Cauldron The city of Cauldron is aptly named. Nestled in the throat of a dormant volcano, this frontier city has thrived in a hostile environment. Cauldron (small city): Conventional; AL NG; Population 7,500 adults; 15,000 gp limit; Assets 5,625,000 gp; Mixed (79% human, 9% halfling, 5% gnome, 3% dwarf, 2% elf, 1% half-elf, 1% half-orc). Authority Figures: Until the volcano erupted recently, Jenya Urikas, the noble houses and the Silver Phoenixes are the most powerful people Typical Guard Patrol: A typical patrol consists of a sergeant and three to six privates. Guards typically wear breastplates emblazoned with the town emblem (a watchful eye wreathed in flames) and carry halberds, short swords, and shortbows. Life In Cauldron Cauldron’s buildings, tightly packed and built from volcanic rock and wood, line the inner bowl of a nameless, dormant volcano. Cobblestone roads form concentric circles around a small but deep lake of cold water, which fills the volcano’s basin. Although the town’s sewage seeps into the lake, local clerics routinely purify the water for the citizens in exchange for charitable donations to their temples. A 50’ tall fortified wall of black malachite encircles the city, tracing the outer rim of the volcano. Four roads descend the volcano’s slopes, becoming major thoroughfares that lead to other towns and distant realms. The regions nearer the rim of the city tend to be occupied by upper class families and elite merchants. The closer one gets to the center of town (and the closer to the often pungent odors of the central lake), the shoddier the construction and the more dangerous its dark alleys become. Most people get around Cauldron on foot, although the town has its share of wagons and carriages, most of them owned by merchants and nobles. Cauldron’s major exports come from two sources: mines and plantations. Both industries are based in the hills surrounding the city, and are managed by the various noble families who live in the area. Obsidian and diamonds are the primary products mined in the region. Plantations usually produce sugarcane and coffee. Most of those who dwell in the city itself are merchants, scholars, or workers in the mines and plantations in the lowlands. Water is never scarce in town, but most of the city’s food must be imported from Sasserine since the local fishing and farming enterprises are meager at best.
Cathedral of Wee Jas – Temple of Wee Jas Cathedral of Wee Jas This towering structure is one of the most impressive and beautiful in Cauldron. The church of Wee Jas has always been powerful in Cauldron, but not as well liked as the churches of Kord or St. Cuthbert, since the clerics of this church tend to be standoffish, curt and even creepy. The clerics of Wee Jas are responsible for dealing with the unclaimed dead of Cauldron and maintain vast catacombs for anyone who’s rich enough to afford the burial but doesn’t have a personal crypt. Most of the dead of Cauldron are cremated.
Church of St Cuthbert – Place of Worship & Jenya Urikas’ Home Church of St Cuthbert The two-story Church of St. Cuthbert, its white marble walls suffused with veins of vivid blue, stands in stark contrast to the buildings of bare black stone that flank it on the north end of Obsidian Avenue. A pair of white marble statues depicting armored warriors stands on either side of the temple’s heavy oaken door. Each of the statues raises a great mace to the sky. Above the door’s marble architrave are boldly inscribed the following words: “Within Law Lives Hope.”
Coy Nixie – High Class Tavern & Dance Hall The Coy Nixie is an upscale tavern and dancehall owned and operated by the Aslaxin family. Although prices here tend to be nearly double the normal asking price, only the Cusp of Sunrise rivals the food and drink. These two locations have a healthy competition – while the Cusp is generally held to have better food, drink, and entertainment, there are no membership fees at the Coy Nixie.
