Daily Life Under the Shadow

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A Harsh Life Under the Shadow[edit]

In the occupied lands in the Last Age, most villages are eaking out a marginal existence. They share limited resources, depending on the whim of the local Shadow representants. If the local legate has a touch of mercy, they may have the surplus to barter for goods outside of the community. In most rural communities, a permit is issued, in the form of a brass chit that allows its bearer to pass unmolested by the Shadow patrols (this is not guaranteed at all times).

The manorial system also has brought with it its logical consequence; the beginning of a feudal society, with many farmers or artisans pledging their lives in the service of the local traitor prince or even legate. Since they place themselves under his protection, they effectively become his slaves, but on the other hand they are granted minimal security and food in exchange of their freedom. One of the biggest mistakes a group of PCs might make would be to assume that such people will want to be freed...

There is also a flourishing slave trade, which makes some Orcish tribes all the richer. Some even specialized in capturing halflings, as those are on high demand as slaves. But isolated human communities, especially those who did not choose to become the local tyrant's serfs, are prime targets for Orcish raids, capture and being sold as real (ie, with no rights at all) slaves. After all, any orcish regiment or legate will need free manpower for various duties, thus sparing the more important servants their time and efforts for more important matters.

Of course, being the local "lords", occupation troops and legates are still free to help themselves for whatever ware they need or simply catches their eye. But trade still subsists, in a very limited way, for other people.


Legal trade and its limits[edit]

The gnomes have been given the freedom of trade up and down the Eren river, providing they do 'their part' for the forces of izrador. Much like the feudal system, they're essentially slaves to the Shadow, but do have a limited amount of freedom, which allows them to subtly aid the resistance.

Thus, most trade is focused around the waterways, and whole towns have sprung up around riverside markets in the Last Age. These towns are the middle men, like a midnight mall. Farmers and craftsmen from all over come to these towns once a month to sell their wares and buy what they need.

On the other hand, Eredane is a rather vast place, and there are towns and villages that are too far from a river to actively trade regularly.

This puts them in an isolated state, these towns on the most part have to be self sufficent, or rely heavily on the communities around them for resources. This creates a very anarchic place to be: trust is only really extended to people in the community that have somehting to offer. News are sparse, so rumours of the 'outside' world are wild and misleading. This brooks fear toward outsiders, especially those who could upset the balance of the fragile community. In a place like this, morale is low and resistance to the Shadow minimal, as people try to get on with their lives in their situation.

Those wishing to live free of the Shadow have moved as far away as they could from the waterways and old trade roads. Isolated communities have to be self sufficient or they may band loosely together without villages within a two to three day walk/ride. For example, there may only be one village with a competent smith/forge and the other local villages come to the smith to get what they need/can't produce. Several isolated villages may band together under a strong warrior or skilled channeler for protection against slavers and other nasty things coming from the north.

In the countryside, anyone is free to go "trade" within a 10 mile-radius around them (because, in case of control, the local soldiers or legates all know that it's only “old Joe” trying to sell his eggs to the village).

Beyond that range, a special authorization is given, only to those who swear allegiance to the Dark Lord. If they do, they are given a token that is proof enough that they are reliable persons. Of course, such tokens are often coveted by resistance groups to provide them a "cover story". However, only important figures (legates, etc.) are ever given the "magical tokens" described in MN01. Written documents are to be avoided, as literacy is a rare privilege in the Last Age. Many troops (human or orcish) stationed at checkpoints could not read them anyway, so what's the point?

Outside of the rivers, regular trade with established routes and deliveries does not exist in Midnight. Smugglers and people who move critical items through the wilderness, well off the beaten path probably still exists. Eredane is dangerous, but good woodland skills and the sense to stay off the roads will help. Orcs and Legates can be avoided if you're not carrying magic. Smuggling of skilled people (channelers, halflings) is also ongoing.

On the roads, the only goods that move legally on a large scale do it with hobgoblin caravans of boro's and mules dragging timber, weapons, cockingpots and what-have-you to large fortifications. Tribute and supply caravans are not trade, but they do offer opportunities to a resourceful party to obtain supplies, gather information, or if they're wildly successful and probably suicidal, to infiltrate a Shadow garrison/stronghold. There are garrisons well clear of the rivers that need to be resupplied. The vast majority of the gnomes stay on the Eren River. That means most of the north has to be supplied by other means.


