KINGMAKER:
The Wardens of the Greenbelt
Entry 14.
Building The Kingdom
The first decision that the Wardens had to make was where to build the kingdom's first city. They quickly decided to site it at the Stag Lord's fort. The remains of the earlier keep would provide a good start on a castle and the location at the mouth of the river with the Tuskwater lake would provide good trade routes in the future.
The next decisions were the appointments of the various offices of the kingdom. Ione was elected as the head of the kingdom and given the title of Duchess. Jarn was appointed as Marshal, Havrik the Warden, William as Magister, T'lef the Royal Assassin, Anza as Councillor, Father Leko as Grand Diplomat, Wino Jordan became a General, Verek as Treasurer, Jhod Kavken as High Priest and Miro Goodfellow the Spy Master.
Over the next twelve months the Wardens consolidated their lands. Settlers began to arrive as hills and plains were given over to farmland, lumber camps were developed in the forests and roads and rivers helped link the villages and towns together. Quarrymen, builders and merchants began to arrive in the towns and their environs; often recruited by the Warden's patrons in Restov. Most of the villages and towns they had contacted during their exploration of the Greenbelt were very willing to be part of the fledgling kingdom especially as the Wardens had removed the organised banditry they had all been subjected to.
The bandits that were still active in the Greenbelt were dealt with as was a pack of wolves that were causing problems in part of the fledgling kingdom. The mite colony they had previously dealt with decided to ally themselves with the Wardens. Rumours of a public scandal were quickly quashed but reappeared later in the year only to be easily dealt with again. A number of public buildings were erected to help improve the kingdom including a library at Kings Kiln.
The trade route from the Stag Lord's fort, now named Wardenholm, and Leveton, previously Oleg's Trading Post, was consolidated via the rivers and newly improved roads. Kings Kiln and Cobbleton also brought a number of mining operations into the kingdom's holdings. All this led to a great increase in the population and the wealth of the realm.
Jarn decided to dedicate himself to the building of temples to Torag in the towns and villages of the kingdom and to spreading his god's worship throughout the land. He took to his role as the kingdom's Marshal and was often seen around the lands dispensing justice and leading patrols. He also spent any spare time working at his forge in Leveton.
William took a rest from his adventuring to study his growing collection of books and scrolls; copying texts and producing magic scrolls of his own. He took particularly well to his appointment as Magister; putting in place contacts among the towns and villages in order to identify prospective students and those individuals who might develop magical abilities. This resulted in the number of students at Biorn Ulvar's school in Leveton increasing. The library at Kings Kiln become William's
favoured base.
During the Winter months a small ship arrived off shore of Wardenholm. Its captain, a well dressed goblin, sought out the Wardens and introduced himself as Everclear Landsett, a Pathfinder. He asked for their help in an urgent matter further down the Sullen River, beyond the Tuskwater lake. A crypt in the care of the Priests of Kelemvor was being over-run by the undead due to the nefarious incursions of bands of grave robbers. In return he promised them good contacts with the priesthood in Mivon (one of the River Kingdoms to the south), any treasurers they might find in the crypts and the gratitude of his Pathfinder Lodge.
Always game for an adventure Havrik, Ione and T'lef soon set off with the Pathfinder across the Tuskwater lake. They followed the southern coast of the lake, passing the mouth of another river before coming to a narrow passage that led into another lake, Candlemere. They discovered an island in the lake upon which they could see the ruins of an ancient tower. The lake flowed into another river which Everclear identified as the Shrike. This in turn joined the Little Sullen River at an abandoned ferry station before flowing south west as the Sullen River into the kingdom of Mivon. After another two days they moored up at the remains of the once thriving town of Ebon Downs.
The next morning Everclear led the Wardens through the town and up the hill to the Temple of Kelemvor. Here they were greeted by Doomguide Soulhearth and his brother priests. They explained the situation and gave a brief outline to what awaited the Wardens in the crypt. He confirmed what Everclear had promised and explained that the remaining priests were unable or unwilling to enter the crypt to recover the broken seals and light the holy braziers which kept the dead safe in their tombs. He was unable to give much information on the grave robbers themselves but believed groups of them had been entering the tombs in search of treasure and the damage caused might be unintentional.
The Wardens prepared themselves and then moved down to the first level. A priest stood guard at the entrance to the crypts, he unlocked the first gate and let them in.
Each of the rooms were separated from each other by a series of gates which opened with a lever system. They recovered the broken seals at the feet of statues in each crypt and lit the holy braziers to help resanctify the halls of the dead. The Wardens battled their way through the skeletons and zombies that had risen from the sarcophagi in the rooms. They then helped themselves to any weapons, armour and treasure they found. In one room they were surprised by a Ogre zombie but they managed to overcome even that horror. The largest room contained a great number of the undead creatures. Once they had destroyed them they found the remains of one of the grave robbers, half eaten by the ravaging zombies. A trap on the dais nearly caught them out but they discovered a key mechanism which opened the doorway down to the lower crypt. Also on the dais they found the opening in the roof of the crypt through which the robbers had entered.
