Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn

[Yaztromo]

You are doing a very nice job!!

[Zeromaru X]

With the release of the Age of the Wolf sourcebook (AotW henceforth), we at last have access to the vision the original authors of the Dave Arneson's Blackmoor line had for the dragonborn in the Blackmoor setting. Obviously, it does contradict with my homebrew lore, that was done using as reference just the information provided in The First Campaign (4e) sourcebook ("the 4e book" henceforth) and some of the AotW preview material posted on Havard's blog. I've decided to update my version of Rodhin to make it more "lore-compliant" with the information given in AotW, because I really like for my campaign to be as faithfully possible to the "official" information. So, in other words, I'm doing this for fun. 

This doesn't mean I'm going to delete the old version of the city. It has an special place in my old Blackmoor campaign, so it will be archived here for posterity (and if you like the old version better, you're free to keep using it if you want). With that said, let's get started.

In order to start updating the lore of Rodhin (that I want to keep compatible with the Blackmoor setting of the Year 1030), I've compiled all the relevant lore about the dragonborn (or dragonfolk, as they are called in AotW; a very clever name, if you ask me) in AotW, and then I'm going to contrast it with the information we already had on the 4e book. Here I'm going to quote what I think are the key points of the dragonborn lore on Blackmoor.

The First Campaign (4e) quotes

The dragonborn of Blackmoor are an enigma to some, an omen to others, and a curiosity to all. For an age, the entire race existed as nothing but rumor—stories told around campfires along the War Road, or as cautionary tales to those who would brave the harsh landscape of the southern mountain ranges that comprise the Gut, the Kerman Peaks, and most infamously, the Spine of the Dragon. Once in a generation, an exhausted traveler or explorer would return from the snow-capped peaks bearing tales of a mountain people who lived lives of quiet isolation and bore the heads of dragons, Blackmoor’s mightiest beings. Only among the Peshwah tribes of the Eastern Hak did the tales take root, for the Peshwah had always believed [...]

Relations: In the spring of 1030, a contingent of dragonborn arrived in Dragonia on what they called a mission of diplomacy. There, they established preliminary relations with the Kingdom of Blackmoor, by means of an agreement with Dragonia’s newly appointed baron, Peshwan na Shepro. The terms of the agreement were simple enough. Blackmoor would recognize the independence and sovereignty of the dragonborn nation [...]

Further south, along the east side, one finds rugged ridges known to the Peshwah as the persa na shilotan (“Spine of the Dragon”). Until recently it was thought that only the dragons themselves made their homes in this mountainous region, but now it is clear that it is the ancestral home of a race called the dragonborn.

Age of the Wolf quotes

The mountain range known as the Spine of the Dragon sits right at the edge of the Valley of the Ancients, which scholars regard as the source of the calamity that gave rise to the Rain of Ash.

In the wake of that calamity, there arises a new military and political power in the North: The city-state of Rodhin. Shrouded in mystery and located deep in the heart of a treacherous mountain range, little is known about the place during its formative years, until finally, humans from within the borders of Uther’s old kingdom brave the dangers in order to see it for themselves.

What they find is an entire community of a race heretofore unknown around the North. Humans call them “dragonfolk”. By the year 1300, these new dragonfolk have built a strong and industrious nation of their own, centered on the city of Rodhin.

Over the span of the next century, Rodhin industrializes, forges an alliance with the nearest barony (Dragonia), and becomes a substantial power in its own right. It is a city only decades old, scarcely an infant in the long history of the North, for it is the home of a species that has itself walked the land for barely a century. This is Rodhin, overlooking the Valley of the Ancients, where its resident dragonfolk first emerged.

Arms Race: For ages, the dwarf race has represented the cutting edge of technology in the North. However, as time has gone on, their advantage has slowly slipped. Between the secrets torn from King Uberstar during his captivity among the orcs of the Black Hand, the advances of the dragonfolk, or the innovative mastery demonstrated by Maus, the dwarf nation is no longer the clear winner. [...]

The Rodhin mercenaries that defend Dragonia are a fierce, martial caste, sworn to the defense of the city. [...] The boyars of the Host ensure that their soldiers never step too far out of line, maintaining an uneasy peace with an iron fist. [...]

Members of the Host fight with heavy broadswords, heavy shields, and horn bows, but their signature weapon is the imblati, a three-headed, spiked flail better known as a “dragontooth flail”. Wielded by a strong arm, the flail inflicts grievous wounds, and is capable of casting a mounted warrior from his saddle to the ground, where an accompanying warrior (often an aspiring kazak) finishes off the fallen rider with the short, steel-tipped thrusting spears favored by the young.

