Burzumagh

At a Glance Windows are few, thin, and shuttered. On the straw-covered streets, despite the warm climate, the hobgoblins wear full covering, excepting only their eyes. Even these might be covered by a sheer gauze if the wearer is wealthy enough to afford the expensive cloth. The citizens shun strangers, and for a stranger to touch a citizen is legal cause for assault.

Temples

The Rotlord, not the Dark One, is the principal god in Burzumagh. Disease lives in the Zamul Forest and the hobgoblin who lives under its shadow learns to deal with sickness as unavoidable as the changing of the seasons. Rare is the hobgoblin without scars from pox or other signs of disease. The Church of Endless Night's temple is an underground temple worshippers may enter only by a basementlike door outside of the Grand Duke's Keep. Pitmaster Kurgaz is under tremendous pressure from his seniors to restore his faith to the principal position in the city. They cannot understand how difficult it is to change the minds of the citizens of Burzumagh with every dinner table missing a family member due to disease.

Mages & Sages

 The hobgoblin wizard Tanagazh is known for creating the terrifying spell Breath of Zama, which he claims rains the deadly diseases of the forest on his enemies. In reality, the spell is nothing more than a cloudkill, cast as an enlarged Metamagic feat.

Underworld

The hobgoblin cities have no guilds for their craftsmen, but the thieves do band together into groups. The smaller groups are led by charismatic individuals and fall apart when that individual is killed or arrested (and typically executed). Burzumagh's largest group has been around for 60 years and shows no signs of waning soon. Kinshag, a half-hobgoblin, leads the group. Kinshag's Plague of Locusts practice banditry outside of the city's limits and roil drunks inside the walls.
The authorities are soldiers and prefer to be pointed at their enemies and ordered to charge over searching for them, questioning witnesses and searching for clues. Suspects are typically beaten or tortured until they confess and then executed. A frustrated soldier might give a witness similar treatment.

Government

Like all Ul-Karg cities, Burzumagh is under direct military control. Grand Duke Patukhar rules the city and the Zamul Forest (at least nominally). He despises the minutiae of government and wants nothing more than to be in the field with his troops, but he rarely has the opportunity. Patukhar, despite (or perhaps because of) his obvious dislike of running the duchy, is a skilled administrator.
Below him, Patukhar has several captains who think his complaints are unfounded. If only they were the Grand Duke, the problems of economics, trade, and judicial law would not exist, or they would take up minimal time. These ambitious and fearless leaders are a constant threat to his position and their sedition spreads dissent among the troops.

Defences

With the mountains to the north and Ronazagh to the south, the military threat to the city is not great. Despite the safety, the army presence is formidable by human and demihuman standards. Twelve hundred soldiers in thick lamellar armor, longsword, and shield guard the city and police its streets. Patrols in platoon strength (30-40 strong) make regular marches through the streets.
Tullum is a deadly swordsman known for his willingness to cheat in duels and for his legendary stamina. Tullum once suffered over 100 nicks, cuts and even serious stabs in a duel that he won. Under his tutelage, his company of soldiers has become possibly the best warriors in Tellene outside of Kabori's 1st Legion. It infuriates
Tullum to no end to see another one of his soldiers wasting away to disease every time he walks out of the city's gates.

Industry & Trade

The hobgoblins export teak, pepper, vanilla, and the hides of exotic animals from the Zamul Forest. Their principal import is salted or dried meat, since game is scarce in the forest. Furthermore, food taken from the jungle is sometimes highly toxic, even normally safe food.
Ronazagh's docks see Brolenese traders increasingly often in recent years. The traders come in search of more slaves, the unique Ronazagh exports, and strong hobgoblins for any empty benches in their galleys. Being largely cut off by land and distant from other ports by sea, these Kargi rely on the Brolenese traders for everything they need. Since the Brolenese merchants price these necessities accordingly, talented rogues often sneak in and make off with untraded merchandise while the visiting merchants are distracted with music, wine and exotic slave girls.

Points of interest

The city's center contains an ancient black building of stone not native to the area. It lacks any writing or symbols and the doors have long since rotted away, but legend says that it was an old temple of some kind. The building is three stories tall, with small windows that used to hold colored glass. An open area of the building, presumably for worship, rises all three floors, and the roof contains a large flat area with a place for a nowabsent shrine. Hobgoblins fearless in battle refuse to enter it, even though strangers have often entered it and found nothing unusual.

Alternative Name(s)

City of Plague

Type

City

Population

9,500 hobgoblins