The Cast

Coa'thuk … A young, not quite adult, female demon. She is the big sister of Riz'agal for Caer'agal. She is very fond and supportive of her younger brother and takes great care preparing him for the day he will inherit their father's domain. She might just become his chief adviser if she doesn't marry into another family before then.

Gash'zur … A young giantess woman with fiery hair. She is working in the royal treasury and is a protegee of sorts of the lady of the treasury, the forgeborn lady Undur. She might inherit her position as minster of the treasury in time. She is not terribly interested in the position though. She just loves working with metal and work at the treasury provides plenty of opportunity for that.

Gul'amar … An experienced male demon. He serves as the captain of the royal guard and usually wears the enchanted full plate of volcanic glass that is customarily worn by all royal guards. His armor is decorated with golden trim though, to set him apart from others. His position as captain of the guard earns him a place on the privy council as well.

Keza'zoth … A young demon woman who recently learned that she is a royal princess. She grew up away from court in Caer'zoth as the twin sister of Kaele, although the two do not really look much alike. She is tall, even for a demon and especially for a woman, a trait she probably inherited from her real mother. She stands almost as tall as most men of her kind. She has been trained in the art of war ever since she was old enough to hold a weapon, both by her foster mother and by her foster mother's weapon master, Uzzana. Her favorite weapon is the glaive and her fighting stlye revolves around reach and mobility. She cares much for her friends and her family but she can be a bit reckless at times.

Kela'oz … A gorgon woman with especially gorgeous and lively hair. She is older than Keza although by how much can be hard to tell. She is a mother of at least one though. More importantly though she is the royal spymaster as well as minister of trade. She travels a lot and might appear as a humble cloth merchant to anyone who doesn't know her from the royal court.

Khor'roth … An older male demon. He is a veteran and has seen many battles during his years of active service with the lords and ladies of Caer'agal during the past century. His body and horns bear the scars and nicks to prove it. He served as the domain's master at arms but is actually retired now. He was called back into service when the current lord left with his banner, following the king's call to arms, to serve under the young Riz'agal while the lord is away.

Khuu'za … An young harpy and one of the younger sisters of Quu'za. She isn't a warrior and shoulders most of the burden of taking care of her even younger siblings.

Kroa'ka … An older harpy of no little experience and the captain of the royal couriers. She is tall and her legs are long and powerful, even for a harpy. Her feathers are pure black and she wears rather ornate greaves and metal claws.

Quu'za … A young harpy warrior who lives a semi nomadic life with her people in the hills separating Caer'zha and the capital region from the eastern domains of the the kingdom. She is rather outgoing for a harpy and has several younger siblings, one of which is Khuu'za.

Riz'agal … A young male demon. He is a child still, a few years younger than his sister but stands to inherit his father's domain one day. Unlike with Kela'zoth and her brother there is no bad blood between him and his older sister. As a matter of fact he is very glad to have her, as she is very supportive. As he is left to run his father's domain as he is away on campaign he feels the responsibility weigh heavy on his shoulders. He is afraid that he might not live up to the expectations of others and relies heavily on his sister and Khor'roth, the veteran master at arms his father appointed for him.

Tora'pheer … A young demon warrior woman only slightly older than Keza. One could even call her knightly. She commands an all female, all demon unit of mounted mercenaries, the Four horned Lancers. She dreams of earning herself rulership of a domain of her own. One could argue that she is already halfway there, as she already inherited her mercenary company from her mother.

Tortho … A middle aged dark elf scout of some experience and the captain of the Company of the Cloak. Formality is not his forte. Lounging, skulking and the likes are more to his liking.

Undur … A truly ancient female forgeborn. Her body is fashioned to mimic a demon woman but is made of brass. Although it is polished to a shine it is starting to show its age. The same is probably true for those parts of her body not visible to the eye. Or at least her carefully measured movements suggest as much. She is the minister of the treasury and runs it, not exactly with an iron fist. She might as well though. None of her employees would dare to question any of her carefully chosen words.

Yath'zur … A giant mercenary and siege expert. He is the spokesperson, he refuses the term captain, of the troll and giant mercenaries of the Wall Breakers Company. He is a cousin of Gash'zur from the treasury. He is still young and eager to get some real combat experience.

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Zul'gar … A male demon and veteran animal handler. He spent many years traveling with caravans before settling down and becoming the animal handler at the inn in Caer'zoth. He has some fighting experience as well, had it even before the siege of Caer'zoth, as he always doubled as a caravan guard when serving as an animal handler.

