Twilitespace: Organizations part 2

Company of the Tusk 
	In all of wildspace, few things are as surprising as the Company of the
Tusk.  This small group commands a fleet of trade ships that ply the
space lanes of Twilitespace.  They deal in weapons, armor, metal goods
of all kinds, gemstones, and strange artifacts.  This is not unusual for
a space trading coaster.  What makes the Company of the Tusk so unusual
is that it is a completely goblin and hobgoblin organization.
	Unlike most other goblins in wildspace, the Tuskers are honest
merchants out to make a healthy profit.  They work out of Silverstrike,
a town on one of the moons of Chaos.  At first, the Tuskers were
smugglers, keeping to the less traveled routes of wildspace, often
visiting other spheres.  Eventually, they earned the respect of more
reputable merchants in wildspace, and became more open in their
dealings.  The Elvish Fleet of Twilitespace has reluctantly decided to
allow the Tuskers to operate without fear of attack by Elvish ships. 
The Tuskers were given a stern warning when the Second Unhuman War broke
out: if they were caught trading with the scro, the elves would revoke
their protection and hunt the Tuskers to extinction.  What surprised
everyone the most was when the scro attacked Twilitespace: instead of
allying with the scro, the Tuskers instead turned on the scro and
betrayed their position to the elves, allowing them to destroy the scro
fleet.
	The reasons for the Tuskers betrayal of the scro is known only to
themselves.  Word of their betrayal has not spread beyond their own
inner circles and the highest ranks of the elves, so it is unlikely that
the scro will seek revenge against them.  This suits the Tuskers fine,
as they have returned to trading and hauling cargoes, earning hard-earn
coin.   Tusker ships can be found anywhere in Twilitespace and even in
other spheres of the Maelstrom.
The Company has the following ships as its fleet:
· Mammoth ship orbital supply ship (with 35 hobgoblins and 120 goblins)
· 2 scorpion ship trade ships (with 14 hobgoblins and 12 goblins each)
· 3 vipership trade ships (with 5 hobgoblins and 15 goblins each)
· 2 tradesmen (with 8 hobgoblins and 24 goblins each)
· 94 hobgoblins and 237 goblins total

Horzark the Bold: hobgoblin male fighter 9th level, lawful neutral. 
Horzark is a powerful warrior with the following stats: Str 17, Dex 12,
Con 16, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 10 (18 to goblins).  His personal wealth is
quite impressive for any hobgoblin, and is richer than most hobgoblin
kings.  Because of this, he has acquired the following magical items:
oil of impact, a rod of splendor, chain armor +4, a deck of illusion,
and a pouch of accessibility.
	Horzark is a visionary of a hobgoblin.  His family has built the
Company of the Tusk over the last two centuries of hard work and
establishing good relations and trust with merchants around the sphere. 
Horzark was brought into the business years ago, before the Second
Unhuman War.  He worked his way through the ranks, beating out his
siblings for rule over the fleet through the earning of thousands of
gold pieces as captain of one of the viperships.  He took the business
from his father, who settled into retirement at Silverstrike.
	When the Second Unhuman War broke out, Horzark saw the Company's whole
universe collapsing around him.  The attacks by the scro threatened to
turn their contacts against them, and there was a real threat that the
elves could wipe them out.  Worse, there was an equal threat that the
scro would conscript their ships into the main scro fleet, condemning
them to a short existence of bloodletting before being killed off by the
elves.  Indeed, when the scro showed up in Twilitespace, their enormous
fleet confiscated Tusk ships and readied them for war against the
elves.  Horzark knew that they were preparing to attack an elvish nation
in hope of drawing the Elvish Fleet out so that they could crush them. 
Horzark rebelled at this prospect, as it meant the probable death of his
people.  Worse, it was a betrayal of a trust, something he could not
bring himself to do.  While the scro were preparing for their attack,
Horzark got a message out to the elves and the Chalice, revealing the
location of the scro fleet.  An hour before the elves hit, the Tusk
fleet stole out like thieves, heading into deep space.  The base was
destroyed, and Horzark earned a personal meeting with Admiral Rolinda
and Grand Knight Mornpalar.  An understanding was reached during that
meeting, and Tusk ships can trade in most ports in Twilitespace.

