The Slave Quarters

Not a true faction in the strictest sense, the Slave Quarters are where all of the non-humans who are captured by Mristar’s pirate militia are housed and forced to labor either in the island’s quarries or in the fields. This area is a mixture of races including just about everything sentient that appears throughout the known world. The camps are organized into racially divided ghettos with slaves living in close proximity. Usually there is order within the walled compound but occasionally tensions run high and rival gangs square off against one another in the streets. This infighting is usually allowed (sometimes encouraged and even gambled on) by the Skaug Militia that is in charge of the area. But occasionally a show of force is called for by the guard and this typically ends in non-human bloodshed.

TAHRIVOR KOEHLANNA

Tahrivor Koehlanna is seen as a wise leader by almost all within the Slave Quarters. A 407 year old High Elf Druid, Tahrivor was captured by the Skaug pirate militia

after the ship on which he had booked passage to the Moonshae Isles was overtaken on the way to its destination. Tahrivor has spent the last fifty years in the camps, working for peace among the slaves as well as attempting to build a relationship with their captors in the interest of seeing greater rights extended to the slaves. He is secretly weary of this long fight for freedom and has of late begun to give up hope that he will ever see an end to this captivity. His longsuffering has gained him the confidence of Morn Greycastle, the commandant of the camps. Unfortunately, this relationship has earned him the ire of Anton Marivaldi, the captain of the militia guard that patrol and contain the camp’s occupants. Within the last few years, Marivaldi has targeted Elves in general and Koehlanna in particular with acts of brutality, leading to more than one death in the camp. Koehlanna was recently beaten so badly that he spent several weeks with a healer (provided secretly by Greycastle). He still bears the scars of this encounter., physically and emotionally. In fact, he now secretly suffers from an addiction to Adgana, the painkilling herb used by the Skaug healer during his treatment. He is even more depressed and disappointed that Greycastle did not step in to stop the assault and that none of the militiamen involved have been called to any level of accountability. But he will allow even this to stop him from speaking peace into the diaspora of races within the Slave Quarters.

VYTH

While Tahrivor sews the seeds of peace throughout the camp, Vyth is preparing the slaves for all out war against their oppressors. She is a former lizardman pirate who was sold into slavery for disobeying her former captain one too many times. Vyth is quick to speak and quicker to fight and has more than once landed on the wrong side of the Skaug militia—sometimes with good reason. She delights in provoking her captors. Although Vyth knows and respects Tahrivor, as most do within the slave quarters, she believes that he is prisoner to his own philosophies of peace and that no freedom will ever be attained for the slaves without an all-out uprising. She plans to lead this uprising, or to die trying. In the shadows she has assembled a group of like-minded and influential rebels from across many of the camp’s races. Some of these leaders include Galax the kobold, Otanyn of the triton people, Whistler the kenku, Belaluur the bugbear and Barbena Fireforge the dwarf. This little shadow council has been working hard to prepare their various races for the coming violence against the Skaug militia.

Unfortunately, though she is charismatic and persuasive, Vyth is not much of a planner. Above and beyond rising up against the Skaug militia she really isn’t sure what to do next. Some of her confidants have begun to worry that her actions may result in nothing more than bloodshed with a quick return to the status quo unless someone wiser steps in to help formulate a plan for escape or otherwise. As a result of hearing some of these whisperings, Vyth has become slightly paranoid over the last few months. While she sees the outrage over the unwarranted beating of Tahrivor as a flash point that she must capture to spur the revolution she is also watching her back every step of the way.

