[Meryath] [Glorathon] Places & Faces

[Azure Admiral]

Hi guys,
I’m opening this topic to put on the anvil and share fanmade game material related to the Kingdom of Meryath. In detail, here I would like to focus on places and personalities to be found in the Glorathon Capital, trying to expand the range of game references already depicted and available within the CAL1 book.

Why this theme to begin with? I was in searching for a “protected” and delimited perimeter, wherein we could move with a reasonable hope to do not break things around, and I thought that Glorathon could have been a good place to start.

This is meant to be an ongoing topic to be eventually build and enriched over time, over non-periodical basis. Once a post on a borough is posted, it could be expanded in time with further additions.

Only plain text-mode for now; maps and/or compiled text could be eventually come on the table in successive steps.

Disclaimer: all the material presented in this development topic is unofficial and reflect my personal vision on the Calidar setting.
However, my objective here is to keep the proposals more consistent as possible with the canon. Because of this, the ideas presented here could be object of revisions and amendments (in this case I’ll mark the modified items, for an easy identification).

For the places I’m using the progression numbering which continues on the last CAL1 Glorathon’s entry depicted (n.31)

Feedbacks and criticisms are welcome as always! Thanks

[Azure Admiral]

Kaihulu Flats

General Overview
This quarter is recognized as the eldest inhabited Glorathon’s borough, along with Eastport.
From an architectural style point of view, the Kaihulu Flats didn’t experience big changes or during the years since the Capital’s reconstruction (1330 CE).
The Kaihulu’s buildings are only single-storey ones, wooden-built, which exhibit upward-pointed roofs, -a recurrent characteristic in the Meryathile’s architecture-, a detail often remembered among the visiting people landing at the Bowl of Coins (CAL1, pag 96).

The only notable exception here is the Tower of The Constabulary (CAL1, pag 96), a grim multi-storey tower which oversees the borough’s southern part, and the Naval Academy (entry n.33, see below).

Almost a residential borough, this place close to the Bowl of Coins hosts mainly Talikai ancestry. Sailors, dockers, and their families live here, along with old retired salts which can benefit of a decent income. All heads of the families here are employed, or had been, under the Kingdom’s Naval Services. The dwellings are simple buildings, but all standing in respectable conditions and well kept.
The façades are often adorned with hibiscus and ivy, and little wood reproductions of daily sea and ship life can be found often, hung on the main front doors: helms, anchors, seastars, seashells and the like.

The Kaihulu is a bustly and densely populated quarter, and his seaside is well renowned for its healthy and relaxing boardwalk which extends from the Bowl of Coins to the Tower of the Constabulary. Along the way the visitors will enjoy the healthy iodine, the screaming seagulls –very well accustomed to land directly onto the street-, and will have the chance to stop at one of many local temporary shop carts, where tasty and colorful take-away prepared to moment dishes await, along with degustation of raw fish, fried squids, crabs in chili pepper, little bowls filled with tanemaes and caramis (local Meryath’s sea creatures) served in boiling oil and parsley.
At the equinoxes, the seawalk and the borough become the center point of the event, with Glorathon’s people meeting there to offer food and bakery to the sea, mainly preferring this side than the Eastport’s side.


Kaihulu’s Places & Faces

Anapa Ari, Captain of the Emerald Bride
Of Talikai ancestry, Anapa Ari is a tall, muscled, black long-haired and beard man, with two finger missing on the left hand. With his austere gaze and rude behavior, he shows an older age than his real (37). Coming from a family with a stalwart tradition of sailors, he now is the Captain of his father’s ship, the Emerald Bride.

Albeit he had the right temperament, motivation and hunger of glory to pursue the heroic career, he preferred to follow the father’s path, sailing with his crew every day to fish and sell fresh on the market, granting a regular income from his wife and daughter. He often ventures over Meryath’s seashores limit imposed by Her Majesty, to hunt medium-sized sea monsters and sell parts on the black market.

Anapa Adventure hooks 1
However, Anapa’s heart is burning for the spirit of adventuring and the dream of Eternal Glory. He now is overthinking to seek adventurers willing to join him in venturing to more dangerous, adventuring and mystery places. Reaching the Dread Lands is his secret dream.
He had purchased in the past some rare maps of isles and land beyond the Caldera, and he is now waiting for the right time to sail for the sake of Glory. His daughter is now daily spying on the Bowl and Glorathon streets to find some discreet potentially wannabe heroes to join his crew.

