Outskirts
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| The Downs are no place for...well...anyone. (AI image courtesy of NightCafe) |
22. The Downs
Effectively the fourth quarter of Alkastra, the Downs is a shantytown of hastily-built wooden houses on stilts, connected by plank bridges over sodden or flooded ground. Few come to the Downs willingly, save for the destitute, the insane, and the criminal, such as wanted men, smugglers, and river pirates who are between raids. A few hard men from a small community of fisherfolk across the river come to the Downs to engage in part-time smuggling, and keep to their own.
There is no law in the Downs save for the steel one carries and their ability to use it. However, the local people know not to harass those affiliated with the Kingdom of the Downs, lest they end up in the Swamp with their throat slit. Much of the business here is barter-based and/or illicit, and its drinking establishments are not a place for outsiders.
Adventure Idea: The Stroke of Midnight. The player characters (PCs) are at one of the drinking establishments in the Downs (likely on shady business of their own) when Templars of Law arrive (one, 2nd-level cleric plus a 1st-level cleric for each party member.) They are seeking the river pirate Zeke Forrest (Fighter 4, AL N, AC 4, sword,) who fights back in an attempt to escape. If the players assist him, he will tell them his story and offer them a job. Zeke and his crew raided a walled abbey (Hex 0732) some time ago and stole a relic of the Church of Law: the Hourglass of St. Artus – made from his sanctified hand and arm bones, with his ashes for the sand. Since then, Zeke has suffered a bout of uncanny misfortune: a number of freak accidents and breakages on his boat, along with a few botched raids, which caused his crew to mutiny and throw him overboard. Zeke believes he is cursed because of stealing the relic, and now wants to return it to the abbey. If the PCs escort him there and protect him from the Templars, he will share the location of his hidden stash (buccaneer type treasure,) keeping some to retire with. Unfortunately, his old crew of 30 buccaneers has returned to the abbey and taken over, forcing the monks to serve them.
On the other hand, should the PCs help the Templars or otherwise allow Zeke to be captured, the Templars themselves may hire the PCs to assist them in retaking the abbey and returning the holy relic to its rightful place. Whether the relic has any actual power (or curse) is left for the GM to decide.
23. Refugee Camp
A camp of displaced people from the barbarian lands to the North has formed here. As mentioned in the North Gate entry of the Gate Quarter, there is a civil war causing an influx of these refugees. Many are seeking ways to enter the city and settle there, or at least pay for passage south, but the guards at the North Gate are tasked with keeping an eye for obvious groups of Northmen and denying them entry (but are amenable to bribes.) Life here is somewhat safer than in the North currently, but still precarious as the denizens of the Downs have begun preying on the refugees. The unluckiest go missing only to be found floating in the Swamp or the river later. Some refugees are desperately turning to crime, thuggery, and other disreputable business just to survive. It is a good opportunity to hire brave (if penniless) Northmen as mercenaries.
To make matters worse for the refugees, agents of the warring Jarls skulk among the camp, seeking a rumored heir of the dead Altking that is said to have escaped the conflict and fled south.
24. The Fighting Pit
The ruins of an ancient, flooded villa have been dredged to show a ruined courtyard with a beautiful, albeit damaged mosaic floor. This “pit” comes to life once a week with the light of torches and a crowd hungry for the blood and spectacle that are the fights sponsored by the Kingdom of the Downs.
A typical weekly show begins with a few bouts between amateur fighters or a captured beast or monster. Then, a title bout between known gladiators (and even famous creatures) caps the night’s bloody festivities. Betting is handled by representatives of the Kingdom of the Downs and many a fortune has been won or lost on these fights. Some nobles or rich merchants even sponsor their own fighters.
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| Fresh meat for the Pit. |
The current, undefeated Champion is actually a minotaur (HP 33) which was initially believed to be a man with a bull’s-head helmet until a shocked crowd witnessed it feasting on his defeated opponent. A Championship bout is a unique event, with the pit being turned into a maze where the Champion hunts his challenger. Past Championship bouts have seen the Pit rigged with spikes, traps, and other dangers.