Cusp of Sunrise – High Class Inn & Tavern This high-society club is a favorite place for Cauldron’s rich and powerful to meet and relax. Owned and operated by Lady Ophellha Knowlern. The Silver Phoenix Adventuring Company had their membership fees covered by Lord Vhalantru as part of the payment for rescuing Zenith Splintershield from Bhal-Hamatugn. Drunken Morkoth Inn – The Adventurers’ Usual Haunt This is perhaps the most popular inn in the city. A regular stop for many merchants and traveling adventurers, the combination of comfortable beds, good food, and reasonable prices makes it a favorite among the city’s returning visitors. Each of the rooms here is decorated with a humorous painting of Cauldron’s legendary lake monster, a large morkoth. The paintings depict the morkoth in any number of embarrassing and ridiculous scenes, always with the morkoth drunk and confused, and often in incongruous locations. This place also serves as home for Tyro Amberhelm, a dwarven merchant with ties to the Striders of Fharlanghn.
Lakeside Pavilion This open pavilion is one of the oldest structures in Cauldron. Said to have been formed via magic cast by Surabar Spellmason himself, the pavilion is traditionally where the lord mayor issues announcements and decrees. It has also become a favorite place after dark for illicit meetings. This is the site where Flannigaul purchased a map leading to the Kopru Ruins which led to the recovery of most of the wands of water control.
Lantern Street Orphanage The orphanage rests on the corner of Lantern Street and Lava Avenue, its charcoal-colored stones held together with mold-encrusted mortar. The windows on both stories are tightly shuttered, but a few slivers of light manage to escape from within. Lanterns hang on either side of the oaken front door, mounted to which is a green copper knocker shaped like a smiling gargoyle’s visage, its nostrils pierced by a copper ring.
Minuta’s Board – Low Cost Inn (Burned Down) This low-cost inn and flophouse caters to anyone who can’t afford to stay in Cauldron’s better inns. Prices here are 75% normal, but the owners make no guarantee against theft or loss of property. Minuta’s Board was burned down in the wake of the Cauldron Tax Riots, presumably because it was housing a number of the half-orc mercenaries employed by the Lord Mayor.
Skie’s Treasury – Local Magic Item Shop Numerous stores in Cauldron sell magic items and gear, but only one of them makes its sole business buying and selling magic items to adventurers: Skie’s Treasury is a modest building crafted from blocks of volcanic stone. The façade of the building bears dozens, if not hundreds, of symbols and sigils that have been carved into the face of the stone with chisels. One door and a pair of tiny windows face the road and overlook the lake below. Above the door, a sign proclaims the establishment to be Skie’s Treasury, but more impressive are the numerous items of treasure – rings, coins, wands, necklaces, rods, potions, scrolls and more – that seem to slowly orbit the sign and shine with soft golden light. Every now and then, two of the items bump against each other, ringing softly like a wind chime. The runes on the façade of her store are in Gnome, and are in fact the names of various adventuring parties that have throughout the years, patronized Skie’s store enough that she offered them a special “Adventurer’s Discount” in return for their loyalty. Some of the names include the Greenswords, The Unhumans, The Singers of Ehlonna, Varmint Patrol, and most recently
The Silver Phoenix Adventuring Company. Inside, the store’s shelves are fairly sparse, but never empty. Skie sells enough magic to keep herself in comfort and has no real ambition to make a fortune at the job. Each of the items on her shelves is kept in a glass cabinet under lock and key, displayed on a silk pillow with a small placard that describes the item’s history, powers, and what party sold the item to Skie.
Slippery Eel Tavern – Low Class Establishment Ignored by the Watch The Slippery Eel is a favorite tavern for the city’s miners, plantation workers, and other working-class citizens. The food and drink is cheap, and the town guard tends to ignore the place, making it a handy site for illicit deals and clandestine meetings.
Temple of Lordly Might - Church of Kork The church of Kord is nearly as powerful and popular in Cauldron as the church of St Cuthbert, if only because they sponsor numerous sporting events and demonstrations for the people of Cauldron throughout the year. This church is currently headed by a male half-orc cleric of Kord named Asfelkir Hranleurt.
Tygot’s Old Things – Antiques & Oddities Tygot Mispas, a 120-year-old halfling who has been retired from adventuring for two decades, owns a small but well-stocked antiquity shop on Lava Avenue. “Tygot’s Old Things” specializes in nonmagical art objects gathered from across the known world. His shop is a two-story structure with a small flat on the upper floor and a well-organized business area on the lower. The main shop itself contains an impressive assortment of less valuable antiquities, mostly vases, statuettes, small furniture, and tapestries. It was from Tygot that the party acquired the Hegemonic Plate, which led them to Vaprak’s Voice.
