Trickletown

Trickletown

Population: 1400 Humanoids

Founding Date: 127 A.F.

Primary Religion: None

Minor Religions: Keepers of the Shipman's Dirge, Gelnoth the Vast Azure, and Fenmarel Mestarine, Wood-Elf demi-god

Trickletown is the most important trade city to the Common Lands. Founded one hundred years after The Fall, it was originally just a series of buidlings made from drift wood. The town's location on the river meant that it had control over any and all trade that wanted to go West. The only other option would be to go by land to the north or sail through the dangerous straits in and around Witchhearth to the ports of Azuran.

The population is mostly human, but a large number of small folk and Elves live here as well. In the minority are various races that come and go as the shipments do. Intolerance is not a major problem throughout the city. The varied and flowing nature of the city causes the people to not worry about much else than themselves and their money.

The city is a shadow of its former self now. After the devastation of the Kraken War, the city is scattered and divided. Quill Derring, the last remaining merchant lord, claims lordship from Salt Keep, but many defy his reign, including a faction that still reveres the Krakens and their influence.

Trickletown is ruled by a central group of mechant lords, the most prominent being Lord Thomas Welldraw. However, the government's existance does little to stem the rampant crime and corruption on the streets. Though the Merchant Lords have a codex of law, the people care little for it. A group of brutal militia and guradsmen patrol the streets and are effective where they are. However, if a patrolman is not around, anything can happen. Many guardsman can be easily bribed to look the other way.

Local Dungeons: Nim's Abandoned Factory, Jaundice Point, The Urban Mine, Grepperdoor's Laboratory, Daxial's Spire

Early History

Founded in 127 A.F., early Trickletown was a shadow of what it would become. With a population of maybe 75, it was often bullied by larger trade groups moving through the area. Though they attempted to enforce port taxes only a few travellers felt as if they had to. Realising they had no tools of enforecement, the new town worried for its existence.

Beringer Welldraw, ancestor of the current leader, journeyed to the north looking for a way to enforce the town's laws. Venturing into the Wildwood, he was made a captive and prisoner of the Wood Elves. Their society had whethered The Fall and had a robust city in the trees. A standing army, fine weapons, and powerful magic users, he saw a force to be reckoned with. Upon realizing Beringer was no spy or enemy, the Elves prepared to let him and his men go.

Beringer made his captors an offer. If the Wood Elves helped enforce the cities laws, He would ensure that no trouble would come between men and Wood Elves and he would also pay a tithe every year to the Elves, whatever they wished. The Wood Elves wished to help re-invigorate civilization and agreed to aid the human town. They demanded a tithe of artifacts and works of art as well as housing, food, and pay for any fighters leased to the city. Not trusting men with it, they wished to preserve anything of worth from the old world.

Beringer returned to Trickletown with two dozen Elven warriors and a pair of Elven wizards. Trickletown now had the muscle it needed.

Growth and tensions with Azuran

Trickletown grew rapidly over the next two hundred years. Hailed as a hero, the children of the Welldraw line were always held in positions of power and honor. On the backs of the Wood Elves and the work of their own people, Trickletown grew from a shanty to a city with cobbled streets. By 367 A.F., Trickletown was so well known that the Elves hardly had to appear at checkpoints. Trickletown had begun to build ts own Militia of armed men, trained by the Wood Elves.

It was around this year that Trickletown received a messenger from Azuran. Once a city from before the Fall, it had finally revitalized and now commanded trade on the southern stretches of the sea. Instead of facing each other in trade disputes, the empire offered an agreement, an alliance. They would share goods, information, and income as partners. Together, the empire wished to ensure human control over the coast.

The leaders of Trickletown would rather not lose out on a chance to profit, but were unsure what the Azuran economic force may become. Sensing they were weak at the moment, they refused the offer and dropped import prices in their bays. Trickletown meant to starve out the new human nation and soak in the profit from its corpse.

The Ruin of the Woodland Realm

By 380 A.F., Wood Elf messengers asked for aid form the small town. A vampire lord by the name of Gulithas had been marauding their lives for many decades now. The vampire based out of Bloodfell Spire and commanded an army of undead and foul creatures. His attacks were more effective every year and now they feared he may soon challenge their seat in the Wildwood.

Trickletown had used the Wood Elves as a defensive crutch. Though they had a militia, this was merely a token police force adept at dealing with smugglers and criminals. Trickletown offered material aid, but could not help with fighting power.

One hundred years later, survivors from the Wood Elf cities told the leaders of Trickletown that Gulithas was victorious. An army of Orcs in black armor had allied with Gulithas and trounced their forces. The Woodland Realm was now ruined. They could never return to their home.

Trickletown welcomed the refugees and made sure they had a place to live. Though the elves were grateful, they grew to resent the city. All of this wealth and corruption they helped foster, and all they had to show for it was a cramped room in a dreary human city.

Corruption Grows and Modern Times

By 550 A.F., Trickletown was one of the wealthiest human cities known, only falling short of Isilsolar.

The Welldraw lineage, though the family name has changed many times, has sat on the leadership of Trickletown for almost 500 years. Every governor or governess ensures that their ties to the Welldraw bloodline are concrete. Some saw the family as graceful blessings to man, while others saw them as silver spoon successors only concerned with capital. The current Governor Crom is more concerned with the waning influence of the government itself. Known for badgering merchant barons and passing pestering ordinances on taxes, his slights are considered to be small time problems for the barons. It is no secret that Crom wants to grow the authority of Trickletown.

