Faroe

Motto: Beating heart of the Empire. Language: Avenan Common Current Head of State: Duchess Euridyce de ValMont Ethnic Groups: 89% human, 1% half-elf, half-orc, 10% other Demonym: Faroese Government: hereditary Duchy Population: 1,200 Patron Gods: Traditionally Pelor, Mouqol, Osprem Year Founded: 565 Before the Scourge

Government
Until its conquest by the Empire in 304 BS, Faroe was a small maritime and trading kingdom ruled by a hereditary line of kings and queens. This line of rulers was directly patrilineal, with the first child – regardless of gender – of the current ruler always acceding to the throne, ensuring an unbroken line of descent from the original king.

After the Imperial conquest, Faroe's ruling family was converted to Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses, and the line of succession was limited to firstborn male children to match the assumptions of the Imperial bureaucracy. With the collapse of the Faroese caer at the beginning of the Scourge, most of the direct heirs to the Faroese Duchy were killed, and the line of succession was broken. There are some members of the current Regency nobility who have some claim on the title, but the Council of Regents has yet to grant the land to any family. Current administration of the city rests with the military representatives of the Council, who have occupied Faroe and begun reconstruction of the city as a staging ground for their invasion of Imperial lands to the northeast.

Military
Until the beginning of the first period of Imperial expansion, Faroe had few nearby rivals, bounded as it was on the north and east by dense forest and desert, and on the west by unbroken plains. Though Faroe thrived as a maritime trading power, and cleared hundreds of square miles nearby for highly productive farms, the kingdom lacked the riches of Aksum or the resources of Besiktas, and therefore presented no temptation and little threat to its neighbors. The royal family also kept cordial relationships and trading alliances with the smaller nearby coastal kingdoms, thereby securing its immediate borders through savvy diplomacy.

After the Pact of the Three Cities established the Empire in 325 BS, Faroe began to build up a powerful conventional navy in the hope of balancing Avenan power, but their army continued to serve only strictly defensive purposes. The large population of the region supported a sizable militia, and the plains to the east bred good horses, but training was lacking overall, and the army was never tested in open combat on a large scale. In the event, Faroese power proved functionally useless against the experienced army, navy, and air corps of the Empire.

After its integration into the Empire, Faroe became an important naval port for the Imperial navy and air corps, as well as a staging ground for Fist operations against Besiktas and Aksum.

Cities
Faroe dominated the coast for hundreds of miles in either direction. A number of client kingdoms existed independently of the city, but were, for all intents and purposes, suburbs of their larger neighbor. Even now, the coast is dotted with the ruins of small cities at every possible port. In many of the ruins, you can see the hallmarks of late Faroese architecture, as well as pre-conquest Faroese coins in the hordes of the monsters that now lurk there.

Inland, Faroe was host to dozens of small trading posts and farming communities. The land around the city was some of the most heavily urbanized in the world before the Scourge, with the Faroese Duchy boasting the highest population density outside of Dacia. There were also three minor cities within the Faroese dominion. To the northwest, built around a large oasis, was the city of Lemn, which was swallowed by the desert during the Scourge. To the northeast, on the shore of Bladespring Lake, was Sevvish, the ruins of which can still be found, littered with the bones of those killed during the First Battle of Bladespring Lake on the western shore. To the southeast was the port city of Tesh, now a shattered jumble of stone.

Religion
Throughout its history Faroe has been a farming, fishing, and trading community. As a result, the worship of Pelor has always been vital to the city, as have the cults of Mouqol – god of traders – and Osprem – god of the sea and sailors. Sadly, the worship of Mouqol and Osprem appears to have been forgotten. Many of the soldiers currently occupying the city are worshippers of Heironious, Kord, St. Cuthbert, and Pelor, but if the city can be said to have a patron god at the moment, it is the Worm that Walks, whose cult currently rules there.

Languages
At one time, Faroe had a distinct dialect of Avenan Common that was recognized throughout the known world. It incorporated some elements of the gnomish and Halfling languages. Shades of the accent can still be heard here and there, but the dialect itself died with the city. The current most common language in the area is Dacian-accented Avenan Common, though there are a number of speakers of Abyssal and Orcish.

Culture
Before the Scourge, Faroe was a large, highly urbanized region in which much of the population was in some way employed by fishing or the maritime trade. The region was considered by many outsiders to be face-paced and metropolitan, but there was also a strong focus on community and regional pride. Individual gain was seen as the paramount measure of success, but it was widely recognized that success should not come at the expense of others, so the concentration of extreme wealth was rare. There was no martial tradition to speak of, except in a few cases. Faroese tended to travel within the region, but rarely ventured outside.

