Outlands Gatetown: Courage, Gatetown of Arcadia
One day, Courage was just there. The entire town was just there. It even had name-signs and everything, just so that nobody could be in any doubt as to its name. Pretty much the only thing it didn’t have was people; there was no sign that anyone had ever been in Courage. But then, there are had never been any buildings in that spot before either. And it didn’t take long for people to start arriving in Courage, not once they’d worked out the one really important thing that Courage had. It had the gate to Arcadia. Fortitude’s gate. The gate-town is dead; long live the gate-town.
Courage could almost have been designed by a modron, given its layout. The town is built in a grid fashion around the main central square, called the Heart. The most important buildings in Courage are lined around the Heart; the Accord (headquarters to the Hardheads), temples to both Tyr and Torm, the Chambers of Devotion (which houses the town council) and the Home of the Coin (where the town’s fledgling Merchant’s Guild is based, and from which all commerce is governed.
Two principal streets converge on the Heart, running crossways to each other; Ascension (running north-south) and Angel Walk (running east-west). There are four other major roads in the town, two running east-west and two north-south, parallel and on either side of the more important streets. These roads pass near to the Heart, but do not actually touch it. The two north-south routes are the True Way and Charity Street. The east-west roads are Devotion Lane and Justice Road.
The rest of the town is built in a rigid grid off these major roads, up to the walls of the town. The only thing that is slightly un-modron about the design of the town is the architecture. The buildings in each block are the same, architecturally, but each block is similar to, but slightly different from, its neighbors. The end result is that the architecture of the town is very different from one end to the other, though the change in style occurs so subtly that walking from one end to the other it is hard to notice any change from block to block. Overall, the town is already being hailed as an architectural masterpiece by those who know about such things, and people with an interest in such things are already making trips to study the town.
Many of the buildings, though empty, had a clear purpose in mind when people started moving in. Much of the town was clearly for habitation, and the town can probably accommodate a population of around 20 to 25,000 beings. The exact figure is hard to estimate as there exists some underground areas clearly intended for habitation, but the exact proportion of those areas which would be devoted to that purpose is difficult to clarify. Most dwellings are largely functional, though the closer to the Heart you get, the more ornate and impressive the houses become. Unsurprisingly, the most powerful people in the town have generally appropriated these grander buildings.
Other structures were equally obviously intended for other purposes. The vast majority of the taverns, shops, temples and workshops of the town came designed and laid out for that exact purpose; many of the taverns and shops actually came already named. Some were congregated into an area (for example, the town contains three large blacksmiths, all of which are situated at the southern end of Ascension). Others, like the taverns, are spread out more or less evenly through the town. Overall, around 85% of the town was clearly intended for one purpose or another.
The town also seems to be capable of protecting its pre-determined facilities. Where a building or street was given a particular name by the town’s unknown designers, attempts to alter that name always meet with failure. Although you might be able to change the name, it always reverts back to the original name within 24 hours at most. People have told of simply looking away for a few seconds and turning back to discover that the name had reverted to its original form. Likewise the architecture of the town protects itself; although alterations within a building almost always survive (unless very dramatic), attempts to alter the external design of buildings are almost always unsuccessful. Whoever designed and built Courage, they appear to have believed that their ideas were best.
Society within Courage is still in its formative state. Although most of the residents have simply moved here from Fortitude, a sizable number did not come from the old gate-town and the simple fact of the different design and layout of Courage has meant that society has started to evolve on slightly different lines. The town is large than Fortitude, and the fact that the rich and powerful are more concentrated than they were in the old gate-town has tended to create something of a two-tier society. The town also contains a larger number of shops, and this increasing emphasis on commerce, allied to the influx of several wealthy merchants, has resulted in the establishment of the Merchant’s Guild, to which all businesses in the town must purchase a license to practice. The Guild is governed by a council of seven members, who select three of their number to sit on the town council.
