Dreggan’s Steps
Hamlet: Population approximately 180 (predominantly Goblin, with a few Hobgoblins, Orcs and other inhabitants).
Government: Headwoman advised by the principal households.
Authority Figures: Headwoman Vezra Copper-Tally; Brakka Reedfinger, senior route finder.
Resources: Fungi, edible beetles, salvage, porters and passage tolls.
Location: The upper Underdark beneath Harmonias, approximately one day’s descent from Red Canyon.
Dreggan’s Steps is a small goblin settlement occupying a junction of ancient underground roads beneath Harmonias. Built upon the terraces of a subterranean watercourse, it has long provided travellers with provisions, porters, guides and somewhere reasonably secure to rest. Its inhabitants neither constructed the oldest roads nor know the full extent of the network to which they once belonged. For generations, however, they have made a living from the traffic passing through them. The Galsitanic Intrusion brought that familiar existence to an abrupt end. Roads were severed, passages disappeared and the settlement’s watercourse changed direction. An unfamiliar cavern opened beneath its lowest dwellings, while several neighbouring communities became inaccessible. In the six to eight months since the disaster, displaced families have swollen the population and surviving routes have become increasingly dangerous. Dreggan’s Steps endures, but its continued survival depends upon restoring contact with the settlements and food-producing caverns beyond its damaged roads.
The Approaches
Rough wooden signs stand beside the approaches to the settlement. Their messages appear in Common, Goblin, Undercommon, Orc and Dwarven, with additional boards attached whenever someone can supply another useful translation. The lettering varies considerably in quality. The principal message is straightforward:
ALL WELCOME
WE SELL TO ALL
WE WISH NO ONE HARM
Beneath it, smaller boards instruct visitors to keep their weapons sheathed and leave the water clean. Simple pictures of an open hand, a sheathed sword and an exchange of goods convey something of the message to those unable to read. These signs express the headwoman’s terms of hospitality. Peaceful visitors may enter and trade under her protection, provided they observe the same restraint towards everyone else.
The Settlement
The main approach follows an ancient stone road into a long cavern overlooking a dark pool. Dwellings crowd the shelves above the water, their walls assembled from fitted stone, salvaged timber and woven screens. Narrow steps connect the terraces, while small bridges span drainage channels and gaps between the rock shelves. These numerous stairways give the settlement its name, although the identity of Dreggan is disputed even among its oldest inhabitants. Fungal beds fill damp recesses behind low walls. Edible beetles are raised in enclosed pits, fed upon vegetable waste and carefully guarded against hungry scavengers. Near the road, covered stalls offer food, lamp oil, rope, second-hand tools and useful objects recovered from the disrupted passages. Cooking smoke rises towards natural chimney shafts in the cavern roof, although a persistent haze hangs above the busier terraces. Washing dries near the warmer draughts, children carry baskets between households, and domestic disputes are conducted loudly enough to become public business. Armed guards watch the approaches from sheltered positions. A stout gate controls the principal entrance, while a punishment post beside the trading area provides a reminder of the headwoman’s authority. The damage caused by the Intrusion remains plain. One row of houses ends against a smooth wall of unfamiliar stone. A broken stair projects above the newly opened cavern, its former destination gone. Doors and beams recovered from crushed dwellings now divide crowded shelters occupied by displaced families.
People and History
The goblins of Dreggan’s Steps belong to the long-established underground population of Harmonias. Their ancestors inhabited these depths before the great humanoid invasion of 329 I.Y., and the settlement maintained connections with the surface throughout the subsequent occupation. Some households supplied porters, provisions or recruits to the surface tribes. Others traded with them or had relatives who settled above. The recent reconquest has therefore been experienced through missing family members, returning survivors and accounts of battles whose consequences are still reaching the underground settlements. There is considerable suspicion of surface adventurers, particularly those acting for the new authorities in Harmonias. Nevertheless, the inhabitants are accustomed to dealing with outsiders. Useful goods, reliable information and a willingness to observe local rules can secure a reception even where old grievances remain.
The population is predominantly goblin, with several orcs, a handful of hobgoblins and a few other residents whose work or family connections have brought them here. Recent arrivals have increased pressure upon food and accommodation, provoking arguments over who should receive assistance and how long they should be permitted to remain. Households differ in their attitudes towards outsiders, slavery and the old surface wars. The peace maintained within Dreggan’s Steps allows people with deeply incompatible loyalties to conduct business beside one another.
