Eternal
One of the first questions you ask is to be caught up to speed on what the current situation is on the land. Jennifer fills you in on most of this topic though Quintus interjects when it comes to more political matters on the subject.
Jennifer starts off by stating that the cataclysm that destroyed the Empire not only led to a dark age, but as you might’ve been able to tell it changed the very landscape. Quala, which was once the heartland of the Empire, is now a wasteland. She mentions that besides the numerous orc tribes that live there, the place is also home for outlaw types.
Quintus remarks that the Nalin Republic has made a bit of an attempt to tame the southern most portion of it along the borders and says that he would like it to do more, but then complains that his hands are tied due to pacifistic fools in the senate.
Jennifer tells you Delerg got it even worse than Quala as most of the land just fell into the ocean! Delerg consists little more as an archipelago though a small portion of it is still attached to the mainland. She says there are rumors of horrors that were awakened and now dwell on several of the islands, but the main danger is that the place is now a haven for pirates.
Quintus remarks that the Nalin navy has problems dealing with them on their eastern coast. Again, he’d like to do more about it, but once again most of the senate claims it isn’t in the budget and is thinking about dismantling the navy altogether.
When you ask about Rask, Jennifer states that there isn’t too much to tell other than wilderness has reclaimed most of it. She says all that’s known is that it’s now infested with orcs, ogres, giants and worse. There are rumors of a warrior “guild” of some sort, but she can’t imagine that they’d be sane living in such a hostile environment.
Quintus doesn’t have much to add other than he’s sent a few adventurer types up there to explore, but none of them have come back alive. He’d like to send a full expedition up there, but he barely gets approval from the senate about the one he sends to dig up the Quala Badlands. You’re sensing a pattern here…
Jennifer next moves on to the more “civilized” areas of what once was the old Empire. She uses the term loosely though.
Arat is fairly lawless though it currently consists of six city-states which supposedly have an agreement of mutual protection (The Arat Alliance, but in practice they’re all out for themselves or at the very least concerned with their own problems. In some cases that means attempting to gain control over the rest. Particularly Lenay, which is the most powerful of the cities and is run by svelk.
You interrupt Jennifer.
“Excuse me? Svelk? They finally managed to settle down?”
“Oh yes, for quite a while now. Sovereign Eldolith has been running it for…”
“Wait, Eldolith?!” you interrupt again.
“Yes, do you know her?”
“We were acquainted. She was only a mercenary captain when I knew her.” You answer.
“Interesting…well she’s come a long way from a simple leader of mercenaries. She’s currently ruling Lenay unopposed and has influence over those weak willed idiots in Atinil and the criminal dominated Valizza.” Quintus interjects. “As you might expect the svelk treat the non-svelk little better than slaves, if they aren’t already.”
Quintus goes on to tell you that he’s been warning the senate that having a strong unified svelk dominated power nearby would not be a good thing, but as usual his warnings are mostly going unheard. He says that at the very least there should be steps to support more independence amongst the cities if only to keep Eldolith from gaining more power. He says one of the cities, Regnik is fairly friendly towards the republic and basically the most reliable source of information of what’s going on in the region.
Telis is the most isolationist of the bunch, but at least it isn’t under the influence of Eldolith. Not much is known about it save that it seems to be very well defended.
The last city is Zo. Though Zo is currently in such dire straits that the six cities may soon become known as the five cities. Zo constantly suffers attacks from orcs. How it remains standing is certainly a testament to its citizens’ resolve, but if the frequency of the attacks keep going the way they are, it won’t matter how stalwart the citizens are.
Jennifer finally comes to what was the newest edition to the Empire during your time, the territory consisting of the Felkan Kingdom. Jennifer says that it mostly consists of small hamlets and even a few towns, but none of them are united like a nation or even as big as one of the six cities of Arat. There is one small nation though that calls itself the Red Cap Kingdom.
The Red Cap Kingdom is a small nation of militant gnomes. Only gnomes live within its borders and they are fiercely independent and hostile to anyone who isn’t a gnome. They are extremely well defended too and probably the most technologically advanced. They call themselves the Red Caps due to being so merciless in battle that they supposedly dip their hats into the blood of their fallen enemies.
“Bloodthirsty gnomes…now I’ve heard everything…” you say nearly laughing. “Well considering all that happened to them, I can’t say I’d blame them for abandoning their pacifism. Always knew we didn’t get all of them. Surprised they came back to the area though.”
Jennifer is a bit confused by your statement, obviously not really knowing the whole story, though Quintus seems a little more up on the topic.
“My dear Miss Mol, during the time of the Empire, the Felkan Kingdom was secretly run by gnomes who did everything in their power to destroy the Empire. Gnomes as you might imagine were specifically targeted to ensure the safety of the Empire.” Quintus explains to Jennifer.