The Hardheads are still the most powerful group in the town, and the Accord dominates the Heart, being comfortably the largest building in the town. It is the Hardheads who provide the guards to the town’s gates (one at each end of both Ascension and Angel Walk), and to walk the walls of the town. It is the Hardheads, also, who patrol the town and ensure that order is maintained, and who act as police force when that is required. However, the Harmonium selects just three of their number to sit on the town council.
The council itself is composed of nine members, the last three being elected by the populace in general. Councilors serve in office until they decide to retire, or are voted off the council by their fellow councilors (not that that has happened). The council governs all that occurs in Courage, and for some distance out of the town gates as well, and individual councilors serve as judges when trials are conducted. Currently, the council has 5 Harmonium members, but they’ve not had to use their numerical superiority as agreement between council members on pretty much all matters has been fairly easy to achieve.
Of course, that’s not how it was done in Fortitude. And there’s not a single person in Courage who can say why they decided to do away with the Secret Conclave (although most people suspect that all of the Secret Conclave stayed behind in Fortitude anyway). It just came to the people, all of them, over a period of time, that an open council was the way they were going to do things in Courage.
In general, Courage does not have the same fanatical attitude as Fortitude did. In part, that’s because some believe that it was Fortitude’s arrogant conviction of its own perfection was what caused the old gate-town to lose the gate in the first place. In part, the fact the Courage does not have a Confessional like Fortitude did (and the population don’t appear to miss it either; mass public confession and judgment seems to have been left behind in the old gate-town) seems to make a difference. And undoubtedly the fact that Courage has a larger proportion of its population, who are neither Hardheads, nor Arcadian petitioners, affects the overall psyche of the town. But those who enter the town in the belief that it is a softer touch than Fortitude was soon find that they are disabused of that notion. It is not a softer touch, merely a different touch. The vast majority of the residents are still lawful, mostly either good or neutral, and devoted to the common good and the perfection of society for all that is the hallmark of Arcadia. Many sages believe that Courage’s greater humility and gentleness already make it further on the road to slipping to Arcadia than Fortitude ever reached.
Path of the Righteous
This is the rather grand name for the gate to Arcadia. Standing in the exact center of the Heart, and therefore the exact center of Courage, is a low building with four archways, leading north and south along Ascension and east and west along Angel Walk. Entering through any arch merely leaves you in the chamber created by the roof that connects the arches, although the carving on the stonework there is well worth studying if you so wish (and increasing numbers of dwarves are traveling to Courage to do just that). Leaving by the arch that you entered by leaves you in Courage, exactly where it looks like it should. Exiting by any other arch will leave you on Arcadia. No gate key appears to be necessary. Where you arrive on Arcadia depends upon which arch you entered the Path of the Righteous by and which one you exited by.
The Accord
The largest building in the town is home to the Harmonium, and comprises a barracks, armory, exercise court, training area, underground ranges for both missile weapons and mages, several small temples and shrines and a variety of offices. The current leader of the Harmonium in Courage is Aviendra Shostarin, who has recently arrived from Sigil. She has already taken a seat on the council, and is actively recruiting in the area, whilst trying to avoid the mistakes that she believes were made in Fortitude to make that town suffer the loss of the gate.
The Delve
The Delve is the name collectively applied to the various underground areas of the town. There are seven entrances to these areas in the town, though the one accessed from the Heart appears to be unconnected to the larger underground area that surrounds it that the other six entrances reach. The rock of these underground areas resists attempts to excavate it to enlarge the open areas, though passage through the rock by spells such as Passwall function normally. The size and function of the various chambers varies, and different areas have been appropriated by a variety of beings with a preference for living underground.
