Kyardal Wynterbear for DnD 5e

Born of frost and ice, Kyardal is a tall and imposing woman.  She stands at eight-four and has pale skin tinged with blue.  Her hair is long and unruly and as white as the snow that she walks on.  Her eyes are a pale blue that is set within a scar that runs down over her left eye and down her face where a second starts below her eye.  She is half frost giant, though crossing a giant with a human is too hard to contemplate.  Her mother died in childbirth and she was raised by her widowed aunt and cousin.  She lives in a permanent village of Clan Ice Bear, Kyrheim, in the ruins of small keep.  The only thing that still stands is the shell of a tower that overlooks Kyrheim.  There her aunt Vecca runs the only shop in Kyrheim that sells sundry goods, food and furs as well as a few weapons and armor.  Kyardal is a skilled hunter and she can be seen dropping off at her aunt's place piles of furs, skins and meat that she has caught when they are in season.  Kyardal technically the last of Wynterbear tribe.  The Wynterbears were long regarded as mighty warriors.  She stands head and shoulders above and is a powerful warrior, one of the best that the Ice Bear have, but because she is a woman, she is looked down upon.  No one in the village however messes with her or her aunt as her wrath can be terrible.

Because of her heritage she is immune to the cold and can be seen wandering in clothing that would freeze normal people. She commonly wields a sword commissioned by her Vecca when she became fourteen and already as taller than any man and more powerful.  She has other weapons that include a huge spear, a massive battle axe and a great bow.  Her tower that she has partially rebuilt contains the treasures and trophies of countless battles within and out of her Clan.  Because she is a woman, as well as a great warrior, her life has become lonely.  Hani, her cousin and Vecca are is the only one who knows how lonely and does what she can.

Kyardal Wynterbear of Clan Ice Bear

Large Humanoid (Human, Giant)

Armor Class 18 (dex, con and shield)

Hit Points 140 (12d12+48)

Speed 40'

Str 21 (+5)  Dex 15 (+2)  Con 19 (+4)  Int 11 (+0)  Wis 14 (+2)  Cha 15 (+2)

Skills Athletics +8, Intimidation +8, Perception +5, Survival +5

Saving Throws Strength +8, Constitution +7

Damage Immunity Cold

Damage Resistance All damage save Psychic damage

Senses Perception +5

Languages Common, Orcish, V'tar

Challenge Rating 6

Reckless. At the start of its turn, she can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against her have advantage until the start of its next turn.

Unarmed Defense.  While she is not wearing any armor, her Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier.  She can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Actions

Multi-attack.  Make two attacks with her weapons

Large +1 Sword.  Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5', one target.  Hit: 13 (2d8+6) points of slashing damage.  17 (2d10+6) points of slashing damage if used two handed.

Large Long Bow.  Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d8 + 2) piercing damage 

Notes

• Her damage resistance is due to following the Bear Totem.
• She came about do to an RP online.  I liked the character so much, so it wasnt really much of a bother to set her as a V'tar and I made her part of the Lodge of the Ice Bear.  
• It was strange how the last of the Wynterbears died.  It was a frost giant raid that basically ended them and she has developed an acute hatred for the them.  Whenever the snows howl deep, she is often seen on watch for the giants standing watch over Kyrheim.  Little does she know, the giants were working with a band of exiled V'tar.  The exiled V'tar are from many lodges but the leader is Hokar the Stripped, formerly of the Frost Tigers. 

The World of Eave; The Barony of Ysigdal and the V'tar Clans

wall.alphacoders.com

To the north of the frozen plains and marches of the western edges of the Eavelan Continent is a land of fjords and icy forests is where that the Barony of Ysigdal lies.  It is strange mix of the old and new as when the age of Nerath ruled the land.  Nerath was in battle with the V'tar barbarians of Ysigdal for generations, ever since they first encountered one another.  Nerath conquered the barbarians and settled in its place a baron to rule over the people. 

