THE SOUTHLAND
A Fantasy Core Setting
© Jerry Harris 2014
(This link will take you to the
Fantasy Core Index.)
Cross Personalities
Prince Maxter, Governor of Cross
Sample Adventure “The Thing”
Back in the Ruins and After
Cross
History
The hamlet of Cross was originally
started by a group of Revivalist colonists from the Commonwealth nation of
Galcia. They intended to live a simple
life as sheepherders. That town spirit
actually continues on to this day.
However, the discovery of [Ref, this is up to you and where you want to
place the town on the map, it could be a natural resource or a famous landmark],
the town’s population has grown considerably.
At this point, the colonial government
took notice of the town and decided to install its own representative, in the
form of the Marquis Kessla. As a
man of boundless ambition and few scruples, Kessla saw this miserable little
assignment as his payday and a stepping stone to bigger things. There was a small bazaar in town run by a
local merchant/smuggler named Chance.
Kessla, over an evening of drinks, challenged him to a card game. The stakes were Kessla’s posting versus
Chance’s bazaar. Chance is still
convinced Kessla cheated (because he certainly did).
Deed in hand, Kessla enticed a wealthy
Hegemony merchant, Asa Sansar, to take over the bazaar’s operation,
which he sold to him for 1 gp. Asa was
part of the Cartel (before Governor-General Bligh started
limiting foreign investment in the colony).
While a bit expensive, the Cartel presence stabilized the town’s prices
and ensured plentiful goods and easy trade. (Chance is still bearing a grudge,
especially as he currently rents space in the bazaar to run his business. He specializes in illegal trade, which means
the Cartel doesn’t get a cut. Asa covers
for him, just to keep the peace.)
With some money flowing in, Kessla
quickly had a small keep constructed and staffed it with Frontier Service
troops. He correctly figured that the
increased traffic would bring Humanoid raiders.
The Troopers, along with local Rangers, kept these raids from hitting
the town. Kessla also had an official
“road” constructed to Cross. It’s a dirt
path, but it’s a road. (Bligh instituted
the road use taxes.)
Kessla was in the middle of planning
some more civic improvements when his various under-the-table schemes caught up
with him. Nobody knows who did him
in. The Cartel? Asa?
Chance? Bligh? Somebody else? He had his fingers in the everything in the
town and was taking a cut. One day, the
citizens of Cross woke up to find their governor in cuffs and being taken out
of town, under Marine guard no less. No
explanation given. He’s still sitting in
a cell in Canberra
Into this vacuum, swept in Prince
Maxter as the new governor. Yes,
that Prince Maxter, the Emperor’s
half-brother! This was an inexplicable
turn of events. Maxter (he usually
dislikes any use of his title or genuflecting) insists he’s been sent to Cross
in exile, and is simply here to try and make the best of things. Nobody really believes this, but there’s no obvious
evidence to the contrary. Maxter has
continued Kessla’s civic improvements, and then some, mostly using his own
money.
Maxter had the Frontier Service troopers
reassigned to the new nearby Fort Zin, built to guard the road. (They were never a good fit in this quiet
little sheepherder town.) He replaced
them with a force of hand-picked mercenaries, paid for with town funds and his
own. Maxter also snagged a hero from the
Norther March conflict to lead the defense company. Captain Keft Horgon was reassigned to
the Southland, along with a squad of his best cavalry troops.
A Paladin was assigned to Cross by the
Circle of Elders, just in case of undead or supernatural threats. Said Paladin, Virginia Van Claire, was
highly unhappy with this absurd, unnecessary posting (in addition to being sent
to the Southland to begin with). Maxter
sympathized with her plight. With his
own funds, he set up a non-denominational-ish temple and gave her the
additional duties of Head Priestess until such time as her Smite ability is
needed, which she has appreciated.
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