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The Sea Barons
Pop.: 45,000 (plus 8,000 on Leastisle)
Capital: Aspedri (pop. 7,750)
Ruler: Lord High Admiral Basmajian Arras
Rulership: Moderate-High (except Leastisle)
Cost Multiplier: 110%
Divided Lands
The lands of the Sea Barons were among the last to be settled by the Oeridians, and here the folk are an Oeridian/Flan mix for the most part. The overking established the isles as four Baronies; Asperd Isle, Oakenisle, Fairisle, and Leastisle. Naval power, patrolling the coasts of the Great Kingdom from Bellport far to the south, was concentrated here, with the Lord High Admiral being determined from the outcome of a naval battle fought between the baronies. Asperd Isle won that battle, and Asperdi has become the largest town and center of power in these isles.
Militarily, the Sea Barons simply stayed out of the Greyhawk Wars. With war far to the west, and Rauxes many hundreds of miles away, the old Lord High Admiral Sencho Foy could decide that the threats of the northern barbarians, clearly excited into a war seeking frenzy, were too dangerous to ignore. Dispatching navies to Relmor Bay to fight Nyrond would be suicidal, especially with the overthrow of the Lordship of the Isles leaving the southern waters of the Aerdi Sea more dangerous than ever.
The old admiral suffered one of those sudden deaths so common among Aerdy rulers, and his replacement is a stern and hard man who has the support of the barons of the two remaining isles, Fairisle and Oakenisle. All are aware that they are faced with increased threats and unknowns. The northern barbarians, no longer at war on land, have more time and resources to spend raiding the Solnor Ocean. While coastal cities offer good targets, so do the wealthy lands of the Barons. To the south, the Scarlet Brotherhood has sent its spies and agents to Asperdi and Oakenheart. They have been rebuffed, but all the Barons fear that a naval invasion might be mounted on them from the Lordship of the Isles. Then there are the new elven lands of Lendore, an unknown. No threat seems to come from them, but due to the magical barriers around those isles, the Barons cannot know what is happening there, and this makes them insecure.
There are also divisions among the Sea Barons which heighten that insecurity. Most seriously, Leastisle fell to pirates and buccaneers at the end of the Greyhawk Wars. Most of these men were fleeing the eastern coastal cities of Aerdi, but they brought enough mercenaries and seapower to sack Vernport. They now sail widely, attacking any target which looks soft enough, from North Province to Hepmonaland. As yet, they have avoided any raids on the other isles of the Barons after one abortive attack against Port Elder. The Sea Barons lack the will to strike against the 8,000 or so ne'er do wells on Leastisle, again because they fear that the men and ships they might lose in such an action would leave them vulnerable to other enemies.
The other division is one of politics and temperament. Basmajian favors an alliance, or at least a truce, with the barbarians and Ratik. His argument is that this would remove the greatest threat to the Sea Barons, and leave them better able to handle the others. However, the Barons of the other isles do not agree. They point out that such an agreement might not go down well with the eastern Aerdi cities with which the Sea Barons trade.
In the case of Rel Astra, they might get away with it since barbarians rarely raid that far south. However, the Five of Roland, and the ruler of Ountsy, would certainly react badly, and the Sea Barons could ill afford to lose those trade links. The temperamental division is with the younger sea captains and young bucks of the baronies, who are more aggressive and believe that, with their seapower still mostly preserved, the Barons should be more enthusiastic about raiding and piracy (not to mention retaking Leastisle). The old Medegian lands offer a soft target and the Barons raid there, but apart from the occasional foray into Hepmonaland to loot the spices, ivory, and furs which come from that vast land, that is about the limit of the Barons' current exploits.
Basmajian and the other Barons want to keep their ships close to home for protection; the younger men want to sail the blue seas and oceans in search of adventure and bounty, freed as they now are from rulership by Rauxes.
Finally, Basmajian is well aware that there always has been rivalry between the Barons themselves, especially between Asperdi and Oakenheart. He has to be sure that he can count on the support of his fellows, rather than assassination by poison or dagger (the weapon he used to eliminate the previous lord high admiral, Sencho Foy).
