Month #4: The Border Settlement of Dust Town!

Three months done for #dungeon23! A quarter of the way there! Phew! For month four, I've decided to venture out of the Found Tombs and back above ground, to the wasteland hellpit of Dust Town, evil deformed twin to the City of Pellod. Enjoy!

The Border Settlement of Dust Town

Ruler: The Autarch (see below)

Dominion Grade: 4

Type: Town

Income: 100GP/month

Army: 25 Watchmen, 100 Militia

Description: Dust Town is a lawless, sprawling settlement of around one thousand wandering souls, that grew up on the edge of the Desert of Skulls. Originally it was a stagnant oasis and accompanying ruined Carsepolitan fort, on the western trail route between Sapphire City and northern Allansia. It mirrors the nearby city of Pellod in a way, but is instead inhabited by all the creatures and ne'er-do-wells who are unable or unwilling to enter the gates of coastal Pellod, and rather prefer to lurk on the dusty fringes of the desert. The architecture is thus a broad, mish-mash of styles; hovels and villas made from ruins-scavenged stone, hide-bound nomad tents made permanent and long-standing, nonhuman shanties and lean-tos constructed from canvas and palm-fronds, and even the carcass of a Giant Sandworm, dried by the desert sun and carved out from the inside to create shelter!

Major locations within Dust Town and their inhabitants include:

Citadel of the Autarch (#1/30; #91/365)

Dust Town is typically "ruled" by whichever local warlord has enough armed followers to enforce their ideas about "law and order". Currently, that is a truly terrifying figure known only as the Autarch. The Autarch (powerful, violent) is an enormous creature, who stands a preposterous eight metres tall and is clad in black metal armour, while wielding a gargantuan flaming greatsword in battle; no-one has seen their face!

In reality, the Autarch is a renegade Fire Giant and follower of Filash, God of Flame, exiled from the Crucibles Archipelago, and has landed here, with their followers, to exploit the resources of the area. The followers are mercenaries and clad in black armour in imitation of the Autarch. They form the bulk of the militia and the watch, and are drawn from various bestial races: Man-Orcs, Doragar, some Trolls, and the occasional Half-Goblin or Gorian. The Autarch also keeps a pack of vicious RASAURS in kennels at the Citadel, these are let loose on whoever has displeased their liege.

The Citadel itself was once a stone Carsepolitan fort, but has been torn down and replaced with a gleaming structure of black steel and bronze plating. It is very tall, to accommodate the Autarch's frame, but inside consists of one large central chamber with a throne, upon which the Autarch feasts, slumbers and holds court. Smaller side chambers contain holding cells, a kitchen, a locked treasury, spiral stairs to high-vantage guard posts, and so on.

Temple of Filash (#2/30; #92/365)

The Temple of Filash is a high-walled clay-brick building next to the Citadel, that was built recently on the orders of the Autarch to spread the worship of the Fire God among the unbelievers. It is surrounded by large braziers full of oil, that burn day and night. The priest is Gol-Morion (plain, truthful) a gaunt RED-EYE demagogue, who is known to roast heretics alive with searing blasts of flame from his own eyeballs. It is built atop the ruins of an older temple to Pangara, and rumours have it that the ghosts of the Wind God's slain priests are said to stalk the corridors at night, draining the souls of any defiler caught outside a consecrated chamber!

Temple of the Sand God (#3/30; #93/365)

The Temple of Sand God Assamarra is an older shrine of crumbling mud-bricks, with an open-air, sand-floored central courtyard, lined with date palms, that serves as the main worship chamber. The High Sufi-Priestess of the Desert God is Al-Darisha (eagle-eyed, brave) and she has dwelt within Dust Town for many decades; it is said the three original features of this site were the oasis, the iron mines, and the shrine to Assamarra. Certainly, the temple serves as a pilgrimage site for Desert Nomads, and many of their tribes travel from all corners of the Desert of Skulls to pay homage to Al-Darisha and seek both her wise counsel and the blessing of the Sand God. As such, the Autarch smartly leaves this temple and its followers completely alone, for now...

Guild of Warsmiths (#4/30; #94/365)

Earlier in its history, Dust Town was actually a series of iron mines on the edge of the Desert of Skulls; crude delvings whose captive miners were largely drawn from poor Goblins and other unfortunate lesser tribes. This changed with the arrival of a mighty Goblin hero from afar, known only as Teknos, who freed the captives. Teknos founded the Guild of Warsmiths and Ironsmiths, where Goblins may mine iron freely and forge it into weapons and armour for re-sale everywhere, but, crucially, where all the money earned went straight back into Goblin hands. Dwarven smiths may sneer with scorn, but the Goblin ironwork from this corner of Allansia is cheap, effective and long-lasting, being traded from Shazaar to Pellod to Sapphire City. The current head is a powerful Goblin female called Tun-Shaa (strong, clever), who, like her distant ancestor Teknos, actually hails from the sky-realm of Pangaria, where Goblin Technomancers live like gods (at least by Goblin standards), and slyly send wealth and knowledge down to Titan on rare occasions to help liberate their less fortunate fellow Goblinkin.

Slimepit Oasis (#5/30; #95/365)

This is what remains of the original oasis that Dust Town was built around; a rancid sinkhole of brown sludge and green slime. Water still trickles from a feeble spring at the bottom of the sinkhole and is sold at four times the price of a full waterskin. In any event, most buildings have wells that have tapped into their own ground-water supplies, which is why the oasis has largely dried up, but the water from both the wells and the oasis is surprisingly drinkable if an unpleasant yellow-brown in colour. The water at the oasis is sold by the Water Master, a position appointed by a council of the Autarch and the heads of the Temples and the Guilds to the most capable and willing sorcerer, wizard or priest in Dust Town, who is willing to use the spring to magically create more water when needed. The current Water Master is Fandarang (hairy, paranoid), a lapsed Priest of Aqualis from Arantis, who is mainly a drunkard, and, when not selling water, can be found deep in the cups at a local tavern or inn.

It is believed by some, such as local thieves, scholars, and adventurers, that all of these sinkholes and wells connect up into an underground network of caves that sprawls beneath the sands of Dust Town. What lurks down there can only be guessed at!