One Last Riddle SJ Conversion pt 4

        The Town:  As is true of most asteroid settlements, Miel is actually
more than just a town, it^Òs the entire asteroid including all the farms
and population thereof.  Miel today is much as it was originally, it is
covered in dry grasses and minor scrub with a naturally occurring
variety of small birds, snakes (mainly constrictor and garden snakes
that eat bugs and bird eggs but there is also a variety of small viper
whose poison is very dangerous), and bugs (the most dangerous of which
are the rare scorpions as none of the spiders are deadly to humanoids,
there are also mud daubers^×a variety of wasp).  The town itself is
located at one end of the asteroid, the edge of which is a shear cliff
face.  Small farms dot the rest of the asteroid, growing crops in
passable soil but limited by insufficient water.  Rabbits (some of
which got free and are now wild), chickens, pheasants, quail, goats,
oxen, dogs, cats (many of which are now wild), sheep, and a few cattle
have all been introduced by settlers for farming and breeding.  Of
course, rats, mice, and some additional varieties of birds (small hawks
and owls to help control the vermin population were introduced
deliberately but the gullions weren^Òt) have also appeared and live
uncontrolled by civilization.
Miel was founded by a merchant who funded the asteroid^Òs colonization,
including bringing in the planar church of Nirvana (also known as
Mechanus) to see to his people^Òs needs (and enforce his rules).  Things
have not been easy but the town has grown some over time and consists
of a mix of spacefaring races (replace the half-orcs with hadozee and
lizard men).  The merchant^Òs family has always ruled the town, with the
eldest son taking charge.  The town^Òs government has always been LN but
with a hands-off attitude that has given the town a N feel, until now.
Mayor Natal Miel (NE hm Com7) is the current leader of the town and is
only interested in his own wealth and welfare.  He was not well liked
(though he wasn^Òt despicable and so wasn^Òt despised or opposed^×at least
until Oppol and crew arrived) but was tolerated and had little
influence over the populace on a daily basis^×until now.  Natal made a
deal with Oppol that has allied the town with the Blackspear tribe.
This has brought him great power as he now has a powerful force allied
with him that will allow him to exert the authority he^Òs always wanted.
 He is thinking of changing his title to Count.  Ujar Tilok (LN hm C8,
domains:  law and war) is the chief priest of the town^Òs only legal
religion (it was set up that way by the original charter though private
worship and even clergy of other faiths are allowed, they just can^Òt
establish any open shrines or temples and can^Òt preach openly to the
populace), the planar church of Nirvana.  Ujar was skeptical of dealing
with the kobolds but it was not his decision to make, the law places
Natal in charge and Ujar always follows the law.  Natal has not been
stupid in dealing with planar church, either, and has made them the
official head of his new military forces.  Ujal enjoys the new power
and position he has and has been effectively bought off by the
agreement.  Now he uses the title Chaplain-General of the Righteous
Guard of the State of Miel.  Juliet Ghehan (LN hf War9) is the town^Òs
constable and most experienced warrior.  She is also a lifelong devotee
of the planar church of Nirvana and a second cousin of Natal.  She has
spent all her life (after a brief career as a mercenary) defending the
town and has always wanted to see it expand and become a powerful
military force.  She fully approves of the finally formalized marriage
of her beloved church with the town^Òs rulership and the new
militaristic goals of the church and the town.  She has always believed
the faith should be spread through organized action.  In fact, Juliet^Òs
only concern is how all this came about.  She doesn^Òt trust the kobolds
at all and feels they will try to use the town to instead build their
power rather than both groups expanding together.  She is also
concerned with the enslaving of some of the law-abiding and peaceful
townsfolk but realizes sacrifices have to me made on the road to
greatness.  Her new title is Commanding General of the Righteous Guard
of Miel.  Whereas she used to report to Natal, now Ujar reports to
Natal on military matters and she reports to him (in battle, however,
she is the superior, this complex arrangement of chain-of-command is
one only a highly structured and extremely lawful organization like the
planar church of Nirvana could pull off without extreme difficulty).
