Anuire » Northern Marches » Thurazor
See Also: Durotar for a World of Warcraft based version of Thurazor



Kingdom of Thurazor








Government:
Feudal Theocracy



GB Income:
GB (Province GB; Law GB)
RP Income:
RP (Province RP; Law RP)
Expenses:
GB (Army GB; Fortifications GB; Court GB)
Treasury:
GB
' RP





[top]Introduction

Thurazor is the most civilized of all the goblin realms in Anuire. Though the inhabitants exploit the resources of Thurazor, the domain is in much better condition. It is the most stable, the most prosperous, and strangely; the most friendly of the goblin realms. The goblins replace the trees they cut down and cover the mines they've dug. The goblins are concerned with their surroundings, which is something the Anuireans are often put off guard by.
Under the rulership of his Most Eminence Tie'skar Graecher, the Goblins of Thurazor is enjoying times of peace -- if you call irregular raids into Dhoesone and Talinie peace. Despite overtures and the tough rule of their king, goblins are still goblins. In their histories, they view humans as invaders and even worse enemies than the hated elves.

[top]Life and Society

The goblins of Thurazor's ways of regularly raiding their neighbors to the northeast, the southeast, and the southwest; and even sea raids against Stjordvik seem to be over. Well, not really (and if you believe that, Guilder Kalien has a Castle to sell you in Avanil). But their King has turned most of the goblins to the civilized task of building civilization. As a result, they have become fair woodsmen, giving up their mountain lore and living in the forest. Though they will never become as proficient at living a boreal existence as the Elves of Tuarhievel and the Sielwode are; however they are able to creep through the forest without making a lot of noise. The Thuraz often individually leave to become scouts for the Anuirean kingdoms; and even some are studying under human rangers.
See Also: Player's Option: Goblins as an optional player race

[top]The Land

Thurazor includes the following counties and provinces.

[top]Bloodbay

Bloodbay is so named because of a great battle between the goblins and the Rjurik here for control of the bay. The bay ran red with Rjurik blood as the Rjurik lost complete control of the area, and the Thuraz commemorate the day of the liberation of Bloodbay as "The Day of the Battle of Bloodbay." The area is notable for a tribe of kobolds led by Tiroth Redcap (MKld, ftr 5; Azrai, tainted, 11).
The Eyeless One controls one source of magic here, and Torele Anviras another source of magic. Torele is the only wizard who is wondering if the Coral Reef of Blood can be tapped as a major source of magic. If it can, it would be a level 9 source of magic. The Reef itself is part of a larger complex that extends as far south of Boeruine.

[top]Crushing Hills

Landscape of Crushing HillsLandscape of Crushing Hills


Crushing hills province is a landscape that is dotted with mountains and landslides. Landsiding is not very frequent, but frequent enough to cause the goblins some trouble. When Doom's Peak erupts from time to time, a lahar can flow from it's sides into Crushing Hills province.

The landsliding and infrequent lahars from Doom's Peak gives this province it's name. The province is mildly populated. The goblins here have adapted to the slightly unstable landscape. Again, due to the policies of their government, the goblins take only what they need from the land despite the good hunting and fishing in the province.

[top]Doom's Peak

Doom's Peak is a notable volcano in Thurazor, it erupts like Mount Aetna regularly. The largest peak in Thurazor, the peak is treacherous and has claimed many a goblin life over the years. Also, goblin legend speaks of the peak as a home to the sasquatch -- apes that walk like the hated Anuireans and the sidhe. Called the wild men of doom's peak, Thuraz mothers would often tell their children bedtime stories about the sasquatch -- as they use the sasquatch in their morality tales.
Other than that, the mountains have a mineral vein that has about five thousand talents of copper that hasn't been tapped yet. Further more, the Eyeless One and Torele Anviras control sources here. The Eyeless One's source is Doom's Peak. The Mountain provides four points of mebhaighl through it's streams, its heavily wooded forest, and the magma chamber deep under it.
Torele Anviras' sources are three prehistoric goblin sites. The most notable ones are woodhenge (0) and Skara Brae (1).

[top]Falling Timber

Falling timber is the province where the goblins conduct forestry. Over the last thousand years, this forest has been thinned and thickened as the Thuraz occupied it. For now, having learned the lessons of better forestry, for every tree they cut down the goblins plant three seedling trees. The newly planted forest is allowed to grow, meaning that the goblins harvest the forest in rotation.
The Dead Mines are a goblin mine in this province. The mine had 500 talents of tin, but 460 talents were recovered before the mine had become a portal to the Shadow World. Human ghosts, skeletons, and skeleton warriors soon poured into the deepest recesses. The goblins abandoned the mine before they could fully recover a 461st talent. They shut up the mine, but never covered it.
The Eyeless One controls the mebhaighl that is concentrated in a pristine lake here in Falling Timber. The lake is known as Loch Ferransie to the elves. Also, the Eyeless One jealously guards a whole forest of quaking aspens, as they are a strong source of mebhaighl as well. This is because the aspens are all one organism; and the large forest counts as two sources.

