Setting Specifics Magic Level Shores of Haldun takes place in a high fantasy world with a mid-level magical setting. You can find up to + 4 weapons, but for instance no permanent immunity items. Many items will also have custom scripted effects. Civilisation Besides the sprawling, growing, young city of Haldun, other known settlements on the continent of Berkatan are, Haldun's main rival, the seedy, mercenary town of Haven, the more primitive village of Mok'Tar, and the Golden Gulch frontier encampment. There are no known other settlements, aside from the Ranger outpost within Herathos Vale, the mysterious Druid's isle of Santiri and the Castle Hart, residence of Prince Thomas, The Bannermen, plus staff and and farmers in the employ of House Balaney and the Castle. Over the sea, the Nation of Soros sprawls amongst Old Haldun's neighbours of Zeeltur, Paltin and Multar. The Sorosian (referred to as Soran by many, especially the Haldar) have a strict, beaurucratic and orderly social structure which is rigidly enforced upon its subjects whose entire philosophy and culture revolves around the Arcane Arts Law & Order in Haldun Haldun has no 'town guard' or official militia. The legal representative of the city is the Sheriff, Dirk Arlebroth. Instead, various hired mercenaries or employed enforcers for the tradehouse staunchly defend various properties. Occasionally, The Royal Bannermen may be found on the streets. These are a prominent figurehead of law and order, but are still subject to the law (or lack thereof) of the Tradehouses within Haldun. Generally, the citizens that cannot defend themselves or afford to hire protection, must rely on the tradehouses if they are affiliated, or mind their own and pray they are not targetted by thieves or thugs on the streets. Content to work for the tradehouses in expanding their new city, the Haldar have discovered that they can cope quite well without the need for The Five (the gods that 'disappeared' and it is widely believed this disappearance marked the turning point in the war wich ended with the fall of Old Haldun) though some clung to their faith and whilst there are no established clergy or churches, small shrines and altars have been set up by the devout despite public ridicule in some cases. The Goraz - Orcs and Half Orcs Although few Halfbreeds arrive at Haldun docks from distant lands, the majority found around Berkatan are of Mok'Tar descent. These are intelligent, wise, proud and highly respected as their kin defend the Great Wall to the north. The Mok'Tar have a rich and superstitious culture of beliefs and duty. Rangers & Druids The Norvandan Rangers of Herathos Vale and the Augur of the island of Santiri have a long-standing history of co-operation of overseeing all things wild and natural. The Rangers acting as guides, pioneers and guardians, whilst the Druids have a position of advisors. The wisdom of these groups is sought often by those who farm, enter the wilderness or merely seek ing to learn more about the lands and its inhabitants. Warlocks - The 13th Circle The 13th Circle of Sorosian society castes is regarded as a myth, a conspiracy theory of a secret organisation which perhaps once existed but has long since been eradicated from the Eldritch Council and Soros. Even as a rumour this mythical group is utterly unheard of to any outside Soros. Warlocks are those that have been inducted to the ways of the 13th Circle and therefore, maintain its the secrecy. Blackguards - The Final Hour Haldar tales tell of the heroic exploits of Bannermen, priests and warriors that won through in battle during the war, maintaining superhuman powers through their faith and dedication despite the 'disappearance' of the Five. Long since disbanded, these old heroes were known collectively as The Final Hour. With the end of the war, stranded on defeated Deagerad, without purpose, they disbanded and went their separate ways. Their hunger for war, however lead many to adopt pupils and apprentices, some of whom may have since reached Berkatan. Introduction When the refugee fleet first landed on the shore that would become their home it was unclear how, or even if, they would survive. Though the second son of the Haldar King, Prince Thomas, had come with them, it was the Trading Houses that provided the firm leadership that was needed to survive those initial years along the shore. In the old kingdom there were six noble house that had held control of the trades of Haldun. These were the great houses Borianas, Balaney, Turas, Garun, Curthan, and Lermor. Four of these Houses were about to maintain their status in the new settlement. Houses Curthan and Lermor would be replaced by Houses Jadyn and Delriso in the hierarchy of the Trading Houses. Each of these six houses rose to prominence for different reasons, and all six of the houses played important roles in shaping the new society that sprung up around the refugees. Each of these houses would come to absorb, or combine with lesser noble houses in order to strengthen their own ability to adapt and grow in the new land. The Six Trading houses each boast a fleet of ships that are used for trading with nations across the sea, but very few, if any ships, designed for battle. The Trading Houses all have a specialty that they focused on in the early days. A specialty that was needed by the people of the new settlement that brought these houses their initial profits in the new land. The six great Trading Houses of Haldun are now House Jadyn, House Garun, House Turas, House Delriso, House Balaney, and House Borianas. House Garun House Garun was one of the Six Great Houses of the old kingdom. Kings and Queens coming from their royal line. They can trace their history back to the time of King Thomas the Fourth. The cloth of House Garun alone was desired far and wide for its quality and durability. Cloth making wasn't their only venture by far. Their clothing designs were the envy of nobles and commoners far and wide. From there the