Urik

From UTRPG

Urik, a large city north of Tyr, is ruled by King Hamanu, the King of the World, the Lion King, the Lion of Urik, The Troll Scorcher, The Destroyer of Yaramuke, you get the point... Also no one has ever seen a troll, and literate adventurers have discovered the ruins of a city destroyed centuries ago ... called Yaramuke. Like the Father of Life, Hamanu is frequently seen in public, and even those who have never met him know what he looks like, since his likeness is all over Urik. Hamanu has no compunctions about personally dealing with adversaries, often without bothering to resort to spells. He loves crushing heads.

Hamanu's ego and ambition exceed his resources. He hasn't finished building his palace, Destiny's Kingdom, which has undergone construction over the past several centuries. It's also too big to adequately guard.

Urik controls the Smoking Crown, a volcano which produces lots of obsidian. This is extracted by slaves who often use valuable metal tools made in Tyr.

Like Draj, Urik has a proud warrior tradition. It has a legion of 1000 half-giants like Nibenay and its 10,000 slave warriors are well-trained. All of its templars are also well-trained in the use of weapons. Unlike most cities, Urik's armies are largely composed of the sorcerer-king's own troops, although noble families still sponsor large contingents. In addition, Urik hires hundreds of halflings from Ogo every year, using them as skirmishers to support his army.

The law of Urik is more extensive than that of any other city and covers more situations, but there is very little consideration given to circumstance or mitigating factors when interpreting it. The law even has special provisions for thri-kreen; templars have to laboriously explain the law to every thri-kreen which tries to enter the city. (The law states that Urik is a giant pack which the kreen call Urik-tek, and thri-kreen must join it before they can enter the city. Treating everyone in the city as a clutchmate keeps people-eating to a minimum.)

[edit] Personages

• King Hamanu
• General Niscet, templar
• Severin, templar and captain of the king's bodyguard
• Rasia, templar of toil
• Salovar, templar officer
• Maetan of Lubar, noble
• Chief Urga-Zoltapl of Ogo, a halfling