Black Daggers

8/13/2019 Black Daggers

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The Black DaggersBy: Osmund-Davizid

Used with Permission. Do not repost withoutobtaining prior permission from the author.

Keoland always had a good reputation forraial tolerane throughout its history.!ounded by two of the most goodly aligned

and wise "uel #ouses $ %eheli and &hola $Keoland made it an early poliy to be

aepting of any and all who would wor' toma'e the fledgling 'ingdom strong. "oon

Oeridians( !lan( )lves( Dwarves( #alflings(and *nomes were all ounted as part ofKeoland+s raial mi,. ore importantly(many people from these various raes held

seats in the ounil of %iole Dra. /hus theyhad a voie in the government and its

poliies. Presently( there is still a wide mi, ofpeoples represented in the ounil of %iole

Dra. Dwarf lords from the 0ortmils sit ne,tto elven prines from the Dreadwood andgnome barons from the *ood #ills. orethan one demihuman noble has a title and a

land grant from the 'ing himself. %ow thisonept is going one step further.

During the battles to regain the lands of

"terih( many varieties of humanoids werefought( but by far the primary danger wasfrom the giant tribes. 1t the last few wee'sof the liberation( a weary Keoish general

was ontemplating another assault on one ofthe last ma2or giant strongholds left in

eastern "terih when a hobgoblin with a flagof true approahed. "uspiious( but willing

to listen( the general agreed to parlay.

/he hobgoblin delegation was headed by thehief of the Bla' Dagger tribe $ Krell

Daggerstorm. /he Keoish general $ a s'illed

on2urer and King+s 1gent named Bentazur $was open to hear the hobgoblin+s story 3!oot%ote 45.

/he hobgoblin related that his tribe has lived

in the area where the 6otens meet the 0ittle#ills for over 788 years. /hey 'ept mostly tothemselves( not being as e,pansionist asmost other hobgoblin tribes. /his is partly

due to the fat that the hobgoblins weresurrounded by hill giant tribes. 1ny

e,pansion into their territory would havebeen suiidal. /his tribe also worshipped the

goblin god of mediation 3Bargrivye'5. /hismade them more open to diplomay andpragmatism than the average hobgoblintribe.

/he land in whih they lived was rih in iron.

/he hobgoblins mined with great s'ill andsoon beame first rate smiths. /hey found a

nihe for themselves as the weaponeers andarmorers of the humanoid tribes of the6otens 3!% 95. /hey were the suppliers ofarms to the more powerful lans rather than

the warriors themselves trading weaponsand armor for foodstuffs and gold. ;oods

near the mines allowed the hobgoblins toe,periment with being bowyers and

flethers as well. /heir wor' ame to bereognized by a small bla' dagger

engraved on eah weapon and piee ofarmor they produed 3!%


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to prove their intentions were good. /hetribe provided intelligene about the giant

stronghold and offered to be among the firstunits to assault its wea' point. Bentazur

loo'ed over the information( onsulted hisad2utants( and finally allowed the operationto begin. /his time the assault on the giant

stronghold was suessful. /he Bla'Daggers fought e,tremely well( with thesame type of determination as the "terih

who battled along side of them 3!% =5. 1fterthe stronghold was bro'en( Bentazur

allowed the hobgoblins a share of theaptured supplies and well as a grant fromhis own provisions in gratitude. /he Bla'Daggers aompanied Bentazur+s fores as it

mopped up the last remnants of theoupation fores in "terih. Upon "terih+s

omplete liberation( Krell Daggerstormre>uested that the Bla' Daggers be

released from their servie and be allowedto relaim their anestral home. Bentazur

granted his re>uest.

1 few months after the fighting in "teriheased and the rebuilding proess began(

Bentazur followed up on the Bla' Daggers(traing them to their homeland in the

6otens. #e found that the Bla' Daggerssuessfully reestablished themselves but

now needed new trading partners. Bentazurbro'ered a deal in whih the Bla' Daggerswould now send their produts to "terihrather than to the giants. oming when it

did( this was a tremendous blessing for"terih( who badly needed materials in

order to retrenh and rebuild.

