Highport

Overview

• Country: Located in::Orcish Empire
• Leader: Count Kertek Bilarro
• Population: Population::20000

Note: Much of the material on this pageis taken from TSR 11621: Slavers, released in 2000. Our campaign's timeline differs in significant ways from that source book, but much of Highport remains the same.

The largest humanoid city on The Pomarj, located on the northern side of the peninsula on the shores of the Wooley Bay. It is part of the Orcish Empire, and is known to have a large contingent of Uruk Hai (high orcs) as well as representatives of almost every other humanoid race. In spite of this, it retains a a sizable human population, largely due to the pirate, smuggling and slaving activities that are still common in the city.

History

Highport was ruled for centuries by Count Kevram Bilarro, a powerful wizard who extended his life through the prodigious use of 'potions of longevity'. Unfortunately, one such draught malfunctioned, and instead of gaining another 10 years of life, he instantly lost a hundred.

He died instantly and with no heir, throwing the entire city into chaos. This ended when a distant relative named Kern Bilarro -- a nephew several times removed who also happened to be a Wild Coast warlord of considerably strength -- brought his men to the city and seized the Lord's Palace for himself.

He ruled until the city was invaded by the orcs in CY 513, burning and looting their way through the city in an event that came to be known as the Night of the Bloody Spear by the survivors.

In the decades that followed, the city was ruled by an uneasy coalition of humanoid tribes. Humans -- typically the most evil scum ever to sail the Azure Sea -- began to return as well, with the bravest and strongest pirates using it as a port. A handful of tradesmen followed, and in time a sense of normalcy returned to the city.

Leadership

Kertek Bilarro

In the CY 560s the Bilarro family returned to the city in the form of the charismatic Kertek Bilarro (Hum, Rog 6/Ari 2), who was able to swindle his way back into the position of count by deftly playing the humanoid tribes against each other, gifting them with treasure and weapons, and generally succeeding through deception and gile where his ancestors had failed through magic and force of arms.

He was able to do quite well for himself, negotiating successful treaties with powerful pirates, humanoid tribes, and even the notorious Slave Lords themselves (which in turn made the city a center of the lucrative slave trade).

This state of affairs survived the fall of the Slave Lords (though the Slave Market itself became far less trafficked with the defeat of the lords at the hands of the Invincibles Guild in the CY 570s) and lasted until the Rise of Turrosh Mak. Seeing an opponent that he couldn't possibly defeat on the battlefield, and who was far too canny to trick, Kertek decided to do what he does best: negotiate.

He established a deal that kept him in nominal control of the city, while simultaneously allowing legions of Mak's disciplined orcs into the city. A strict order the city hadn't known in centuries was soon established.

General Braks-dur-Vulzon

The reason for this sudden order was two fold. For one, the military commander of the city -- a brutal Urak-Hai known as General Braks-dur-Vulzon ("Brings the Fires of Doom") (Urak-Hai, Ftr 12) arrived ahead a column of 200 highly-disciplined, ruthless High Orcs. He deployed these orcs to bring order to the city ... and crucified any who dared disobey on the newly-christened "Killing Way" (a stretch of the old Slave Road to the Drachensgrab Mountains).

Brother Nofosh

The other major factor was the rise of the Faith of the Earth Dragon. While the myriad humanoid species in the city still worshiped their own gods, they also began to praise the destruction and strength aspects of the Earth Dragon. At the same time, humans and near-humans in the city also began to venerate the primal god, worshipping it's earth and productive aspects. This faith has served to bind the city together, and prevent major fights from breaking out among its adherents.

The leader of the Temple of the Earth Dragon in the city -- the half orc Nofosh (Half-Orc, Clr 9) wields considerable power in the city, and is crucial for

Tanva the Gold

Tanva the Gold (female elf, Wiz/Enc 8) completes the triumverate of Mak agents in the city. She long ago assumed leadership of The Illumination, a cadre of half-insane wizards hellbent on creating ever more powerful (and ever more strange) magic items, encouraging them to create weapons for the Empire of Mak. She is typically found at the Lord's Palace serving as an "advisor" for Kertek Bilarro.