[top]Mergarrote

[top]Storm's Release

thumb|the Coast of Storm's Release Province|right
Storm's Release is a province that is a temperate Rain Forest. This part of the Aelvinnwode is pummeled with an average of two Anuirean inches of rain just about every day. The plentiful rain comes from the sea storms. This makes the forest lush and plentiful. This part of the forest is logged a little by the goblins, mostly because of the Kobold Tribes that lurk here.

[top]History

[top]The Mists of Legend

Once, so goblin legend say, all the coasts and plains of Anuire - were goblin lands. Indeed the goblins spread across all the land and in their minds ruled it all. The heartlands of the sidhe and the karamhul were mainly avoided for the goblins feared the power of the fey races but the stronger goblin clans raided even these races. It was a time of greatness for the goblins, never before or since did the race reach such heights as in the centuries prior to the coming of the hated Andu.
The Andu came as refugees fleeing the Shadow, initially sheltered by Sidhe or Karamhul clans the tribes of man grew swiftly in strength and sought to claim lands in their own right. And though the great forests of the Sidhe and mountains favoured by the Karamhul were of little interest to the Andu, the plains, hills and coasts preferred by the goblins were greatly desired by the human tribesmen.

For the goblins of Anuire the coming of the Andu was the coming of the first real wars. The goblins had long raided each other and the other races native to Cerilia, but the Andu were the first people to truly seek to exterminate the goblins and claim their land rather than simply loot food stores or finery. The goblins were many, for greater in numbers than the invading Andu, but they were split into thousands of feuding tribes. The Andu came as small tribes but swiftly banded together into great clans who could easily destroy any individual goblin tribe.
As the Andu exterminated the goblin tribes near them and grew in number the goblin tribes began to become aware of the threat. Many of the tribes simply migrated further into the forests and hills to avoid the unknown threat, seeking to claim land either from another goblin tribe, or as they were pushed back further and further, from the sidhe or the Karamhul, in fairly short order the goblins were engaged in full wars against the Andu, the Sidhe, the Karamhul, and the remnants of the ancient giant realms in addition to increased battles against the native spirits and monsters of the land, most of all however, the goblins warred against each other as the tribes had no concept of the goblins as a single people as did the Andu, Sidhe or Karamhul.
When the hour was bleakest for the goblins there came a messiah who promised hope and a return to greatness. The god Azrai sent the Albino to the goblins of Anuire, a goblin sorceress whose beauty and stirring words enchanted those about her and caused goblin warriors to abandon any chief who ignored her words and follow her cause. The Albino swiftly founded a kingdom in the north, her patron's magics reshaped some of the goblins making them grow larger and stronger and her armies in turn formiddable, while other goblins sworn to her recovered the magical strength that had been almost entirely absent since the sidhe crushed the great goblin sorcerers of old. Whether Kartathok was known to the goblins before this time is unclear, only the sidhe would likely know for sure, but certainly after Azrai came to the goblins Kartathok became active and his priests numerous amongst the goblins adding further to their strength.
The War of the Shadow was not however the making of the goblin race, but the breaking of it. The goblins were at the heart of the fighting at the Battle of Mount Deismaar and suffered heavy losses - though they lost many more when the land bridge between Aduria and Cerilia collapsed and the warriors resting from the battle drowned. The champions of the goblins were almost all slain in the battle or in the growth of the empire thereafter.
thumb|Gretch Rot-Eye at the Battle of Mount Deismaar (©2007-2011 ~vikingmyke)|right
Grod Maulfist, greatest warrior of the goblins was slain by Rhuobhe Manslayer as Grod sought to stop Tuar, Queen of the sidhe from persuading her people to change sides, a betrayal never forgiven by the goblins, while the Albino and her sorcerers vanished in the explosion, to be seen thereafter only in the dreams of goblin visionaries down the ages or in the ravings of goblins who later vanished at midwinter. Vaul who flew is said to have been imprisoned beneath the earth by the sidhe who sank Vaul's once lofty tower beneath the lands that would become Alamie 'trapped in a shell of stone and bound in chains of shadow and time'; Torak the Worm is said to have gone mad and monstrous fleeing beneath the mountains of Brosengae; Karr the Fire-lord had a more bizarre fate, rumoured been slain by the Karamhul at the battle itself, slain again by Roele as proof of his strength to the Rjuven clans of the Taelshore, slain a third time by the giants from whom Karr stole ancient wisdom, and finally imprisoned in a shard of Topaz by the Shining Prophet, Farida ibn Avani who used Karr's magic to bring Avani's faith to the despairing folk across the Basarji lands. Two other leaders of the goblins Garazz the Black and Shog Sharpspear were slain by the Gorgon. Only Tal-Quazzar, known as the Spider for his cunning ploys and skill at ambush and Urgal the Swift are known to have survived for certain by modern goblins of Thurazor, of all the great champions who led the goblin clans into the battle.
Though their champions are mostly long gone (Urgal was slain by his son who claimed his legendary speed and was slain in turn by his grandson and so on, the last of the line being turned to stone by Ibelcoris of Tuarheviel and given to her husband Prince Llyrandor as a wedding gift) the goblins are not bereft of strength. Many goblins bear bloodlines (Azrai is by far the most common, outnumbering all others combined) and several of those are strong, for the goblins bred suffiicently for there were always worthy mates to maintain the great line - and many scions of the Anuireans as the Andu had become known, have fallen to goblin blades over the years.