Anapa Adventure hooks 2
Eventually, he would ask the newly-found adventurers for help to finally search the truth behind the disappearance of his beloved father, occurred when Anapa was young. Maybe his father’s ship name could be involved in this plot somehow.

EDIT: I've missed the Calidar Q&A #54 from some time ago, which confirmed that Glorathon does not have a Naval Academy.
So please consider the entry n.33 of the present article eventually for the sake of a "full-custom" homebrew campaign setup, rather than of a fanon-but-close-fitting one.
Also, Viritua Ra’Anui could eventually have been educated in Teosopolis, and then started some private naval business & interests coming back in Glorathon.

Naval Academy (33)
The Glorathon’s Naval Academy stands in the borough’s north corner. With much pride from Kaihulu’s people, is rightly considered a local long-standing city’s institution.
Organized as three-storey building, the foundation and the first floor is stonework, with the rest build in heavy woodwork. The windows are real big-sized and sturdy ships’ portholes, while the top of the third floor exhibits a figurehead depicting a beautiful woman with a bowl in her hands.
On the rooftop is placed a little garden with a working warship’s cannon and volley ammunitions. Each morning at 7.00 a.m. and evening at 8.00 p.m., the bald, white beard&mustaches retired Captain Metaneke, goes up there and fires a single shot to keep track of the time.

With much patience of Kaihulu’s inhabitants for this blasting clocks, Metaneke is undoubtedly a folkloristic, living legend. Wearing his beloved shiny uniform, standing with rigor as he was actually on duty on his old warship, the old man talks politely with the walking people below, giving very accurate weather forecasts, along with insightful advices for all who is about to sail.

The Academy educate sailors from the Bosun grade to Captain. Students Admirals from both naval and aerial are instead trained all together at the same Admiral Academy located in Marble Top, directly under the control and oversight of Her Majesty, which appoints the newly ranked members.

Joining the Naval Academy also allows:
* Priority on the employment list of sailing duties, available every day at the Naval Employment Center located at the Bowl (all members)
* Free access to Meryath’s detailed nautical charts, along extensive notes about all the shipwrecks recorded, dangerous sea zones (Officials)
* Maps for the other Caldera Kingdoms are available only to the Captain trainees, along Meryath’s commercial maps (Captains trainees)
* Becoming freely a member of the discreet Meryath’s Cartographer and Explorers Guild, officially supported by Her Majesty. The Guild pursue a cautious
exploration of the coastal territories outward the Great Caldera, to chart new territories and gathering bits of informations from these places, useful to the Queen (Captains ranked)

Viritua Ra’Anui, Head of the Naval Academy
Once captain on several Meryath’s ships, he now stands as the heart and soul of the Naval Academy. Grey haired and deeply scarred on his face, Viritua is a Talikai middle-aged man, pragmatic and prone to the practical side of life. He refuses to rise up the naval ranks at admiral level, due to old rivalries with other Academy members and a general dislike of bureaucracy and politics, choosing instead to train new members and live the everyday life on decks among the trainees.

Viritua is enthusiastic about submersibles devices, either as a personal passion and trying to improve Meryath’s military security. Albeit the Kingdom officially doesn’t list submersibles among his army list, but there are insistent rumors about Meryath’s Army project plans to build these devices, maybe some parts are already available and ready to be assembled.

Viritua is eager to recruit trusty adventurers, to go on secret missions to the other Kingdoms of the Great Caldera and recover the most possible informations about their submersibles devices, if not building plans, or critical technology parts.
Viritua is also keeping an eye over the Ro’onui Guild located in the Eastport borough, monitoring harbour smuggling activities which are said to be conducted by its shady members.

Haeretua Mana, old sailor
A small, pot-bellied and jovial man, Haeretua is an old talikai seafarer who seen several springs on the sea. He’s walking around every day at the Naval Employment Centre at the Bowl, seeking some bold enough to hunt giant crabs infesting several Meryath sea shores, to get meat and sturdy carapaces to sell or trade. He once hunted for himself, but now forces are left and agree to share his income with a young crew.
He also know very well the location of several coastal small caves used by the giant crabs as den, where he’d the chance to find a lot of valuables from time to time.

