Last Refuge
Location: Outlands / Ringlands
Character: Keepers of lost memories, survivors of destruction. This is a place of quiet sadness, a final refuge for those persecuted or hunted by evil, accused unjustly of crimes or for the preservation of the past. To avoid entropy destroying all evidence and memory. Here the displaced, exiled, and renegades of good find hope, and wait for salvation.
Ruler: Rogan Kashat (prime half-elf wizard (he/him) / Free League / CG) is the current lord of Last Refuge. Rogan was once a refugee from a Prime world named Oerth, from the Vesve forest near the lands of the Horned Society and Iuz. Seven of the Grugach elven tribes in the great forest were massacred, with few survivors, the latter being the slaves taken into the evil lands nearby. Rogan was born in the slave pits of Dorakaa. He later escaped back to the forest there heading a small party of grugach elves that exacted cruel justice on Iuz’s forces through guerrilla warfare. Later a priest of Iuz summoned a tanarri to kill him but he escaped, returning later to follow the demon through a back to the Abyss and killing it. After escaping the Abyss and roaming the planes for several years, he ended up in Last Refuge, at the time a disorganised camp of refugees, escapees, and others that couldn’t find their place or were fleeing danger. Rogan rallied the town and is considering establishing a dynasty to rule this town. He believes in strong, just, rulership and has the support of most of the burg.
Behind the Throne: Rogan shares the rulership in the town with several cutters in the burg. He acts only with their approval, all important decisions are made together, thus Rogan has the constant support of the town, and he takes care of the day-to-day dealings.The others include:
- Horal G’nith (prime duergar ranger [he/him] / Transcendent Order / NG), an outcast duergar from a prime world who was exiled for his strange and dangerous beliefs (being good, kind and rebellious).
- Ovym Laradom (planar cambion bard [he/him] / Athar / CN), Ovym is a refugee from Azzagrat in the Abyss. He won’t talk about why he fled or who is hunting him. And yet he seems, despite the safety of the town, he is still always watching his back. He is greatly liked in Last Refuge but he’s hinted that he might need to leave in the near future, when many more refugees arrive.
- Delomatos the Giant (planar human druid [he/him] / Xaositect / N), Big Del, as he is known among friends, is a human of immense size who has dedicated his life to the wild forces of nature. He used to be the caretaker of a great wood until an invasion of the Outlands by a force of baatezu destroyed it. And so, he found his way here to find peace. After years of crusading against fiends, he settled down in the region around the town which he now helps to protects.
Description: Last Refuge is nestled between two cliffs in a hidden vale in the hinterlands “behind” the gate towns of Ecstasy and Faunel. The vale is located deep within a vast forest, and has only one known entrance. The cliffs on each side are sheer on each side and due to it being inside a forest, many trees on the edges of the cliff are quite large and branch out thus creating a kind of shading over the valley.
The burg itself is quite normal in appearance: Wooden and brick houses, a smithy, a town hall and the ruler’s citadel. The citadel is an ancient one and none know who originally built it. It is stationed at the end of the vale and its location created a small area between it and the cliff wall which is utterly cut off and protected by the citadel so that to enter it one must go through the fort.
The town is built along one main road with a few small streets branching off, all the streets are paved, and the houses are quite large and in excellent condition.
Most of the inhabitants make a living of farming, hunting and handicrafts. A few mages and priests offer their services, but mostly people keep to themselves or to their small groups of friends. Despite it all, the people of this town are quite friendly, even if not revealing. They cooperate on matters of defence, natural resources and self rule and they do not tolerate those who come to meddle and inquire in their affairs.
On the north-western cliff wall are a set of natural caves. These serve both as a final kip to the town residents who pass on and also hold in them a natural spring from which flows a small stream which supplies Last Refuge with its drinking water.
Unlike other burgs which rely greatly on trade, this town is completely self sufficient. In addition, few cutters leave here after settling down, thus the population is slowly increasing. Another quirk of the place is, that since most residents are individuals who arrived alone, there is quite a high marriage rate for this town.
Near the caves in the northwest, but higher up the rocky wall, lies a large cave which is a home to a solitary, old silver Dragon. It seems the dragon has befriended many of the town residents and he is practically a member of the family in many of the households (he does spend quite some time polymorphed into human form), and he also participates in the defence of the vale.
Militia: The town has no organised militia, but everyone in the burg is expected to help defend the burg if the need arises. As most are hardy survivors, the people here are quite capable of defending themselves, with or without the dragon who does give them quite an edge in the protection of the town. Due to this, everyone is expected to own some kind of weapon or have means of battle and defence (a sword, bow and arrows, magic, psionics).
Services: You can buy most common things here, simple kinds of food and drink are plentiful. Both grain from farming and meat from hunting are available, even cave fish. Exotic goods are uncommon, however, and command higher prices. The few merchants who know of the hidden burg also like to keep it secret, for this means they can continue to make good jink here, importing goods on request and trading for local magic items or handcrafted items. One thing that’s not in short supply however are minor magical items. Having more than its share of spellcasters, it is possible to buy many kinds of spells, staves, potions.
Local News: A renegade cambion tanar’ri, escaping the Blood War and his kin arrived some time ago and stirred up quite a commotion. After things cooled down and he was accepted as a resident by the others, he revealed that a large group of refugees may arrive soon due to the destruction of a gate town.
He refuses to say which town or even who the destroyers will be, but while most think it will be fiends. Tanar’ri or baatezu? He stays silent.
Source: David “Draegarius” Alexander
