Fantastic Locations: The Rock of Grimm

Place: The Rock of Grimm

Location: The Astral

Portals: the Outlands – The Gate City of Grimm

Description: Ancient history of the Rock of Grimm is slim at best and there is an old saying amongst the people of Grimm: lies are cheap but the truth is expensive. The Warlord Grimm captured a section of the Outlands and established a portal to the Astral where Warlord Grimm had seeded a large chuck of rock. The Warlord had seeded the chuck of rock with a plants and trees and found a way to sustain water in a series of wells. In the last two hundred years the Warlord Grimm has secured himself a dominate position for trade and access to the multiverse.

Now the Rock of Grimm is a port of call for the Astral. Hundreds of docks and warehouses litter the surface of the Rock as well as the homes, inns, and stores of the population. Travelers from thirty worlds pass through Grimm’s gate towns paying heavy taxes but for a benefit of a free port. The Rock of Grimm is very much a free port for pirates and merchants alike; paying host to what would seem an all most equal number. One can see odd sights like Mind Flayer and Beholder slave auctions, Githaynki, Elves, and all sorts of creatures seemingly mingling together. Fore all fear the Wrath of Grimm.

Legend has it that the Mind Flayers once sought to capture and dominate the Rock of Grimm and that the Warlord himself personal slew anywhere from one hundred to one thousand Illithid. But today the Mind Flayers are tolerated and that is just the odd life that is the Rock of Grimm.

Ruler: Warlord Grimm – Not much is know about this impressively tall and stoic creature. Some say he is a man, others a god, some a demon but all know not to cross the Warlord or feel his Wrath (that is right dear readers it is in capital letters). The Warlord holds court one day a week where he is attended by nine members of a council of advisers (all selected by the Warlord of course). The Warlord will hear everyone that comes to hear him on that day and there are many theories as to what time of day to solicit the Warlord depending on the topic. Most say to ask the Warlord in the morning for the bureaucratic matters, in the afternoon for maters of justice, and at night for personal matters. The common thought is that in the morning if one brings tribute one can get good deals, while in the afternoon one needs to present their case boldly to gain the attention of the Warlord, and a night one needs to appeal to the Warlord tastes (whatever that might be at the time).

Features of the Rock of Grimm

Water – Legend has that the Warlord somehow put water into the rock for people to be able to drill for wells. Stories go that it just might be a decanter of endless water, or water elementals trapped, or a portal to the Elemental Plane of Water, or other such nonsense. If one digs deep enough through the surface of the Rock one will spring a well of water. This has lead to different cultures either embracing the water or finding ways to divert it.

Either way this has led to some excavation which has turned up odd findings. Some have found Mind Flayer remains, both physical and cultural dating back at least four hundred years. About eighty to one hundred years after that remains of Beholders can be found but not as extensively as Mind Flayer. This has led some to believe that the Mind Flayers might have been the original occupants until wiped-out by Beholders. The Beholder remains do not last long and then one can find Dwarven remains dating back about three hundred years but those too disappear quickly. An odd note: the Dwarven cultural is big on burial customs and to date no tombs have been found, only Dwarven dwellings and forges; with most found having half completed weapons.

Law and Crime – There are three magistrates that administer the law: one deals with the merchants, one deals with the portal, and one deals with the general population. The magistrates employ lots of thugs along with the standard City Guard. The thugs do a lot of the grunt work, while the City Guard is for display. The word of the magistrates might as well be as good as law. The Warlord also selects a nine member council of advisers, usually a rotating group of people who are in the favor of the Warlord of the time being. While the council members do have the ear of the Warlord, the magistrates get the benefit of the doubt during the weekly court.

While there is some crime most is not petty. There is usually enough work at the docks or warehouses for a person to earn a living as to not to turn to theft. There is just not a pick pocket operator or beggar class in this society. The major crime is smuggling – not paying the hefty tax on the Rock of Grimm. The unforgivable crime is arson – the trees and plant life are vital to maintaining the atmosphere and if one is found to be an arson death is soon to follow, sometimes even in the case of an accident. Woe be to the wizard that unleashes a fireball spell, a few have even been lynched by the populous. Sometimes council members can buy freedom for a criminal for a lump sum of gold.

Provocation – thirty days hard labor

Common Theft – one year hard labor

-second offense – two years hard labor

-third offense – death, beheading

Burglary – one year hard labor

Armed Robbery – five years hard labor

Manslaughter – five years hard labor

Murder – death, beheading

Piracy (smuggling) – death, beheading

Negligent, Arson – ten years hard labor

Arson – death, impalement

Personalities – The Sages Three – one a former Red Wizard of Thay, one a former Wizard of the Red Robes, and one a former wizard of the Scarlet Brotherhood. All were once truly evil but turned toward neutrality in search of sage knowledge. The Sages are concerned with all things Astral, Magical, and Fantastic and are known to pay and require a high price for information. The Sages Three can be found in their headquarters: the Library of the Spheres.

