The Ape-Men of Tharr

Deep within the Forest of Tharr dwell the race of ape-men known as the Kuthar.  They make their abodes high among the tree tops in wooden dwellings linked together by rope bridges.  The ape-men are intelligent, but tribal by nature with a distinct warrior caste system.  Fearless and strong in battle, they fashion their own crude weapons of stone and rock, but have developed the keen ability to utilize firearms, laser rifles, and other weapons and armor they have scavenged over the years from civilizations long forgotten as well.

The ape-men are rarely seen outside the Forest of Tharr, and while their pursuits are not those of conquest and glory outside their realm, they are extremely territorial and approach uninvited trespassers with force.

Rare is it to find an ape-man outside of Tharr, but occasionally a select few will end up wandering amongst the realms of men, often met with a combination of fear and distrust.  In most instances, these Kuthar have been exiled from Tharr and cast out of the tribe, cursed to walk among men.  These displaced ape-men often seek out mercenary work as armed caravan guards or, in the rare instance, as adventurers.

Summary of ape-men abilities and restrictions:

Armor: Any
Weapons: Any
Starting age: 17+1d4
Starting gold: 3d4x10
Classes: Fighter, Cleric
Ability score requirements: 12 STR, 12 CON
Stat modifiers: +2 STR, -2 INT and CHR
Bonuses and abilities: Infravision 30', +1 to hit with spears and any firearms, +3 saving throws vs. poison

Tavern Game: Rot Grub Roulette

Within the lower quarters of Blackspire it is not uncommon to find patrons of the local taverns engaged in one of the more strange of games, and one of the most dangerous; rot grub roulette.  Two players sit opposite one another, blindfolded, their left forearms exposed, with their right arm tied to the chair behind their backs.  The mediator takes 6 small wooden cylindrical containers and shuffles them back and forth on the table.  Within 5 of the small wooden containers are pairs of harmless maggots.  One of them, however, contains a pair of burrowing rot grubs. 

Each round the two men place bets and the mediator dumps the contents of one container onto one player's forearm.  The player, not knowing if he has been exposed to the rot grub or not, must wait 5 full minutes with onlookers jeering and howling along.  This process is repeated between the players with the stakes getting higher each round as one more wooden container with harmless maggots is taken away making the probability of being exposed to a grub even higher.

No onlooker may attempt to prevent a rot grub from burrowing if exposed, nor douse the player's arm with fire.  If a player manages to free his right arm and do this himself, he is immediately taken outside, beaten and cast aside as a useless craven (if the beating he suffers does not kill him.)  Indeed it is often said that it is better to die from the rot grub than to feel the merciless beating of an angry drunk Blackspire mob.

The game ends when one man decides to quit, losing all his earnings, or one man dies. 

Blackspire: The Sisters of Despair

More info on my little homebrew project I'm working up in the city of Blackspire, which I detailed in a previous entry.

The Sisters of Despair

These bitches will eat your heart out...literally

Deep within the vaulted crypts below the city, in a small hidden alcove, the Sisters of Despair work their heinous magics and sorceries seeking to cause turmoil and strife to the city and its citizens.

This covey of Annis hags, known as Helsha, Gryhmgas, and Myrva, have repeatedly been at the heart of several assassination plots of many of the members of the ruling Selectorate. Presently they have at least three dopplegangers in positions of power within the aristocracy, each equipped with a hag eye enabling the witches to keep an eye on their foes, and plot and scheme for their next victims.

Although their presence is known, few have dared to enter into the crypts to seek them out, and those who have, never returned. Within the confines of their lair, the witches have created a multitude of undead servants for protection including many ghouls, wraiths and spectres.

Occasionally the hags will sneak out of their lair, one posing as a beautiful prostitute to lure victims into shadowy alleys under the proposition of ecstasy. Once they have lured the unsuspecting victim, the other two will attack, dragging their prey into the sewers where he will be devoured and eaten, or worse, brought back to the lair for unspeakable and horrific experiments.

The hags have yet to break through the magical Obsidian Citadel to infiltrate the Black Cloaks, although they are constantly seeking to gain influence into the archwizard circle.

The City of Blackspire

I'm in the process of crafting my own homebrew world.  Generally I would start with a map on a project like this, but I'm looking at things from more of an abstract point of view here.  The idea is to create a series of locations and interesting regions, and maybe then map them out in relation to one another at a later time.

 

Blackspire

 

Located in the north, the city of Blackspire sits nestled in a valley at the foot of the Stormwind Peaks mountains on the edge of a large body of water called Icemere Loch, so named for its chilly waters and chunks of blackish ice which linger constantly within a hazy fog.

 

Blackspire is named for the large black twisting tower which sits atop a magically floating series of rocks about 100 feet above the city itself.  The tower, known as the Obsidian Citadel, is home to a conclave of archwizards and necromancers who call themselves the Black Cloaks of Thorvian.  The true numbers of these mages, and their identities, remain largely a mystery, but from within their magical fortress they govern the city, albeit with an aloof front.  They rarely step in to intervene on matters other than those of the utmost importance to the safety of the city, leaving the day to day ruling with the aristocracy of the city below.

The city's council, who refer to themselves as the Selectorate, govern the mundane day-to-day operations of the city.  They are composed of 50 high nobles, who consistently seek to backstab each other and further their own agendas.  Assassination attempts are commonplace in Blackspire, and as such, the nobility has taken extra guarded measures to ensure their own safety.  It is a common practice within the nobility to expose noble children to a variety of known (and some unknown to the masses) lethal poisons and elixirs in an effort to build a resistance to their properties.  The aristocracy is nearly wholly corrupt, having left behind the base ideas of moralism and ethics for their own self-serving benefits.  These traits they find beneath them and "plebeian" in nature.  Despite their ambitious nature, they live in fear of the Black Cloak mages.  At one time, one of the more ambitious of the aristocracy sought to craft a coup in order to oust the archwizards of the tower.  Before the plot could ever get off the ground, the nobleman was taken by agents of the Citadel where he was torn limb from limb by a summoned eldritch creature in front of the entire city.

The true population of the city is not known, but is thought to be in the thousands.  The only known map of the city lies in the Citadel and is in fact a living document which animates as new buildings are constructed or destroyed.  Most of the city's buildings are composed of damp stonework with wooden roofs.  The nature of the constant dampness seems to stem from the constant cold and moisture from Icemere Loch.  The streets are blackish cobblestone and wind and twist throughout the various wards which makeup the city. 

The sprawling city is fortified by a 20' high black stone wall with several gates of entry into its walls all manned by the constables.

The major source of trade with its neighbors lies in the precious metals mined outside of the city near the Stormwind Peaks, specifically silver.  In addition, the Obsidian Citadel hosts one of the only known academies of magic devoted to the necromantic arts drawing in potential practitioners from across the land.  Many fail in their pursuits, which often results in their own demise.

Despite the cold and dank nature of the city, the citizens and commoners are of a light-hearted sort, albeit a bit darker in their nature and attitude towards most things.  It is not uncommon, for example, to see a group of Blackspire citizens laughing it up when a bizarre tavern game results in the death of one of the contestants.