Trade and Bounty
These isles are fertile and beautiful. The climate here is warm and mild, and while grains and livestock do not fare so well here, the natural riches of the islands are considerable. Bananas, galda fruit, plantains, and figs grow in abundance. Rock iguanas are as common here as are rats in Rauxes, and unlike those vermin, their tails make excellent eating, marinated and roasted. Wild goats clamber the cliffs and are hunted for their meat. Some islanders will even tell the visitor that the seagulls here taste better, less fishy and tough, than anywhere else. But with the abundant seafood available, few eat the birds. Clams (especially the giant clams of Fairisle's coasts), large striped tuna like fish, and small squid are the staple seafoods.
These goods alone are in demand by the hungry cities of Aerdi, but the isles have further resources. Oakenisle is named after a unique species of fine oak which appears to flourish in saline soil and sea breezes, and the superb wood it yields is excellent for ship construction. The oaks grow very slowly, however, so the wood is in short supply and thus commands very high prices.
Fairisle has small wooded pockets which contain spice bushes and plants, and herbs much in demand by alchemists and herbalists. The strange Tar Hill of Asperd Isle yields a thick, resinous tar of excellent adhesive and waterproofing qualities; when treated with an ammoniac solution it becomes as hard as steel, and thus has a range of obvious uses. The Sea Barons are rich men from their trade, and as a result they can afford the mercenary garrisons which secure their towns and forts. Those mercenaries are part of the imports the Sea Barons take in return for their goods, but they also acquire metal weapons and armor for their defense (since the isles have no metal ore deposits), worked utensils, coinage (from Rel Astra), and also stone for construction purposes.
Rulership
Each Baron administers his isle as his personal fief. An interesting twist is that house affiliations count for little or nothing here; the separation of the Sea Barons from the mainland has divided them from their Houses, and they now regard their blood relatives and loyal liegemen as an extended family. Most of the relatives have been in the service of the Barons and their ancestors for generations. Captaincy of sea vessels usually passes from father to son (rarely, to a daughter) unless the offspring is conspicuously unsuited to it. In this event, talented newcomers may gain a command if they prove themselves as mates.
If the Barons show more indulgence and kindness to those immediate liegemen and retainers than many other nobles do, they do not do so in the case of the commonfolk. Most people here are serfs, their bodies and lands owned by the Baron, and they are subject to his wishes. Given the relative richness and ease of life here (taxes and tithes are low by Aerdi standards), people are not too unhappy with their lot. In any event, many serfs have their life eased by the fact that the Barons and their liegemen often have slaves in their households, save in Oakenisle. These slaves are humans taken from Hepmonaland for the most part. Thus, Barons do not make excessive demands in the way of service from their serfs.
Dangers of the Isles
Apart from barbarian raids, the isles of the Barons have their own hazards. Poisonous snakes are fairly common on most of the islands, with the deserted Serpent Isle infested with them. In the coastal waters, one of the nastiest hazards (and an excellent discouragement to diving for pearls or large clams) are the great rainbow hued moray eels which are all too common. Their bites are vicious, and the moray will not release a victim from its jaws even when slain. However, the islanders take a symbolic revenge on this enemy by their tradition of roasting morays over charcoal fires during Brewfest and feasting on their flesh -- which is an acquired taste, to put it mildly.
Sahuagin are the major sentient menace of the coastal waters. They do not organize themselves to do more than make opportunistic attacks on small fishing boats, but every year a score or more lives are lost to these predatory creatures. In the past two years, the sahuagin have grown more bold and even attacked a coaster recently, and some fear that someone, or something, is organizing and directing the creatures. Since their numbers, and home location, are unknown, this makes people increasingly anxious.
The waters and coastlines of the isles are not without their dangers. Strong cross currents can send a small vessel with an inexperienced captain or fishing crew many miles out to sea, with generally northern currents flowing up from the warmer southern waters. Whirlpools or tsunami are, however, very rare events, and gale or storm force winds and massive downpours are not too common. However, most people recall the three day storm of 578 CY, which some laughingly called "Hurricane Ivid."