The Arcane – A race of odd merchants, at least one can be found on the Rock at any given time. Most will lease a warehouse and host a store front but some like to hold up in an inn and have all their desires fulfilled. The Arcane act as the go-between for several races and the go-to-guy for adventures; always at a high price and of course no refunds on transactions (both Duke Nightmare and the High Cleric Kareem dealt with an Arcane before at the Infernal Bazaar).

The Sydnee Line – A specialty passenger service that can get one to most major cities in a dozen worlds for the right price. The specialty is speed at the cost of, well, cost.

The Chainmen – Human slavers that cross the Outlands gathering the lost as slaves to sell on the Rock of Grimm. The law states that slave is one brought in bound in service, so the Chainmen bind their slaves in chains and have them haul loads with most slaves being quickly sold to Drow, Beholders, and Mind Flayers. Chainmen do not dwell much on the Rock of Grimm, they like to get their money and leave. Some might be seen drinking at the more questionable taverns, gambling at pit fights, and in the employ of evil creatures.

Drugan’s Legion – Drugan the Old is the master of a mercenary company that makes the Rock of Grimm its home. Drugan convinced Grimm that the mercenaries should be allowed shelter between missions and that if the Rock ever be attacked the Legion would defend it. Drugan converted a warehouse into a barracks but some Legionnaires rent dwellings on the Rock and have families. Drugan’s Legion is known as one of the finest companies in the Astral but at a hefty price (do you see the picture dear reader?). The mercenaries are assigned into five units: marines, artillerists, and magical support (over 500 soldiers, mages, clerics, and rogues).

The Dwarven Boarding Company – Another mercenary company but they do not technically dwell on the Rock but these Dwarves love a good time and spending money and the Rock is good for that. The Boarding Company is a very large and complex organization but the Dwarves found on the Rock are more like marines on shore leave.

House Zudrick – Now here there be Dwarves, a merchant clan that settled on the Rock fifty years ago. House Zudrick specializes in seeking out other asteroids in the Astral and stripping them of their mineral resources.

The Entertainers Guild – By some a thieves guild by others a necessity, this guild represents any performer and makes sure they get top dollar for their service. How they do this might be a mystery but most do not bother to look into it because well the music is good, the dancing girls are good looking, and the jesters make fools of themselves.

The Honored Mages Guild – Large by most standards, this odd guild is a collection of wizards that teach apprentices and then move on. The apprentice then teaches another and moves on like his master before. There are times when a master might have one or more apprentices and some masters stay and teach for years but by most accounts it is a one and done system. The Council of the Honored Seven maintains a magical tower with a library, laboratories, and barracks.

The Shipwright’s Guild – This guild encompasses the majority of the year-round population of the rock the craftsmen and those associated with the docks. This guild will take on contracts to build Astral vessels but builds strictly by two rules: Grimm comes first and build for everyone else as the orders come in. Many have tried to bribe and con their way to get ships built or even move ahead in the list just to get turned over to Grimm to face punishment.

The Elven Forest – A section of the Rock, forest, Elves, bla, bla, bla. What is more interesting is that there is a Githyanki barrio, where a lone human is in the most danger.

The Arena of Frun – Should be called the arena of not fun dear reader because the only thing going on here are mock gladiatorial games, archery contests, jousts, and the like. So if one has a taste for blood one needs to look for the illegal pit fighting that pops up from time to time.

Eladar the half-elf Astral Cartographer – Known throughout Astral-space, Eladar has maps leading to hundreds of worlds. Eladar was once a bold adventurer and is now retired but enjoys learning of new locations. Many have come to Eladar to never return, some say this half-elf sometimes sends adventures to their doom for whatever reason others say Eladar gave them exactly what they wanted and never returned for other reasons. Those reasons either being the completion of one destiny or death.

The Lock and Key – Pry the Gnome maintains this human sized shop but has a gnome sized work table for herself amongst the human sized worktables for her apprentices. Pry sells three kinds of locks: common (30gp), superior (with -20% to Pick Pocket, 60gp), and the special (-40%, 240gp). Pry keeps a unique lock that has a standing reward of 20gp to any thief that can open it (-60% to Pick Pocket attempts).

Morfgarr’s Reclamation – Morfgarr the Old was once known as Morfgarr the Bold and terror to all that faced him in battle. Now this wizened wizard buys and sells magical items. By chance there are usually five to twenty potions in stock and a random chance for any other item. There is a 30% chance that Morfgarr has any magical item under 2000xp in value and might sell it for two to twelve times the item’s xp value in gp. There is a 5% chance that Morfgarr has any item under 3500xp value at five to twenty times the item’s xp value in gp. [Note: Morfgarr is subject to DM discretion]

To Catch a Demon

Of the Layers of the Infinite Abyss, level sixty-five is home to a couple of evil gods. Most important to our dear readers is the New Dark God and his realm of the Fiendholme; a twisted mansion to the macabre. And dear readers in the Fiendholme the Herald of the New Dark God, the vampire/cleric, sorts through the treasures the Church of All and the High Cleric Kareem have paid in tribute to the New Dark God. The vampire/cleric needs to sort through the magical weapons, items, and gold that the Church of All has paid in tribute but dear readers there several pieces of loot that are going to get special attention. And that dear reader is when the Arch-Lich Planeswalker known as Sephiroth enters our story.

