Kaash
Not a member of the Domain of Man and does not recognize the authority of the Merchants' Guild or the legitimacy of the Army of Dominion.
Population: 48,000
- Human: 50%
Ores: 25%
Goblins: 10%
Dwarves: 3%
Kobolds: 2%
Ogres: 1%
Elves: 1%
Other: 8%
Military:
- 3,500 Sentries
1,200 Pikes
Major Temples:
- Cult of Set
Children of Utu
Ruler: Lord Alshizar, though Count Lovejoy sees to the day-to-day operation of the city.
Coinage: 1 Piece (1 gold), 5 Piece, 10 Piece, 20 Piece, 50 Piece, 100 Piece, 500 Piece.
Flag: A plain, blood red banner.
Crouching in the shadow of the Shattered Mountains on the banks of the Stone River, a murky tributary of the Great River, Kaash has earned the title of the most vile and corrupt city in all the Eastern Territory (and that's a feat, because there are plenty of towns and small cities that are dangerous and rife with crime and civil unrest). Blood cults, gang wars, rampant drug abuse, high stakes gambling, murder, rape and slavery are just a few of the most notable crimes at Kaash.
A cesspool of wickedness and villainy, it seems to attract bullies, brutes, crooks, river pirates, slavers, cultists, psychopaths, and practitioners of the black arts (Witches, Necromancers, Scarecrows, Lizard Mages, evil Summoners, dragons, Za, etc.) from throughout the Domain of Man.
In addition, assassins and opportunists from the Western Empire find the city quite "homey." The gold trade still goes on as profitable as ever, but the growing city now supplements its income with the slave trade, prostitution, gambling, drugs and much, much worse. For a time the city's economy was in shambles. The city's infrastructure wasn't growing fast enough to meet the demands of the population. People had plenty of gold, but there was precious little to spend it on, so they were taking their money to spend elsewhere.
Lord Alshizar appointed the current Steward, Count Lovejoy, a charming man with the tongue of an angel and the heart of a monster, to rectify the problem. One of the King's first actions was to create the Embassy, a haven for visiting merchants where they can stay and conduct business without fear of crime or their safety. The second, was to allow all kinds of building, and businesses to operate with virtually no restraints or limitations, endorse all sorts of vice to operate out in the open (things most other cities try to stomp out or hide in a corner). Today, a steady stream of merchants, river traffic and adventurers stop at Kaash to rest and find shelter, enjoy dark pleasures, resupply, gather information and to hunt down desperados.
Outwardly, Kaash looks like a city built for war. The tangled forest runs right up to the 60 foot (18.3 m) tall drab-gray stone walls. There are few immigrants, squatters, farmers or homesteaders living in the immediate vicinity outside the walls; the wilderness is just too dangerous, and nobody does anything about the roaming clans of Kobolds, Ores and Giants, nor bandits or even simple vandals. Only mining and prospecting sites (half of those fruitless and abandoned) flourish along the Stone River and up into the mountain. A few burnt out farms and outposts from the Merchants' Guild's reign remain as testament to the troubled past.
Atop the walls, walking beside blood red banners snapping in the breeze, are dead-eyed soldiers, attired in black scale armor, wielding sword and pole arm, and silent as the grave. Should the city be threatened, first one and then all of the sentries will point their weapons and scream like banshees, as a warning both to those within the city and to the invaders outside. The effect is so strange and chilling that five years ago a regiment of mercenaries hired by the Church of Light to raze the city turned around and sailed home. They reported that it sounded like the entire city began screeching and they could smell the taint of death and evil magic in the air.
Supporting the defenders on the wall facing the river (the most likely avenue of attack) are 24 catapults armed with Greek fire and acid bombs (thick clay balls filled with acid that does 2D6 damage per round, for 1D6 melee rounds or until washed off with alcohol). The continuous wall around the city enables troops to reposition the catapults relatively quickly should an attack occur elsewhere. There are three large gates, two of which face the river and usable only by watercraft, and a third gate on the west wall where the gold trains enter the city.
Along the road leading to the gold mines, dubbed the "Gold Road," some five miles (8 km) from Kaash, are soldiers identical to the sentries on the wall.
For most of its history, Kaash was little more than a pirate base where brigands could raid the Great River communities or attack merchant caravans along the Trade Road, then slink away up the Stone River to split up the booty and lay low until things settled down. In time, the priates became a serious threat to commerce along the river, which forced the Merchants' Guild to take steps to protect its members. To that end they hired an army of Llorn Red Brigade mercenaries, as well as capable adventuring groups and would-be heroes, and conquered the pirate base in a short and bloody campaign. With the Merchants' Guild firmly in charge and the pirate threat greatly diminished (two thirds perished or fled), at least for a time, the settlers began occupying Kaash to rebuild it and turn it into a civilized place. Within a few years what had once been the pirate base had become a small town. When gold was discovered in the nearby mountains, the town grew into a city seemingly overnight.
The booming population and the promise of wealth from gold attracted more thugs, crooks, con artists, claim jumpers, thieves, criminals and opportunists of every stripe. A short time later, people started turning up dead, their bodies horribly mutilated.
When the authorities proved unable to find those responsible or to prevent more murders, it gave villains a more free hand because they could pump somebody, rob him and kill him and blame it on the "curse of the Mountain," or "the monsters of the shattered stone."
This also inspired death cults and dark churches to spring up all over the place, as well as gambling halls, saloon, houses of ill-repute, drug dens, pawnshops and other unsavory shops and services catering to the base whims and desires of the wealthy prospectors, miners, workmen, immigrants and adventurers who flocks to the city to find their fortunes.
In the century since Alshizar took control of the town and renamed it after himself, Kaash has grown in both size and power. Much to the chagrin of its neighbors, it has also sunken ever further into evil and decadence. The city is a haven for river and sea pirates, slavers, criminals, fugitives and roughnecks. Here, the Lord of Kaash refuses to allow the Dominion Army or lawmen from other communities entry into his "fair city."
If they have a complaint or suspicion that a wanted bandit, raider, murderer or criminal is hiding in Kaash, all they can do is log it with the office of foreign affairs and the law at Kaash will investigate and take whatever action is necessary. In short, it does nothing while pretending to be concerned and protecting villains with the claim of sovereign privilege (i.e. other communities stay out of our business).
Nothing short of a siege is likely to have any hope of routing the army of brigands that find sanctuary at Kaash. It is an idea some have considered, only there is, indeed, an "army" of cutthroats at Kaash, as well as its own militia and who knows how many practitioners of magic, dark priests, and monstrous non-humans to defend the place. If river and sea pirates, tribes of Ores, and other brigands and monsters should join forces with Kaash, the entire region could find itself at war and the vile city might actually win and become even more powerful.
