Vrandol
A fresh stone wall surrounds Vrandol (29°50’N, 23°0’W), rebuilt over the ashes of the wooden palisade that failed to ward of the Mendarn invasion of 1040 Y.K. (370 C.M.). Serving as a key trading post for the Kingdom of Mendarn, Vrandol is developing as an influential state. Despite improving trade relations with Ul-Karg and Bronish to the north, the ambition of its leader limits Vrandol’s potential.
Aside from the large docks where most trade occurs, Southgate allows entrance into the city. Aldorn Road passes through the city’s center where it ends at the governor’s castle, occupied by General Cavdrol. Wide roads and open fields divide the city into neighborhoods bound by social class.
To the northeast of the city, where the land is hilly, wealthy merchants live in large sprawling homes with delicate gardens tended by slaves. The excesses of the merchants pale before the nobles, for their expensive manors dominate the eastern side of the city, with paved roads, statues, columns and aromatic gardens.
The remainder of Vrandol’s citizenry comprises two groups: the craftsmen (who live south of the docks in the southwestern district), and the laborers (who live around the docks and in the city’s northwest). There is little visual difference between the two communities, except the artisans have specialized shops and boutiques. Artists make a good living painting the portraits of the upper class and the soldiers and sculptors beautify the city. The laborers, on the other hand, live in small, single story homes - often with a small vegetable garden behind their house.
The roads, fields and sharp architectural distinctions maintain the integrity of the social groups. People tend to respect their betters and stay within their own self-imposed districts. Those who overstep their bounds find themselves followed by the constables and pressured to return to their respective part of the city.
Temples
Vrandol has seen a number of religions come into town, one of which has retained a presence against all odds. Purger Nalban his and three junior clerics lead a shrinking congregation of the House of Scorn, a once popular Religion before the invasion. It currently claims a meager 150 members, of whom a third show up for major holy days. Inherited from Mendarn, the Temple of Stars has a small shrine located in Vrandol. Travelers, merchants and slavers alike make a point to stop there and say a prayer to the Nimble Navigator. A single Quester, who spends a few weeks a year in Vrandol, maintains it whenever he returns from one of his long travels. General Cavdrol has tried to recruit Journeymen to serve as guides to Ul-Karg, but there has been no agreement, for they see the nation of hobgoblins as evil and that even by facilitating trade with them compromises their Mendarn ethics. After Mendarn sacked Vrandol, a squad of the Order of the Pike came to the plundered city and established themselves as trainers and servants to General Cavdrol. The general does not trust them at all, but sees them as a useful tool. He keeps the Order divided, placing each sergeant with a separate squad. The reason for his distrust is that they counsel him to mount an attack on Bronish. Cavdrol knows that such an attack would be foolish, considering the gold dragon his soldiers have spotted a few times above the distant city. When the Mendarns conquered Vrandol, they eradicated the House of Shackles and the Bringer of the New Order from the city. Fire destroyed all priests and all the churches except one, and all symbols of the Overlord. Thinking the Oppressor’s influence removed, General Cavdrol turned to other things. What he did not realize was that Velmn, the Brandobian name for the Overlord, retained some of his servants. Many of the slaves in the city are avid worshippers of the Overlord, having succumbed to the propaganda of the Brolenese. These slaves, promising service to their liberator, twisted the General to continue the service to the Enemy of the Free, encouraging him to sell slaves to the Kargi. With each slave sold, the General’s soul darkens. The Bringers of the New Order hope to one day make Cavdrol their creature, and restore their place in the city.Mages & Sages