Individuals tended to focus on their work, their family, and their communty. There was a strong, stubborn, but largely passive independant streak in the Faroese chracter that resulted in little attention being paid to the rulers of the city. A ruler was generally considered good if he or she left the people to themselves, kept taxes low, and exercised power in the protection of property and trade. No cult of celebrity or personality ever surrounded any of the major rulers of the region. Regional pride came in the form of love and care for the city and the land, rather than loyalty to a particular powerful family. The city was partially destroyed early in the Scourge, and then completely lost when its caer collapsed. As a result there is no current culture in the city beyond that formed by the military hierarchy of the Regency encampment.

Economy
There is a small, ersatz fishing economy run by soldiers, but the primary economic engines of the region at the moment are the military scrip system, gambling, and the flow of gold through the mercenary encampment on the outskirts of the main city ruins. Gold is also coming in from the Regency to fund the rebuilding of the city, though given that the primary labor force in the rebuilding is made up of slaves, most of that money goes into the pockets of overseers and materials suppliers who simply return it to the capitol island. With the departure of the army, the local economy will once again stagnate, though it is expected that once the war is concluded many of the currently active soldiers and mercenaries will retire to the newly rebuilt portions of the city.

Demography
<p class="MsoNormal">The current population of the city is almost entirely Avenan human, though there are a number of half-elves, half-orcs, other human hybrids, and savage race mercenaries as well. A very few Ta-Den independent operators have made there way there to serve with the Regency army as well.

People, Organizations, and Locations
<p class="MsoNormal">General Cynewulf Othag – Regency field commander, member of the Council of Regents.

<p class="MsoNormal">Admiral Olaf Aslag – Regency air corps commander, member of the Council of Regents.

<p class="MsoNormal">General Bartholomew Tartan – Regency special operations commander, member of the Council of Regents.

<p class="MsoNormal">General Arlag – Troll mercenary commander. Very dangerous, very mean, but a surprisingly good administrator.

<p class="MsoNormal">Daern

<p class="MsoNormal">The Cult of the Worm - Worshippers of The Worm that Walks currently rule in Faroe, and while their cult remains secretive, its members are taking less and less care to hide their activities the farther away from the capitol island they go.

<p class="MsoNormal">Black March – The mercenary company led by Arlag was once a loose collection of monsters working for who or whatever offered them the best chance at slaughtering the weak. Arlag was, when he first started out, one of the more frightening pieces of cannon fodder that made up the rank and file of the chaotic band, but his unusual intelligence allowed him to plot his way to the top of the group, while his exceptional size and fighting skill allowed him to forge the Black March into a slightly more traditional company. Even so, until Arlag arrived in Faroe to offer his services to the Regency his band remained small and savage. Shortly after arriving, however, Arlag realized how much money there was to be made should the Regency prevail against Anglesey. He began actively recruiting solo operators into the Black March, hiring prostitutes, thieves, and thugs of all races. He also opened the Rat's Nest, ensuring that the pay he meted out made it back into his pockets. As the size of the Black March grew, so did its influence on the Regency army, until finally Arlag was made a field general and placed in command of the entire mercenary contingent.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Rat's Nest – The Rat's Nest is a tavern, whorehouse, and gambling hall located in the middle of the mercenary encampment at Faroe. It is little more than a large pavilion, but it is the social center of the mercenary army. Few Regency soldiers venture there, as its reputation is exceedingly dangerous, but Arlag and his thugs ensure that little violence actually occurs, since it would threaten their profits.

<p class="MsoNormal">Thieves' Landing – Now ruined, this was once one of the most famous sites in the city – though only a few knew its actual location. As the center of the city fell into disrepair and disrepute, criminal gangs began to flourish. None was more successful than the Cat Guild, a loose network of burglars, sneak thieves, pickpockets, rogues, and assassins. Under the leadership of the Black Mask (who may or may not have been more than one person over the course of the 200 years of his or her reign), the Cat Guild extended tendrils across the world. Black Mask was rumored to exercise influence even at the highest levels of the Empire, pulling his strings from his seat at Thieves' Landing. <p class="MsoNormal">This place was also rumored to be the preeminent thieves' college in the world; for a criminal to claim an education at Thieves' Landing immediately made him a target of any local ruffian hoping to build a reputation. As a result, only the most skilled – or most foolish – of thieves ever claimed knowledge of the Landing. It is assumed that Thieves' Landing was destroyed and Black Mask killed at the beginning of the Scourge.

History
<p class="MsoNormal">Given that it eventually became one of the preeminent cities of the Empire, Faroe has a surprisingly unstudied past. Built as it was on a sizable harbor near a rich fishing ground, sheltered from the sometimes vicious weather that blew east from the Endless Ocean, and surrounded by fertile land, the region that Faroe eventually came to dominate was probably settled by humans even before the end of the Age of Mysteries. For centuries, humans, some small elf tribes, and the occasional Halfling settler group lived peacefully, afflicted only rarely with incursions by savage races from the sea and farther inland.

