Fork

Smoke and dust rise from the chimneys and roads around the walled city. At the eastern gates, crowds queue up to enter. Merchants walk along the line to sell to those waiting in it. You smell warm beer, roasted meat, old vegetables, and the odor of the unwashed masses as you approach the crowds.

Where the Fawn River forks into the Fawn River to Black Stag and the upper river down to Aletown, merchants congregate to barter with northern hunters, furriers, and farmers. Anyone on Crystal Waters or north of the fork with something to trade will make their way to Fork.

This was once a small trading stop similar to Hightown, but the merchants recognized its importance and built it up as a full-fledged town. The merchant and gambling guilds run the town, and (as long as they fill out the proper forms) leave everyone alone unless they are adversely affecting trade. Merchants who use Fork for any length of time will find it safest to become a member of a guild. The Merchants Guild has branches throughout the river communities.

The town’s unsavory appeal is assisted by the number who, having made lucrative trades, return home with little more than they started their journey with. The one that got away is a familiar story in Fork. Scams, ruffians, and gambling offer many opportunities for the newly rich to return to their common status. This is Chicago and Las Vegas combined.

The walls of Fork are twenty to thirty feet high, made of wood and reinforced with stone.

Entering Fork

There are two things they’ll need to do to enter Fork through the front gates: wait in line, and dispose of their arms. It generally takes one to three hours to enter Fork during the day (d3 hours), and 20 to 70 minutes to enter at night (d6+1 times ten minutes).

Arms in Fork

Weapons and armor are not allowed in Fork. See elsewhere for Fork’s weapons laws. Guards will not let any weapons through--if they see them.

Any suspicious activity will result in an individual or group being pulled aside for a search. For that matter, any unrecognized individual who looks like they have a lot of money but don’t tip well are also likely to get pulled aside for a search. Because of this, nobility or merchants laden with merchandise offering a bribe isn’t necessarily considered a sign that the individual is trying to sneak something past the gate.

The normal means of bringing weapons into Fork is to send it ahead of time to your lodging. Each place of lodging has licensed bondsmen who are allowed to bring weapons in and store them until you leave. Some places will keep their bondsmen outside the gates and use them as advertising: they’ll take your weapons and a reservation for a small fee.

Higher-class establishments will require that you arrange for weapons storage with them ahead of time. Nobles will usually send their servants ahead to ensure that a bondsman for their choice of lodging is waiting when they arrive.

Scams abound in Fork, and this is one of the first: some thieves will pretend to be bondsmen for a place of lodging, take your fee and your arms, and never return. A thief with a stolen bond license can often keep up the charade for half of a day or more, handing off weapons and fees to an accomplice. Most, however, carry forged licenses, and will only attempt to scam someone who looks confused or new to the area.

Carrying weapons anyway

Many people in Fork continue to carry weapons anyway, usually small knives, short swords, or rapiers. When caught without a license, a small bribe usually allows them to avoid arrest. If it doesn’t, a somewhat larger bribe will allow them to avoid conviction.

For those who are connected and wish to avoid any sort of legal sanction, ceremonial bodyguard service can be purchased from any member of the official guilds. Guildmembers must pay their bodyguards for this service according to a standard minimum rate. However, they are allowed to deduct certain incidentals and expenses, and these deductions often exceed the minimum payment rate.

Meril may offer to “hire” the non-noble characters as his bodyguards--he has a legitimate worry now that his brother’s gone--and pay for their bodyguard license. The license will allow them to carry up to a short sword, and wear up to banded leather.

Neither bows nor crossbows are allowed even for bodyguards. Slings, while also illegal, are somewhat easily disguised and commonly carried. Some people will also carry hand crossbows, very small crossbows that can be quickly used:

Wall guards

Fork’s guards are armed with long swords, spears, daggers, and crossbows when at their station. When not on duty they’ll be armed with long swords or short swords, and daggers.

They also wear banded leather armor on duty, and have access to helmets and shields if they need them at their stations. Those at the gates will not wear helmets, but many on duty on the wall will.

