has been a movement among the artisans, the merchants and the hunters and gatherers to permit other judges from their ranks, but it lacks support among the Guards and farmers.) | + | |
Complainant and criminal both state their cases to the panel of judges. If the complainant is unable to speak or otherwise present her case, then a family member or Guard may do so in her place (the latter usually in cases of homicide). Information obtained through spells or bound demons are permissible evidence, though attempting to sorcerously influence a judge is considered a serious case of personal assault and garners the appropriate penalty. | Complainant and criminal both state their cases to the panel of judges. If the complainant is unable to speak or otherwise present her case, then a family member or Guard may do so in her place (the latter usually in cases of homicide). Information obtained through spells or bound demons are permissible evidence, though attempting to sorcerously influence a judge is considered a serious case of personal assault and garners the appropriate penalty. | ||
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'' "'''What we have, we hold:''' All crimes of trespass on another’s domain shall be paid for by a gift of land in turn, or the Dole shall be remitted and the trespasser cast forth to starve." '' | '' "'''What we have, we hold:''' All crimes of trespass on another’s domain shall be paid for by a gift of land in turn, or the Dole shall be remitted and the trespasser cast forth to starve." '' | ||
- | + | If people who dislike each other cannot escape each other’s company, their enmity can escalate to murder. Gethamanians, therefore, value privacy as much as life and property, and trespass on another family’s territory becomes a serious crime. Gethamanians treat malicious gossip about another person’s activities as a form of trespass. | |
- | + | When two disputing parties share a property line, the penalty usually consists of moving that boundary by a foot or two to give the victim a section of the trespasser’s territory. | |
- | + | This results in many instances of two families sharing a room, with screens set up to give them an illusion of privacy. It can, indeed, be grounds for lawsuit to respond to anything one hears on the other side of such a screen… though noise of a sufficient volume (or sufficiently disturbing nature) that it cannot be ignored is also an offense. When disputants do not share a boundary, the city confiscates part of the trespasser’s property, then allows her family to “buy it back” and pays the resulting silver to the plaintiff’s family. Gethamanians are strict about privacy and property, but not insane. | |
- | When disputants do not share a boundary, the city confiscates part of the trespasser’s property, | + | |
- | + | The Guard can go anywhere in pursuit of a monster from the underways, and people fleeing a monster likewise have a right to cross another family’s property. (Indeed, a civic defense crisis trumps all questions of privacy and territory.) Families usually forgive trespass by children when a game of hide-and-seek gets out of hand (though their parents might be notified). Persistent trespass by older children can result in lawsuit, though, and the child’s family suffers significant disgrace. | |
- | + | Trespass becomes treason where the Gardens are concerned. Any citizen who helps outsiders enter the Gardens commits a crime comparable to murder, for they endanger | |
+ | the city itself. | ||
- | + | The Third Rule is the most difficult to administer but is vitally necessary in an enclosed city such as Gethamane, where questions of trespass and personal privacy become important enough to lead to murder. In cases in which the two disputing parties share a boundary, the penalty usually consists of moving the boundary line by a foot or two in the appropriate direction. This can result in rooms being shared between two families, with screens set up to give both sides some semblance of privacy. (Citizens of Gethamane do not find this sort of situation amusing, and outsiders are advised not to make jokes about it publicly.) If the two parties don’t | |
+ | share a boundary, then a complicated legal fiction arises. | ||
- | + | The city officially confiscates a part of the first family’s territory, allows the family to “buy it back” and then pays the resulting jade to the second family. | |
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
+ | Simply running through someone else’s territory doesn’t qualify for full punishment under the Third Rule, but is usually settled by a simple fine of jade or services. | ||
Children doing this aren’t generally brought up in front of the court for it, as it is expected that a hint to their family will settle the problem. However, in the event of persistent misbehavior by older children, it has been known to occur. This is considered a significant disgrace for the family in question. | Children doing this aren’t generally brought up in front of the court for it, as it is expected that a hint to their family will settle the problem. However, in the event of persistent misbehavior by older children, it has been known to occur. This is considered a significant disgrace for the family in question. | ||
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=== Punishment === | === Punishment === | ||
