(1) Welcome to Severozov

The city of Severozov rises above the fathomless depths of Lake Cherovka, the seat of the Kasars of Beressia. Its current lordly occupant, Kasar Nicolas, has made it his mission to create in Severozov a collection of knowledge to rival the grand western college of Highwatch. To truly compete with Highwatch however, Severozov must serve as a conduit for arcane study, an end which Nicolas bleeds Bereslav coffers to achieve. To his credit, he has had success in doing so, but certainly not without consequence. The inexperience of Bereslav mages and Nicolas’ own foolhardiness have unleashed a number of effects and entities upon the people of Severozov and the surrounding countryside, which, although temporary, severely impact those involved and degrade the Kasar’s reputation. As his warlike sister Katarin attempts to discourage his venture from afar, Nicolas only accelerates his experimentations, drawing unwanted ire from his people and unwanted attention from more unsavory parties. All the while, he ignores the rest of his and Katarin’s lands, as towns fall to ambitious Boyars and dark thoughts gather in the shadows of the taiga. The city of Severozov shines as a beacon to many; mages seeking an unregulated space to practice as they see fit, scholars wishing to share their knowledge and receive acclaim, and entrepreneurs looking for some arcane product to acquire and sell. Many more however, see a ticking clock, a city on the verge of collapse, waiting to be overturned by its disgruntled populace or razed by an arcane meltdown. The Library of Severozov continues to grow, crushing the city beneath its ambitions, as if the very depths of Lake Cherovka are swallowing the city whole.

To past tense now we go, arriving at the fateful day during which three travelers approached the city, running from their past failures to more - hopefully - fruitful environs. Through the north gate of Severozov rode Kopek, a hobgoblin mercenary, carried by cold taiga winds reminiscent of the gusts of his homeland on the sprawling Urgan Steppe to the east, and also by his noble steed of even nobler a title: Fluffers. Upon his back was a mighty longbow, accompanied by a quiver of arrows, both of which had seen their share of bloodshed. Protecting his sturdy frame was a mixture of steppe chain and the colored heraldry of his former charge. Far behind him lay the rotting corpse of this charge, a Boyar of Beressia he protected, slain by a captain of the Duke of Aliev. The grim face of Egor Bartyk haunts Kopek’s dreams even now, while the scars he delivered Kopek left the hobgoblin with one eye, burning with hatred for the former and striking fear into those that gaze upon the brutal injury. As he entered the city, Kopek was quickly greeted by a scuffle between one of his countrymen, a hobgoblin mercenary working in the city, and a member of the city watch. Quickly identifying the hobgoblin as the aggressor, Kopek and Fluffers made short work of him and his nether regions, handing him over to Captain Belov, commander of the city watch in Severozov. Belov noted the decisive nature of Kopek’s actions, thanking him for his services and remembering his face in the event of future encounters.

Through the west gate walked a smaller figure, though in his own mind, his towering intellect cut a much larger one. Here arrived Levi, a gnome traveling a much different path from his tinkering fellows. As evidenced by his regal blue and silver robes, he was student of the famed College of Highwatch in the west, the premier center for the study of the arcane. However, his education was cut short, for he counted Leviathan Rip among his interests, a game of arena combat between magical spinners that had developed an underground - and somewhat shady - following within Highwatch itself. His obsession over his own Leviathan Rip Spinner had already alienated his gnomish relations in Glizik, and now it bought him expulsion from Highwatch itself. Facing exile from both places he called home, Levi turned eastwards to Severozov. After embarrassingly missing a targeted tree with his fire bolt, Levi put the west gatekeeper to sleep with a lecture on Leviathan Rip, and was permitted entry into the city. After declining to perform magic for a group of disappointed children, Levi encountered the merchant Lavrenti Danilovich, or Dan for short. The two quickly struck up conversation, and Dan informed Levi of a magical demonstration taking place in the upper city…