Captains of the guard will be armed and armored similarly, but will always wear helmets, as these are their badge of rank.

Guards: (Warrior: 2; Survival: 11+d10; Move: 10; Attack: by weapon; Damage: weapon+1; Defense: 2-4)

Captains: (Warrior: 3-4; Survival: 13+1d10 or 13+2d10; Move: 10; Attack: by weapon; Damage: weapon+1; Defense: 3-4)

Wall guards are chosen for their burliness, so their strength and endurance will usually be above average (this is reflected in the guidelines above).

Bribes to avoid being searched, assuming no suspicions are raised, require a simple charisma roll and run about a shilling, and up to four shillings if the merchant is bringing in a lot of merchandise or the noble appears rich.

Sample Guards

George Breller, 5’11”, prefers to push people through as fast as he can. He’s annoyed by anyone asking questions that need an answer (he doesn’t mind the standard “how are you doing” sort of question that doesn’t require any answer). He really hates it when people give him a reason to search them, and is likely to become abusive at that point.

Bruce Godela, 6’1”, likes to look through small bags and pocket trinkets he thinks won’t be missed until later. He also enjoys talking with people while he’s searching their belongings. He is especially annoyed by people who bring their entire families into town, though he enjoys scaring the kids.

Brandon Miller, 6’, dislikes people with Celtic names. He enjoys building relationships with gambling house personnel, and will drop names of people he knows if he wants to start a conversation with someone. He will usually let gambling house personnel or influential gamblers through without a search even if he suspects they’re carrying contraband. He will expect (and generally receive) favors in return.

Other Entrances

The gates to Fork never close. Sometimes people may wish to enter other than the main gates, however. There are several entrances to Fork other than the normal entrance.

Climb the wall

Generally not a good idea in broad daylight, it is possible to climb the wall unnoticed in the dark, if one has the skill.

The difficulty for trying to climb the wall unnoticed by the guards is 5 at night, and 10 in the day. Guards will fire crossbows at anyone they see climbing the walls. At any time, 2d6 guards will be in crossbow range of any point on the wall. Guards will also call other guards. The first call will bring 2d20 guards. The second call, if necessary, will bring another 20+d20 guards.

Enter the Westside

The riverboat glides beneath the wide stone arches of the Fork wall, bringing you into a cramped and bustling city. The roads astride the river are filled with jostling carriages and overloaded carts; barges load and unload their wares on the docks.

The Fawn River Road gates on the Westside are faster and the guards more easily bribed. The bridge across Stag River is guarded in the same manner as the main gates, but there is a toll gate crossing the river as well. The silvergate charges two shillings per person and four shillings per cart to cross. The gate is otherwise guarded in the same manner as the other gates and has the same restrictions. It takes 2d20 minutes to enter during the silvergate the day and 1d12 minutes to enter at night.

Ride the River

Fawn River passes beneath the walls. Guards patrol the docks on both sides, and pay more attention to the east side of the river. There is a faster version of the gate search on the bridge over the river from Westside to Fork proper, and there are Wall guards at the exit from the docks as well.

Guards do watch incoming boats at the river gates from arches above the river, but cannot stop anyone. They may fire crossbows at obvious criminals, or call out warnings (or send messengers up the chain of command) when they see something suspicious.

In Fork, it takes a lot to look suspicious, especially on the Westside.

At the north river gate, there will be 8+2d6 ready guards stationed on the walls above the gates at any time. At the south river gate, there will be 6+d6 guards stationed and ready at any time.

The Guild Gates

There is a smaller pair of gates on the southside leading to Meadow Road. These gates are always closed. Entrance there requires a pass. The guards are empowered to refuse passes from anyone they deem suspicious. Anyone with a pass who looks like a guildmember of some kind will be unlikely to raise suspicion.

Crime

Crime’s pretty high in Fork, unless you have a bodyguard. Anyone out alone at night, especially in the Southside gambling district, runs the risk of a mugging. The best way to avoid a mugging is to keep to crowds and always travel as a group. On the other hand, pickpockets work the district night and day and prefer crowds.

