Chalcidis

CharacterThings have gone from bad to worse, but there's still a chance. Take charge and grind others down if necessary to gain escape. Force of arms is enough to stuff the ballot box, with your opponents if need be, but Rederic is also a friend, and as stealthy as an assassin.

RulerHer Honor Hesian (Planar/female human/M(Div)7/Fated/CE) is the current mayor, and fighting to keep her position. She only recently took the mayor's office from Crotines, who was driven out of town when his supporters were routed in battle. Hesian treats her followers slightly better than Crotines did, but is still quick to kill anyone who may be a threat. She flatters visitors to the town, trying to find any weakness in them. If she can, she'll try to convince them to stay and help her bring "true democracy"; if she can, she'll also eventually kill them for their magical items. Hesian is convinced that she can escape Carceri if everyone in the town recognizes her as the valid leader of the burg.

Behind the ThroneHesian's forces are the strongest in town, but the combined troops of Callippe (Planar/male tiefling/F5, M3/Revolutionary League/NE) and Philomela (Planar/female ogre/HD 4+1/Bleak Cabal/CE) could bring her down, so she does her best to placate them while simultaneously pitting them against one another. Although the two have no great love for their current mayor, their inability to join forces unless attacked keeps them in secondary positions to Hesian.

DescriptionChalcidis is one of the former gate towns of Curst, long since pulled into Carceri and fought over for unknown years. The iron walls are now rusty and weakened, and many patches on them show where invaders have fought their way in. No more trade comes through the city, so supplies to repair anything are rare and the entire burg has a distinct decaying feel to it. Everyone here dreams of becoming mayor, but few are able to get any sort of following. The chant in the streets is always about politics.

Several political factions struggle for the mayor's seat in constant sets of elections. The populace gets to vote in a new mayor every few months, and the political battles are vicious and multifaceted. Candidates promise everything, from true democracy to taking the entire burg out of Carceri, to win votes, and often succeed in swaying those formerly loyal to another contender. When rhetoric isn't enough, magic is often used, and of course violence is always an option. Armed thugs also keep watch over the ballot boxes and investigate every ballot before it is cast. If the vote cast is for the wrong party, the poor sod is often killed on the spot. If districts vote for the wrong candidate, the boxes for that district are usually lost. Mayoral candidates naturally do their best to get their own armed "supporters" in charge of ballot boxes, but the tide of battle often changes many times during polling, and no one can be entirely sure what the vote will be at the end of the day. Massive vote fraud of all kinds is also to be expected.

MilitiaHesian's troops are the most common on the streets, and travel only in large troops. They have no name, fixed size or makeup, but organize depending on whoever is in charge and how dangerous the task at hand is. Her Honor keeps ahead of her opponents by the use of divinations, but the toll on her forces caused by excessive use of these spells means that they must be used judiciously. During the infrequent gehreleth, troll or tanar'ri attacks, the entire burg gathers together to repel the invaders and backstab enemies during the chaos. The yugoloths and baatezu see no point in attacking the city, for it offers so little, while the chaotic fiends attack because it's in their nature to do so.

ServicesThe only real service to be found in Chalcidis are the balloon flights run by Jecassi Namn (Pl/female human/F4/Free League/N). Namn gets clients who want to get to another bead, but these clients rarely bring anything to trade and just want to get elsewhere as soon as possible.

Current ChantCrotines, the former mayor, has somehow managed to take up with a tribe of trolls out in the swamps and is doing his best to unite them. Once he has a large enough force, he'll attack Chalcidis to regain his power.