Krane’s Informatorium
Undoubtedly the most unusual business in Courage is this strangely titled shop which lies just off the western part of Devotion Lane. The proprietor, Krane Delainin, a human wizard, was one of the first people to move into Courage (from where, no-one knows), and one of the first to open for business (in one of the few shops that was not pre-determined). In fact, because he was not obviously making something, and had no obvious wares for sale, he was open for almost a fortnight before anyone realized that he actually was running a shop. What Krane sells, put simply, is information. Usually fairly basic information, such as what magic conditions exist on the 78th layer of the Abyss and how to get around them, or how to kill a particular creature, but occasionally much more exotic or secretive information. Many greybeards are disgusted at this - not the fact that he sells information, but that he does it so openly; discretion, it appears, is nine-tenths of the information-seller. The more astute amongst them wonder instead about how he never seems to buy information. What his sources are, nobody knows. Whenever someone offers to sell him information, he simply smiles and tells them that he has no need of that at the moment, or already knows, or something similar. However, people who walk in and ask (the shop itself is protected by several layers of magical defenses against scrying and similar) for reasonably basic knowledge can expect him to produce a small printed sheet in the next day or so, if not straight out of a drawer. And what’s more, his stuff is accurate, so far as people have been able to prove. The Informatorium’s reputation is rapidly spreading throughout the planes.
The Deva’s Foot
This tavern, located near the southern wall of the town just off the True Way, is unusual for a number of reasons. It is one of only two taverns in the town that were not established in premises designed for that purpose. The name was not pre-determined, but was decided upon by the owner of the tavern. And that owner, Jagres Methanan, a tiefling, is not only openly evil in alignment, but is also openly a member of the Mercykillers. Quite what caused a member of the Red Death who was quite important in Sigil to up sticks and move all the way to Courage to open a tavern is anybody’s guess. Still, the tavern serves excellent food, reasonable drinks, and has good rooms at competitive rates. Methanan has never done anything to arouse criticism, and seems affable to all. Admittedly when the odd fight breaks out in his bar he does seem to be a trifle too keen to break it up, cracking heads on the way, but he does nothing to encourage fights, and protecting his property and his patrons is after all his right. The final thing that has people talking about this tavern is that the sign that hangs outside is, rather than a painted board, a large, magically preserved, foot. Whether or not it was once attached to a deva has never been determined.
The Lacewing
A small tavern located on the Heart itself (it is the only tavern there), this establishment thrives through providing high quality meals and drinks to the movers and shakers in Courage’s society. Certainly at lunchtime and during the early part of the evening then many of the important people in the council, the Harmonium and the Merchant’s Guild can be found here. Much business is done at meetings here, although many come simply for pleasure as well. The owner is Darlink Tarphane, a Hard Head aasimar, and the cook is his wife Serapha, a gold elf. Both the quality and the prices are second to none in Courage. Slightly fewer people know that Tarphane and his wife are both Hardhead agents (that they are Hardheads is well known, but they are thought merely to be namers), and the Lacewing provides the Hardheads with a superb means to gather information from the important people in town. This information, however, does not go to Aviendra Shostarin, but instead goes direct to Ortho. None of the Hardheads in Courage realize that this establishment spies on them perhaps more than it does its other patrons.
The Melting Pot
Only opened for business in the last fortnight is the Melting Pot, a shop located just off the northern end of Charity Street. The owner, Tuzumab Alemtin, a gnome druid, is an expert in all manner of potions, and sells many different types. He also provides an identification service for those who aren’t quite sure what it is in the flask that they ‘liberated’ on their last adventure, and has sometimes undertaken to create specific potions for clients with the cash to be able to afford the necessary research and ingredients. Alemtin had a business (of the same name) in Sigil until it was destroyed in the fighting during the war between the factions of that city, and since then he had been searching for a place in which to open up his trade again. He appears to have settled on Courage.
The Gate
In the center of the berg is the gate to Arcadia. This gate is formed of a white marble dome, like an overly large gazebo, supported by pillars under the edges of the roof. The roof is marked on the inside with a mosaic of tiles in shades of blue that depict scenes from Arcadia. Activating the gate requires a key, simply saying out loud the name of a group or community of which you are a member in good standing. Any of the openings between the pillars can be used in such a manner.