Other Notable Places can be found in the Player's Guide
Please let me know how long you have been in Cauldron.
If you grew up in Cauldron or the Surrounding Area and want to use one of the backgrounds in the Player's Guild let me know and I will create a hamebrew background for you.
There is a lot of information here and I probably will not start the campaign until next week, so take your time.
Some of the information in Cauldron Useful Information is stuff you will learn in the campaign, but I believe that it is a minimum amount and will not detract from the story.
Since I have put background SAILOR I could come from a poor family by the lake and, due to my application and determination, I was noted in the contests held by the church of Kord, who initially got me as apprentice and finally I became a "chartered" paladin of Kord. Tell me if it could fit
Since I have put background SAILOR I could come from a poor family by the lake and, due to my application and determination, I was noted in the contests held by the church of Kord, who initially got me as apprentice and finally I became a "chartered" paladin of Kord. Tell me if it could fit
Laladak comes from a small burg called Beeftown. A place locally known for its master butchers. Laladak comes from a long line of Master Butchers but his heart years for the challenge of fighting. That yearning has led him to Cauldron. He just got done protecting a caravan and this city was its last stop. Hes been in town for a couple of hours.
Everyone gets to pick one 3.5 skill and one 3.5 knowledge skill to add to your skill lists. You will be proficient in those 2 skills. Do not posts those skills here but one the PM invite thread.
Over 600 years ago, the towns of Redgorge and Cauldron were founded by Surabar Spellmason, a great wizard from Sasserine. Numerous profitable mines attracted prospectors and adventurers to the area.
The rim of the extinct volcano acts as a natural defense against the local monsters. This, along with the discovery of underground complexes below the city, favored Cauldron’s growth over the centuries.
Several decades ago, rainy winters resulted in massive flood damage to the lower reaches of Cauldron. As the local churches have successfully dealt with this annual problem, The Flood Festival is founded.
Seven years ago, a plague of filth fever struck Cauldron. Several hundred people die before the plague is brought under control.
The crushing defeat of my tribe over annexation of land uprooted me from my home and I eventually made my way into the bowels of Cauldron, hiding in the shadows while using a ragged cloak and hood to hide my appearance. I have been here for roughly a year living in the shadows but I am trying to get in with the Last Laugh because the streets are too dangerous for a lone kobold.
Everyone gets to pick one 3.5 skill and one 3.5 knowledge skill to add to your skill lists. You will be proficient in those 2 skills. Do not posts those skills here but one the PM invite thread.
There has been some confusion over the knowledge skills. To view them click on the the knowledge link in the skill list. There are about 10 different knowledge skills to choose from.
Laladak comes from a small burg called Beeftown. A place locally known for its master butchers. Laladak comes from a long line of Master Butchers but his heart years for the challenge of fighting. That yearning has led him to Cauldron. He just got done protecting a caravan and this city was its last stop. Hes been in town for a couple of hours.
As you get paid you ask the caravan master where you can get a drink. He directs you to the Drunken Morkoth Inn. You find yourself there listening to gossip. Give me a Charisma check to see if tou heard anything useful.
After escaping his home town, and wandering the world for many years, Alben found himself arriving in Cauldren nearly 3 months ago. He arrived in the company of a caravan coming from the far west. He has managed to keep himself financed by preforming card tricks for donations on street corners.
I assume that the 5 of you that have been in Cauldron for awhile (Alben, Iy'atha, Oreus, Shadow, and Tyris) know each other and are in the Drunken Morkoth Inn playing a friendly game of chance while Tyris is in town. If you don't want to be friends right off the bat, please provide me with the reason you are in the Drunken Morkoth Inn.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM for the Shackled City
DM for Dead in Thay
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Cauldron
The city of Cauldron is aptly named. Nestled in the throat of a dormant volcano, this frontier city has thrived in a hostile environment.