Well over two-hundred years ago, well after Nerath's pinnacle of power, Rosilar Ulsham was a commander of a Nerathian Legion who was getting seriously beat by V'taran barbarians.  After the Battle of The Andian Plains, she was the highest ranking officer left alive, so she spent the next several months doing a holding action to save herself and her men from being destroyed for reinforcements were not coming for Nerath was busy with other wars at the time.  But they were trapped and she spent nearly a year hiding her forces in the mountains and forests of the north.  It was then Rosilar and the remains her legions came across the remains of a barbarian village of the Rime Owls, that still had the attackers within it.  The attackers were V'taran warriors who feel under the sway of things not of Eave.  One of the survivors was Klee Frostfox, a novice V'taran Witch and from her Rosilar had learned that the barbarians were using Witches in a vile ritual to make them nearly unbeatable.  A peace was brokered between the Nerath and the Free Peoples of the V'tar.

The barbarians were not always this way, fighting together and warlike.  For many years before the coming of power of Horgriss and Morth, the Empire of Nerath and the V'tar barbarians fought in battles that usually ended in stalemates.  However when Horgriss Wyrmslayer, the Butcher of Khomr'dum, Wolfskinner and High King of Wyrm and V'taran people, was advised by a an incredibly powerful shaman by the name Morth.  Morth was a powerful shaman who became corrupted when he uncovered what he called an ancient ritual that would grant them the power to crush their enemies.  What is in truth he uncovered was a ritual in which infused part of Far Realms magics onto the noble warriors of the V'tar.  It took away their fear, their conscience and made them into ravening beasts slaved to their basest of hearts desire and evil thoughts.  They took to doing depraved things, marking their flesh with the marks of the Far Realms beasts, mutilating themselves, raping, maiming, torturing, butchering and engaging in cannibalism.  The V'tar lands became a vast abattoir of their evil deeds, the worst that can come of these once proud people.  If it wasn’t for the incredible strength and charisma of Horgriss, the V'tar warriors would have turned on themselves and ripped themselves apart.  The V'tar Witches recognized the coming of the Xioi.  For they are terrible beasts for the Witches were the ones who first drove it back to the darkness in which it came.  Morth took great delight in hunting down and destroying any Witch that he found.  It was only due to the actions of Commander Rosilar, the Witch Klee and their solid companions did they kill Morth and Horgriss and put an end to Xioi's machinations.

The Lodge of the Wyrm were the High Kings of the V'tar people, but ever since the defeat of Horgriss, there hasn’t been a High King.  When Nerath was in power, they had an Emperor, but now they have a Baron/Baroness.  The Thanes of the Tribes nominate or by contest of arms (that usually don’t end up so deadly) chose an Ur-Thane to make the decisions for the Clan on the whole.  They hold council in the city of Wynterfrost where the Baroness, bound by law when the Barony was created, breaks all ties.  The Baroness also can mobilize the V'taran people for war and provides for the general defense of the Clans, a mighty feat considering an integrated army of all Clansmen.  The Baroness only has to remind the Clans to uphold the honor of the V'tar and the Compact with the now defunct Nerath.  Many of the warriors that are in the Ysigdal army are female, for they are the most loyal to command.  Unfortunately that makes them handling certain Clans and Tribes rather hard. 

It took a couple more years and due to the compact between Nerath and the V'tar barbarians, it was all formalized into the Barony of Ysigdal.  In the glory days of Nerath all the V'tar belonged to and were under sway of the Emperor.  They follow the Barony, because it is not unlike following a High King, though the Barony does not place as much  In the current days, it is not so, as the Barony has shrunk.  The barbarians who live there don’t mind.  Once every five years during the Interim Day they have a grand moot.  Held on the Island of Vi'kel a short distance from shore; it is a sacred island.  No permanent settlements are there on Vi'kel.  It is a heavily wooded island and rife with caves and every five years the island comes alive with merriment, food, challenges, contests and sacred rites are performed by the shamans.  The Witches come down from Ysigdal on their Witchboats to confer with the clan shamans.  The Moot last for week but that doesn’t stop people coming in months in advance.  At the Moot, the next Clan is chosen to host the Moot and it is a great honor to be chosen by a cavalcade of shamans.  All the Clans make an attendance to the Moot, even the Snow Lions come from far away.  These days, the Moot is the only thing that keeps the Clans together.