The City

City Overview

Highport is a dark, dirty city firmly in the grip of evil, but safe for those that don't appear weak. The humanoid districts within the city reek of filth, unwashed bodies, and rotting meat, with the human districts being in a somewhat more tolerable state. Some of the buildings still show burns and damage from the Night of the Bloody Spear, but most present at the time of the invasion of fallen down or been renovated by the new inhabitants.

Some parts of the town are little more than open fields with large and small tents, where drunken sailors, poor mercenaries and outcasts of many races grab a few hours of sleep at any time of the day. A large area devoted to warehouses covers part of the shoreline, and the damaged city walls have been rebuilt.

Religion

The temple of the Earth Dragon is in a renovated temple of Xerbo that was looted and damaged during the sacking of the city. Other dark deities with temples here include Beltar (caves, pits, calice), Erythnul (hate, slaughter), Incabulos (plagues, famine, disasters), Hextor (war, discord, tyrany), Iuz, Mictlantecuhtli (Olman death god), Nerull (death, murder), Pyremius (poison, murder), the Cult of Vecna (destruction and evil secrets) and various humanoid goids.

Of course, not everyone in Highport is a monomaniacl cuththroat; many are merchants and other people (not necessarily humans) just looking to do businesses, and are just not concerned with the sort of person who pays them for their goods. A wide variety of shops, inns and taversn exist within Highport, serving the roug-and-tumble clientele and providing the basic services that are necessary to all: equipment, food, clothing and such.

Strange Allies

The city has some strange allies and unique vermin. A flock of harpies nests in a pair of unused watchtowers. They scout the near part of the bay in exchange for food and pretty trinkets. Some of the braver people in town have tamed giant weasels as pets or guard animals, while wild ones run free in the humanoid districts. A pair of mated hill giants hire themselves out to different groups as bodyguards or laborers and they compete for work with a single pack of trolls that live in town. An extended family of ogres works as a mercenary group (either on land or on a pirate ship) and the temple of Nerull has an agreement with a pack of ghouls that lives outside the city. Many parts of the town are prone to hordes of giant rats sweeping through the entire neighborhood, and casks of oil are kept ready for lighting to act as barricades for the rodents.

The local stirge population is significant, having grown fat feeding on the rats, but they themselves are a dangerous enough threat that the harpies have been hired to kill them off periodically (an effort that has had mixed results).

Guilds of Note

The city is home to a number of evil adventuring and mercenary guilds. The foremost of these are the Grey Renders, a union of necessity between about a half dozen smaller human guilds and cults from within Highport, which was founded to protect their interests within that city and the surrounding area.

Also notable are the Followers of the Skeletal Way, a fantatical group of warriors, mages and thieves who have pledged themselves to the service of Nerull and His agents on Oerth. They are known to serve the Cult of Death Undying, a Nerullite group based in the Obsidian Maze in the Drachensgrab Mountains.

City Gates

Unlike other walled cities its size, Highport has only one main entrance to the city: The Great Gate. There are two smaller side gates -- the Suss Gate and the Coast Gate -- but they are heavily fortified and closed to all but military traffic. This design, dictated by the original count of the city, was intended as a defense against the marauding humanoids of the peninsula. It has worked, but it has also created massive logisitical problems in the city.

On major trade days its not uncommon for traders trying to get into the city to be backed up for several miles along the Coast Road, the highway that runs from Highport to Blue. Before the Greyhawk Wars, Highport's rulers allowed only select individuals -- mostly fishermen and farmers -- to set up settlements outside of the city's fortification, but Turrosh Mak put an end to that practice for security reasons.

The Piers

The Piers is the collective term for the city's sprawling warehouse and shipping district. Most of its streets are cluttered, claustrophoic and generally unsettling for most people. Rangers especially despise the place.

Some of the buildings here are made from stone, but most are made from wood harvested from the surrounding woodlands. Exposure to the corrosive, ever-present sea air has ravaged many of the buildings to the point that most are near the point of collapse. That inevitible occurance has been postponed in many cases by the addition of new, but still inferior, wooden supports.