/he Bla' Daggers now regularly trade iniron ores( weapons( armor( and oal to the"terih towns that border the mountains. ?n

return( the hobgoblins get foodstuffs( loth(and 2ewelry. /he arrangement has beenwor'ing well( and gradually the townspeople

of these villages got somewhat used to thehobgoblin merhants. ?n the township of

Davishton( a small hobgoblin >uarter haseven been established. /he hobgoblins haveopened up several bla'smiths andweaponsmiths there and also supplement

the town guard. utual respet and trusthas been fostering for some time now.

/he hobgoblins have also passed along

muh intelligene regarding the movementsof giants and other monsters in themountains. /heir information tipped the

sales in "terih+s favor in severals'irmishes over the past year. 1 grateful)arl of "terih reommended that the

government of Keoland formally reognizethe Bla' Dagger+s territory. Krell

Daggerstorm wishes to go further andement a long term alliane( perhaps evenentering into the Kingdom of Keoland. 1sDaggerstorm sees it( he has to ally with

some stronger power or ris' destrution orenslavement again. /his is 2udged with favor

in ?stivin( has having a permanent ally witheyes and ears in the 6otens will help prevent

another invasion. Plus( "terih still needs allthe raw materials( weapons( and merenary

fores they an get their hands on and analliane with the Bla' Daggers will ensure asteady supply of all these things.

King+s 1gent Bentazur has forwardedthrough all the appropriate diplomati

hannels the re>uest for anne,ation of theBla' Dagger lands 3alled 1ggrethor by the

hobgoblins5 with a title of baronet for KrellDaggerstorm. /his has aused a greatontroversy among the established nobility.ost notably( resistane omes from the

elves( who regard hobgoblins as implaableenemies. "upport for this ation omes from

the ar>uis )arl of "terih( )mondav( the@isount of %ume-)or 3who views this ation

as dove-tailing into his own efforts to attrathalf-ors to his territory and promotetolerane for them5( and most remar'ably(

from the young dwarf lord Kordan Bada,e./his dwarf lord now fouses his antipathy forgiants rather than goblinoids( so any ally

who has proven himself against the giantsearns his respet 3!% 75. Plus( as Bada,e+s

lands are the losest to 1ggrethor( he is inbest position to 2udge the wisdom and longterm effets of this ation.


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Presently( this ase is held up inbureaurati limbo. /he general onsensus

among the human and dwarf lords is toallow this ation on a very provisional basis.

/he elves still resist( but it loo's li'e theformer attitude will arry the day. Under theompromised terms( the hief of the Bla'

Daggers( Krell Daggerstorm( would be madebaronet of the newly formed territory of1ggrethor( provided that a very partiular

allegiane treaty is signed. /he fine print onthis treaty is endless( and Bentazur is

wor'ing with Krell to determine what hisresponse will be.

1t this time( Krell Daggerstorm is sending

his son( Dhaar Daggerstorm( to %iole Drawith Bentazur to help plead their ase.

Dhaar is well spo'en 3for a hobgoblin5( andis genuinely eager to ement this alliane

and seure a title for his father 3!% A5.Benatzur and Dhaar and an honor guard of

Bla' Dagger soldiers are traveling to %ioleDra to wor' out the final details of thetreaty. &umors are strong in %iole Dra that agroup of elf and human nobles is arranging

for the party to have an unfortunateaidentC along the way.

King "'otti+s has been 'eeping his opinion

on this matter to himself. ?t is said that hewishes a private audiene with Dhaar andBentazur to deide how he will ad2udiatethe situation. eanwhile( this ation has

reahed the ears of the ommon people( andthis an threaten the stability of the

'ingdom. 1 large portion of the population isagainst the onept( not being in a mind to

forget the events of the *iant /roubles. Buta signifiant portion is desperate for anyallies in these times. /here have been some

rumblings of dissent over this poliy( withsmall inidents of minor violene ourring./he hobgoblins themselves ontinue to trade

with the "terih and generally follow theirhief+s lead in their attitudes on this alliane

3!% 5. Keoland+s raial tolerane poliy hasreahed a turning point( and it remains tobe seen what will finally ome from all this.

%O/)":

4: Bentazur was the war wizard for this

partiular Keoish unit at the start of thereta'ing of "terih. ?ts ommander was'illed on a bothed first attempt to storm

the giant stronghold. ommand then fell toBentazur. #e is also highly unusual amongthe King+s 1gents for being of Ba'luni

heritage. #aving e,periened a little bit ofraial bigotry himself while wor'ing in Bissel

may have led him to be more open thanmost to the idea of negotiating with thehumanoids.