- | Though execution is the ultimate sanction, the Council prefers a more demonstrative penalty for the most serious crimes. | + | Though execution is the ultimate sanction, the Council prefers a more demonstrative penalty for the most serious crimes. Those found guilty of violent murder, serious fraud or conspiracy to give outsiders access to Gethamane’s Gardens are blinded, branded and set to labor for the rest of their lives in the fungus gardens. There, while doing heavy work that doesn’t require sight or freedom, the criminals provide a salutary example for other citizens. |
- | + | ||
- | Those found guilty of violent murder, serious fraud or conspiracy to give outsiders access to Gethamane’s Gardens are blinded, branded and set to labor for the rest of their lives in the fungus gardens. There, while doing heavy work that doesn’t require sight or freedom, the criminals provide a salutary example for other citizens. | + | |
Judges regard exile as a merciful punishment, and use it to punish crimes of passion or on those who clearly cannot live inside Gethamane, as exiles may serve their sentence in Gethamane’s mines and remain loosely connected to the city. Temporary exile usually lasts a minimum of five years, after which the criminal can resume their place in the city and among their family. | Judges regard exile as a merciful punishment, and use it to punish crimes of passion or on those who clearly cannot live inside Gethamane, as exiles may serve their sentence in Gethamane’s mines and remain loosely connected to the city. Temporary exile usually lasts a minimum of five years, after which the criminal can resume their place in the city and among their family. | ||
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The Guard seldom chooses to help owners find slaves who escape in Gethamane. An escaped slave adopted into a citizen family also leaves the Second Rule’s purview, as she becomes a citizen herself. As such, though not encouraged by the city government, Gethamane includes a few abolitionists who encourage slaves to escape and come to them for adoption. | The Guard seldom chooses to help owners find slaves who escape in Gethamane. An escaped slave adopted into a citizen family also leaves the Second Rule’s purview, as she becomes a citizen herself. As such, though not encouraged by the city government, Gethamane includes a few abolitionists who encourage slaves to escape and come to them for adoption. | ||
- | == | + | == THE GUARD == |
- | + | *'''Commanding Officer:''' [[Golden Stag]] | |
+ | *'''Secondary Officers:''' [[Gavne Wheelwright]], [[Mindros Yami]] | ||
+ | *'''Armor Color''': Red; target shield bears a white mountain on a red field | ||
+ | *'''Motto:''' ''“Let none of them survive!”'' | ||
+ | *'''Numbers:''' 5,000 medium infantry functioning in 20-man platoons (250 platoons total) | ||
+ | *'''Armorment''': Lamellar armor and slotted helms, half carrying great axes and half with pickaxes and target shields | ||
- | + | Gethamane has no army, only a Guard that keeps order and defends against creatures from the underways. At 5,000 well-trained troops, the Guard is quite a formidable force for a small city but has no experience operating in groups larger than the 20-man platoons (in most of Gethamane, it just isn’t possible to gather more soldiers in one place). Guards wear red lamellar armor and carry target shields blazoned with a white mountain on a red field. They favor heavy weapons that can hack, pierce and crush eldritch horrors. | |
+ | Gethamane’s lack of a standing army or the ability to fund and furnish one means that the city pursues a generally pacifist line and has no inclination to invade other city-states or take over their resources. | ||
- | + | When riots erupt in Gethamane, half the responding Guards carry leather-padded clubs, but the Guard never operates without the threat of lethal force and big damage. | |
- | + | Despite the high death rate from incursions below, the organization never lacks for recruits. A career in the Guard is considered very prestigious, and a Guard gets a high ration of the Dole. Less nobly, (and the main temptation that lures children into training) Guards receive greater opportunities to meet outsiders and 'collect' small gifts from them in return for assistance 'beyond the call of duty' (such as explaning the local geography and laws). Large bribes, however, or attempts to subvert a Guard into serious breaches of the law, constitute “injury to the city” and result in the Guard’s arrest if he is caught. | |
+ | don’t count as bribes but are considered tokens of gratitude for assistance beyond the call of duty. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Captain of the Guard, [[Golden Stag]], is aware of this and takes care that his seconds, [[Gavne Wheelwright]] and [[Mindros Yami]], rotate their soldiers between duties regularly so everyone gets a fair share. These three officers command various district and shift lieutenants, and Guard posts are spread throughout the city. | ||
+ | |||
