Parl Pardesh

Parl Pardesh
“A fast whip and a strong chain can make slaves of sovereigns.” – Kaava-Ji, Stallion-Apparent

Capital: Ush’tahai
Settlements: Ush’tahai (20,000), Ush’naar (2,000), Ush’ograh (1,000)
Ruler: Grand Stallion Kaava-Kamus
Government: Totalitarian military state
Races: Goblin, Grippli, Half-Ogre, Hobgoblin
Faiths: Ashamar Shining, Enor Ashlord, Kamus, Poison Wave, Rolterra, Tulis, Wind of Jewels
Resources: Horses, livestock, porphyrite
Languages: Boggard, Common, Giant, Goblin
Border Conditions: None.

History
Parl Pardesh has seen many races and banners come and go in the history of life on the steppes. The only great change, before the coming of the New Gods, was the race of the oppressors. The Parl has always been a slave state, a nation where the strong rule the weak and strength is defined as much by the quality of one’s horse as by might of arms.

In the misty centuries before and about The Calling, there is a mention of a great nation from ‘across the sea’ arriving with strange servitors and magic, bringing gaudy gifts of tribute to subjugate the land to that ancient empire - the erkunae of Erkusaa, and the Opal Throne. The children of Chaos had a modest cavalry on their invasion ships, and steel weapons - more advanced than the foot travel and stone weapons of the shaggy hill folk, who sometimes traveled the steppes in dog-drawn sleds. En masse, the tribesmen of Parl Pardesh swarmed the pale newcomers, killed but a handful of them and took everything aboard their vessels. The people of the Parl intended to load the survivors into their ships and set fire to them, sending their blood and blasphemies to their lords of Fire and Water.

In a move of surprising ingenuity, the warlord of one tribe fought for the right to speak to the elders in charge. After defeating three other warlords in challenge, he presented his plan: “Let this little group take one ship and leave. They have seen only a few of us, and when they return to their homeland, many more vessels will come with soldiers and four-foots and weapons to scour us from the world.”

When the elders questioned this madness, the warlord, who styled himself Stallion after the wondrous animals they quickly came to use, revealed the rest of his plan. All the tribes would be called to the spear, united by the promise of steel, horse, and slaves by the thousand. If they killed all of the newcomers now, all they would gain would be a few horses and a wagon full of steel, if they waited, they would have enough horses and slaves to breed and create an empire. The elders agreed.

The next season, the Erkusaans came in full force, and faced the whole of the humanity of the steppes, and were totally destroyed—this was the turning point in the downfall of the Empire of the Opal Throne. The Stallion became Grand Stallion of Parl Pardesh, a title that continues to this day. The unity of the tribes survived two centuries of war, famine and trials, depending on tradition and honor, the rules of life in an animist state that rejected the New Gods and elemental lords alike.

This led to their Horselords’ downfall, a combination of equitable ruthlessness, and the backing of a god. The displaced hobgoblins of Karkoon, skilled in war and newly devoted to their harsh savior Kamus the Slaver, landed in strength not far from the Bones of Erkunor,
and swiftly made alliance with the secretive ogres and their magi from the southern hill-caves. The power of Kamus blinded the agnostic Pardeshi, and a war of races began that continued for a century. By the time the war fires faded, every last human in the Parl was dead or enslaved, food and chattel for the humanoid hordes now in command of their nation. Now the Parl is a humanoid kingdom with a hobgoblin Grand Stallion, wearing a crown of porphyrite, and ruling from the Windswept Throne in the name of Kamus the Slaver.

Current Events
After recovering and consolidating their own kingdom, the hobgoblins, rarely content, are coldly eyeing neighboring nations and lands in preparation of invasion and conquest. Fine weapons of porphyrite, trained horses, and crack troops drill under ambitious generals, and the fires of war begin to burn again.

Growing discontent among the creatures lurking in the hills has become a problem in recent years. The ogres, largely happy to serve as enforcers for the hobgoblins, have interbred with their ogre magi leaders for many generations. This has slowly increased their average intelligence to the point where they have begun to question the right to rule of the smaller despots. If strength of arm is the whole of the law in the Parl, surely no hobgoblin is as strong as even the weakest ogre. This mode of thought is not limited to the ogrish folk.

Hill giants, of whom there are several families living in the porphyrite-buttressed steading halls near the Retreat, are growing larger than the hobgoblins’ tribute of livestock and grain can support. Eventually they will have to negotiate for greater offerings, or arm themselves and take what they need. The latter is more likely.

Settlements
The major settlements of Parl Pardesh are:

Ush’naar exists purely as a necessity, a ‘breed city’ overseen by Kamian clerics, a gathering place for slaves, intended to ensure more generations of servants for the tribes. It is here that goblins and grippli are forced to mate, and their offspring removed for fosterage and indoctrination on other estates.

Ush’ograh is a stone and cave city given to the ogres as their reward for helping the hobgoblins defeat their human rivals generations ago. While it is the ogres’ primary homeland now and considered private, hobgoblin shamans are allowed to visit if they are studying with the ogre magi and learning the ancient ways of elemental magic.

Ush’tahai is a massive tent city visible for miles in all directions because of its position at the heart of the steppes’ widest plain, and its many bright-colored banners. On a windy day, Ush’tahai looks almost afire, burning in every fluttering color of the spectrum. As well
as capital, it is home to the Parl’s largest slave market, its most advanced porphyrite forges, and all the best horse ranches. The Grand Stallion of the Parl makes his home here, along with the cores of all his armies.

Intrigues

  • The lessons of the past may be about to come back to haunt the hobgoblins of the Parl. Kamus’ voice is being heard in quiet whispers in the depths of Ush’naar, urging the goblins and grippli to make a play for their freedom. While this may all be a test to see if the hobgoblins are still fit to rule, it may soon result in an attempted uprising among the slave races.
  • While the hobgoblin hordes stayed within their own borders, other gods were willing the leave them be. Now that they are raiding, the truce is broken. Forces inspired by Tulis and Rolterra, unlikely allies, are organizing resistance and incursion, and are requiring many resources- especially heroes.
  • Rumors persist that the ogre magi of Ush’ograh have been twisting the native wyvern eggs with their darkly shamanistic magic, creating larger beasts called wyvrath. Though the process often ends in failure, wyverns large enough for ogres to ride can really mean only one thing. The Grand Stallion wishes them stopped, but cannot do so openly - outside agents are the preferable thing.
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a - All text is Open Game Content.