9: /he >uality of their wor' is e,ellent byhumanoid standards and humans highly

value their edged weapons as beinge,eptionally sturdy and durable. )ven a

dwarf warrior( when presented with a daggeras a gift remar'ed that it is not ompletely

useless( a dwarf hild might do as well onhis first attempt to ma'e a weaponC. ?t mustbe noted( however( that the dwarf still 'eptthe dagger.


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greatest hero by using a dagger withoutsarifiing using better weaponry.

/o this day( many young warriors of the

tribe beome >uesting adventurers( loo'ingfor /or-6oro'+s lost dagger. ?t is rumored tohave the power of red dragon slaying 3as

per the sword5 as well as other bonusesagainst dragons 3suh as fire resistane5and intelligene as well.

=. ?ndeed( more than one "terih soldier has

ommented that they were impressed bythe ourage under fire the hobgoblinsshowed when they repeatedly attempted tosale the sheer walls of the stronghold. )ven

the small ontingent of dwarves 3who hadoriginally protested against allying with the

hobgoblins5 gave grudging respet to thehobgoblin pi'emen who slew three giants

using surprisingly advaned and reativepolearm tatis and tehni>ues.

7. Kordan Bada,e is famous dwarven giantslayer and was made a lord of a rihterritory in the 0ittle #ills. #is loyalty to

Keoland and "terih is still strong( but firstand foremost he is a dwarf lord and his

fealty is through his dwarf masters. /he fatthat he has spo'en with Bentazur at the

ounil of %iole Dra in support of this efforthas swayed many opinions in its favor.

A. Dhaar is truly a remar'able hobgoblin. #e

is muh more worldly then most of his 'in(having traveled all throughout the 6otens(

rystalmists( and #ellfurnaes as well as"terih and western Keoland. #is has a high

harisma( relative good loo's 3by humanstandards5( better than average intelligene(and an spea' fluent ommon without muh

of an aent. #e has formal training fromseveral human warriors while he visited"terih and has adventured >uite a bit in

servie of his tribe. #e should be treated asa mid-level fighter in ombat and his

alignment is lawful neutral 3with a slighttendeny to good deeds5.

: /he tribe has been steadily growing

following the end of fighting in "terih. /heBla' Dagger tribe presently onsists of over

=88 hobgoblins. ;hile they are stillgenerally 0awful )vil in alignment 3to inlude

Krell Daggerstorm5( there is a growingminority that is tending to a 0awful %eutraloutloo' 3primarily those who deal with the

"terih on a regular basis5. But beausethey are lawful( they stay true to their oaths3when they give them5. /hey are reognized

by the bla' dagger engraved on theirweapons( embossed on their shields and

tabards( and the tattoo of the dagger motifon their left shoulders.

/heir territory is in the northern 6otens( near

the 0ittle #ills border( and enompassesabout 98 s>uare miles of rugged hills and

sattered woods. /heir iron mines are stillyielding muh ore( and they reently found a

large deposit of oal. /hey have reruited asmall 3488 member5 tribe of goblins to dig

the oal and they treat them relatively well./hey border 0ord Bada,e+s territory andhave sent a small ontingent of traders anddiplomats to Kordan+s hall to attempt to

open trade with him.

/his tribe is also uni>ue in that thehobgoblin females are treated almost as

e>uals to males. ;hile Bla' Daggerfemales are not often warriors or miners(they do other wor' whih has( over theyears engendered the respet of the males

of the tribe. !emales often wor' to smelt theores as they are brought to the surfae.

/hey have also ome to dominate themerhant business with the "terih(

beoming 'nown as sharp traders amongthe people there. /here are more and morefemales wor'ing in the many forges of

1ggrethor as daggersmiths. /hey are alsothe ma2ority of the Bla' Daggers bowyersand flethers. Krell Daggerstorm+s own

daughter( *yla( is herself one of the premierweaponsmiths of the tribe.

