One Last Riddle SJ Conversion pt 5

     The town boasts a whole 4 lizard folk and 10 hadozee among the
populace.  One of the hadozee is an original member of the town guard
while the others are laborers, most working for elves on farms though
another works for the dwarves.  As diligent, hard workers the hadozee
are well respected by the locals (even if they can be rude and crude)
and the town guard has targeted them for their gliding ability,
shipboard skills (there are no native hadozee, all arrived aboard ship
and are at least somewhat familiar with ship operation), and work
ethic.  For now none have joined but as more pay is offered and the
current hadozee guard rises in the ranks of a growing military it is
likely that most will come to work for the military.  The town^Òs four
lizard folk consist of Saul^Òs former guard (N lm War1) and his mate and
2 lizard men (N lm Ftr1 & War2) that were kicked off there ship a few
years ago when they had a squabble with some other crew members.  They
have stuck around doing odd jobs in town and waiting for another ship
willing to hire them since then.  Except for the female, who is busy
raising several young, all the town^Òs lizard men have already been
hired by the kobolds to supplement their forces.  As all four are
skilled spacefarers this has been a good move.
The town had 31 adult gnomes and 130 adult halflings in residence.  One
of the first deals the town struck with the kobolds was rounding up and
handing over the gnomes as slaves to the kobolds to use in digging
their new warrens below town.  After only a day or two, however, the
kobolds demanded the halflings also be rounded up as they needed more
workers (since they^Òd been forced to allow the planar church of Nirvana
to look in on the slaves daily and had agreed not to force the young
gnomes to work they were down to 26 laborers as 2 old gnomes and 3
others attended the youngsters) to speed up the work.  The town agreed
and quickly rounded up the halflings on the asteroid, even those living
outside town.  Though there are now many young to care for the labor
pool was now sufficient to the kobolds^Ò needs and confiscating the
goods of the new slaves has helped fund the humans^Ò war efforts.  In
all, everyone but the slaves is currently pleased with the situation.
The slaves have rallied around Caramip for leadership but she isn^Òt
really a military planner and has mostly managed negotiating with the
kobolds as to who and how many should watch the young each day.  A
resistance has also formed under her leadership but it is still so new
that it^Òs on a wait-for-an-opportunity basis.  So far, the careful
kobold watchers have provided none and no one from outside has arranged
a distraction.  The gnomes have also learned their innate talents will
not be put up with and several have been beaten severely for using them
to harass the kobold guards.  Along with Caramip the gnome community
consists mainly of Exp1s and Exp2s with 2 Wiz(Ill)1/Exp1s among them.
Neither has a spellbook or memorized spells, however (beyond read magic
which they can prepare without a spellbook).  The halflings are mostly
Com1s and Com2s but there are also 3 Rog2s, 6 Rog1s (4 of which are
multi-classed), a Rog3, and 4 Exp1s.
The bulk of the town^Òs populace consists of humans.  There are 1058
humans that have not been detailed elsewhere.  Of these, 6 have already
joined the guard and at least 30 are too old to do much (though one of
those is a retired Wiz(Div)2 that is becoming senile and is no longer
trusted to perform accurate divinations).  4 others are considered
unfit for the military due to permanent disabilities.  There are 3
Wiz1s, all of which are willing to work for the town as helmsmen and in
training other wizards but none of which are willing to become battle
wizards.  As yet no price has been settled on with any of them,
however.  The remaining town criminal element (those who are human)
consists of 12 Rog1 and 2 Rog2.  All the local criminals have had their
activities cut back somewhat by the new activity of the law enforcers
and the local fence, Saul, has given them notice he won^Òt be fencing
anything more until he^Òs sure its safe.  With the only alternative to
starving apparently honest labor (and the guard being the only ones
immediately hiring), the local thieves of all races would be perfectly
happy to help oust the kobolds, as long as their isn^Òt much risk for
themselves.  The other humans include mostly farmers and common
laborers, most of which are unsure of recent events.  Natal has
announced that the confiscated halfling farms will be parceled out to
other farmers (he really means sold cheap) to work so as the majority
of the farming population (and a number of people who see this as their
chance to finally own their own farm) is human and would presumably be
the primary beneficiaries, the majority of the populace is currently in
support of what^Òs going on.  It is also from among the humans that the
majority of human recruits will come and offers to train those desiring
to become wizards or clerics in the planar church of Nirvana have
sparked the interest of several humans who never had such grand
opportunities before.  The bulk of the human population not yet
detailed are Com1s and Com2s with a few Exp1s and Exp2s (Potter^Òs
journeyman is an Exp2) mixed in.  Additionally there are 4 F1s and 18
War1s who^Òve seen service on ship but are currently retired to other
trades.  It is possible that some might come out of retirement to join
the new guard, however.