Rosilar and Klee were lovers and by magics (an easy enough thing to do), Rosilar gave birth to children.   The Barony has been matriarchical due to the war and Clan Snowstorm Fox.  The Baroness if advised by a council of Witches as well as the Ur-Thanes of the other clans.  The current Baroness is Isandral Ulsham, once a powerful warrior, but now looking to retire.  She has two female children.  The older one is Aerkal, and she follows the way of Snowstorm Fox and is a powerful warrior.  Ekidhal, not out of her teens and she has a touch of magic that runs strong in her blood.  They have two brothers, the eldest of the four is a man named  Rümnar and the youngest of the four is young man still in his teens named Abulard.  Both of the young men are growing up to be fine warriors though Abulard is something of a musician as well.  Rümnar is in second in charge of the guard for Wynterfrost.  The main person in charge is a tall woman by the name of Vrianith Whitebear from Clan Ice Bear.  With a patch over her left eye, she came to Wynterfrost because of the freedoms she finds here.  She has lead the Baronial army for several years now and is well liked and well feared for her prowess in battle. 

The Nathal Forest is the great forest and forested hills of the North and it lies across the river from Wynterfrost.  It is home to the Rime Owl and holds Ysigdal itself.  Ysigdal is the spiritual heart of the V'tar people.  It is shielded from those who do not revere the ancient Primal Spirits and that is why try as he might, Horgriss was not able to strike at the heart of Ysigdal and destroy it during the war for great Ysigdal could not be seen because of the magicks so wielded by the Witches of the time.  Ysigdal is a great tree, the only one of its kind.  The thing is, Ysigdal is depicted as this glorious, ancient tree but in reality, it looks to be nothing more than a sapling of alien origin that the witches tend to diligently, for the strange and nutty fruits that it gives. 

The ancient fjords and great water of Rimedal, the great North Sea is no longer connected to Adarac Ocean for there is a great glacier that in times past blocked the way to the sea.  Called Morth's Curse, strange evils lurk in the snowy fields and the clans are fearful to tread there.  Morth's Curse lays over the lands of the Wyrm Clan and the Winter Wolves stand guard, their hatred of Horgriss knows no bounds.  Morth's Curse is one of the few things that frightens a harded V'tar warrior.  Due to Morth's Curse blocking off the way to the sea (and putting to rest the many fears of a V'tar raid), Rimedal has seen a great increase of its water level and many of the coastal flats have flooded.  About half of the Baronies arable land was flooded and the food that was grown was lost causing famine.  One of the first duties that Rosilar had to do in the early years of her rule was to ship in much grain from the storehouses of Nerath.  Proving herself yet again to the V'taran people.

Ysigdal is still a violent and bloody place but it still holds such beauty and mystery.  As such, there are many dangers that hold the prospects of fame and glory.  

• The son the V'taran Thane belonging the Flurry Ram Elsgarth Ramsbottom, is engaged to a mighty storm giantess princess Charhetta Stormbringer.  This was made by the Thanes from both sides to cement a lofty goals of both sides.
• Khrogan Wolfstrider of Clan Winter Wolf, comes from a long line of great heroes and Thanes.  He was leading a scouting party on Morth's Curse and as such found the remains of one of the foul shaman's totems.  Khrogan was the only one who came out, weaponless and half-dead claiming of strange beasts that killed him and his men.  The next day he was found dead even though he should have survived from his wounds.
• There is growing consensus among some of the Ur-Thanes that they don’t need the Barony.  They are somewhat angry or just fed up with the peace and prosperity that has come over the land.  They are somewhat split as they are still others that see Barony as a good thing for the V'tar.  Houldun of the Clan of the Frost Tiger is the leader of the V'tar who wish to leave.

The World of Eave: V'taran People

[Playtest]

V'tar (human)

"I have never encountered a people who were fierce as well kind, though the way most of them treated women definitely left something to be desired."

