Backford 1626

[Gallowglass]

Does anyone know any details about the city of Backford being conquered by the Queendom of Jab? I found a reference to this on p. 43 of the Sourcebook, but I can’t find any other details. My campaign is near the end of 1626, and I’m thinking that retaking the city from Chaos could be a fun (if deadly) series of adventures. 

Edited January 26, 2020 by Gallowglass

[jajagappa]

14 minutes ago, Gallowglass said:

Does anyone know any details about the city of Backford being conquered by the Queendom of Jab? I found a reference to this on p. 43 of the Sourcebook, but I can’t find any other details. My campaign is near the end of 1626, and I’m thinking that retaking the city from Chaos could be a fun (if not deadly) series of adventures. 

I believe that's the only reference. Gagix will be spewing forth her hordes from the Print and the Jab Hills. Backford is clearly one of the places overrun by scorpionmen, likely with a very grisly and gory outcome to any who did not flee. Maybe one of her lieutenants sets up camp there, perhaps to prepare some new spawning place for scorpionman eggs? Best to clean it out.

[jajagappa]

Btw, one source for inspiration here would be the 13th Age in Glorantha book. The central story arc focuses on Gagix with ideas for both an extended campaign and even appearances by Gagix and her minions in the Hero Plane. The scenario of the Sounder could readily be moved to any village above the Print.  

[Sir_Godspeed]

3 hours ago, jajagappa said:

I believe that's the only reference. Gagix will be spewing forth her hordes from the Print and the Jab Hills. Backford is clearly one of the places overrun by scorpionmen, likely with a very grisly and gory outcome to any who did not flee. Maybe one of her lieutenants sets up camp there, perhaps to prepare some new spawning place for scorpionman eggs? Best to clean it out.

If the scorpionmen stick behind to create a new nesting ground, then there should be a reason for it. Perhaps parts of Backford is very defensible (maybe it's a second or first age hill fort/temple complex/palace complex sort of like the modern incarnation of Clearwine), or has some other resource that is considered beneficial.

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Perhaps parts of Backford is very defensible (maybe it's a second or first age hill fort/temple complex/palace complex sort of like the modern incarnation of Clearwine), or has some other resource that is considered beneficial.

Backford is a weird place in that it's the only crossing of the Syphon River that flows uphill and into the Print. Maybe if Gagix can turn the Syphon aside then Chaos can flow normally downstream out of the Print. But that's a big quest to undertake.

[Sir_Godspeed]

7 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

Backford is a weird place in that it's the only crossing of the Syphon River that flows uphill and into the Print. Maybe if Gagix can turn the Syphon aside then Chaos can flow normally downstream out of the Print. But that's a big quest to undertake.

This provides a motive for her taking it though. Maybe she has been planning this for A Very Long Time. The Hour of the Ritual is getting closer. Time is of the essence. Heroes are needed. 

Now there's a quest hook if I ever saw one.

[Joerg]

9 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

Backford is a weird place in that it's the only crossing of the Syphon River that flows uphill and into the Print. Maybe if Gagix can turn the Syphon aside then Chaos can flow normally downstream out of the Print. But that's a big quest to undertake.

If Backford is the only crossing of the Syphon above the Mirrorsea Bay, then Heortland would effecively be split into two parts without any overland connection.

Scorpionmen - even the barely sentient ones - are terrible opponents in terrain where they can use the vertical for their advantage. At least IMG the scorpionfolk can run up vertical walls, and fight hanging or falling down from ceilings.

Does Gagix have Krarshti allies? In that case, expect there to be Krarshti tunnels connecting the conquered area with the Print. 

[Gallowglass]

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

Backford is a weird place in that it's the only crossing of the Syphon River that flows uphill and into the Print. Maybe if Gagix can turn the Syphon aside then Chaos can flow normally downstream out of the Print. But that's a big quest to undertake.

Just how “cursed” is the Syphon River anyway? Like, don’t step in it? Also, wouldn’t it be a salt water river?

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Does Gagix have Krarshti allies? In that case, expect there to be Krarshti tunnels connecting the conquered area with the Print. 

I'm sure she does.  This is likely how she's swarmed out into the Jab Hills. 

6 minutes ago, Gallowglass said:

Just how “cursed” is the Syphon River anyway? Like, don’t step in it? Also, wouldn’t it be a salt water river?

Yes, it is a salt water river all the way into the Print. May get more "diluted" there before it plunges down the hole into the Underworld. Since it is salt water, you could well have salt water fish and animals swimming along in it (perhaps even sharks?).

[Joerg]

11 minutes ago, Gallowglass said:

Just how “cursed” is the Syphon River anyway? Like, don’t step in it? Also, wouldn’t it be a salt water river?

A brackish river, really. The Choralinthor Bay receives one of the strongest rivers in the world, fed by the Sky River, and numerous lesser ones, making its water rather brackish. The water in the estuary fjords is quite likely potable.

More importantly IMG, the Syphon is an active water, bulging above its bed like a jellyfish tentacle - which is what makes the fordable stretch at Backford rather special.

It also holds one entry to/exit from the Fish Roads at Backford.

 

The Syphon is a lonesome fighter against Chaos, much like his sister Sounders on the far side of the Storm Mountains.

[Gallowglass]

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

The Syphon is a lonesome fighter against Chaos, much like his sister Sounders on the far side of the Storm Mountains.

I thought it was an “evil” river? Joerg I recall this being a point of contention for you, but the Guide says that the Syphon refused Magasta’s call, and that’s why it flows backwards.

[Sir_Godspeed]

27 minutes ago, Gallowglass said:

I thought it was an “evil” river? Joerg I recall this being a point of contention for you, but the Guide says that the Syphon refused Magasta’s call, and that’s why it flows backwards.