“Yeah…something like that. Though to be quite honest I believe the Emperor just really hated gnomes. He explained his reasons, but I always thought there might be another deeper personal motive. In any case never did learn it, and I didn’t need to. His will was mine and I followed orders.” You remark. This causes an outburst by Quintus who bangs his fist on the table startling Jennifer.
“You see that Miss Mol!? Utter dedication! A ruler gave orders and his soldiers carried them out! This why I wish the old Empire still existed! Shit got done back in those days!”
Considering how much Quintus bitches about the senate he’s certainly right about the Empire getting shit done. Jennifer continues.
“Well the gnomes may have re-entered the area due to being on the run from the other new nation that has reportedly arrived in the area, the Xi Hive.”
“Now who the hell are they?!” you ask.
“A great danger if the sources are even only half correct.” Quintus interjects. “And a perfect reason for the senate to get their shit together, but will they listen? No of course not! I just get accusations of being a warmongering troublemaker when in fact I’m trying to save all of their ungrateful asses!” Quintus shouts causing you and Jennifer and you to stare at him.
Quintus hasn’t really told you what his goals are yet and what role you might play in them, but you can already make a good guess at what one of them might be.
“Sorry. Please continue explaining the Xi Hive to our guest, Miss Mol.” Quintus says.
“So, the Xi Hive is apparently ruled by a race of insectoid creatures. Almost ant like in nature, they’re probably even directed by a queen. They don’t really have any proper settlements. We think they might be primarily subterranean, but that doesn’t stop them from attacking the humble villages that are on the surface. They don’t leave anyone alive and take survivors as captives; presumably underground where I can only guess they might eat or enslave them. They haven’t attacked any of the major powers yet like the Red Cap Kingdom or one of the six cities, but they have been slowly moving east, so it’s only a matter of time.”
You sit there taking all of this in. Orcs running amok, a new gnome nation, united svelk, ant people…and you haven’t even heard the whole sad story on the Nalin Republic yet.
“Tell me something is there ANYTHING that didn’t go to fucking hell when the Empire fell?” you ask.
Quintus and Jennifer aren’t sure how to respond. They think for a moment and then Quintus thinks of something.
“Um…before the cataclysm, Empire was in the process with wiping up gnoll rabble on its western borders wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Well, they must’ve never recovered from it, because there hasn’t been a gnoll seen in nearly five centuries!”
“Gee…well thank the Empire for small victories.” You say shaking your head with your hand on your forehead.
Jennifer starts off by stating that the cataclysm that destroyed the Empire not only led to a dark age, but as you might’ve been able to tell it changed the very landscape. Quala, which was once the heartland of the Empire, is now a wasteland. She mentions that besides the numerous orc tribes that live there, the place is also home for outlaw types.
Quintus remarks that the Nalin Republic has made a bit of an attempt to tame the southern most portion of it along the borders and says that he would like it to do more, but then complains that his hands are tied due to pacifistic fools in the senate.
Jennifer tells you Delerg got it even worse than Quala as most of the land just fell into the ocean! Delerg consists little more as an archipelago though a small portion of it is still attached to the mainland. She says there are rumors of horrors that were awakened and now dwell on several of the islands, but the main danger is that the place is now a haven for pirates.
Quintus remarks that the Nalin navy has problems dealing with them on their eastern coast. Again, he’d like to do more about it, but once again most of the senate claims it isn’t in the budget and is thinking about dismantling the navy altogether.
When you ask about Rask, Jennifer states that there isn’t too much to tell other than wilderness has reclaimed most of it. She says all that’s known is that it’s now infested with orcs, ogres, giants and worse. There are rumors of a warrior “guild” of some sort, but she can’t imagine that they’d be sane living in such a hostile environment.
Quintus doesn’t have much to add other than he’s sent a few adventurer types up there to explore, but none of them have come back alive. He’d like to send a full expedition up there, but he barely gets approval from the senate about the one he sends to dig up the Quala Badlands. You’re sensing a pattern here…
Jennifer next moves on to the more “civilized” areas of what once was the old Empire. She uses the term loosely though.
Arat is fairly lawless though it currently consists of six city-states which supposedly have an agreement of mutual protection (The Arat Alliance, but in practice they’re all out for themselves or at the very least concerned with their own problems. In some cases that means attempting to gain control over the rest. Particularly Lenay, which is the most powerful of the cities and is run by svelk.
You interrupt Jennifer.
“Excuse me? Svelk? They finally managed to settle down?”
“Oh yes, for quite a while now. Sovereign Eldolith has been running it for…”
“Wait, Eldolith?!” you interrupt again.
“Yes, do you know her?”
“We were acquainted. She was only a mercenary captain when I knew her.” You answer.