Encounters occur 30% of the time in the day or 40% of the time at night, half this on the eastside. If an encounter makes no sense, the characters successfully avoided it.

Thug: (Warrior: 1; Survival: 8; Move: 10; Attack: dagger; Damage: 1d4; Defense: 2)

Cockfights and dogfights provide opportunities to make bets and meet people. Helpful hangers-on will provide vocal assistance whether desired or not, and will expect tips, free drinks, and conversation in exchange. Corrupt officials will usually be the town guard. They aren’t above charging some suspicious character with a semi-reasonable made-up crime if they think they can get a good bribe out of it.

In any case, criminals will judge the situation and only attempt their crime if they believe they’ll be successful.

Crimes can (and should) be reported to the city guard. Unlike other cities in Highland, the victim of a crime or the discoverer of a crime is not expected to raise an alarm and chase down the perpetrator. They are expected to report the crime as soon as possible to the city guard.

Once a crime is reported, the city guard will, if the evidence allows, attempt to track down the criminal. The guard does keep records of crimes but does not attempt to solve crimes beyond an initial attempt to track down a criminal if the crime is still fresh.

Lodging

Fork provides a wide variety of lodging opportunities. The best lodging will be on the Southside, especially as it moves towards the Eastside. The Westside provides the cheapest lodging. The rates given here are per person. Bond fees are usually per group, as long as the arms and armor can be carried on one cart. It’s a nice gesture to tip the bondsman twenty percent, but not usually necessary.

Rich lodgings are usually a suite, and can accommodate one or two nobles and two to eight of their servants.

I’ve given Lisport House as an example of rich lodging, since there’s a good chance that they’ll be staying there. Lisport House is a prestigious place. As long as Meril’s friend is a noble, Meril will expect them to stay at Lisport House and the character should want to. If, however, none of the characters is a noble, they’ll need to stay elsewhere. If the characters are acting as Meril’s bodyguard, he’ll put them up in good lodging as part of their payment.

Lisport House

The lodger’s first contact with Lisport House is often one of their two bondsmen, sixteen-year-old Daniel Holt or seventeen-year-old George Davis. George is the son of one of Meril’s servants. Daniel is himself nobility, the fifth son of the Earl of Melridge, a small town halfway between New Horse and Firetree. George hopes to support himself and one of the other maidservants at Lisport House. Daniel wishes to gain martial renown, and will be very impressed by any adventuring stories the group relates.

Daniel Holt: (Warrior: 1; Survival: 8; Move: 12; Attack: long sword; Damage: 1d8+1; Defense: 4)

George Davis: (Warrior: 1; Survival: 9; Move: 10; Attack: long sword; Damage: 1d8; Defense: 3)

Lisport House is at the corner of Prospect Street and Godsend Lane, one block from Meadow Road. Its official address is 900 Godsend Lane.

Entertainment

Most of the entertainment in Fork is in the Southside triangle between the High Road, Meadow Road, and the Southside wall. Meril will consider it his duty to show his friends around the Southside at night. He’ll take them to his favorite gambling houses, clubs, and bars. Alcohol is wine, port wine, and beer. Wine and port wine are preferred.

Bars and Shows

There are many theaters and show-houses in the Southside, with concerts, plays, and musical plays. Bars and taverns will often have musical entertainment, and there are even a few places where people can go for nightly public dancing.

The Arena

The Fork Arena regularly hosts jousts and highball games. There are occasionally circuses, melees, and many other form of mass entertainment.

Merchants--especially gambling houses--sponsor jousters and highball teams. There is also a Civic Highball League, where each town can provide a team. Fork and Black Stag tend to dominate the league.

Highball is vaguely similar to soccer, but uses a “sword” (a sort of blunt, flat-headed bat) instead of body parts to move the ball. At any time a player may force an opposing team member to a spar, in which they beat each other with their swords until one falls. The first player to lose their footing in a spar must leave the field (or be carried off of the field) and is not replaced or returned until a score is made by one of the teams. The game itself continues around spars, but the sparring area itself is off-limits to any player (though not to the ball, which can be used as a third-party weapon by non-sparring players).