Although Vrandol is in the hands of the Mendarns, they retain agents in the city to report on the conqueror’s activities. One spy, Wenvert (LE Brandobian Wizard 8), poses as an artist and smuggles out his reports within his paintings, selling the artwork to a dealer who returns the information to Dowond-Brandel. Wenvert has been successful because he does not take risks. He would rather work slowly and methodically than endanger his cover. His tactics have made him the most important agent in the city. Wenvert lived in Vrandol when the Mendarns took it, but at the time of the conquest, he was examining Meznamish activity to the east. He hastened back to Vrandol to report his information, but when he arrived, the city was burning, and Mendarn troops had gathered the Brolenese leaders and put them to the sword. Thinking fast, Wenvert concealed himself with magic and entered the city as a Svimohz artist. With luck, he escaped the purges and became something of a local personality, painting portraits of merchants, officials, and even General Cavdrol himself. Hendrad (N half-Brandobian/half-Svimohz Druid 11) is the son of Mandast, a Brolenese slaver, and a Svimohz slave-woman. He is vocal in his support of the Mendarns and aids the General in his effort to suppress civil unrest. Well-known for his temper, he patrols the city and the surrounding land with his rod of thunder and lightning and a quick backhand. Hendrad is angry. He hates his father, Mandast, for his sire’s poor treatment of Hendrad’s mother. Mandast beat the mother and son within inches of their lives, took lovers and killed them, and was all around a despicable man. When Mandast died, or so Hendrad believed, the druid celebrated for two weeks and called in a foul storm that sank four slave ships. Despite his hatred for the Brolenese, Hendrad has no particular position on Slavery. He sees it as a necessity to fill agricultural labor shortages. However, he does not tolerate mistreatment of slaves, and has killed slavers who were too quick with the lash. Hendrad wears long black robes stitched with animals and ivy. He is never without the cudgel he uses at the slightest provocation. With fierce features, and a nasty jaw line scar given to him by his father, he struts through Vrandol as if he owns it.Underworld
Mandast (NE Brandobian Bard 7) once ruled Vrandol before the Mendarns annexed it. Now, in hiding, he leads a rebel force called the Loyalists, a group of disaffected nobles and influential people loyal to Pel Brolenon. Most of these rebels held a position before the sack, and somehow, through their ingenuity or assistance, other supporters managed to escape the purges. Mandast hates General Cavdrol and went so far as to orchestrate the capture and enslavement of the General's wife. Better still, Cavdrol does not know Mandast holds his wife captive just under his nose in Vrandol. Mandast is not certain what to do with his prize, although he tortures her for the pleasure of it. The Loyalists, realizing their potential advantage, do not want to see it squandered. Part of Mandast’s hatred originates from the death of his own wife when the Mendarn ships conquered the city. He uses the death of his spouse to justify his own evil acts. A pureblooded Brandobian, Mandast stands nearly 5 1/2 feet tall, with a slim build and fierce blue eyes. He has a nasty scar on his right cheek from when a burning rafter fell on him as he tried to escape the attack.Government
Vrandol is under military rule, and as long as
rebels continue to resist the Mendarn government, it shall
remain so. King Aldorn appointed General Cavdrol to govern
the city, a task in which he has thus far excelled. Having supplanted the Brolenese leadership, who, in turn, ousted the
Svimohzish barony, he has many enemies and must be vigilant
in protecting himself from frequent assassination attempts.
Vrandol's major concern is to monopolize trade with Ul-
Karg. To reach this goal, Vrandol maintains a strict naval
blockade to capture Brolenese merchants and pirates trying to
slip past the colony. While Mendarn ships restrict passage to
the south, Cavdrol employs hundreds of slaves to build an
overland road from the city to Ul-Karg. Unfortunately,
Brolenese ships still manage to slip past the blockade and
hobgoblin raiders and Brolenese rebels sabotage the progress of
the road crews by attacking supply caravans, the workers
themselves, or destroying the road behind them, forcing crews
to backtrack and redo what they have already done.
Cavdrol has requisitioned more troops and ships to see his
mission completed. Triple the original patrols engage rebels
and hobgoblins along the road. He court-martialed the admiral
in charge of the blockade when he accepted bribes from
Brolenese ships to let them slip past. Cavdrol has a handle on
the colony, but disturbing rumors of a hobgoblin force
mustering in the Krimppatu Mountains disturbs him and
makes him question his duties.
Economy: Slavery is the cornerstone of Vrandol’s economy.