Cauldron (small city): Conventional; AL NG; Population 7,500 adults; 15,000 gp limit; Assets 5,625,000 gp; Mixed (79% human, 9% halfling, 5% gnome, 3% dwarf, 2% elf, 1% half-elf, 1% half-orc).
Authority Figures: Until the volcano erupted recently, Jenya Urikas, the noble houses and the Silver Phoenixes are the most powerful people
Typical Guard Patrol: A typical patrol consists of a sergeant and three to six privates. Guards typically wear breastplates emblazoned with the town emblem (a watchful eye wreathed in flames) and carry halberds, short swords, and shortbows.
Life In Cauldron
Cauldron’s buildings, tightly packed and built from volcanic rock and wood, line the inner bowl of a nameless, dormant volcano. Cobblestone roads form concentric circles around a small but deep lake of cold water, which fills the volcano’s basin. Although the town’s sewage seeps into the lake, local clerics routinely purify the water for the citizens in exchange for charitable donations to their temples.
A 50’ tall fortified wall of black malachite encircles the city, tracing the outer rim of the volcano. Four roads descend the volcano’s slopes, becoming major thoroughfares that lead to other towns and distant realms. The regions nearer the rim of the city tend to be occupied by upper class families and elite merchants. The closer one gets to the center of town (and the closer to the often pungent odors of the central lake), the shoddier the construction and the more dangerous its dark alleys become.
Most people get around Cauldron on foot, although the town has its share of wagons and carriages, most of them owned by merchants and nobles.
Cauldron’s major exports come from two sources: mines and plantations. Both industries are based in the hills surrounding the city, and are managed by the various noble families who live in the area. Obsidian and diamonds are the primary products mined in the region. Plantations usually produce sugarcane and coffee. Most of those who dwell in the city itself are merchants, scholars, or workers in the mines and plantations in the lowlands. Water is never scarce in town, but most of the city’s food must be imported from Sasserine since the local fishing and farming enterprises are meager at best.
Locations within Cauldron:
Cathedral of Wee Jas – Temple of Wee Jas
Cathedral of Wee Jas
This towering structure is one of the most impressive and beautiful in Cauldron. The church of Wee Jas has always been powerful in Cauldron, but not as well liked as the churches of Kord or St. Cuthbert, since the clerics of this church tend to be standoffish, curt and even creepy. The clerics of Wee Jas are responsible for dealing with the unclaimed dead of Cauldron and maintain vast catacombs for anyone who’s rich enough to afford the burial but doesn’t have a personal crypt. Most of the dead of Cauldron are cremated.
Church of St Cuthbert – Place of Worship & Jenya Urikas’ Home
Church of St Cuthbert
The two-story Church of St. Cuthbert, its white marble walls suffused with veins of vivid blue, stands in stark contrast to the buildings of bare black stone that flank it on the north end of Obsidian Avenue. A pair of white marble statues depicting armored warriors stands on either side of the temple’s heavy oaken door. Each of the statues raises a great mace to the sky. Above the door’s marble architrave are boldly inscribed the following words: “Within Law Lives Hope.”
Coy Nixie – High Class Tavern & Dance Hall
The Coy Nixie is an upscale tavern and dancehall owned and operated by the Aslaxin family. Although prices here tend to be nearly double the normal asking price, only the Cusp of Sunrise rivals the food and drink. These two locations have a healthy competition – while the Cusp is generally held to have better food, drink, and entertainment, there are no membership fees at the Coy Nixie.
Cusp of Sunrise – High Class Inn & Tavern
This high-society club is a favorite place for Cauldron’s rich and powerful to meet and relax. Owned and operated by Lady Ophellha Knowlern.
The Silver Phoenix Adventuring Company had their membership fees covered by Lord Vhalantru as part of the payment for rescuing Zenith Splintershield from Bhal-Hamatugn.