Asperd Isle
Largest of the islands, with some half of the total population, Asperd Isle has been the dominant power of the Sea Barons since Baron Asperd won that fateful naval battle centuries ago. Basmajian has three ocean going galleons here, a main fleet of 12 coasters (with seaworthiness of 70%). There is also a fishing fleet of some 15 vessels, though they almost always stay within two miles or so of shore.
By informal understanding with the eastern Free Cities, visiting Aerdi vessels only come to Asperdi through Ironport. Most trade is conducted by the Barons' ships traveling west, but sometimes a Winethan vessel or one from Roland will travel here. Visitors are only allowed to disembark if they are personally known to the Naval Phalanx of Asperdi, have been invited by the Baron or a liegeman, or if they buy a visiting permit from that organization. This costs 150 gp, a price which discourages most visitors. And the permit purchaser also must be tattooed with the design of an iguana's head on his left forearm -- relatively few casual travelers venture here. At least, if they do, they don't land in Ironport.
Asperdi
Asperdi is a walled town, set back from the coast, mostly built of a hard reddish-brown stone taken from a quarry to the east long exhausted of its riches. It is bustling and lively, with several large markets and a strong line of armorers and ironworkers in addition to the more predictable naval artisans. The folk of the town, and the isles generally, almost all favor the combination of loose pantaloons and a baggy, wide sleeved cotton blouse, though those of primarily Flan blood still use face painting as an additional decoration. Bright colors are generally worn, so on a sunny day Asperdi is a vivid sight, with its literally colorful people walking in the shadow of the ornately decorated city walls. Most carry long, heavy, curved daggers which can be treated as short swords for the purposes of damage, weapon speed, etc.
Any town of seagoing folk has a rowdy quality, with violence not far from the surface. Asperdi is no exception. Basmajian's Naval Phalanx act both as a city watch and as judge and jury in the case of offenses; this is a place of summary justice. The city prison is greatly feared, since it is dilapidated and vermin infested and in hot weather in particular death from disease and infection is commonplace. For this reason, Asperdi doesn't attract many thieves. The forbidding crenellated tower overlooking the town is too visible a reminder of where they will probably die if they are detected in their nefarious activities.
Among the main power factions of Asperdi are the guilds of various artisans and the priesthood of Procan. They, together with the commanders of the city watch, who are Basmajian's galleon captains, form an advisory council to the Baron. Also on that council is the wizard Livensten, a true eccentric who often turns up for meetings in partial states of undress because he has forgotten to put all his clothes on. Livensten's passion, however, is inventions and tinkerings. The new astrolabe he has just invented -- and his almanacs showing how to compute latitude and distances from the position of sun and moons -- is receiving considerable approval from the galleon captains. These aids have enabled the Sea Barons to become true ocean goers should they wish, in contrast to their traditional role as coastal defenders and patrollers.
This is a mixed blessing for Basmajian, since it encourages his younger captains to do precisely what he doesn't want them to do, namely to set off on great voyages of discovery far east across the Solnor.
Finally, Asperdi is home to a small matriarchal group whose origins are in the bloodlines of the Rhennee, the bargegoers of the central Flanaess. How they came here is lost in the mists of time, but this community has been here for so long than no one really cares any more. With their mixture of soothsaying, divinations, herbalism, and a little symbolic juju cursing when it suits them, the women are much respected by the men of the islands, who are extremely superstitious about them. One of the women, known as the rhenata, will always be asked to give her blessings to any new vessel about to take its first voyage, and usually to any ship about to set sail for longer than a week or so out of port. This precaution is always doubled with asking for the blessings of a priest of Procan, of course, so the cost of setting sail can be quite high at times. Blessings are not given gratis.
Ironport
The only natural harbor along the rocky shoreline of Asperd Isle, Ironport is a magnificent sight. The stone walls and cathedral to Procan built facing the bay are massive, nearly a hundred feet high, with incredible decorations: arabesques, symbols of Procan, stone anchors adorning the base of the walls, and the symbols of ropes and chains strung along below the battlements. Atop the very center is a 20 foot statue of Procan himself, a forbidding and truly impressive sight.