Jousting is also a spectator sport, and there’s a lot of showmanship to the tournaments. Shields are designed to shatter spectacularly if hit just right. Some lances are designed to break. Armor is designed foremost to block a blunt lance and to protect against a fall. Jousting is a very difficult strength contest. Jousting lances can cause d6 damage.

“It’s a total bastardization of the sport. They don’t use real shields, real lances, or even real armor.”

Still, it’s a dangerous sport. Rarely will a month pass without serious injury, and you can pretty much count on one or two deaths every couple of years.

Jousting is semi-team-oriented. In any tournament there will be two or more teams, but jousters themselves pair off individually. Only rarely will a joust become a melee in which teams fight a general fight against the other team(s).

On game nights, the area around the arena will be filled with food stands and memorabilia stands.

Saint Raphael Cathedral

The spire of Saint Raphael rises high above Fork, overshadowing every other building within the town. Smaller spires rise from the cathedral’s wings, and the saints of old peer down from niches in the tower walls. Great wooden doors stand open atop a flight of stone stairs, revealing the arched interior of the church.

The Saint Raphael Cathedral stands at the center of Fork where the High Road meets Meadow Road. The Pastors of Black Stag appoint the priest of Saint Raphael directly, and it is a prestigious post. The opportunities for saving souls is unlimited! Those who win in the gambling houses make donations in thanks; those who lose promise to make donations in hope for later wins.

The current priest at Saint Raphael, Leonard Ormele, began his tenure twelve years ago. A few years later he started the tradition of “casting the first die” on New Year’s Eve at one of the houses. Whichever house he chooses sees expanded business for several months, an important benefit in the cold winter months.

Father Leo is a highly charismatic back-room dealer. Think of him as George Carlin in Dogma, but with poker instead of golf. He is one of the people behind the Black Stag alliance.

If the characters have built up a reputation and the Black Stag-Fork alliance wants to draw them in, it will be Father Leo who opens up talks with them in Fork. He’ll send one of the other priests to ask them over for a typical Fork gathering at the rectory, where they’ll be able to hobnob with the elite of Fork and the river towns. Or he might invite them to the best seats in the arena to discuss their assistance.

They might be asked, for example, to help keep Hightown open all winter. The alliance thinks that this would help trade, he’ll say, and it would certainly help morale, so close to the dark forest, to have someone with their reputation along. What the alliance really wants is to extend their military influence across the leather road.

Gambling Houses

Dice hit softly against padded tables. Smoke seeps around the doors of back rooms, and marbles clatter through the numbers as fortune’s wheel turns for good and ill. Well-dressed patrons drink red wine from crystal goblets and talk as one of their number throws a pair of dice. Others lay clay markers down on the squares before the wheel of fortune. A loud conversational drone fills the room. Arguments break out--and are quickly quieted. Men are welcomed, and men are escorted out. And through it all, everyone waits on the turn of a friendly card.

Fork is known best for its gambling, and for the ways the natives fleece the unsuspecting. There are reputable and disreputable gambling houses in Fork, but they all want your money.

Gambling

If you want to lay your money down on a sure thing that’s sure not to pay off, Fork is your place. You can play games yourself, you can be on other people playing games, and you can bet on sports in the arena. If you’re inclined to ignore the law, you can bet on street fights, both human and animal.

Gambling houses have dice games, card games, and fortune’s wheel. Dice is very much like craps. Cards are a lot like poker. And the wheel of fortune is similar to our own.

There are no rules specific to gambling in Gods & Monsters. If you want to gamble, it’s a simple charisma contest. Gambling houses will generally be rated with a charisma of 12 to 15. The odds add themselves to the house’s charisma as well. So, a game that pays 3 to 1 in a house with a charisma of 14 has a charisma of 17. The player will roll an opposed contest against that to win their three to one pot. Dealers will have a skill of 0 to 3.

If players want their characters to bet on specific events, whether they win or lose will depend on the outcome of those events.

