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As part of my ongoing 4e Blackmoor campaign, I worked in a place of origin for dragonborn characters (as my brother and I are big fans of all draconic, and my brother is playing a dragonborn character). So, here comes Rodhin, the dragonborn city-state located in the Spine of the Dragon, that was mentioned in the few materials released for the vaporware Age of the Wolf campaign.
To celebrate this year's Dave Arneson Game Day, I want to share it with all of you here. The lore here is compatible with the current year of the d20 Blackmoor campaign (year 1030). If you allow dragonborn in your campaigns (perhaps, if you're playing with the 4e or 5e rules), you're free to use my version of Rodhin if you want.
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Rodhin, the Hidden City
Long ago, when dragons were masters of all lands, there were scores of dragonborn clans. The dragonborn were one of the two servitor races bred by true dragons, like kobolds, at some point of prehistory. Dragonborn population grew faster than originally intended by the dragons and were also able to break away from purely serving at the feet of their masters. The armies of the Insellagi [1] rode unchecked across the known world, and their warlords led their vassals into battle against the Thralls of the Egg of Coot and other primeval evils, driving back the wilderness and returning with riches and slaves from the "lesser" races to support their ceaseless battle against the shadow.
Eventually, however, the covetous dragonborn clans turned on one another. Petty rivalries and territorial disputes led to civil wars and horrible bloodshed. At the same time, slave revolts threatened to break the clans hold over their lands.
To maintain order, the Great Dragon of the North intervened. Insellageth decreed the end of the Great Empire of the Insellagi, and the liberation of the enslaved peoples. The dragonborn retreated to their mountain eyries, and became just an obscure legend to the common races of the world.
In the North, a loose-coalition of seven clans founded Rodhin, the Hidden City, amid the Spine of the Dragon, in the ancient past (likely, 1000 years before of the foundation of the Empire). The Rodhinians secluded themselves until recently, when the Urmaekris [2] sent a diplomatic delegation to Dragonia in the spring of 1030, to establish a political alliance with the Kingdom of Blackmoor.
Features of Rodhin
Rodhin is a terraced city built along the side of Rodhverthicha [3], a rugged mountain overlooking a vast plain amid the Spine of the Dragon. Its wide streets and graceful arches feature leering states and intricate façades on every pillar, plinth, and wall. The city faces east, so during the morning the sun bathes it, sparkling off the white stone and dancing across the life-giving waters that spill down from the heights. After the sun passes the zenith, the city falls into shadow and is illuminated by magical glowing balls that have the property to nourish the plants the dragonborn use to decorate their homes or to eat.
Rodhin its divided into three tiers, that are considered its districts. The lowest tier was built in the mountain's base, while the upper tiers were built in artificial platforms excavated from the mountainside. All tiers are connected by ramps, staircases and the River Rodh. This "river" is in fact a waterfall of fresh water that runs from the peak and down the mountainside, originating from an old portal to the elemental plane of Water. The river tumble out of the stone and down the mountainside until it gathers at a pool. At the pool's bottom another portal waits to drain the water back to the plane of Water. Those portals predate the city, and its believed the dragonborn chose this mountain to built their city because of those portals.
The buildings in the lowest tier are protected by a steep wall punctuated by towers and topped with rearing stone dragons. White stone houses crowd the wide streets and the canals that carry the waters of River Rodh to the private gardens and small farms that produce much of the food for the city. The second tier holds homes for minor priests, military officers, scholars and researchers. Its filled with white-washed houses with tiny gardens and shops, as well as small shrines dedicated to old heroes and the dragon gods. The uppermost tier holds the offices and palaces of the clan-masters, as well as the Royal Library and numerous other official buildings.
The walls and buildings facing the surface are but a third of the city's actual size, because contained within the great peak are endless corridors, chambers, staircases, meeting halls, temples, shops, and even entire neighborhoods. Near the mountain's base, the low-class citizens live, working as miners and farmers. The upper levels house the city's elite, including the states of the seven clans high-ranking members and the quarters of the Urmaekris.
Defenses:
The city's architecture demonstrates how self-defense was the principal concern during Rodhin's construction. Flanking the city are the sides of the mountain itself, which are so steep and rugged that no army could ascend without flying. Numerous towers bulge out from the mountain's face, each equipped with catapult platforms, ballista batteries, and other siege weapons to rain death on an enemy host. Trapped tunnels connect each tower to the subterranean depths of the city.
