User:Tedfroehlich/Keoland
Factions at the Lion Throne[edit]
King Kimbertos Skotti[edit]
Canon[edit]
https://greyhawkonline.com/greyhawkwiki/Kimbertos_Skotti
Royal Archmage Lashton[edit]
Canon[edit]
LN male human Wiz 19.
Advisor to King Skotti, a powerful and politically active wizard from the Barony of Grayhill. Head of the academy of wizards.
Homebrew[edit]
As one of his most trusted advisors, Skotti often appoints Lashton as his steward when he is away from the captital. Even when the king is present, his Archmage is often the one who decides things in day-to-day business.
Lashton is loyal to the king, though he has his own opinions and ambitions. The current situation is quite satisfying for the king, as well as for the mage. Lashton has Skotti as figurehead, and though the mage is probably more powerful, he is not recognized as such by the common people. Skotti, on the other hand, has someone who handles the more boring and cumbersome duties of ruling a country, and one who has a deeper knowledge of diplomacy, court politics and intrigues than the more idealistic king himself.
He is bemoans the old grandeur of the Keoland Empire, though only seldom talks about this openly.
At the beginning of the Greyhawk Wars, Lashton was one of the driving forces behind the scheme to request a pledge loyalty from former vassals before sending military support. Though this plan was initially contrived by himself, Sandeep Pathak did everything to strengthen Lashton's self-confidence in this direction, so he really did propose this plan to King Skotti.
Seeing the consequences he recognized his error, and did not oppose the Treaty of Niole Dra, which was King Skotti's project to remedy his conceived failure.
Since magic is still frowned upon by common people he only casts magic when there is a good reason, it is not easily noticeable, or when there are only trusted witnesses present. Very low level magic, especially if it can be explained with sleight of hand, is usually not seen as a problem.
Lord Kharn, Margrave of Middlemead[edit]
Canon[edit]
LN male human Ftr 3. Oerdian heritage.
His goal in supporting King Skotti's election was to select a disinterested and unprepared monarch in order to maximize his own power.
Kharn is head of the "Lords Faction" in the Court of the Land, and highly influential in the Council of Niole Dra. He is a strong proponent of limiting the powers of the king.
Homebrew[edit]
He's not an evil person, though some selfish and greedy tendencies can be observed. He just wants to be left alone in his own realm. If called upon with a sensible request he'll be loyal to the throne.
The Scarlet Brotherhood[edit]
Canon[edit]
The Scarlet Brotherhood has a Safe House in Niole Dra before the Greyhawk Wars, run by Ellinka https://www.greyhawkonline.com/greyhawkwiki/Ellinka
The Kin's jester Pyn Trillos after the Greyhawk Wars is secretly a spy of the Scarlet Brotherhood. https://www.greyhawkonline.com/greyhawkwiki/Pyn_Trillos
Homebrew[edit]
using Nepalese random names
Before the Greyhawk Wars the Brotherhood had an official embassy at the Lion Throne, the ambassador was Sandeep Pathak (LE, male, 10 lvl Monk, 3 lvl Assassin). He was able to establish some influence on Archmage Lashton by sweet-talking and some magic presents.
The embassy personnel includes
- Reeta Karn, official bodyguard of Sandeep, female, 8 lvl fighter
- Beena Dhakal, assistant and deputy to Sandeep, female, 9 lvl monk
- Gopal Yonzon, majordomo of the embassy, male, secretly a 9 lvl cleric of Syrul, Domains: trickery, mind
- Pratap Oli, assistant to Gopal, male, secretly a 7 lvl wizard
- a troop of 6 low level fighters/warriors acting as guards and security personnel. Captain of the guard is Bidur Sahani, male, 5 lvl fighter
All meetings between the spies and the embassy staff are extremely covert and kept to the absolute necessary.
During the Greyhawk Wars, when it became somewhat obvious that the Brotherhood was one of the factions pushing forward the war, the embassy was closed and all known agents of the brotherhood were evicted or killed.
Royal Palace in Niole Dra[edit]
Everything's homebrew here.
The outer wall and main gate[edit]
The palace is surrounded by a wall about 15 feet high, made from blocks of white lime rock. The blocks are quite smoothly set, though it still is no big challenge for a skilled climber (Climb DC 20). It is obviously not optimized for defense, though it has a parapet and a small walkway on the top.
A broad avenue leads to the palace from the south to a large open space in front of the main gate.
The main gate in the palace wall is a very skillful and delicately decorated metal work. A smaller door, concealed by some decorations, is set into the eastern leaf of the gate. This allows passage of persons during the night, when the gate itself is closed and locked. The gate itself has a very simple lock (Open Lock DC 20), with a big key for ceremonial purposes. During the night it is additionally secured by a heavy chain and a padlock (DC 25) on the inside. The night door's lock also has a DC of 25.
The whole gate looks quite frail, and, though it has a surprising resilience, it is a work of art and no military barrier. Should there be the real danger of a siege, the gate can be replaced by a more military type of gate in a few days of work. There is no gatehouse, but the gate is flanked by two round and comparatively sturdy towers.
Several buildings are built against the palace's wall on the inside. These are guesthouses, guard barracks, stores and stables.