The Temple of Knowledge, Part 1

The small building the farmer found takes month to unearth, much to his displeasure.  He is compensated with gold and food stock by the nearby temple of Catiana, the Goddess of Neutrality.  When they finally unearth the whole building they find that it is made of marble, looks fairly intact, from the outside, and are unable to figure out why it was under six feet of dirt.  There are reliefs on the outside portraying people reading, studying and speaking to others, so the scholars are assuming this building was a center of learning of some sort.  They have asked a group of adventurers to help them explore, because the door is locked and they fear there may be traps.

For the GM, this building was a small shrine/learning center of Catiana's priests.  The reason it was under six feet of earth was a spell gone wrong.  They were trying to teleport the statue the farmer found to this location, (which use to be a meeting place before it was a farm), and ended up transporting not only the statue but the building as well, and it was miss transported by six feet deep.  I will go into the interior of the building, but you, as the GM, can always add tunnels underneath to make it a bigger delve.

Houses of Tridon, Part III

The House of Cole was founded by Olaf Cole a very cunning man who was always getting in trouble when he and Peter were young, trying one scheme or another. He was an averaged size man with tousled hear and his later years walked with a limp from their first skirmish at the village of Last Stand.

The coat of arms for House Cole is white/orange checker pattern with a fox, the House colors white and orange.

So Violet from The Eager Readers Blog (a good site for young adult book reviews) was kind enough to show me how to embed images. So tomorrow I hope to have an actual map to reference all these directions for you. But today let me just say Cole is in the southern part of Tiana, north east of Bloodhelm along the opposite coast, 23 days of horse travel away.

The Gods most likely to be worshiped here would be Pezuta, Catian, Sarjon, Sircarius, and Aiyana.

The city imports grains, fruits, livestock, jewelry, ore, elven and dwarven goods. They export deep sea fish, timber, salt, pearls, and Salay warhorses. These horses are the finest, most sought after horses in all of Tiana and people pay top money for them. This is a major fishing port, with repair services and a small boat building port for large fishing vessels, not trading vessels.

In the years right after Peter becomes High King, Cole has become an unlucky House. The leadership has already passed on to the first grandson of Olaf Cole. Tresh Cole came to rule on his 18th birthday when his own father, the only child of Olaf, died in a boating accident. His mother helps him rule and both wish only the best for the House. But Tresh's great uncles wish the House for themselves. Already two attempts on his life have occurred, one of poison and one of a lame horse. Neither has been linked to his two greedy great uncles, who are only in their mid sixties but many in court know they were responsible. Tresh's mother, Mary, is hoping to strengthen their holding by matching Tresh with one of the Brightwater daughters.

For those who are concerned with alignment in their campaign Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good, Neutral, and Lawful Evil would be common alignments here.

Noble Houses of Cole number four (and these are later on, a few hundred years after Peter): Swordfish, Carpenter, Seafoam, and Boatwright. (The sea is very important to Cole.)

In the time of the High King's Sword, Cole is a neutral entity, neither wanting to put forth a High King of their own or join up with the Northern Alliance.
Tomorrow: A Map of Martapa (Hopefully)