<p class="MsoNormal">Due to the lack of material resources like gems or precious metals in the area, the population grew slowly. Eventually, with a large enough population to work the land and fish the sea, the formerly entirely agrarian area began to urbanize. Along with that came unemployment, crime, and a concentration of resources that began to attract more and more attention from the savage races.

<p class="MsoNormal">The first king of Faroe was a notorious con man from Aksum named Kint Vosqua. Fleeing from a number of creditors and unhappy victims, he came to the growing city early in 570 BS. Once there, he swiftly built a network among the various petty thugs then preying on the farmers and fishermen bringing their surplus to market. He then began to engineer strikes against specific farmers and fishermen who refused his protection while he collected payment from others. The innovation in his protection racket was that he actually provided protection to those who paid. Soon enough it only made sense to dress his thugs in uniforms to ensure they could identify each other among the many ruffians in the region. Shortly thereafter, he began to offer his services as a distributor of goods, purchasing surplus directly from producers, and then reselling it at market himself.

<p class="MsoNormal">Vosqua proved to be a surprisingly capable administrator. Within five years, he found himself in the control of a sizable militia, and managing the vast majority of the regional economy. When he declared himself king in 565 BS, most of the people in the area simply shrugged and went about their business.

<p class="MsoNormal">Vosqua may have been an indifferent king, but he continued to be a fine administrator, using his protection income (now called "taxes") to establish schools in the city and transform his militia of thugs into a professional police force and small army that extended his control over the region. He supplemented the private fishing fleet with a small navy that patrolled the coast and protected producers from sahuagin and other savage ocean dwellers. He ruled for 39 years, and when he died and his daughter declared herself queen, the kingdom once again shrugged, saying to one another, "Let them call themselves kings and queens, so long as they leave us alone to mend our nets and till our fields."

<p class="MsoNormal">The Vosqua line continued up until the Imperial conquest in 304 BS during the First Period of Imperial Expansion. The last king of Faroe, Daryn Vosqua, saw the Empire coming, but vastly underestimated its power. He expected to fight them at sea, and spent his treasury building a powerful conventional navy without ever realizing the Empire simply intended to march overland from Viti. His navy engaged in only a limited skirmish with the Empire, even as his militia was overwhelmed by the Fist. Daryn was killed in the naval engagement, ending his line. One of his cousins was named Grand Duke Tarn Darq, and installed as regional administrator on behalf of the Empire.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Unlike many of the other cities captured during the First Period of Imperial Expansion, Faroe never mounted much of an insurgency. The people continued to take the same attitude toward the Empire that they had taken toward their kings – so long as they were left to live their lives, they were content to let the powerful play their games.

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<p class="MsoNormal">As a grand duchy, Faroe's influence expanded over a greater share of land than ever before. The region became the breadbasket of the Empire and an important naval port. Shipbuilding, animal husbandry, and farming boomed. The population continued to grow, and the borders of the city spilled outward, turning rich farmland into bustling suburb, while the center of the immense city began to fall into disrepair.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Crime began to flourish in the city center. Large, organized gangs began running protection rackets, gambling, prostitution, drugs, and assassination businesses out of the city. By 148 BS, Faroe was known as much for organized crime as for the patient indifference of its populace towards their rulers. The Faroese gangs controlled complex webs of gold and influence that stretched across the Empire, and rumors indicated that they had even begun to infiltrate the Hand and the Finger.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Little did the most powerful gangs know, but they had, in turn, been infiltrated themselves. In 138 BS, the Finger opened the endgame of a massive operation targeting the leadership of the Faroese gangs and their key players. As Finger operatives rapidly dismantled gang financial networks, Hand assassins killed selected targets, making the deaths look like hits from rival gangs. This, in turn, triggered an epidemic of reprisal killings that lasted for a bloody two years.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Gang influence outside of the city was greatly decreased, as the gangs spent their resources slaughtering each other in the streets in the crumbling heart of Faroe. When the dust settled, most of the gangs were shattered and the fight had gone out of those who still stood. Finger agents visited Thieves' Landing and a few other gang strongholds to deliver a simple message – limit your ambition. You will not see us, but we will never stop watching you.

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<p class="MsoNormal">The gangs rebuilt, but did so cautiously. The city watch had been purged of turncoats and emboldened by the swift and total defeat of the gangs. In most cases, they were more than enough to contain the avarice of the gangs; and when the city watch proved insufficient, gang leaders tended to meet with sudden, unpleasant deaths.

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<p class="MsoNormal">The Second Period of Imperial Expansion saw a new influx of wealth to the city, this time in the form of elven slaves. Faroe was the home of the largest slave market on the continent. The farms that covered hundreds of square miles around the city quickly came to rely on slave labor to expand production. Fishermen and traders employed slaves as manual labor on the more dangerous tasks. Organized crime saw new opportunities in a population that could not say no.

