The City of Touchstone

[Tybalt]

I would appreciate any thoughts, critiques and ideas anyone would like to contribute to this. Thank you in advance.

The City of Touchstone

Population: 15,000 (including approximately 3,500 refugees at the moment)
Government: the Great Council of New Edom (through a group made up of a representative of each particular councilâ,¬'Guildmasters, Representatives, Guardians of Justice, Lords, Warâ,¬'called the Council of Prefecture)
Main Temples: Ishtar,(goddess of brewing, war, marriage, childbirth)  Moradin (god of dwarves and blacksmiths)
Other deities worshipped: Derketo (a love goddess) , Tammuz (consort to Ishtar â,¬Å"Lord of the Ploughâ,¬Â) Nanna (goddess of the moon), Utu (god of the sun) Ereshkigal (goddess of death)
Army: 400 regular soldiers, 600 militia
Exports: Coal, iron, forged goods, carved stone, lumber
Imports: Spices, fruit, grain, livestock, hides, cloth, alcohol, dyes, salt, glassware

History
[spoiler]
History: During the reign of the tyrant King Obed this was a mining town that acted as a penal colony. Those spared execution were sent to dig and to do work supporting the mines. At that time it was called Fist Keep. An uprising of the slaves was led by infiltrated rebels roughly at the time of the death of the king. Because the civil war was not quite over and a fortified location was believed to be needed in order for the rebel council to meet Fist Keep was chosen. Following the hero Touchstoneâ,¬,,¢s ascension to High Lord and his subsequent death it was named after him. Thus the capital of New Edom is a former slave colony named after a Court Fool who assassinated a king became a Lord.

King Obedâ,¬,,¢s agents had always been somewhat wary of the dwarvish kingdom of Svartaheim to the north and so had been rivals for exploration of mining territory. This changed under the new government; Touchstone deliberately sought friendship with the dwarf king and this friendship has bloomed into a strong alliance. The dwarves sent miners and engineers to help make Touchstone a strongly fortified city, helped dig deep wells to pure springs and great storage halls beneath parts of the city. They made it possible to expand it to hold more people comfortably.

Lord Aholibamah, the countryâ,¬,,¢s most powerful wizard, led others of his kind in establishing magical defenses, including making a number of statues of heroes of the revolution that can animate when the city is in great danger. They also made such wards as made it impossible for the city gates to be opened by the hand of a traitor to the republic.
[/spoiler]

The City at Present:
Touchstone is a troubled city. New Edom has been invaded by an alliance of Celtic tribes and humanoid tribes. Two thirds of the country have been conqueredâ,¬'only a recent victory over besieging forces at Fineberg has prevented more than that being lost. Thousands of refugees are beginning to stream into the capital.

Elsewhere the republicâ,¬,,¢s alliesâ,¬'the dwarves of Svartaheim, the gnomes of Nibelheim, the wood elves of Carnmagâ,¬'are under attack as well. Slowly the enemy alliance is closing an iron fist around the region.

Unfortunately the nearest area that is still free is the north, which is largely mountainous and doesnâ,¬,,¢t produce much food. Furthermore the soldiers there under General Abiathar are with difficulty holding the mountain passes against another group of invaders.

The only way for food to come through is from the east, which is now reduced to a scorched area of wasteland and a narrow corridor through which caravans and columns may pass. This is constantly being attacked by raiders, mostly orcs and horse mounted barbarians.

In addition to all this New Edomâ,¬,,¢s forces are increasingly stretched thin. To prevent the encirclement of Touchstone Lord Dunsinaine, the commander of the armies, has fielded an army in the valley region south of the capital, and General Carmel holds the eastern corridor as well as the river country around Fineberg.

Food is very expensive in Touchstone at the moment, and much of it is being rationed sternly. Unfortunately with the confusion of the arrival of refugees, the need to form a draft lottery to fill the empty ranks of the militia companies and a general sense of fear and panic there exists a black market that hydra like cannot quite be put down.

