ORTHO: Enclaves & Outposts

What I actually meant was something like this:

Aquaria (Oerth)
Outside Territory
Covert Operations

Oerth has a (justifiable) phobia of outsiders from both wildspace and the Planes, and it also has powerful protectors (not least of which are Mordenkainen and the Circle of the Eight). The Harmonium has learned from experience to proceed with caution here.

Harmonium activities on Oerth are generally limited to the obscure continent of Aquaria, whose inhabitants seem keen to keep themselves removed from the rest of Oethian society - especially the war-torn Flaeness of the continent of Oerik.

Aquaria's Port Devotion is their chief spelljamming fascility. From here the Hardheads sail forth for covert operations and provide humaniarian aid. At present their activities are (by Order of the Octave) conducted in secrecy, but there are many in the Council of Ortho who believe that the OCA has a duty to bring peace and harmony to a world so threatened, but which produced one of its most popular deities.

Drakehold
Outside Territory
First Contact

Drakehold is a hot, lush world with a primeval feel. The air is much purer here than on most worlds; fires burn faster and brighter, and humanoids frequently feel light-headed and giddy. Lightning often ignites the air, creating writhing columns of fire in the sky and raging conflagrations on the ground. Despite the dangers plant life thrives here, often specifically adapted to life where fires are common. The atmosphere also extends far higher than normal, with air that’s cold and thin (but breathable) stretching even to the nearest moons; of which Drakehold has many, both large and small.

This world is largely untamed. Only reptilian and insect races are present in significant numbers and the intelligent varieties are much more technologically primitive than those found elsewhere. This is an enforced rather than natural circumstance, however. Dragons rule the land, and the whole world is divided up into gigantic domains. Each draconic species commands its own corner of the world, ruled over by the largest and most powerful wyrm of that breed. Each 'Dragon Prince' is served by lesser beasts ruling client territories, but all dragons claim divine rights and powers over all other species.

All non-dragons are considered servants, pets, or prey, which makes diplomacy rather tricky. The Harmonium is nevertheless engaged in exploratory diplomacy with the Blue and Gold Hegemonies, in an attempt to open trade and diplomatic relations.

Kara Tur (Toril)
Outside Territory
Limited Diplomacy & Trade

The Dragon Emperors of Shou Lung have spelljamming technology of their own and contact with several similar cultures on other worlds. Although most travellers from Kara Tur detest the crudity and alien ways of “foreign barbarians” their flying dragon-barges have encountered the Harmonium’s own vessels more than once. A small party of Orthorian merchant-diplomats are presently installed near the palace of the Divine Emperor and diplomatic relations are quietly underway.

Most of the great Daimyo of Kar Tur pride themselves on both the order and harmony of their society, making them superficially sympathetic towards the Orthorian cause. The nobility is notoriously hidebound and close-minded to new (especially foreign) ideas however, and OCA personnel are forced to operate under severe legal restrictions, stringent rituals of etiquette, and the samurai classes’ prickly sense of honour. Contact is limited but productive. The emperors tolerate no attempts at mass-conversion, but a few Harmonium and local philosophers are investigating their similarities of belief and meditation techniques. Things are progressing at a slow but steady pace.

Pilgrim
Holding
Trade Compound

Pilgrim is a surface-bare asteroid floating in the badlands of Wildspace. Built half-into the grey stone is a combined port and fortress ‘acquired’ from a band of rogue illithids. It took five years for the tunnels to be cleansed with fire and steel, after which the Harmonium renamed and reopened it as a port and trading enclave, encouraging travellers to come to Pilgrim for trade and to see the friendliest (and most persuasive) side of Harmonium.

Pilgrim is a showcase for the racial integration of the Harmonium, with the most personable members of ‘monster races’ like Orcs, Beholders, lycanthropes, and even Mer on show to persuade visitors towards the Way of Harmony. Opponents of the Harmonium call it ‘a propaganda freak show’ and nothing more than a brainwashing camp behind the facade. There are also persistent rumours that something may have survived in the tunnels beneath the enclave – the Harmonium say the talk of disappearances are mere lies spread to hurt their venture, and nothing untoward is happening; after all, people jump ship at ports all the time, don’t they?

Ruinous
Ward Colony
Open War

Whatever the world now called Ruinous once was, now it is a broken battlefield. It’s hard to find even the smallest stretch of land which isn’t strewn with broken weapons, blood, or bodies. Intact buildings are a rare find; intact cities are to be found nowhere. It is a world of huddled refugees, armed camps, and roving monsters. Civilisation has collapsed in the face of continual destruction and slaughter.

Three hundred years ago, Ruinous was the site of a major demonic incursion. Seas boiled, the land cracked, lava bubbled forth, volcanoes erupted, and from it all the forces of the Abyss issued out in search of victims.

Three hundred years of rampaging demons have destroyed virtually every aspect of civilisation. Whatever art, culture, architecture, and other achievements the people had, it is now torn down and ground beneath the heel of demonic forces. The only lords in this land are demonic regents for their Abyssal Lords. It is as if the Abyss was overwriting the laws of the Sphere. Alzrius, Grazzt, Demogorgon and others use the world as a playground and chess-board for their monstrous armies.