Magic

Obviously, the casinos don’t like magic. Since magic is rare, they don’t have to worry about it much, but some will keep a first level sorceror on hand to detect magic. Others will simply suspect magic when a patron is too successful, and ban that patron. A banned patron will not usually be allowed to keep their winnings. Some establishments will let the patron keep their winnings, and then hire thugs to take it from them later, along with a good beating.

Meril’s preferred Houses

Meril has three gambling houses that he prefers, and is on friendly terms with the owners and workers there. If the players show any interest in a night on the town, Meril is likely to bring them to one or more of these places: The Gypsy Room, Excalibur House, and The Red Wheel.

Sparkling Danny’s Houses

One of the most powerful guildmasters is “Sparkling” Danny Chaverson, head of the Two Horses Gaming Guild. The Two Horses includes in its ranks nearly half of all gambling houses in Fork, and controls quite a bit of underground trade and other unsavory activities.

Eldred went just about anywhere he could lose money, but spent a lot of time trying to gain back his debt at Sparkling Danny’s houses.

Danny’s own houses are the Horseshoe Room and the White Stallion.

Employment

Private guards

With all the crime and money in Fork, guard services are in demand. A skilled, intelligent warrior can make anywhere from a shilling a week to several shillings a day guarding shipments, people, and payments. A prospective guard must be a member of the Guards Guild before accepting employment as a guard, and their employer must verify this. Extraordinarily good guards may have their membership paid for; less honorable employers may choose to ignore lack of membership.

Sorcery is mistrusted here just as it is elsewhere in Highland. However, if a skilled, intelligent warrior happens to have an intelligent advisor who can make things happen, that will increase the warrior’s worth.

Guild membership is ten shillings per year.

Markets

Riverside

Every color of the rainbow hangs in riverside market. Bright green vegetables, varicolored clothes, and translucent trinkets vie for your attention in the stalls by the river.

But more than colors, sounds draw your attention as well. You hear the growl of animals and the chirps of caged birds all around. Bears in bright ribbons dance at the end of ropes. Actors in heavy greasepaint compete with the bears for your attention and coins. Merchants cry the value of their wares. Everywhere is action, noise, and spectacle.

The riverside market on the river in the south side provides food for the tables of everyone in eastside and southside. It is filled with food, clothing, and strange trinkets. It has a circus atmosphere, and even has the occasional dancing bear. While magic is as feared by normal people in Fork as anywhere else, magical ingredients (at least for first and second level spells) are easily available at the market.

Westside

Barges, rafts, and sailboats line both sides of the river. Burly men carry boxes out to the docks, and load and unload cargo from the boats. Children dart around them and under them, kicking highballs and hitting the sides of buildings--and each other--with their bats.

Here a nervous merchant harangues a group of longshoremen carrying his goods. There a group of nobles head towards silvergate after passing their weapons to the bondsman walking beside them. Everywhere people argue, fight, and barter. Money exchanges hands--you can almost watch the silver flow down the docks like it was part of the river itself.

All boats disgorge their goods west of the wall. Trade here tends to be in bulk, as merchants jostle for wholesale bargains, buying and selling their cargo. From here, goods are transferred further down (or up) the river, or through the gates into Fork proper.

Outside

Dust clouds blow slowly across grey tents. The smoky odor of sour meat wafts by, alternating with stale beer and bread. The sheer volume of noise dulls your hearing as you walk through the cramped alleys of the market outside Fork’s tall stone walls.

Take all the criminals who can’t make it in Fork, all the merchants who can’t afford to pay the fees, all the travelers who are easily convinced that the real deals are the deals unapproved by any market official. Then mix in a heavy dose of dust and mud and noise. Toss in a few brawls, murders, and brutal scams, and you’ve got the Fork Outside Market.

There are no paved roads outside of Fork. There is dust everywhere, and mud when it rains.

Outsiders

The people who choose to live outside of fork all have three things in common: a love of easy money, an eye for a mark, and the hope of a fast buck.

They tend to be folks who cannot afford to live inside, or who have too many enemies inside. Many of them came to Fork for opportunities or looking to start their own scam, and failed. Some came for trade or vacation and became addicted to Fork’s distinctive charm.

