Chaos in the Black Eagle Barony

The Black Eagle Barony, ruled with an iron fist by the power-crazed  Baron Ludvig von Hendriks, is the most obvious centre for villanous humans in Karameikos. The Baron commands a sizeable army and a fortress, Fort Doom. The Cult of Chaos operates in a very different way, generally lurking in the shadows of towns and cities, seeking to infiltrate, corrupt and subvert the lawful rule of Stefan III of Karameikos. So how do these two chaotic groups view each other? 

They are in an alliance of convenience. They have no real love or trust of each other, but each can provide the other with assistance. The Cult has a cadre in Fort Doom, and the Barony provides them with a level of security that chaos cultists rarely have outside of Hule. A combination of Karameikos officials and most lawful clerics leaving the Black Eagle Barony alone and also the Baron's army of soldiers keeping the borders secure means that as long as the Chaos cultists do not upset the baron and his officials they have a safe base of operations, launching missions and infiltrators into Karameikos and other nearby lands. 

In return the cultists provide the Baron and his higher-up officials with clerical spells, albeit with a chaotic bent. Most cultists do not go around anouncing their allegience to Chaos to all and sundry as this would be disconcerting even among those as morally dubious as the Baron's household. Instead outside of their own base they hide their chaotic symbols, refrain from preaching chaotic teachings and simply describe themselves as clerics of foreign deities, and many common folk assume they are neutrally aligned. However, there are those who have guessed the true nature of these strange clerics.The cult also provides a certain form of international contact, at least through the network of chaos cults dotted around the Known World. How much information they pass on to the Baron is really up to the cultists. 

The cult has at least three separate bases in the Black Eagle Barony. The Chapel of the Viper is actually within Fort Doom and is the official base of the cult in the Barony. It is not just a chapel but several nearby buildings and a network of cellars and basements underneath that some might describe as a dungeon. Occasionally slaves and other captives are taken down into these cellars never to be seen again. There is also Vlastag Mine, an abandoned silver mine in the hills to the north of Fort Doom, near the road to Luln. This mine has been repurposed by the cult and there are no baronial troops or officials here - the Baron does not even know about this site. Thirdly there is an inn run by the cult in a fishing village on the coast called Ivanov. Of course this inn appears harmless and many patrons are unaware of its true nature. Its purpose in the cult is primarily a safehouse for those entering and leaving the Barony or Karameikos via the sea. The beach where the fishing vessels are pulled up is occasionaly visited by larger, darker vessels hailing from sinister places such as the pirate ports of Ierendi or the Hagiocracy of Hule. Because baronial troops only occasionally pass through Ivanov, these larger ships are rarely noticed by the authorities. The villagers of Ivanov know better than to talk about such matters - they just keep their heads down and hope these strangers just leave them alone. 

The lack of trust between these two groups means that although they are not hostile towards each other they certainly keep an eye on each other, and both have contingency plans if this relationship deteriorates. The Barony has plans to arrest and prompty execute as many of the the Cult of Chaos as can be caught (the Baron's agents monitor known cultists), and the cult as a whole would be banished from the Barony on pain of death. The cult have their own plans - they know they don't have enough on their side for a coup-d'etat so are planning to assassinate the Baron and his immediate heirs and successors, leaving the Barony tearing itself apart in a leadership battle. Chaos will reign indeed. 

NPCs of the Cult of Chaos in the Black Eagle Barony

The following have been borrowed and updated from DDA3  Eye of Traldar by Carl Sargent. 

Torstor Malenkov, human male F4, chaotic. Torstor is both a chaos cultist and  a lieutenant in the Iron Ring slavers. He is a despicable individual, untrustworthy, vicious, cowardly and cruel. He will only fight those unable to fight back properly - if his opponents seem competent he will not risk his own life. He is actually the cult's eyes and ears within the Iron Ring, and although the cult of Chaos and the Iron Ring have no formal agreement, they are aware of each other. 

Gebhard the Torturer, human male F5, chaotic, Gebhard is a chaos cultist who has infiltrated the Baron's organization. Although nominally loyal to the Baron, his true allegience is to the cult. He is a true sadist, which is why he has been given the job of the Baron's torturer. He would like to become the Baron's Jailer, giving him authority over even more helpless victims. Unlike Torstor, Gebhard is quite willing to fight, and gets quite angry at either escape attempts or acts of defiance from his prisoners and their allies.  

Paurillian, the Cleric of Chaos, human male C4, chaotic. Paurillian has now risen to be both the master of undead creatures in Fort Doom and also the main official representative of the cult of Chaos in Fort Doom. He has recently acquired a ring that allows him to animate a humanoid skeleton once per day and he has been putting this to use. Some of the animated skeletons stay on guard at Fort Doom, but some have been sent marching to Vlastag Mine in the nearby hills. 

art by Thomas Baxa

Completely new NPCs

Mahktal the Unworthy. human female C3, chaotic. Mahktal has been relegated to looking after the Rusty Anchor Inn in Ivanov after an incident where several captured enemies escaped from her. This incompetence has given rise to her new epithet. Nonetheless, she is now determined to do a good job in looking after the cult interests in Ivanov. She knows she needs to maintain a balance between keeping the villagers in line but also not attracting Baronial attention.  

Garrlon Irontooth, human male, T4, chaotic. Garrlon is a henchman in the Fort Doom Thieves Guild - the Night Spiders. He has recently turned to the Cult of Chaos after seeking allies in the internal politics in the Night Spiders. He now provides the cult with "street level" contacts and information in and around Fort Doom as well as being a skilled assassin. Garrlon is ruthless and ambitious, willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead in the guild, in the cult and in life in general. 

Zastable Nekrol, human female, MU5, chaotic. After a stint within the Iron Ring slavers, Zastable defected to the Cult of Chaos. She is now in charge of Vlastag Mine in the hills between Fort Doom and Luln. She has a number of cultist minions as well as orc mercenaries but she would like to control her own band of monsters and is looking for ways to become a Twisted Summoner. She has mixed relations with her previous associates. Some in the Iron Ring consider her to be a traitor marked for death, but others still respect her as a competent and dangerous mage who did what was best for herself. 

Kelshane the Vociferous, human male, C3, chaotic. Kelshane is Paurillian's assistant in Fort Doom, and he has a role as the cult's preacher, proselytizer and recruiter. He is certainly charismatic, with both a way with crowds and also talking to individuals. Although there are very few actual members of the cult in Fort Doom, Kelshane's work means that a number of the townsfolk (his parishoners) are certainly sympathetic and may help. As indicated above, Kelshane does not regularly announce that he is in the Cult of Chaos, but that he and his colleagues are foreign clerics here to bring solace and support to the Black Eagle Barony, so terriby oppressed by the wicked Duke Stefan and the rest of Karameikos. He has noticed that some of the townsfolk and garrison actually prefer having some sort of religion and ceremony to follow, so he is considering a toned-down version of chaotic rituals. 

Tormius Sevarak, human male, T7, chaotic, is described in my post about Luln