The Religion of Touchstone

[spoiler]
Ishtar
At one time the Ishtar cult was an aristocratic oneâ,¬'it reluctantly agreed to stand aside and let the rebels deal with the kingâ,¬,,¢s injustices. There are two factions in the temple structure todayâ,¬'one that feels that the goddess clearly blessed or at least accepted the rebel efforts, the other feeling that they have been humbled by their failure to defend the king and to find a way of correcting his behavior on their own. The priesthood is largely hereditary though ability to prove the goddessâ,¬,,¢ acceptance is proven through the gaining of spells. Thus there is in addition to a priestly hierarchy a whole support structure of stewards, factors and the like who are also largely hereditary. The Fabian family is very powerful within the temple hierarchy, having two representatives in the Great Council (Guildmasters and Representatives) and many business interests through the temple. Ishtar is patroness over brewing, marriage, and is also liason for the worship of other deities such as Ereshkigalâ,¬'one approaches rites concerning death through Ishtar so as to demonstrate respect for instanceâ,¬'so that for instance marriages, deaths, taverns and also such areas as education often require fees to be paid to this temple. At the same time the clerics of Ishtar are also valiant in their public service, acting as healers, warriors and scholars.

Moradin

Moradin is claimed as the First Ancestor by the dwarves and as the patron of smiths in general. Generally his clerics are smiths and weaponmakers anyway, and therefore tend to be burly or at least well muscled, often with scars from sparks and hot metal, with a reputation for hard work and forthrightness. While there are many normal smiths most will have a little shrine to Moradin. It is difficult to follow the smith-godâ,¬,,¢s service, for he requires one to be very much subject to the spirit of the metal not merely to gaining constant business. As a result few want to go all the way in their devotions to absolute commitment to the god. There is nevertheless great respect and reverence for the priests of Moradin among the metal-craftsmen and engineers of Fineberg.

[/spoiler]
The Mines

The Mines of Touchstone still exist, and in part are still used as a penal colony, though the prisoners are no longer enslaved for life, since New Edom despises slavery. Instead of this there are various periods of penal servitude and though the treatment can be tough and harsh it is fair and the prisoners are not permitted to torment one another too much. It is also a reeducation camp in a wayâ,¬'proper lawful behavior and a sense of the republicâ,¬,,¢s values are taught in regular sessions. Unfortunately at the moment this has fallen by the wayside as the regular guards were marched off to join with the army and semi-trained militia largely took their place.

Stonehaven

[spoiler]Stonehaven is part training ground, part vault and part special prison for the Council Police, the enforcement arm of the Nocturnal Council. (Note: the Nocturnal Council is a 70 person non-voting part of the Great Council devoted to gathering information. It is called the Nocturnal Council because their sessions are done by night.) It is located partly within a tall mountain north of Touchstone and is very difficult to get to even by air. The only way it could be built was by magic and dwarvish help. The trail up to it is no wider than the body of a person lying sideways and has two forts built right onto it so that one has to go through them to get farther up the trail. Strong winds buffet the upper reaches of the mountain constantly. It is a lonely desolate place and it is said that some of the prisonersâ,¬'kept there for special interrogations or because they themselves require special places to be heldâ,¬'are quite mad. [/spoiler]

Adventures for Touchstone
[spoiler]
The Purge
The Great Council has met following the end of autumn and the last main campaigning of the season. It is brought up by High Lord Jetheh (leader of the Council of Lords) that the enemy controls two thirds of the country, that supplies are dwindling, allies are barely able to help and that in spite of General Carmelâ,¬,,¢s victory at Fineberg and the enemy halting before the encirclement that the situation is very grim indeed. The council is divided into factions. One faction (led by Lord Jetheh) believes that they have to consider some kind of treaty. Certainly with the enemy unable to attack further they might make some kind of agreement that will enable the remaining part of the country to stay freeâ,¬'possibly even regaining some territory in negotiations! This faction are called the Conservatives.

The second faction believe that they must fight on, whatever the costâ,¬'their sires did not give their lives so that they could surrender to another tyrant and his monstrous allies! This faction, led by Lord Aholibamah, are called the War Hawks.

A third faction advocates caution. They do not agree that they should consider a peace treaty yet, but think that they should meet with the enemy leaders and get a feel for what they have in mind, find out how committed they are. Furthermore they believe that they must try to find allies farther abroad. There are surely enemies of the High Kingdom of the Celts that will offer some kind of aidâ,¬Â¦this faction is called the Scales and are led by Lord Magdiel.