Adventure Idea: Blade of Sorrow. Tybald Dufay, a foolish young aristocrat, has lost his family heirloom sword to his gambling habits, and is seeking a way to get it back, but has no money to wager (his family has cut him off.) The sword is currently held at the home of Lord Aegon Krunner III, who is the secret Duke of the Citadel Quarter (see the Crumbles entry in the River Quarter.) Two options present themselves: one, break into Lord Krunner’s home, sneak by (or fight) his highly-trained mercenary guards (some who are former Pit Champions,) and end up an enemy of a high-ranking Duke in the Kingdom of the Downs (not to mention the guild itself,) or two, convince Lord Krunner to wager the sword in the Fighting Pit and win it, evening the odds by risking their lives in the Pit. Tybald is willing to sponsor any would-be gladiators as his own.
25. Shrine to the Beatific Death
Within this quiet, wooded area is a vine-covered, ruined chapel. Inside the chapel, a statue that looks like a skeletal version of the Merciful Mother (see the Temple of Law entry in the Citadel Quarter) rests on a stone altar with various offerings around her. This is the Beatific Death.
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| The Beatific Death watches over all lost souls. The Sicarii are also watching... (adapted from AI image courtesy of NightCafe.) |
The Cult of the Beatific Death (N) believes that when the Dragon Father ascended the Merciful Mother to immortality, and created the Faithful Son, Mythras from her remains, the essence of her death was left in the world and became the Beatific Death. She is the patroness of innocents whose life has been cut short from calamities such as disease, famine, natural disasters, stillbirth, murder, and war. The Church of Law considers this cult heretical, but people from all walks of life whose loved ones have been taken from them come to the chapel to beseech the Beatific Death to watch over their souls so that they don’t become lost spirits or worse. This is done by leaving an item that was significant to the loved one as an offering, or in the case of a stillbirth, a small doll representing the departed child with two silvers sewn inside to pay the Ferryman on their way to the afterlife.
Those who leave a white lotus as an offering, however, seek a different form of favor. It is a signal to the Sicarii, an ancient order of assassins, that someone requires their services. The Sicarii watch the shrine (often in the guise of the shrine’s quiet caretaker) and send a representative to the requestor that next night to negotiate terms. Once the terms are set, the client is instructed to purchase an item equal in value to the negotiated fee (typically jewelry,) then return to the shrine and leave it as an offering while voicing the intended victim’s name in a prayer for their soul. This seals the bargain and the Sicarii will not cease until the target is slain. Woe is any thief who tries to rob the shrine’s offerings (members of the Kingdom of the Downs understand this.)
The Sicarii’s association with the Cult of the Beatific Death goes back a long time, as it is their custom to placate her before committing a contract slaying. They are fanatical in their belief that they are pledging their life and soul to the Beatific Death as the price for the murders they commit and that in turn, she will keep their souls in service to herself and thereby avoid damnation in the afterlife.
The Sicarii recruit from orphans, especially those who show a cold and calculating talent for murder and violence. They occasionally recruit among the criminally insane, providing the arguable service of removing a serial killer from the streets and providing them with meaningful employment. In extremely rare cases, a target who fends off multiple attempts on their life with extraordinary skill will be offered a place in the order, with the understanding that they are marked anyway and the assassination attempts will never stop until they join or die. Lastly, those foolish or deadly serious enough to seek the order out may leave a black lotus as an offering to the Beatific Death, and a member of the Sicarii will find them and test (i.e. ambush) them; failure means death. In all cases, the prospect will be given a token of the Beatific Death and instructed to hand it to a smuggler, who will know the place to take them. Sicarii will already be aware of their arrival and be there ready to take them to the order’s hidden sanctum where they will be initiated into their new life of dark service to the Beatific Death.
Although the majority of the Sicarii are members of the assassin class, some have other skills and backgrounds useful for different types of assassinations. A rare few may not even be human.
26. The Swamp
Beyond the Downs is a gloomy bog where only the foolish or desperate enter. Sometimes, dead animals, or even human bodies are dumped at the edge of the Swamp to feed the creatures that emerge from it; this regular feeding tends to keep them away from the Downs.
Deep within this bog is the abode of the Crone of the Swamp. It is not known whether the Crone is a powerful sorceress or a creature of Chaos, but she has existed beyond known memory. Desperate souls have been known to seek her out for her unique favors or forbidden secrets. It is said that the cost of these favors or knowledge tends to be steep and often twisted to be of no benefit to the recipient.
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| The Crone will fulfill your deepest, darkest desire...for a price (AI image courtesy of NightCafe) |
Adventure Idea: The Silent Beast. Marcus Hargran, an old leatherworker from the River Quarter, is seeking assistance in going on a hunt in the Westweald, a forest near the city (Hex 1320.) He is convinced that he had a dream vision of a white stag, which he must slay himself. From its hide, Marcus will be able to create a masterpiece of leather armor, which will be his enduring legacy.