All of this is actually true, but there’s a complication. Haeretua is mind-controlled by the malevolent witches hiding along the Palatine’s Island north coast (they former lived in the so called Witches Cove along the south coast, but appears that some of them moved away some years ago, to the new den on the north).
Against his will, Haeretua once hooked the adventurers, he will travel for the crab hunt as agreed, but getting nearer the north witches’ den, the foul hold hags will force the mind of the old man to get the heroes finally to the caves, hopefully for embarking in a new deadly quest or, worse, to an unknown and sad fate.


Kaihulu Adventure hooks

The Gloomy Depths.
Back to the time of the Bowl’s foundation, when the first colonies were proceeding in excavations and placement basement for the harbour, the workers discovered some passages which led to natural underground caves, which would be soon used as a raw temporarily warehouse to store the port edification material. When the harbour was completed, all the seaside cavern access were sealed and almost forgotten.

With the edification of Kaihulu’s dwellings, crevices to the old cavern were found again, and the first borough families decided in secret to use these places as personal warehouse and meeting rooms, keeping separated from other families’ members, and secured the underground family perimeter placing wooden palisades.

Unfortunately, in the recent years some families experienced strange thefts and damage under their portion of caves, with three worst occurrences of people simply vanishing while underground. Now the people of Kaihulu coexist in fear with their secrets, and many are willing to ask help to outsider heroes with low profile, trying to keep this problem away from Her Majesty’s court fine ears..

Rumours said that the caves deeply extend under the city, and leads to the north. Two small groups of explorers took their way to find the missing people, but never returned.
Who or what is dwelling beneath the Kaihulus'?

[Sturm]

Very interesting with a lot of useful adventure hooks!

[Ambreville]

Wow... I got so busy I missed this. Back later with comments.

[Yaztromo]

OK, so I'll offer you a face. An ugly face.

Recently (more or less recently, actually) I run again a Lao-Kwei Kahuulkin centred adventure, but we travelled a bit everywhere before coming back to Lao Kwei.
When we were on Lao Kwei I used the adaptation of Barsoom that I mahe here http://www.arion-games.com/affBarsoom.pdf.
When we were on Meryath the group of Kahuulkin ended up fighting in a arena for private fun of a selected number of high class citizens eager to see exotic races fighting each other and after a while they showed their sportmanship by releasing and also helping the group. However, one of the players had to leave the game and therefore decided, instead of going for a heroic death, to decline the offer to leave the arena and instead stay there as a kind of gladiator, gathering quite a lot of fame and then also touring to other fighting shows around the Caldera.
As Kahuulkin names are impossible to pronounce for humans, he was nicknames Sandpaper (from the kind of noise that humans hear when he speaks).
Quite a popular, although exotic, fighter that forgot everything from his homeland, forgot the ambitions of his kin to be a respected race again and decided to start up a new life on Calidar. Many people hate him for his race (that looks very ugly and alien to them), but everybody knows that on the arena you need not only heroes but also villains and he's happy to fill that role. He could be also a source of information about Lao-Kwei... if only he could speak something easier to understand for the human ear...

[Ambreville]

Kaihulu Flats

Thank you so much for developing this part of the setting. Loved it! Keep working at it. Develop parts you like best. Flesh out some of the adventure hooks. Have you tried your hand a street mapping?

[Ambreville]

Quite a popular, although exotic, fighter that forgot everything from his homeland, forgot the ambitions of his kin to be a respected race again and decided to start up a new life on Calidar. Many people hate him for his race, but everybody knows that on the arena you need not only heroes but also villains and he's happy to feel that role. He couls be also a source of information about Lao-Kwei... if only he could speak something easier to understand for the human ear...

That's a great idea. Thanks! By then, he should either be really good at sign language, or have developed a semi-human/Kahuulkin rocky-rough-sounding jabber (let's call this "Harshan") to communicate more easily. Remember that very, very few people on Calidar know anything at all about the Kahuulkin (unlike on Lao-Kwei.) He's just a weird-looking, odd-sounding fellow.