After recovering their health and binding their wounds the Wardens descended into the lower crypt. One lone skeleton ambushed them before they arrived at the main crypt. Thankfully the Wardens noticed the pit trap at the rooms entrance. Havrik and T'lef managed to cross but not before T'lef had dropped his weapon. Ione used her spider climbing ability to retrieve it then kept to the ceiling of the vault. They had heard voices in the adjoining room and were then challenged by whoever was there; a party of grave robbers. A skirmish ensued but the Wardens were victorious and captured the grave robbers; Gromlik Three-Teeth, a knight, Samulkin Farcaster, an illusionist and Cailyassa Forgedawn their scout and leader. The robbers decided that surrendering to the Wardens was better than being handed to the priests; they were bound and thrown into the corner whilst the Wardens dealt with a grand sarcophagus which the robbers had been trying to open. It proved difficult due to being magically warded. However the disturbance had roused the spirit within and the sarcophagus exploded, showering everyone in the room with stone shards. Luckily no one was badly damaged and the Wardens were faced by a flaming skull; now released from its confinement. The fight proved difficult but thankfully short and the demonic skull was destroyed. A treasure chest in the room held a numberof worthwhile items and a sack full of mechanical parts which turned out to be the remains of a mechanism that Pathfinder Landsett was searching for. They managed to pry open a door in the room and this led to a tunnel which brought them back to the surface at the back of the temple.
The prisoners were released with a small payment as their share of the treasure in return for pledges and promises of future service. The Doomguide and the other priests were pleased with their work and took the seals so that they could be remade and put back in their rightful place thus putting the souls in the crypt once more to rest. Landsett was more than pleased to receive the mechanical parts and told them more about the Pathfinders on their voyage back to Wardenholm.
Upon their return to Wardenholm the Wardens were soon back at work with building the kingdom. A few weeks later they were approached by Loy & Latricia Rezbin. This couple were looking to develop a village at Tatzlford where the Wardens had defeated the Tatzlwyrms during their explorations. Although the area was not within the kingdom at the moment, the Wardens offered help in the form of materials and builders. The couple were grateful for the help and looked forward to becoming part of the kingdom in the near future.
The Wardens then took some time to consolidate their kingdom and perform their various duties. Following this (and the fact that they were growing bored without more adventures) the Wardens decided to set out and explore north and west of the capital with the intention of looking at new lands to include in their kingdom. After just a few miles they arrived at the mouth of the Skunk river and decided to follow the river inland, away from the lake. They came upon a group of goblins attempting to recover their cart and ponies from the river. Ione managed to calm the ponies and they were led to safety. Meanwhile T'lef and Havrik had dragged the cart out. Jubilost Narthropple turned out to be an explorer who was surveying the region; preparing and selling his maps to other travellers. They had been attacked by a band of kobolds who they had driven off but not before the ponies had bolted and pulled the cart into the river. Ione cured the wounds the gnomes and Jubilost had suffered. Then the Wardens admired the gnome's work and bought some of his maps of the nearby areas. The maps showed places of interest in each area which might make exploring the Green belt a little easier in the future. Jubilost was invited to Wardenholm but said he had much more work to do but might call at the city in the near future.
The Wardens continued their exploring with their new maps and soon came to a logging camp where a dispute was taking place. The loggers had cut down five trees beside a pool on the river. This was the favoured place of Melianse, a nixie. In response to this outrage she had charmed two of the loggers to do her bidding and they now stood facing off against their colleagues. After calming down both sides the Wardens placated the factions and proposed a solution which seemed to satisfy both sides. The loggers, led by Corax, wanted to carry on their activities but did not wish to harm their friends. The nixie and the charmed ones were protecting the remaining trees and she was extremely angry. Realising that the loggers were unaware of the power of the fey creature the Wardens suggested to Corax that the loggers should head off to the site of Tatzlford where they would be more than welcome and their wood would be required for the new village. They agreed to go if their friends were released from the nixie's spell. Melianse agreed to this so long as the Wardens replaced her trees that had been felled. Ione promised to do this and also regrew a large oak beside the pool as an act of faith. Melianse explained that tree feather tokens would be required and these might be obtained from Tiressia; a dryad who lived further into the forest. The logger brke camp and headed off up river as agreed. The Wardens set off to find the dryad.
They came upon the dryad's grove beside a pool after following Melianse's directions. The druid dryad was beside herself and begged the Wardens for help. She explained that she and Falchos, her satyr consort, were being tormented by a scythe tree that had sworn to kill them. If the Wardens could help to destroy the demon tree then she would gift them enough tree feathers to restore Melianse's trees.
Tiressia directed the Wardens to where they might find the scythe tree and Falchos followed them at a distance; obviously afraid to face the tree alone. On their way they narrowly avoided crossing the path of an owlbear but luckily it did not see them. They found the tree in a blighted hollow within the forest. It was huge and attacked them as soon as they approached; a great maw appearing in it's trunk which attempted to bite them whilst its strong branches tried to blungeon them. The Wardens attacked assisted by Falchos' archery and magic music and Ione's lightening strikes. The fight was dangerous but the Wardens soon overcame the tree-creature and destroyed it. They returned to Tiressia who was filled with gratitude; accompanied by a relieved Falchos playing uplifting music on his pipes. Tiressia handed over the tree feathers as she had promised. The Wardens bid them farewell and returned to Melianse who restored the five fallen trees with Ione's help. In return Melianse promises to keep a watch on the rivers of the Narlmarches and to report any threats to the Wardens at Wardenholm.
Satisfied with their exploration the Wardens decided to return to Wardenholm and continue with their duty in developing the kingdom.
