Gate Pass - The Festival of Dreams

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

Though Gate Pass has its share of holidays, the most prominent is the Festival of Dreams, a holy day observed by all of the city’s major temples, taking place on New Year’s Day. Parades march from either end of the city, stopping at the grand square on Summer’s Bluff just before sunset for a ceremony in which the high priests of each of eight different temples “offer up the dreams of the people.”

Every citizen is encouraged to write a prayer or hope on a slip of paper and place it in a small clay urn, which the city produces by the thousands every year. People deliver urns to Summer’s Bluff in the days leading up to the festival, and on the holiday itself, each high priest chooses one from amid the thousands. Each breaks open his or her urn and reads the prayer held within, then pledges to fulfill that dream if possible during the next year. Selfish requests are frowned upon, and often the city takes great glee in perverting the words of selfish prayers, fulfilling the adage “be careful what you wish for.”

The rest of the urns are left in the center of the square, and citizens are encouraged to pick one up and try to fulfill someone else’s wish. The morning after the festival, those left unopened are carted en masse to the countless small caves that dot the cliffs around the city, where they are buried. Many folk tales involve stories of these buried dreams coming to life and bringing good fortune, though most adults of the city just view these as merely superstition.

Festival of Dreams

Gate Pass - The Temples

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

The religious community of Gate Pass is diverse, owing to the interaction of cultures flowing through the city. Eight major temples represent the religious core of the community, and though each religion has its own interests, they share common ground through the annual Festival of Dreams, during which the temples all briefly work to provide for the greater good.

Numerous temples of smaller religions dot the city, and though they lack the same sway as the major eight, they still put a lot of effort into New Year’s festivities.

Major Temples

The Saraswatin
Library of the God of Knowledge
Located in Summer’s Bluff, this four-story building is the central repository of knowledge for the city. Along with stacks and cubbyholes full of tomes and scrolls, the building has an art gallery and a five-hundred-seat theater. Researchers using the library are expected to offer 1 gp to the god of knowledge, as well as give generous tips to the many librarians who keep things organized and easy to find.

Mercineum
Temple of the Healing God
This temple is a small, twenty-foot circular building of ancient design. Once there were multiple temples across the city, many quite large that served as hospitals and clinics for the citizens, but this simple building was considered the holiest of all those. Its veneration is related to the miracle of Tench Marber, an event that took place forty years ago during the Ragesian occupation.

Coaltongue declared the predominant Mercinea Church a heretical cult and attempted to replace the sect with the Ragesian Hospitalers. Within a month of the invasion, all the temples were converted to the Hospitalers, with the exception of the small Mercineum.

The head priest of the Mercineum, Tench Marber, was unwilling to relinquish control to the Ragesian clergy and simply sat on the center altar as the Hospitalers demanded he leave. Tench declared that he would not leave; instead, he would stay on as a reminder to all that the Hospitalers were not truly blessed by the gods. The Ragesian healers, outraged at his insolence, tried to rush inside the building and attack, but they were mysteriously blocked at the door. No magic or any other power could gain entrance, so the invading priests decided to wait until Tench either left or died before they took possession of the temple. Seizing an opportunity, the besieged priest made a proposal: if, after a year and a day, Tench was still alive within the temple, the Ragesians would acknowledge the god’s blessing on the Mercinea Church. They agreed, and the bargain was struck.

For a full year, Tench sat, neither eating nor sleeping, but he lived, and on the last day, the frantic Hospitalers waited until the sun set, which would mark the end of the agreed-upon time period. As the last rays of light slipped beyond the horizon, Tench stood up and walked to the exit, the bargain won.

From that day on, the Ragesians grudgingly recognized the church, and acknowledged the god’s blessing. It is suggested by historians that the downfall of Coaltongue’s control of the city started with this miracle. A few living resistance fighters agree, noting that the Mercineum provided a safe haven for the resistance to gather and plan, free from the probing eyes of the Ragesian priests.

Today, there are no priests of the Mercinea Church in Gate Pass. A new order, the Aquiline Cross, has been around for a decade and uses all the facilities of the old religion. There are differences between the old church and the new order, but most folk don’t notice.

Stronghold
Temple of the Strength Goddess
This medium-sized temple is located one district in from the western gate. Helda Claearcall, the priestess, also serves on the City Council. She preaches that “Strength is Saintly” and that people must choose their own way in life. Once a rallying cry for the occupied city, the phrase is now sneered at, as Gate Pass’s cultural attitude leans towards government direction of individual lives.