Drunken Morkoth Inn – The Adventurers’ Usual Haunt
This is perhaps the most popular inn in the city. A regular stop for many merchants and traveling adventurers, the combination of comfortable beds, good food, and reasonable prices makes it a favorite among the city’s returning visitors. Each of the rooms here is decorated with a humorous painting of Cauldron’s legendary lake monster, a large morkoth. The paintings depict the morkoth in any number of embarrassing and ridiculous scenes, always with the morkoth drunk and confused, and often in incongruous locations.
This place also serves as home for Tyro Amberhelm, a dwarven merchant with ties to the Striders of Fharlanghn.
Lakeside Pavilion
This open pavilion is one of the oldest structures in Cauldron. Said to have been formed via magic cast by Surabar Spellmason himself, the pavilion is traditionally where the lord mayor issues announcements and decrees. It has also become a favorite place after dark for illicit meetings.
This is the site where Flannigaul purchased a map leading to the Kopru Ruins which led to the recovery of most of the wands of water control.
Lantern Street Orphanage
The orphanage rests on the corner of Lantern Street and Lava Avenue, its charcoal-colored stones held together with mold-encrusted mortar. The windows on both stories are tightly shuttered, but a few slivers of light manage to escape from within. Lanterns hang on either side of the oaken front door, mounted to which is a green copper knocker shaped like a smiling gargoyle’s visage, its nostrils pierced by a copper ring.
Minuta’s Board – Low Cost Inn (Burned Down)
This low-cost inn and flophouse caters to anyone who can’t afford to stay in Cauldron’s better inns. Prices here are 75% normal, but the owners make no guarantee against theft or loss of property.
Minuta’s Board was burned down in the wake of the Cauldron Tax Riots, presumably because it was housing a number of the half-orc mercenaries employed by the Lord Mayor.
Skie’s Treasury – Local Magic Item Shop
Numerous stores in Cauldron sell magic items and gear, but only one of them makes its sole business buying and selling magic items to adventurers: Skie’s Treasury is a modest building crafted from blocks of volcanic stone. The façade of the building bears dozens, if not hundreds, of symbols and sigils that have been carved into the face of the stone with chisels. One door and a pair of tiny windows face the road and overlook the lake below. Above the door, a sign proclaims the establishment to be Skie’s Treasury, but more impressive are the numerous items of treasure – rings, coins, wands, necklaces, rods, potions, scrolls and more – that seem to slowly orbit the sign and shine with soft golden light. Every now and then, two of the items bump against each other, ringing softly like a wind chime.
The runes on the façade of her store are in Gnome, and are in fact the names of various adventuring parties that have throughout the years, patronized Skie’s store enough that she offered them a special “Adventurer’s Discount” in return for their loyalty. Some of the names include the Greenswords, The Unhumans, The Singers of Ehlonna, Varmint Patrol, and most recently
The Silver Phoenix Adventuring Company.
Inside, the store’s shelves are fairly sparse, but never empty. Skie sells enough magic to keep herself in comfort and has no real ambition to make a fortune at the job. Each of the items on her shelves is kept in a glass cabinet under lock and key, displayed on a silk pillow with a small placard that describes the item’s history, powers, and what party sold the item to Skie.
Slippery Eel Tavern – Low Class Establishment Ignored by the Watch
The Slippery Eel is a favorite tavern for the city’s miners, plantation workers, and other working-class citizens. The food and drink is cheap, and the town guard tends to ignore the place, making it a handy site for illicit deals and clandestine meetings.
Temple of Lordly Might - Church of Kork
The church of Kord is nearly as powerful and popular in Cauldron as the church of St Cuthbert, if only because they sponsor numerous sporting events and demonstrations for the people of Cauldron throughout the year. This church is currently headed by a male half-orc cleric of Kord named Asfelkir Hranleurt.
Tygot’s Old Things – Antiques & Oddities
Tygot Mispas, a 120-year-old halfling who has been retired from adventuring for two decades, owns a small but well-stocked antiquity shop on Lava Avenue. “Tygot’s Old Things” specializes in nonmagical art objects gathered from across the known world. His shop is a two-story structure with a small flat on the upper floor and a well-organized business area on the lower. The main shop itself contains an impressive assortment of less valuable antiquities, mostly vases, statuettes, small furniture, and tapestries.