Plots and Rumours
Recently, an organization called the Cult of Courage has started up. They are not based in any particular building, moving meetings around the homes of members as they see fit. How many have so far joined is a little difficult to tell, but it’s probably only around 100 members at most. Even so, they are attracting considerable opposition from the Harmonium leaders, who worry that the cult’s philosophy is dangerously subversive (and indeed, it seems likely that several Hardheads have joined the cult). That philosophy is, at its most simplistic; that Courage itself is a living entity, perhaps spawned from Arcadia. The basis of the argument stems around Courage’s strange ability to right itself from things that the residents change. It remains to be seen whether the cult continues to grow in popularity, or dwindles out under Hardhead opposition and public apathy.
Originally, most of the residents of the Delve were dwarven, with a scattering of other races. Recently, however, a formian queen has arrived in the city and is currently living in the Delve. Whilst it is not yet certain whether she intends to move in permanently, or is merely passing through, her presence is attracting a great deal of concern. More and more formians are arriving in Courage and joining the queen. The dwarves (and others to a lesser extent) are worried about being forced out of the Delve if the formians expand from their current base. The Hardheads, and the council, meanwhile, are worried about the possibility of conflict within the Delve, and about the possibility of the existence of a formian city underneath their feet. Most would like to see the queen leave, and soon.
The expanding Merchant’s Guild has become the target of some aggressive trading from the Planar Trading Consortium. The Planar Trading Consortium clearly believes that having the Merchant’s Guild in their pocket will be pretty useful, given the amount of political clout that the Guild wields. The Guild, the Hardheads and the council all feel that the Planar Trading Consortium should keep out of Courage, probably also because of the amount of political clout that the Guild wields. So far, confrontations between the two organizations have limited themselves to prices of goods, but there are rumors that less scrupulous members of the Planar Trading Consortium have begun to hire people to ensure that business for the Guild does not run smoothly.
To many who live in Courage, things have just been going too smoothly so far. Of course, they’re all ‘the glass is half empty’ type of people, but there are quite a few of those about. Many of them would be somewhat gratified to know some of the rumors that have been coming to the ears of Aviendra Shostarin and the council recently; namely that an unnamed criminal organization that operates mostly on the Outer Planes has decided that Courage is ripe for the plucking. Apparently, they have been quietly moving operatives into the gate-town for some time, and are trying to find for themselves a secure base of operations from which they can start trying to set up a protection racket, as well as one or two legitimate businesses through which to move stolen goods and to serve as a front for money laundering operations. Of course, this could just be screed being put about by those who feel that things have been a bit dull recently, but the Hardheads have increased the number of patrols that they do during the hours of darkness, and the council is debating vetting new immigrants before allowing them to stay.
It gives another 'thing' for DMs to hang their plots off of, and a possible reason for the city to not quite be ready to go sliding into Arcadia yet. Seems very Neth-ish actually.
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Fortitude (Ex-Gatetown)
Fortitude seemed to be one of the more successful gate towns. Although hardly a popular place to visit, at least it wasn’t unpleasant or dangerous. And the town seemed close to achieving the ultimate reward for a gate-town; that of slipping over into the parent plane. When the Ascension didn’t occur, the inhabitants consoled themselves that it was merely a matter of time.
They turned out not to have any. Nine and a half months later, travelers reported finding a strange new town that seemed to have just appeared overnight lying about 80 miles to the north-east of Fortitude; the name of the new town was Courage. Two days later, the gate in Fortitude stopped working. Three days after that, news arrived that a gate to Arcadia had opened up in the centre of Courage. As quickly as that, it was all over for Fortitude.
Of course, it took a little bit of time for people to realize that Fortitude was mortally wounded. People had to work out that the gate really was gone from Fortitude, and also that the gate that had opened in Courage was stable. But over the course of the next few months, it became obvious to everyone that Fortitude’s gate had moved to Courage, and was staying there.
