Thokoli on Traveling through Umbaroth to Kevorth “Umbaroth is an interesting place. One of the largest known realms, their ruler is a cruel and ancient blue dragon. Believed to be one of the oldest dragon lords, next to possibly Shrave who is rumored to be upwards of 1800 years old, Umbaroth is rumored to be around 1500 years old. In his eldest years, Umbaroth’s iron and deadly grasp on his realm has become lax of the last few centuries, according to our history books. Umbaroth is expansive. I’ve been there a few times. To the west of Umbaroth is an evil land known as Eridizar, also called the “Veil of Fiends.” Umbaroth is in a constant war against the evil of Eridizar, once a part of Umbaroth but was claimed by a younger dragon using fiends from the outer planes to give it strength but a few hundred years ago. To the southwest is the magocracy of Barioth, run by wizards who are mostly good. Beyond it’s borders far to the west are some good lands of Loivissa and Tebinth. I’ve never been to those but friends of mine have met their diplomats and told me of them. They sound interesting, but good nonetheless. If our goal is to get to Kaleth through Umbaroth, it shouldn’t be a tough mission, but it’ll be a trek. If we can use Holyar’s under-roads which are much better patrolled than ours around Rhohghnah, we should be able to make it into Umbaroth within 3-4 days. From there, I’ll have to navigate all of you through the desert to Kaleth. Northwest Umbaroth is facing the no-man’s land in between Girkchar and Umbaroth. The forested and frosted hills in Umbaroth are homes of brigands, squatters, refugees, but mostly of monsters. The forces of Northwest Umbaroth are prepared for the inevitable invasion by Girkchar one day and are prepared with walls and siege weaponry, but are mostly peaceful to outsiders willing to enter Umbaroth and spend coin. Unlike Shevorth, Umbaroth is mineral poor, food poor, water poor, and in general just poor. The only the thing they have going for them are plethora of strong-willed individuals willing to spend their lives eeking out their existence in such a harsh environment. Unlike even Indra which at least has… He stops and looks at you. Anyways, Umbaroth is both vast and brutal. We’ll just be cutting across a very small section of it. When we do so we need to wear these brown cloaks. We don’t have to stealth. Any guards, brigands, or scouts we encounter shouldn’t be much of a match for us. We can pay them in coin to pass pretty easily, and in Umbaroth the monsters who lurk there are much more dangerous than the people we might have to fight. Kaleth concerns me a bit more. Kaleth is a northern swamp land. Frigid cold and frozen in the winter, boiling hot and humid in the summer with deadly insects and other wildlife who can manage to bury themselves deep enough in the mud to hibernate and survive winters. While their serpents and insects don’t match the variety of Vinarr, the ones they do have are deadly. Kaleth is run by monks. Surrounded by Umbaroth and Girkchar, the only reason they’ve never been taken over is that no one really wants the territory. The land has few natural resources to be had, aside from a horribly wretched swamp that’s impossible to get around in. It’s a death trap to skeletons and zombies who try to invade from Girkchar. Lord Kaleth and Lord Kevorth and brother and sister bronze dragons. Lord Kevorth, maybe lady Kevorth who the hell knows works with the elves in the far northwest beyond Girkchar. Anyways, Lord Kaleth has this land that’s his. But it’s all swamp and whatnot. He likes the sea like any good bronze dragon and just lets people settle there. One day a pirate ship of a famous pirate shows up trying to board the ship of some refugees trying to make it to Kaleth. Lord Kaleth knows this and has a bit of a problem with it. When he jumped on board with full dragon form, snarling and whatnot, the pirate lord was handing his sword, crossbow, and all of his possessions to the refugees. This pirate was a half orc named “Phoenix from the Ash”, a notorious rogue. He had heard that over the years monks from Kevalth had come to Kaleth to help the refugees, and he had brought not only his own ship, but his fleet who wanted to give up their pirate ways and enter a life of humility and learning. That was four hundred years ago. A lot of dragon lords staked their claims about 500 years ago or so. The entire know realm was hit by a pretty harsh war after a white dragon turned out to be a powerful elven-mage named Demure. Don’t worry, Demure has long since been erased from existence. But there’s other such creatures out there.” Thokoli stops and thinks for a second. “Oh yeah. Don’t get in a bar brawl in Kaleth. They are accepting of outsiders and refugees, but only those who seek help and sanctuary. They meet brute force with brute force. The only thing that will buy us good will there is humility and generosity. Many of their monks are retired warriors, pirates, and brigands. If you are looking for the Order of the Phoenix, they will be found in Kaleth, but finding the right person to talk to is going to be difficult.” Before Leaving Asher does some shopping. Bardman sings, visits the bard school, and even hires a trainer to help train Cuch, it doesn’t work. Everyone in the party except Alaise buys 20 days worth of rations except Alaise, who buys 50 days worth of rations. Thokoli purchases tan cloaks for everyone. The Journey The party spends two days traveling as quickly as possible through the under roads underneath Shevorth to the border of Umbaroth. Underground there is a sign where Umbaroth territory starts and the guards and guides from Hoylar are no longer able to progress with you. Thokoli leads you forward and you come to the surface in amidst some ruins, in the warm air of the desert, with dunes surrounding you and gigantic mountains rising up to the south and east of you. Thokoli navigated the party to the west. They traveled for two days. On the fifth day after leaving Hoylar, they camped outside a couple miles outside of the city. In the middle of the night, Thokoli woke the party up. A mummy was approaching them from the southwest, but the party cut it down before it could hit any of them. The next day during the