Indeed, there is more evidence to suggest the latter. The higher classes often pay guardsmen to protect their properties alone, so far as discouraging them from spending time in other places. Land titles are stolen by assassins and sold on the market, small shop keeps are bullied by larger organizations, and the poor can only aspire to helping the upper class grow richer.

Trickletown is not dangerous in the sense that you can be killed on the street. The town goes to great lengths to make visitors feel welcome. Trade is their lifeblood. However, if you try to settle down in Trickletown, it is a rough life to say the least. The city boasts very high income taxes and punitive laws for bringing in goods outside of the docks.

The Kraken War

In 602 A.F., a series of events threw the town into chaos. Governor Sheridan Crom, long looking for a reason to investigate the powerful Merchant's Guild, received a tip from a group of vigilantes. Known as the Kraken War, this would prove to be Trickletown's darkest hour.

A group of special individuals, siding with Crom in the conflict, followed and bolstered his efforts throughout the city during the war: Antonio Starkundus, a former Merchant Guild accountant turncoat. Llifeld, a religious figure and priest of Vulkar. Gareth Gobble, a halfling mercenary devoid of his people's cheer. Ken Hotatae, owner and proprietor of the Wildcards casino.

Meanwhile, this same group began working for an Aquatic Elf named Etraayu. Not naming his benefactor, the group retrieved artifacts and contacted lesser elements. For instance, an Oni named Opper was brought out of hiding by their hand. Their actions gave Crom all the momentum he needed.

In his desire for power, Crom allied himself with the local Sahuagin clan, whose ambassador was Etraayu. Together, on the first day of the 7 Seas Festival, they framed an attack by the Merchant's Guild on the plaza square. This began a violent crackdown on the guild and initiated a civil war between the two factions.

Crom revealed the truth to the group of vigilantes, trusting them to aid him in his bid for consolidating power in the city. The group then met with Etraayu's benefactor, the chieftain Khalaash of the White Waves. A deal was agreed upon at the docks. The group would lure Vulkar, demi-god, into a trap to steal his godly essence. This essence had been stolen from a Kraken in its death throes. All four Krakens needed to be alive to govern all four elements of the sea (the shallows, the open blue, the brine, and the storm's fury). Once the Krakens could acquire the essence Vulkar stole, they could return to power over the sea and the coasts.

At the same time, Lifeld met with the remnants of the Merchant's Guild. The last uncaptured Merchant Baron, Quil Deriring, explained the Kraken's plot to control the city, telling them to kill Crom. Then they would be trusted enough to work with them.

Two days after this meeting, in the dead of night, a terrible storm blew into town. A gale from the sea, the biting wind rattled windows and bit at those on the street. A great wave rolled over the city, inundating the lower boroughs. The sea swelled and the Kraken Lord Daxial of the Brine, greatest of the four, attacked the city. Annihilating houses and rending roads, he cleared off a space near the center of town and magically brought a massive stone spire from underground. An ancient temple to the Krakens that was long buried, within were the means necessary to steal Vulkar's power.

This act caused a mutiny among Crom's Port Protectorate. Fleeing for his life, he now resides in Daxial's Spire. A united Trickletown now prepared to face the Kraken and his army.

The gang of vigilantes traveled to Salt Keep, now afraid of the Kraken lord and what his rule might bring. They struck a deal with Vulkar: they would walk into his trap and then turn it upon the Kraken, using a special weapon known as the Soulglass. Everything went according to plan. The Kraken Daxial was thrown down and destroyed forever. However, Vulkar died in the battle, slain by the hand of Daxial.

Aftermath of the Kraken War

Trickletown is now a ruin. Quil Derring leads from the safety of Salt Keep. Determined to renew their former wealth and commerce, he has invested heavily in restoring the markets and keeping his people free. There are many factions that oppose Derring, the most notable being the Brotherhood of Kelp. These cultists believe that the Krakens and Vulkar were a part of a natural cycle, that the sea should rule all who live near it. They see Quill's rise as the usurpation of man over nature. Comprised of pirates, druids, Kraken fanatics, and other sea-borne beings, they fight Quill tooth and nail. They are led by their mysterious leader, the Mouth of Gelnoth.

A new threat has emerged amongst the ruins of the war. A terrible nightmare, a "plague" known as the Black Dream, manifests in many. An awful dream, it always is of being chased or tortured by an ogre-like creature with blue-green skin and burning red eyes. Additionally, more hellish, black, ghostly, dream creatures have been appearing in reality to attack and drain the life from their victims. No one knows what is causing this, but research shows that this began shortly before the war started.

Within the Black Dream, aside the screams and sounds of their nightmare, many say they can hear this rhyme. Scholars believe an Oni must have entered town before the onset of the war. The mass chaos and death may have empowered him by creating an abundance of nightmares for him to feed upon, especially in children:

Lock the door, blow out the light

The hungry Oni haunts the night

Hide and tremble, little one

The Oni wants to have some fun

Hear it screatching on the door

See its shadow cross the floor

The sun won't rise for quite a while

Till then, beware the Oni's smile