Aristocles — Roleplayer Guild

@Hanleth

Sounds good. If you don't mind, I have a few things to ask to make sure we are on the same page here:

Did you want Eleon to be the main setting, or as a realm from which one or more of the players come from?

I can play Gad if you want, but did you want to play an orc female or someone else? Should there be orcs at all?

Do you have more details on the runner, if you want me to play Gad as a runner? 

Did you have anything else you wanted to ask me? 

As for my ideas relating to your four, I have some. 

- Eleon's mind-control worms could be the result of a magical experiment gone wrong, possibly as the result of attempts at making a weapon of some sort.

- Not much to say about the second one, with Aaron. It is fairly basic next to the others, but maybe he could be worked in somehow as a side character, or someone looking to find meaning in his life again after losing his family.

- The celibate head of family thing would be considered incomprehensible to the orcs (should we use them in the form I described), as would anything other than a family involving a male and at least one female. Yes, the orcs (as I described them) are polygamous to a degree, but only the higher-status males have the ability to support such a large family which would come with two or move wives. I would NOT play a gay or bisexual character, though. It's just not something I find appealing at all. Gad and a woman named Lois might work. Is anyone actually named Lois? Lois Lane? Any name for a woman would be fine. As for the runner part, we'd have to explain how he would have been captured for an arena match.

- As for the modern one, I'm not sure how well it would fit. We could work in a drunkard or something. Still, the attitude of that woman might fit for the orc "princess" who chafes at social expectations for orc females. She probably works much of that aggression out in the arena. 

How's that so far?

I'll have more info on the dracons later, but for now, here's one of their cities. 

Minbenthac:

Minbenthac is a city in the vast desert of the  dracon lands. whose name is derived from the Draconic words for "Item Land"; the city is named as such because of its gigantic marketplace and the fact that many exotic goods can be found here.

The city itself is divided into many districts and neighborhoods, many of which have their own distinct character and function. While many have names which are designated as "district", many others are known by a different kind of name.

Gold District

Named for its trade in gold and jewelry, this part of the city is a marketplace for precious metals and rare gems. Activities in this sector are not limited to making finery, but banks, pawnshops, and moneychangers are also present. The city's mint is not located here, however, as the city makes its coins in a more secure location. As the district became more developed, activities have shifted more towards banking and insurance, and offices which deal with the management of money now outnumber jewelry workshops and similar stores.

The largest private bank in the city is known as the Golden House. While it is owned by a group of investors, the one with the most ownership runs the company. Currently, the largest stake in the bank is split between Talon, the second-richest dracon in Minbenthac (barely second to the king, who is only ahead of him because of taxes paid to him by Talon), and a second company formed by a group of other rich investors which only exists to own shares in the bank so as to prevent Talon from controlling it entirely. A large minority share is held by the king as well. The balance of control of the Aurixquellar bank is precarious, with an uneasy agreement between Talon and the major shareholders.

The agreement is such that the bank's major operations are split into three parts. First is the chancellor of the bank being the nominal head of the company. The chancellor is appointed by the king, and has some power of appointments and must sign off on the decisions made by others, but otherwise has little power. The chancellor's decisions can be vetoed by the shareholders of the bank, provided their stake is equal to at least 50% of the total amount of shares. Second is the chief of operations, who makes decisions involving the financial products and services offered by the bank, and can set interest rates on loans, determine who is eligible for a loan, and can decide how and when each of the branches of the bank operate. Third is the somewhat confusingly titled bank manager, who doesn't manage the bank so much as he negotiates major deals with big customers, and is primarily responsible for personally overseeing and signing big investments, such as loaning money to the government, or financing a major private construction project.    

Iron District

This section of Minbenthac is the primary location for various metalworks, especially those which forge items of iron and steel. Many weaponsmiths are located here as well, along with foundries and smelters for various ores and metals. Ingots of common metals are sold in this part of the city as well.  

Also present in the iron district is the headquarters of the smithing guild, which attempts to influence the prices and quality of goods made of their metal. Legally, the government of Minbenthac can use price controls, and has done so in the past, but most of the time, the prices of these goods is allowed to rise and fall on the market. Unlike many other guilds in Minbenthac, the smithing guild has maintained some independence from the influence of the king and nobles, although their head has to be approved of by the crown, and any attempt to halt production of metal goods would see the government come down on and destroy the independence of the guild for sure.

City Catacombs

Many Dracon cities have catacombs to bury their dead, and Minbenthac is no exception. With entrances at several points throughout the city, the catacombs are not so much a district as they are a series of tunnels with tombs built into the walls. The dead are interred in catacombs and similar tombs because graveyards consume much-needed surface space in a city, and cremation often requires large amounts of wood or other fuel, which are scarce in the dracon lands.