MORN GREYCASTLE

Morn Greycastle was once a zealot in the Humans First movement on Skaug. It was this zeal that earned him his spot as commandant of the Slave Quarters. Over the last

few years, though, Greycastle’s resolve has weakened dramatically as he has come to know (and even respect in the case of Tahrivor Koehlanna) many of the non-humans held in captivity on the island. He now believes, though he would never say so outwardly, that the slavery practiced on the island is wrong. He wishes that there was some way that he could assist in the plight of the on-humans but he is paralyzed by fear of reprisal from Mristar and the Human First movement. Greycastle sees himself as a patriot as a native-born resident of Skaug but is beginning to realize that everything he was taught about the “natural order” and Human Supremacy during his upbringing is not true. He is further appalled as he has come to realize the outright brutality and inhumanity that is practiced by the members of the Skaug militia that is supposedly under his command.

A further secret that is unknown even to Greycastle himself is that he is in fact the illegitimate son of Lord Mristar (one of many in fact). The only person that truly knows this secret is Greycastle’s mother, Kethra. Like Mristar, she is in the later years of her life. Unlike him, she has not had access to healing and life-prolonging magics and as such is in failing health.

ROWAN TALLSTAG

Second in command only to Morn Greycastle, in fact Rowan Tallstag is fully in control of most of the Skaug militia. Believing him to be soft and weak on the non-human scum that serve as slaves on the island, Tallstag has used her influence to see to it that—although he doesn’t fully realize it—Greycastle is effectively a figurehead. She seeks to openly replace him as soon as she has the support of her contacts within the Merchant’s Guild and the Triumverate. Tallstag sees to it that there are regular open acts of violence perpetrated against slaves throughout the island in order to “keep them in their place.” She styles herself as a patriot, claiming in step with the Humans First movement that throughout too much of the world the non-human races have been allowed to mix with the humans, deeply damaging the genetic purity of the race. Rowan is extremely charismatic and especially excels instirring up hate between the various races in the Slave Quarters and her own countryfolk.The true source of the deep-seated hatred that Tallstag has for non-human species is her belief that her parents were murdered by a triton slave when she was very young (this same slave is still being held some twenty years later in a pit in the Slave Quarters where Tallstag regularly visits to torture him). In fact, however, it was not the slave who committed the murders. The triton was merely a scapegoat for a then-younger Mristar who had hired an assassin to remove them, as Tallstag’s father was a political rival at the time.

ALLYING WITH THE SLAVE QUARTERS

An alliance with the combined races of the Slave Quarters will be an absolute necessity if the characters intend to take on Mristar in an all-out rebellion. There are many ways the players could approach such an alliance. They might approach Tahrivor Koehlanna and attempt to use his influence to insure the cooperation of the slaves (this could be difficult as Koelanna will only support peaceful interactions). Or they might try to use Koehlanna’s influence with Greycastle to get closer to the Capital if they plan to infiltrate and assassinate Mristar. If they discover the secret of Greycastle’s true parentage they might use that to propel him into action against his unknown father.
Alternately, the characters might choose to approach Vyth in order to incite open rebellion. Vyth will be itching for a fight but might be cautious of the characters at first if they are too eager for a fight. She might be concerned that they are infiltrators sent to disrupt her activities. If they choose to approach Tallstag their best choice might be to discover the truth of her parents’ murder. This could be done by interviewing the imprisoned triton slave, tortured now to blindness and kept one step from death at all times by Rowan. The triton’s silence (he is aware of the truth behind his captivity) had previously been based on his concern for his family and the guarantee that they would be killed if the truth was ever revealed. If the adventurers can somehow convince the poor slave that his family will be safe he might be willing to hand over this information (it is likely he will also ask them to terminate his miserable life).
Presented with the truth of her parents’ murder, Tallstag will deny its truth but the triton could point the party toward documentation verifying the information. If presented with this, Tallstag’s fury at Mristar might just outweigh the hatred she has built up in her heart for non-humans over the years. This could lead her to look the other way as the slaves revolt or in an extreme case of persuasion maybe even turn some loyal militiamen to the cause of overthrowing the lord of the island.
However they ensure the cooperation of the Slave Quarters the net result will be the same—the characters will now have an army to command on the island in whatever way they choose, whether that be to remove the leaders and install a new wave of egalitarian government on the island or to simply attempt escape en masse with the slaves.