-Lady Rosilar Ulsham

The V'taran people are a diverse race of humans that have settled the Northern Reaches of the Eavlan Continent.  They are a hearty breed of people that still hold true to the ancient primal religions.  They are divided into a variety of Clans based on the totem animal that the clan reveres.  They are further divided into a variety of tribes.  They used to be a heavily paternal, women having little to no rights save for the Witches that have a near mythical standing in their society. 

Now there was a couple of other clans.  The Wyrm, the Kraken, the Sleet Elk, the Frozen Seals and the Hail Muskox.  During the wars with Nerath, they were destroyed either in the fighting by the Wyrm when they would not join them.  Many of the Clans did join them at first, mainly out of fear and did not turn against the barbarian horde when after Lady Rosilar saved the Witch Klee.

V'tar Witches are an all-female cadre of wizards.  Other arcane spell casters, sorcerers and some warlocks.  They are usually tested by the Witches and if they are found worthy, they are taken in by them to renounce their Clan and tribe.  They serve all the V'taran people, for they are usually called upon to settle disputes by Clans and tribes.  They are usually protected by an all-female group of warriors, the Shield Wardens.

There are thirteen different Clans.  Each Clan reveres a particular totem animal that they gain their strength from.  Each tribe gains a bonus to according to the totem that they revere.  Other than the totem gift, they are just the same as normal humans save they may lose their totem gift if they displease their totem. 

• Blizzard Eagle are a semi-nomadic tribe that mainly lives in the Vale of Hyrak within the Barony, with high mountainous walls amid the rivers that run thick and wide.  They live by fishing as well as foraging.
• Totem gift: they gain advantage on Perception skill tests that deal with sight.
• Flurry Ram, noble and majestic they live in small families in high cliffs of the mountains and because they are so remote to get too, they have a near mythical quality about them.  They have in recent years become allies with a clan of storm giants, supposedly due to a wedding between a prince of the Ram and a storm giantess.
• Totem gift: as long as they do not wear heavy armor, they gain advantage on Athletics checks when climbing.
• Frost (Saber-toothed) Tiger are a savage people whose male warriors as a rite of passage go out from the tribe for a year to prove themselves before coming back to be anointed a full member of the tribe.  They are still a paternal tribe and women are not that well known.  If they do not have any reason for coming back, the female warriors do not come back.
• Totem gift: they gain a +1 on all damage that they do.
• Glacial Otter who, like their totem are excellent swimmers and very family oriented and build excellent ships.  They like to swim in the ice cold waters.  In fact, every year when the ice melts, they have a contest to swim their fjords.  In the capital of their clan, hundreds of naked people of the Otter clan to swim their fjord and the winner is showered with prizes.  The ships that they build are not for the oceans, for they are built for the Northern Sea, a large, landlocked sea.  Ever since the age of Nerath, a great glacier came in and cut off the Northern Sea from the Adarac Ocean.  The Witches often commission the Icebound Otters to make the base for their Witch Boats.  They live in the Barony.
• Totem gift: as long as they do not wear medium or heavy armor, the gain an advantage on Athletics checks for swimming. 
• Hoarfrost Wolverine are like the Frost Tigers and they have a rivalry going back generations.  Like their totem, they are some of the fiercest warriors and many great heroes are found.
• Totem gift: when they rage, they may rage for an additional 2 rounds.  The Wolverine totem has been known to grant this to non-barbarians.
• Ice Bear, silent and taciturn and powerful warriors.  They live a semi-nomadic lifestyle and are master foragers, and can survive on things that would make other people sick.
• Totem gift: they gain advantage on all Survival checks.
• Rime Owl are a mysterious tribe who live in the great woods.  Silent and deadly.  The Hallow, their main home and hunting ground is within the Barony though the keep their autonomy.  They have a secret lair of the Witches that lies deep within the forest, Ysigdal.  Closely aligned with the Snowstorm Foxes, they are the most mystical of V'taran people.
• Totem gift: As long as they do not wear heavy armor, they gain advantage on Stealth checks.
• Slush Boar are a rude people, but they are strict adheres to honor.  They are usually what people describe as barbarians, mean, rude and powerful warriors. 
• Totem gift: if they go down, they only have to make two death saves instead of three.
• Snow Lion are the most technologically advanced tribe as the Snow Lion are now known as the Theocracy of the Sun.  They are getting away from their barbarous past, but there are still the hold outs that still believe in the old ways.
• Totem gift: they may choose any Skill to become proficient in, being highly skilled.  This is this the new gift granted to the followers of the Snow Lions.
• Snowfall Lynx, quiet and stealthy the Lynx's are consummate hunters.  They live in the hills and valleys of the south mountains that overlooks the Andian Plains.
• Totem gift: As long as they do not wear heavy armor, they gain advantage on Stealth checks.
• Snowstorm Fox the only matriarchical tribe.  Lives mainly live in Wynterfrost, the capital of the Barony of Ysigdal.  They possess a knack for diplomacy.  They are a small clan that has gained a great clan status due to their actions during the Nerath War.
• Totem advantage: gain advantage on Perception that deal with hearing.
• Tundra Mammoth.  They are a hearty people of the north, living near great geothermal vents in the ice.  They are big people given to excess.  Mainly lives in their cities that they have claimed in the north.  Two towns and a countless villages.  They are part of the Barony and the largest clan.
• Totem gift: they're powerful and gain a +4 to their strength when calculating their lifting and carrying capacity (PHB 176).
• Winter Wolf live in nomadic tribes for their home was destroyed by the Wyrm clan during the Nerath War.  They were nearly destroyed and as such they are secretive about their people to outsiders.  They guard against the horrors that they suffered by the Wyrm always on the lookout for the evil that they brought.  They are a noble people and have strong warriors.
• Totem gift: gain advantage on Perception tests that deal with smell.

