The Dark City of Neraka


#1

In the hell cursed plains around what was once Mt. Rhug, the land once more began to stir. Weary olgogs scouted the terrain, scavenging what they could from the scattered remains of the armies that had fought their not long ago. Some wore tattered remains of legionary armor, others were clearly once masons or craftsmen. They were not demonic, as so many of Ka’Rhug had been cursed to be, but were workers, laborers in some endeavor. After a time of scavenging, they would walk back up the slopes to the shadowed silhouette that the volcano was. Of course, it was more an illusion than anything else, as this functioned as a portal for those who did not belong in the realm beyond, and since their blood was free of demonic taint, they traveled unchecked.

Inside the realm beyond, an even larger project was underway, a construction that could someday rival the cities of Der’al. The dark city, the city of obsidian, or more appropriately, the city of Kalok. Garbed in Kharos’s form, Kalok now reclined on a massive throne, one of the few surviving constructions of the Ka’Rhug tribe of old. He smiled thinly as he looked out over his realm, already abuzz with activity. Without the major players on Der’al invading his personal realm, his rule here was once more unchecked. Masons oversaw Balgogs, the creatures pulling massive chiseled stone blocks made of granite and basalt into position, forming the start of a wall that would surround the burgeoning city. He would call it Neraka, and in the augmented language that he’d taught these foolish mortals, it meant remnant of fire, more commonly known as ash. He’d planned the city’s construction himself, intending to give it four different quarters, each segregated by an interior wall.

The first, and most important quarter, would be the palace district, and would be dominated primarily by the home of Kalok himself. Of course, it would also house the command structure of the city, and would have places for important and distinguished guests to the city. It was also the highest of the quadrants, so that the spires of the palace could be seen from anywhere in the realm of Kalok.

The second would be the residential district, housing both everyday citizens of the town, and also the barracks for the legionaries. It would also contain the higher end businesses of the town, and represented all benefits that membership and citizenship in the city stood for.

The third quarter, the industrial quarter, was fairly self explanatory. It would hold everything from stonemason’s lodges, to forges and golemworks. The armory and airship moors would also be placed in this area.

The last quarter, would be called the free quarter, and would essentially function as a town within a town for common visitors to the city. It would contain cheaper housing, and larger amounts of it. Things like inns and stables would be commonplace here, of course it would be quite awhile before anyone could get a horse to go through the portal. This quarter would be the only one that new people to the town who were not qualified to be in the other quarters could find shelter in, although it was not meant to be a slum.

The city’s construction was not kept a secret, and Kalok sent forth olgogs to spread the word of work to be found. Anyone who could lend a hand, quarrying stone, building houses or walls. The efforts were not wholly manual, the kalokgogs of the realm used their skills to make tunnels to speed the efforts, and would also use their earth leyas to build walls and aid the overall efforts.

However, as no demons could leave the city under the watchful eyes of the forbidden armory, only the mundane members of the tribe could spread word to the outside world.

((Note: If you have a interest in the city, feel free to send a messenger or diplomats to negotiate. Since I’m spreading word all over the goblin lands, anyone is invited.))


#2

Each day reports would come back to the mighty Kalok on his mountain in his hell-dimension of the building of Neraka. To Kalok’s astonishment, workers productivity would soar in whatever section of the city he was watching. After a few days of testing this theory, the descended being realized the obsidian would grow into walls as he concentrated on it. And the obsidian would be shaped as easily as stone to the Masons who worked in the area he was concentrating on.
In the sections he wasn’t paying attention to, the Masons would complain of obsidian shattering and causing pain until all the laborors who remained in the hell dimension were studded by small fragments of “living” demonic obsidian.
By the end of the timeless cycle of seasons had passed hundreds of times (and yet a blink of an eye in time in reference to our dimension), the city of Neraka was built. Its beauty and terrifying skyline spread above a wide and heavy wall of basalt and granite that spanned its entire perimeter.

[Time Flows differently on this dimension, as a result any character who comes to this dimension from our own will not age at all while on this dimension.]


#3

Kalok had grown bored of sitting complacently in his kingdom, and that was a very dangerous thing for a demonic overlord to be. One day, if one can observe the passing of days in Neraka, Kalok made a decision to do something to spice up his predicament.

“Bring me Raka’na the ghost!” He commanded his legionaries, and within a Refuge hour, a pale furred olgog was set before him. Raka’na was old nobility as far as Ka’Rhug was concerned, his family was descended from the original group that settled the volcano many years since, and had the good fortune to survive the sundering of the Krato worshipers. Kalok couldn’t care less about this sort of thing however, and he was therefore not inclined to make any sort of allowance for this olgog.