The beast is actually real, but Marcus isn’t the only one after it. Unzorik (Magic-user 6, AL C) is a power-hungry warlock who made a deal with the Crone of the Swamp in exchange for arcane knowledge and needs the hide of the stag as payment. To this end, he has hired a group of 17 poachers (treat as bandits) to assist him in this hunt. Unzorik will not give up his quarry so easily, and neither will the local druids and/or elves, which consider the stag sacred.
Should the player characters (PCs) succeed in helping Marcus, he will pay them the agreed sum, and if they did a particularly admirable job, gift them with the armor when completed (in 1d4+1 days.) In addition, they will enjoy a 10% discount on any leather goods from his shop. If the PCs convince Marcus to let the stag be, Marcus will still pay them and provide the discount. Furthermore, his craft is now blessed so that there is a 1-in-6 chance the leather goods he creates are magical (specifics left to the GM.) Unfortunately, Marcus doesn’t have much time left on this Earth and may pass away soon (especially if PCs try to take excessive advantage of his blessing.) The details of the white stag armor and its properties are left for the GM to decide, but the writer recommends a magical piece with a +1 bonus and a special property, perhaps assisting with stealth.
Less scrupled PCs might instead present the hide to the Crone of the Swamp in exchange for her favor. She will be wickedly pleased enough to grant the boon.
27. The Farms
The southern outskirts of Alkastra are at a slightly higher
elevation than the Downs, and as a result, the ground is highly farmable with
little fear of the seasonal floods that plague the northern end of town. The vast farms here belong to the
rulers and aristocracy of the city, where serfs, indentured servants, and
sometimes criminals sentenced to labor, grow wheat, barley, and other crops
that feed many of the high society in the city.
On the river side is a large water wheel and mill that processes the grains produced by these farms. Beyond the mill is a grassy hill where shepherds often bring their flock to graze. Lovers often have secret rendezvous here as well.
The city holds an annual Harvest Festival in the half of the fields that are left fallow. The festival is a week of feasting, entertainment, contests, and jousts. People from the surrounding area arrive in droves to participate. At other times, the Citadel’s forces practice military drills in the same area.
28. Graveyard
A large flat, hill to the southwest is where the city’s keeps its dead. One section is a cemetery that houses the old cairns and mausoleums of several aristocratic families of the city, with a separate section for the resting places of merchants and craftsmen. A general pit serves for the graves of paupers and condemned criminals (after appropriate time in the gibbet,) which is refilled when full to capacity and another is then dug up.
The graveyard is not a place to visit at night. Despite the Temple of Law’s efforts to bless graves and keep the undead at bay, some restless dead still manage rise from time to time (typically skeletons or zombies; rarely worse.) In addition, the occasional ghoul is often drawn to the graveyard by the smell of a freshly-dug grave.
Thieves who brave the tombs of the rich may be dismayed to find that many are protected by traps, magical seals, guardian spirits, and/or other defenses; rob them at your own risk!
Adventure Idea: The Ghoul Queen’s Tomb: a young, boastful warrior by the name of Ohthere (Fighter 1, AL L) is in his cups and arguing with Ernas, a scholar, and secret practitioner of the dark arts (Magic-user 4, AL C) at a tavern the player characters (PCs) happen to be drinking at. The naïve warrior makes a wager with the scholar that he will brave an ancient tomb in the Cemetery which the scholar had been talking about (he has studied the tomb’s history extensively and knows it to be the grave of an ancient sorcerer-queen; he covets her arcane secrets.) Since the tomb belonged to a now nonexistent family, it is safe (relatively speaking) to enter without offending anyone powerful in the city. After his boast and wager, Ohthere loudly requests for any brave volunteers to go with him.
The tomb’s traps and defenses past the main entrance are still active. However, smugglers dug a hidden tunnel (disguised as a grave) into the inner tomb chamber, looted it, and then used it to store exotic spices, herbs, lotus, and other contraband. Unluckily for the smugglers, a pack of eight (8) ghouls entered the tunnels and slew them. They now lair inside and grow fat (figuratively speaking) from freshly-interred corpses in the Graveyard.
If Ohthere and the PCs succeed in clearing the tomb, they will be met outside by Ernas and six (6) hired thugs (treat as bandits) who demand any treasures they obtained inside. A frustrated Ernas will not believe any claims that the grave goods have already been looted.
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