Towards the southern gate trudged a tiefling, Cornelius Dingding, dressed in all the finery befitting a successful businessman, with a blade hidden away in his fashionable cane. This devilish entrepreneur was anything but successful, for just as the mud of Water’s Edge dirtied his boots, the actions of his business partner, the glib Nacho Belle, dirtied his reputation. Also damaged, to the point of failure, was the stability of their collective business, Adler Sales Force, aptly named for its location within the city of Adlerburg. Leviathan Rip proved the downfall of another of our travelers, as Nacho Belle’s penchant for betting on the game lost the pair any wealth their real estate endeavors might have accrued. And so Cornelius came to Severozov, hoping to locate and exact his revenge on Nacho Belle. The wretches of Water’s Edge, seeing the tiefling’s slick suit and fedora, approached in hopes he would spare them some coin, but were instead greeted by Cornelius’ boot. After being questioned by guards at the gate, Cornelius simply stretched his wings and flew into the city, where he was greeted by insults: the guards had heard tell of the failings of Adler Sales Force, and were not impressed. After inquiring about the library perched on a cliffside over the adjacent lake, the guards informed him that to enter, he would need the permission of ‘the orc,’ though they neglected to give him this orc’s name.

A crowd gathered amidst the streets of the upper city, and among them stood our three travelers: Kopek, Levi, and Cornelius. The object of the crowd’s fascination was quickly revealed to them: a tabaxi (cat-person) from the southern jungles of Takhratan spoke to the masses, his hands performing majestic flourishes, all directed towards a perfect metallic cylinder. No doubt this tabaxi was one of the hopeful mages seeking admittance into the Library of Severozov, a place where he could further his arcane studies and acquire fame as a scholar of great renown. Introducing himself as Nat Sanya, the tabaxi’s gestures rapidly intensified, and the cylinder began to glow with an arcane light. Kopek, Levi, and Cornelius, wary from their travels, began backing away from a situation they knew to be a powder keg, ready to explode. An explode it did, literally - as Nat lost control of his cylindrical device, it burst in an arcane eruption, leveling the city block and vaporizing all standing near, including the tabaxi himself. All that remained was the cylinder, resting in the middle of a scorched crater, perfectly intact.

Our three travelers were knocked off of their feet, and lay dazed for a moment. As Kopek’s eyes snapped open once more, he saw the captain he had met earlier, Belov, standing over him and offering a hand. Anger was evident on Belov’s face, and similarly evident in his expression was a lack of surprise, tinged with seemingly growing desperation. With his hand, the captain extended to Kopek an offer, and as the hobgoblin rose to his feet, he was greeted by a new responsibility: to guard Severozov as a member of the city watch, for which he would receive a generous stipend of one gold coin each week. The unprofessional nature of Nat’s demonstration was evident to Levi, as something this catastrophic would never have occurred at an institution such as Highwatch. As he got up and began to approach the cylinder lying in the street, Cornelius sat up also. A greasy looking gnome entered his field of view, and on this gnome’s hip, the unmistakeable shape of a Leviathan Rip Spinner, the very cause of Adler Sales Force’s downfall. And so the distrustful relationship between Levi and Cornelius began as the tiefling attempted to steal the gnome’s spinner. Their brief squabble was interrupted by the arrival of Kopek and Belov, the latter of whom delegated the safekeeping of this cylinder to the unlikely trio. All were offered housing at the Severozov Garrison, a square fort standing on a stone outcropping in western Severozov, accessible only via bridge from the upper city.

Their short stroll to the garrison was plagued by more conflict between Levi and Cornelius. Before that could unfold, Kopek was given an opportunity to begin networking amongst the city watch. And what better way to introduce oneself than locking lips with the individual opposite one? Kopek introduced one of the guards (a Vlad of unknown number) to the Steppe Slobber, a famed technique he had developed within the grand hobgoblin fort of Ishtar. This Vlad was immediately impressed and left longing for more, but the party continued across the bridge towards the garrison. Still enraged by the sight of Levi’s spinner, Cornelius dangled Levi by his ankles over the bridge. Refusing to give up his spinner to this obvious maniac, Levi instead decided to retaliate, blasting acid up towards his foe. Gravity would not be defied however, and this acid descended to the street below, dousing an unwitting commoner, who proceeded to run screaming through the fine houses of the lower city. Kopek quickly stepped in to end the squabble, but tensions remained very much present.

