Ulfnacht, the capital city of Uldholm, is controlled by the Guilds. Some would say dominated by them. Some would even say the Guilds are a vicious plague across the city. Those who say the last tend to not say that, or anything else, for very long. This is Uldish politics with the factionalism out of control. Neighborhoods are the turf of rival guilds, and political conflicts are as often resolved by skillful negotiation as by theft, blackmail, or a savage beating in a dark alley. 

Our characters will be the movers and shakers in the Uldish Guild of Musicians and Translators, a small but fairly unified Guild whose influence has often been overlooked. They are all members of a theatrical company that owns and runs the largest theatre in the city.

The first driving conflict of the game will involve this:
The Trafficker's have gone too far. They've been hosting (and many would say, encouraging) a large band of foreigners and guildless to stage performances on the docks and ships under the Trafficker's control, and *someone* has been calling in favors and agitating in the Senate that perhaps it's time to form a Guild of Actors and Tellers of Stories. The high Council is said to be "deliberating the situation".

This can not be allowed to happen. While technically only musical theatre belongs to your Guild, your umbrella of interests is wide, and no upstart is going to grab your powerbase-- or the storytellers, a job the Guild's Translators have long possessed as the keepers of stories from foreign lands.

You're not the only Guild showing a, shall we say, interest in the proceedings. The Trafficker's are either skillfully used pawns, or behind it themselves. And your traditional allies, the Guild of Enchanters, Sages, and Lifelong Students have rallied behind one of their most forceful Senators, saying that the retelling of stories in any form should be under their purview as the country's Sages.

The Guild of Musicians and Translators has the following Company statistics: Might 1
Treasure 2
Influence 3
Sovereignty 2
--Mass Appeal (when rolling Territory+Treasure to raise Sovereignty, or Sovereignty+Territory to raise Might, reduce any Difficulty by 1)
--Culture of Shame and Gossip (+2d bonus when making Might+Sovereignty rolls to apprehend enemy infiltrators after the fact)
Territory 1
--Cultural Tradition (+2d bonus when rolling Territory+Treasure to temporarily raise Sovereignty)

Characters

* Hulcion (played by Ed). A giant. Born of an Uldish father and a Milondese woman, he hides his heritage to secure his place in the guild. The victim of a Pahar experiment, he now stands over 11 feet tall. Worked as a lowly porter at the docks until his deep basso profundo singing voice and his willingness to do horrible violence landed him in the Guild (he saved the pretty boy senator, below).

* Rugo (played by Ron) The playwright. The Chris Marlowe of Heluso, he's an artiste, a director, a singer-- and a spy and thief. Practices an obscure form of ritual magic that requires an attuned theater and an unwitting audience to impart the roles of a play onto its actors. A senator in the guild.

* Ardl (played by Steven) The preening lead. Beautiful, charming, and full of himself. An influential but not well liked Senator, who is protected by his pet giant (above). But he's fast and quick and never without his silvered dagger.

* Tulia (played by Sara) The wicked sister. The playwright's sister was cast out of Uldholm by the Mage's Guild and spent most of her youth in the Sunless Plains, where she was initiated and attuned to the dark magic of the Shadowbinders. Now, returned to Ulfnacht, she is a spy and assassin par excellence, seeking to get revenge on the Mage's guild that cast her out.

Campaign map and city description:



Places of Note in Ulfnacht
 
1. The River Rlad
Running from the Dindavaran mountains, the Rlad has a strong current and is the principle entrance for many into the city of Ulfnacht.
2. The River Erlista
Flowing leisurely from the Truil Wastes, the Erlista is shallow and meandering. The Saga of Rolf states that Erlista ran red with blood during the Bloodcutter's greatest assault on the nobility.
3. The River Uld
The union of the Rlad and Erlista, the Uld is usually a polluted wreck by the time it slinks out of the city, and doesn't clear again for up to a hundred miles.
4. The City Center
Filled with countless shops, the largest theater in Ulfnacht, monoliths and mosiacs praising the guilds, and a large open square used mostly for visiting fairs and public hangings.
5. The Boneyard
The natives nickname for the dump for the city. Thoroughly patrolled and ruled by the Butchers Guild, a shanty town of guildless and foreigners who live among and sort through the detrious of the city is ever growing.
6. The Academy of Wise Thought, Forthright Undertakings, and Empowered Essence
Otherwise known as "the Magic school," the Academy is in theory an open clearing house for discussion and teaching of the mystic arts. More often, it is a verbal and otherwise battleground for the Skytongues and Flame Dancers. The representation of any other school of magic is often overlooked, though a native Uld who spent many years in Milonda and returned Sunwise is building a power base.
7. Tiefuld
A dark patch of native evergreens and undergrowth which has thus far resisted all efforts to uproot and destroy. Magically protected by parties unknown, but thoroughly explored with no *clear* dangers, the city mostly ignores it and doesn't mention it to outsiders. Saying the name is a minor tabboo, and most city dwellers avoid it to the point of acting like there's nothing there as a foreigner points excitedly at it.
8. The Isle Mulla
A natural isle shored up by centuries of building, the Isle runs itself as a separate city, allowing Foreigners to have high rank. Center fief for the Traffickers guild.
9. Seld's Bakery
A high-priced bakery district in the heart of cultivator controlled neighborhoods, most famous for the incredible and eponymous high-class eatery. Many, many political quagmires are unofficially resolved over a steaming hot crossed bun.
10. The Knob
A region slightly higher elevation than the rest of the city (except for the Noble Ruins, below), the homes of the richest guild Masters are traditionally built here. Anti-guildless and foreigner sentiment is high, and private guards take a "bludgeon first, don't ask questions" attitude.
11. The Training Grounds
A pitted field where the Soldier's Guild has troops camp when training or visiting the city.
12. The Other Grounds
An equally pitted field where the Bankers, Lawyers, and Mercanaries guild allows hired mercanaries to camp and train. The neighboring city blocks form the cities red light district.
13. The Lumvuld Woods
A once mighty forest that has been systematically stripped over the years. The edges near the city are clear-cut every few years, forcing the Woodcutters to journey ever further inward for choice lumber. Multiple gangs of bandits and thieves hide out in the woods, as do many hermits and antisocial misfits
14. The Broken Bridge
A granite bridge broken during the Imperial occupation, it has never been repaired. By custom (and immortalized in many Uldish plays), when one intends to betray a promise, he comes to the bridge and lets a drop of his blood fall to the river Uld below.
15. The Noble Ruins
When the Imperial Bloodcutters killed all the Nobles and razed their mansions to the ground, it was taken as an omen of sorts. General Rolf never ordered them rebuilt, and the ruins still stand empty, aging, and decrepit.