The need for a black market in the cities[edit]

In the Last Age, any big occupied city has at least one black market. Why? Because urban citizens cannot produce food, which they trade against goods they are producing (clothes, shoes, etc.) with the farmers. Black market rarely involves selling "forbidden" things like weapons or books, but simply allows people access to restricted or difficult to find items, for a very high price.

With such a heavy demand for items in urban areas, there are lots of people somehow involved in black market. Either resistance groups, people who act out of a selfish desire to make a profit from such an activity (and can then be dubbed "traders"), or simply criminals who smuggle alcohol, prostitutes, etc. into the towns for their own filthy profit.

Some caravan masters working for the Shadow are also doing a little "blackmarket" work. What good that may be traded for are probably small goods to make life easier, such as tools, or more pleasant such as liquor and tobacco. A whole orc “maffia” has developed in the last years, making a huge profit in trading some goods that they manage to steal from their caravans to needy urban citizens.

In the southern plains, there is rumoured to be a whole "ghost market" (ie, a caravan always on the run) standing in the wilderness of the Erenland Horse plains, selling black market wares to any freeriders it meets.


Life Under the Occupation[edit]

One hundred years of combat, disease, deprivation, and enslavement have greatly reduced the human population of Eredane, especially north of the Pelluria. The Dornish population has been cut in half since the end of the Third Age and continues to decline. The rest of Erenland is littered with abandoned or destroyed villages. Wind and rain have eaten away at these once vibrant communities, turning the collected buildings into little more than moldering piles of rock and rotting timber. Small forests have reclaimed fields and even swallowed buildings that once nestled in their clearings. Rich farm fields lay fallow, full of weeds, or covered by swordgrass and thistles. Only the winds, whistling through broken windows and amongst the burial rings, bear witness to what once was. The loss of life and abandonment of countless villages has also taken its toll on the roads, bridges, and dams that once marked the strength and achievement of Erenland. Even well into the south, what were once wide, well-maintained trade roads are now little more than scattered game trails. Bridges have collapsed or washed away, leaving their jagged foundations to jut like fangs from the riverbanks. Those bridges that remain are extremely hazardous and crudely patched. In some cases, bridges have been purposefully destroyed by insurgents to prevent easy passage by the Shadow’s armies. Time and the elements have not been the only causes of widespread destruction; at the end of the Third Age, dark magics and foully concocted diseases washed over towns and villages that attempted to resist the Shadow’s advance. Some sections of Eredane are completely lifeless as a result of these attentions, the ground brittle and gray, avoided by all living things. Some say that Izrador’s corruption has seeped into the earth, deforming the landscape and filling all that dwell there with hatred and malice. The most dangerous of these corrupted holes is the Foul Bog of Eris Aman, whose fetid marshes are riddled with sinkholes, poisonous plants, and bloated, endlessly hungry creatures that slither through the stinking swamps. With the collapse of the Kingdom of Erenland and the abandonment of much of the frontier, natural and unnatural predators encroach on human territory to hunt both domesticated animals and their keepers. Grass cats, owlbears, displacer beasts, and other dangerous hunters have followed caribou and skarpin herds south and have developed a taste for human flesh. Domesticated animals have turned feral and packs of savage dogs, once the protectors of the Dorns, now attack lone travelers. Everything from simple hunger to malign magical corruption have warped the behavior of normally peaceful animals, turning them into savage beasts that attack without provocation and have caused them to lose their fear of man. The natural order is slowly being overturned, and the hunters have become the hunted.

