• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Sample file Sample file Skraag City of Orcs Wil Upchurch Contents Credits 2 Introduction Editor – Matthew Sprange 4 City History 8 Government Cover Art – Ralph Horsley 14 Ecology Interior Illustrations - Philip Renne, David 16 Daily Life Griffith, Danilo Moretti, Stephen Shepherd, Reynaldo Batista, Rick Hershey, Nathan 18 Commerce Webb, David Esbri, Brent Chumley, Stephen 19 Religion Cook 30 Defences of Skraag Production Manager – Alexander Fennell 37 Tour of the City Proof Reading – Ian Barstow 51 Movers and Shakers 60 Skraag in Your Campaign SampleSpecial file Thanks - Steve Mulhern 64 OGL/D20 Licences Open Game Content & Copyright Information Skraag - City of the Orcs is ©2002 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction of non-Open Game Content of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Skraag - City of the Orcs is presented under the Open Game and D20 Licences. See page 64 for the text of these licences. With the exception of artwork which is copyright Mongoose Publishing, Skraag - City of the Orcs is presented as Open Game Content. All rights reserved. ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used according to the terms of the d20 System Licence version 3.0. A copy of this Licence can be found at www.wizards.com. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. Dungeons & Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are Registered Trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, and are used with Permission. Printed in Canada. Mongoose Publishing Mongoose Publishing, PO Box 1018, Swindon, SN3 1DG, United Kingdom [email protected] Visit the Mongoose Publishing website at www.mongoosepublishing.com for additional rules and news INTRODUCTION the kind of city that is often mentioned or spoken Introduction about, but rarely written as a sourcebook, ready for ome to over twenty-five thousand rampaging Games Masters to use with their players – you now orcs, Skraag is a city of pure brutality, a have an entire city of orcs to play with. Enjoy! Hplace of nightmare that even the bravest adventurer will fear to tread. Built from the ruins of an ancient dwarven stronghold the orcs themselves Skraag – City of the destroyed, the hordes of Skraag range for miles in every direction, bringing slaughter and misery to any Orcs community unfortunate enough to be within range of Within this sourcebook, you will find an entire city their predations. ready to drop straight into your campaign. Skraag, City of Orcs is fully detailed, with maps and Few dare to make their way into Skraag, for the orcs are illustrations depicting the foul lives led by those who an evil race that despise any not of their own kind. To dwell within. In addition, Games Masters will be travel on the plain of Skraag, or within its deep caverns able to make ready use of the complete backgrounds is to court death itself. No amount of skill in arms or provided for those individuals and factions who have magic will prevail here and yet there is much that must risen above the rest to become dominant forces within be discovered about the orcs’ organisation and overall the city, constantly vying for power with one another aims. Do they intend to stay within the boundaries in a continued struggle set to destroy Skraag from the of the city? Or are the warlords of the marauding orc inside. armies building up their strength so as to sweep all kingdoms before them in a murderous red tide of blood- Skraag, City of Orcs contains enough action and letting and carnage? adventure to keep players on their toes for many gaming sessions to come and an entire chapter is The rulers of the city detest any interruption of their dedicated to enabling Games Masters to insert Skraag interests and the order maintained over its barbarous quickly and easily into their existing campaigns. inhabitants and so ruthlessly quash all uprisings. The One way or another, few players will ever forget the common orc endures much hardship beneath his adventures they endure within an entire city of orcs and masters and yet remains loyal to his race, his allegiance their foul kin. bought by the promise of gold and the ever present threat of death. Goblins live at the bottomSample of the file social strata of the city and yet even they provide no in-road for a would-be invader and vanquisher of orc- kind. Life within Skraag is characterised by murder, brutality, poverty and starvation, but no inhabitant seeks escape whilst the forces of man, dwarf and elf do their utmost to eliminate any weak orcish presence found beyond the boundaries of the city. The city remains an eternal threat to all those who hold dear the forces of righteousness and civilisation. It falls to the swords and wit of heroes to overcome this great menace, to perform the very acts of legend and succeed where entire armies might fail. Cities of Fantasy Skraag, City of Orcs heralds an exciting new series from Mongoose Publishing. Designed to provide Games Masters with entire settlements and communities to drop into any existing campaign, Cities of Fantasy will open the door to an entire treasure trove of exciting gaming sessions, made all the more memorable for the locations in which they are set. Every city within the series is specifically designed to inject the very element of high fantasy into any campaign Skraag represents 2 INTRODUCTION I write this under extreme duress. The damnable orcs have taken the Hearth Plain, and they now seethe like a glob of pure evil, waiting to press on into the underhome. Our hearty dwarven defenders are readying themselves for the next push, and I know each will slay dozens of orcs before he falls. Unfortunately I fear this will not be enough. The women and children have already been moved deeper into the mountain, and preparations are underway to send them even farther away. Gods! The orcs have penetrated much deeper and faster than I expected. I was just barely able to fend off a number of the foul creatures, and as I write this several battle-hardened veterans are fighting off another group just down the hall. Held under siege in our own halls! This place feels like a prison now, and I fear that soon the inmates will be running the place. Let anyone who finds this know the glory of Ironhallow Hall! We were a great trade outpost, our gems and hospitality much sought after by wanderers in this land. I never cared much for the humans and elves who settled here, but their bravery in battle cannot be denied! They fell long before even one orc set foot inside Ironhallow Hall, and their number will be remembered forever alongside the dwarven heroes of this place. I must rest now, even as I prepare for the final sleep. Damn my aged body, for I would like to die fighting the enemies of my home. * * * I have awakened to dire news after only two hours sleep. The women and children have been sent away. Nothing can stop the orcs now; all that is left is to die as dwarves, defending our home. The sacred chanters have worked through the night to seal off passages that lead to places holy to our gods. It will not do to have the orcs running rampant on our sacred grounds. Our shrines and the sacred artifacts therein must never be found by the likes of the orcs. By collapsing these passages we make one last defiant stand againstSample our conquerors, file for defeat us they shall. Their numbers are too great; not even our legendary dwarven resolve can compete with the tide of evil they have unleashed upon us. Curse my infirmity! If my legs would allow I would be out there now, dying in the tunnels my ancestors found many hundreds of years ago. I hear there is but one final phalanx of defenders guarding the main tunnels. I know that my brother has already fallen. These last two days have been a nightmare that we could not have foreseen, and when we awake from it we will stand by the side of our gods. Now I believe I will close this parchment and seal it away in a place only a dwarf could find. That is my one consolation, that our most sacred treasures will be forever hidden away from the foul creatures that now infest our home. Our dwarven eyes can see things in the rocks that they can never see, and one day when we come to reclaim our home these small things will be waiting for us. Bah! Enough of this writing! Recounting such thoughts weighs heavily on me, and I can hear the screams of my clanmates as I sit here in foolish self-reflection. I wish only that generations hence remember the dwarves of Ironhallow Hall for their bravery, their piety, and their fierce defiance of the unrelenting tide of evil that now drowns my people in its dark embrace. Olfar Grimblestone 2 3 HISTORY enemies in places untouched by the sun. A familiar foe History quickly became the predominant aggressors in the new ver seven hundred years ago the dwarves of community, for the troglodyte clan making its home the Ironhallow clan were driven from their nearby was not large, but was particularly hardy for the Oancestral homes by a combined force of duergar species and relentless when battling the dwarves.

Load more

  6

Copy Link