House moved into dye making and soon after became self sufficient in regards to their craft. After the fall of the Old Kingdom and the plans to build a new settlement, House Garun began to make long term plans. They started by moving quickly to make clothing that the refugees could wear to keep out the cold of the fast approaching winter. Their next move was to absorb the remnants of four lesser houses that had been in similar businesses, effectively eliminating their competition in the area of clothes making. These were the minor noble Houses Denache, Eldas, Adougho, and Morrad. House Garun's start in Haldun began with simply keeping the people clothed. That first winter they were considered saviors for the speed at which they were able to churn out quality winter wear for the refugees. Keltan Garun, the current head of House Garun, took over the business from his mother. His father had been killed in the war by a wizard of Soros. His mother is still living, but too old to see to the day to day running of the house. She serves as an advisor to Keltan, but he is the true head of the house now. The focus of House Garun has been in the business of textiles. This includes but is not limited to the areas of dye making, cloth making, tailoring, dressmaking, and leatherworking. House Turas House Turas was one of the Six Great Houses of the old kingdom. Kings and Queens coming from their royal line. After the exile, much like the other five Great Houses of Haldun, House Turas took in remnants of other houses. These were the lesser noble families: Moston, Lorackpol, Laing, and Honeld. These houses brought with them a mixture of metalworking styles and secrets that only strengthened the quality of House Turas' products. Sayrany Turas, who now leads the house, was taught by her father and grandfather. Lady Steel, as she is also known, is a part of the generation that only knows life in Haldun. Turas metal work can be seen all over the town from lampposts to weapons, from armor to cutlery, from helms to farm implements. In Haldun House Turas has a stronger guard than the other houses because of their strong armor and weaponry. The other houses have no choice but to trade for Turan goods if they wish their own guards to be equally armed and protected. This has not stopped the different houses from employing their own smiths, but these smiths rarely match the quality of the smiths that work for House Turas. Turas has also begun trading with the orcs for armor and weapons as a sign of goodwill, the defenders of the wall have found themselves far better equipped than ever before. The focus of House Turas remains on metalworking, mainly in the creation of weapons, armor, and the tools needed for daily life. They also create the rings used by coopers as well as many of the locks used in the town. "They protect our arses, we protect theirs.." - Matthias Honeld, Chief Armourer House Delriso When the refugees found the land that they would call their new home, it quickly became clear that leadership was needed in the area of building. House Delriso, House Curthan, and House Wost vied for contention. In the weeks after landfall, it the five surviving family members of House Curthan and their few men came to realize that they could not compete with House Delriso. This was due in large part to the fact that House Delriso was by far the largest of the surviving houses from the old kingdom, lesser or greater. House Delriso was able to field the workers to begin the construction of the foundations of what would become Haldun. Taes Delriso, being no fool, saw an opportunity. To the surprise of many houses Taes offered to take in the remnants of House Curthan when so many had assumed that he would engineer the complete fall of the Curthan line. Taes Delriso was a man of vision though. He could see the opportunity before him. He didn't stop with Curthan. He extended the offer to House Wost and then to Houses Worem, Darroth and Beleenth, which were ones that had originally branched off from Delriso in the first place. The final component came when Taes extened the offer to join his House to the Irongrinder Clan. The Irongrinders were dwarves that had been in Haldun for centuries working with House Curthan. House Delriso is by far the most internally stable of the six Trading Houses of Haldun. It was the leadership and building mastermind of Taes Delriso who was the driving force in the rise of Haldun. Many members of the other Great Trading Houses have not been able to figure out exactly House Delriso was able to command the respect and loyalty of these others houses. House Delriso is now run by the son of Taes, who shares his name. To this day their focus remains on masonry. Brick making, brick laying, foundation building, stone working, and fortification design. House Borianas One of the more powerful houses. The Borianas have a long history behind them as moneylenders and bankers. After the fall of the old Kingdom the house rose to power due to their quick thinking. In the early stages of the empire, gold was a next to useless resource due to many people leaving it behind in the flight from Haldun, and many simply bartered goods rather than having to rely on any form of currency as a medium. Borianas, once the most powerful house of the old empire was reduced to a band of scavengers, buying goods from one house and bartering them to another. When bartering would not work, they were forced to steal what they needed for a bargain. The other money lending houses were not enveloped as the others were by a greater house, but more that all the money lenders were forced to band together out of a need for survival. Houses Dudice, Treald, Cadild, Lermor, Burin, and Ghaver etched out an existence by working with each other during those harsh times. All of this changed though when Borianas had successfully amassed enough resources to encourage Haldun's gnomes to seek out that which gnomes love most - Gold. It was a long search, one which almost