"Ingur found lady Ingrid crying in her chambers.
'What is wrong with her?' asked he.
'She just found out how Bugbears are born,'
answered her handmaiden."
-The Romance of Ingur the GoldSmith Lord Aurora Wordfire, Refuge Queen of Silent Hammers, Empress Consort of the Southernfrost, and Queen Consort of Bedlamb and the Marble CitySkills and Abilities:
-Although my social skills are rusty from isolation, I am highly respected as one of the few remaining first diggers.
-I am the greatest mortal metal-smith and furnace worker, without question. My skills in this area even surpass those of some gods.
-I have also mastered many other crafting skills, unrelated to the furnace.
-So long as my history is recorded in the language of the diggers, my soul and mind cannot truly be snuffed out (Granted by the World Weld)
-I can create mighty artifacts by inscribing the items I create with the great deeds of myself or the item's intended recipient (Granted by the World Weld)
-I am aware of the general location and activities of those who wield my artifacts, and I may exert light influence over their behavior (Granted by the World Weld)
-I can detect the great deeds of others nearby (Granted by the World Weld)
Artifacts and Minions:
The World Weld - Links my soul, the digger language, and the laws of reality itself. Allows me to easily create lesser artifacts.
The Face of Fate - Makes the wearer a mighty fighter and assassin. Wielded by Mril-Minda, who is stalking Sir Shroomplum, the favored mate and personal assassin of Beetle Queen Purpleveil.
Known Mortal Family:
(Husband - Absent) All-Lord Ukareem the Silver, Emperor of the Southernfrost
(Husband - Absent) Scholar-King Emscythe, Monarch of the Marble City and Secretary General of the Greatwalls Alliance
(Husband - Absent) Bloodlord Haigen the Usurper, King of Bedlamb
(Mother-in-Law - Present) Trumil, the Slime Mold Hag
(Infant Son) Prince Dremscythe, Heir to Silent Hammers and the Marble City
Holdings:
Silent Hammers: A small city that provides 1 Wealth and 1 Food per month. Houses and defends up to 50 FU to military might. (31/50)
Dung Slopes Fungal Farm: A particularly farm where up to 6 LU can work per month. Typically yields 1 Food per LU of labor.
Axeltax at Tunnel's Mouth: A watchtower that Houses and defends up to 6 FU of military might. Yields 2 Wealth/month in collected taxes while at least 3 FU are stationed here. (0/6)
Military Population:
15 Force Units of Human Phalanx (x1.2 Bonus to open field battle. Avaible for 108 more months, or until the Kingdom of Narm enters a state of civil war)
5 Force Units of Dwarf/Drugar Militia (x1.3 Bonus to defending cities or fighting underground)
5 Force Units of Goblin Warslaves (x.75 Penalty to fighting in bright sunlight, does not need food to act)
3 Force Units of Charcoal Tribe Elf Rangers (x2 Bonus to fighting in the woods)
2 Force Units of Drugar Siege Operators (x4 Bonus to attacking cities, x1.5 Bonus to fighting megabeasts, x.25 Penalty in all other combat situations)
1 Force Unit of Weremule Warmonks (x3 Bonus to guarding VIPs, x.1 Penalty against Nickle Silver weapons, does not need food to act)
Civilian Population:
13 Labor Units of Assorted and Mixed Breed Diggers (2 LU to 5 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
8 Labor Units of Halfling Commoners (2 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
5 Labor Units of Goblin Slaves (2 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod, does not need food to act)
4 Labor Units of Highborn Dwarves (1 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
4 Labor Units of Highborn Drugar (1 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
2 Labor Units of Human Commoners (2 LU to 7 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
1 Labor Unit of Hobgoblin Drivers (2 LU to 7 FU Conversion Rate before material mod, does not need food to act)
Basic Resources:
x13 Food (+1 Per Month) - Your people can and do feed themselves, but food from the royal grainy must be provided for people to put aside their own livelyhood and peruse your interests. Spending 1 food allows you to issue an order commanding up to 5 FU or LU. Converting LU to FU will also usually cost additional food. You can deploy trade convoys to try and convert other resources into food.
x22 Wealth (+1 Per Month) - A representation of the various coins and paper currency in your treasury. Used to buy other resources and favors, and is generally the most effective resource to use as a trade good.