What happens to a gate-town after it loses its gate? Nobody knew. It’s never happened before, apart from when a gate-town has slipped into the adjacent plane. What happened in the case of Fortitude was that people started leaving the town for Courage. Just a few at first, but then more and more as time passed. The population of Fortitude has been fairly stable for a while now, but for six months or so it lost people to the new gate-town. What has been left behind is a very different Fortitude to the one that once stood there.
Physically, Fortitude is still the same as it was. The town is oval, and has been nicknamed “The Egg” by some people because of the smoothness of it’s white walls. At one end of the town was the gate to Arcadia, at the other was the Confessional. In between was laid out orderly blocks of buildings (mostly made from stone at ground level, with upper floors made of wood and mud), interspersed with parks, groves, fountains and gardens of all varieties.
Of course, it’s all still there. But not the same. The gate was once housed on a large stone pyramid, which remains, but the flickering flame that was the Gate no longer burns at its summit. The parks and open areas are still there, but have been allowed to go to ruin. Slowly, they are returning to true nature from the artificially contrived nature that they once had. Most of the buildings stand empty, and one or two (in places an entire block) have been allowed to fall down, or gutted by fire. The Confessional, the large stadium that dominated the town, still does so physically, but it is months since anyone came to admit their sins, and winds howl through the empty stadium continuously.
Life in Fortitude has become harder than it once was, and society has become darker. Some have speculated that Fortitude might be moving towards making a comeback as a gate-town, not to Arcadia, but to one of the Lower Planes. Some new inhabitants have moved into the town since it lost its gate, but unlike previously, most of these people have been evil bashers looking for a place that they can lie low; a sign of how far Fortitude has fallen.
The Secret Conclave still hold some power in the town, though it is believed that their number has fallen from seven members to five. They all remained in the town after the gate was lost, but it is believed that two of the Conclave died during the following months. The only openly known member of the Conclave, Skylar Mendacin, has renounced his membership of the Harmonium, and taken to brooding in his ruined house for days at a time. Rumor has it that at night he sometimes emerges from the house to stalk the empty streets of the town, looking for those he can punish for the fall of his town.
Most of the temples in town have closed shop. It is rumored that Gladola DeFarge, who runs the taverns Tears of Tyr, and who was believed to be a former priestess of Loviatar, has returned to the worship of her old mistress. There are also rumors of priests of other evil gods having appeared in town. None are open about it, but it seems likely that several have taken to performing discrete services that are attracting a steadily increasing following.
During the night, the sensible lock and bolt their doors. With the few Hardheads that remain in town no longer bothering to patrol the town during the hours of darkness, and with an influx of people who would once have been stoned to death just for entering the town, the streets of Fortitude are no longer safe after dark for those who cannot defend themselves. In fact, it’s not really that safe in daylight, either. The bottom line is that a town that once had a reputation as pretty much the safest place on the Planes (at least assuming you weren’t evil) is now gaining a reputation as being a place where the strong, and often wicked, prey upon the weak. The sad fact of the matter is that those Hardheads and Arcadian petitioners who are left in the town no longer really care. They’ve seen everything that they hoped for (Fortitude’s ascension) dashed by the scheming of one of the Lords of the Nine, and now they’ve seen the gate desert them (and therefore, by implication, their plane of preference). Most of those who remain do so because they can’t bring themselves to abandon their home for so long, but have no real belief that Fortitude will ever again amount to anything, nor can they bring themselves to try and defend it against those who are moving in. They love Fortitude too much to move away, but not enough to believe in the dream anymore.