destroyed the few remaining members of the noble house that was now noble only in name. The gnomes found what they wanted.As the first nuggets of gold rolled into the small town of Haldun, the greed of man was reawakened and the use of currency once again was instated. House Borianas enjoyed a meteoric rise to power as the sole providers of wealth for the other houses, now matched only by their old rivals, Balaney, whose strangle hold on food into the city afforded them another very powerful stranglehold on the other houses. Metallurgists popped up all over Haldun under Borianas' banner. Many of them gnomes who were not adventurous to seek the gold themselves. Borianas' new mansion and returned status did not cloud their memories though, and they learned well their time in complete poverty. They still trade goods between houses, often acting as the go between on many a business deal. It is also a well known fact that Borianas has close ties to the Silverfish organization, due to its days of thievery, but how deep this link is remains unknown to the general public. Their ties to the gnomes are very close, providing most of the gnomes in Golden Gulch with all the food, tools and building materials they need to continue supplying Borianas with their source of power. In recent years, as luxury is beginning to be allowed instead of necessity, Borianas have begun to create exquisite pieces of jewelry created by the rare gem finds that the gnomes make. Though the gnomes will often keep the finest articles to themselves, Borianas is making a significant amount of money from the necklaces, rings and bangles that come from the gnome jewelers. Under the leadership of Christobald Borianas the main focus of House Borianas remains in money lending though, as mentioned, they have recently begun delving into the area of jewelry making. House Jadyn House Jadyn was a minor noble house before the fall of the Old Kingdom. In the Haldun, House Jadyn is the most diverse of the trading houses. Unlike the other houses, House Jadyn is not one house that has absorbed others. It is a group of houses that have banded together to increase their power. Houses Perfor, Tinald, Undran, Honar, and the elven Telr�nya family. They have united under the banner of House Jadyn. No outsider knows the details of exactly how the decision was made, but amongst the surviving houses one leader was chose. Blain Jadyn. Blain worked closely with Taes Delriso during the founding of Haldun, and that relationship continues to this day with their sons now leading the houses. The council of House Jadyn is led today by Linard Jadyn, the eldest son of Blain Jadyn. Of the houses that comprise House Jadyn each has a specialty. Each also has a seat on the council that governs the house. Even though the house is run by a council, they very rarely have disagreements. Their success has in large part been due to the fact that they think very much alike. For this reason the head of the council has the authority to make decisions that affect the whole house if there is not enough time to debate the issue with the whole council. Attempts are often made by other Houses to cause strife on the Jadyn council., but they have all thus far been unsuccessful attempts. Some say this is due to some sort of witchcraft employed by Jadyn to inspire loyalty. The more practical people of Haldun attribute it to the influence of the elves of House Jadyn. These folks claim that the elves have instilled a sense of long term planning and patience in the humans of House Jadyn. The focus of House Jadyn has been in the area of carpentry. The House works in five main areas in regards to wood. There are the bowyers and fletchers, the coffin and furniture makers, the carpenters who build homes, the general laborers who do everything from cabinet making to the manual labor of moving the wood used by the house, and the House Jadyn Shipwrights. "We are but branches of the same tree. Apart we are subject to the storm of time. Together we grow strong and tall in the face of that storm." --- Galdor Telr�nya House Balaney One of the great merchant houses of the Old Kingdom, House Balaney realized they needed to recreate their powerbase and that to do this they would need to adapt. If they were going to rebuild their business they needed an income. Foodstuffs became the answer. House Balaney took charge of the farming effort when the location for Haldun was picked. The Balaney's had been plantation owners as far back as the family history went. They turned to the lesser houses and grabbed up the ones who had been involved in the agriculture of the Old Kingdom. These were the Houses Dantyer, Worrisy, Thersend, and Rodmore. Having their own experience running large farms, Balaney became the overseer of these lesser houses acting as management for all aspects of agriculture that they could think of. Another way that House Balaney got the advantage in this market was with their ships. After the people had landed, all of House Balaney's ships were tasked with fishing. In fact it was the fish that truly got Haldun through the first winter. To this day House Balaney boasts the largest fishing fleet of Haldun. Most of the farms maintained by House Balaney are done so by indentured servants. People who turned to House Balaney for a home and a job in the New City. They work the land to pay their rent, having few other choices as they would never be able to clear the land and work it without the equipment provided by House Balaney. Equipment that they also pay rent on. By the end of the second year in the new city House Balaney was in control of half of the farms that feed the people of Haldun. At the end of ten years, that number was up to eighty percent, where it remains to this day. The main focus of House Balaney remains in agriculture and providing food for the settlement. Crop growing, fishing, animal husbandry, raising stock, and cash crops like cotton and tobacco have made Balaney a powerhouse in Haldun.