Page 80 - Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting

tal’dorei campaign guide

government
the holocauSt Seed
For high-level characters: Deep beneath the twisted floors The Iron Authority is meticulously ordered, and its ruth-
of the jungle lies a long-slumbering relic from before the lessly structured society is no different. As in society,
Founding: an unborn primordial titan seed, its energy every hobgoblin knows their place, from whom they must
responsible for the fertile landscape and extreme overgrowth unquestioningly serve to every lackey who must obey
of the jungle. With the seed sought and triggered by figures them. Iron Emperor Tz’Jarr is the supreme military com-
of dark intent, the titan begins to develop and awaken rap- mander of the empire, and is loyally served by the four
idly. If the process isn’t halted, it will awaken and terrorize royal generals that rule the empire’s individual city-states.
the continent. However, if the seed is destroyed, the jungle The government of Tz’Arrm itself is doggedly focused
may wither and die without its magical essence. towards maintaining the Authority’s war machine, and is
filled with propagandists, military officials, wealthy sla-
stormpoint mountains veowners and nobles, and their cronies. No elections are
held; positions are only vacated in the event of death or
promotion, and all leaders are appointed by the emperor
Where the southern cliffs of the Stormcrest Mountains or an immediate superior.
mostly come to an end, a single bridge of raised rocky peaks
continue to push southward, piercing into the Rifenmist society
Jungle itself. This extended range of mountains is known
As the capital of a war-like empire, Tz’Arrm is awash
as the Stormpoints. These steep peaks are shrouded in
with propaganda and crawling with secret police. Nearly
low-sitting clouds and fog for most of the year, the rocky
all hobgoblins within the city are proud imperial citizens,
surface hidden from view from lush overgrowth fed by the
bound by the Curse of Strife to lust for war—and bound
near-perpetual rain. This region would be considered beau-
by the will of the Iron Emperor to obey unquestioningly.
tiful by most, were it not home to many vicious denizens.
Hobgoblins occupy all of the highest positions within
Treasure hunters are becoming more and more of a familiar
the city, and are the only people allowed to serve in the
site wandering through the Mornset, as rumors now spread
mighty imperial armies.
of the long-dead green dragon Raishan’s lair being hidden,
Goblins are second-class citizens within the imperial
and abandoned, somewhere within these jagged peaks.
capital. While they are afforded citizenship and a certain
level of goblinoid respect, their role in society is clear;
stormpoint mountains adventures
they live to serve. Every general, duke, and petty lord has
several goblins on their payroll, either as housekeepers, as
the deceiver’S legacy
serving-folk, or as artists to serve their own vanity.
For mid-level characters: While the terrible manipulator
dragon Raishan was slain at the hands of Vox Machina slavery
one year ago, her personal lair sits deep within the
swamp-choked valley cracks at the heart of the Storm- The armies of the Iron Authority have captured tens of
point Mountains. Protected by venomous plant-life, thousands of slaves during their wars of conquest across
treacherous illusions, and dominated beasts, the bulk of Rifenmist. The slaves of Tz’Arrm are mostly used as
laborers, and are sent to chisel iron scraps from the Strife
her hoard lies within, unguarded… or so it is thought.
Something dark and vengeful returns to the shadows of Emperor’s fallen armor, or to venture back into the lower
jungles to forage for food. The slaves that pass in and out
her lair, something familiar, mending, and carrying the
curse of the Wildmother. of the city are always escorted by a military detachment,
to prevent escape. Hobgoblin taskmasters prize tieflings
tz’arrm, over all other slaves as laborers, especially for work in
the furnaces. Tz’Arrm’s nobles also prize their few elven
helm of the emperor slaves, passing them down like heirlooms from gener-
ation to generation. Elves are treasured possessions by
the Authority’s despicable elite, not just because of their
Large City • Population 47,400 beauty or because it is so difficult to break their will, but
(70% Hobgoblin, 10% Goblin, 20% Enslaved Races) because of how difficult it is to procure slaves from the
sheltering boughs of the jungle.
When the Strife Emperor fought the Wildmother, he
took the form of a giant of unimaginable size, clad from
geography and climate
head to toe in armor of pitted iron. When he was defeated
and cast back into his planar prison, his immense, divine Tz’Arrm is hellishly hot. The black stone of the Beynsfal
armor remained and crashed to the ground. Centuries Plateau and the iron walls of the city trap the heat of the
have passed, and the thirty-foot tall Helm of Strife is now relentless Rifenmist sun. Hobgoblins are well suited to
the palace of the hobgoblin’s Iron Emperor. The rest of such a climate, but the city’s goblins sweat and suffer as
their imprisoned god’s armor fuels the unstoppable war they toil. The captured elves, used to the hot but humid
machine of the Iron Authority, melted down to create climate of the jungle lowlands, are especially harmed by
walls, weapons, and worse. the hot, dry heat of the plateau.

chapter 2: gazetteer of tal’dorei 79