[top]Roele and the Anuirean Empire

The goblins fled the battle across Anuire and beyond, over the next two decades Roele Andu, lord of the Andu, king of the allied houses, and eventually Emperor of all Anuire spread his power and drove the goblins from the land. Roele -- brother of Haelyn and half brother of Raesene Andu, set out on a campaign to build the great Anuirean Empire at his brother's direction. In the campaigns that would create the realms of Dhoesone and Talinie, Thurazor lost ground to Roele. First Roele broke the Goblins in what would be Talinie during the Battles of the Bloody Axe and Winter's Deep. Secondly, Roele's Rjurik allies in Dhoesone and Roele itself took the lands that would become Dhoesone later during the Battle of Lake Kalad and the Battle of the Elder Forest. Both wars shrunk Thurazor (and the Spiderfell, the only other goblin realm to suvive Roele's wars) almost to it's current size. Thurazor was forced to sue for peace, Urgal granting tribute to House Boeruine for protection and swearing to restain raiders and send troops to support him so that House Boeruine and the empire might pursue more battles and win more worthwhile (in Anuirean eyes) land elsewhere. While many in the Empire (not least Roele himself) despised the alliance it made Boeruine strong enough to both to demand position as Archduke and in turn protect 'his' goblin vassal realm.
Later, five hundred years after the formation of the empire, the ruling King -- King Jor'valar the Shield; lost control of the Stormcrowns, and retreated his forces and dug down in what is now Thurazor. For the rest of the Empire, Thurazor had become a troublesome area, in which the size of Thurazor itself fluctuated, not troublesome enough to exterminate, too strong to attack without the support of the entire empire - and should such a threat become real the goblins were wise enough to curry favour with house Boer and thus avoid conflict until the alliance of realms within the empire fragmented or turned their interest elsewhere.
Local raids were conducted, and the goblins gained and lost territory: both in Cariele and in Dhoesone; as the people of Talinie were too tough to bring an army to bear. During the reign of Talesk the Red, Stjordvik had raided and conquered Blood Bay but never annexed the province to Stjordvik. This is because Talesk the Red called in a favor from Boeruine and Dhoesone and drove the Rjurik back to the sea two years later.

[top]Present Day

Now, about one hundred and twenty years after Michaele Roele was slain by the Gorgon, his High Eminence slew Gar'dan the Gourmand -- a goblin who gained the ability to eat anything from his Azrai bloodline-- because he was becoming an awnshegh (a glutton type, like Garak the Glutton). Under the current ruler, Thurazor seems to be prospering. Better yet from the viewpoint of Tie'skar Graecher, the Thuraz are starting to tire of slaying their regent every now and again because he might become an awnshegh, indeed with the alliance with Boeruine tenuous many goblins feel that an awnsheghlien king might give them the strength needed to ensure the realm's survival. Tie'skar's core worry is that one of the bloodlines other than that of Azrai might grow stronger and provide the Thuraz with the opportunity of a more stable government under an ehrsheghlien thus gaining the strength of an immortal powerful ruler without the risk of the mindless madness associated with the awnsehghlien.

