THE STARS ARE ALIGNED AND THE OLD ONES STIR AGAIN!



(Nyarlathotep, Harbinger of the Great Old Ones)

[scarabbar]



BACKGROUND TO CURRENT ADVENTURES

A. Earlier Adventures of the Tabrechi B. Rebels of the Delta:Out from the Desert
C. Rebels of the Delta:Flage Adventures D. Overview
E. Introduction to Flage F. The Rival Factions
G. Prelude to Adventures 1. A New Fellowship is Formed
2. Fate's Crossroads 3. Ambush
4. Collections 5. In Search of Scarlet Ravens
6. The Golden Boar 7. Arachnids of Unusual Size
8. Temple of Aphrodite 9. Battle of the Temple
10. Venakro 11. Battle of Brigand's Gulch
12. Raid on the Iuz 13. Battle in the Swamp
14. Whale of a Tale 15. Something Wicked This Way Comes
16. Discussions on the Hammer of Gharash 17. A Battle Joined
18.Strategoi 19. Fight at the Old Stone Bridge
20.Fight at the Bridge-Part Two 21. Fight at the Bridge-Part Three
22. Arena of Light 23. Back to Flage
24. Enchanted Realms (Current Turn) 25. Coming Soon


Overview:


Chaos has descended over the Delta bringing dangers and opportunities. In the wake of the overthrow of the Illithid Hegemon Marghash his successor Gharash has adopted a policy of patron client relationships with local rulers, rather than direct rule. 		[Illithid]
After ten years of the dark and ruthless tyranny of the Pelai skylords, the cities of the Delta are ripped by bitter strife as factions vie to fill the political vacuum. Each day bodies are collected in carts. Flage is one of the more bloody stages of this conflict with three main above ground factions vying for power: The Triad, the Kiresh Knights and the Guilds, as well as the sewer-based faction of Were-rats. Great wizardly towers draped in foul serpentine images have risen in the triad controlled citadel, Khosul cultists have been spotted and not so co-incidentally babies and children have been stolen from their cribs. Creatures half man and half beast prowl the streets past curfew in the service of the Triad. Boys as young as 8 are taken as sword point to begin military training as squires for the Kiresh knights, The guild has also raised its own companies. An army of the dead originally raised in the service of the Guild, has been co-opted by the Triad, whose wormtongue agent-infiltrators most likely persuaded the Guilds to undertake the necromantic project in the first place.
Magic is behaving unpredicatably within the city borders, two sudden and unexpected solar eclipses signalling a powerful and troubling portent of more chaos to come....

Introduction to Flage



Flage viewed from the North
[Kyroz] Kyroz 1025 Years ago, the Delta was dominated by competing tyrannies known as the Despotates. Chief of these was the Despotate of Kyroz which extorted tribute from most of the Delta.
Of the cities of the Delta, Flage alone was ruled by a monarch of justice and temperance, who went by the title of Paragon. The ruling Dynasty of Flage was the family Flagenstavos who had come to power a century before. The Flagenstavos allied with the Ishandeshee (sea-elf) resisted the attempts by the city of Kyroz to subjugate it, and 1000 years ago participated in the Ishandeshee conquest of the Delta. [Galnor Flagenstavos]

Flage prospered during the next millennium as an ally of the Ishandeshee Confederacy of the Delta. It reached a zenith of population of 30,000 Kiresh, Ishandeshee and Kyprosi. Then a decade ago, the Pelai came in a destructive wave of conquest across the Delta, displacing the Ishandeshee. Three years into the conquest, the Flage army was defeated in the Battle of the Scarlet Scapes and the city submitted to Pelai rule.

Structurally it was largely unscathed by the Pelai invasion, however socially and morally a dark shadow fell over the city with the coming of the Pelai. More than 2000 Kiresh humans and 3000 Ishandeshee (sea-elves) met gruesome deaths during the tyranny that followed, and thousands of others fled to obscurity in the countryside, or to Sorenso.

The Flagenstavos (Yanser and Ganthanor's family) was the ruling house of Flage. The Paragon of Flage up until the Pelai invasion was Yanser and Ganthanor's uncle. After the invasion, Ganthanor's parents: Galnor and Calie Flagenstavos were Lord and Lady Chamberlain to a Paragon selected by the Hegemon of Kyroz (the Hegemon at the time was Marghash the Illithid ). [Yanser is the son of Galnor, but not Calie.] Later during the re-organization of the Delta after the fall of Marghash, Galnor became the Paragon of Flage. He was overthrown in a coup by a group calling itself the Kiresh Knights. The Pelai Paragon fled, and Galnor and Calie Flagenstavos were imprisoned.. Flage became the center of a civil war of various factions contending for the control of the city. The Flagenstavos were freed from prison by a daring raid of the Pelai. They were briefly restored to power (like Mussolini) by the Hegemon, only to fall to a coup staged by the Triad, breaking their alliance with the Hegemon and the Pelai

The populace of Flage are congenial if proud. They consider Flage to be the cultural center of the Delta and that Kyroz while greater in population to be a boorish place. It is heavily influenced by Ishandeshee culture and arts. Flage has a history of accommodating the dominant power of the Delta, be that Ishandeshee, Pelai or other. Flage greatest fear is an attack by the Uruk (Orcs) of the Swamplands to the east. They have never sought accommodation with the Uruk, believing that any sign of weakness in the face of the orcish hosts would bring only destruction.