Company of the Chalice 
	The Company of the Chalice is a powerful military brotherhood that
spans many crystal spheres and commands hundreds of spelljammers. 
Within the last century, the Chalice has expanded to Twilitespace at the
request of the powerful Knight Mornpalar, a powerful paladin within the
order.  He claims that Twilitespace was his home sphere and wished to
help protect it.  Because of his strong personality, he was granted a
commission and became Grand Knight of Twilitespace.  Interestingly, he
has not aged a day since then, and shows no sign of growing older.  Many
speculate that he has a steady supply of potions of longevity and
elixirs of youth to maintain his health.  Mornpalar has been with the
Chalice for at least a century and a half, and was probably fifty when
he first joined.
	The Chalice in Twilitespace is centered on an island in the Sun's
Girdle, but has bases on Celenthi, Wolven, and Shinings (a moon of
Chaos).  The Chalice has become very powerful under Mornpalar's watch
and now thousands of civilians are under the Chalice's protection.  The
civilians are important to the Chalice's position by providing a tax
base which allows the company to maintain its fleet.  The nations of
Roland, Rulingar, and Lance have all given their support to the Chalice,
and many knights in those lands are either agents of the Chalice or are
full members.  The Chalice earns money by doing heroic acts, including
pirate hunting, dragon slaying, escorting merchants ships, and providing
aerial support for good nations at war.  The Knights are personally
wealthy and all have large estates throughout the sphere.  Each ship
owned by the Chalice is commanded by a full Knight of the Chalice, and
usually has 2-7 lesser knights as commanding officers.  Humans
predominate, but dwarves, elves, giff, and half-elves can all members as
well.  The rest of the crew is made up of hirelings, always of good
alignment.
	The headquarters for this branch of the Chalice is located in the Sun's
Girdle, in the port town of Brightblade.  Brightblade is a town of about
2,400 souls located in Mornpalar's personal fief.  The whole fief has a
population of about 15,000 beings, mostly human.  They work farms and
mines for their lord.  The fief provides Mornpalar with a tax base from
which to fund most of his operations, as do the other knights who have
their own estates and fiefs.  The town produces food to feed the Chalice
and mine gold to pay for the operation.  The base on Celenthi is a
training ground for new Knights and has a dry dock to repair Chalice
ships.  The base is not large, and cannot dock nor repair any ship over
sixty tons.  The training ground is fairly extensive and boasts a small
castle.  The base on Shinings is another fief, but is mainly a mining
and refining metal goods.  The town of Longhaven is the primary
settlement, with 1,900 residents.  The entire fief has perhaps 3,000
beings dwelling in it, mostly miners and smiths of all kinds.  The town
is run by Mornpalar's second in command, Knight Ke'kran.  

The Twilitespace Branch of the Chalice has the following ships at its
command:
· Hammership flagship (with 9 knights and 45 crew)
· 4 Squidship escorts (with 6 knights and 36 crew each)
· 3 Shrikeship cutters (with 4 knights and 20 crew each)
· 2 Lamprey war boats (with 3 knights and 15 crew each)
· 2 dragonfly scouts (with 2 knights and 4 crew each)
· 55 knights, 287 total crew.

Mornpalar Quiringolos
Paladin 15
Captain the Chalice flagship Starlance

AL: LG		HP: 140		THAC0: 9
AC: -2		#AT: 3		DMG: d8+7
STR: 19		INT: 18		DEX: 15
CHA: 18	WIS: 13		CON: 17

	The Grand Knight of Twilitespace, Mornpalar is a holy warrior dedicated
to the Chalice.  He has served for well over a century and a half, very
unusual for a human.  Yet, the Chalice has seen many usual things, and
an ancient human is not unknown.  He commands great respect from his men
and those who serve him will die for him.
	Mornpalar is not what he says he is.  While it is true he is a paladin,
he is not human nor does he worship a human god.  The truth is that he
is a Child of Bahamut (some detailed in Dragon #260).  His mother is a
planar who had a romantic encounter with the King of Dragons in one of
his humanoid forms.  Mornpalar was the result of that union, loved and
raised by both parents.  When he came of age, he adventured for a while
in wildspace, eventually falling in with the Chalice.  He earned the
position of Grand Knight because of his great charisma and strong
personality.  He is a forgiving soul, but has waged war in the past, and
was vital in breaking up a neogi nest fifty years ago.  He is a personal
friend of Admiral Leafbower and the two have worked well together in the
past.
	Mornpalar's humanoid form is that of a tall, handsome warrior.  He has
albino white hair pink eyes, and a Herculean body.  His dragon form is
very similar to a silver dragon, but glows with an inner radiance all
his own.  His scales are bright silver, but his wings are white and
feathered, like those of a bird instead those of normal dragons. 
Because of his parentage, he has inherited an impressive array of
magical abilities.  From his mother, he has inherited the following
powers common to many planears: continual light (1/day), dispel evil
(3/day), dispel illusion (3/day), dispel magic (3/day), limited wish
(1/year), flame strike (3/day), holy word (1/day), true seeing (at
will), remove curse (1/day), heal (3/day), raise dead (1/day).  From his
father, he has inherited the following powers that are common to most
silver dragons: feather fall (3/day), wall of fog (2/day), control winds
(1/day) and 45% magical resistance.  He can also cast spells as per an
adult silver dragon and as per a 15th level paladin.  This gives him the
following mage access: two first level spells, two second level spells,
and a third level spell.  His paladin abilities gives him the following
priest spell access: three first level spells, two second level spells,
a third level spell, and a fourth level spell.  His breath weapons are
identical to those of silver dragons, and he has all the natural
abilities of all dragons.  His personal wealth is enormous, and is
rapidly growing.
	Because of his successful career, Mornpalar has the following magical
items: long spear +3, bastard sword +5, plate armor +4, manual of bodily
health, helm of underwater action, wand of wonder, and a chime of
interruption.

-- 
Night Druid