[Azure Admiral]

Thanks Sturm and Yaztromo for the feedbacks and the entry provided

OK, so I'll offer you a face. An ugly face.

...As Kahuulkin names are impossible to pronounce for humans, he was nicknames Sandpaper (from the kind of noise that humans hear when he speaks).
Quite a popular, although exotic, fighter that forgot everything from his homeland, forgot the ambitions of his kin to be a respected race again and decided to start up a new life on Calidar. Many people hate him for his race, but everybody knows that on the arena you need not only heroes but also villains and he's happy to feel that role. He couls be also a source of information about Lao-Kwei... if only he could speak something easier to understand for the human ear...

Yaztromo if you agree we could insert Sandpaper as a Face entry for the Circus/Arena of Glorathon, when hopefully the related district will come in development. However, as you stated this could be only a starting point to get a chance to meet him, since he's usually touring among the Caldera.
(The other option eventually is to relate this Face in a "Miscellanea Faces" section not tied to a particular Glorathon district, or other cities)

[Azure Admiral]

Kaihulu Flats

Thank you so much for developing this part of the setting. Loved it! Keep working at it. Develop parts you like best. Flesh out some of the adventure hooks. Have you tried your hand a street mapping?

Thanks Bruce. I'm planning to buy CC3 in the next months, and then begin to experiment with that.

[Ambreville]

CC3? Whazzat in the Sky?

[Yaztromo]

Yaztromo if you agree we could insert Sandpaper as a Face entry for the Circus/Arena of Glorathon, when hopefully the related district will come in development. However, as you stated this could be only a starting point to get a chance to meet him, since he's usually touring among the Caldera.
(The other option eventually is to relate this Face in a "Miscellanea Faces" section not tied to a particular Glorathon district, or other cities)

No problem either way from me.

[Yaztromo]

CC3? Whazzat in the Sky?

Ambrevilles are supposed to be very familar with jumping between different dimensions and timelines...

[Ambreville]

Don't forget that stuff travelling across planes is likely to end up passing through the vortex too. It's like Calidar's immigration control!

[Azure Admiral]

CC3? Whazzat in the Sky?

Ambrevilles are supposed to be very familar with jumping between different dimensions and timelines...

A second Calidar Kickstarter this year?

Yep, that's the Campaign Cartographer 3 product. I usually work with Inkscape for old-school dungeon style maps, but I like the prepped city tiles provided within. I'll give it a try!

[Thorf]

I have CC3... We raided it for its art assets (mostly for Calidar's floor plans), but I remain unwilling to use the actual program — too steep a learning curve for too little return, in my opinion. The art is nice, but I can't recommend the program, unfortunately. Better to go with Photoshop or GIMP — or Paint.NET as Bruce uses.

[Azure Admiral]

Thanks Thorf for the suggestion. Using the tiles separately on another software, eventually with with grid/lock options could be a faster solution indeed. I heard that there’s some grinding wheel on this graphic product based on CAD... I’ll get back on this after the submission of the next borough.

Many thanks

[Azure Admiral]

Knob Hill

General Overview
Gently sitting on a steep little hill, the Knob Hill borough benefits from a favourable position compared to the surrounding districts, granting the lucky residents of the highest dwellings a nice view of the Glorathon Bay and the bordering farmlands outside the Capital.
A soft, fresh breeze blows all over this area, refreshing and giving relief to the busy regulars here, even in its narrow alleys.

From the highest palaces it is possible to see airships docking at and setting sail from the nearby Skyport. In recent years, a whole building has been opened to the public. From its marble roof, visitors can take a break and watch the vessels passing over.

There are rumours about some young and brave guy succeeding in hooking the hull of an airship passing guiltily too close to this building, entering the cargo bay and earning free travel to unknown and adventurous destinations.
Cynics argue that there is no way some fool could have possibly survived such a daring activity, but the local city garrison has not issued any statement.
So, seeding unjustified panic for a child’s story is totally worthless, for sure.
Or maybe not?

The Knob Hill buildings are characterized with native Meryathile architecture (see Kaihulu Flats section). The edifices located in the uppermost hill area are built in a mixed style in stone and wood, or exclusively stone for the most luxurious palaces, often exhibiting colonnades and cupolas.