The Bacchanal
Inn of the God of Revelry
This is one of the fastest-growing cults within Gate Pass. The temple is styled like a huge beer hall and worship is a rowdy affair with dancing, drinking and song. Once a week, the building opens and for a few coppers tithe, adherents can enjoy limitless food and drink. Many tavern-keepers have seen their profits drop as a result and have voiced their opinions to the city council.

Shakur Biggs, the head priest, is currently the master of ceremonies for this year’s festival. He was apparently planning to head a large musical performance, but his plans have been dampened by the threat of a hostile Ragesia.

Dassen Stone
Temple to the Dwarf God of Ancestors and Temple to the God of Battle
Second only to the Saraswatin in size, this temple serves as two temples now that the dwarf population is almost completely gone from the city. The large edifice also houses the public works offices. Lessons in fighting and leadership are regularly offered and the city guard is often seen training there. Rumors that the dwarves keep treasures mined from the deep during the construction of Gate Pass abound.

Shrine to the God of Sorcery
Located across the street from Gabal’s School, this shrine is a holdover from the Ragesian occupation. Its existence is a sore point with Gabal, who hates the warlock and sorcerer philosophy, so it is frequently the target of “stray” spells. It is uncertain how many sorcerers live in Gate Pass, but they have considerable influence on the City Council, largely through the actions of the Shrine’s President (no one is sure what that term means within the council), Gratanus Helicomb.

Fertile Fields
Temple to the Goddess of Hearth and Home
Simply constructed, this building is a favorite meeting place of the farmers and ranchers of the outlying area. The city council almost always bows to the wisdom of the temple elders, especially after the food riots of twenty years ago, when a gate tax was imposed on all people and animals (even dead ones) entering the city. The farmers revolted and stopped delivering goods and supplies. A week later, the situation within Gate Pass was so desperate that the townsfolk rushed the council and deposed them. The tax was instantly repealed. Since then, a temple elder has always been assigned to the council to represent the population outside the walls.

Gate Pass - Organizations and Power Groups

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

City Council
The government of Gate Pass is a council of representatives from each of the districts and a few other locations, with a city governor chosen every ten years. Many different groups hold sway with the government, ranging from citizen groups to wealthy merchants to religious and military groups.

One of the more colorful characters in the council is Erdan Menash, a former merchant and tailor who used to sell well-crafted but ridiculous-looking gear to adventurers, with the goal of making sure everyone knew he was the one sponsoring their heroism. His personal manor is painted vivid green, yellow, and purple.

The current governor is Merrick Hurt, a halforc who has kept relationships with Ragesia warm in the past, though many worry he will be too agreeable to demands by the new ruler of Ragesia. Rumors say that he bitterly loathes elves and eladrin and that he has a vast lexicon of insults for them, a vice that relatively few in the city worry about.

Gabal’s School
Gabal, a famed evoker who helped drive the Ragesians out forty years ago, maintains a school of war. This large cluster of squat towers connected by covered bridges and surrounded by a moat and fence is jokingly known as The Castle. Gabal’s students — identifiable by their red robes — are generally viewed as arrogant and hot-tempered, but their mentor forces them to sell their services for low prices, particularly in matters of defense and construction, and a handful of wizards serve in the city military. Gabal is said to scorn magic-users who do not study spellbooks for their powers, and has a particular dislike for sorcerers and warlocks, commonly saying he doesn’t trust people who have that much charisma. Charm is a personality flaw Gabal proudly lacks.

Thieves’ Guild
Everyone knows that thieves operate in the city, often with the aid of bribed councilmen who turn blind eyes. The thieves tend to prey on wealthy merchants, especially foreigners, and so many commoners view them favorably.

One particularly well-known rogue, a dashing scoundrel named Rantle, came to fame because of an elaborate confidence game. One night, when his scam was near fruition, he was with his mark, a merchant, when she was attacked by a trio of common thugs who intended to have their way with her. Rantle fought them off, and then stayed around to protect her while the city guard arrived, even though he knew he would be recognized and arrested. Public support for his heroism got him pardoned, and many people have begun calling for him to join the city council.

It is said the clientele of One-to-Go, a tavern in one of Gate Pass’s slums, is composed entirely of former thieves who have lost a hand as punishment for stealing.