Buried far below the city is said to be a crypt from ancient times, before the dracons were even created. The tomb buried this deep has been come to be known as "The Crypt Underneath", and is said to be a fantastic store of precious metals, gems, and magic items. Supposedly, the Crypt Underneath was the tomb of an ancient dragon king who died centuries if not millenia before the dracons were created, and that tunnels linking the catacombs and the crypt were built by one of the first kings of Minbenthac, but were forgotten when the city was almost destroyed in a major war over a thousand years ago.

Arena District

Unsurprisingly, this part of the city is named after the city's arena. Like all dracon cities of any size, the arena is a place where combatants fight for the entertainment of the citizens. In addition to the circular arena, this district also has support buildings for the arena, such as barracks for the fighters and granaries for the food that is sold to the spectators.

Magic District

This part of the city is the location of the city's magic college and several towers belonging to various magic orders, as well as shops which sell goods used by those of a magical persuasion. The college like about half of all such institutions in the dracons lands, is not an independent institution. This means that it is subject to the direct authority of the king and his laws, and has no privileges or exemptions in order to provide for a more free learning environment.

Among the many landmarks of this district is the Azure tower, a single building carved out of an unusual stone and teleported into the city many centuries ago, before there were magical wards to keep such a thing from happening. The origins of the Azure tower are still a mystery, but today the tower serves as the meeting place for various mid-level magic groups and as a place for mages from foreign lands to stay while visiting the city if they are on a tight budget.

Another sight in the magic district is crystal garden, where crystals grow in the shape of otherwise mundane flowers and plants. One can go to the garden and pick a ruby in the shape of a rose, or an emerald shaped like a blade of grass. The garden was created about two centuries ago by an archmage who wanted to leave behind an inheritance for his large family, and the garden continues to grow on his family's estate in the heart of the district. Visitors wishing to see the garden can do so if they ask politely, but any gems from the garden must be paid for, if the family is willing to sell them.   

City Granaries

Most casual readers are surprised to find that something as simple as the storage of grain and other foodstuffs could occupy an entire city district, but this is the case. The granaries alone take up several city blocks, and consists of storage spaces for food in times of famine, siege, and food intended for the city's poor when the crown sees fit to distribute it, often during games or as a show of generosity.

The granaries take up the whole of the district; the bakeries and other places for food preparation are located elsewhere, scattered over the city, or in the case of the government's bakeries, located in areas specifically set aside for that purpose. Thieves trying to steal from the granaries are common, and guards have to patrol the area all day and every day.

Temple District

While Minbenthac has many temples in virtually all of its districts, there is only one Great Temple. The Great Temple dominates the Temple district, which simply refers to the area in and around the temple's extensive grounds. The Great Temple of Minbenthac is, like all such temples of its size, a miniature city within itself. This means that the temple provides for spiritual services on a massive scale, provides magical and clerical services, often for a fee, breeds and raises its own young, and sells magical and spiritual items.

Minbenthac's great temple has many features of note, but two of them have some importance to a visitor. The first would be the sanctum of the dragon who lives in the temple. The tradition of maintaining a dragon in a Great Temple is a dated one, going back to a time in which dragons used to rule over many Dracon cities from large temples. While few dragons rule over parts of the dracon lands in this day and age, the practice of keeping a dragon in a temple has nevertheless been kept alive.

The other major feature of the Great Temple is the eternal flame, kept in a secure location. It is said that as long as the flame burns, the city of Minbenthac cannot fall. While this has proven to be untrue in other cities, this current flame has never seen a successful invasion of the city. Whether or not this is coincidence, the fact remains that the flame is a fantastic source of magical energy.

Palace District

Besides obviously being the location of the palace of the king of Minbenthac, this part of the city also houses many of the city's government offices, its treasury, and a scribal school useful for providing the government with clerks, accountants, and other workers.

The Palace itself has a series of catacombs dug beneath it, to act as the final resting place for members of the royal family. When a dynasty is overthrown, the old sections of the royal catacombs are sealed off and a new set of tunnels is dug. This has led to several tunnel systems beneath the city of Minbenthac, of very different ages and sizes.

The Well of White Water

About half a century ago, diggers searching for a new well for Minbenthac hit a strange, magically altered aquifer, and discovered magically rich white water inside of it. Magic water isn't particularly uncommon in the dracon lands, but this was an unusually rich example of it, with the water so saturated with magic that it changed the very color of the liquid. The water, while drinkable, tastes rather like soap and in any event, is rather too valuable to waste on drinking in most cases in any event, due to its magical nature. The well of white water is found in a building that was specifically constructed to protect the well, and it is owned by the city, which charges wizards, alchemists and other mages if they wish to take some of the water.

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