early morning Alaise was keeping watch when six darker (but not extremely dark) skinned women in cloaks and carrying longbows approached the group stealthily. Alaise woke the party up and one of the women approached Alaise, asking what they were doing, if they were foreigners, and if they’d seen any hunters. Alaise offered the woman a ration, made a check to pick out the best looking one he could find and offering it to her. She liked it and asked for more, Alaise gave her 5 days worth of rations. She put them in her pouch that was covered in dried blood on the outside. She asked where they were going, Alaise said to the northwest, so the said her and her party would travel southeast then. The group left. The party approached a larger city with 1000+ buildings surrounded by 50 foot walls built on the side of the river. The party approached, and were let inside. After traveling into the city, the party is followed by a couple dozen children who are all marveling at Cuch, they seem quite infatuated with the dire wolf. The party are paying attention to different things and Alaise is riding atop the camel mount he summoned. Asher spotted him first, an efreeti stepped out of a side street, standing almost face to face with Alaise atop his camel. The Efreeti is tall (9 feet tall) and wearing silk robes covering hits coal-black skin. He is covered in brass and gold chains, rings, necklaces, and bracelets encrusted in jewels and gems. It’s eyes are fiery red as it approaches with a largish scimitar at its side. At first it speaks primordial, saying, “Stop there, small ones.” Asher and Helios said, “Everyone, stop.” Everyone stopped and could see the massive creature. He said, “How much for the wolf-dog-puppy?” Bardman responded, “He is not for sale.” and Asher translated. The efreeti took off a bracelet and handed it to Bardman for him to look. Bardman pretended to be genuinely interested in appraising the bracelet to the efreeti’s satisfaction. Bardman still declined saying saying, “He is more of a friend and companion than a pet, he cannot be bought.” Asher again translated to which the efreeti responded, “You all are weak. Are any of your other companions for sale?” Asher said, “No, they are not.” The efreeti said, “I do not like this place. I need to leave anyways. Where are the lands of wind and water?” Asher pointed to the southwest towards Corrive. The efreeti said, “There I will find, storm?” Asher said, “Yes, yes you will.” The efreeti said, “Farewell.” and walked to the east past all of them. Throughout this exchange Helios was watching mostly mezmorized. He rolled a natural 20 on the perception/investigation check to see this thing, noticing several things about it. He believes it has powers over fire, and can likely fly seeing as it’s footfalls left no footsteps in the sand. Throughout the rest of the city people seem more interested in the efreeti. The party made their way out of the city. They traveled to the north, noticing some vultures over the next two days and coming to another city, their last stop before entering the swamp lands, on the end of the third day. In the city they decided to restock provisions finding that rations cost them double normal, but silk, glass, and poison goods (including anti-venom) are half price. Walking through the market, they noticed that people were likewise following them and Cuch. After making perception checks, Bardman and Asher noticed that nobles in Umbaroth (they could see several on terraces and patios on 2nd and floors of the city) often keep lots of pets and exotic creatures. They seem to believe the locals are following them because they think they are affluent, not necessarily dangerous. Liking this idea, the party convinced Thokoli to let them stay in town and splurged for Aristocratic accommodations (10+ gold per person, per night). They got a nice flat on the 4th floor of a resort, with a pool, fully staffed with people prepping food and waiting on them, laundry service, and anything they could possibly imagine. While lounging in a chair, although Thokoli did not take off his armor, he’s still a bit irritated the party wanted to stay in the city despite his concerns. He mentions to the party, “Well, while we’re here and not just random people wandering in the market, if you were going to ask questions about Kaleth now would probably be the right time.” [The party previously wanted to ask questions to the villagers in the cities but Thokoli warned against drawing unnecessary attention to themselves.] The party asked an older lady who was preparing food for them. She told them that Ralarth was a city of refugees and monks, a swamp realm, that also had quite a few lizardfolk in the realm as well. She didn’t know much else about it. They asked if they should go by land or water, and she wasn’t really sure but asked if they wanted her to call someone else who might know more. They said yes. The party tipped her a total of 2 gold pieces. An hour or so later, it was now after sun-down, a dark-skinned man in guard’s armor, with a tunic and cloak over the armor. With curly dark hair, he came into the room wiping blood off his tunic and muttering about “Bloody gnolls.” The party asked him many questions. He told them that there was a north-most part of the realm and there were several orders of monks there. He said the realm motto is: “Come here to find your humility, redemption, peace, and oneness with the world. The most poor, squalid, and invalid amongst you is the teacher, and the strongest, richest, and most famed the student.” He said those coming in to Kaleth as refugees are allowed in no questions asked. Those who come in not as refugees, and he looks around at all of you decadently lounging around, eating, and resting, and said those like you they will likely test. He didn’t know much about the orders of the monks, other than they worship different gods. For trading goods those in Kaleth don’t have much, they have lots of organic matter but most food is either vegetation, fish, or meats from the swamps. In addition to food, medicine is scarce there. Asher gives him a platinum for his trouble. He responds with, “Oh, so you want me to escort you to the border then?” The party agrees. He introduces himself as Cakaza.