The Military
While the Gate Pass military answers to the city council, their opinion carries great weight given how much attention the city pays to its defense. Gate Pass’s military is trained in urban warfare and takes advantage of enclosed terrain. Commander Harmand Fletcher, a veteran of the rebellion against Ragesia, recently retired as leader of the armed forces; his replacement, Brant Sawman, is if anything even more gruff and brooding than his predecessor. A small unit of twenty griffon riders patrols the far reaches of Gate Pass’s domain, but otherwise the city has little in the way of a cavalry tradition.

The Resistance
Devoted to keeping the city of Gate Pass free from the rule of both Ragesia and Shahalesti, the resistance is composed of a huge variety of people from many of countries, since many nations have a vested interest in keeping the current balance of power. Mostly they work to bolster pride among the citizens of Gate Pass, though occasionally a spy is turned over to the authorities by unknown persons, and the resistance is credited with the capture. Many farmers and ranchers who live in the mountains surrounding the city claim to have spoken to members of the resistance, who encouraged them to be prepared to fight to defend their lands.

Gate Pass - City History and Myths

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

We stand at a crossroad of destiny. Our future is defined by the lessons of the past and the course of our present. Two nations stand ready to take our hope from us and battle to this very minute with us — even though we are not at war.

Scoff if you will, but we are in a battle. It’s not fought with sword and bow, but with ideas; the idea that we are only happy when we are equal; the idea that we must be neighborly to those in need at the expense of our own; the idea that the needs of the many outweigh the one. What good is a collective destiny if yours is destroyed? What benefit does giving one penny to the poor give? What peace do we secure if we trade and barter with the Shahalesti and the Ragesians… None! Remember! Remember the lessons of forty years ago. Strength is saintly! Resist and thrive!

— Helda Claearcall, Sermon to the faithful in Stronghold, temple to the god of Strength

Gate Pass has the distinction of being the only city to successfully drive out occupation by the Ragesian Empire. Forty years ago, Emperor Coaltongue defeated the city’s army, set up a military government, and erected a 90-foot-tall statue of himself in the grand square on Summer’s Bluff before moving on to his next conquest. For two years, citizens waged an insurgency against the occupying army, until finally Coaltongue decided the city wasn’t worth the loss of men.

Shahalesti and Ragesia, once allies, were approaching open war, and Coaltongue declared that he would withdraw from Gate Pass if the Lord of Shahalesti agreed to leave the city as a neutral buffer between their two nations. The elves agreed, the city celebrated its victory, and profit from trade between the two nations began to flow.

The city still sports numerous indications of the occupation, and many citizens purchase busts or paintings of the aged emperor, as if both to mock the Ragesians for their failure and to respect Coaltongue’s wisdom in deciding to leave their city alone. Even the emperor’s statue remains; it is decorated and painted gaudily on various holidays.

Because of his name, Drakus Coaltongue is often associated with a myth that is native to Gate Pass and Ragesia, that of the Dragon and the Eagle. A series of myths tell of an ancient time when the lands that are now Ragesia and its neighbors were the domain of four elemental spirits — the Tidereaver Kraken, the Worldshaper Worm, the Flamebringer Dragon, and the Stormchaser Eagle, and these four beings are common motifs in the art and architecture of Gate Pass (as well as in Ragesia).

Selected Regional Myths

The Wavering Maiden
This myth tells how the Tidereaver Kraken sought to explore the land by making a human body for itself out of the surface of the seas. In the form of a beautiful young woman with rolling black hair, the Kraken explored the world. However, because the tide is not constant, sometimes her fake form would pull away, and the Kraken would be forced to spend an evening in a lake or river in its true form. The myth is a series of comic events based around numerous suitors who fall in love with the Kraken in its woman form, and who often seek to destroy it in its Kraken form.

The Trilling Stone
“The Trilling Stone” tells of how the Worldshaper Worm sought to prove its superiority to the Stormchaser Eagle by creating a song more powerful than the Eagle’s thunder. The myth explains the various monsters that live in the depths of the world, saying that they were lured by the Worm’s eerie, whistling song, only to be trapped when the arrogant Worm decided to sing even louder, causing an earthquake. This, it is said, is why the bodies of the dead are filled with worms when they are found in the ground.

Stormseeker Eagle

The Aquiline Heart
This myth is a morality tale about the dangers of both pride and power. The Flamebringer Dragon had never, after many years of chase, been able to catch the Stormseeker Eagle, so it preyed instead on the Eagle’s pride, bragging that the Eagle was too weak and cowardly to ever chase the Dragon. The angered Eagle pursued the Dragon, and did not realize until too late that it had been tricked into flying down a tunnel into the depths of the world, where the Eagle did not have enough room to maneuver.