Ironport is not large -- only some 2,000 folk live within the town. But it has a grandeur and sternness to its architecture, and its people are likewise thrifty, pragmatic, and (it must be said) relatively humorless souls. The naval quarter is walled off from the rest of the city so that drunken sailors do not offend the sense of propriety of the rest of the town.
Tar Hill
Tar Hill is a dangerous place; far more dangerous than all but a very few people know. Its surface appearance is strange enough, for below the slopes of the 500 foot peak lie many pits of resinous tar which are excavated for their special bounty. The thick, gluey tar pits are littered with the bones of huge animals, dinosaurs and the like, and some folk frighten rebellious or naughty children with tales of how the terrible great lizards which still lie far below the hill, trapped alive in tar, will come and feast on their flesh if they don't stop behaving badly.
What very few know is that, below the hill, there is indeed a hidden terror; the Cauldron of Night itself. Basmajian is the only one on the isles who knows of this, and the entrance to the Cauldron -- fully 600 feet below ground and accessed through winding and dangerous mineshafts. It is protected with very powerful glyphs and other warding spells. The Cauldron is a great natural amphitheater of ebony stone, with a central depression 50 feet across and seemingly endlessly deep, for it is filled with a magical darkness no scrying spell can penetrate. Radiating intense evil, the Cauldron is almost a sentient thing. Mages of great power who have come seeking stone for making artifacts have had the very marrow in the bones frozen and their bodies shattered into dust here, while others of much lesser attainments have been able to take one of the spine like stalactites of the Cauldron by simply reaching out and breaking it off.
The Cauldron almost seems to choose who it will allow to harvest its dark riches and craft them into works of evil power. Yet, those mages who take something from the Cauldron always pay a heavy price for it, driven insane by their own creations or dragged off screaming by some gloating fiend, to endure untold horrors in the Abyss.
Basmajian maintains a mercenary force of 100 well armed and equipped warriors, with his most trusted adjutant in command, ostensibly to guard the tar pits (which yield much money for him) but also to make sure none enters the shafts leading to the Cauldron of Night. In truth, any who did so unprepared would meet a swift and grisly end, either fried alive by detonating glyphs or consumed by the monsters which prowl the shafts, among which xorn and earth elementals are perhaps the least dangerous.
Oakenisle
Oakenisle is a riot of vegetation. Not just the strange ancient oaks which give the islands its name, but thorny palm trees, hard barked dwarf figs, and many succulents and scrub bushes cover almost every square inch of the island. Travel across land is difficult; all movement rates are at half maximum. The island is also alive with small lizards and snakes, rodents and vermin, fruit eating birds, and a wide variety of insects. Among them are the dangerous giant dragonflies of the damper, eastern half of the island, which has a high rainfall rate and is almost permanently half shrouded in mist during the spring and fall.
This is a wild, untamed island, despite centuries of human occupation. The land is almost infertile if vegetation is burned and cleared. Away from Oakenheart itself, there are no settlements of even village size, only the wooden huts of foragers and trappers.
Baron Jamzeen of Oakenisle is old now, having ruled this island for more than half a century. His triplet sons create permanent problems, both for their old father and between themselves. The three are constantly trying to outdo themselves with feats of derring do against barbarians, and it is a major surprise that they are all still alive. They certainly know more about the bottom of empty rum bottles than they do of naval warfare. The young and reckless are in the ascendant here, for Jamzeen increasingly lacks the will to bring his fractious juniors and descendants to heel.
Because of Oakenisle's impenetrability and wildness, sahuagin and other monsters prowl the coasts more often than they do the other islands. While Jamzeen has a bounty of 50 gp per sahuagin head brought to him, this is where these crafty creatures are increasingly beginning to make inroads. Oakenisle is said to have several old ruins scattered among its vine infested rocky lands, and all manner of rumors pertains to them. Few bother to investigate, but the paladin Karistyne of the Cairn Hills traveled here incognito two years past and looted a treasure trove of an unknown wizard on the east coast. What she retrieved, she has not revealed.