Of the loot give up as tribute by the High Cleric Kareem, one of them requires the attention and special talents that belong to the Master of the Past and Present, Sephiroth. The Herald of the New Dark God hands over a scrap of parchment that has the true name of a demon prince; namely Ebulon a former chief general of Graz’zt that was slain by the Demogorgon and tossed in a Well of Darkness on layer seventy-three of the Abyss, Sephiroth is given the quest to secure the release of Ebulon and to bring the demon prince back to the Fiendholme so the New Dark God can corrupt and transform Ebulon in the image of the New Dark God. While this might be a quest suited for an army of adventures, Sephiroth the Lich will handle this personally.

Sephiroth starts by teleporting himself to a plane of existence that he had not traveled to in ages, maybe in another life, definitely in time long past. The world of Abeir-Toril is home to some of the most fantastic cities and has spawned some of the multiverses greatest champions. But Sephiroth seeks not grand cities or epic adventures. No the Arch-Lich seeks one of his own kind: another lich.

And that dear reader brings us to Larloch, once sorcerer-king of Netheril, who created a powerful artifact that allowed him to summon and control beings from other worlds. This evil power eventually led Larloch down the path to lichdom and survived the fall the Netheril Empire to this day in the dungeon levels below the now ruined Warlock’s Tower. The story goes that hundreds of adventures have sought glory under the Warlock’s Tower to never return. They say dear reader that only Szass Tam was able to survive a trip under the Warlock’s Tower to emerge with an item known as Death Moon Orb. But they, and as you know dear reader you should never trust a they, but they say that Szass Tam while the mightiest of the Red Wizards of Thay cut a deal with Larloch that would result in Szass Tam becoming a lich under Larloch’s control.

Szass Tam tried to use Death Moon Orb to steal all the power of the tanari’ri Eltab, Lord of the Hidden Layer but was defeated by some of those epic adventures of Toril that I mentioned before dear reader. While Szass Tam was defeated, the Death Moon Orb was not recovered and believed to be back in the possession of Larloch. And that dear reader is where our hero Sephiroth comes in.

Though few will know the true dark bargain made the story that another survived a trip below the Warlock’s Tower will slip out. And most importantly dear reader that the second “person” was another lich and that for the second time Death Moon Orb was given out to use. What deal did Sephiroth cut to gain access to Death Moon Orb? What long term consequences will arise from dealing with a lich? And not to say what happens when Graz’zt finds out that his friend Ebulon has been freed only to be imprisoned again by the New Dark God?

Well dear reader these are questions for a higher power, concerns for those of have the stomach for it. Is that to say dear reader that you cannot handle the grim adventures of Sephiroth? And the answer is a simple yes, yes the adventures of Sephiroth and the New Dark God are going places that no mortal man care dare imagine.

Random Bits of Information

After the wizard Vecna, the next great wizard to rise to power was Zagig, whom then would be passed by Mordenkainen.

It is not know how but at some point the witch Iggwilv had Graz'zt under her control for awhile.

Lloth the Spider Queen always keeps an emissary in the court of the Dark Prince Graz'zt and the court of Iuz the Evil and in open trade cities like Sigil and Skullport.

The witch known as Baga Yaga raised two adopted daughters who turned out very different from one another: Elena the Fair and Natasha the Dark.

While the City of Greyhawk is a center of economic activity; the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk are a center of adventuring activity. Hundreds if not thousands have came over the years to seek their treasure in the ruins and few have come back. But those that do come back usually have enough treasure to keep inspiring more to make the pilgrimage.

Zagig was once mayor of Greyhawk; a position now held by the wizard Mordenkainen.

It is know that at some point Zagig was betrayed by his apprentice, a female sorcerers known as Tasha. (as in Tasha's Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter)

The Dark Prince Graz'zt had two children with a witch known as Iggwilv: Iuz the Evil and a vampire known as Drelzna. While Iuz the Evil is a demi-god with an empire, Drelzna was slain by good aligned adventures.

In Zagig's quest for ultimate magical power, Zagig would create a means to capture nine demi-gods. If not for Iuz the Evil's undying rage; the demi-gods might have been held by Zagig forever.

At one point Zagig had his apprentice summoned and bound an Abyssal Lord.

Iuz the Evil has seems to have an odd alliance with the Drow of the Underdark.

The witch Iggwilv can be found in her private manor somewhere in Gray Wastes of Hades.

The Company of Seven was Zagig's personal adventuring party. The other six where: Keoghtom, Murlynd, Nolzur, Heward, Tasha, and Quaal.

It is believed that Zagig lives on as a servant to Boccob, the Lord of All Magic.