The Dragon bit the Eagle’s throat and began to drink its blood for its power, when the Worldshaper Worm came upon the scene. The Worm was blind, but the Dragon knew that it could feel the beating hearts of both the Dragon and the Eagle. To avoid its treachery being discovered, the Dragon tore out the Eagle’s still-beating heart and hid it in a place from where it would never be tempted to retrieve it.

The myth of the Aquiline Heart explains how dragons became the strongest creatures in the world and teaches that those with too much power risk being turned upon by those around them.

Gate Pass - Walls, Gates, and Districts

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With all the jaw about Gate Pass, me’s thought that it was somethin’ mag. But it’s same as other rumvilles; all innocents and cool ladies and budges. Everyone’s a pigeon, just like elsewhere; and now I’m here fighting a war …

… but I must say the districts impress me, each a half mile wide and walled all around — over a dozen of them. I could climb the walls easily enough; they’re only about thirty feet tall and made of hewn stone, but those grates at the top stick out — I would have to be a far better acrobat. I wish there were some rooftops near the walls, but there’s nothing within ten feet. This is probably by design. Maybe a massive ladder, like Rory suggested, would work, but finding the timber would be hard and the Ragesians would be quite suspicious. So, I think my focus must be on the gates. Steeleye is right; they’re all similar in design. A pair of reinforced wooden doors 20 feet tall by 8 wide stay open in the day and closed at night. There is a small steel access door to allow passage for individuals after sunset, and I’ve never seen vehicles or beasts allowed through at night. There are the standard arrow slits and murder holes where the gate is, but they are easily avoided. The guards are so typical: they never think of guarding the gatehouse as heavily as the gate. Even with 8 guards inside, it should be easy to sneak around from the window and leave through the other side…

… the Rags are so hoddypeaked. We’ll get them foot wabblers hiking soon.— Kerain, King of Rogues Private journal, written during the Ragesian occupation

Gate Pass is divided into districts. Each district is about a half mile square with natural stone walls to the north and south and inner walls to the east and west.

North and South Walls
The northern and southern borders of the city have walls built from the natural cliffs, averaging 40 feet tall. A district usually has a small gate either to the north or south, and a wide swath of clear land (about 30 feet) on the wall’s outer side which makes any approach by an individual easy to see. The walls are only a token defense, since a devoted military press could easily overwhelm them, but Gate Pass relies on the fact that reaching it through the mountains is slow and treacherous. Only a handful of districts have gates that lead to actual roads, and most of these are used for deliveries by farmers and miners. Each day groups of Gate Pass soldiers patrol the northern and southern borders, looking for signs of illegal passage and occasionally apprehending criminals who try to hide in the craggy hills.

East and West Walls
The Gate Pass inter-district walls are 30 feet tall, 6 feet thick, and made of hewn stone. Scaling a wall requires a series of Athletics (DC 20) checks to reach the grate (at 30 feet). An Acrobatics (DC 25) check is needed to gain the top of the grate from underneath. Each side is symmetrical, so the same checks would be done on the other side. None of the buildings near the walls are more than two-stories, so a long leap towards a grate would require an Athletics (DC 30) check, then an Acrobatics (DC 25) check to grab and hold on to a grate. The jump might be noisy, so a Stealth –5 check against a nearby guard’s Perception is needed to avoid being heard.

Typical Gates
A small guardhouse, which extends outward over the gate, is large enough to comfortably hold eight soldiers. The floor has murder holes and there are arrow slits along the outside walls. Stairs on the inside wall (the center-most side) lead to the upper barracks and a window that can be squeezed through allows a guard to see the area around the gate. More guards typically watch the ground level by day. Passing between districts is relatively easy if one takes the main thoroughfare during the day, though the guards are known to perform random inspections. The High District, in the center of the city, is much more heavily guarded: typically twice the usual number of guards is on hand, and those guards have orders to randomly inspect someone every few minutes (especially those who look like outsiders).

The Pass Gates
Most traffic passes through the easternmost and westernmost districts, which have major gates that lead out of the city to Shahalesti and Ragesia respectively. These gates are much more heavily guarded: the exits have two sets of doors with a wide kill zone between them, and city taxes pay for a variety of magical defenses on the gates.