Jamzeen is generally a staunch ally of Basmajian, but one bone of contention between them concerns slavery. While Jamzeen is as evil as any of the Sea Barons, he has a particular distaste for slavery and berates Basmajian often on this score. Slavery is outlawed on Oakenisle, which is not to say that its captains do not take slaves and sell them in Asperdi when the opportunity arises.
Oakenheart
Oakenheart is the one natural harbor on the island it dominates. Though the city has stone walls and great harbor gates which are bronze coated (and magically protected both against corrosion from salt and wind, and fire based attacks), much of the city is built from the wood of the great oaks for which the island is famous.
Oakenheart has a more swashbuckling atmosphere than Asperdi, and in particular it has the great shipyards of Walfrenden, the master shipwright of the island -- and the best in all Aerdi, it should be said. Walfrenden's vessels are of excellent design (+10% to all seaworthiness ratings). His latest design is a heavy caravel which the younger captains of the city's 17 vessel fleet (five galleons, 12 coasters) look upon with real yearning. Starflier, the first of these vessels, lies in harbor awaiting an inspired captain and devoted crew ready to sail forever across the eastern horizons, the triangular sail designs allowing far more freedom for the vessel to sail against prevailing winds than the larger square rigged galleons. Walfrenden is nearing his 80th year, and what keeps him alive is looking forward to the day when the captain of his pride and joy sails back into Oakenheart and tells him the wonders and strangeness of the lands he has found across the endless azure miles of the Solnor Ocean.
More mundanely, Oakenisle is almost a sealed off city. Visitors are not admitted without good reason (trade or otherwise), and the harborguard are not easily bribed. The Scarlet Brotherhood is feared here, since the assassination of two of the town's finest young sea captains six months ago is widely believed to have been due to their agents.
Fairisle
Named for its rolling, fertile low hills and the white sand beaches of the northwestern coastline, Fairisle is notably more relaxed and informal than the other towns of the isles. Baron Pamdarn is but 22 years old, and he does not have the old sense of discipline and duty of the older Barons. However, he is not rash or reckless, and since this island is closest to the pirates of Leastisle, Pamdarn makes sure that his fleet of 10 coasters and three galleons is always on the alert. Pamdarn has hired three mages of Winetha to travel on his galleons, having an arsenal of fire based spells at the ready to assault any pirate vessel he sees.
Fairisle is also noted for the colony of large wild apes in its northeastern scrub and woodland. These creatures are not by and large aggressive, but they are hunted for their furs by the islanders, who use blowpipes and nets to avoid damaging the valuable fur. Also, the island has some Suloise ruins on its southern tip, around Cape Rarn, although these are avoided by island folk. There are too many tales of the terrors of the Isle of Serpents for them to risk venturing there.
Port Elder
Baron Pamdarn's youthfulness shows itself in the relative laxity of application of laws here. If a traveler seeks the riotous, swashbuckling seaport of the isles, this is where to find it. Port Elder is a relatively open port, though any of Suel appearance are carefully watched by the naval militia, which is known as the Black and Golds on account of their uniforms. The Lordship of the Isles, and its Suel masters of the Scarlet Brotherhood, are too close for comfort here.
Pamdarn's Admiral of the Squadrons, Yendrenn Harquil, is a dashing and charismatic figure about town. His galleon, the Seawolf, bears Yendrenn's own symbol (a seawolf, unsurprisingly) on its sails rather than the sea serpent which almost all other Sea Barons vessels display. With his sallow faced mage Rhennen aboard to give aid with airy water, telekinesis and other such spells, Yendrenn specializes in the discovery and looting of sunken wrecks, of which there are several south of Fairisle and on the eastern seaboards of all the islands.
Yendrenn is always eager to learn of such wrecks, if a diviner, bard, or sage knows of any such -- and he agrees on a share of the booty recovered with his source. Though chaotic, he always holds to his word in such dealings. His recent recovery of nearly 40,000 gp worth of pearls and ingots of precious metal from the hulk of a Duxchan ship sunk in 515 CY has brought him fame.