In the case that the city's walls would be breached, the citizens can withdraw into the tunnels and chambers cut inside the mountain. Stores of food and cisterns filled with fresh water mean the people can survive for at least a year of siege. And even if supplies run out, the deeper tunnels offer safe routes away from the mountain, giving the Rodhinians a chance to flee while their enemy focus on navigating the traps and fighting the defenders inside.
Hierarchy and Government
The government of the city-state of Rodhin is monarchic, having a single absolute ruler, the Urmaekris. The Urmaekris is revered as a living god, as he or she is the representative to Insellageth himself. In 1030, the Urmaekris is Kayitz Eyrina zoram Dmidrov (female gold-scaled dragonborn, high-level cleric).[4]
Despite being monarchic, Rodhin also has a position similar to a prime minister, a head of domestic affairs. In 1030, the prime minister is Gozzo Halaar zoram Maksumov (male red-scaled dragonborn, noble). While the prime minister is mostly concerned with civilian and political matters, Gozzo Halaar has personal command of the Bombardiers, a force of dragonborn warriors that uses technological weapons.[5]
Underneath the Urmaekris and the Prime Minister are the seven noble clans. The function of each clan in itself is not known to the Blackmoorians, although many of them are given important government and military posts. Out of the seven clans, only five are known to the people of Dragonia: the Gozzo, Torah, Doban, Tichvah and the Kayitz. The most dominant of these clans is the Gozzo clan, with the prime minister and most of the military commanders of Rodhin's military forces being members thereof.
The Clans
Rodhin is divided among seven major clans that conforms the nobility and upper castes. Each clan is led by a clan-master, or ominakris[6], who is usually appointed to the position by the former clan leader.
Although the clans are equivalent to the noble houses of other nations, the clans themselves resemble an army more than anything else. Members of the clans not only conform the nobility, but also the upper echelons of the military and the priesthood.
Of the seven major clans, only five are known to the Blackmoorians, because members of those clans were part of the diplomatic delegation sent to Dragonia.
Clan Doban:
Members of this clan seek mastery of self through the discipline of the blade, the clan's favored weapon. Regarded as sword-saints, members of Clan Doban are wandering warriors, seeking for worthy opponents beyond the lands of the Insellagi. Most dragonborn the Peshwah met in the past were members of Clan Doban. Members of Clan Doban also produce the finest arcane warriors of Rodhin.
Clan Gozzo:
The warriors of Clan Gozzo are renowned for their discipline and nearly undefeatable tactics on the battlefield. Their grand army, the Bombardiers, is perhaps the finest fighting force in the world. Gozzo dragonborn are proud and honorable, but cling tenaciously to their ancient traditions and the fading legacy of their once great race.
Clan Kayitz:
Members of this clan are known for their pacifist ways. Most of them are priests and healers. Members of Clan Kayitz are also the lorekeepers of Rodhin. According to legends, the mystic knights of Clan Kayitz guard the secrets of the great Dragon Kings of old. They revere Tsartha as much as they revere Insellageth.
Clan Tichvah:
Clan Tichvah is the only known clan whose members are all arcane spellcasters. Its a secretive clan, and their arcane practices are considered exotic and unorthodox by members of the Wizard's Cabal.
Clan Torah:
Most dragonborn paladins are members of Clan Torah. The sons and daughters of this clan are devote followers of the Father of Dragons. Paragons of honor and good, the scions of Clan Torah are responsible for the bulk of the ballads sung of dragonborn heroes. Consequently, the most infamous villains of the dragonborn race also hail from the ranks of this noble clan.
Clan Nashim:
There is not much known about Clan Nashim, besides that it produces a lot of philosophers and scientifists.
Clan Geber:
The secretive and decadent Clan Geber is known for its dark ways. It's said they practice slavery and dark magical arts.
The Castes:
Among the Rodhinians, scale colors determine their place in the city's hierarchy. Dragonborn castes are divided as follows:
Noble Caste:
The ruling caste of the city. Dragonborn of this caste enjoy great privilege and prestige, and are allowed to retain their family names*. Most of them are politicians, philosopers scientists, or members of the priesthood. All high ranking members have gold or red scales, while lower class members have blue, bronce, brown, gray and silver scales. All nobles are first-class citizens regardless of scale color.
Dragonborn of the noble caste add "zoram" to their name (ie. Kayitz Eyrina zoram Dmidrov)
Hero rank:
A special title given by the Urmaekris to those dragonborn that have done something exceptional that benefits Rodhin. A dragonborn hero has the same privileges of the nobility, regardless of scale color.