Advanced Resources:
x12 Wood (The most basic construction resource. Artifacts made from wood tend to harness the power of nature)
x6 Stone (A more sturdy and less flammable construction resource. Artifacts made from stone tend to harness the power of earth)
x15 (+3 Per month for 108 months) Marble (A more valuable form of stone that can be combined with iron to make steel at a smelter. Artifacts made from Marble tend to harness the power of light)
x9 Bronze (A military resource with a .80 Material Mod. Artifacts made from bronze tend to harness the power of fire)
x4 Steel (A military resource with a 1.5 Material Mod. Artifacts made from steel tend to have protective effects)
x4 Bloodstone (A magical military resource with no material mod. Both common gear and artifacts made from Bloodstone are particularly deadly towards all the digger races)
x1 Night Mithiril (A magical military resource with a 1.7 material mod. Artifacts made from Night Mithiril tend to aid in criminal activity)
x2 Deep Sapphire (A magical Military resource with a material mod of .5. Gear and artifacts made from Sapphire are great at drawing out the sorcerous power within one's blood)
x6 Sulfur (A magical resource used in the worship of wicked gods and construction of advanced siege weapons. Artifacts of sulfur are favored by wicked gods)
Known Allies and Enemies:
Bardhill County (Ally, Trade Partner) - The fertile and clay rich human territory that completely encompasses your land. The ruler, Count Chance, deeply respects the craftsdwarfshipp and military skill of the diggers. In exchange for resources and a loan of troops, you have agreed to aid him in an anticipated civil war against his fellow counts when the king dies.
Southernfrost Empire (Ally) - The southernmost and mightiest of the northern dwarven civilizations. Southernfrost is rich in bronze and labor. The empire is ruled by your husband All-Lord Ukareem the Silver.
The Greatwalls Alliance (Ally, Trade Partner) - A loose confederacy of prosperous drugar city-states that pays tribute to your husband, Scholar-King Emscythe. Rich in copper, sulfur, and flux stone.
The Kingdom of Bedlamb (Ally) - Nation of drugar ruled by your husband Bloodlord Haigen the Usurper. Rich in iron, flux stone, and gems. Currently defending against invasion from an unknown drugar kingdom, and raids from an unknown dwarf kingdom.
The Beetle Queendoms (Enemy to All Diggers) - A drowish nation that sits between Silent Hammers and The Greatwalls Alliance. Traders can navigate around it, and they are currently too busy dealing with surface elf raiders to pose a threat.
The Pinewoods Tribes (Hostile) Small yet fierce surface elf civilizations that sepperate Silent Hammers from the Southernfrost Empire and the Kingdom of Bedlamb. They find the very ideas of commerce and industry to be deeply offensive, and slaughter trade convoys on site as a rule.
Prince Neptune nods, and takes his leave.
"T-thank you great queen. I will not... erm... disappoint you."---
You summon your court for some discussion. The first order of business at hand is the goblin tribe near your farm. Hxnub, the Hobgoblin who leads your slave army steps up to reply.
"Bugbears are nearly as large as hill giants, and nearly as magical as elder hags," he explains,
"but they are very wicked and unpredictable, which makes them hard to negotiate with. They are created when a Hobgoblin such as myself rapes a civilized female of noble birth or employment, who must then fall pregnant and commit suicide before giving birth. They are usually the personification of their father's evil, mother's shame, and own feelings of abandonment."Hxnub drums his fingers upon his forearm, breaking the skin with his sharp claws and causing droplets of black blood to form.
"They cannot be considered 'rational', in that one should not safely assume a Bugbear to value self preservation or his own interests. It is possible to tame a bugbear by giving it a Dark Fortress and fancy title to improve its self confidence, while tending to its needs to show that you care, but it is usually simpler to massacre its clan, put it in chains, and force it to make goblins for you under threat of torture."Captain Balrogsim, your siege commander, chimes in next.
"The ones by the farm may avoid messing with us, as like most savage tribes, they fear the retribution that comes with messing with the civilized. As the Hobgoblin said, however, Bugbears don't always behave in a predictable fashion, so we can't count of fear to keep that tribe in check forever."Next you bring up the idea of importing stone or clay. Your advisors quickly agree that while it would be feasible to import rock from The Greatwalls Alliance, it would be much more efficient to purchase bricks from Goldears.