Port Elder's city walls are being strengthened, given the threats to the south. From somewhere -- no one is sure quite where -- Pamdarn has managed to import a half dozen stone giants who are busy at work. Since none on the islands speaks stone giant (save for Rhennen), and the stone giants don't converse in Common, there are all kinds of wild tales flying around about them, with some saying that they are fiends in giant form and that Pamdarn has sold his soul to some Lord of the Hells or the Abyss. Few worry about such matters, however; since the repulsing of the pirate raids on the city some years ago, people feel more secure behind strengthened city walls and don't much care who builds them so long as they get built.
Leastisle
Captured and sacked by seamen fleeing the wars to the west, Leastisle is now an anarchic free for all. Half its population lives in the ruins of Vernport, with spasmodic and ineffective attempts made from time to time to rebuild the town. About a third of the island's folk are indigenous, many of them used as slaves by the invaders, who have become little more than pirates now. The booty taken from Vernport has mostly been used up, and the half dozen vessels (all coasters and cogs) in the harbor are in need of repair. The pirates here lack any leadership since Petreden of Torquann, a minor prince who masterminded the sack of Vernport, was slain in a drunken brawl last Ready'reat.
Vernport, and the scattered small settlements of the island, are a den of evil cutthroats and scum. There are no few people of real power here, warriors, thieves and mages alike -- for this is one of best places to hide from enemies one has made on the main continent. Somewhere on the island a priest of Nerull must be hiding in the overgrown huts or eastern sea caves, for sea zombies have been observed on the southern coasts. That puts great fear into people here, who tend to respond by drowning it in rum and samberra -- a bitter, dry spirit fermented from the juices of succulent plants.
Leastisle is a great place to come to get one's throat cut, but a vessel from Rel Astra or even Ountsy will hazard it once in a while, especially to fish for the huge and tender sea clams which throng the western coastline. Such vessels always bring a mage with them, if only to announce their arrival with a fireball or similar show of strength, warning the pirates to leave well alone.
Leastisle is dangerous not just because of the desperation, evil, and the unpredictability of its folk but because this is surely where the Scarlet Brotherhood, acting through Duxchan, could secure a base on the southern flank of the Sea Barons. It seems certain that they will do so before long.
The Isle of Serpents
This small isle was never settled by the Oeridians on account of the extraordinary number of poisonous snakes and reptiles inhabiting its densely vegetated uplands. The isle is hard to reach in any event, with sheer chalky cliffs rising 250 feet or more in some places. Sea serpents are often seen around the island, and nagas have been reported by the handful of travelers who braved the island's hazards.
Such travelers also tell of a set of sunken caves in the center of the island, and jade statues of a Suloise snake goddess which stand guard at their entry point. The statues are said to animate and attack any approaching who are not pureblood Suel females, so the depths of the caves have not been explored.
However, a small 6" tall miniature jade figurine of the goddess was taken by a distant ancestor of Pamdarn of Fairisle. He owns it still, though it is kept securely locked away on account of the curse it is said to bear. One sage has speculated that the goddess may be an aspect of Wee Jas, but the strangely alien facial features of the goddess, with slanted almond eyes, and short cropped hair do not resemble the usual portrayals of that sinister power. Here is a mystery still waiting to be explored, providing the adventurer brings with him priests able to neutralize poison.
Around The Isles
Pirates, barbarians, the Duxchan fleets, and sahuagin are offshore menaces to the Sea Barons. However, in the waters around their coasts there are other races and creatures. Seawolves have been reported some 50 or so miles north of Asperd Isle, though they have not entered the coastal waters yet. They appear to be organized, or familial, since they always have been seen in groups of a half dozen or so. Rumors say that they are in some way bound to an area around the site of their sunken ship, which is said to have been a vessel bearing mages and arcane magics seeking seabed sites akin to the Cauldron of Night. No one knows for sure, but notably Yendrenn has not sought the wreck as he usually would if hearing of such a lost vessel.