/he Bla' Daggers &evisited

1n agent of the King of Keoland had a


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radial proposal. ?n the light of the ratherdesperate straits Keoland had found itself in

following the liberation of "terih( this agentdeided to ma'e an alliane with a tribe of

hobgoblins 3the Bla' Daggers5 that lived inthe nearby mountains. /he alliane began asone of mere onveniene( but later fostered

into wary respet. /his warmed up to thepoint that the agent( one Bentazur 3!oot%ote 45( deided to sponsor a delegation of

the hobgoblins to petition King "'otti forreognition of the tribe and anne,ation into

the 'ingdom itself. 1 party of hobgoblins( toinlude the tribal hief+s son( DhaarDaggerstorm( marhed from its home3alled 1ggrethor by the hobgoblins5 to the

Keoish apital.

/he proposal forwarded by Bentazur metwith atastrophe. On the way to %iole Dra(

the diplomati delegation was ambushed bymas'ed riders 3!% 95. /he party was foredto fight off the riders several times. /heparty also enountered overt hostility from

the various towns and inns that the partystopped. /hese events made it lear to both

Bentazur and to Dhaar that it would be futileto ontinue to %iole Dra and petition the

King for a title and land for the hobgoblintribe. /he party turned ba' to 1ggrethorand reported their failure to hief Krell.

Bentazur was not willing to let the matterdrop. #e traveled ba' to %iole Dra by

himself and petitioned an audiene with theKing. Politis being what they are in

Keoland( Bentazur had a long wait( butfinally was given a private audiene 3!% uiet about the situation if it meansthat their town will profit from it 3!% =5.

;hile Keoland needs all the resoures it anget( the trade with the Bla' Daggers is

primarily for raw ore and bars of metalrather than for weapons 3the distintivedagger mar'ing on the weapons may revealtheir soure5. 1ny shipments of weapons are

sent to ;est'eep 3where no one loo's toolosely at any supplies reeived( nor as's

many >uestions5.

/he military assistane and intelligenegathering terms are to be even more

irumspet. ?f the word went out that therewas any formal military aid oming from the

hobgoblins then there would li'ely be riotsamong the Keoish population. 3*eoffite

refugees( who are still without their homesdue to giants and humanoids would be

partiularly bitter about any suhompromise5. *enerally( the use of Bla'Dagger assets would be onfined togathering intelligene from the regions

ad2aent to 1ggrethor 3the rystalmists(

#ellfurnaes( and 6oten mountain ranges5.#owever( several small bands of partiularlys'illed hobgoblins have infiltrated the 0ost

0and of *eoff and are starting to sendinformation out to Keoish agents. "'otti wasalso very interested in having more spies toassist the besieged fores in ;est'eep.

Dhaar Daggerstorm himself is leading asmall spy ell that reports to the Keoish


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ommander there 3!% 75.

?n return for this aid( Keoland is to providemilitary assistane to the Bla' Daggers

should they re>uest it. /his is perhaps thetri'iest part of the alliane. One Keoishtroops ommit to any assistane( the seret

alliane will be out( and the ramifiationsould be >uite severe. 1gent Bentazur is theliaison for the operation and is the one who

has authority to send Keoish troops to aidthe Bla' Daggers. "o far( things are >uiet in

1ggrethor( so no assistane has beenneeded yet. But there have beenmovements of giant souting parties near1ggrethor+s borders( so "'otti may be fored

to show his hand sooner than e,peted.

King "'otti is playing a dangerous game inma'ing this alliane. #e needs all the allieshe an get( espeially in the beleagueredity of ;est'eep. But an open alliane with

the Bla' Daggers is out of the >uestion."hould word of this ompromise lea' out to

the ounil of %iole Dra or to the generalpopulation of Keoland( the King would suffer

politially 3!% A5. any ordinary itizens ofKeoland would not reat 'indly to the newsthat its leaders would in any way ally ornegotiate with hobgoblins. 1gents of the

"arlet Brotherhood would not miss suh anopportunity to further e,ploit the situation(

and this may even sha'e the support ofallies of Keoland 3espeially the Feomanry

and the Prinipality of Ule'( whih both arefighting for their lives against hordes of

humanoids5. ?t would be pure speulation asto how the Knights of the ;ath would reatto suh a revelation.

On the hobgoblin+s part( there is mi,ed

reations to the seret nature of thisalliane. hief Krell Daggerstorm is bitterabout the failure to seure a title( but beingsurrounded by hostile giant tribes poised torush his tribe ma'es him pragmati about

the alliane. any of the younger warriorssee this ompromise as an insult and would

ounsel a essation of the agreement( buton the whole( the tribe remains loyal to their

hief. any of the more hot blooded warriorshave volunteered to serve in *eoff or

;est'eep in order to wor' off some steamand laim some glory 3!% 5.