+ | a standard fee of one dinar of silver for every person who enters Gethamane (half an dinar per slave, by special concession of the Council) that is paid by the leader of the group. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Guard’s overall commander occupies a Guardhall in the Garden District. Here the Guard trains, gathers to organize hunts for invading monsters and imprisons lawbreakers. A few hundred Guards bunk in the Guardhouse at all times, ready to go wherever they are needed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Unlike the subdued tones of the rest of Gethamane, bright red pennants mark all entrances to the Guardhall. Doors in this complex are always high-quality iron. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Each Guard post has a large drum mounted on the wall. In any disturbance, one soldier beats a signal on the drum to alert other posts of the nature and location of the trouble, and to call for backup if this seems prudent. In the case of major disturbances such as monsters from the underways, riots or rampaging Exalts, a runner is additionally sent to the Guardhall with a report and a request for full mobilization. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Formation: Each platoon has a sergeant and a relay that signals other platoons using drumbeats. All the soldiers are heroic mortals. Talismans, thaumaturgical enchantments on weapons and special training at surrounding and ganging up on foes supply the unit’s Might. While individual platoons normally fight in close formation, in a citywide battle they are effectively stuck in skirmish formation. | ||
+ | So are their enemies, as troops scatter through the tunnels. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In Limit Break, Gethamane resolves its internal conflicts by returning to its principles of absolute self-sufficiency and absolute social control. The government expels all outsiders, locks the gates and forces the population to live on the Dole for at least a season, and maybe as long as a year. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === INCURSION PROCEDURE === | ||
+ | |||
+ | There is a specific Guard alarm, given by drumbeat (or thumped out on the side of the wall or on the floor) — which everyone in Gethamane knows from childhood — that signals an incursion from the underways. Any citizens of Gethamane who hear the signal will retire to the nearest defensible spot, taking all noncombatants or those who cannot defend themselves with them, and arm themselves for battle. Any Guard who hears the drumbeat will immediately head for the area, forming up into squads there and preparing for battle. Those Guards who carry drums will repeat the drumbeat, adding the signifier, which makes it clear which underways’ entrance the alarm refers to. The Guardhall goes on full alert, the Gardens and Council are shut off and the wards raised and any outsider combatants in the vicinity who owe service to Gethamane — particularly thaumaturges or Exalted — are asked to lend their assistance. This is never treated as a drill or taken lightly; the people of Gethamane are terrified of the things that live beneath. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Once the incursion has been dealt with, the all clear is given, again by drum signal. Any monster corpses are taken to the Courthouse for investigation, while wounded Guards and civilians alike are taken to the Guardhall for treatment and observation. (There have been cases in the past in which citizens who were wounded by creatures from the underways later turned out to be under the creatures’ mental control and tried to sabotage areas of the city, assault Guards watching the entrances or just go on killing sprees.) The Guard on that particular entrance is doubled for the next half-month, in case of more incursions. All dead human bodies are taken to the temples for immediate funeral rites and incineration by the priests in order to prevent them possibly rising as undead. The procedures have been honed by practice, and both Guards and citizens alike know what they are expected to do. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == FOREIGN RELATIONS == | ||
+ | |||
+ | Though many desire the city, Gethamane has few outright enemies. Most states have nothing Gethamane especially needs, and Gethamane feels safe in remaining neutral. Given the insularity of the city and the safety of its underground location, many citizens fear the enemies from below rather than those outside. Only the [[Guild]] and the [[Bull of the North]] particularly trouble Gethamane. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamane’s Mistress and Council now believe, however, that they must learn a great deal more about their neighbors… particularly the [[Bull of the North]]. | ||
- | Previous Masters have fluctuated in how much they try to interact with regional politics or deal with icewalkers and the like, but only the most isolationist of Masters have totally ignored the outside world. | + | Gethamane has built enough links with the world outside that the city has to pay attention to what’s going on in the North. Even the most insular farmer will acknowledge that it’s useful to be able to obtain trade goods, and the Guard who are so busy keeping outsiders out still appreciate the steel that is brought in for their weapons. Previous Masters have fluctuated in how much they try to interact with regional politics or deal with icewalkers and the like, but only the most isolationist of Masters have totally ignored the outside world. |