It was his talents that he desired most currently, and rather the lack thereof. He had avoided being pressed into the army or the labor divisions, as well as the brandings that came with it because of his affiliation with it’s ranking members. He’d essentially been avoiding doing much of anything, and as of late was often found reclining in a comfy stone manor in the residential district.

The only reason Kalok had not had this pompous noble flogged for his laziness was that he had also avoided the crippling demonic rock shards that accompanied manual labor just about anywhere in his realm. This of course meant that he had kept his non-demonic nature, and was not bound to this realm. This came in handy as he could technically leave at any time, and that was precisely what Kalok had in mind.

“Raka’na the ghost, I charge you to travel beyond our mighty realm, and take stock of our enemies. You will ascertain the strength of their forces, note the politics of the day, and search for weaknesses that we may use to our advantage. You will set up a network of spies to inform us of our rivals, and should you succeed, you will earn a place at my side as my spymaster.”

Raka’na was given the gear that Kolgol had made for his own private spy network that had never had a chance to get off the ground. It consisted of nightmare hide armor artificed with sustain, and an obsidian earring with wilderness camo and see tracks artificed into it. In addition, he was given a meteoric iron sword, usually reserved for soldiers of Ka’Rhug, but an exception was made in this case.

Armed thusly, Raka’na set out for the divide, the wall of Kalok’s realm that allowed passage to Refuge. Once there he would begin a campaign of subterfuge, recruiting olgogs from around the Goblin Lands with promises of wealth and power in exchange for information, and would attempt to establish a network of informers in each of the major cities.


#4

Raka’na made his way past the Krodnoks Dead who guarded all paths from the Hell Dimension sneaking slowly and carefully. He reached the sandy paths leading to the different cities. Now free of the Hell Dimension Raka’na the Ghost felt a cool wind on his face.
His choice of first settlement to begin his network would make all the difference. Where would he go first ? The Dome of Karov? The Caves of Tla’loc’al? the port of Unen? Or the streets of Brez?


#5

He knew that he would find no welcome in Karov, the wounds there were still too recent for him to find any refuge there. There also were many eyes in Tla’loc’al watching for Kalok’s return, so he decided to head to Unen, where he knew that there was still some remnant of his people. An old earther cargo ship lay at harbor there, manned by Ka’Rhug tribals who had sailed it down the coast to the isle of Holys some time past. Also, If his memory served, there was a tavern there, owned by the Ol’lur tribe, who still remained neutral in the procedings.

As another benefit, he believed that the average Unenese olgog, while clearly inferior to a Tla’loc’alan olgog, did have some merit as a pawn, and that therefore it could be relatively easy to gather a few shady characters and perhaps a space for them to operate from.

“Yes, Unen will be the perfect place to start”, he thought as he headed off towards the coastal town.


#6

[Dark Refuge Post 2220, the Demonic Purge does little to stop the spread of the Kalok Faith]

The Cult of Kalok had spread far and wide, its devotion powered by a faith that went beyond Kalok’s personal powers. So when the great ritual of the Glacial Bay was completed and the Ancient Evils sealed away, Mt. Rhug as a hell dimension was pulled fully from Refuge.

It was surrounded on all sides by the armies of Warmonger one morning and by that night, they had retreated to bend knee to the Usurper. The Usurper had declared himself the new great leader of the Ancient Evils. Without new spirits from the living, Kalok knew his power would be limited but so would all the Ancient Evils and the Demon Princes. None could grow more powerful NOW without claiming the lands and spirits of the demons of others.

Kalok knew he would have to plan quicky. He had lost all contact with Raga’na the Ghost and the Refuge elements of the Cult of Kalok, but he knew they would continue his fire and his flame.

[Kalok may now take part in a demonic war for control of the Hell dimensions, but may not currently effect Refuge.]

The Cult of Kalok in Port Unen (300 cultists) has spread out its tendrills into the Colony of Chooru (24 olgogs cultists), the harbor of Barrow-on-the-Sea (30 olgog cultists) and the City of Gods (50 cultists).
Raga’na the Ghost has lost all his demonic followers, but his faithful have grown using belief alone to power their abilities. Their flame still grows grand. They even have Olgogs as far as Jemison Post (10 cultists) and the Northern Kingdoms (20 cultists).