The Beacon
This building, lying close to where the gate once stood, was originally destroyed in the aftermath of Fortitude’s failed ascension. It was partially rebuilt by the Hardheads (who used it as a station house for patrols) before the gate left, but work was abandoned shortly after the gate moved, and the Harmonium high-ups couldn’t be bothered to restart it. It was bought from the Hardheads by a basher called Nailix Stari, who completed the repairs. It was only after work was finished that people found out that Stari was a Bleaker. The Beacon now offers respite from Fortitude for those who ask for it, and is staffed by a number of Bleakers. They treat a number of people who cannot face what has happened to their town, and their work is regarded, by the Bleakers at least, as one of the few success stories of modern Fortitude.
The Straight Man
This tavern is the last real bastion of the Hardheads in Fortitude. Sure, there are official Harmonium offices still in the city, but those that are actually manned are staffed by Hardheads who are losing their faith in what they are doing. Several of the public functions have been transferred to people who are not Harmonium members. Few seem to care. Those that do, gather at the Straight Man to voice their concerns, at least to each other. So far, they haven’t taken action, but it seems likely that if Fortitude is going to be rescued from the slide that it appears to be on, it will be through the actions of those who frequent this inn. The unofficial leader of the group is Sherap Lucan, and his second in the tavern’s owner, Stena Mikaron, both Hardhead loyalists.
Erian’s Tavern
This unimaginatively titled tavern is little more than a figurehead for one of the groups now moving into Fortitude. It is owed and run by Erian Corini, a tiefling sorceress, with a skill at more illegal activities. She serves anyone who walks in, but those who aren’t known to her receive a pretty cold welcome. The other people who frequent this tavern are working with her to set up Fortitude’s first ever Thieves Guild. So far, they have been operating mostly as fences and go-betweens for groups in other places. But Erian is nothing if not ambitious, and she has hopes of seeing her group dominate all illegal activity in the area, not to mention forming close links with groups in other towns.
Plots and Rumours
It has become widely known that Fortitude’s Ascension was prevented due to a plot hatched by Dispater. Granted, the plot was mostly to discredit the paladin Daneel the Smiter of Fiends, but ruining Fortitude’s Ascension was a pleasing by-product of the plot. The eventual loss of Fortitude’s gate, however, was a bonus that not even Dispater had expected in his wildest dreams. He is now keeping a close eye on events in the former gate-town, feeling that as it was his actions that caused the events in the town, the town in some way belongs to him. Although he has as yet not started any machinations designed to achieve this aim, it is widely rumored that Dispater now intends to cause Fortitude to slide not into Arcadia, but into his city of Dis on the second layer of the Nine Hells.
The Harmonium is beginning to fail to live up to its name. Rumors persist that events in Fortitude, and what to do about them, are causing serious divisions at high levels of the Harmonium. Such rumors are vigorously denied by all members of the faction (but then they would be, wouldn’t they?), yet they continue to be whispered in taverns throughout the Planes. Most rumors hold that there are two basic camps; those that wish to recover Fortitude, even if it is no longer the gate-town, and those who regard it as an embarrassment, to be swept under the carpet while the faction focuses its attention on Courage.
Recently, a body was found in the Confessional at the break of day. Who the victim was is unknown, apart from the fact that they were a human male. They had been horrifically mutilated in an attack that, experts have said, probably lasted for several hours. The body was arranged in a clearly artificial pose, with the four limbs and head arranged in a star pattern. Although only one victim has occurred, people are already talking about Fortitude having its very own serial killer, though some have suggested that the manner of the mutilations suggests the work of some evil god or powerful fiend. Whatever the truth, the few Hardheads still active in the town are outraged at the defilement of the Confessional, but few will venture out into the streets at night on their own As some have pointed out, given that the victim remains unidentified, it is entirely possible that they weren’t even within the town walls when they were attacked by their killer.
A businessman from Sigil called Laresin Kareen has reputedly approached the Harmonium about purchasing the Confessional from them - despite the recent murder, which some have accused him of having staged in order to make them more willing to sell. His intention, the rumors have it, is to convert the Confessional into the Planes’ premier gladiatorial pit.