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Areas of Interest
General Information
1. Red Fang Headquarters
2. Hell Dog Headquarters
3. Fixers Headquarters
4. Town Pig Headquarters
5. Wall Smashers Headquarters
6. Dozz's Bar
7. Ragok's Gar
8. Tolak's Bar
9. Blacksmiths
10. Woodworkers
11. Slaughterhouse
12. Grain Sheds
13. Prison Pits
14. Weapon Storage
15. Spawning Pits
Who Rules: The Red Fang tribe, made up mostly of oluk orcs, currently rules the city of Haigrog. The Red Fangs maintain their power primarily because of patronage by the Wintervale, which feels that this tribe has the perfect mixture of ruthlessness and malleability. The Red Fang tribe is also very adept at stealth and assassination, and they are also formidable in open combat. This trifecta allows them to maintain control easily. The real ruler of Haigrog, though, is the Wintervale.
Money Limit: 3000
Other Power Centers: Four other tribes make up the bulk of the population, and each tribe is a center of power, all under the control of the Red Fangs. Each tribe has an orcish name, but most tribes have come to be known by names that refer to the job of the average member of that tribe. The Eye Gougers are informally known as the Fixers, because they are primarily responsible for planning and building the siege weaponry for which the town is famous. The Bloody Skulls are known as the Wall Smashers for operating that equipment. The Bone Crackers are called the town pigs, because they take care of the record keeping of the town. The fourth tribe is the Hell Dogs. Like the Red Fangs, they have no nickname. The Hell Dogs are the infantry troops of the exceedingly warlike community.
The Nalrog, the temple to Vornoth, overseen by the bugbear priest known only as Maw, is another powerful institution in the city. Maw is deeply in the pay of the Wintervale and serves as a spy. This is known only to the Red Fangs, and they have a close relationship with all the priests of the Nalrog.
Population: About 5000. The population is almost entirely orcs, though some small bands of hobgoblin mercenaries inhabit the city off and on as the Red Fangs can pay for them. An indeterminate number of kobold and goblin slaves also live in and around the city.
Major Products: Since the Dark Conquest, Haigrog has devoted itself to one thing: war, primarily with its sister Orc City Gorug. To this end, the city has devoted all of its time and resources to producing engines of war, and besides blood and death, this is the sole export for which it is known.
The cities of Haigrog, or Orc-haven, and Gorug, are the first two communities the orcs themselves founded as a race. These communities have existed for many millenia, mostly as collections of huts and pits. The various tides of war washed over the two communities, burning and sacking them both many times. Worse, however, were the effects of the wars waqed by the Dweller in the Vale. This arch-evil creature used both of the ancestral orc cities as breeding grounds for orc soldiers, perpetually denuding the cities of their inhabitants and keeping the cities just a step above rank barbarism. Then came the Dark Conquest. Suddenly there was no more need for so many troops, and the two Orc Cities were left mostly to their own devices. They used this newfound opportunity to wage war upon each other, and for more than three and a half centuries they have besieged and attacked each other, with the advantage shifting back and forth between Orc-haven and Gorug many times.
Orc-haven chose to focus its energy on constructing engines of war. They created devices to hurl fire and rock long distances, devices to use against infantry, and gigantic self-propelled towers to scale walls, while Gorug chose to breed strange monsters and super-soldiers to throw against Haigrog. In the process of this strange arms race, these two cities developed something of a culture.
Orc-haven is ruled by the Red Fang tribe, who make certain that every resource in the city is devoted to waging war. The city itself is supported by raids on neighboring lands and by tribute from its client-communities, for Orc-haven has sway over every dark folk community within a 50 mile radius. Vast fields farmed by kobold and goblin slaves, and the produce of these fields supports the city. Little of these crops are traded, however, because the Red Fang care nothing about the economy of their city beyond funding their armies.
The City is divided into four sections: North Town, South Town, Hell Dog Town, and Fixertown. The latter two sections of the community are named after the respective tribes that inhabit them. Red Fang headquarters are also located in Hell Dog town, though the Red Fangs maintain several secret sub-headquarters scattered throughout the town. The Town Pigs primarily inhabit the very southmost reaches of Fixertown, where their headquarters are located. The Wall Smashers, working so closely with the Fixers, also live primarily in Fixertown. The northern section of the city is dominated by the large open spot called the Practice Grounds. Various siege engines and weapons of war are perpetually scattered throughout this area. At the far end of this muddy field is the training wall, a massive structure that is continuously knocked down by experimental siege weapons and as frequently rebuilt. The sounds of smashing rock echo constantly throughout the northern end of Haigrog during the hours of darkness.
The orcish builders of Haigrog gave very little thought to drainage or sanitation. A couple of drain holes pierce the walls in the west side of the city, and these drains are the only thing that allow the water that collects in a series of open ditches in the middle of the town to eventually escape from the city during torrential downpours. The walls of the city are massive and easily defended; they are crowned by a ten-foot wide walkway on the top. Crenelations and ramparts protect the ever-present orcish archers that man the walls. The fortifications have fallen into disrepair over the years, though.
Haigrog is not a nice place in which to reside, nor is it an easy target to attack.