Cantona

Cantona was originally a fortified fishing village of 1,100 people, of whom half managed to flee north when the place fell to the beseiging orcs in 584 CY. The orcish superiority in numbers told more heavily than usual because of one unfortunate feature of Cantona: magic does not work reliably within (or if cast within) the town walls.

A century ago, an especially paranoid Suloise mage settled here and constructed a complex of buildings for himself (featuring bizarre rococo architecture) using paints, mortars, and treated woods saturated with magical substances preventing teleportarion, magical scrying, the entry of enchanted creatures, evocation spells, and much other magic. Over the decades, the dweomers of these treatments began to malfunction subtly and, on the mage’s death, spread to cover the whole town. Now, spells of levels 1-3 are 50% likely to simply fail when cast, and spells of higher levels are 30% likely to do so. Any failed spell has a 5% chance of rebounding on the spellcaster (effects as the DM determines). All this guaranteed that magic was less effective in the defence of the town than it was elsewhere, and Cantona fell swiftly.

The orcs of Cantona number around 700. They keep some 250 human slaves in shackles for menial labor (other humans have been eaten and/or turned over to the orcish priests to suffer terrible fates).

The war leader here, Gakurish Lemnak, has the abilities of an 8th-level fighter. He regularly rotates periods of “leave” among his men (“leave” means “freedom to go out raiding”). This prevents the orcs from getting bored or restless.

Gakurish also holds monthly exhibitions in the town square, which are something the orcs eagerly anticipate. They feature such contests as naked humans armed only with knives pitted against orcish gladiators with pole arms and swords, and also subtler humiliations such as ritual desecrations of shrines, objets d'art, and suchlike, and human scholars forced to eat their own books (or worse). The orcs cheer wildly at this, and the prospect of the next exhibition keeps boredom at bay and maintains good discipline and morale.

Cantona is well defended. The orcs here force captured bandits to instruct them in the tactics of urban skimishing, and those are wilier in their use of bows and simple traps than most orcs. Their military drills in preparation for a sea assault (considered the most likely possibility) include such tactics as greasing stone paths from the warves with rendered fish oil, strewing caltrops on the roads, dropping weighted nets from the walls along narrow alleys, and similar sneaky maneuvers. If the Hardby marines (or anyone else) tries to recapture Cantona, the orcs will make a grim fight of it.

Cantona is moderately secure in its provisions. Raiding brings decreasing returns, but orcs are adaptable, and they have increased their food supply by fishing. Shackled human slaves are forced to row fishing boats and cast nets; if the ship sinks, the humans drown (which is why the Hardby Marines have not yet sunk these vessels). Orcs don’t like eating fish as much as they like eating people, but they’re not going to starve yet.

The inhabited settlements are either occupied by a humanoid tribe or are an entire community of slaves and their masters. All of these villages have been extensively looted, and nothing of real value is left in them. Some of the villages have been abandoned for so long that wild animals have begun to lair in the buildings.

The humanoids care little if the slaves live or die. Being true carnivores, these taskmasters are happy to feast on dead slaves. Fear of this fate drives slaves to cling tenaciously to life despite the odds being stacked against them.

Though life is cruel for human slaves, it isn’t entirely pleasant for the humanoids either, even by their skewed standards. The weaker tribes mostly goblins and kobolds — are practically slaves to the larger races, forced to labor at excavating the underground tunnels and fighting for whatever food is left. Orcs and gnolls oppress the goblins and kobolds in part to keep them from fighting among themselves and partly just out of cruel spite. Food is scarce, plunder is lean, discipline is harsh, and morale is at an all-time low. Fear of Turrosh Mak’s wrath and the attack of human and demihuman forces from the free lands is the only thing that binds these disparate tribes together.

Sean K. Reynolds and Chris Pramas. Greyhawk Adventures, Slavers, 2000