Sea elves are almost never seen by the Sea Barons now. In the past, the neutral aligned members of sea elf communities would sometimes trade and barter with the Barons on a fairly ad hoc basis, but they have not appeared in Asperdi for several years. It is said have retreated to the waters around the transformed Lendore Isles.
Lastly, there are persistent tales of an aquatic race of brownie like creatures or sea sprites, not nixies or their kin, on the eastern shore of Oakenisle. These little folk are extremely elusive, but appear to be spying on the island and sometimes acting as sentinels or guards. What they are watching for, or watching over, is a mystery.
Personalities of the Sea Barons
(Lord High Admiral) Basmajian Arras: 13th level fighter (Str 18/00, Dex 17, Int 16). AC -1 (chain mail +4), hp 85, AL LE. Basmajian is 40 years old, with coppery fair hair and brown-green eyes. He lacks true stature at 5' 8", and is not a charismatic man, but his intelligence is high and he applies it capably to the problems of rulership. His natural Strength rating is 16; the gauntlets of ogre power he has are one of his two most prized magical items, the other being a ring of swimming. Basmajian is extremely sensitive to the fact that he can't actually naturally swim. A ring of free action is also always worn by the high admiral, likewise a richly bejewelled longsword +3.
Basmajian lives richly and well. He takes a cut from virtually every dealing in Asperdi, since he grants merchant licenses, and they are only given if he gets a kickback. He is content with his lot, and he seeks to preserve his own strength. Basmajian doesn't want the Sea Barons involved in anyone else's troubles, and this finds favor in Rel Astra in particular, since the protection of the Barons' coasters is not really needed there.
(Baron) Jamzeen: 10th level fighter (Str 7, Dex 6, Con 6, Int 16, Wis 16). AC 3 (chain mail +3), hp 66, AL NE. Jamzeen's statistics are strongly affected by age, of course, since he is 77. Lean as a rake, the stooping figure of the 6' Baron is still impressive, for he has a full head of crisp white hair and his gray eyes still express vigilance and intelligence. Jamzeen was a notorious rake in his youth, and still is; his triplet sons Jamair, Jaqiran, and Nandain are but 19 years old. Jamzeen has had a succession of "wives" in his long life. Other offspring have left the isles, seeking their fortunes elsewhere, or are dead, often at the hands of jealous siblings.
Jamzeen always has been happy to be Number Two. It made for an easier life. But now the old man's grip is faltering; perhaps the death of Sencho Foy, a friend for half a century and a man with whom he had a long shared past, has drained him of some of his will. He doesn't resent Basmajian for killing Sencho; such things happen, and Jamzeen is philosophical about these matters given his alignment. He supports Basmajian, whose conservative policy is one he fully agrees with, though he has differences with him concerning barbarians and slavery. But Jamzeen grows tired, less willing to attend to the everyday practicalities of governing his island, and it may well be that one of his sons will do the time honored thing and arrange his father's burial rites (and those of his siblings) before the realization of their imminent demise has occurred to them.
Livensten: 11th level mage (Int 18). AC 7 (ring of protection +3), hp 27, AL NE (LE). Levensten is 5' 5', slim of build with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Unprepossessing of appearance, the 56 year old mage neglects himself to the point of periodically suffering eczema through not bathing properly. Standing next to him in hot weather is not a pleasant experience.
Livensten is obsessed with researching instruments and devices connected with time and travel. He has a library of lore on such matters of startling breadth, including sacred works of deities which as Labelas and Lendor. He constantly fiddles in his laboratory with new ways of measuring and recording. His astrolabe is one of his more successful inventions, and his folding boat, which he hires to captains in return for very large security deposits, is a greatly prized item. Livensten has Basmajian's support and patronage, so he does not have to worry about earning a living as such.