Due to its strategic position, the Knob Hill borough hosts four military towers armed with heavy ballistae, secured and maintained daily by the Royal City Guard. Behind the battlements and loopholes, the guards oversee the busy people bustling in the streets below, keeping watch for robberies or merchants’ disputes, who often happen to ignite a (once) frank commercial negotiation into an excessive burst of personal animosity.

This district is the Capital’s commerce and artisan activities’ heart, and stands as a critical crossroad between the other west city boroughs.
Most dwellings are two to three-storeys and host workshops, small shops and laboratories on the ground floor, run mainly by people of Talikai and Ellyrian ancestries.

Bustling and noisy, the Knob’s streets show a generous range of trading goods, making a trip in this borough one of the richest experiences of colour and exotic fragrances in all Glorathon.
Every small shop and workshop exhibits its sign in exaggerated shapes and colourful tones, usually clasping the herald on high pillars shaped from ivory (acquired from local sea creatures) and pinned vertically to the ground, or sometimes placed high horizontally, linking two dwellings across the street.

Going around the crowded streets, one is often approached by some young courier, running to deliver goods to and from Merìon Square, heading to the other small city markets or even to wealthy private clients. Merchants and shopkeepers shout out with spirit about the features, quality and prices of their products sold, raising their voices over the others.
Food, local spices and equipment are the most common goods available here in quantity, variety and quality to attract many clients who reside outside the Kingdom of Meryath.

In recent years, a small artisan manufacture is growing, specializing in rare wood-carved weapons harvested from the local forests in the Royal Domain. This manufacture aims to satisfy tasteful clientele needs, and to break into a specific market segment, historically a prerogative of artisan traditions of the other Great Caldera Realms.

However, there is some tension on this subject lately. Some master artisan spreads concerns about the woodcutters allowed by Her Majesty to harvest, but then go missing or return home exhibiting strange or unusual behaviours. The manufactures have raised their fears to the Queen’s Council, but as of today no concrete answer or help has been given.

Knob Hill’s Places & Faces

Tahitoa Va’nu’s Free Merchants Guild (34)
Inaugurated in the recent years, the Free Merchants Guild is quickly becoming a point of reference for several Glorathon merchants. The headquarters, located in a three-storey stone building, has wide external windows and several wood inserts and details which adorn the entire structure with style.

One street-front wall shows an ample space with several low-reliefs in emblems carved in stone, each one depicting a type of good or raw material.
At the ground floor, visitors and aspiring new guild members are welcomed. Here, people can view the public list of its members and benefactors, as well as admire several valuable items collected by Tahitoa during his travels.
The second floor is reserved for the guild members and has several halls, mainly set up to store administrative acts, contracts, hold guild briefings and provide rooms as apartments for members of level three and upward.
On the third floor lives Tahitoa Va’nu, who invites high-ranked members to his guest hall to discuss guild or private issues. Besides Tahitoa, all other people have access here only by his personal invitation.

The Free Merchants Guild is an independent entity separate from the Ivory Tower semi-covered organization, and neither of them ever try to bind official contacts each other.

Far from the Ivory Tower, the Free Guild doesn’t aspire to gather economic wealth to use as political power and influence, but rather aims to achieve a pure excellence in its business. Like the heroes pursuing the cult of the Eternal Glory, the members of the Free Guild are forever searching for a public acknowledgement of their activities, practiced with crystal clear and upstanding ethical behaviour. The members proudly show the results of their work, founding the relationships among affiliates on healthy, productive and honest competition.

To join the Guild, a novice must show both innate relational qualities and a strong inclination to travel and discover new frontiers in order to find new commercial possibilities and resources, while keeping in great respect the traditions and needs of native people.
The rank advancement is only partially accomplished with an economic fee, the main factors are a proven personal economic initiative and exploration. When one member discovers a new good or raw material, a new low relief is carved on the external guild wall, to let citizens officially recognize the right honour and merit to the discoverer.

Guild Ranks
* Novice (level 0)
Advancement Requirements: sign a three-month commercial contract on a good of choice with a counterpart residing in the Glorathon Capital.
Benefits: the novice becomes a Guild member.