Stuff of Note

• Shield Wardens are mainly fighters, though barbarians and rangers are not unknown.

Stuff to Build

• V'tar Shamans, based on druids
• V'tar Witches, based on wizards
• New backgrounds

Threadbare RPG

Threadbare RPG by Stephanie Bryant.  Kickstarter is until June 8th.  Get it, it is pretty cool.

The Citystates: Statues of Ganimyre

The Statues of Ganimyre

The Statues of Ganimyre are a sight to behold.  Along the Rhane River for  just north of Caelix are the remains of eighty-four statues that rise up some hundred-twenty feet in the air made of white stone.  They are the Emperors of Bael Turath and these are their tombs as well as gigantic ego-machines.  In the days of Bael Turath, these statues were painted by the masses of slaves that used by the tieflings.  Now out of the hundred statues, only twenty-three remain standing.  There is something about the stone or the enchantments placed on it, but the thirty-seven seem untouched by the ravages of time.  Even the statues have fallen or destroyed look pristine having been toppled due to wars, undermined or pulled down for the stone and to look for the treasures that are rumored to be buried deep inside the chest.   Ancient legends say that some or all of them  are humungous golems that were under control of the Emperor.

Caelix would like to have them under their control.  The current Emperor Caelix IX, of the Shadowskulls has just put down a slave rebellion and cleared his ziggurat fortress.  However he is stymied by Ganimyre Twin-Tailed, the Queen of the Medusae.  She was a beautiful tiefling woman, the favored concubine of the Emperor of ancient Bael Turath.  When the Emperor died, as was the custom of the time, she was one of the hundreds who was buried inside.  But she was not ready to die for years before, she begged and pleaded and prayed to Suless, the Whore Goddess, to grant her beauty forever.  For years, she was a beautiful concubine, the envy of many among the court of Emperor.  She found out she was immortal when she awoke in the darkness of tomb for Suless granted her wish.  It was many years she was entrapped in the tomb that she became quite insane for when she was finally free of the tomb by robbers seeking treasures, she turned them,  to stone.  Bael Turath was no more.  She was cast adrift in the ruins of the great city where factions and gangs ruled the land.  She looked up and the statue of the Emperor looming above her.

