Indigenous Peoples of the Port Mahon Vicinity

The area around Port Mahon is home to several wild and uncivilized people, for whom it is our duty to the Empire to bring the light of civilization and pacification. See also the treatise by Commissioner Grimes about the geographical regions around Port Mahon.

Please note that these observations are my own, and that not all members of the broad categorization of races will fit the profiles provided here.

Goblins

Little more than two legged vermin with opposable thumbs and a penchant for stealing, the Goblins of the Port Mahon area are known for running in packs of 3 to a dozen or more. While individually, a Goblin is hardly a threat, in groups they can be somewhat taxing. Fortunately, Goblins are not particularly aggressive, unless they perceive the advantage to be theirs. When outnumbered, they run away, when cornered, they barter.

Goblin lairs tend to be in inaccessible places, such as the boles of trees too narrow for something larger to enter, or an old Hellenic ruin. Goblin females whelp in litters, much like rats do, and seem to care as little for their offspring as the aforementioned rodents.. While Goblin manservants have become something of an in thing back in the Empire, the author considers this fad to be ill advised, at least until the Goblin has had its thumbs removed, and been gelded, if male.

Orcs

Considerably more dangerous than Goblins, the Orcs of the Port Mahon vicinity are belligerent, aggressive, and prone to starting intertribal wars because of the phase of the moon. While the noted scholar Diana of Fossey has written several treatises on the the social habits and dominance rituals of Orcs in their natural settings, the practical experience of the Empire with regards to Orcs is that they only thing they respect is steel applied with brute force and deadly intention.

In the Port Mahon vicinity, Orcs have taken to raiding the farms of human settlers. While some low cunning can be seen in their tactics, there is no appreciable strategy to their raids. Orcs travel in war bands of 6 to 12 members, and will usually attack anything they perceive to be weaker than themselves. As their counting ability is even more lacking than that of Goblins, they've been known to attack Human parties having twice their number, and metal weapons.

Orcish society is based on brute strength and combat ability. The typical Orcish chieftain will grant gifts of trinkets or metal weapons to his most powerful subordinates, and use them to keep the rest of the tribe in line. Even so, arguments and feuds in Orcish tribes tend to winnow out the weak or the unlucky, their bodies usually kept in the communal smoke-house for consumption later. (Scholar Fossey posits some interesting origins for this cannibalistic ritual.)

Great Orcs

The Great Orcs far to the south are unlike any Orcs seen in the Empire. Fully a foot taller than most men, it's is rumored that they are the children of Orcs and Ogres. Scholar Fossey seems to feel that they are simply Orcs growing up in an environment better suited for full growth and potential. Her breeding program back in the Empire may lay the matter to rest once and for all.

Unlike Orcs, Greater Orcs have some semblance of agriculture and of the crafts, although metalworking appears to be beyond them. Great Orc settlements are usually placed behind a stockade of sharpened spikes, and all of their members rally to their defense.

There is currently a treaty between the Port Mahon garrison and the Bloody Fang Great Orc tribe. Adventurers are well advised to avoid breaking it. Of great concern to this author is the fact that a large number of unscrupulous merchants (and adventurers who deem themselves merchants) have been selling steel and iron weapons to the Great Orcs. This is well and good so long as the treaty is kept to, but buying peace with swords has never been a long-term means of enforcing civilization.

Dragon Folk

Rumored to live in the Valdai hills are the humanoid offspring of dragons. Tall and scaled, dragon-folk hide is excellent armor for them. Not much is known about them, as they cherish their privacy, and those who break it seldom return.

Trolls

Trolls are large, apallingly stupid humanoids with an insatiable appetite. Due to their talent for regeneration, they are also impossibly hard to kill, above and beyond their massive size and thick hides.

The meat of a troll is vile, and no natural creature will eat it, save for another troll. This lends credence to the rumor that a Troll needs to be burnt or dissolved in acid to completely kill it, although the tales of hacked Troll limbs eventually growing into complete Trolls is probably a myth.

Fortunately, Trolls tend to be solitary, and have never been seen in groups of more than three.

Ogres

Ogres are immense creatures with an astonishing amount of brute strength. One Ogre has been observed at a great distance by a farmer outside of Port Mahon. Fortunately, it appeared to have only wished to be left alone.

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