* Peddler (level 1)
Advancement Requirements: sign a one-year commercial contract on a good of choice with a counterpart residing in the Royal Domain; deposit 1% of resulting earnings to the Guild.
Benefits: Horse and cart (property); free access to the Guild documents with contracts signed in the Royal Domain, with counterparts list (along with accurate footnotes about their general needs, problems, friends and foes).

* Courier (level 2)
Advancement Requirements: sign a two-year commercial contract on three goods of choice with a counterpart residing in three of the eight Kingdom of Meryath Counties (chosen by the Guild); deposit 1% of resulting earnings to the Guild.
Benefits: Three-wagon caravan (property), one assistant, two guards, free access to the Guild maps showing the Kingdom of Meryath’s discovered locations of rare raw materials, along with Kingdom maps pointing to other possible locations to search for new precious raw materials.

* Merchant (level 3)
Advancement Requirements: sign a three-year commercial contract on a good of choice with a counterpart residing in another Great Caldera Kingdom; deposit 1% of resulting earnings to the Guild; discover a new good/raw material in another Caldera Kingdom.
Benefits: eight-wagon caravan (property), five assistants, eight guards; chance to be introduced in the Osriel main merchants courts, therefore having an opportunity to establish more trading routes (and maybe getting involved in factions’ infighting rivalries), to hopefully strengthen the Free Merchants Guild’s position as a trustworthy trade counterparty across the Great Caldera.

* Explorer (level 4)
Advancement Requirements: discover two new goods/raw materials in the Calidar’s Dread Lands.
Benefits: Seaship (gratuitous loan), ten crew members; assigned complete administration of a guild frontier colony located in a soft spot of the Dread Lands.

* Traveller (level 5)
Advancement Requirements: sign a three-year commercial contract on a good of choice with a counterpart residing in the Soltan Ephemeris; deposit 1% of resulting earnings to the Guild; discover three new goods/raw materials in the Soltan Ephemeris.
Benefits: Skyship (gratuitous loan), fifteen crewmembers; assigned complete administration of a guild frontier colony located in the Soltan Ephemeris.


Tahitoa Va’nu, Founder of Free Merchants Guild
A 45 year old Talikai, Tahitoa is the head, heart and soul of the Free Merchants Guild. He is a tall figure with dark complexion and black hair, with a careful gaze and tasteful fashions. He is never ostentatious except some easy-wear rings, memories of past journeys and encounters. Coming from a wealthy family, his parents and grandfathers were renowned merchants of the realm, well considered and respected.
Tahitoa worked hard to strengthen the family business, channelling most of his wealth to found his own personal Guild, created to satisfy his spirit of tireless exploration, forever searching for travel mates and business partners to share his ideals. His eyes spark bright every time the possibility of a new trade route comes on the horizon, eager to start trusting, long-term relationships with new populations and races. Tahitoa is a benefactor for several artisans fallen in disgrace, becoming a reference and support pillar for many of Glorathon’s small merchant groups and beyond.
All of this inevitably lead to a cold non-relation with the Ivory Tower, which sees a slowing erosion of his member base. Tahitoa has no animosity against them, but for sure the Tower is watching all of his contacts closely.

A member of the Coral Ring (see CAL1, pag. 93), he isn’t aware of being controlled by Her Majesty’s emissaries, which periodically report to the Queen about his activities and interests in the Dread Lands, to monitor -and occasionally prevent- serious incidents which could put the Kingdom of Meryath in danger. Nonetheless, Shardwen herself considers him a valiant, trusted and resourceful subject, potentially a good member for the Red Masque (see CAL1, pag. 94).
Tahitoa knows many places, stories and race enclaves from the Dread Lands and the Ephemeris, which he’ll be happy to share with the most ardent and adventurous souls of his Guild.
Unfortunately, he is not willing to explain his ability, or secret, which allows him to find soft spots in the Dread Lands to explore and build his frontier colonies. Both the Ivory Tower and Shardwen are interested in this subject.


Tahitoa Va’nu Adventure hook 1
Following an informal private meeting with unknown people, and assembling hints gathered in the past, Tahitoa now believes that a potentially new resource can be found buried deep in the heart of Deadman’s Woods (See CAL1 Royal Domain, pag. 95).
He and the other guild members are too busy right now to have a tour and investigate, so he’s accepting outside help to conduct a first expedition and confirm his intuitions with proof.
The wood is generally considered a safe place, but almost no one is able to remember the rumours and legends which led the place to bear it name. Neither Tahitoa nor any other Glorathon residents actually know that the woods hide a latent secret involving creatures of the dark lurking among the trees, which will endanger the heroes’ mission and their lives. Depending on what the PCs discover, Tahitoa could gift them with some additional reward, such as a free Guild membership and immediate advancement to the Courier rank (level 2).