Headwoman Vezra Copper-Tally
Vezra Copper-Tally (pictured) kept the settlement’s accounts before assuming leadership during the confusion following the Intrusion. She knows which households possess spare provisions, who owes payment for the use of a porter, and which supposedly destitute refugees have concealed valuables beneath their blankets. Sharp, practical and difficult to intimidate, Vezra governs with the support of the principal households. Their cooperation requires continual negotiation, and decisions about food, shelter and road repairs can provoke prolonged disputes. Her overriding concern is the survival of Dreggan’s Steps. Outsiders may trade under her protection, but theft, violence and interference with the water supply are punished harshly. Visitors are expected to pay the toll, keep their weapons sheathed and explain their business.
Vezra has little affection for the rulers of the surface. She is, however, willing to deal with their representatives when doing so benefits her people. She expects peaceful guests to receive the protection she has promised, regardless of their ancestry or allegiance. Her concern for their safety does not extend to condemning every practice they might find abhorrent. Goods taken from distant victims receive little scrutiny, provided their sale does not threaten the settlement.
Brakka Reedfinger
Brakka Reedfinger is an elderly goblin route finder whose knowledge of the surrounding passages was once considered dependable enough to settle arguments. Since the Intrusion, he has been forced to acknowledge that much of what he knows describes a landscape that no longer exists. He directs efforts to survey replacement routes, marking safe passages and recording hazards. Younger scouts undertake the more demanding journeys, although Brakka remains reluctant to entrust important discoveries entirely to others. Re-establishing contact with the missing communities has become a personal concern. He remembers their inhabitants, knows the journeys that once connected them and resents any suggestion that they should simply be abandoned. His information is valuable, and he expects payment or practical assistance in return. Travellers willing to investigate a lost route or search for missing scouts may obtain considerably more cooperation than those who merely demand directions.
Hurgat One-Ear
Hurgat One-Ear is a hobgoblin veteran who lives among the household of his goblin wife. He considers the settlement dangerously exposed and regularly argues for stronger defences, stricter discipline and an alliance with a military power capable of protecting it. His experience makes him useful when organising guards, but his manner wins him few friends among those expected to follow his instructions. Hurgat is particularly suspicious of armed visitors from the surface and regards assurances of peaceful intentions as insufficient grounds for trust. The recent passage of Shovlarog’s force impressed him. Its departure has left him questioning whether Dreggan’s Steps should continue struggling in isolation or seek a future elsewhere.
The Broken Roads
Before the Intrusion, several usable roads connected Dreggan’s Steps with other settlements, mines and cultivated caverns. Only two principal approaches remain reliably open, and even these require diversions through recently explored passages. The consequences extend beyond lost trade. Supplies arrive irregularly, travellers bring conflicting accounts, and households wait for relatives who should have returned months ago. Some blocked routes may conceal surviving communities. Others now open into unfamiliar and hostile territory. Fresh ropes, temporary walkways and improvised markers indicate the work being undertaken to restore communication. Such efforts are costly. Every scouting party consumes provisions, and every disappearance makes it harder to recruit the next. Restoring a single dependable route could transform the settlement’s fortunes. It might also expose Dreggan’s Steps to neighbours and dangers previously kept at a comfortable distance.
The Worthy Customer
Proprietor: Nizzik Brassweight, goblin merchant.
Location: An old stone counting house beside the principal road.
Trade: Expedition supplies, second-hand equipment, valuables, trophies and unusual commissions.
The Worthy Customer caters to adventurers, caravan leaders, wealthy travellers and anyone whose requirements exceed the provisions available at the market stalls. Its business draws upon passing traffic and customers from neighbouring communities, although the disruption of the roads has made both increasingly unreliable. Its proprietor, Nizzik Brassweight (pictured), welcomes anyone with visible money as “an honoured personage”, extending an equally polished courtesy to goblin chieftains, surface adventurers and customers whose appearance might discourage a less accommodating merchant. The shop occupies an ancient counting house, its stone walls fitted with crowded shelves and its heavier goods secured behind a barred storeroom door. Rope hangs from ceiling hooks above bundles of climbing equipment, repaired weapons and carefully stoppered jars. A surprisingly comfortable chair stands beside the negotiating table, although its legs have been shortened to fit beneath the low ceiling. Larger visitors must mind their heads.