Bands of thieves, pirates and other cutthroats fill the Wharf like vile human rodents. Blood is spilled nightly in bar fights that can quickly grow to include more than 200 combatants.

About half of Highport's original piers are completely ruined. The local authorities have towed derelict ships into place on these pierces to use as additional storage space, as well as to confuse would-be attackers about which piers are actually viable. The remaining piers either survived the Night of the Blood Spear or have been rebuilt since that time. The piers are almost exclusively used for trade, with only one near the eastern part of town having facilities for making repairs. Ships are not build in Highport; rather most of the heavy ship-building is done at Elredd.

What passes for the city guard here -- the Count's Men -- rarely enter the Piers, and when they do, it is usually to escort a particular cargo to some of the better warehousing facilites outside of the district.

Orc Districts

Each of the orc districts (as noted on the Highport map) is home to one minor tribe of orcs. Their buildings are universally run down, and the entire area smells particularly bad. Orc hunting parties make daily forays into the grassland outside of the city in search of meat to supplement the food they buy, and those on the waterfront do a lot of fishing as well. Unlike Elredd, there is very little territorialism between the dsitricts. Orcs can enter the human areas, and vice versa, but there is little incentive to do so other than as a means to get to another part of the town.

Humanoid Districts

Each of the humanoid districts in the city tends to be exclusive to one sort of humanoid. The eastern part of town has gnolls, the western part has hobgoblins, goblins, and small groups of norkers. The southwestern humanoid district is another goblin haven, and the small group near the Lord's Palace is entirely composed of orogs. Like the orc parts of the city, the buildings in these regions are in a state of disrepeair and smell foul; the only exception to this pattern is the orog tribe, which is nearly indistinguishable from a human district except for the decorations they use.

Human Districts

The human parts of town show the highest degree of attention to preserving existing buildings and the most new construction. In addition to homes, the human district has more shops than other parts of town these shops are patronized by all inhabitants of the town, regardless of race.

Tent Fields

These are the poorer parts of town, little more than areas of clear rubble dotted with tents or lean-tos, and inhabited by the most wretched of the free populace.

Specific Locations

'These locations are keyed to the Highport map. Both the locations and the map are taken from the TSR 11621 Slavers source book.'

Temple of the Earth Dragon (1)

The Temple of the Earth Dragon used to be dedicated to the Suel god Xerbo, but was desecrated on the Night of the Bloody Spear. It has since been stripped of its old religious icons and rebuilt by the human allies of Turrosh Mak as a Temple of the Earth Dragon. It's view of the harbor is unrestricted, and is a frequent stop for visitors of all races because the priests here offer free food and the lowest rates for healing magic.

The high priest here is Nofosh (half-orc, Clr 9). He is assisted by twenty lesser priests and ten acolytes (orc, human and half-orc, Clr 2-Clr 5)

Warehouse District (2)

The Warehouse District is part of the Piers, and provides temporary storage for goods passing through the city. They are guarded by mixed groups of human and humanoid soldiers.

Lighthouses (3)

These towers have been converted into lighthouses; each is a defensive tower with a beacon mounted on the top. Humans and half-orcs typically man the lights, since humanoids detest the bright illumination.

People

• Count Kertek Bilarro, the nominal human leader of Highport
• Braks-dur-Vulzon, High Orc general of Highport
• Brother Nofosh, High Priest of the Earth Dragon in Highport
• Tanva the Gold, leader of the Illumination and Court Wizard in Highport

Sites

This is a dynamic list of all the sites associated with this location. {{#ask:located in::Highport | ?Population | format=ul }}

Organizations

• Church of Hextor, Highport: Even in a city dominated by humanoids, the Church of Hextor is a force to be reckoned with.
• Illumination, The: About 15 mages belong to this reclusive, exclusive organization which serves as the city's Wizards Guild.
• Followers of the Skeletal Way: A fantatical group of warriors, mages and thieves who have pledged themselves to the service of Nerull and His agents on Oerth.
• Grey Renders Guild: An adventuring guild based in Highport with members of an evil and corrupt nature
• Count's Men: What passes for the City Guard in Highport; these men make no attempt to patrol the humanoid portions of the city, instead sticking to the human-controlled areas.