Tahitoa Va’nu Adventure hook 2
In recent times, Tahitoa has discovered that some of his long-time counterparts and friends have suddenly cut off all their commercial agreements with the Free Guild, without any explanation or contact.
Having never experienced a similar issue before, Tahitoa is concerned about these events and is willing to investigate: he’s certain they cannot be only coincidences. To not put his friends’ associates in danger, he’s in searching for adventurers without ties to his guild willing to unravel this issue.
The sites subject to investigation are:
* Kharzégy’s laboratory, a tower located in the small city of Kaipuna (Meryath Royal Domain, see CAL1, pag. 95)
* Tajnai-Kati plantation, located in the Taslan Peninsula (Omfall continent, se CAL1, pag. 70)
* Fringe mining complex (large asteroid)

Tahitoa will supply an airship and the necessary crew, plus a group of experienced henchmen who will help, as well as counsel (and control) the heroes in their actions.

Although Tahitoa’s associates are experiencing problems on their way, the heroes will eventually discover a common trace which connect all these events. They’ll discover clues about the mind behind this: could these be hostile acts from the Ivory Tower? A personal vengeance from an old enemy? Or an unfriendly warning from another entity, worried by some of Tahitoa’s unexpected resource findings in his travels?
Embarking and solving this long mission could lead to an excellent monetary reward, plus eventually a free Guild membership and immediate advancement to the Merchant rank (level 3).


Rania Bahira's Personal Devices (35)
The voluptuous, ethnic Narwani Rania runs one of the most peculiar shops in this district, offering a neat variety of personal devices. This over-secured shop-laboratory welcomes visitors in a dim light, showing a wealth of devices sheltered under Araldium showcases, and secured further with protection spells. Outside the front door, Narwani heavy guards stand at the edifice corners to take their blades to unwanted guests.
After years of earning experience across all the realms of the Great Caldera, Rania decided to return home and establish her business in Glorathon. Besides devices bestowed directly by deities, her activities focus on designing and producing personal devices requested by private clients, heroes or government entities.

With an extraordinary relationship capability, she excels in understanding her clients’ needs, and realising the best-quality -and expensive- personalized devices in all the Great Caldera (or so is said by almost all of her customers). Rania drafts the initial idea on the project and provides to its realisation, relying on an extending net of agents and trusted collaborators to gather construction materials, spells, rare ingredients and resources necessary to shape the unique item. She only works on a single project at a time.

Rania makes no secret of her ancestry, and defends with clearness her political vision of the Narwani’s Kamarea claim. She feels at home in Meryath, respects its inhabitants and lives as a part of the community.
However, this crystal clear behaviour is causing deep concerns among the Steel Phalanx (see CAL1, pag. 94), which meticulously oversees all her actions.
Until now, the Phalanx hasn’t found tangible evidence to call for her forced expulsion from the Kingdom, but pretexts are not hard to find, thanks to the “right” hands…


Rania Bahira's Adventure hook
Rania has a major problem right now to solve. On the day the PCs enter the laboratory, they’ll see a slain Talikai laying on the ground, and Rania watching him in tears.
The man was a wealthy and long-time Glorathan client of the shop. Rania just saw him healthy a week ago and they talked about a new device to build.
She was horrified to discover the corpse early in the morning, without any trace of forced entry.
Doors and windows are intact and closed, and Rania’s guards detected nothing strange.
Rania now urges the newly-met heroes to help her privately investigate the tragic event, while the city guards pursue this in their official way. If not, it’s likely that Rania’s reputation and fate will be forever compromised.