Perhaps the most significant alteration to the Spine of the Dragon during the past centuries of war was the rise of an entirely new species, the dragonfolk, and their great metropolis of Rodhin. Nobody is entirely certain where these people come from. Some believe them just another mystical mutation, albeit one that bred true. Others believe they always dwelt here, hidden away within secret caverns, and only recently chose to emerge. Others still maintain that they are the missing wyrms of the Dragon Hills, that the ancient beasts somehow perished and spilled forth scores of these draconic humanoids from their innards. Rumor has it that even the dragonfolk themselves don’t know; if they do, their secretive culture certainly doesn’t incline them to tell anyone else.

In the far southern reaches of the Spine of the Dragon, concealed from the outside world by the towering mountains on which it is built, stands an unlikely metropolis. Sprawling complexes and towering spires topped with gleaming onion domes overlook streets that bustle with wandering citizens and long military regiments alike. Bright crimsons, deep azures, and rich golds coat many of the structures, and snap on banners writhing in the breeze. Rodhin: A city of might, of industry, of culture.

It is a city only decades old, scarcely an infant in the long history of the North, for it is the home of a species that has itself walked the land for barely a century. This is Rodhin, overlooking the Valley of the Ancients, where its resident dragonfolk first emerged.

The Ironworks: The Ironworks are the industrial district in an already heavily industrialized city. Factory campuses and alchemical laboratories belch fumes that occasionally rise higher than the surrounding peaks, while carts haul raw supplies and completed goods through broad streets. Although Rodhin’s military machine has priority, the Ironworks produces more than weapons and war machines... [...]

They operate in the shadows of dragonfolk society, a part of their culture of which they rarely speak. Some call them patriots, loyalists to the Tzar and the royal family above all, warriors for the protection of the old ways and revered traditions. Others name them traitors, assassins, even terrorists, whose closed-minded zealotry may bring about the fall of Rodhin — if not from within, then by angering those without. Some call them both.

(Originally, the bombardiers were archers. Since Rodhin has begun developing greater technologies, they have replaced their bows with mechanical bolt-throwers powered by exploding alchemical powders.)

I think that these excerpts of lore gives us plenty of material to work with.

1. There seems to be some misinformation about the origins of the dragonborn in Blackmoor, and it seems the dragonborn prefer it that way, given their secretive nature. However, given that there are legends about them among the Hak years before the events of the AotW take place (as per the 4e book), I think it's accurate to say that the dragonborn have always existed. Or at least, have been existing for some "generations" (a few centuries) before the time of Uther. 

Whatever the truth, something seems to be clear: there is a high possibility the dragonborn originated from the Valley of the Ancients. Would this mean that the dragonborn may have originated as a consequence of the arrival of the City of the Gods (the FSS Beagle)?

2. Rodhin, on the other hand, seems to be a pretty young city by the time of AotW. We know that the humans of the time of Uther (Year 1030) discovered a dragonborn settlement, thought. Which means Rodhin existed in this time at some form. Perhaps it is a much smaller settlement than what I created for my homebrew. 

3. There is a contradiction as of when the dragonborn started their alliance with Dragonia. The 4e book states that this happened in the spring of the Year 1030, under the rule of Peshwah na Shepro, while AotW says the alliance happened during the War of Succession, that happens much later (after the death of Uther, no date given; but the MMRPG says it happened in the Year 1055). I'm going with what is said in the 4e book here, and have the info of AotW as some misinterpretation of the scholars chronicling the history of the War of Succession.

4. We know that Rodhin has a royal family led by a Tzar, and a nobility systems that includes "boyars", which means that the dragonborn of Blackmoor may be inspired by the old Russian civilization. However, there are words like "imblati" (the name of the dragonborn's whips), that implies some Rumanian influences as well (imblati is a Rumanian word that means "to beat").

5. We know that the dragonborn started with basic technology but later evolved, until becoming a race as technologically advanced as the dwarves. So, perhaps the dragonborn of the Year 1030 are still not as advanced as their descendants of the AotW, but they may be starting to have better stuff than your average human.

Also, the previews provided by Havard so many years ago show some interesting changes the dragonborn had during that preview phase and the finished book:

First, the preview mentions a "king of the dragonborn", while AotW reveals the leader of the dragonborn is the Tzar.

Second, the Bombardiers were said to use steam-powered weapons in the preview, but that seems to have been changed to alchemical powered ones in the final AotW book.

[Zeromaru X]

Updated the first post with the new version of Rodhin. Happy Dave Arneson day!