Ghettos
In a few districts are found smaller walled areas populated predominantly by a single race. Most common of these ghettos are those of the elves, who tend to shun outsiders. Elvish ghettos are renowned for having no visible entrances through their walls — all the doors are secret, which elves can intuitively notice.

Gate Pass - Orcs, Half-Orcs, and Humans

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

Gate Pass freely accepts orcs as citizens, in stark contrast to most other human settlements, and many have adapted well to the civilized life that is so different from their tribal culture.

Gate Pass is also widely known as a haven for half-orcs, and many come to the city to find their identity. In the formative years of the city, the half-orcs’ origins were hotly debated and both orcs and humans questioned their standing. For humans, half-orc signaled a lesser breed, and became a pejorative phrase. The orcs, however, saw an increase in their influence and power and elevated the odd race. The divisions between all three races were wide, but in the earlier battles for Gate Pass, the halforcs fought and bled like the rest and the walls of prejudice fell quickly. Today, there is little prejudice and the half-orc population enjoys an equal stand amongst the humans and orcs.

Gate Pass - Traditions and Culture

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The city’s architecture tends to multistory buildings with bridges between roofs, creating thousands of “gateways” along roads and alleys. Even in poorer districts, buildings are usually at least two stories tall. Many merchants, made wealthy from the traffic that passes through the city, own vast ranges of adjacent buildings, all of them connected with high bridges. An expression of the city — “a coin for every gate” — both refers to the wealth of the city, and serves as a warning to visitors to avoid poorer areas where buildings lie unconnected.

A broad, twenty-foot wide thoroughfare called the Emelk Way runs the length of the city, interrupted only by the district walls every half mile or so. The city’s natural landscape rises in the center to a broad hill called Summer’s Bluff. In addition to being home to dozens of gated estates for the city’s politicians and rich merchants, Summer’s Bluff is the site of the city’s grand square, where various annual holidays are celebrated. The grand square can easily hold several thousand people, and it is dotted with dozens of small groves, statues, and ornamental gate arches, with staircases people can climb to get a better view. In the center of the grand square is a high stone dais, its surface carved in a massive relief that depicts several local legends.

The rest of the city consists of various districts of skilled workers, common housing, warehouses and businesses, and slums. Each district has representation in the city government. By city ordinance, every fourth district must contain a park at least a quarter mile to a side, though entrance to these typically requires payment of a few coppers. The city grew outward from its central districts, with a new district and new outer wall springing up every decade or so. Because of this, it is possible to see the changing styles of construction and defense over the centuries of the city’s existence, like reading the rings of a tree. In older districts, built before the development of the city’s underground sewer system, countless reservoirs and aqueducts rise above the rooftops, designed to catch rainwater and direct sewage to dumps outside the city. The current sewers flow into an underground river before being swept into endless, uncharted caves.

In the past few decades, clerics have blessed the gates of new districts in expensive rituals, and a tradition has developed for respected citizens to be buried in the sanctified ground near the gate of their district. Most graveyards, however, lie outside the city, either fenced in atop hills, or in gated crypts.

The Free City-State of Gate Pass

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

A medium-sized city built within a rocky mountain pass, Gate Pass is the bridge of trade and travel between the Ragesian Empire and Shahalesti, the kingdom of the eladrin.

All sagas begin somewhere, and Gate Pass is the starting point of this story. What is contained herein is common knowledge. Anyone visiting the city and staying for about a week would either know these facts by experience or could easily learn by asking questions in local gathering places.

Gate Pass lies in a rocky mountain pass running east to west between Ragesia and Shahalesti. Sheer cliffs mark its northern and southern borders, and fortifications built over centuries have made the city highly defensible, making it difficult to be annexed by either nation that surrounds it. These same fortifications, likewise, make it equally difficult for anyone to leave without going through any of the numerous gates that give the city its name.

Though the city’s borders to north and south are tightly limited — less than a mile wide at the widest point — the mountain pass is nearly twenty miles long, giving the city a lot of room to grow eastward and westward. The older districts of the city lie in the center of the pass, with different eras of development sprawling out gradually in both directions. Additionally, various small farms and ranches dot the mountains around the city proper, though these people are generally hostile to foreigners and relatively well-armed. Gate Pass has only been conquered once, and its citizens managed to drive out the invaders and regain their freedom, so many of the farmers and ranchers view themselves as the first line of defense for their city.

City of Gate Pass