I don't know whether it's evil or not, but it denied Magasta's call specifically to flood the Footprint to fight Chaos, iirc.

[jajagappa]

52 minutes ago, Gallowglass said:

I thought it was an “evil” river? Joerg I recall this being a point of contention for you, but the Guide says that the Syphon refused Magasta’s call, and that’s why it flows backwards.

It's "evil" because it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, i.e. flow downhill. And it's evil because it's salty, so when it floods it deposits salts not silts, and consequently bad for growing crops. And it's evil because it refused Magasta's call.

But it's definitely NOT Chaos. So not evil in that sense. But it is like the ancient Blue Dragon, so the Earth cults don't like it; and the Storm cults fought the Seas here so they don't like it either.

Edited January 27, 2020 by jajagappa

[Joerg]

3 hours ago, Gallowglass said:

I thought it was an “evil” river? Joerg I recall this being a point of contention for you, but the Guide says that the Syphon refused Magasta’s call, and that’s why it flows backwards.

Calling a fighter who remains behind to stop a chaos foe while the rest rushes elsewhere evil has never been logical to me. The cult of Storm Bull at least should see it as a kindred spirit, taking care of the Chaos at its footprint despite the order to retreat sounds exactly like a Storm Bull would behave in such a situation.

2 hours ago, jajagappa said:

It's "evil" because it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, i.e. flow downhill.

What difference does this make?

2 hours ago, jajagappa said:

And it's evil because it's salty, so when it floods it deposits salts not silts, and consequently bad for growing crops.

IMO this is a blessing for the herders rather than a curse. The coastal flats with its salt meadows is prime estate to keep your beasts healthy, and the Syphon valley has the only salt meadows on the plateau.

Heortling agriculture doesn't usually grow grain in annually flooded valley bottoms, but uses the lighter soil of gentle hill flanks. Esrolian or Dara Happan river bottom agriculture would suffer, but Heortling mixed farming and ranching only profits.

2 hours ago, jajagappa said:

And it's evil because it refused Magasta's call.

"All rivers, come and rush towards Chaos!"

"At it, sir!"

Magasta is not a friend of the Orlanthi, so why should they care about disobedience to that distant and rapacious lord of their foes?

2 hours ago, jajagappa said:

But it's definitely NOT Chaos. So not evil in that sense. But it is like the ancient Blue Dragon, so the Earth cults don't like it; and the Storm cults fought the Seas here so they don't like it either.

So it is evil because it doesn't form the norm. In a culture that celebrates going against a norm It is evil because it is different. It is evil because it rebeled against an order. That's not congruent with Orlanthi values at all. If the Imarjans declared that behavior as evil, I wouldn't be upset, but this is the land of the spirit of freedom.

[Darius West]

11 hours ago, jajagappa said:

It's "evil" because it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, i.e. flow downhill. And it's evil because it's salty, so when it floods it deposits salts not silts, and consequently bad for growing crops. And it's evil because it refused Magasta's call.

But it's definitely NOT Chaos. So not evil in that sense. But it is like the ancient Blue Dragon, so the Earth cults don't like it; and the Storm cults fought the Seas here so they don't like it either.

Yeah, I think that river is only evil in parenthesis because it is not like other rivers.  It would be easy to describe a salt water river that flows uphill as being unnatural, and given its unnatural behavior and its proximity to chaos, your average yokel might be quite taken aback by it and assume it is chaos too, when it is in fact a great chaos fighter.  It's all a bit like how white became the color of death in China.

[Jeff]

15 hours ago, jajagappa said:

It's "evil" because it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, i.e. flow downhill. And it's evil because it's salty, so when it floods it deposits salts not silts, and consequently bad for growing crops. And it's evil because it refused Magasta's call.

But it's definitely NOT Chaos. So not evil in that sense. But it is like the ancient Blue Dragon, so the Earth cults don't like it; and the Storm cults fought the Seas here so they don't like it either.

Harald is absolute right here. It is evil because it is poisonous (salt-water) and cannot be used for drinking or irrigation. 

[Joerg]

3 hours ago, Jeff said:

Harald is absolute right here. It is evil because it is poisonous (salt-water) and cannot be used for drinking or irrigation. 

Do the Orlanthi in Heortland practice irrigation? The descriptions of the lack of rain bringing wind in "Ten Women Well Loved" and in the King of Sartar mention of the absence of Bingista the Good Wind during the Machine Wars suggest that they don't.

Salt meadows on the other hand are a boon for herders. Herd beasts would drink from saline springs, too. Not to still their thirst, but to intake the minerals necessary for healthy hooves and horns.

Do the Heortlanders use silty river water as source of  their drinking water, or do they use clear springs or collected rain water? IMG the latter. Rain is anything but scarce in the region as long as Daga hasn't been released.

 

I can accept "it is evil because it may alter its course without regards for a river bed, taking down steads or drowning herds." But that is basically what the Dragon Pass gazetteer had to say about the (essential) Chorms River south of Wilmskirk. Another entity presented as an evil alien which I felt was highly inappropriate for Orlanthi society and virtues.

Orlanthi raiders and warriors respect crafty and powerful opponents, even if they will happily capture, kill or cripple them for fame or riches. 

 

Below Backford, the Syphon climbs a rather narrow valley up into the plateau. There are 10 miles between Backford and the Syphon estuary, and ten miles before it enters Stone Forest. That's a quite short, narrow band that "suffers" from saline water.

Cities have been founded near a source of saline water, and have prospered from that resource. This might explain why Backford is fairly sizeable in 1621 (7k inhabitants - I would have given it less than 5k). It prospers thanks to the salty river, not in spite of it.