Dragonborn heroes add a "zan" (f. zania) to their name. (ie. Doban Baran zan Basilin)
Martial Caste:
Initiates of the martial caste are all volunteers, and so anyone can be a member of the martial caste. Once a dragonborn volunteers for this caste, however, is stripped of their family name and subjected to twelve years of martial training following by three years of gladiator training (however, they are not denied access to their families). Many dragonborn do not survive this harsh training.
Those who do are rewarded by returning them their family names (or giving them one, if they didn't had one previously), ascended to be a second-class member of a clan, and become members of the military.
Dragonborn of all scale colors can be part of the martial caste but gold and red-scaled ones always get the positions of leadership. All members of the Martial caste are considered second-class citizens, unless their scale colors are gold or red (they are first-class, instead).
Arcane caste:
Unlike the martial caste, only those dragonborn with the ability to wield magic can be part of the arcane caste. Spellcasters have the ability to detect such individuals and track them down. Usually, those dragonborn that show the gift of magic are separated from their families at age 3, stripped of their family names and denied access to their families, and then trained by veteran spellcasters for twelve years. It's unusual for dragonborn to develop the ability to use magic at an older age, but in those rare cases these individuals are conscripted into the arcane caste regardless their age.
If they survive their harsh training (whose details are not known to Blackmoorians), like the Martial caste they are rewarded with their family names, ascended to be a second-class member of a clan (usually, Clan Tichvah), and can chose to be part of the military or follow their own pursuits. Likewise, dragonborn of all scale colors can be part of the arcane caste but gold and red-scaled ones always get the positions of leadership. All members of the Arcane caste are considered second-class citizens, unless their scale colors are gold or red (they are first-class, instead).
Within the arcane caste are elite sects that specialize in particular fields of magical study, such as the Shan Qabal (spellcasters focused in war magic) and the arcane warriors.
Mundane caste
The "munth"[7] or mundanes, also known as the commoners, are the lowest ranking members of a given clan. All mundanes are third-class citizens and what the Rodhinians call the "workers of the noble tasks": they are the smiths, crafters, artisans, artists and merchants of Rodhin. They have some rights in the city, although none of them as a say in the government. They are also allowed to keep their family names and to own property in the lowest part of the city. They also can join the Martial or Arcane castes if they meet the requirements.
Dragonborn with black, brass, copper, green and white scales are all members of the mundane caste. If a dragonborn with "highborn" scale colors is born in a mundane family, they are promoted to higher caste at the age of 3, usually the Martial caste, unless they are gold or red-scaled, who become nobles instead.
The Barshem:
Barshem is the name of the lesser caste of Rodhin: the miners, farmers, and servants. They are considered to be low-class citizens, below all the other castes, and so they do not belong to any clan. All Barshem are servants of the seven clans, althought it's not known by Blackmoorians how each clan determines which Barshem family serves them and how they diferentiate their servants.
Dragonborn of the Barshem caste have no right to have a family name and no political power at all. They are not allowed to own properties and live in houses specifically built for them and owned by their masters.
Almost all Barshem dragonborn are mongrels (generations of interbreeding between different draconic heritages have created a "mongrel bloodline of sorts"), and so the bulk of the Barshem have dull gold, reddish-brown, rust, and copper-green scale colors. Dragonborn of other scale colors can be degraded to Barshem status as punishment for some transgression, but most of them cannot bear this and either prefer exile or suicide, so to see a Barshem of any other color scale is really rare.
The Barshem are allowed to join the Martial or Arcane castes if they meet the requirements, like dragonborn of other scale colors, and all of the Barshem dream to become members of the martial caste, or to have offspring with magical talent, but the usually lethal training is a deterrent for many. Any Barshem that becomes a member of either the Martial or Arcane castes will be a rank-and-file member without right of promotion, but this "upgrade" allows them to have the right to own a small property in the outskirts of the city and to marry with another Barshem (a Barshem cannot marry with a member of one of the clans, but Barshem "companions" are common among the favored servants of some clan members).
If a dragonborn of a "highborn" scale color is born to a Barshem family, they are adopted by one of the seven clans and promoted to a higher caste (usually, the Martial caste, unless their scales are red or gold, who become nobles instead). Their biological family lose any ties to the hatchling, but are given the chance to serve the clan that adopted the lucky dragonborn.
Military:
The dragonborn of Rodhin are a highly militaristic people, and their lords and ladies are those dragonborn who had proven themselves capable of leading their fellows on the battlefield. All citizens have at least basic martial training, and are expected to take arms should the city be invaded.