Politics

The most influential organizations in Fork are the gambling guilds. After them come the various other merchant guilds.

High Guildmaster

The town is managed by the High Guildmaster, technically an elected post from among all guilds, but in practice controlled by the Gambling Guilds. The election occurs among representatives of each official guild in the Guilds Council.

The High Guildmaster has powers similar to mayors in other Highland towns, but he does not have a fixed term and is easily removed by the Council. A majority of the Guilds Council can at any point call for a new election. A quorum is required for the election vote.

The Guard

Being a guard is not necessarily prestigious, but it does afford the guard the potential for a fine income and the potential to advance politically. Also, guards are the only people allowed to carry missile weapons and wear armor within Fork.

Because of both of these benefits, guard duty is very lucrative, and guard is a desirable job. Most guards--especially wall guards--are well-connected; it takes connections to get a job in the Guardsman Guild.

There are two branches of the guard: the city guard and the wall guard. There are also private guards licensed by the High Guildmaster, the Guilds Council, or the Guards Guild.

Guards will not take bribes if they think it might cost them their job: if there is an inspector around, if they think the person offering the bribe is going to cause trouble, or if they think the person offering the bribe is possibly a spy for the inspectors. Guards don’t like having to deal with the inspectors. Bribing an inspector will be ten to twenty shillings, depending on the offense ,and might mean a night in jail if they can’t immediately scrounge up the bribe.

The City Guard

City guards are chosen for skill and cunning. Their purpose is to apprehend suspicious elements and take crime reports from victims or those who discover victims.

Since most people in Fork are suspicious elements, the bribes can be very lucrative.

Because the city guard must confront criminals, their job is sometimes dangerous. City guards always travel in groups of at least two, and usually three or four. They carry short swords and/or long swords, and wear leather or banded leather as well as a helmet. Within a group, at least one will also carry a crossbow.

The Wall Guard

Wall guards are chosen for strength and intimidation. Their purpose is to enforce the weapons laws, to shoot anyone climbing over the walls to get in, and to shoot anyone climbing over the walls to escape. After entering, the intruder is the city guard’s problem.

The benefits of being a wall guard are that it is an easy, if usually boring, post. No one’s attacked Fork in a hundred years, and anybody dangerous doesn’t use the main gates. The bribes aren’t as lucrative as in the city guard but neither is the work as dangerous.

Most of the guards will readily take bribes. The necessary bribe will depend on how much the guard thinks the briber is worth and what the guard thinks the briber is covering up. However, for smuggling a sword and armor in, a half-shilling to five shillings will usually cover it.

Private Guards

Private guards must be members of the Guards Guild. They can only be appointed to the guild by the High Guildmaster or any member of the Guilds Council. Temporary membership may be purchased by any merchant who is an official member of a Fork-recognized guild, through the City Guard offices. Temporary membership is valid for two months. At the end of the two months the Guard is expected to have acquired full membership; however, temporary membership may be renewed by their sponsor.

Guards Guild membership costs twenty-four shillings per year. Temporary membership costs ten shillings to the Guards Guild and six shillings to the City Guard. The City Guard’s approval can (for normal applicants) be assured and/or hastened with a bribe of one to ten shillings, depending on the official on duty and other circumstances.

The standard payment scale for private guards is 1 shilling per day. It is illegal to pay a Guards Guild member any less than this. Some deductions for expenses are allowed, however.

Weapons Laws

Fork is a walled town and it guards its borders zealously. No one other than a licensed bodyguard may carry a weapon or wear armor without a license from the Office of the High Guildmaster or the Guilds Council. In practice, this is the most abused law within Fork. Bribes will speed the granting of a license, and bribes will also allow offenders to avoid arrest, to avoid imprisonment if arrested, and to leave prison early if imprisoned.

Licenses are easiest to acquire for rapiers (10 shillings per month) and short swords (12 shillings per month). Licenses usually take one to six months to acquire. Bribes are most effective when carrying those weapons, or other small weapons such as daggers.

