The name of the Xeph outpost the group starts in bears the name Kurush. Having read a bit about the Xeph, refreshing that information just now, the party holds the role of a group who have decided to set out to explore the world together. Wanderlust holds a great deal of respect in Xeph society, seeing as how the Xeph as a race have chosen Farlanghan as their patron deity. The party has no set destination, hence the term WANDERlust. However, nearby to the west lies a hodgepodge kingdom of humans and many Xeph begin their adventures there as it has always been a place of great strife.

The Xeph outpost does have some problems locally with some denizens of the underdark, the members hearing some talk of duergar in the area. As a result the entire outpost of late has been in a flurry of activity since all know the only semi-local duergar are ruled over by mindflayers.

Perhaps instead of setting out to see the world and discover new sights the party will decide to stay local, assisting their own home against a possible duergar-illithid force.

Kurush Outpost(Hamlet)

Population (Isolated): 92% Xeph (322), 3% Human (10.5), 5% Other (17.5)

Power Centers

Appointed Mayor, Allied with Military Commander, Distrusts Ogre Tribe

Military Commander, Allied with Mayor, Distrusts Ogre Tribe

Ogre Tribe, Extorts Mayor, Hates Military

Gold piece limit 200, Community Wealth 3500

The military commander is a retired Xeph general, named Asseem, who holds great influence with the local populace and has many connections with the overall power structure in the kingdom that Kurush falls under. While he technically holds no direct authority his connections and reputation make him a power center. Entirely my fault for labeling him a military commander, he is technically an aristocratic power center since he no longer holds any direct command.

The Mayor, a Xeph named Goron, holds the honor of being the representative of the afformentioned kingdom that Kurush falls under, the Xeph kingdom of Alesage. While the Mayor holds all the direct power in Kurush he heeds closely the counsel of Asseem. Also the Mayor works hard to keep the Kingdom of Alesage out of the affairs of Kurush, hence his decision to pay the ogres rather than call in the military. Kurush's independence keeps the Alesage tax collectors at bay, an arrangement that everyone in Kurush enjoys.

The ogre tribe, who bear the name Skullsmashers, are a large tribe that live in the nearby area. They represent a non-traditional, or monstrous, power-center that holds indirect influence over Kurush. They are lorded over by an unusually intelligent ogre that many claim is actually a half-ogre. He decided to extort the town in return for keeping his ogres in line and out of the town's affairs. I believe I have applied this type of power center correctly as described in the DMG, however I am open to reinterpretation if I have deviated incredibly from the actual way it is meant to work.

Kurush came into being as a mining outpost, however the mine ran out within only a few years of being opened. Kurush now serves the role of a way station on a trade route with the hodgepodge of kingdoms to the west. This would place the bulk of the kingdom of Alesage to the east. The kingdoms to the west are a chaotic bunch and trade with them is often considered unreliable. The people who continue to inhabit Kurush have mostly come to enjoy the independence they receive by being so far from the bulk of the government.

If the gold piece limit leaves a horrible taste in the mouths of the players we can easily house rule it to no limit. Though the traders passing through are infrequent they tend to be wealthy, so it wouldn't be an incredible stretch to say there is much more wealth in Kurush than a typical Hamlet (which is the DMG entry I'm using for an outpost). Or the players can just leave. I am already aware that too much preparation on my part will only lead to frustration so I try to remain flexible. Just thought I would post a few details.

So a portion of the other in the population are ogres who have taken up with the xephs of the outpost. However, the bulk of the Skullsmashers are still thoroughly evil just far more lawful than a typical bunch of ogres. So long as the money they extort from the Mayor arrives promptly there are no problems.

The ogres who have taken up in Kurush serve the role of muscle for the locals for the most part. However, all the ogres are part of the militia and one holds the full-time position of a guard. I think I'll place the number of ogres in Kurush at ten. I'm aware that this throws the numbers off from the formula found in the DMG for determining the number of militia but who cares. Also the full-time ogre guard exceeds the number of full-time guards by one. Actually, he holds the honorary title of Captain of the Guard and the people all address him as Captain. At this point he has actually forgotten his original name and will only answer to Captain.

Nearby is a duergar mining/slaver outpost close to the surface, run by a pair of mellow mind flayers, where the slightest offense or hesitation to obey the authority figures results in your brain being extracted. We will probably have to wait till second level to storm the mayors stair less tower (mind flayers can levitate) and then slay our duergar oppressors. 

The Secret History of the Xeph

OOOOooooooOOOOOoooooo

A few memorable characters from the Xeph campaign

The Sack

Tok the Mad

The duergar, also called gray dwarves, were once a settlement of dwarves that fell under attack of mind flayers, or illithids, and were captured. During their captivity, which lasted for generations, the illithids performed many cruel and unusual experiments on the dwarves. Eventually, the dwarves rose up against their captors and gained their freedom from the mind flayers. Believing Moradin abandoned them in their long captivity, the duergar took Asmodeus as their favored deity. Now the duergar inhabit volcanic areas of the Underdark and have been left as cruel and evil as their former captors and quite withdrawn from their experiences.

Physical Qualities

Duergar are similar in appearance to their distant cousins, the dwarves. Short and strongly built, duergar stand about 4 ½ feet tall and weigh roughly 200 pounds. All duergar have fiery amber eyes, and their skin is usually gray to sooty black. Their hair is generally white to gray, and males are bald (although they wear facial hair). Their long association with devils and infernal magic has left them strongly resistant to illusions, fire and poison. Nearly all duergar have long, stiff spines concealed within their beards (for males) or hair (for females) that carry a burning venom. They can pluck and hurl these quills like daggers. In public, duergar wear drab clothing designed to help them blend into their environment. In private, they may add subdued jewelry and well-wrought metal bracers, armbands or torcs. They share the love of their surface cousins for mining and metalcraft, and excel at artifice.

Playing a Duergar

Grim and ruthless, duergar grow up like their infernal relations valuing strength and endurance, and despising weak sentiment or behavior. Courageous, duergar are fierce enemies with little sense of fair play. Even more than their surface cousins, duergar are insular, looking inward and little valuing those outside of their clans. They never forget their enemies, and will wait patiently for a chance to take their vengeance ten-fold for any harm done to them. They always pay back a debt; if you are lucky enough to be on the good side of a debt with a duergar, he will grudgingly make it good to the letter of the agreement. But if you have taken advantage of him or dishonored him in his own mind, he will add you to the tally of those who deserve ten-fold vengeance. Duergar are patient and will spend years if need be preparing a revenge that leaves their enemies humiliated, and in ashes or eternal servitude. It is not uncommon for a duergar's vengeance to fall onto those one or two generations down from the person or creature who offended them, especially when dealing with shorter lived races.

In the chance that an adventurer wanders across a duergar on the surface, that adventurer is likely to notice facial and arm tattoos that mark the gray dwarf as a traitor to duergar society.