Over the centuries, she has amassed a loyal following of beasts and men.  She wears a great horned mask so enchanted as to let walk among her people without petrifying them and has enchanted other masks so other medusae can follow her.  Seven other medusae follow her and each of them have a particular mask.  A saber-toothed cat, a blood hawk, a human girl, a snow lion, an octopus, a serpent and a dragon.  Each of the masks denotes something about the medusae who wears it. 

Caelix has been stymied by Ganimyre.  She in her insanity thinks that even though Caelix is trying to bring back the glory of Bael Turath, the line she figures ended with her Emperor.  Caelix IX has no claim on the glories of ancient days, a mere pretender to the Black Onyx Throne.

Sebastien Cirrus

GANIMYRE TWIN-TAILED, the Queen of the Medusae

Medium monstrosity, lawful evil

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)

Hit Points 178 (21d8 +84)

Speed 30ft.

STR 10 (+0)  DEX 15 (+2)  CON 19 (+4)  INT 12 (+1)  WIS 13 (+1)  CHA 20 (+5)

Skills Deception +9, Insight +5, Perception +5, Stealth +6

Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Common

Challenge 9 (5000 XP)

Petrifying Gaze. When a creature that can see the medusa's eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of the medusa, the medusa can force it to make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw if the medusa isn't incapacitated and can see the creature.  If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the creature is instantly petrified. Otherwise, a creature that fails the save begins to turn to stone and is restrained. The restrained creature must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn, becoming petrified on a failure or ending the effect on a success. The petrification lasts until the creature is freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic.

Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw at the start of its turn. If the creature does so, it can't see the medusa until the start of its next turn, when it can avert its eyes again. If the creature looks at the medusa in the meantime, it must immediately make the save.

If the medusa sees itself reflected on a polished surface within 30 feet of it and in an area of bright light, the medusa is, due to its curse, affected by its own gaze.

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The medusa makes either three melee attacks one with its snake hair and two with her tail stingers.

Snake Hair. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft ., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6)

poison damage.

Tail Stinger.  Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., on creature.  Hit: 5 (1d6+2) piercing damages plus 21 (6d6) poison damage.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

Ganimyre can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn . Ganimyre regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

• Attack.  Ganimyre can make one attack with either her Snake Hair or Tail Stinger.
• Animate Statue.  Either she can animate a current statue or create one from the earth and dust around the fight.  She can animate a statue with 30 feet of herself and it can make a single attack.  +6 to hit a single target within 5 feet for 18 (4d6+4) points of bludgeoning damage.  The statue then then either freezes back into place or crumbles back into a pile of rubble.
• Forced Look (2 actions).  One target within 30 feet of Ganimyre are affected by her petrifying gaze as if they have seen Ganimyre.  If a creature naturally blind, they are not so affected.

LAIR ACTIONS

When fighting inside its lair, the Emperor's Tomb in which she was buried in, Ganimyre can invoke the ambient magic to take lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Ganimyre takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:

• The statues move or are created from the rubble and dust of other victims to surround a character and prevents the character from moving by either grabbing them or blocking the path.  A target cannot move or be moved for the round.
• She may cast a wall of stone that last for one minute and doesn’t require concentration.
• The area for thirty feet around Ganimyre is littered with rubble form her past victims that make the ground rough terrain for her enemies to move through.

REGIONAL EFFECTS

The region of the Ganimyre's Statues lair is warped by her presence.  With the area of Ganimyre's Statues are the areas along the Rhane River in which the twenty-three remaining statues still stand, roughly a mile from the river and fifteen miles from the Emperor's Tomb in which she was buried. 

• The area of Ganimyre's Statues it seems that all the statues will stare at the party members.
• Mirrors and other reflective surfaces are clouded and scarred, so much so that they cannot be seen in or reflected upon.

The regional effects will remain in play for 1d10 days after Ganimyre's death.

The Citystates: Junkers and the Rubbish Pile

Christopher Clark

The Rubbish Pile is a huge pile of rubbish, trash and refuse that is near Restenford.  Restenford uses this huge junkyard to dispose of their trash as it is several square miles in area with piles of garbage.  There is what used to be a thieves guild, the Junkers there, but they have turned a dirty existence into a profitable one, taking all the garbage that the colony city can spew out, from human waste to whole buildings.