The Righteous Guard of Miel currently consists of the several humans (1
War3 and 1 War2 sergeants, 5 War1) and one hadozee (War1) that made up
the old town guard as well as Ujar^Òs acolytes, Aton (LN hm F1/C2,
domains: law and war), Statra (LN hef C1, domains:  law and war), and
Liffess (LN hef C1, domains:  law and healing).  Liffess and Statra are
fraternal twins with the former being somewhat flighty and daydreamish
and the latter stern and businesslike.  Both were raised as orphans in
town (they were abandoned by their human mother, who shipped out after
they were born).  Liffess is as pretty and effeminate as her
personality suggests while Statra dresses severely, hiding any physical
beauty behind an icy exterior.  Aton is a true believer in war and has
recently returned from hiring out to a ship as a helmsman to bring
extra money into the church.  While away he gained his fighter level
and has even been involved in two shipboard actions when the merchant
vessel was assailed by bands of pirates.  Aton is a primary advisor to
the triumvirate running the town (Natal, Ujar, and Juliet) based on his
experience. His primary contribution so far has been to suggest the
town seek to captured and force into service pirates or at least their
vessels in order to quickly build their navy (everyone thinks this is
an ideal solution and captured helmsman could be used to power the
ships without wasting the town^Òs limited magical resources).  Liffess
has been ordered to establish an infirmary and to visit the slaves
daily, treating their wounds.  Meanwhile Statra has been left as the
primary person to see to the populace^Òs needs while the other members
of the church are preparing for war.   The town also has three other
people of influence, all merchants.  Potter Holm (N hem Exp8) is the
town^Òs only full time blacksmith (he does have a journeyman helper,
however) and is also skilled in making weapons and armor.  The Miel
military and Oppol have both ordered dozens of finely crafted weapons
as well as armor to equip their troops, much more than he will be able
to provide with existing ore supplies.  He isn^Òt worried, however,
Oppol has provided him with more than enough money to fund the work,
including purchasing all the raw materials he needs.  For now Potter
Holm is both happy and busy, which has allowed him to forget about the
enslavement of many of his neighbors.  As an on-and-off worshipper of
Ptah he doesn^Òt fit well with the planar church of Nirvana but as he^Òs
always followed the law and no one has ever troubled him he^Òs not to
worried about their increased power.  Saul Regarson (N em Exp4) is the
town^Òs money changer as he does some investing in ships that stop in
port occasionally.  He has senior partners in at least three other
ports and earns a comfortable living without having to do much.  He is
concerned that his lizard man guard/bodyguard has been hired away by
the kobolds but the new curfews and increased presence of the town
guard has calmed him somewhat, so far.  He has taken to wearing a
shortsword and dagger at all times, however (Saul is actually a coward
and will shrink from any fighting unless forced into it).  Caramip
Loopmottin (N gf Exp2) was the leading member of the gnomish community
as well as the town^Òs primary luxuries importer and wholesaler.  She
handled most of the sales of the farmers^Ò crops as she bought them and
then sold them to passing ships.  Now that she^Òs a slave she has become
the leader of the slave resistance and is organizing them to fight
back.
The rest of the population of the asteroid consists of a single
extended family of dwarves, a few families of elves, a number of lizard
men, some hadozee laborers, a few half-elves (all of the half-elves are
the result of dalliances between humans and elves, most of the elves of
which were sailors passing through), and, of course, a large number of
humans.  There are 99 adult dwarves in the extended Ironforge family
and many youngsters.  With recent events the dwarves have pulled
together and begun laying in what stores they can lay hands on without
attracting attention (they are preparing for a siege in case anyone
tries to enslave them) but new laws forbid hoarding in order to ensure
there are stores to supply the military.  They are also considered
linking their homes by digging tunnels but haven^Òt yet started as they
can^Òt figure out how to dispose of the rubble (another new local
ordinance forbids new excavation except by the kobolds).  The dwarves
are led alternately by Duggi (LG dm Exp3), Hardin (LN dm Exp1/Ftr2),
and Brundor (LN dm Exp2/War1).  The first two are brothers and the last
is a cousin of the other two.  They rarely agree but have been forced
to unite and form a council due to the current perceived troubles.  On
the other hand, their divisions are sure to increase over time if no
overt action is taken against them as Brundor^Òs followers consist of
most of the metalworkers, leatherworkers, and woodworkers in the
families and they are getting business making arms and armor while
Duggi and Hardin^Òs followers consist of the town^Òs shipwrights,
engineers, masons, carpenters, and miners, the latter of which so far
are receiving no additional business (in fact, new ordinances are
interfering with some business already).  Most of the adult dwarves are
Exp1 and Exp2s though there are some black sheep in the form of a Rog3
pickpocket, a Com1 lazy alcoholic, and a Exp1/Rog1 who has begun taking
after his Rog3 cousin.  There are also 17 War1s (all are multi-classed
experts), 2 Ftr2s (also multi-classed experts), and a Clr2 of Berronar
Truesilver who has a young 0th level acolyte who has not yet reached
maturity.  The dwarves were the backbone of the old town militia and
are not going to be enslaved, instead the town^Òs leaders are trying
hard to recruit them into the guard.  All the dwarves have real weapons
and fully functional armor of some sort.