The Loss of Knowledge[edit]

The forces of the Shadow in the North raided and burned, killing all who opposed them, and laid waste to the land. They destroyed whole cities, wiped entire cultures from the face of the earth, and plunged the world into a dark age out of which there is little hope of crawling. The legates of the Order of Shadow have continued to drive this descent into darkness by outlawing literacy, writing, and science, arresting or killing outright those found with books or teaching others to read. With the destruction of the accumulated knowledge of centuries and the brutal punishment of anyone caught pursuing such knowledge, the Order of Shadow has forced the human lands into a pit of ignorance and sealed it over with fear, suspicion, and hate. Trade routes have been broken and the flow of information severed along with the flow of goods. Without the natural exchange of ideas and knowledge, the human lands have fragmented into isolated pockets of mistrust and prejudice. Art has ceased to exist and only the basest of necessary crafts continue. The common tongue, once widespread, is fragmenting into incomprehensible regional dialects, further alienating humans from each other. The sciences of alchemy, healing, and metalworking stagnate and slowly revert to more primitive forms. Now, even if the fey were free to openly walk the land, they would find nothing but fear and prejudice awaiting them in the human lands. Suspicious peasants and fearful city dwellers alike would hand them over to the legates’ spies, with no respect for the memory that their peoples once stood together against the Shadow. Even in the lands of elves and dwarves, where books and literacy are cherished legacies, there has been an inevitable academic decline. Under the reign of the Shadow, trade with the fey is punishable by death and therefore only vital goods are smuggled into their lands. Unfortunately, little science or philosophy comes with them. As one by one settlements near the borders of their lands fall to the Night Kings’ raids, great thinkers are murdered and libraries of irreplaceable tomes are burned. One idea, one thought, one story, or one scroll at a time, the collective enlightenment of the world is falling prey to the fire and hate of the Shadow.

Occupied Erenland[edit]

The Shadow has divided Erenland into 22 districts, creating a system of regional viceroys that have their own troops to enforce the laws, root out resistance groups, and ensure the smooth flow of supplies, slaves, and sacrifices. The viceroys are responsible for vast areas, much of which is sparsely populated and not easily accessible. The major communities all have permanent garrisons and the old trade roads and navigable rivers are well patrolled, with fortified guard posts at fairly regular intervals. Minor roads, game trails, and lesser rivers and streams are rarely patrolled, however, due mostly to the sheer scope of each garrison’s patrol zone and the limited returns to be gained. Indeed, the vast distances between population centers and major roads, especially in the Dornish north, are the major reason why the resistance has survived for a century against overwhelming odds. Not all humans are enemies of Izrador; many are active collaborators. The Order of Shadow, for instance, is almost exclusively human. In addition, thousands of humans serve in the Night King Jahzir’s armies or as guards for legates, as loyal retainers of the traitor princes and false sussars, and in mercenary units. While each racial group accuses the others of providing the greatest percentage of traitors, the truth is that Dorns, Erenlanders, and Sarcosans have all turned willingly to the service of the dark god. Many of these are not evil warlords or malevolent rogues, but rather simple craftsmen, farmers, and woodsmen who betray their friends and neighbors out of fear or desperation. Collaborators can appear anywhere and in any guise. The old healer that acts as the local midwife is the same woman that identifies children who bear the spark of magic to the local legate. The neighbor that has shared bread for years reports blasphemies against Izrador to see former friends hung. The fear that anyone could secretly worship or serve the dark god has sapped the will of most of the subjugated people of Eredane to resist the Shadow.

Northern Erenland[edit]

While all of the traditionally Dornish lands have been ravaged and plundered over the last 100 years, there remain vast distances in which to avoid the gaze of the Shadow or the wrath of his legions. Much of this area has been raped of what resources it has to offer, however, and is cursed by foul weather, the restless souls of the Lost, or dangerous creatures that have followed the orc hordes down from the north. The region north and east of Bastion, though covered in tall sword grass and subject to the full fury of the winter storms from the north, has few orc garrisons, and those are tied to key villages and old Fortress Wall keeps. In the barren wilds north of Steel Hill, nearly feral Dorn tribes subsist on wild boro herds and scavenge what wild roots and edible vegetation they can gather, and may never see an orc legion. While marginally free, the Dorns of these areas live such miserable and harsh existences that one might question whether slavery would be better. Farther south, in the more fertile lands, most of the Dornish villages are under the Shadow’s control. A few, isolated by dense forests or extremely rugged terrain, have escaped the Shadow’s notice. The only other free areas in which the Dorns cower are along the eaves of Erethor and in the foothills of the Kaladruns. There, with sanctuaries close at hand, the Dorns can mount raids and hide refugees, building villages in isolated clearings or forgotten valleys.