Merchants sell Brolenese slaves and their harvest to Kargi
buyers in the south in exchange for gems, iron, precious metals,
exotic woods and more. Ul-Karg is a veritable treasure trove of
potential wealth and Mendarn intends to be the ones to benefit.
Despite their efforts to contain the Brolenese, for every ship
they scuttle or board, three more manage to slip past their
blockade. Ship captains claim the slavers use magic to conceal
their vessels. To avoid this, the colony works to build a wide
highway to Ul-Karg, but the highway project pulls more
soldiers and workers from the colony to work on the road.
Between the Brolenese ships, and the frequent attacks against
the road crews, the cost to maintain Vrandol is eclipsing the
rewards gained from Ul-Karg, regardless of what Cavdrol
claims, and Mendarn displeasure grows.
Defences
With mounting pressure from the King to complete the grand highway connecting the colony to Ul-Karg, and with the increasing raids targeting the free villages and the crews themselves, Cavdrol is becoming desperate. To meet these demands, he commits his entire garrison to overseeing the road construction, ordering each man to take turns working, while the rest spend their time being watchful for bandits.
This decision crushed the soldiers’ morale, as they are some of the best warriors Mendarn can offer, and being relegated to the work of slaves dishonors them. On the other hand, they realize Ul-Karg has no goodwill in mind, and may well be behind the attacks. Thus, although it is an affront to their station, they understand they are well into hostile territory andneed to co-operate for now.
History
The events of the third century are demonstrative of how weak
Meznamish became after Fortnight’s Battle. Pel Brolenon, who
had long been sacking Meznamish ships for slaves, established a
foothold on Svimohzia, founding Vrandol in 987 Y.K. (317 C.M.)
to serve as a port for slave raiding with the hobgoblins of Ul-Karg.
It also served to launch slave raids against other Meznamish
merchant vessels. The Kingdom of Meznamish had no response,
as it relied on Pel Brolenese gold to stabilize the capital in 978 Y.K.
(308 C.M.). However, the king was not aware that Brolenese
slavers had been working with Ul-Karg as well. Vrandol gained a
reputation as a terrible city of exploitation, and became a word
whispered on the lips of slaves and commoners alike.
Mendarn, the principal target for Brolenese slavers, reacted
aggressively to the depredations. King Aldorn III declared war.
Gathering their hosts, they realized that an invasion against the
City of Oppression would be far too expensive, with no place to
port because of the rocky coasts, and the dangerous weather of
the Straits of Svimohzia. Instead, he turned his attention farther
south, to the Colony of Vrandol. Four years ago, in 1040 Y.K.
(370 C.M.), the Mendarn forces swept south and crushed the
Theocrat’s forces there, burning the temples to the ground and
executing the leaders of the city. Vrandol became a Mendarn
colony and port for selling their own captives into slavery and
establishing profitable trade with merchants bound for Ul-Karg.
Mendarn also uses it as a naval base to destroy whatever
Brolenese slave ships they encounter. In fact, they hope to
create a stranglehold of naval trade from other nations around
the western coast of Svimohzia, especially Brolenese merchants
who know the waters well.
Points of interest
An old temple to the Overlord remains
from the colony’s previous owners. The reason for its existence
is a mystery to most people in Vrandol. While Cavdrol claims
that he honors all religions, he is secretly afraid of retribution if
he orders the temple’s destruction. The cause for his fear could
be traced to a nightmare involving the temple the night he
arrived in Vrandol. He believes it was a threat from the Overlord.
Nobody is known to enter the temple through the wooden
planks that cover its doors and windows. Inside, however, are
rumored to live a band of ghasts and many shadows. The ghasts
are thought to be former clergy of the temple, killed during the
Mendarn invasion. The shadows are undead remains of the
worshipers inside the temple at the time of the slaughter.
Alternative Name(s)
Colony of Vrandol
Type
Large town
Population
9,700 (7,600 Svimohz, 1,900 Brandobian, 200 hill dwarf )
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Additional Rulers/Owners