+ | Currently, under Mistress Katrin, Gethamane is pursuing a policy of cautious but proactive friendship with almost everyone. The Mistress can see the threat of the Bull of the North looming on the horizon, and she doesn’t want to be an isolated target if — or when — he arrives with his army. The only faction not receiving this friendly treatment is the Realm. Mistress Katrin has consistently refused to consider its requests to use Gethamane as a staging-post for the legions and doesn’t want to ally with any one Great House at the moment, given the potential for civil war. | ||
- | |||
=== THE GUILD === | === THE GUILD === | ||
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=== THE REALM === | === THE REALM === | ||
- | + | The Empress once commissioned her strategoi to evaluate Gethamane for conquest. They concluded the feat was possible (smuggle in spies and agents under the cover of merchant caravans, find a way to cut off Guild supplies to weaken the place) but, since it wasn't harboring rebels or fostering anti-Realm sentiments, it wasn't worth the trouble. Past Masters and Mistresses did not flaunt their defiance of the Realm, so the Empress never felt the need to make an example of the city and viewed Gethamane with a lenient eye. She mercifully allowed it to ignore paying tribute, and in turn Dynasts could occasionally visit to seek treasure in the underways, and far-traveling legions would be allowed to buy provisions at Gethamane. | |
- | + | ||
- | The Empress once commissioned her strategoi to evaluate Gethamane for conquest. They concluded the feat possible (smuggle in spies and agents under the cover of merchant caravans, find a way to cut off Guild supplies to weaken the place) but, since it wasn't harboring rebels or fostering anti-Realm sentiments, it wasn't worth the trouble. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Past Masters and Mistresses did not flaunt their defiance of | + | |
Recently, with the Scarlet Empress vanished and the Great Houses contending for power, numerous Dragon-Blooded have planned to boost their houses’ prestige and their own fame by conquering or controlling Gethamane - making it a tributary of the Realm. So far, their plans have ranged from the wild and woolly to the ineffective, but a couple of the better planners are prepared to spend decades building up spy networks, agents and influence. Like the Guild, these Dragon-Blooded have realized that Gethamane depends on its sunken Gardens, and, like the Guild, these Dragon-Blooded are faced with the problem of how to enfeeble Gethamane without destroying the Gardens and causing the city’s ruin. | Recently, with the Scarlet Empress vanished and the Great Houses contending for power, numerous Dragon-Blooded have planned to boost their houses’ prestige and their own fame by conquering or controlling Gethamane - making it a tributary of the Realm. So far, their plans have ranged from the wild and woolly to the ineffective, but a couple of the better planners are prepared to spend decades building up spy networks, agents and influence. Like the Guild, these Dragon-Blooded have realized that Gethamane depends on its sunken Gardens, and, like the Guild, these Dragon-Blooded are faced with the problem of how to enfeeble Gethamane without destroying the Gardens and causing the city’s ruin. | ||
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=== WHITEWALL=== | === WHITEWALL=== | ||
- | + | Whitewall is the closest that Gethamane comes to an ally. Neither city has many other neighbors (that are human, at least). Gethamane’s leaders cultivate merchants from Whitewall just to remind the Guild that they can be replaced; and it’s often cheaper to buy Whitewall’s metalwork directly than through Guild intermediaries. | |
- | While Gethamane is glad of the trade from | + | While Gethamane is glad of the trade from Whitewall, particularly the minerals and ores for which Whitewall is famous, there is little in the way of diplomacy between the two cities. Both have adopted a strategy of remaining snug within their walls and barring themselves against the world outside, and both are content with the current state of affairs. Some Gethamanians hold Whitewall as an example of weak-minded feebleness (alliances with the Realm, the fey and the undead) and praise Gethamane’s own independence, but most citizens of Gethamane are willing to acknowledge that Whitewall gets along as best it can and does better than most. |
- | + | ||
- | Some Gethamanians hold Whitewall as an example of weak-minded feebleness (alliances with the Realm, the fey and the undead) and praise Gethamane’s own independence, but most citizens of Gethamane are willing to acknowledge that Whitewall gets along as best it can and does better than most. | + | |
Whitewall miners have prospected the mountains around Gethamane more than once but have yet to find any significant mineral deposits. | Whitewall miners have prospected the mountains around Gethamane more than once but have yet to find any significant mineral deposits. | ||
+ | === THE FAIR FOLK === | ||
- | + | Gethamane’s hunters and gatherers occasionally encounter the Fair Folk. The tales of the survivors ensure the Gethamanians’ thorough hatred and fear of the raksha. Fortunately | |
+ | for Gethamane, the local Fair Folk have no desire to enter a city that gives them the creeping horrors—not even fae who normally might relish such a strange and dramatic | ||
