2nd Brigade – “Heaven’s Fist”

Mountain Boyz – “Ghost Monkeys”

What can be said for a group that is comprised of a half-orc barbarian named Doom, a human ninja, and a halfling rogue/ranger, and their traveling companion a gnome bard that goes by the name Bongles and has a penchant for physical comedy and halfling ladies. It shall be a long and strange trip indeed.

Here’s a quick primer on the campaign…

Duvik’s Pass
Duvik’s Pass is a small mining hamlet of 200 that has been in slow economic decline for the past 15 years. At its height the mine enjoyed outputs nearing (10) tons per annum [approximately 100,000 GP] however, after 50 years of production, deeper digging has only yielded declining returns and this year returns have dipped to less than a fraction of its former highs [output is estimated to be less than 5,000 GP]. The current mine is largely abandoned with only a skeleton crew working it for its minute yields.

Today, the majority of the residents of Duvik’s Pass sustain themselves through individual scale mining higher in the mountain combined with subsistence farming and trapping. The trapping has proved to be viable economic option for the community and several members have dedicated increasing resources at expanding operations to meet the market demands of the port cities Queensport and Searsport as well as the capital, Pelgraid.

Both the mining and trapping operations in recent years have brought the community into conflict with the populations of orcs that make the high plains their home. orc raids on a small scale were a common occurrence throughout the history of Duvik’s Pass, however recent raids have been larger in scale and more organized in nature. Assistance from Pelgraid has been slow coming, likely because of the limited amount it contributes to the kingdom’s coffers as well as it remoteness and diminutive size.

Kingdom of Pelgraid
Pelgraid is a small kingdom residing on an eastern coast and is bordered by mountains to the north, hills to the west, and forests to the south. It is a geographically diverse region with deciduous and evergreen forests, floodplains, low lying hills, and mountains. The kingdom is comprised of four major cities: Queensport is the primary ship building and maritime trade port; in Searsport fishing is the primary economic activity; Bent Arm, is the gateway to the west and a bustling trade center; and Pelgraid, the seat of power in the kingdom.

Outwardly, the kingdom appears to be stable both socially and politically; the current dynasty has been in power for nearly ten generations much of it in peace and relative prosperity. However, Pelgraid is ailing from economic conditions that mirror those of Duvik’s Pass. Trade from the west has been slowly declining and a sustained blight has reduced ship building to a shadow of its former glory. This has lead to a undercurrent of restlessness that runs through the citizens that live in or near the four largest cities.

Pelgraid is a human nation though there is a small minority of elves in the forests to the south and gnomes in the western hills, however these races are independent of the kingdom. There has been a long history of tension between Pelgraid and the orcish tribes of the high plains and this has lead to a high level of suspicion and distrust of orcs and Hal-orcs in the central and southern parts of the kingdom and open hostility in the northern border towns.

High Plains
A cold and forbidding grassland hemmed in by the northern mountains, it is the home to a number of orcish tribes that have been gathered under the somewhat civilizing banner of the war-chief Johdun Mail Fist. Johdun began his campaign of unification nearly thirty years ago first sweeping out across the plains then finally pulling in one by one the mountain tribes either by force or friendship. The results have been positive not only for the orcs but for the dwarves of the region as well as humans.

Unification has had a dramatic impact on orc society, most notably the rise of settlements. Those in or near the mountains are more permanent with economic activities centering on mining and trapping, groups on the plains are more nomadic with activities centering on the herding of cattle and horses. While the High Plains tribes are enjoying prosperity there are elements that feel it is leading to weakness and the decay of their society are quietly agitating a return to it militaristic past.