Because of it, the Junkers have grown and they have as many people as a good sized village.  They have taken an old idea from the days of Bael Turath and have gone and captured several otyughs to eat the garbage.  Now they have done something else, as they have been known to dispose of bodies for the local thieves guilds.  They have one queen otyugh, a massive creature who gives birth.  On occasion when she is hungry, the young to not get out in time before she devours them.  But she sits in the middle of the Pile like a giant antlion, devouring anything that the Junkers throw her way.

The Junkers have been around since Nerath fell.  They are as big as a town but still run things like a thieves guild.  The guildmaster is human male named Rigo Carnino.  He has four lieutenants, a Asgorath (tiefling male), Bronhil (dwarf female), Verstane (human male) and his daughter Maraha (half-elf female).  They have countless other people who live and work for them and as such are almost considered a small city in their own right.  They do the hauling trash thing but also protection, kidnapping and they charge exorbitant rates to hide bodies, dispose of bodies and escorting people to and through their lands.  

  

JUNKER

Medium humanoid (any race), any alignment

Armor Class 12 (leather, dex)

Hit Points 11 (2d8 + 2)

Speed 30ft.

STR 12 (+1)  DEX 12 (+1)  CON 13 (+1)  INT 10 (+0)  WIS 10 (+0)  CHA 9 (-1)

Skills Athletics +3

Senses passive Perception 10

Languages any one language (usually Common)

Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)

ACTIONS

Club. Melee Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4+1) bludgeoning damage.

This is your average Junker who hauls the trash and hides the bodies.

The Citystates: Hanali

The Citystates, an overview

Lying on the banks of the Rhane River is the remains of the largest city that has ever been seen of the world of Eave.  A massive city the size of current day LA or Tokyo, that covers hundreds of square miles and estimates put it holding over four million people though that number is still contested.  Now a days the whole thing is collectively and commonly known and The Citystates.  Most of the city are overrun with ruins and monsters and is the largest cemetery in known Eave.  The Citystates have been here continually building for millennia.  During the Bael Turath Empire, the tieflings expanded their power and the city expanded to its current size.  Great buildings were erected and massive parks where planned.  The Plains of Marro were one such park, the greatest in all the lands of Eave.  It was after the great war between Turath and Arkhosia that the great city fell to conflict, civil war and saw its eventual downfall.

There are miles upon miles of monster-infested ruins, but that does not mean that people have left, though it makes life a little hard.  Some settlements in the ruins are completely walled off, like Hanali and Caelix.  Life inside the walls are goes on and are good.  Life outside the walls can be quite short, filled with monsters and bandits and worse.  Under the city, a vast cave system that lies miles upon miles runs under The Citystates and goes very deep.  The city was built upon continuously and some archaeological teams have discovered that there are fifteen different cities that lie beneath the streets in certain areas.  Powerful thieves guilds that have claimed great stretches of tunnels and chambers in a maze of trap filled death.

It has been many more millennia since the war and only a dozen cities remain, walled off from the rest of the ruins.  A dozen citystates now claim rulership over the districts that once made up the city.  Slowly, the city is being set to right.

Hanali

Hanali is a large city run by Daecis Half-Elven.  Daecis, also known as the Glass Wizard, is a powerful spellcaster, a cleric of Corellon and warrior of great skill.  He has ruled over Hanali ever since Nerath fell, over a hundred years ago.  He does not look that old even with white hair and goatee that he keeps neatly trimmed.  He has a small Magic Conservatory and over the years has trained many great and powerful spellcasters (examples).  He is a skilled tactician and has ruled over his city and strengthened it to not to be trifled with.  Deacis does has not taken another wife since the death of his first well over a hundred years ago, but that has not stopped him from taking mistresses from time to time.  He has a number of progeny though, though none from his mistresses, all from his wife.  Currently, at home, he is watching some six great-grandchildren  The oldest is Daelia Stormfrost, a 16-year old magical prodigy with the families noted white hair.  Daelia has somewhat of a rebellious streak in her, but is generally a good kid.