At the garrison, the party found not only human members of the city watch, but also hobgoblin mercenaries ducking in and out of tents, their horses tied up in muddy stables beyond. As Kopek and Levi continued toward the fort itself, Cornelius split off to investigate another of the camp’s denizens. Near the bridge a makeshift open air kitchen was set up, occupied by a single grinning orc with a bandolier of butcher knives decorating his torso. The orc’s grin intensified and his eyes twinkled as Cornelius approached, inquiring as to whether he was ‘the orc’ whose permission was needed to enter the library. The orc before him burst into roaring laughter, informing him that the orc he sought was the ‘twerp’ called Kostya, who served as Kasar Nicolas’ steward, running the city while the Kasar poured over his studies in the library. Disappointed, Cornelius instead changed the topic to food, requesting a meatball sandwich. After watching Cornelius carve a perfect meatball, the orc introduced himself as Muz, a cook currently working for the hobgoblin mercenaries and their leader, Taghai. Their shared business acumen piqued mutual interest - interest that would come to influence their actions in the future. Meanwhile, within the garrison, Kopek was armed with the red chain mail of the Severozov city watch, while hoping to arm the greasy Levi with a shower. After a small amount of convincing, Levi approached the showers, where he was greeted by a number of hobgoblins in the nude, encouraging him to join them as they exchanged saliva. Levi immediately turned and swiftly exited the room. A shower would have to wait until another day. Upon further investigation of the garrison, Kopek encountered a familiar face: his compatriot Torgan, a fellow hobgoblin that he grew up with in Ishtar upon the Plateau of Kufuor. After sharing a steppe slobber, the two parted ways momentarily, each heartened to have found a reliable companion in a foreign city.

All three members of the party were drawn to a beckoning hobgoblin, very different in appearance from the other mercenaries, standing before one of the many tents surrounding the fort. Adorned in a silk gown of ebony and gold was Taghai, the mercenary leader and known to Kopek as a former commander among the legions of the Gilded Khan of Ishtar. The interior of the tent was lavishly decorated, with fine rugs covering the ground and a pine desk at the rear. Leaning upon boxes was a portrait of Taghai himself, as well as an unmarred blade, likely left unused for quite some time. Beside his desk, upon a stand of its own, was a gilded saddle, emblematic of his steed’s importance, and of the high value every hobgoblin’s horse holds in their eyes. A hobgoblin’s ability to ride is paramount to their happiness, just as it is to their reputation. Indeed, reputation was something Taghai was quick to use to influence Kopek. Citing the safety of the people of Severozov as his primary motivation, Taghai expressed his desire to depose the city’s aforementioned ruler, Kasar Nicolas. The incident with the cylinder was indicative of the growing volatility of the city. Nicolas’s own experimentations had already come to frustrate many of his people, and the individuals drawn to the city (such as the tabaxi Nat Sanya) brought even more volatility with them. It was Taghai’s hope that this party of three would infiltrate the Library of Severozov and bring Nicolas to him, ending the Kasar’s reign. Never one to turn away from a potential profit, Cornelius was quick to request compensation, a request the affluent Taghai was quickly able to fulfill. As the tiefling hefted his newly acquired pouch of gold, his dreams of a renewed real estate empire suddenly didn’t seem so far away, and in Severozov awaited a new market. Levi gazed at his spinner, and while the Library of Severozov undoubtedly held new arcane opportunities, Highwatch remained to him an institution to be revered. To the Dawgs he yearned to return. For Kopek, the favor of a famed commander was within his grasp, and the start of redemption following his failed bodyguard endeavor. But in the coming days, his trust of Taghai would begin to dwindle…