The town^Òs new populace consists of the Ripperspear clan of the
Blackspear tribe of kobolds and the tribe^Òs chief, Oppol.  There are a
total of 49 average adult kobolds in the clan as well as a War1, 2
War3s, a Sor1 (Oppol^Òs apprentice), a Ftr4 leader, 32 females, 9 young,
and 12 eggs.  Oppol has already taken over the large house (a
human-dimension house as required by the town^Òs laws) that was owned by
Caramip Loopmottin to make his headquarters.  His warriors have been
driving the slaves to dig warrens for the kobolds under the town,
thereby allowing the kobolds to control the town as well as establish
their usual living environment.  The kobold^Òs warrens have begun in the
basement of Oppol^Òs new home while the kobolds have taken over the rest
of the building.  All of Caramip^Òs possessions were removed except the
gnome-sized furniture before the kobolds moved in.  The slaves are
housed in the neighboring warehouse (formerly owned by Caramip but now
Blackspear tribal property).  See below for a complete description in
the Lairs section.
        With the alliance with the kobolds many things have openly changed in
town.  There are now constant street patrols by pairs of the town^Òs
guard during the day.  At night the kobolds patrol and a strict curfew
is enforced on everyone who is not a member of the town guard
(including the planar church of Nirvana and the Mayor).  All the town^Òs
gnomes and halflings have been rounded up and enslaved as mentioned
before.  The gnomes were enslaved because the kobolds hated them so
(the races are mortal enemies) and the halflings because they could
serve the same purpose as the gnomes:  kobold-sized slave labor.  The
kobolds have hired every one of the town^Òs limited lizard man
population as mercenaries in their employ.  The town^Òs elves and
dwarves now travel about armed, as they are concerned they will be next
to be enslaved and both groups are willing to fight to prevent this
(note that even if the kobolds were linked to the Second Unhuman War
and the scro the elves were always the scro^Òs enemies, the kobolds and
many of the other scro allies never had any especial hatred for them).
They also rarely travel alone.  The town guard is recruiting and there
is daily drilling of new the recruits on and near the docks (2
half-elves and 6 humans have joined up).  They are drilled in shipboard
procedures, basic weapons, armor, and shield use, and the use of large
weapons (specifically the medium ballista though a light catapult is
being constructed near the docks).  Depending on how long ago the DM
has decided the town made its alliance, militia drills may have already
begun as well or the first may just have been announced.  Every
able-bodied person in the town has been ordered to turn out every 5th
day for a half day of militia drilling (Saul and his journeyman are
exempted as are some of the mothers so they can raise their children,
the Mayor attends in order to watch while the guards and members of the
church lead the drills).  Everyone in town has been ordered to acquire
armor and a weapon also.  While the town already had a militia and the
town guard had some extra weapons (and some people had their own
weapons and armor stored away) most people have been forced to acquire
equipment.  Many suits of homemade padded armor are evident at drills
and the town^Òs tailors and seamstresses (all of which were previously
only part time) have bee working hard to churn out more suits of
suitable armor.  Clubs and kitchen knives are the primary weapons for
now but there are plans for everyone to learn the spear at least.
The town has also enjoyed some other benefits.  No one in town (not
even the slaves) has complained about the sudden abundance of free
water (formerly water cost money and was rationed as it was in limited
supply).  Oppol has turned on the decanter of endless water his forces
found in the lair and is now supplying the entire asteroid.  The
farmers are especially happy and are discussing plans to grow more
water intensive crops, add more orchards and bushes, possibly set up a
pond for raising fish, irrigating, and many other improvements
(including adding more farm animals, increasing the population to
actual herds).  There is potential work for everyone (even if it^Òs only
joining the guard) now with the promise of good pay due to abundant
money and many humans have begun talking about the chance to bid on all
the hoarded wealth the gnomes and halflings had held (Natal has
promised an auction to help fund the military buildup soon^×as soon as
he finishes picking through for what he wants for himself).  The town
had 2 taverns, 4 soup kitchens (an early form of restaurant where the
food is simply served out of a back window of a house in wooden plates,
bowls, and mugs, 1 cp deposit per wooden dish returned when dish is
brought back in one piece), and a single large inn.  Both taverns,
three of the soup kitchens, and the inn were owned by halflings or
gnomes and are all now Natal^Òs property.  There is quite a bit of
grumbling about the taverns belonging to him and he may have to put
them up for auction (in this case the dwarves will probably buy at
least one) in the near future.  The inn is much less of a concern since
it generally acts as more of a boarding house and doesn^Òt have a large
number of guests (land in town has always been free, if you can pay for
the goods and labor you can build anything you want^×except now you
can^Òt excavate^×so most people with the money have their own homes
including a couple rooms they are willing to let to boarders).  Of
note, the lizard men all live here currently.  The soup kitchens did
cause a clamor at first (all three were family owned so they are
effectively gone at this point) but within a day some people started
offering to sell food from their own homes.  This has caught on so well
that now almost everyone in town is trying to get in on this
entrepreneurial opportunity and anyone can go to any house to buy a
plate of whatever they^Òve fixed.  With a few hours notice they will
even make their menu for a meal whatever the patron desires (they
haven^Òt become sophisticated enough yet to demand deposits for this
service).  The dwarves are not entirely happy with this, however, as
one of the soup kitchens was owned by gnomes and catered primarily tot
he dwarven and gnomish population.  They served a couple recipes that
were family secrets (and may have been magically flavored) that the
dwarven entrepreneurs can^Òt duplicate.  On the other hand, gold will
soothe most any hurt so if a dwarven soup kitchen takes off and money
rolls into town they will likely stop their most vocal complaining.
Glory days are definitely ahead as far as most of Miel is concerned.


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