The adult elven population in town numbers 72 (not including Saul) but
these are in 17 different families and most live away from the town
itself, farming fields in peace.  They have met a few times in the
evenings (those who live away from town can generally move freely as
the curfew cannot be enforced away from town and the kobolds and town
rulers aren^Òt really worried about what goes on on the rest of the
asteroid) to discuss what to do.  Saul^Òs worries about safety have
spread (several have hadozee field hands that the guard is trying to
hire away as they know what hard workers hadozee are) but he has also
become their de-facto leader and a wait and see attitude has set in.
They are worried about being targeted and enslaved (elven slaves are
worth a lot, especially females) but also anticipate an economic boom
should expansion occur just as Saul does.  Also they feel the Elven
Navy would destroy any empire that rose up enslaving elves (they^Òre
probably right but it would take time).  For now their main action has
been the town-dwelling elves sending their children to live with the
elves in the fields and only adult elves travel about town, and then
always in groups (usually 4-5 but may be as few as 2-3).  Two key
dissenters are Lilina (^ÓLily^Ô) Silverbranch (CG ef Wiz1/Ftr1) and Heath
Moonbrook (CG em Rog2/Wiz1).  Lilina has spent some time traveling and
realizes the Elven Navy would take time to react, time during which
many young elves could be sold into a permanent life of slavery beyond
Elven Fleet aid.  Heath is simply a firebrand who looks for action and
adventure, has grown up on stories of daring do, and hates humanoids
based on those same stories.  The kobolds are an obvious target for his
desire to do more but even Lilina can^Òt support his wrecklessness.  The
elven community consists mainly of commoners and experts with a few as
high as fourth level due to their long lifespan.  Most elves over 2nd
level are mutli-classed, however.  In total there are 10 Wiz1s (all
multi-classed) and 3 Wiz2s (also all multi-classed) among the local
elven populace (besides those already noted).  In addition to those
elves listed above (Heath, Lilina, and Saul) the elves have 3 Rog1s (2
of which are multi-classed Exps), 3 Dr1s who serve Rillifane Rallathil
(the druids do not practice openly but they are much appreciated by the
local farmers and have a number of human and halfling as well as elven
devotees of the faith that secretly support them), 2 Rgr1s, 6 War1s
(all multi-classed), and a Clr1 of Corellon Larethian among their
numbers.  The elves will probably be slowly mollified over time even as
Heath stirs up more of the young hotheads among them.  They will not be
enslaved (there is real fear of the Elven Fleet though this isn^Òt the
primary reason:  the town guard wants to recruit their large number of
spellcasters or at least hire them to train other wizards that will
join the guard).  Demand for their services and foodstuffs will grow
and money will come in as Saul predicted, causing them to feel happier
about the situation.
The local half-elven population numbers a total of 15 and they^Òve
always been very disaffected, looked down on as both half-breeds and
illegitimate (there are no legitimate half-elves in Miel as there has
never been a human-elf marriage in town).  Potter was the only one
who^Òd ever seemed to amount to anything.  With the new military
recruiting, however, two half-elves (Statra and Liffess) have come to
positions of power and the town guard is not discriminating.  Already
two others have joined the guard and their low light vision is highly
appreciated.  The guard could well attract 5 or 6 more over time.
Other than Statra and Liffess the local half-elves have 3 Rog1s and a
Rog2 among their number while the rest are Com1s.


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