Glastig, the Unbroken City

This post covers the second of the three major Dwarven city-states in the Green Coast: Glastig

Glastig, the Unbroken City

LN large city

Corruption +4; Crime -5; Economy +2; Law +8; Lore +4; Society +2

Qualities academic (military academy), insular, superstitious

Danger 10

Demographics

Government overlord (military dictatorship)

Population 10,762 (7,425 dwarves; 3,196 humans; 141 other)

Notable NPCs

High General Wolrym Valeshorn (LN dwarf fighter 5)

Hierophant of War Carin Undermine (TN dwarf cleric of Byrnwiga 6)

Grand Tinkerer Aeroth Riverlyn (NG human expert 3)

Marketplace

Base Value 8000 gp; Purchase Limit 50,000 gp; Spellcasting 6th (Divine) or 4th (Arcane)

Minor Items 3d4; Medium Items 2d4; Major Items 1d4

Glastig is the northernmost of the dwarven city-states, and the most heavily defended. Its impenetrable defenses have withstood bombardments from sieges since the city’s founding. The last forty years however, have truly tested the city’s defensive capabilities. While the Synak hobgoblins have been pressuring and laying intermittent sieges upon Glastig for more than a century, in the last forty years the city has been under an unbroken siege. Even with the nearly ten square miles contained within the outer walls, were it not for the Under-Road the city would have fallen years ago.

The College of War

     Most new arrivals in Glastig are prospective students of the famed military academy at the heart of the city’s acreage. Composed of nearly thirty buildings and countless training fields, the academy was the most prodigious military school in the Green Coast even before the unending siege.

     Roughly half of the buildings in the academy grounds are barracks, each one serving as a combination of bunkhouse and mess hall. While the majority of the bunks are used by students, each barracks also houses members of the faculty. Students and faculty both are permitted one bed, and one trunk containing spare uniforms as well as a limited selection of reading material.
     The largest building is dedicated to administrative purposes. Here the Academy Comandant oversees the day to day and both writes and reads reports on the progress of the students as well as various research projects from both the Arcanis and Grand Tinkerer.
     The southernmost buildings are dedicated to the instruction of arcane magic. While all students are taught the basic theory, students learning to become war mages gain most of their education here after basic training is finished. In addition, some research into item enchantment is conducted in dedicated buildings. Headed by Arcanis Lynthis, this research has devised enchantments that have enhanced Glastig's siege weapons as well as the durability of the outer walls.
     Near the barracks and the administrative building are classrooms dedicated to the mental aspects of warfare. Strategy, tactics, logistics, all of it is taught to some degree or another to all students. Those students with the ability to use divine magic have most of their lessons here.
     Separate from the rest of the academy are the buildings dedicated to research. Headed by the Grand Tinkerer, the majority of the research done within is dedicated to reverse engineering the black powder obtained by trade with gnomes from somewhere beyond Sylvanor. Thus far, the best that they have managed to develop is a crude, unstable version of the powder unsuitable for actual battle. Beyond research into black powder, experiments in metallurgy have developed a newer, stronger steel as well as new forging techniques allowing for thinner and lighter armor that is still just as strong. 

Foreigners in Glastig

     Generally speaking there are two kinds of foreigners in Glastig: military and merchant. Both are welcome for different reasons. Military foreigners are both trained soldiers sent by Chor Kolav and Argoport through the Under-Road as well as prospective students of Glastig’s prodigious military academy. Foreign military forces are swiftly integrated into the city’s Shield-Wall Corps, dedicated to repelling pushes against the outer walls, and Long-Runners, deniable squads sent beyond the city’s walls to conduct raids and skirmishes against the hobgoblins, while prospective students are run through a battery of aptitude tests before being directed to a field of study.

     Most of Glastig’s trade comes in the form of gnome trade fleets from far to the east. In addition to food and ore, these sea gnomes have introduced the dwarves of Glastig to a potent new weapon: firearms. Though the gnomes have not given the secret to making black powder, they have traded significant amounts of the explosive material to the city as well as firearms and cannons.

     Occasionally on these trade ships are dwarves that speak a strange tongue more akin to Gnome than Dwarven, pale humans with red hair, and individuals of many races with green patches of skin and black veins. But never elves. Indeed, the visitors with the sea gnomes claim to have never heard of elves prior to their arrival in the Green Coast.

     From what little has been gleaned from the sea gnomes, the land from which they hail is a cold, harsh, rugged land that has given birth to harsh and rugged peoples. Orcs live in large clan-based kingdoms that rival the mightiest dwarven civilizations, and invented the first firearms. Monstrous beasts take the forms of men and women only to release in an orgy of blood and violence. Cults dedicated to a wolf-god with antlers larger and thicker than any stag.

Government

     Six years into the siege of Glastig after the unification of the hobgoblin tribes, the High General Gilrik Alehorn led a successful military coup against the Twin Kings of Mountain and Sea. Immediately after the coup, martial law was installed and remains in place to this day. High General Alehorn was assassinated in the year 1136, and his successor Wolrym Valeshorn seamlessly took the reins. The identity of the assassin and whom he or she worked for remains unknown.

     The difference in leadership styles however was apparent. While Alehorn expected professional behavior and military discipline from his soldiers and officers, he didn’t expect the same from the civilians that still resided within the city. Valeshorn, by contrast, enacted a policy that required every citizen to go through basic training at the city’s academy as well as serve at least five years in active service. In his words, “We have merchants getting fat and people sleeping on the streets, all the while there’s a f***ing empire of goblinoids at our gates! No more!”

     In modern times, the city is run more like an army than a city. Everyone has a superior that they report to, and everyone is expected to follow orders of their superiors. Crime, large and small, is punished by increased military service. The amount of additional time served and the station is determined by the severity of the crime. Minor crimes like pick-pocketing warrant things like a month cleaning weapons and armor while the most serious crimes result in being sent of suicide missions into hobgoblin lands.

Adventure Hooks

     A group of traitors has stolen a batch of blackpowder and firearms. Your squad must find them and bring back the stolen weapons before the hobgoblins can get them.

     Pirates have been using a ruined city on the coast of Sylvanor to the north as a safe haven. You have been assigned to clear them out with as little collateral damage as possible.

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