Kanemanu's Shrine (lesser) (36)
Since arriving from Meryath’s northern shores, the Talikai Atea has run the little Kanemanu’s Shrine in Knob Hill. His parents were pious followers of this deity, and when Atea grew up they asked for advice from their Divine Patron. The auspices agreed to appoint the young cleric Atea to establish a new shrine in Glorathon, to help Kanemanu’s faith spread in the Capital. Thanks to his hard work and some donations, Atea managed to clear some old shacks near the adjacent borough’s fish-crossing side, and founded the shrine. With his beguiling charm and soft elusive behaviours, he is slowly raising a growing of faithful men and women alike (the latter, mostly).
The shrine is a small but comfortable open space garden, with a colonnade heading into the inner chambers. Here, a visitor can meditate among the garden’s tropical flora and fauna, and have a consultation with Atea about the Great Spirit.

The cleric offers to follow the heroes in their adventures to help raise them as “Lucky Champions of Kanemanu” (as he says). From this, he would gain better visibility for his Faith in the Capital, and hopefully be blessed with more clerical power from his deity.

Furthermore, Atea is searching for heroes to address other Faith concerns.
One month ago, the symbol of the Shrine, a great blue bird of paradise, disappeared from the shrine garden. Events such these are usually read into by the worshippers as bringers of misfortune, which would result in a disastrous disruption of all of Atea’s hard clerical efforts made over the years.
He tried to put a patch on this, secretly evoking an illusionary bird to place in the garden. He knows he’s fooling the believers, but he hopes to bring the blessed animal back to the temple soon.
Now he’s desperately searching for heroes to help investigate this disappearance. The bird raised at every one of Kanemanu’s shrines is fairly unique in its features, so it’s not possible to replace it with another specimen.
The heroes must act quickly and undercover: the situation here could not be as it appears, and more is at stake than an intelligent feathered bird gone missing.


Knob Hill’s Adventure hooks

The Nubeian Fair
Every year on Nubeian the 20th, a fair takes place in the Knob Hill’s centre plaza.
Several merchants come from Caldera’s other realms, dealing in their homeland’s articles and acquiring Meryath’s tropical goods and finest weaponry.
Over five days, the already crowded Knob streets become even more congested thanks to the outsiders, their followings and the curious. The event is sponsored by the official Merchants’ Guild (but almost everyone knows that the Ivory Tower is the real promoter), which aims to grow stronger than the permanent Grand Tulani Bazaar and reach the magnificence of the great Osriel fairs.

Sadly, the fair is plagued by unfortunate accidents and problems:
* This year a new guest will attend the event: the Beastmaster Hektor Porphyrias from Ellyrion. He, along with his pompous caravans, will bring his mighty exotic beasts’ showcase to the Nubeian Fair. Although all the creatures will be registered and all bureaucratic permissions will be given, the Merchant’s Guild is concerned about the overall borough’s security, also considering that some street scoundrel could want to make his great day and get his inexperienced hands on a beast too exotic or bad tempered…

* Starting with pointless quarrelling, year after year, four outsider merchants have grown in hatred of each other, up to the point of planning deviously hostile and murderous acts during the fair as the day of reckoning. Kurdûn the Stonecutter from Araldûr, Aleyselë the rare-wood shaper from Alfdaín, Würtenbur the weaver from Osriel and Huris the alchemist from Caldwen struggle to overpower their sworn enemies, possibly trying to divert accusations and their own responsibilities to the other merchants, or innocents. One (or possibly more) of these NPCs will engage the PCs, asking them to protect their life during the fair or to execute some shady order against the others.

* Even if almost no one will speak about it publicly, rumours say that every Nubeian Fair sees a murder. Hearing whispers in inns or around the markets, the PCs will learn about corpses found in the past years in dark alleys, under the sewer, in Meríon Square and in a residence’s backyard. An old salt, whose daughter was killed during the fair three years ago, will ask the heroes if they would dare to make some investigation, promising to give them his greatest possession, a valuable treasure map, which he found some years ago venturing in the Kingdom. Will the PCs answer his plea for help?


*Many* thanks to Marshall Oppel for joining me as professional Lead Editor in my fictional journeys.

[Thorf]

This is great stuff! I'm really enjoying seeing more Meryath development. It's my not-so-secret hidden agenda, right Bruce?

[Ambreville]

I'm sorry I haven't had the time to go through your article. It seems very interesting -- thanks for posting all this goodness. I'm in a work marathon for CAL2 these days, coming out the Xmas break and heading to France soon for a bit.