House Askaldor (Country: Eledar)

“Let them sit on their thrones and revel in their
power. They still need spice for their meat,
cloves for their breath, and incense for their
barbaric stench. Let their taxes flow to our
golden coffers as fast as we can collect them.”
—Pasha Muhlia Al-Jakri, faction leader




Askaldor is a Grand House that rules alongside the Crime Lords of Apuria, the Northwestern Capitol of Eledar. Their house symbol is two crossed lances below a golden crown. Askaldor was built and expanded around the doorway of the rune portal of  The Grand Starstone, and is perhaps the single most valuable piece of real estate in Eledar. Rivers of spice and gold flow through the Starportal to the capitol, and Xerbystes II, the Satrap of Askaldor, boasts correctly that the kingdom of Eledar holds the wealth of any other by the Thunder Sea. Askaldor has long been a power to be reckoned with, joined with a sprawling empire at its side. House Taldor in Orianaia has felt the piercing force of their lances and nearly lost their entire empire in the struggle. Zephyria and Askaldor bowed before each other after Valerian the White settled the portal war.

The Rune portal:


The historical records tell of many bloody wars for ownership and the gating abilities of the two starstones. Especially between the old lords of Zephyria and Eledar. They were the first to fight for ownership of the rune portals. Archmage Valerian the white stepped up with his college of white wizards and presented an old contract which Zephyria and Eledar had signed long ago. It was signed before the war broke out, concerning the dangers, monsters and magical plagues that can erupt from the grand star stones. The white wizards was thus tasked with "ownership" and responsibility, to function as its guardians and operators for its daily management, control and safety of the lands.

The war drums of Askaldor have been silent for decades, but they never stopped waging their wars. Gold is their weapon now, spices are their shield, and their incredible trading power is their armor. House Askaldor value wealth above all else and they seek to make their fortunes abroad. They lust for the wealth of Eldorin´s capitol, Siria, and more importantly the trading opportunities proffered by control of the great city. Siria has long drawn the gaze of the satrap’s most powerful merchant princes. Many Askaldorians are ready to leave their vast mountains and marches behind for the promise of lustrous Eldorinian gold, but the Griffin Empire is uniting, making a smooth take-over more challenging.


Goals: No Life without Trade
The world is small and gets smaller every day. The key to power is not world dominance, but dominance of the trade. Askaldor couldn’t care less who sits at the Grand Council of Siria, or in any country, so long as the Askaldorian trade fleet dominates the major harbour-cities along the coastlines of the eastern kingdom. Askaldor plans to rule The Outer Sea’s trade and then bleed their enemies’ coffers dry. Collecting debts and supplying the demands of other nations’ peoples is how Askaldor plans to rule. If their kingdoms slave to send gold east, the satrapy remains contented.


The neutral trade fleet treaty agreement
The wars between the great political powers in the Eastern Kingdoms, especially between Edorin and Eledar, led to a increasing need for a neutral trade fleet. This treaty was founded 10 years ago, and allowed foreign nations the opportunity to trade goods and resources without ever have to deal with each other politically. Of course House Askaldor spent a lot of time, energy and resources to nail this treaty, as it serves them good to not have to deal with any warmongering. But if the other houses and countries ever deside to go to war, House Askaldor has ships, weapons, armor and ammunition for sale. Wars are expensive and have many kinds of goods high in demand. Qadira will happily suply it. As long as the gold keep flowing in. And if any of the "customers" are unable to buy, Askildor will have the law on their side, and will be backed up by other nations bound to the treaty.



Methodology: All that Glitters is Power
“You can always pay someone to murder your
enemies.”
—Pasha Muhlia Al-Jakri


The Askaldor faction seeks trade and economic advantage above all else. They seek to break their enemies’
monopolies and enforce their own. They offer wares and goods no one else can supply and destroy competition
with a ruthlessness that put the devil-bowing Chelish to shame. Askaldor missions involve a greater plan, usually
embarrassing or defaming an economic rival, or ruining the business of another nation’s trade companies.