+ | emotion. Fair Folk blame this aversion on the city’s jade and orichalcum gates, not on quiescent reality engines or an instinctual sense for Vodak’s presence. | ||
- | |||
+ | === THE YOZI === | ||
- | + | Gethamanians abhor demons as much as most people do. Fortunately the few who rarely enter Gethamane — most likely summoned or sent there on a mission by a sorcerer or thaumaturge - also seem to loathe Gethamane, and do not linger even when they have the chance. They feel something immensely darker and more dangerous than themselves lurking nearby. | |
- | + | ||
- | Gethamanians abhor demons as most people do. Fortunately the few who rarely enter Gethamane — likely summoned or sent there by a sorcerer or thaumaturge - also seem to loathe Gethamane, and do not linger even when they have the chance. They feel something immensely darker and more dangerous than themselves lurking nearby. | + | |
Gods and elementals avoid the city for the same reason, though none of these spirits can find the ultimate source of the terrifying Essence. | Gods and elementals avoid the city for the same reason, though none of these spirits can find the ultimate source of the terrifying Essence. | ||
- | |||
- | |||
- | + | === THE BULL OF THE NORTH === | |
- | + | Gethamane is not blind or dead, even if buried underground. Even isolationist Gethamanians hear stories of the Bull of the North, and they frighten the city’s leaders. They don’t credit Realm propaganda about “Anathema,” but anyone who can massacre Dynasts (the city’s standard for powerful, erratic individuals) is a danger Gethamane don’t want to face. | |
- | + | The Mistress and Council know about the Bull’s rise and are debating on which course of action to take if he approaches Gethamane. Eventually, the Bull will want Gethamane, as an ally or a tributary (or to serve as a public example). The easiest option is to close off the mountain and maintain a state of siege. While Gethamane could probably sustain this longer than the Bull could, all trade would be disrupted (or worse, the Guild might ally with the Bull) and there is always the dire possibility the powers of the Bull and his allies could crack Gethamane open like an egg. | |
- | + | The second option is to ally formally with the Bull and pay tribute, in the time-honored tradition of cities, to icewalkers. Given recent events in Halta, more Council members are inclining to this point of view. While this course of action would compromise Gethamane’s independence, paying tribute would preserve the city and its inhabitants. | |
- | + | Nobody even considers suggesting outright defying and attacking the Bull him, or allying with anyone who has such plans. Gethamane is biased toward survival, not suicide. | |
- | + | All agree that Gethamane must learn more and acquire whatever power and allies it can find. | |
- | |||
- | |||
- | + | === ANATHEMA === | |
- | + | While the current citizens of Gethamane are descended from those who fled there during the Usurpation, the lack of constant Realm influence or Immaculate presence has left them with no particular hatred toward any Exalted. | |
+ | |||
+ | The citizens’ attitude toward beings of great power who command mighty Charms and spells and wield ancient weapons is merely one of sensible distrust and caution. Any obvious Solar who enters the city will be noted at the gates, directed to the Guild District as a visitor and watched by the Guard (within reason); a sigh of relief will be generally breathed when she leaves the city. They will not be unduly persecuted, however, or have people trying to lead mobs against her. Individual action by visiting Dragon-Blooded or Immaculates is possible, but in that case, the Guard will primarily blame the aggressors rather than the Solar and appreciate any attempts made to avoid significant property damage. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Mistress of Gethamane is interested in employing Exalted to clear out portions of the underways but otherwise has no real need for them — that she knows of. She is very much aware of the power of the Solars (The [[Bull of the North]] is a powerful reminder to the whole North that the Solars are dangerous) and knows a number of them are currently looking for defensible bases While she has no wish to anger any Celestial Exalted, she would prefer they stay out of Gethamane. Failing that, if they are in Gethamane, hope they behave according to the city’s laws. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gethamanians do not much like the Terrestrial Exalted, chiefly because of high-handed Immaculates and Dynasts. They also know the danger of showing such dislike. The Dragon-Blooded rarely stay in Gethamane for long, though. They have bad dreams as the maddened gods clumsily try to warn them and, through them, the long-dead Solar Deliberative. The people have no experience with other Exalted (that they know about) and base their opinions on stories. They fear the Lunar Exalted as patrons of the icewalkers and other barbarians. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Naturally, Gethamane has no knowledge of the Sidereals. Other Exalted are too new for Gethamanians to know about them. Any Exalted who visit Gethamane, or Exalt among them, could determine how the people feel about their kind for centuries to come. | ||
=== FOREIGNERS === | === FOREIGNERS === |