They are not entirely unopposed however. Fighting alongside the scattered refugees are Harmonium legions determined to halt the demonic advance – and drive the demons out if they can. The OCA declared Ruinous a Ward Colony as soon as they discovered and is currently engaged in holding a number of major spelljamming ports against the demon horde. Refugees are shifted off-world, but all able-bodied natives are encouraged to stay and fight the menace – as part of the Harmonium if possible.

Progress is slow because the armies are (comparatively) poor in resources for a Hardhead campaign: The OCA is wary of over-committing to a new ‘War of Iron’, even if it’s on the material plane. The Measures are forced to concentrate on solidifying their tenuous hold on the world rather than meeting the demon hordes head on.

Sepulchre
Holding
Exploration

Sepulchre is a dead world, quite literally. A few molds and lichens cling to life, but otherwise almost everything is dead – or more specifically undead.

Sepulchre shows all the signs of once being a thriving, normal, world. A thousand years ago however, something changed. The local sun-god perished, leaving only a dead ember hanging in the sky. At the same time a virulent plague struck down the populace, not just killing people and animals but transforming them into undead.

The land is perpetually gloomy, filled with lingering ghosts and wandering undead both mindless and intelligent. It is a savage world, where the undead inhabitants have learned to prey upon each other and the few remaining living things for sustenance. Over the centuries many of the populace have degenerated into monsters, and few can truly remember the lives they had a thousand years ago.

A Harmonium expeditionary force is currently entrenched in what was once a royal palace of Ath Woldren, heart of a formerly great and bountiful empire. From this base the Harmonium is sending agents out among the ruins, to learn more about the sphere and the calamity that befell it. The Harmonium expects to begin ‘pacifying’ the land soon. Although a crusade against the undead seems inevitable, a few voices in the expedition leadership have called for a more diplomatic solution. They hope to lead the undead into the afterlife peaceably, and perhaps even bring life back to the world.

Verdance
Outside Territory
Exploration

Verdence is a hot and steamy world – unpleasantly warm for most humanoid races. A vast amount plant growth covers every viable inch of the planet, forming layer upon layer of greenery and even stretches over and into the world’s oceans.

Animal life is a rarity on Verdence, confined to birds, insects, the deep sea and frozen polar regions. Floral life dominates everywhere else, and this includes intelligent species: Verdence is home to myconids, shambling mounds, phantom fungi, plant-based analogues of normal creatures, and intelligent versions of flora found elsewhere.

The Harmonium is only just beginning to explore this world and is having some trouble identifying exactly what’s intelligent, let alone communicating successfully with them. Unlike other life, the plants seem to live in relative harmony and uniformity with each other but find it difficult to understand many concepts that Harmonium explorers try to communicate with them, and there have been both conducive diplomacy and violent misunderstandings during the Hardhead exploration of the planet. Compounding the problem is the fact that Verdence is a treasure trove of natural medicines, including a local variant of Eallian Cheese which the rich of Ortho and her colonies are desperate to replace the supply of. Venture Companies and Cartels alike are chomping at the bit to be unleashed on the verdant world.

Opal
Sponsored Territory
Diplomatic Pacification

Opal possesses the usual mix of races, terrain, and gods, and the usual fractured political tapestry. In general it’s no better or worse than any other world outside the Pax Harmonium.

The OCA is involved with several of Opal’s nations, promoting law and harmony from the barbarians of the Ironheart League to the refined Caliphates of Zenath. The Harmonium is currently engaged in reinforcing properly ordered regimes and expanding the existing empires, commonwealths, and alliances into a single unified whole. It’s a hotbed of high level diplomacy and front line heroics as the OCA tries to swing the leaders of the world towards the Path of Harmony: Rebels need crushing, monsters require conversion or destruction, and the common people need to be shown the benefits of joining the OCA. There’s plenty of work to be done at every level of the Harmonium.

Cartels and government officials from various colonies of Ortho are also vying for the honour (and wealth and prestige) of sponsoring this new territory in its bid to join the Pax Harmonium. Many of the OCA’s political factions hope to find allies on Opal, to add weight to their cause.

Orb
Outside Territory
Exploration

Orb is a world newly discovered by the Harmonium, a sphere that had long been isolated from both Planes and crystal spheres. Orb’s links have begun to reopen of late however; spelljamming Harmonium traders have begun to cautiously explore the world.

Orb is divided not along racial lines but cultural ones, so a dwarf from the province of Anland has much the same culture as a Anlandish human, elf, or giant. This interracial attitude makes Orb especially suitable for a OCA’s unification program – even though its nations are just as factious as every other. Unfortunately the Orb pantheon is surprisingly unified, happily including good, evil, law, and chaos in its family (and a number of these deities also allegedly call kip on the Prime), so the Harmonium has decided to be cautious.

External Affairs agents are currently active covertly on the world, gathering information prior to official diplomatic contact. Of particular concern to them are incursions by beings of the Far Realm, which seem surprisingly common (although still rare) on this world.