Faction Leader: Pasha Muhlia Al-Jakri, currently representing House Qadira in Siria, Eldorin.
The first female pasha in an age, Muhlia’s father was a simple spice peddler on the streets of Apuria with an
unfortunate penchant for gambling. When the local street shah came to collect, he sold Muhlia to absolve himself. Muhlia was slated to be sold into pleasure slavery, but she quickly proved far too dangerous and far too useful for such an ignominious fate. She put a knife in the street shah’s best enforcer, and when she realized this would earn her a swift death at the shah’s hands, she fled only to come back the next day with the head street shah’s rival in a sack. She was a natural murderess and the shah decided to train her. She soon surpassed her teacher’s skills with a blade and earned the recognition of one of Qadira’s more dangerous operatives. She became a Silent Blade of Apuria in short order and was responsible for the deaths of dozens of merchant princes and trader captains who refused to comply with the satrap’s commands. Siria is Muhlia’s current assignment and has earned her the title of pasha. Her offcial role in the city is as a trade commissioner overseeing Qadiran trader captain’s manifests. This paper-pushing job is boring enough to cast off too much scrutiny. Meanwhile, she organizes cabals of subtle and dangerous agents to serve the satrap’s overarching goals in the city and tear down the economic foundations of Qadira’s enemies.

Qadiran Pathfinders
House Qadira is an outward-looking nation seeking profitable trade in every port on Middle-earth. The wealth of the world is theirs for the taking. Opportunists by nature, Qadirans make excellent Pathfinders. They are fearless, adaptable, and highly cosmopolitan. They find other cultures, while obviously inferior to their own, interesting and rife with plunder. The Pathfinder Society is the perfect instrument with which Qadira can scatter agents and emissaries across the globe to increase trade contacts and negotiate lopsided alliances with lesser peoples a thousand leagues from the shining glory of Apuria. Pathfinders not raised in Qadira, yet still loyal to the Qadiran Faction in Siria, are generally from two types of people: those who wish to use their rewards as a Qadiran loyalist to create a personal empire of trade wealth that spans the Outer Sea, or those who see service to one of the wealthiest trade nations on Middle-earth as an opportunity to gain wealth by simple association. Either way, the massive armadas of trade ships that Qadira launches every week into the salty waters of the Outer Sea are clearly creating roads throughout most of the coast that any loyalist could easily follow.



DERVISH

Your people survive on the move and you are at your best
when whirling through and around your foes.

Benefit: As long as you move more than 10 feet on
your turn and wear light or no armor, you receive a +1
circumstance bonus on melee attack rolls.


DESERT SHADOW

You move with a quick and quiet grace and your enemies
are often taken unawares by your silent speed.

Benefit: You get a +2 on Move Silently skill checks. In
addition, you do not take a penalty on Move Silently
checks while moving at full speed.
Normal: You take a –5 penalty on Move Silently skill
checks while moving at full speed.


DEVOTEE OF THE SUN GODDESS

You give your heart and soul to Sarenrae with unequivocal
zeal and she rewards you with a powerful blessing.

Prerequisite: worshiper of Sarenrae.

Benefit: Any divine spell you cast with the fire or good
descriptor that deals damage deals an additional amount
of damage equal to your Charisma modifier.


EASTERN MYSTERIES
Your long study of ancient, arcane arts has made your
spell-casting style unique and opaque.

Prerequisite: Ability to cast arcane spells.

Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on Concentration skill checks.
In addition, Spellcraft skill checks made to identify
your spells suffer a –4 penalty. You can, as a full-round
action, cast any spell that normally requires one standard
action to cast. Spells cast in this way increase their DC
by +1. This has no effect on spells that take longer than 1
standard action to cast.


GOLD FINGER

Theft is your family’s traditional profession and you are
proud example of that tradition.


Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand skill checks.
In addition, anyone who is observing your attempt to use
Sleight of Hand gets a –4 penalty on their Spot check to
notice the attempt.


HORSE LORD

Your people are masters of battling on horseback and
you have mastered their rare skill.

Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on Ride skill checks. While
mounted, you also receive a +1 dodge bonus to your
Armor Class.


SCIMITAR MASTER
You are well-trained in the art of your nation’s signature
blade.

Benefit: While wielding a scimitar, you gain a +4 bonus
on opposed checks against disarm and sunder attempts.
If you score a critical threat with a scimitar, you receive a
+2 bonus on the confirmation attack roll.