[Floating Gardens] Flage is surrounded by someone of the richest farmland in the Delta, including a marshland to the northeast which has been turned into a well ordered network of canals and floating gardesn. Nearby mines provide near rich supplies of amber,silver,gold,lead,tin and copper. It is famed for its artists, craftsmen and artisans.

Flage is famed for its warriors as well as poets. its patron deity is Pallas, a warrior goddess. Up until the Pelai invasion were famed for the military societies formed by the Great Noble houses: The Knights of the Chalice, the Knights of the Dragon, the Knights of the Flaming Star, the Knights of the Northern Sky, the Azure Knights and the Knights of the Golden Lyre. They were formidable military companies associated with these orders. These were suppressed during the Pelai regime. It is very possible that the Kiresh Knights might be comprised of survivors of the early military societies, or by others seeking to emulate this rich tradition.

The Rival Factions

The city of Flage is currently divided between four major factions.

There is a faction allied with many of the criminal elements of the city that consists of Ratmen led by Jhorinbaral, High Priest of the exiled god Motuk, who was once the Tutelary God of Flage before he was overthrown and replaced by the Goddess Palas. This faction has the long-term goal of restoring their God to power. Their short term goals are to defeat those who ally themselves with the Pelai and to weaken the political elite of the city in the process paving the way for their return. The party has a shaky alliance with this faction colored by mutual distrust.

Then there are the three above ground factions:

The Triad, a group of three powerful sorcerors who control the citadel and the Arienne and Jhoun districts. The Kiresh Knights control the Waterfront districts, and the eastern districts are controlled by the Guild Alliance. The three factions formed a Flage Council, but sporadic fighting between the factions occurs. Ganthanor's parents controlled the faction now under the authority of the Triad, but they mysteriously vanished a few weeks ago, and the Triad of Horsentius, Ouremer and Yosande was declared.

Of the three factions the most fearsome is There is the Triad, a group of three powerful sorcerers who were formerly allied with the Pelai. They control the citadel and the Arienne and Jhoun districts. The citadel contains the important ziggurats of Pallas, the Nine (tutelary demiurges of the city) and the Golden Ziggurat of Qoh. The Triad of Horsentius, Ourenmer and Yosande represents the most powerful faction in the city. They turn their captured foes into magical abominations part animal and part human, and turn them into fanatically loyal agents. These creatures are endowed with powers that are useful to the Triad in various tasks. The Triad is the most important power in Flage, and are currently harnessing their power for a final takeover of the city, they are firmly in alliance with the Pelai. The Flagenstavos heirs are in their custody. The Triad controls the western districts of the city and the citadel. They border the other two territories below. Horsentius the wizard is said to have learned the dread and forbidden art of the Tijuil Summoners. Ourenmer is said to be a master of shadow magic, enchantments and illusions, and Yosande appears to be the evil genius behind the bio-magics of the Triad. Each of the three wears a blue sapphire which appears to be some sort of magical focus of their power as well as a connection to each other. According to the Ratmen the Triad will make a bid soon for absolute power in the city.

The Kiresh Knights control the Waterfront districts, these are the poorer sections of town except for the wealthy neighborhood of Lerienthe. The Ghureve district is of course controlled by the powerful Stevedore Guild and the Hughule district is controlled by a criminal syndicate with ties to the Ratmen. Their alliance with the aristocratic Knights is volatile. The Knights represent the strongest potential above ground resistance to Pelai rule but their current leader Thevale has joined the Flage Council and taken a much more conciliatory role toward the Triad as well as the Pelai. The Knights represent the only force that could stand up to the Triad, but they are being undermined in this by Thevale, who may have been compromised by Triad agents or by some other malevolent force.

The eastern districts are controlled by the Guild Alliance. They are the economic backbone of the city, but their main interest is maintaining peace in their portion of the city. Three of the six most powerful guilds (Drapers, Tanners and Potters) have been compromised by the Pelai and their leaders are in the pay of the outworlders. However the majority of the Guilds are still loyal to the Flagenstavos family and thus dislike the Triad. Various influential persons and interests vie for control of this faction.

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