Places

Caer'agal … A small village as well as the surrounding domain neighboring Caer'zoth, along the road to the capital at Bleak Peak. It is essentially a farming community slightly more prosperous than Caer'zoth but less heavily fortified.

Caer'zha … A village just outside the royal capital at Bleak Peak. It gets ashfall quite regularly, thus only ashroot grows on its fields but thanks to its position at a major crossroad just outside the royal capital it is quite prosperous anyway. The place is famous for its inns and their hot baths as well.

The Capital ... The grand city built around the caldera of Bleak Peak. Only part of the city is visible on the surface. There are numerous caverns and tunnels connecting them below the surface as well. The city is protected by two walls with numerous towers and bastions as well as a network of volcanic outlets that can flood the slopes below the city and the plains beyond those with molten rock or scalding hot air and ash. In addition the city's streets are narrow and winding, making it even more defensible.

The Gap … A literal gap in the mountain range separating the lands around Bleak Peak from those of the Kingdoms of the Council of Kings in the east. This gap is wide enough to make blocking it with walls or fortresses not feasible, yet narrow enough that two maneuvering armies can block each other for some time until one manages to force a decisive battle.

The Ringwall Mountains … A truly imposing mountain range that separates the great desert at heart of the continent from the rest of the world for the better part, surrounding it like a ring. Many wondrous creatures, as well as trolls and giants, hail from there. Supposedly dragons make their homes on or in the highest of these peaks.

Creatures and Everything Else

Company of the Cloak … A mercenary company of scouts and rangers about thirty five strong. They are lightly armed and usually forgo any armor. They tend to wear a camouflage cloak though. The company was named for this particular piece of gear.

Four horned Lancers Company … An all female, all demon mercenary company, about forty strong, of lancers mounted on the great mountain ibex from the Ringwall Mountains. They wear half or three-quarter plate and are equipped for close quarter combat as well.

Ganarl … Humanoid creatures that share some similarities with hyenas. Their homeland are the plains to the west of the lands ruled by the king of Bleak Peak. They are somewhat territorial but in general not too hard to get along with. Some of their habits, like their laugh, their preference of rather well aged meat and the habit of audible cracking big bones during meals to slurp the marrow from within are not well received by many other people though.

Giant … Giants are, for lack of a better word, gigantic humanoids. They stand about as tall as trolls, only slightly taller than them on average, but are not nearly as stocky as them. In comparison they might even be called delicate as their build is closer to that of demons, gorgons and elves. Fiery colored hair seems to be the norm among them.Most giant communities tend to keep to themselves but a few live with and among the other people of the lands around Bleak Peak. They are known for their metal workings and many weapons or suits of armor of legend supposedly were crafted at their forges.

Giant Ibex … These creatures originally hail from the Ringwall Mountains in the north. They are bred and trained as mounts among the people living around Bleak Peak. Especially demons have a liking for them due to their majestic horns. They are also known for their exceptionally sure footing even in the toughest of terrains.

Harpy … Harpies are birdlike humanoids. They are flightless but their strong and long, birdlike legs allow them to move at extraordinary speed. They can cover considerable distances with a jump as well, especially if they support it with their wings. Their claws are formidable natural weapons. Their warriors reinforce them with metal claws if they can. Some wear greaves as well, to protect their legs. Other forms of armor are not in wide use among them. They live semi nomadic lives. They are known to resort to banditry at times if their population grows too quickly beyond what they can support with their usual lifestyle.

Ogre … Ogres are a brutal and savage humanoid people that has been utterly corrupted by The Devourer. They tend to be pale, fat and big, veritable hills of meat with a big mouth and entirely too many gruesome teeth, that can dwarf even trolls and actual giants, never mind everyone else. Their gluttonous minds rarely revolve around anything else but the next meal and ogres are always hungry, even if they just gorged themselves on some unfortunate soul.

Troll … Trolls are big humanoids. Not just tall but really big. Their skin is often covered by stony scabs. It makes them look like stone that has come alive. They of course are not animated rock but they like to cultivate that image anyway. Trolls are masters of construction. They use stones too big for others to even consider and they build to last. Many of the grand stone structures in the lands surrounding Bleak Peak, fortifications and toll bridges alike, were built by them. Most of them live in tightly knit communities near their toll bridges. Some work as mercenaries or architects for hire though.

Wall Breakers Company … A small, only about a dozen strong, mercenary company made up of trolls and giants. They are specialized in siege work. Even without siege engines they can launch decent sized stones or sharp edged blocks of lead across distances no archer can hope to match with their slings. They are familiar with field fortifications as well and with their heavy shields and spears that put most lances to shame they can anchor a line of battle as the heaviest of heavy infantry as well.