Hanali is walled off and continually manned.  The General of the Guard is a half-orc warrior name Gualar Glaivestrike, a huge man, almost seven feet tall who uses a glaive in combat with great skill.  Because he is so large and he has a ill-mannered bearing, many think of Gualar to be a brute, but that is far from the truth as he is glib and very convincing with his incredibly deep voice.  The city is a cosmopolitan city.  All races are welcome within their walls, and as long as they obey the laws of the city.  Besides Gualar, the laws of the city are overseen by the red-robed and staff armed Justicars.  They are a small order of guardsmen of many races, that bring law and order to the people of Hanali.  These minor judges are set up in every quarter of the city and people bring to them their disputes from grievances of merchants to thieves caught by the guard.  Higher offences are taken care of by one of the three High Justicars who handle the big cases such treason and murder.  Mylon Highscale (dragonborn male), Hydee Wiseacre (halfling female) and Jordaan Spree (human male) are the current High Justicars.  The army of Hanali isnt a true army.  Part of the city guard, the army is several Stands (100 men) of beings trained in city fighting and guerilla tactics.  With one Stand divided into Fists (5 men teams, so 20) of specialists that include mages, priests and specialized warriors.  The army usually guards merchant caravans and takes out large gangs of monsters that have taken up residence near Hanali.  Many great heroes of Hanali have come from the many Fists that make up the Specialist Cadre.

People often grow their own food in small gardens that they have, a practice that has gone on to many of the other cities.  Food is one of the many items that the people will have stored and many people in a particular quarters in the city store any extra food in communal storehouses that the Justicars have in their offices.  Merchants can make money growing and bring in food.  The Rhane River splits into three tributaries within the area that Hanali controls.  The northern tributary is known at the Eiker River, and flows out to the Adarac Ocean and the rest of the Shattered Coast.  It is the only tributary that doesn't flow through Restenford, a colony city of the Emaan Empire.  The Empire has a very strong navy and due to a variety of contracts, the Empire doesn't blockade The Eiker.  They have a seriously guarded highway that goes south to The Plains of Marro, where it skirts the dangerous plains and continues south and out of The Citystates.  Hanali controls four Roadside Stations that act as mini strongholds to protect the many travelers that pass through The Citystates.  The largest one crosses the river to the south that splits off the Rhane at the Cathedral of Erathis, The Pretkel River.  Called Griffonstone, it host a large stable of hippogriffs (and a smaller number of actual griffons) that are used to scout the highway through the other three castles as well as all the way back to Hanali.  A full Stand and two Fists of specialists guard Griffonstone at all times.  Ten Fists of the army guard each of the other Roadside Stations. 

Other cities to come

• Jurkenfell is a martial city that lies in the western part of the Citystates.  It is ruled by Hydankol the , a powerful hobgoglin warlord.
• Restenford is a colony city that is claimed by the Emaan Empire.  Restenford was the sight of Nerath's expansion into the area.
• Caelix is a city run by teiflings seeking the greater glories of Bael Turath.  It is run by a cruel and evil Emperor Caelix IV for whom the city is named for. 
• The Grand Cathedral of Erathis lies in the center of The Citystates.  They are very powerful and seek to return The Citystates to their full status.
• Osgath controls the Rhane River in and out if The Citystates to the east.
• Burkan is a poor citystate being ruled by The Islands as a buffer state to combat the growing shadow of Jurkenfell.
• The Islands is a large section of the North River tributary of the Rhane.  A vastly rich citystate.
• The Tower of Zarphan.  A small city ruled by wizard of considerable skill who conjured demons to do his bidding.  Controls the entrance to the North River.
• Nhepru is a city that is controlled by an aberration of great power, the real evil of The Citystates.
• Corduha is a partially sunken city that is ruled by a cabal of sahaugin.
• The Curse, originally known as Highmount is a leper colony.

Notes

• Make the Urban Ranger for the specialist cadre.