Tz'Arrm
When the Bane the Strife Emperor fought Melora, he took the form of a giant of unimaginable size, clad from head to toe in armour of pitted iron. When he was defeated and cast back into his planar prison, his immense, divine armor remained and crashed to the ground. Centuries have passed, and the thirty-foot tall Helm of Strife is now the palace of the hobgoblin’s Iron Emperor. The rest of their imprisoned god’s armour fuels the unstoppable war machine of the Iron Authority, melted down to create walls, weapons, and worse.
Society
As the capital of a war-like empire, Tz’Arrm is awash with propaganda and crawling with secret police. Nearly all hobgoblins within the city are proud imperial citizens, bound by the Curse of Strife to lust for war—and bound by the will of the Iron Emperor to obey unquestioningly. Hobgoblins occupy all of the highest positions within the city, and are the only people allowed to serve in the mighty imperial armies.
Goblins are second-class citizens within the imperial capital. While they are afforded citizenship and a certain level of goblinoid respect, their role in society is clear; they live to serve. Every general, duke, and petty lord has several goblins on their payroll, either as housekeepers, as serving-folk, or as artists to serve their own vanity. Slavery
The armies of the Iron Authority have captured tens of thousands of slaves during their wars of conquest across Rifenmist Peninsula. The slaves of Tz’Arrm are mostly used as laborers, and are sent to chisel iron scraps from Bane’s fallen armour, or to venture back into the lower jungles to forage for food. The slaves that pass in and out of the city are always escorted by a military detachment, to prevent escape. Hobgoblin taskmasters prize tieflings over all other slaves as labourers, especially for work in the furnaces. Tz’Arrm’s nobles also prize their few elven slaves, passing them down like heirlooms from generation to generation. Elves are treasured possessions by the Authority’s despicable elite, not just because of their beauty or because it is so difficult to break their will, but because of how difficult it is to procure slaves from the sheltering boughs of the jungle.
As the capital of a war-like empire, Tz’Arrm is awash with propaganda and crawling with secret police. Nearly all hobgoblins within the city are proud imperial citizens, bound by the Curse of Strife to lust for war—and bound by the will of the Iron Emperor to obey unquestioningly. Hobgoblins occupy all of the highest positions within the city, and are the only people allowed to serve in the mighty imperial armies.
Goblins are second-class citizens within the imperial capital. While they are afforded citizenship and a certain level of goblinoid respect, their role in society is clear; they live to serve. Every general, duke, and petty lord has several goblins on their payroll, either as housekeepers, as serving-folk, or as artists to serve their own vanity. Slavery
The armies of the Iron Authority have captured tens of thousands of slaves during their wars of conquest across Rifenmist Peninsula. The slaves of Tz’Arrm are mostly used as laborers, and are sent to chisel iron scraps from Bane’s fallen armour, or to venture back into the lower jungles to forage for food. The slaves that pass in and out of the city are always escorted by a military detachment, to prevent escape. Hobgoblin taskmasters prize tieflings over all other slaves as labourers, especially for work in the furnaces. Tz’Arrm’s nobles also prize their few elven slaves, passing them down like heirlooms from generation to generation. Elves are treasured possessions by the Authority’s despicable elite, not just because of their beauty or because it is so difficult to break their will, but because of how difficult it is to procure slaves from the sheltering boughs of the jungle.
Government
The Iron Authority is meticulously ordered, and its ruthlessly structured society is no different. As in society, every hobgoblin knows their place, from whom they must unquestioningly serve to every lackey who must obey them. Iron Emperor Tz’Jarr is the supreme military commander of the empire, and is loyally served by the four royal generals that rule the empire’s individual city-states. The government of Tz’Arrm itself is doggedly focused towards maintaining the Authority’s war machine, and is filled with propagandists, military officials, wealthy slaveowners and nobles, and their cronies. No elections are held; positions are only vacated in the event of death or promotion, and all leaders are appointed by the emperor or an immediate superior.
Geography
Tz’Arrm is hellishly hot. The black stone of the Beynsfal Plateaus and the iron walls of the city trap the heat of the relentless Rifenmist sun. Hobgoblins are well suited to such a climate, but the city’s goblins sweat and suffer as they toil. The captured elves, used to the hot but humid climate of the Jungle lowlands, are especially harmed by the hot, dry heat of the plateau.
Type
City
Population
47,400 (70% Hobgoblin, 10% Goblin, 20% Enslaved Races)