Goods and Services
Nizzik stocks the necessities of underground travel: rope, pitons, lamp oil, waterskins, preserved food, sacks and replacement tools. Waterproof cases, climbing harnesses, insect netting and boot-repair materials are particularly popular. His reserves are limited. Large purchases may exhaust an item until another trader arrives, and imported goods command higher prices than they did before the Intrusion. Healing potions, scrolls and other magical wares appear occasionally; customers with particular requirements usually have to leave a commission. Second-hand equipment accounts for much of the shop’s business. Armour is repaired, shields repainted and weapons cleaned before being offered for sale. Previous ownership is rarely discussed. Some goods were traded willingly, others recovered from abandoned settlements, and a considerable quantity arrived through less respectable means. Nizzik also offers secure storage, private negotiations and appraisals of mundane valuables. Route sketches are available, although he warns that recently explored passages may contain hazards not recorded by his latest informants.
Unwholesome Merchandise
Among the travelling supplies are goods likely to horrify many surface visitors. Jars of pickled elf ears stand beside preserved fungi. Dwarf teeth are sold loose, in jugs or drilled for use as charms. Human finger bones become gaming counters, while skulls are fashioned into drinking vessels. Other shelves hold braided hair, preserved scalps, stolen holy symbols and ornaments stripped from desecrated shrines. Nizzik’s leather goods include wallets made from human skin and a tobacco pouch fashioned from a human woman’s breast. These objects are displayed as merchandise, their origins sometimes offered as a selling point. Collars, shackles, chains and branding irons are also available. Customers accustomed to keeping slaves regard them as ordinary equipment. Nizzik discusses such purchases with the same professional attention he gives a length of rope. If visitors object, he covers the offending shelf with a cloth and directs their attention elsewhere.
“Of course, honoured guest. You prefer the travelling goods. We accommodate all tastes.”
Nizzik Brassweight
Nizzik is attentive, patient and possessed of an excellent memory for customers, prices and unpaid debts. He prefers a lasting commercial relationship to a single profitable deception. His rope is checked, his ordinary equipment serviceable, and any magical properties he claims to have tested are distinguished from those merely reported by a previous owner. Questions of ownership receive considerably less precise answers.
“From a customer,” is his usual explanation when asked where an object originated. “You wish to become its next customer? Very orderly arrangement.”
He buys salvage and valuables, offering less for goods that will be difficult to sell or dangerous to possess. Information is another commodity. The movements of armed companies, newly opened passages and shortages in neighbouring settlements can all be worth money to the right purchaser.
The Headwoman’s Protection
Vezra tolerates the business because it attracts outside wealth and brings useful supplies into Dreggan’s Steps. Her protection carries conditions. Nizzik may not arrange the seizure of residents or guests, trade in possessions stolen from them, or conduct business likely to bring armed retaliation upon the settlement. Goods acquired elsewhere receive far less scrutiny. Nizzik understands these boundaries and generally observes them, although he is adept at asking few questions about purchases made beyond the settlement. The welcome offered at the gates protects visitors during their stay. Inside the shop, they may discover just how much cruelty can be accommodated beneath that promise.
Recent Trade
During the hobgoblins’ recent visit, Nizzik sold travelling supplies and purchased equipment and possessions the soldiers no longer wished to carry. Some of those purchases have already found their way onto his shelves. His recollections and accounts could reveal details of their preparations: what they needed, what they considered unnecessary and what they expected to obtain further along their journey. He considers such information part of his stock and sees no reason to provide it without payment.
The Passage of the Hobgoblins
Prefectus Shovlarog’s hobgoblins passed through Dreggan’s Steps after abandoning their stronghold at Red Canyon. Their arrival caused understandable alarm, but the column maintained discipline and paid for the provisions it obtained. Vezra authorised the sale of supplies in exchange for coin, tools and equipment needed for repairs. The bargain depleted reserves she would have preferred to retain, but offered resources the settlement could not readily obtain elsewhere. Refusing a large armed column also carried risks. Some households consider her decision sensible; others believe she sold too much. The hobgoblins continued into the deeper passages in an organised fashion. Their guides appeared unusually certain of their route despite the disruption surrounding them. Witnesses remember soldiers, laden animals and supplies moving onwards with a confidence that few local travellers presently possess. Where they were going, and who had furnished them with such reliable directions, remain unanswered questions.