?n sum( this issue is a politial powder'eg.;hile the benefits of the alliane urrently

outweigh the liabilities( all it would ta'e isone error and this arefully rafted shemeould fall apart with ramifiations that ould

ripple Keoland and shift the balane ofpower in the south.

%O/)":

4: Bentazur is a wizard who speializes in

ab2uration magi. One a war wizard wholed troops in the relaiming of "terih( he

has beome fasinated with the hobgoblinulture. "o muh so that he now has sageprofiieny in all aspets of hobgoblins andother humanoids.

9: /he identities of the mas'ed riders were

never asertained. 1ll wounded riders werearried away by their omrades. Bentazursuspets that a ertain fation of nobilityopposed to the King sponsored the atta's(

but also hypothesizes that the "arletBrotherhood would have muh to gain by

preventing suh an alliane. ?t is apossibility that whoever sponsored the

atta's may suspet the alliane( and tryagain to bring the endeavor down.


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branh of the Davish &iver. *enerallyisolated( and eonomially depressed( the

trade from the Bla' Daggers was viewed asa welome boon by the ma2ority of the

population. 1ess to river traffi westwardto the larger towns in "terih+s interiorma'es Davishton an ideal trading post.

7: /he agents who reeive the intelligenefrom the hobgoblin spies are generally

unaware of the identities of the soures. /hehobgoblins have been instruted by

Bentazur to leave their intelligene reportsin hidden drop sites( where other agentsollet them at a later date( sometimesleaving new orders as well. /hus( the

hobgoblin spies must be able to write andread in order to pass on information. /he

spy ells have been e>uipped with speiallo'able sroll tubes to store their reports.

/he spies an reognize eah other byshowing these distintive devies. /he srolltubes are made of white 2ade with abstratdesigns arved on them 3worth 988 gp5( and

have several buttons along the sides thathave to be pressed in a partiular order to

open. 1 thief may open with a suessfulopen lo's roll( failure mean the tube

e,plodes( doing 4-G damage to anyone in a48 foot radius.

A: )speially in the light of "'otti+s stubborn

insistene on holding the ity of ;est'eep./his ation has reated muh ritiism and

ontroversy in the halls of the 0ion /hrone."ome high ran'ing military leaders as well

as many nobles view ;est'eep as a lostause or a foolish waste of resoures.1dding the fat that hobgoblins have to beemployed to ma'e the oupation wor' may

doom the enterprise in the eyes of many.

: 1 hobgoblin spy ell usually onsists ofabout five hobgoblin warriorHthieves. /heyare able to wal' *eoff and the former lands

of the "ea Prines without attrating toomuh attention. Presently( there are three

suh groups operating in *eoff. One ellreports to Keoish spies in the "tar' ound

ity of 1lvein. /his ell reports enemyations from in and around the #ornwoodand *orna. 1nother ell operates in northern

*eoff and reports to agents in #ohoh. /hethird ell is still attempting to infiltrate *eoffthrough the Oytwood( and will not be in a

position to report to any Keoish agents forsome time yet. /here is only one ell

operating in ;est'eep. ?t is lead by thehief+s own son and has been >uitesuessful in ats of espionage andsabotage. /he spies operating in the

mountain ranges report diretly to hief Krellin 1ggrethor and he passes on information

to Bentazur.

Possible adventuring hoo's inlude:stumbling aross one of the spy ell+s dropsites( finding a sroll tube 3with ordersinside5 in the possession of a hobgoblin(

being hired to assist the Bla' Daggersagainst their giant atta'ers 3in lieu of

sending a onventional military fore5( and ifthe players are stationed in ;est'eep they

may be ordered to diretly assist Dhaar+sspy ell. !inding out about the alliane maypresent your adventurers with a moral>uandary( do they report what they have

learned or 'eep the seretI Depending ontheir loyalties 3to one Keoish fation or

another( other interested parties( to0ashton( or to the King5 they may attempt

to assist Bentazur or bring him down.Knowing that this information oulddestabilize Keoland( agents of the "arletBrotherhood may have to be foiled in their

efforts to e,pose this alliane. /he

haraters may be embroiled in other plotsand ounter plots to either protet thisalliane or see it fail.

Black Daggers

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