It was from Tygot that the party acquired the Hegemonic Plate, which led them to Vaprak’s Voice.
Other Notable Places can be found in the Player's Guide
Player's Guild to Cauldron
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v8jvhuu0n6qlov7/Player%27s%20Guide.pdf?dl=0
Cauldron Useful Information
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rp12hi77j0ugmkr/Cauldron Useful Info.docx?dl=0
Please let me know how long you have been in Cauldron.
If you grew up in Cauldron or the Surrounding Area and want to use one of the backgrounds in the Player's Guild let me know and I will create a hamebrew background for you.
There is a lot of information here and I probably will not start the campaign until next week, so take your time.
Some of the information in Cauldron Useful Information is stuff you will learn in the campaign, but I believe that it is a minimum amount and will not detract from the story.
Since I have put background SAILOR I could come from a poor family by the lake and, due to my application and determination, I was noted in the contests held by the church of Kord, who initially got me as apprentice and finally I became a "chartered" paladin of Kord. Tell me if it could fit
Tyris grew up on the streets of Cauldron, orphaned at a young age (urchin background)
I’ve been here maybe 2 years, and working with/for the Last Laugh
Rockcrusher lvl 2 Goliath Barbarian Horde of the Dragon Queen
Taggart lvl 6 Air Genasi Blood Hunter Tomb of Annihilation
Shadow lvl 3 variant feral tiefling rogue Shackled City
Laladak comes from a small burg called Beeftown. A place locally known for its master butchers. Laladak comes from a long line of Master Butchers but his heart years for the challenge of fighting. That yearning has led him to Cauldron. He just got done protecting a caravan and this city was its last stop. Hes been in town for a couple of hours.
I got alot a doods
Everyone gets to pick one 3.5 skill and one 3.5 knowledge skill to add to your skill lists. You will be proficient in those 2 skills. Do not posts those skills here but one the PM invite thread.
Here is a link to the skills http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/skills.htm don't forget to add stat mods, you can find by clicking the skill.
If it has a saving throw you need to convert
reflex = dex
fort = con
will = wis
History of Cauldron
Over 600 years ago, the towns of Redgorge and Cauldron were founded by Surabar Spellmason, a great wizard from Sasserine. Numerous profitable mines attracted prospectors and adventurers to the area.
The rim of the extinct volcano acts as a natural defense against the local monsters. This, along with the discovery of underground complexes below the city, favored Cauldron’s growth over the centuries.
Several decades ago, rainy winters resulted in massive flood damage to the lower reaches of Cauldron. As the local churches have successfully dealt with this annual problem, The Flood Festival is founded.
Seven years ago, a plague of filth fever struck Cauldron. Several hundred people die before the plague is brought under control.
The crushing defeat of my tribe over annexation of land uprooted me from my home and I eventually made my way into the bowels of Cauldron, hiding in the shadows while using a ragged cloak and hood to hide my appearance. I have been here for roughly a year living in the shadows but I am trying to get in with the Last Laugh because the streets are too dangerous for a lone kobold.
Deekin, Kobold Bard (2) in Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Ix'altha, Kobold Rogue (1) in Shackled City
After escaping his home town, and wandering the world for many years, Alben found himself arriving in Cauldren nearly 3 months ago. He arrived in the company of a caravan coming from the far west. He has managed to keep himself financed by preforming card tricks for donations on street corners.
Laladak sits at nearby table after ordering food.
Charisma: 6
He is uh...very shy.
He will actively look for any notices for arena fights or tournaments. He wants to know who's the toughest person in the city.
I got alot a doods
I assume that the 5 of you that have been in Cauldron for awhile (Alben, Iy'atha, Oreus, Shadow, and Tyris) know each other and are in the Drunken Morkoth Inn playing a friendly game of chance while Tyris is in town. If you don't want to be friends right off the bat, please provide me with the reason you are in the Drunken Morkoth Inn.