“Interesting…well she’s come a long way from a simple leader of mercenaries. She’s currently ruling Lenay unopposed and has influence over those weak willed idiots in Atinil and the criminal dominated Valizza.” Quintus interjects. “As you might expect the svelk treat the non-svelk little better than slaves, if they aren’t already.”
Quintus goes on to tell you that he’s been warning the senate that having a strong unified svelk dominated power nearby would not be a good thing, but as usual his warnings are mostly going unheard. He says that at the very least there should be steps to support more independence amongst the cities if only to keep Eldolith from gaining more power. He says one of the cities, Regnik is fairly friendly towards the republic and basically the most reliable source of information of what’s going on in the region.
Telis is the most isolationist of the bunch, but at least it isn’t under the influence of Eldolith. Not much is known about it save that it seems to be very well defended.
The last city is Zo. Though Zo is currently in such dire straits that the six cities may soon become known as the five cities. Zo constantly suffers attacks from orcs. How it remains standing is certainly a testament to its citizens’ resolve, but if the frequency of the attacks keep going the way they are, it won’t matter how stalwart the citizens are.
Jennifer finally comes to what was the newest edition to the Empire during your time, the territory consisting of the Felkan Kingdom. Jennifer says that it mostly consists of small hamlets and even a few towns, but none of them are united like a nation or even as big as one of the six cities of Arat. There is one small nation though that calls itself the Red Cap Kingdom.
The Red Cap Kingdom is a small nation of militant gnomes. Only gnomes live within its borders and they are fiercely independent and hostile to anyone who isn’t a gnome. They are extremely well defended too and probably the most technologically advanced. They call themselves the Red Caps due to being so merciless in battle that they supposedly dip their hats into the blood of their fallen enemies.
“Bloodthirsty gnomes…now I’ve heard everything…” you say nearly laughing. “Well considering all that happened to them, I can’t say I’d blame them for abandoning their pacifism. Always knew we didn’t get all of them. Surprised they came back to the area though.”
Jennifer is a bit confused by your statement, obviously not really knowing the whole story, though Quintus seems a little more up on the topic.
“My dear Miss Mol, during the time of the Empire, the Felkan Kingdom was secretly run by gnomes who did everything in their power to destroy the Empire. Gnomes as you might imagine were specifically targeted to ensure the safety of the Empire.” Quintus explains to Jennifer.
“Yeah…something like that. Though to be quite honest I believe the Emperor just really hated gnomes. He explained his reasons, but I always thought there might be another deeper personal motive. In any case never did learn it, and I didn’t need to. His will was mine and I followed orders.” You remark. This causes an outburst by Quintus who bangs his fist on the table startling Jennifer.
“You see that Miss Mol!? Utter dedication! A ruler gave orders and his soldiers carried them out! This why I wish the old Empire still existed! Shit got done back in those days!”
Considering how much Quintus bitches about the senate he’s certainly right about the Empire getting shit done. Jennifer continues.
“Well the gnomes may have re-entered the area due to being on the run from the other new nation that has reportedly arrived in the area, the Xi Hive.”
“Now who the hell are they?!” you ask.
“A great danger if the sources are even only half correct.” Quintus interjects. “And a perfect reason for the senate to get their shit together, but will they listen? No of course not! I just get accusations of being a warmongering troublemaker when in fact I’m trying to save all of their ungrateful asses!” Quintus shouts causing you and Jennifer and you to stare at him.
Quintus hasn’t really told you what his goals are yet and what role you might play in them, but you can already make a good guess at what one of them might be.
“Sorry. Please continue explaining the Xi Hive to our guest, Miss Mol.” Quintus says.
“So, the Xi Hive is apparently ruled by a race of insectoid creatures. Almost ant like in nature, they’re probably even directed by a queen. They don’t really have any proper settlements. We think they might be primarily subterranean, but that doesn’t stop them from attacking the humble villages that are on the surface. They don’t leave anyone alive and take survivors as captives; presumably underground where I can only guess they might eat or enslave them. They haven’t attacked any of the major powers yet like the Red Cap Kingdom or one of the six cities, but they have been slowly moving east, so it’s only a matter of time.”
You sit there taking all of this in. Orcs running amok, a new gnome nation, united svelk, ant people…and you haven’t even heard the whole sad story on the Nalin Republic yet.
“Tell me something is there ANYTHING that didn’t go to fucking hell when the Empire fell?” you ask.
Quintus and Jennifer aren’t sure how to respond. They think for a moment and then Quintus thinks of something.
“Um…before the cataclysm, Empire was in the process with wiping up gnoll rabble on its western borders wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Well, they must’ve never recovered from it, because there hasn’t been a gnoll seen in nearly five centuries!”
“Gee…well thank the Empire for small victories.” You say shaking your head with your hand on your forehead.