City of the Black Legion

This militaristic city-state is situated in a foggy swamp and consists of two dozen islands, each of which has a walled city block ruled by a noble family. The canals between the islands are crossed by drawbridges that are retracted at night or when the city is attacked. Many small vessels travel between the islands and through the swamp. There is a large circular harbor for ocean-going ships, but to enter it, one must traverse a maze filled with traps.

The 38,200 inhabitants subsist on fishing and farming, as well as cattle and grain, paid as taxes to the city by neighboring settlements.

Fifteen years ago, the citizens toppled the hereditary monarchy, killed King Zarthos XXIII, and exiled the twin princesses Hekatia and Lilin. Alas, the dream of equality and freedom was short-lived as the twins returned after having become imbued with the vampiric powers of the Scarlet Flame. The Arch-Lamiae gave the city’s aristocrats an offer to regain their power – by joining the sisters as vampires. Since that terrible night, when the city’s undead overlords bathed in the blood of the revolutionaries, Zarthoris Plenia has been the city of vampires, whose soldiers now wage a constant war against the outside world to catch fresh victims lest they fall prey to their ravenous masters.

Rumors in Zarthoris Plenia, d12

Rumors are labeled (T) for True or (F) for False.

1. Zarthoris Plenia is preparing for war against Issum (#3123) and is recruiting soldiers. (T)
2. The rulers of the city are looking for adventurers willing to travel to the ruined city of Sodosma (#3534) to kill the traitor Parth Oron and recruit his mercenaries for a war against Issum. (T)
3. The Military Academy teaches not only strategy and tactics but all sorts of knowledge needed to wage a military campaign: Engineering, Mathematics, and the Natural Sciences. (T)
4. The Arch-Lamiae have received the Lunar Queen’s blessing to rule Zarthoris Plenia. (F)
5. The Arch-Lamiae have spies in all the great lunarian cities. (T)
6. When the twin princesses were exiled by the revolutionaries who killed their father, they traveled to the east of Zarthoris Plenia to find that hideous power by which they turned themselves into vampires. (T)
7. The Arch-Lamiae, the twin queens of Zarthoris Plenia, are not as united as they want to appear. On the contrary, they have become rivals and have grown quite suspicious of each other. (T)
8. The vampire curse can be cured with a certain plant that grows on the highest mountain peaks. (F)
9. You can make a lot of money on the Privateers Exchange. (T)
10. Parth Oron is the last living member of the revolutionary republican council. He now survives as a mercenary in the south. (T)
11. Vampires are slaves to the ones who passed the curse to them, thus making the entire aristocracy of Zarthoris Plenia puppets to the twin Arch-Lamiae. (F)
12. Duke Oran Mal has gathered a secret group called the Temple of the Audient Void, who are researching a way to even greater power than that of the vampires of the Scarlet Flame. (T)

Government

The city of the Black Legion is ruled by the Arch-lamiae, Hekatia, and Lilin. The sister queens reside in the Twin Palace, where they have one wing each, joined by a common throne room. 

Despite frequent public shows of unity, the twin rulers have become jealous rivals, their mutual suspicion growing at the same rate as their ambition. Both Hekatia and Lilin are looking for competent people without previous connections to either of them to spy on their sibling.

The Military Academy

Officers educated at the military academy of Zarthoris Plenia excel not only at strategy and tactics but also in all sorts of knowledge needed to wage a military campaign: logistics, engineering, mathematics, and the natural sciences.

Item / Service Price

Sage’s wisdom. The teachers at the military academy can answer questions relating to strategy and tactics, logistics, engineering, mathematics, and the natural sciences. 40 gp / question

Military

The Black Legion of Zarthoris Plenia consists of 1.100 legionaries, 200 zombie slave-soldiers, 280 gazelope cavalrymen, 80 war myrmonts, and 40 lunar vampires. It can muster an additional 4.800 veterans and militiamen in times of need.

The city’s fleet is made up of one large galley, “the Wrath of Zarthos”, and five small galleys: “the Leviathan”, “the Crimson Tide”, “the Lamiae’s Revenge”, “the Fang”, and  “the Invictus”.

The Red Hand

The Red Hand is Zarthoris Plenia’s infamous guild of spies and hired killers. 

Renegades from the House of the Final Breath, they are loyal cronies of the Arch-Lamiae. Their leader is the soft-spoken, androgynous, and dangerously alluring Zandai Tar, a vampire of the Scarlet Flame and an 8th-level Assassin, under whose command are some 250 assassins of level 2-3.

The Sky Raiders

This towering edifice is the base of the air force of Zarthoris Plenia, aetheric privateers menacing the lunar firmament and ravaging where they will with impunity. Their fleet is comprised of the Conqueror-class Aether Cruiser “The Black Sun” and 12 Raptors.

The Privateers Exchange

The rulers of Zarthoris Plenia have begun issuing letters of marque and reprisal that authorize the holder to attack and capture vessels hailing from enemy cities. Many merchant captains of the city, who are no longer welcome in other harbors after remaining loyal to their vampire rulers (or becoming vampires themselves), have seized this opportunity and become privateers. 

Sailing the lunar seas can be dangerous, and piracy even more so. Therefore, many privateers seek investors to finance their expeditions in exchange for a share in the eventual profit. If the PCs want to invest in the privateer business, they can choose to either finance a specific captain or put their money in the exchange index that collects all expeditions. The first alternative is risky but possibly very lucrative, while the second is safer but yields less return. In both cases, the investment is made for one Lunar Day.

Investing in a specific expedition, roll 1d6: 1-2. -100%, 3. -50%, 4. +/- 0, 5. +150%, 6. +200%.

Investing in the exchange index, roll 1d6: 1. -50%, 2. -25%, 3. +/- 0, 4. +110%, 5. +125%, 6. +150%.

d12 Ship Captain

1. Zarthoris’ Pride Lord Koran Kothos

2. The Black Leviathan Duran One-Eye

3. The Crimson Death Little Hajak

4. The Laughing Leviathan Atol Vagh

5. The Lamia’s Wrath Big Beli

6. The Crimson Tide Angry Dirkas

7. The Queen of the Oceans Kab Vastus

8. Terror of the Seas Ikan the horrible

9. The Vampire Squid Djal Kantos

10. The Crimson Skull Xeelon the unrelenting

11. The Thirst For Blood Fat Matal

12. The Sea Serpent Pnom the legless

Recruiting crew

The wine houses by the docks and the privateers’ exchange are good places to look for crew for a maritime expedition.

Title: Sea captain (1 month) Number available: 1d3-1 Price: 275gp + 1 share

Title: Navigator (1 month) Number available: 1d3-1 Price: 175gp + ½ share

Title: Sailor (1 month) Number available: 2d20-5 Price: 12gp

The Temple of the Lunar Queen

When the Twin Lamias seized power in the city, they swiftly killed the temple clergy who had taken a neutral position during the republican revolution against the twins’ father, King Zarthos XXIII. The temple was outlawed, and its buildings were demolished and used as construction materials for the Twin Palace.

One single priestess, Altaria Yenin, survived and has surreptitiously gathered a dozen followers who meet in secret to praise the Lunar Queen and keep her light burning in these dark times. They are torn between the need for caution and keeping out of sight, and the will to make contact with the Lunar Queen and to recruit followers to overthrow the vampire rulers.