(Baron) Pamdarn: 9th level fighter (Str 17, Con 17, Int 15, Cha 16). AC 6 (ring of protection +4), hp 80, AL NE. Pamdarn is young and inexperienced in rulership, but he is learning fast. He, like Jamzeen, dislikes slavery, because somewhere inside him a youthful love of freedom resents it. But he keeps quiet about this to Basmajian. Pamdarn knows that he has a certain amount of leeway in the court of the lord high admiral, and he doesn't push his luck; he uses the tolerance he gets to allow his captains greater freedom to sail the oceans than those of the other Barons. Pamdarn is relatively impoverished, since he has been saving funds to purchase the caravel Starflier and has also bought instruments of Livensten's devising.
Pamdarn is 6' 1", well built, with very fair hair and blue eyes. Some mutter that there is Suel blood in his veins (actually, he has more Flan blood than anything else). His father died but a year ago, and Pamdarn is just emerging from the depression this brought on him. The company of his friend Yendrenn has also done much to cheer him.
Nonetheless, Pamdarn is no pleasant soul. He is ambitious and unscrupulous. If he has some idealisms, he is also quite unconcerned about how he achieves his ends. Because of his lack of monies, he recently had an Ountsy merchant executed on a trumped up charge of sedition and arson, confiscating his vessel and goods in the bargain. Basmajian forced him to return the vessel and most of the money, but this episode illustrates Pamdarn's personality quite clearly.
Walfrenden: 7th level fighter (Str 7, Con 7, Int 16, Wis 18). AC 10, hp 29, AL NE (CE). Walfrenden is 78, 5' 5", wholly bald with gray eyes and a notable tremor these days. Still, the old captain has a hungry energy within him. Maimed by an infected seawolf claw many years ago, so that his left leg is almost useless and he walks with a heavy stick, Walfrenden took to the design and building of ships. He rose swiftly in his profession so that he is now the master shipwright of the barons.
All his life, Walfrenden longed to set sail under the starry night skies and head forever eastward. He is a freedom loving spirit, and he chafed at having to patrol and protect the Aerdy coastline. His caravel design delights him, for the vessel's combination of high seaworthiness and small size, allowing it to navigate close to coastlines and up river estuaries, is perfect for ocean going and the exploration of new lands. Secretly, Walfrenden longs to take the first voyage on Starflier himself, so he can end his days under the stars with a chart of new lands explored in his hands. He has received a down payment for the caravel from Pamdarn, and a condition of delivery is that Walfrenden is allowed to travel on the vessel.
Walfrenden knows well the history of the eastern Aerdy lands. He has met virtually everyone of any power in the isles over the years, and he also has the finest set of maps and charts of the coastline anywhere. He has a set of seaman's tales more varied and outrageous than anyone's, but he narrates them with panache and a real love of storytelling. Sea captains who, as children, sat on his knee and thrilled to tales of savage Hepmonaland or the orcs of the Pomarj (Walfrenden has sailed all of the Azure Sea), are every bit as ready now to bring the old man a tankard of ale and hear the same tales again.
Yendrenn: 11th level fighter (Str 17, Dex 17, Int 16, Cha 17). AC 3 (ring of protection +5), hp 80, AL CN (N). Yendrenn may be only 25 years old, but he has had command of Seawolf for seven years, and his men regard him as the finest captain on all the seas of Oerth. A distant cousin of Pamdarn, he lost his own father a year before the young Baron, and thus the two have a shared experience and a strong bond between them. Yendrenn is handsome, fair of skin and hair, 6' 3", and always well groomed, with his silk blouse unbuttoned to the navel. He is vain, but his vanity is not excessive.
Yendrenn is strongly loves freedom. He also has a real feel for history. He loves old maritime maps and charts; even if they are inaccurate, he just loves to take in their sense of history, bygone days, and the sailors who drew them. He regularly begs Walfrenden for copies of his maps, and no little of Yendrenn's gold has gone to the old shipwright in payment for such.
Yendrenn also studies the myths and legends of the islands, and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of them. If any traveler wishes to know of the hidden and secret places of the islands, the captain will determine if they hail from the southern lands where the Scarlet Brotherhood may have spies and agents. If they are from somewhere else, the captain is ready to share an ale or a jigger of rum with them and talk of the islands' secrets.
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