Central Erenland[edit]

Along the Pelluria, in the heartland of the shattered Kingdom of Erenland, the Shadow’s grip is absolute. From orc infested Fallport in the west past Highwall, Port Esben, and Davindale, and even to the fearsomely garrisoned town of Chandering, the Shadow dominates all facets of life. Only the few fishing villages built in marshy areas or without easily accessible landing spots can avoid the tithe and therefore live with marginally less fear. Along the southern coast, the Shadow’s grip loosens. Free human and elven villages still dot the coastline in the Green March, but with the ongoing Shadow offensive in Erethor their days are numbered. Farther east, rumors persist that the leaders of House Baden escaped the fall of the city and still fight a hidden battle against those who occupy their city, trying to provide some protection from the worst abuses of the occupation. The once numerous villages that farmed the rich land around Baden’s Bluff are now ruined ghost towns, inhabited by those too afraid or too weak to leave. The only other city on the southern shore, Erenhead, is controlled by the orcs, who use the human population as slaves to offload supplies for the wars. The plains around Erenhead are covered in slave-worked farms and pastures to provide for the growing garrison and the massive numbers of orcs who pass through the city.

Southern Erenland[edit]

Life in the Sarcosan lands is far freer than in the north, as the densely populated major cities have smaller mixed orc and human garrisons that are nominally under the command of the false sussars. Alvedara and Sharuun still have vibrant markets, and the people don’t have the lean and hungry look so prevalent in Dornish lands. Most of the great plains are still the realm of the daring freeriders and the pitifully few remaining bands of nomadic halflings. Small sailing vessels and hundreds of smaller fishing boats still sail the Gulf of Sorshef and the Pale Ocean. Some boats risk crossing the churning waters and the Shadow’s naval patrols to reach Stormhold and Asmadar. The one blight on the landscape is the city of Cambrial, home to the Night King Sunulael. Cambrial is a city of the dead, where the living stay close to their homes, shutter their windows, and pray that the unliving are well fed by their master. Travel within 50 miles of the city is extremely dangerous and only fools or the truly desperate go anywhere near it. While the Shadow’s armies occupy much of Eredane, the war against the fey and the human resistance continues. To support the war, an almost constant stream of orcs, goblinkin, and the foul spawn of the breeding pits flows from the frozen north into the northern Kaladruns, through the Highhorns into the Veradeen, or down the Ishensa River and across the Pelluria to join the Fey Killer’s armies in southern Erenland. Outside the Ishensa River valley, the ports on the Pelluria, and the northern Eren Plains, orcs are far less numerous and less involved in hunting down resistance groups.

The Steep Cost of Freedom[edit]

The blood of the fey pays for what little freedom the humans still enjoy. The war in Erethor and under the Kaladrun Mountains has drawn away over half a million orcs that could be occupying Erenland. In Erethor, the war extends from the freezing bogs and evergreens of the Veradeen, along the borders of the elven heartlands of the Gamaril River Valley, Green March, and the Caraheen, and finally into the dismal Druid’s Swamp of the Aruun. The elves fight a desperate battle, giving ground foot by foot and watching as axe and fire consume their ancient homeland. Those that live free still suffer from the ongoing war and the Shadow’s occupation of much of Erenland. Izrador’s armies control the most fertile and easily accessible lands. The free settlers have to struggle to survive, coaxing crops out of barren, rock-strewn land and scrounging for fodder for their declining herds. Clean water is a luxury in some areas and its lack has led to famine and disease. The hard, thin soil of these barren lands has forced most of the free people to become nomads, moving from one pastureland to another. The constant movement provides some protection from goblinkin slavers that sweep ever farther into the wildlands searching for fresh slaves. Villages and nomad camps are forced to be on constant guard, setting pickets to scan the horizon for sign of this scourge. Strongholds of the Resistance

Erethor[edit]

The demands of war reach into the very depths of Erethor. No village is untouched, as the Witch Queen has called every warrior that can wield a blade or notch an arrow to bowstring to join the armies fighting along the Burning Line. Only the very young or the infirm remain, left to tend the groves and harvest Erethor’s bounty. Many villages, some thousands of years old, have been abandoned because the Witch Queen can not spare warriors to defend them. The orcs are not the only danger to the residents of the wood; horrid beasts created by the Sundering or roused from slumber by Izrador stalk the darkest recesses of the wood. Demonic spirits from the Aruun range farther north each year as the skilled Danisil demon hunters fall one by one to their otherworldly foes. Even the remote coastal villages of the Miransil are not free from the conflict, as the dark god corrupts the great beasts of the sea to his cause and the Witch Queen summons troop levies from among the once peaceful coastal dwellers.

