From: kjc@athos.rutgers.edu (Kelly J. Cooper) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: Jameson W. Walker, Interlude (a.k.a. Part II & 1/2) Keywords: in which some new terrain becomes known Message-ID: Date: 28 Oct 92 21:05:31 GMT "Logic only gives man what he needs, Magic gives him what he wants." -Tom Robbins, _Another Roadside Attraction_ Jameson W. Walker, Interlude (Part 2.5) ________________________________________ There is a road. It's older than memory. It's always been there. But it didn't become important until a few hundred years ago. In the Mysty Mountains it used to be more of a goat trail, as it eked it way through the Bottleneck pass. The few travellers who dared to use it were usually disposed of rather quickly by the bandit residents. Orcs, trolls, criminals and escaped indentured servants and from the scattered baronies of the Great Heath had uncomfortably co-existed and sometimes battled in these peaks for as long as anyone could remember. That is, until the coming of Stone. Some thought him half-Orc, some half Rock Giant. Probably part human. It didn't really matter. What mattered was that Stone was a huge. He could pick you up and break you. He was mean. Nobody crossed him. And he was smart, in a cunning kind of way. It was Stone who united the various inhabitants of the Mysty Mountain Bottleneck world under his mace. Although Stone ruled the southern half of the Mysty Mountains hundreds of years ago, his name is still spoken with a trace of awe. They say that anyone who practiced banditry without swearing allegiance to Stone was executed. They would strip the offender, hang his body upside down from the tree at the base of the footpath that lead up into the pass from the Great Heath, and slit his throat just a little bit to let him die nice and slow. It was an effective warning. At this time there wasn't much trade going on between the cities west of the mountain range and the baronies of the Heath. What little existed mostly went overseas. The ocean route was getting cheaper with the rising popularity of a particular boat-builder named Fenway, who had streamlined his production to the point where he could turn out fast, sturdy ships in under six months. With this decline of even the meagrest of incomes, Stone expanded his horizons and began running raiding parties, aimed at various towns, and demanding tax from the little hamlets in the foothills of the mountains. Up until this point all military action against Stone had resulted in significant loss of life on the side of the uniformed soldiers. Stone's men knew the mountains better than anyone, and the imported men of war were unfamiliar with mountain guerrilla tactics. The bigger cities local to the mountain range had chosen to steer clear of entanglement with Stone and even Stone's newest exploits left them unmoved. This was before the age of derring-do and multiple heroes, and the people had no choice but to suffer. A minor merchant with major ideas saw this exact situation as his opportunity for greatness. His name has been lost with time, but his intent was clear. With an eye toward redirecting some of those sea profits toward himself, not to mention getting credit for ridding the countryside of a nasty menace, he began petitioning businessmen like himself in the outlying towns and in the cities to meet with him and possibly come to agreement on a plan. His idea was to put together a fund to first hire a group of adventurers to clear the Bottleneck Pass of outlaws, then a wizard to blaze a real road for greater trade convenience. In that time of political change, the merchant class was on the rise and the idea was taken up by a number of enterprising individuals. Stone was successfully vanquished in a historically significant battle by a pair of barbarian twins, a brother and sister team named Sun and Moon, who claimed divine heritage. The site of the battle is called Broken Stone after a huge boulder cracked into two places -- one where Sun's sword went through Stone's heart, and one where Moon's axe shattered Stone's skull. The wizard's ministrations to the mountain pass, turning it into a wider, easier slope, bankrupted some of the original merchants due to the costs for the continuous renewal of the wizard's wands of blasting and tunneling, and the paying of the salary of a journeyman wizard to maintain a spell of holding against possible rock fall. Once the road was completed, travel increased greatly, but trade shifted very little. Many of the merchants, unable to make up their losses, disappeared into the anonymous mass of humanity's poor. Others looked for new ideas to finance. A few clung to the road. They were local, the ones who lived in the small villages to the west of the mountains and a few who dealt with baronies to the east. They took it upon themselves to levy a small tax against all travellers. They were able to support themselves for some time, but the system broke down. In order to maintain tax collectors, they had to up the tax and thereby lost many of their "customers," making it necessary to raise the tax to pay for their collectors, etc. The tax disappeared. A few years later, with the expansion of the Specificas and the hard core commercialism of Generica becoming a major economic factor in this part of the world, travel through the Bottleneck increased. A cooperative effort between baronies bordering the Bottleneck to the east and small towns to the west insured a small but sturdy force in the area to protect travellers from banditry and maintain the road. There formed a fair amount of trade in housing travellers on either side of the pass, and the towns, while still small, became healthy communities. The only real feature noticeable in the pass, besides Broken Stone, is a small ranger's cabin near the apex, on the protected east side of the range. It is lightly stocked for travellers who get caught in the pass overnight or during a storm. The largest town to the west of Bottleneck pass is Verland. They are primarily a farming and herding community, but they are able to supply themselves with almost anything they need. The center of town consists of a few houses that used to belong to the merchants originally involved with the road, but are now a town hall, a multi-faith temple, and a number of pubs, boarding houses, and Inns for travellers. In the middle of these buildings is a plaza where the local market sets up once a week, selling foods, and a few homemade goods. The occasional passing tinker or craftsman may set up here as well, either on market day or during the week. It is common to find at least a few folks working a small bit of trade any given day. Verland's market is an excellent place to get cheap and fairly sturdy goods made by the various apprentices, journeymen, and rarely, a master. At the end of every month, folks from nearby towns come into Verland to buy and sell their wares, and the market turns into a something of a fairground. There is a small grassy field beyond the buildings where traveling entertainers set up shows. The nearest lands to the east of the pass belong to Baron Stifer. A fairly stable man, he boasts two sons. The elder is his man-at-arms, the younger will be his successor. His wife is an excellent cook and in past days, the Baron's favorite fencing partner. She remains excellent with a blade, while rictus and pain of the hands often keeps the Baron from wielding a fork, much less any sort of sword. The Baron is an unusual man in that he often despises tradition. His people perform a variety of tasks, from weaving to gardening to farming to smithing and the Barony is largely self-sufficient. But, rather than create a closed community, the Baron prefers to continue trading and accepting new ideas from the travellers he meets. Anyone who stops in his keep will be asked to dinner and undoubtably grilled by the Baron himself about various experiences and opinions. Unlike many of his neighbors on the Great Heath, he is a strong supporter of fostering. Since nearby Barons are resistant to the idea, he often fosters with Verland, and on rare occasions of great talent, with the Specificas or Generica. He is getting on in years, but everything seems to indicate his sons take after him and are loyal to his visions. His people are also very loyal, to both him and his sons. -*-