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<p class="MsoNormal">When the Second Period ended and the Golden Age began, slavery fell out of vogue, but was never made illegal. Faroe continue to rely on the trade, even as the influx of new slaves fell to near zero. Slaves became a rare luxury commodity, an affectation of the wealthy, rather than an inexpensive work force. Slave traders began to rely on less and less scrupulous means to gather new stock, resorting to mounting raids on rural villages to steal half-elf children, or kidnapping free elves in the region.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Along with the continuing slave trade came a new attitude. Before, the city had retained a kind of pride in work – especially farming and fishing – and a disdain for great wealth. Now, the influx of gold brought by the Golden Age, and the focus on ownership (especially of other people) as a mark of status brought a new desire for riches, and an accelerating concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Massive villas began to spring up in the wealthier areas of the city, and enormous summer homes started to appear along the coasts nearby. For most citizens, however, life continued apace until the destruction of Aksum brought everything crashing to a halt.

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<p class="MsoNormal">The detonation of Aksum was loud enough that many Faroese thought something within the city had exploded. The shockwave through the ground shook the city violently, causing broken windows, a few collapsed buildings, and hundreds of injuries. The city was pummeled with tidal waves for days afterward, dealing hundreds of thousands in gold pieces worth of damage to the coastal areas and destroying much of the fishing fleet. The sky went black with ash and dust, bringing an unusually harsh and early winter, killing crops, and threatening the populous city with starvation.

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<p class="MsoNormal">For the first two and a half years of what eventually became known as the Scourge, Faroe suffered from constant hunger. Crippled by long winters, violent weather, and damaged infrastructure, farm and fishing production slowed – only to be further limited by newly aggressive and powerful monsters attacking from the sea. At first, the city was able to support itself with imports from Besiktas, but as the Scourge worsened trade slowed and then was cut off. By the beginning of 3 YS, Faroe was starving.

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<p class="MsoNormal">When rumors began to circulate that an army of monsters had destroyed Andurrial and then turned south to attack Faroe, the already suffering population panicked. Riots broke out as people, desperate to hide or flee, fought over scarce resources. Even the presence of the Imperial army did little to calm things, especially as it put additional strain on the region's already limited food supply.

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<p class="MsoNormal">On July 16 of that year, even as the Imperial army broke and routed the monster army at Bladespring Lake to the northeast, 18 dragons descended on the city, killing all they found, seizing anything that could be carried, and destroying the rest. Nearly a third of the population of the city was killed, and much of it was reduced to rubble.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Despite the tragedy, despite continuing starvation and a collapsed economy, Faroe endured. The people of the city rebuilt what they could and salvaged the rest. The reduced population eased some of the pressure on the dwindling food supply, and the movement of the monsters eastward made farming slightly easier.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately, the destruction of the Imperial army at Viti Fields signaled the true beginning of the Scourge for Faroe. The nature of the dangers of the new world were revealed in the form of the insidious undead, demonic manipulators of dreams, spreaders of diseases and corruption. More run of the mill monsters rendered life outside of the city impossible by the end of 6 YS.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Faroe was one of the first cities to begin constructing a caer. A suitable hill about 30 miles northeast of the city itself was selected to cap the primary structure, but a long subterranean road leading from the city center to the main hall of the caer was also undertaken. As with every city selected for a caer, the full resources of the region went into its construction. Every able-bodied person contributed gold, materials, or labor. Unlike the other cities, Faroe's small remaining slave population labored around the clock – despite every one of them knowing they were destined to be left outside when the caer was sealed.

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<p class="MsoNormal">The caer was completed in mid-11 YS, and the population of the city immediately began their Retreat. They passed through the magical sterilizers and detectors built into the walls of the long road and marched 30 miles carrying the few belongings they could, heading for what they hoped was safety. At the entrance to the road stood the remaining city militia, fighting off monsters and the citizens and slaves who had not been given a place within.

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<p class="MsoNormal">But, of course, monsters and demons have never been the only dangers facing the civilized races. Evil comes from within as well, and it was this that proved the city's final undoing. Scores of slaves had been worked to death building the road and the caer, and those who had survived were condemned to die on the surface at the hands of monsters. Desperate for revenge, and no doubt encouraged by some supernatural influence, a conspiracy of these slaves had built hundreds of weaknesses into the walls and ceiling of the road. Even as thousands of Faroese crowded the road, creeping towards safety, the walls creaked, shuddered, and collapsed. For the thousands left outside the caer, there would be no refuge. For those within, they were forever cut off from the outside. The hundreds killed in the collapse suffered a merciful fate compared to their fellow citizens.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Since then, the city's only inhabitants have been the monsters that crept through the ruins. Only during the last two years has the Council of Regents begun rebuilding the city – first with an aim to recolonizing the area, but now as a staging ground for their invasion of Imperial territory to the northeast.

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