For those who do not wish to purchase a license, bondsmen will carry weapons from the town’s gates to storage for retrieval when leaving Fork. Most quality inns will have a bondsman on call.

The High Guildmaster and any member of the Guilds Council may temporarily rescind the prohibition in emergencies.

The Art of the Bribe

The officials of Fork are well known for their ability to cut through red tape and speed a slow bureaucracy. This includes guards, council-members, and civil servants.

Officials do not like trouble, and any indication that the briber is going to cause trouble will cause the official to both refuse the bribe and apply the law even more stringently than they otherwise would have.

Bribing without preparation is generally a difficult Charisma roll. Setting up a bribe ahead of time is best, and can be either role-played or handled with a Charisma roll. A failed bribe is likely to mean an extra-careful search of the briber’s goods or papers, or a more stringent punishment, depending on what the bribe was meant to accomplish.

Once a character is in jail, the necessary bribe rises precipitously. Of the jailer, the judge, the guard who brought them there, and the guard in charge of that guard, three of four will need to be bribed to ensure freedom; two of four might work for a non-infamous crime. Assume that whatever the bribe would have been initially, it will be two or three times that to get out of jail.

Meanwhile, while the character is in jail they may need to bribe other prisoners and the jailer for goods, services, and peace.

Money

Fork uses the coinage of Black Stag, as per the Black Stag alliance.

Alliance with Black Stag

Fork has recently made a pact with Black Stag that brings them into a closer relationship. This mutual protection pact promises a pooling of military resources in time of danger, extradition of criminals and the use of Black Stag coinage. It also stipulates that the river’s name is now Stag River.

The Stag River Agreement is a mutual trade and defense treaty. It enacts a common coinage (Black Stag) in Black Stag and Fork; a common naming scheme for important roads and landmarks, such as naming Fawn River Stag River; financial and military aid in time of trouble; and a shared law between the two cities.

Because Fork and Black Stag are the two most powerful cities in West Highland, the alliance means that Black Stag coins will be universally accepted and preferred.

The alliance is monitored by the Alliance Ministry, which consists of three ministers: the Defense Minister, the Financial Minister, and the Judicial Minister.

The Alliance Defense Minister attempts to coordinate defense and law enforcement resources between the two cities.

The Alliance Financial Minister coordinates the system of coins, and mediates fees that one city or the other calls for from its citizens.

The Alliance Judicial Minister maintains the Model Law, and mediates between the two cities to fix conflicting laws. Any dispute over how a law in one city applies in the other city can be taken to the Judicial Minister’s court.

You may use the ministry for many kinds of subplots, from simple warmongering to kingdom building and legal harassment.

Spies

Everyone’s a spy for the right price. The Guards train guards as inspectors to spy on other guards who might be taking bribes. Casinos hire spies to watch for cheating at their gaming tables. Black Stag’s Wizard Council is drafting a spy network throughout West Highland to help ensure that the alliance goes their way. The church has an informal news network that collects news from all its parishes. The city guard keeps a stable of low-level criminals who provide them information in exchange for the guard looking the other way.

Architecture

Fork’s current wall is the third wall in its history. It was built several years before the war. Remnants of the previous two walls still exist inside the city, but most of the old walls were removed to help build the current wall.

Because of the depopulation after the war, this wall won’t need to be expanded for at least a few decades.

The Townsfolk

Fork is a relatively cosmopolitan place for West Highland, so names can be any style found in Highland. Most common names will be English-style names. The next most common will be Anglicized Celtic names. Then Frankish, and (because of the Schismatic Orders) occasionally a bastardized Greek or Hebrew name. Usually the latter will be a single name rather than a first name and last name.

When you use one of these sample names, note what you used it for (and when you used it) for future reference.

Adventures in Fork

Fork itself can provide many adventures. Characters can be caught up in criminal activities, or track down stolen items, or solve murders. If they’re of a more rakish bent they might run stings or scams, otherwise they might get caught up in a sting or scam.

See the upcoming Helter Skelter for an occult mystery that uses Fork as a starting point.