However there is a fourth faction, rather secretly. Certain members of the patrician class in particular fear that they will lose everything if they donâ,¬,,¢t somehow appease the enemyâ,¬'there have been dreadful stories of massacres and awful magics being used by the enemy. This group is not merely prevailing upon Jetheh to find a good way to surrender but is also negotiating in secret to get promises from King Cleothas to that effect. This group has no name and they meet in secret.

The council debates and argues and unfortunately votes are divided. They donâ,¬,,¢t seem able to act! Unfortunately at this time an envoy arrivesâ,¬'the Kingâ,¬,,¢s brother in law, Duke Mathramail. The Duke informs them that the King is willing to offer a sixty day armistice provided that it is mutually beneficialâ,¬'in other words that a peace negotiation should begin. Otherwise no such offers will be considered for a yearâ,¬,,¢s time.
The Council reconvenes and it is decided by a 2/3 majority vote of all councils that they should discuss a peace with the enemy. Aholibamah is outraged and declares that this is a betrayal of the republic.

However he plans to do more than that. He plans to purge the supporters of the peace treaty. Secretly he and his followers meet and persuade Colonel Kohath, the commander of the Council Police, to support them.

The dilemma for players would be this: who to support? They are almost certainly asked to join with Aholibamah but would find it difficult to say no. They will get wind of both conspiracies and find themselves in a difficult positionâ,¬Â¦

However if they support Aholibamah then they are part of a coup d'etat. They are assigned to arrest a particular set of aristocrats and march them to a dungeon. In the midst of this the half trained city militia (since most of the army is in the field) are unable to prevent riots from breaking out. The players must somehow get their charges to the right location and possibly stop things from going too far. The mob are mostly hungry frightened people whose fear has turned to hatred for those whom they suspect of feeding their faces while they were half starved on meager thin porridge and what they could scavenge. Among them, possibly goading them, are radical republicans who want revenge against enemies and possibly want to profit from sacking noble estates.

Prison Transfer

Following the arrests those nobles actually taking part in the conspiracy would have been executed after a traditional 'people's court' of commoners with a Guardian of Justice presiding as a referee. The conspirators would be sentenced to execution. Family members who did not prove their loyalty would be sentenced to hard labor. Those who were loyal or turned in family members would keep estates and rank. Conservatives who were not part of the conspiracy would be given the choice of changing their allegiance or committing suicide to keep their dignity and their families their posessions.

The pcs are instructed to take a group of special prisoners to Stonehaven for interrogation. This is a slightly unpleasant journey and requires them to stay at one of the mining colonies to wait out the weather there. During this time they become aware that things have gone sour at the mines, the re-education is not being done properly and the prisoners are surly and restive. They can do something about it if they want to...

Following this they make their way up the mountain only to hear bad news. It seems that there has been no word from Stonehaven to the two outposts--messengers sent up have returned pale and shaken, saying that the prison is now haunted!

What has happend is this: the enemy has sent a group of summoned creatures to take over the minds of the prisoners. Strange illusions and madness have begun to rule the prison. A few of the prisoners have resisted but not for long. The guards are mostly dead or crazy. The outpost commander requests their help--clearly they cannot bring the new prisoners there, and there are certain key people and pieces of information that will have to be rescued.

The Black Market

Unlike the black market of Fineberg the one in Touchstone is under ground. When the city was built by the dwarves they made great halls to keep supplies in in case of siege. There are not so many supplies unfortunately that they are needed--regular storage is being used for that. Instead given that the city is on a mountain and space is at a premium it has been used to provide refugees a home. There are hundreds living down there. It has created a strange temporary culture that has begun to be ruled by the tough and dangerous. It is possibly infiltrated by strange creatures, spies, and refugees from justice rather than from the enemy. However the clues as to who is running the black market of Touchstone definitely lead there. [/spoiler]

[amikaligula]

So the militia is expanding?  Because I thought that the 400pro/600mil solder ratio was rather icky, even in a militant city.

[Tybalt]

Actually I meant that to reflect the recent casualties in the army. Yes they would be trying to recruit and train more people.

[Ninja D!]

I think you've done a great job with this.  You have enough detail that someone could take this and use it without any real effort.