The Army:
The Army makes up most of the bulk of Rodhin's military. There are seven platoons that comprise this group. Each platoon is commanded by an officer simply known as a "Commandant". The seven commandants answer to a "High Commandant". Apart from this, the chain of command of the seven platoons is unknown.
Bombardiers:
The Bombardiers are the elite special forces of Rodhin's military. The Bombardiers' organization seems to be streamlined: it only has a captain and a vice-captain. The captain of the Bombardiers directly answers to the prime minister of Rodhin. The Bombardiers squad is equipped with technological weapons recovered from the City of the Gods in the ancient past.[8]
Royal Guard:
This group is the least known of the three by the Blackmoorians. Their main purpose is to protect the Urmaekris. Doban Baran zan Basilin (male red-scaled dragonborn, high level fighter), the leader of the Rodhinian diplomatic delegation in Dragonia, used to be a member of the Royal Guard.
Stances on magic:
Dragonborn do not fear chaos magic. In fact, all dragonborn can be considered what the Wizard's Cabal call "chaos mages". Their magic is mostly focused to better suit their war-like lifestyle, and is more practical and focused in destruction than magic used by other races.
Religion:
The dragonborn do not discuss their religious beliefs with outsiders, but many believe that the state faith of their civilization revolves around Insellageth, whose herald is the Urmaekris, in some form or another. They also revere Tsartha and Chamber.
Its also known that Rodhinians fanatically revere their ancestors. Because of that they cremate their dead, as dragonborn pale at the tough of their loved ones being raised as undead.
Technology:
The Rodhinians have access to steam technology and advanced clockwork technology. According to the dwarves, the Rodhinians got the knowledge to create such technology from them. The Rodhinians also have a few items of strange technology recovered from the City of the Gods. How much they had dominated this strange technology is unknown to the Blackmoorians.
About food:
Dragonborn are omnivores, but they eat meat more than any other edibles. Their food contains a lot of herbs and spices unfamiliar to non-draconic palates, and most of their food is way too spicy for human taste. They also like to eat insects (if you are a human eating in a dragonborn table, beware: that worm in your fritter was intentional). They really like to eat leafcutter ants; is an ingredient in most of their meals.
A pair of traditional Rodhinian dishes you can try in Dragonia are:
Farothai: Griddled bread, often stuffed with cheese, potatoes, ground meat, ants, onions and spices.
Yochit: Salad made of lettuce, onions, tomattoes, nut oil and ant's eggs.
They also like to drink spiced mint tea, and hot spiced beer (this seems to be an adquired taste from their relationship with dwarves). This is more like a luxury for a dragonborn, however. Given what we know about their biology, they would not be able to hold out alcoholic beverages that much.
About scales colors:
Gold-scaled dragonborn are rare. It's believed they are chosen of Insellageth. And so, all Urmaekris so far have been gold dragonborn.
Red-scaled dragons are so important in the city because its said that the founders of the city where red dragonborn.
Blue-scaled and copper-scaled dragonborn are believed to be lucky individuals, thought no Blackmoorian knows why.
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*Notes:
1. Insellagi is how Rodhinian dragonborn call themselves in draconic. Can be translated as "the children of Insellageth".
2. Urmaekris can be translated as the Spirit King. From the draconic word Ur (it has to do with divine stuff) and maekrix (leader)
3. Literally the Mountain of Rodh (verthicha is mountain in draconic). Dunno who or what is Rodh, though.
4. Dragonborn always put their clan names first, because honor and such stuff.
5. In my campaign I use futuristic weapons recovered from the City of the Gods (in 4e you can use Gamma World futuristic items, as Gamma World rules are compatible with 4e's). In the original Age of the Wolf campaign, the Bombardiers of Rodhin would have used steam weapons, but I feel steam technology is the purview of dwarves.
6. Ominakris can be translated as "clan leader" (is a combination of omin [name, clan] and maekric).
7. Munth means normal in draconic.
8. In my campaign, the purpose of the Bombardiers is assumed to be similar to that of the US Armada Corps.
* Family names follow the rules given in 4e's Blackmoor: The First Campaign sourcebook.
For more ideas:
Rodhin its not the only dragonborn settlement of Blackmoor, just the only known to the Blackmoorians (and to us) thanks to their embassy in Dragonia (and the mention in the previews of the Age of the Wolf vaporware campaign). The 4e Blackmoor campaign guide suggest the existence of other dragonborn communities in the Spine of the Dragon, in the Gut and in the Kerman Peaks.
Last edited by Zeromaru X on Sep 29, 2020 1:20 am, edited 15 times in total.
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