Redspan

Redspan was Tenh's great walled garrison city protecting the western Duchy against the predations of the Bandit Kingdoms. Spacious and wealthy, with elite troops of the Duke's regiments, Redspan was a place the bandits avoided. Men from the city could fish, even sail, the Artonsamay knowing their formidable cavalry would protect them simply by the rumor of their possible presence. To the credit of its defenders, Redspan exacted more casualties from the rampaging Fists than any other Tenh city. Of course, the Duchy was lost when Redspan's generals determined a course of resistance, and no few of their men defected and deserted, sailing downriver and into Nyrond and Urnst before the bandits plucked up the courage to attack them. The loss of most of their mages through defection was probably decisive in the fall of the city and, in the end, Marshal Meredic decided to surrender if he was guaranteed safe passage for half the city's people south of the river.

So Redspan surrendered and was lost, with many of its nobles and generals committing suicide before the Fists entered. As a result of their taking their own lives, many of the city's buildings are said to be haunted and cursed. So the Fists occupy only the eastern margins of the city and avoid large parts of it, as they are superstitious about the curses uttered by a man's dying breath. This suits the purposes of Iuz perfectly. He has perhaps five hundred priests, mages, bandits, warriors and fiends in the western quarters of the walled city now, and they effectively rule the place through their extensive use of charm spells and other magical coercion and influence. Undead creatures, notably ghasts, commanded by Iuz's priests roam the western fringes of the city. The Fists half-expect them to be there, given the mass suicides in the city, so Iuz's priests gain a double advantage from this. For one thing, they can openly have their undead servitors and on the other hand they can also demonstrate their powers of commandment over them and gain the gratitude of the Fists for keeping them at bay. All this helps Iuz control and secure the important city base he needs in western Tenh, should the Fists begin their desired withdrawal away to the north. And, of course, the city is well-fortified and largely intact.

Redspan is a center for importing weapons and manufactured equipment from the Bandit Lands, since there are few surviving Tenhas here now. Likewise, it is a major export site for food being shipped into the Bandit Lands and also slaves and bodies for animation, the latter being covertly shipped out. It is also important for spying. Iuz's agents here are led by the priest Cuparanath and the mage Mordaine, who also travel to Watton occasionally, and they are expert interrogators of charmed Stonefist men. Because Redspan is half-feared by the Fists, who are superstitious of the curses they believe haunt this city, Stonefist forces here never stay long and are regularly relieved from other towns and cities. That guarantees a good supply of new informants for Iuz’s agents, who don't need to travel as far to learn what is happening in the lands around.