The Kaladruns[edit]

Unlike the war against the elves, in which orc armies march en masse and the smoke and fire from the Burning Line can be seen as a never-ending stain on the horizon, the war against the dwarves is largely unseen. The orcs move directly from the frozen north through the Icewall Mountains and into the subterranean labyrinths of the Kaladruns. The under-mountain rings with the clash of vardatch and spear against axe and shield. Individual dwarven clans fight desperate but hopeless holding actions against the uncountable Shadow hordes. Some dwarven clans have survived by collapsing every tunnel into their clanholds and praying to their ancestors that the Shadow will pass them by. Above the surface, the often impassable terrain has allowed the Kurgun dwarves and their human allies to avoid the worst ravages of the war. In the heights above Low Rock, Dorn and Erenlander refugees have been able to carve homes from the cliff sides, surviving thanks to their herds of boro and goats. They watch in fear as the Night King Jahzir forms a new army to strike at the dwarven clans from the south and deny any hope to the former dwarven capital of Calador. The southern Kaladruns and the foothills along the White Desert have so far been mostly spared from the fighting. The clanholds there are few, however, and have been so secluded that they are unlikely to learn the lesson from their northern kin: that uniting as one is the only hope in facing the orcs, who gather even now near Drumlen.

Raiders and Freeriders[edit]

Even under the Shadow there is life and some small degree of hope. North of the Pelluria, sheltered in the eaves of the great forest and roaming free upon the Plains of Eris Aman, House Redgard still fights for its people. With the help of the Caransil and supposedly led by Roland, prince of House Redgard, these insurgents have brought thousands of refugees into the forest. While in some cases a burden to the elves, these refugees have also assisted the war effort by occupying elven villages that had to be abandoned when the Witch Queen ran out of troops with which to defend them. The raiders exist in a nest of uneasy freedom that is buffered on the south by the Foul Bog of Eris Aman and to the northeast by the ruins of Cale. With the Shadow focusing it efforts well to the south and so many troublesome obstacles in the way, only the orc garrisons of Fallport and Steel Hill remain to harry the Redgards. Meanwhile, many true heirs of Southern Erenland are said to lead camps of freeriders south of the Ardune. While the Shadow’s control here is absolute, the enemy has grown complacent. There are no battle lines, something that the clever insurgents use to their advantage. These noble princes raid caravans, free slaves, and keep the traditions and tales of their people alive while their usurpers lounge in palaces and let the great Sarcosan cities fall into decadence and ruin.

Wilds of Erenland[edit]

Outside the more densely populated regions of Eredane, in the vast wildlands, one of the greatest dangers is the roving bands of goblinkin slavers. The slavers have free reign to take as many humans as they can from villages not under the Shadow’s dominion. The goblinkin have access to many ready markets, all hungry for slaves: Steel Hill requires miners, farms and cities alike need heavy laborers, the orcs require occasional fresh meat to temper their hunger, and of course the dark god’s priests require sacrifices. The slavers especially prize young children that can be sold to legates or collaborators to be raised and trained as loyal servants of Izrador. Mercenary bands often purchase Dornish boys as servants, later training them as soldiers to replace losses in their ranks. Slavers are not the only dangers in the wildlands. Poor soil, lack of water, and limited game result in malnutrition or even starvation. In the harsh winters in the north and the searing heat of summer in the southern plains, many die each year from exposure. The bleached bones of humans are a common sight in the wastes of the White Desert or the cold tundras on the northern coasts of the Endless Ocean. The harsh weather is just one of the dangers. Animals turned feral and creatures warped by the Sundering or maliciously altered by the Shadow roam the wastes, competing for scarce food. In these desperate times, even humans turn against each other: bandits prey upon the weak and even fellow refugees may attack to drive others away from areas with water and food.




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