"They have such a surplus of building materials," your steward Bort explains,
"that they could afford to turn over an entire marble quarry over to you. The city of Goldears is so close to us, that our traders can make multiple runs a month to boot."Trade Mechanics:Traders, like other civilian workers, are deployed from your pool of LU by spending 1 food per five LU. When deploying traders, you must choose what they will carry, where they will go, and what they will attempt to acquire. As the economy of Silent Hammers is largely undeveloped, traders are poorly organized and can only carry 2 Wealth or 1 of any other Resource per LU.
Trading is skilled labor, best attempted by educated workers like Dwarf and Drugar highborn. Sending traders who belong to the race you are attempting to trade with can also be helpful.
Traders make juicy targets. If you are sending the a long ways, through dangerous territory, and/or with valuable cargo, it may be wise to give them a military escort.
Notable Trade Destinations:
(You can attempt to trade with anyone you have heard of, but these are the trade targets that come with special mechanics, or that you have intel on.)
Goldears - Capital of Bardhill County. Known surplus of food and brick. So close to Silent Hammers that traders can make multiple monthly trips, tripling their effective carrying capacity)
---
After the rest of your court departs, you instruct Bort to write a letter to All-Lord Ukareem, inviting him to return to your side so that he may father your second child.
---
Your messenger to Branding Iron requesting that he appear before you returns with bad news. The Don has apparently suffered a recent fall, and does not wish to appear weak by appearing in public with a leg brace on. Still eager to meet however, Samwise has invited you (and as many bodyguards as you choose to bring) to visit him at his hole for second breakfast tomorrow. After some pondering you accept.
The following morning, you leave your apartment with Trumil, Brother Anders, and three of his best weremule monks in tow. On your way to Branding Iron's place, you stop outside of the Hobbit Hole where the dragon and its lover dwell, explain what you think might be inside, and ask the hag if she thinks her sorcerer might be a dragon.
You mother-in-law shakes her head.
"A dragon that old and wise would be able to conceal its power from me... and even if it wasn't, the signal is not stronger here than it is at your home, dearrie."---
A few minutes later, you and your party find yourself settling in around a breakfast table at Don Huck's hobbit hole, which is located two doors down from the Dragon on the hillside against the city wall: just outside your jurisdiction.
After the Don introduces you to his daughter and two sons, the pair of you get right down to business. You ask about the trade convoy, and the adorable criminal quickly gives as honest of an answer as he is capable of.
"I don't want to... how you say... get your hopes up Queen Wordfire, but this could be a very big windfall for you. Assuming neither my client nor those blasted Pinewoods Tribes mess with me, I can promise your cut will at the very least include coin and bars of workable iron. There is a chance you may even do better than that...""You think your traders can do better for a Smith Lord than smelted Iron?" You reply with an intrigued chuckle.
"That... gift... I gave you on our last meeting had to come from somewhere, right?" The Don answers with a sly grin.
---
After a few glasses of Halfling citruswine, your tongue loosens a bit and you decide to ask about the hobbit hole two doors down. If Samwise is the dragon's neighbor, perhaps he knows something.
"Hmmm.... You have heard the stories then," Branding Iron replies, twirling an olive on a toothpick around his drink,
"I as well am... fascinated... by the halfling who lives there. His name is Pill Cherryweather, but most of my lot just call him 'Lazybones'. He is the grandson of my dear industry loving friend Don Cherryweather of the Thieves Guild. Bastard has never... worked... a day in his life, but he is somehow richer than anyone I know. I'll bet he has more coin than your damn treasury.""And he has this real creepy mistress to boot." Chimes in Glenwise Huck, Branding Iron's second son and husband to Mril-Minda.
"Prettiest hobbit I've ever laid eyes on, but also the scariest. She is from the far south, only in town a few weeks out of the year, and I think she is a ranking member of the clergy of the Red Dragon faith down there. Her eyes are like the fires of hell itself, and any fellow who makes a move on her winds up a charred corpse in the alley."Glenwise offers a wicked smirk.
"But I think she is gonna get whats coming to her now - thanks to you. My wife has always wanted to kill off Pill's bitch. A few of those charred ally bodies were friends of ours, and she can't stand the fact that the stranger is pretty enough to catch my eye. That mask will give my love the confidence she needs to make a move... the stranger is lucky Mril-Minda was already out of town hunting Drow when she turned up this time."
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Topic: (SG) Rise of the Smith Lord (Read 20757 times)