[top]Political

Thurazor is at times a disquieting neighbor. But it has been a relatively stable realm for over a thousand years. Right now, Thurazor enjoys cordial relations with the Eyeless One, but regards the Warlock of the Stormcrowns to be an enemy. Right now, the trade guilds of Cariele and Dhoesone are working hard to keep Thurazor stable and safe so that they can prosper - at least until the mines become unprofitable.
Both the Eyeless One and Torele control sources in Thurazor, and Gaecher can concentrate on ruling his realm. He believes that someday he will be slain and replaced by another ruler. As it should be. You see, while the realm itself is relatively stable court politics are pretty much unstable. The goblins of Thurazor, having a history of invasions from awnsheghlien over it's long life, have a tradition of killing their rulers when ever they show signs of turning into an awnshegh.
Also, as devotion to Kartathok, the goblins will also slay weakened rulers such as those who grow senile. This practice, while seemingly barbaric, has in the long run kept the region free of awnsheghlien. The current ruler, his High Eminence Tie'skar Graecher, is one of the longer lived rulers of Thurazor. This is simply because he keeps his Azrai bloodline in check by all appearences and so far, none in his court perceives a weakness.
Thurazor is allied with Dhoesone, and the 'auld alliance' with Boeruine is often at least briefly revived by one side or another, generally whenever the goblins wish to raise funds or get rid of malcontents by sending forth mercenaries, or the Boer's wish to raise troops fast.

[top]Important Figures

thumb|Cudgel the Goblin by Greywulf|right
His Eminence Tie?skar Graecher rules the realm without any lieutenants that are regents in their own right.
The Eyeless One and Torele Anviras share source holdings here.
The guilds of Cariele and Dhoesone control trade routes into and out of Thurazor.
Kral Two-Toes (MGob, cler 6; Azrai, tainted, 10) is an ambitious shaman prelate of the temple Goblin's Triumph. He is a known ally of Tie'skar and is often empowered to act in Tie'skar's name, but he is very independent and Kral has many plans of his own - and of his god. Kral's bloodline is weak and he is believed to seek any excuse to claim one of the stronger goblin bloodlines.
Follyna Bulls-Eye (FGob, Rgr 2; Unblooded) is one of the goblins who is currently being trained as a ranger by a human in Talinie. Follyna Bulls-Eye is the Thuraz' best archer. She is currently residing near Talinie in order to complete her lessons.

[top]Plots and Rumours

These are adventure ideas for use by the DM.
Goblin Units: Kral Two-Toes offers to the PC regent a unit of Goblin Irregulars, Goblin Wolf Riders, or Goblin Skirmishers to help in a battle with an enemy. This is done for a future favor against the Warlock of the Stormcrowns. But it's also done so that it's leader (a goblin utterly loyal to Kral) may absorb a bloodline not of Azrai (Andurias is preferred). When it's Tie'Skar's turn to be deposed, Gral is hoping that the skirmish leader may lead Thurazor into a new age of stability and start a goblin dynasty. (During a battle, the leader kills a blooded enemy noble on a natural 6 on a d6)
Source Holding contests: A new wizard or sorcerer has been contesting Torele Anviras' and the Eyeless One's holdings. One by one, they are losing their sources in Thurazor, which happens to be prehistoric elven stoneworked cities. Both wizards want the PCs to find out who in Thurazor is contesting their holdings.
Goblins Disappearing: Several goblins along the border of the Stormcrowns are disappearing. Tie'Skar's troubles at court forces him to ask for outside help. He asks the PC regents to help him investigate the Stormcrown border to see what is going on. Whether it is a new awnshegh or some other dire threat, Tie'Skar wants to know.

[top]Domain Holding Table


Domain Table: Thurazor
ProvinceLawTempleGuildSource
Bloodbay (2/5)TG (2)GTr (2)AD (1)EO(1)
TA (1)
Crushing Hills (3/4)TG (3)GTr (3)AD (3)TA (3)
Doom's Peak (2/6)TG (2)GTr (2)AD (2)EO (4)
TA (2)
Falling Timber(4/3)TG (4)GTr (3)AD (2)EO (3)
AD (0)HTC (1)GTH (2)
Mergarrote (4/3)TG (3)GTr (3)AD (1)EO(3)
AD (0)HTC (1)GTH (2)
"Storm's Release" (3/4)TG (2)GTr (3)GTH (3)EO (4)
Abbreviations: TG = Tie'skar Gretcher (Thurazor); GTr = Goblin's Triumph (Kral Two-toes); AD = Adaere Doniem (Northern Imports and Exports); EO = Eyeless One; TA = Torele Anviras; GTh = Gaelin Thuried (Upper Anuire Traders); HTC = Hidden Temple of Cuiraécen.
  • Note: in Ruins of Empire, the Holding Levels are unknown. This is one domain the DM is allowed to play with the holding levels. The values are suggested as of last report.




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