Disciples of the Saints of Forgehall

[AspenIvan]

Faction Name: Disciples of the Saints of Forgehall
Race: Goblins
-- Populous: Goblins gain population at 6 food instead of 8
-- You're Whose God?: Using Divine Powers costs 1 more Divinity for goblin Deities.
Leader(s): Grandmaster Olga Nakbaji; Masters Ymira Hayani, Vyolet Tarabayi, and Darbi Kizilsafi

(Point Buy: Enemy Deity (Citalmin) +5, 2x District -14, Naval Port -3, Barracks -3)

Capital: New Forgehall
Description: Originally built from materials salvaged and carried over from the capital of the United Orders, the city has kept the name of its predecessor.  It is a very large settlement with a very large population, but it lacks the famed industry that gave Forgehall its name.

Hero: Grandmaster Olga Nakbaji
Second daughter of Saint Nakbaj, Olga never really aspired to the position of Grandmaster.  While her older sister followed in the footsteps of her mother as a mighty warrior and leader of goblins, the younger preferred the less adventurous life of the dutiful cleric.  She was scribe for Council meetings, writer and illuminator of theological tracts, and a devotee of the Saints through frequent meditation and silent prayer.  She was neither gregarious nor bold like her elder kin, but known instead as a deliberate and unassuming (but skilled) theologian.  Yet, the older Nakbaji child did not live to the ripe age of her mother.  A year after the death of her mother, also a year into her term as Grandmaster, she died fending off a lizard raid.  The unassuming Olga was elected to replace her almost instantly, much to her own consternation.  Though she is not far into her new career, it is clear she will be a very different sort of Grandmaster than the two before her.
Warrior:
General:
Governor:
Piety: I
Subterfuge:

Deity
Deity Name: The Council of Saints
Source: Contemplation
Powers:
Blessing of Saint Taraba - Phylactery Ritual
Blesing of Saint Nakbaj - Healing
Blessing of Saint Kizilsaf - Blessing/Curse of Fertility
Blessing of Saint Hayan - Bountiful/Poor Harvest
Description:
The many goblin Saints reside together in an Eternal Assembly, presided over by the Great Saint Taraba the Queen.  By communing with the Saints in contemplation, the leaders of the Disciples can propose petitions for consideration and receive the Saints' wise counsel.  If there are any Gods, or simply cosmic forces at play in the heavens, they are only known by the Saints.

Culture:
The Disciples still refer to themselves as the High Goblins, in the tradition set by the chroniclers of the Golden Age of Forgehall.  Yet, the context on which that name rested has completely changed. The urban elite culture of Old Forgehall has essentially disappeared over the course of dozens of generations and two cataclysms, and the entirety of "high goblin" society more resembles the old Hill Tribes.  

Yet, even those old cultures have changed drastically.  Since the First Sundering, the goblins drifted away from both their burgher and nomad roots.  Clans lost their purpose and importance, replaced by the Saintly Orders.  Tribes settled in villages, while cityfolk lost their class organization under the egalitarian pressures of surviving the apocalypse and worshiping the Saints.  Now even the capital is organized more like a village confederation than a stratified city.

However, elements of the old still remain.  The worship of the Saints contains many strands of the old Suruf Religion of the Golden Age, such as heavy Mysticism, a strong Pietist bent, and the organization of Orders into sub-groups around influential folk leaders.  The Hayani Order in particular exhibits these characteristics, with every village and hamlet under the pseudo-democratically-selected guidance of a few goblins of exceptional wisdom and piety.  And although the clans were replaced by the Orders, they also influenced their structure.  Every Order is a hierarchy of clergy councils much like the ancient Elder Councils, and the great Council of Orders in many ways harkens to the old Tribal Confederate Councils.  Finally, the Tarabayi Order especially continues to carry some of the burgher traditions of Old Forgehall, namely the systems of coinage and fiscal administration.

History:
The original Forgehall was a center of goblin culture and industry in the age before the First Sundering.  In the decades before the disaster, it became the center of a pan-goblin Commonwealth under Queen Taraba Piketooth, who oversaw the Golden Age of Forgehall.  Sadly, the age was short-lived: The lizards of Sotek invaded and vassalized the goblins in a brutal war of many years, and Queen Taraba's plans for revival were stamped out when she was assassinated by Emperor Citalmin.  Her successor, Queen Tabitha, would see what was left of goblin glory crumble in civil war and the First Sundering, where she died defending her lizard liege at the hands of her brother Ghafar.  

In the Exile that followed, the goblins would immortalize all three Piketooths as well as a number of important spiritual leaders of the old Commonwealth as Saints.  Saint Kizilsaf the Greatfather was of particular note, as the leader who canonized the saints and died leading the goblins to the Western Isles of Allis.  After settling there, they would add to this number many Living Saints who showed amazing faith and powers in the post-Sundering world.  Around these Saints the goblins built the United Orders of New Forgehall, a union of the disciples of each saint into a single political body.  The goblins enjoyed another Golden Age, destroying the fleets of their old lizard enemies, ruling the High Seas, and bringing in goods and merchants from every corner of the known world.  But alas, this was not to last.

The Second Sundering was a slow but losing war for the United Orders of New Forgehall.  Unlike many other peoples of Allis, the goblins had the sea as a barrier between them and the demon hordes.  This had protected them in the aftermath of the First Sundering, but it would prove insufficient in the Second.  However, it would allow them the time to prepare a proper departure, bringing much of their city with them into the New World.

The goblins followed Saint Nakbaj the Champion through the portal into the Refuge of Allis.  She had been a Living Saint in the age of the First Sundering, earning her canonization through amazing skill in battle and dumbfounding abilities to organize logistics as if by magic when warring against the demon hordes.  She was revived shortly before the Second Sundering using Vial of Holy Water from the Hall of Saints, making her the only-ever Twice-Living Saint.  She had intended to meet Citalmin in battle and close the Sundering Portal, but it was too late for the goblins to even make a landing on the mainland.  Instead, she organized the defense of the United Orders' holdings and the transfer of everything possible from Allis to the Refuge.  Once there, she led the United Orders in pursuit of those responsible for the Second Sundering, the Lizards of Sotek.  They slew many and settled not far from where the survivors are still believed to inhabit.

Ironically for a warrior-saint, Nakbaj would make it through the journey and the turbulent times of migration to live a long, healthy life.  She died leaving two daughters, one of whom (Olga) became Grandmaster of the Disciples after her death.

The Disciples of the Saints of Forgehall kept many of the structures of the United Orders, such as the Holy Orders, but they streamlined their political system so that only the Four Great Orders have true authority.  These are the Nakbaji, Hayani, Kizilsafi, and Tarabayi.  One thing that will never change, however, is the absolute hatred of Sotekans built into goblin religion and culture.  Citalmin is the Great Demon of goblin history and Eternal Enemy of Forgehall.

Starting Resources:
1 Wood, 1 Luxury (Honey), 1 Sacred Site (Special)

Starting Location:


Unit Templates:

Kizilsafi Banner Ship
Large, multi-decked warships designed to overwhelm the enemy with sheer weight of arrows and bolts.  Banner Ships used to be the command vessels of the Kizilsafi Order, but now make up sizeable squadrons of their own.
Hull: Great Galley
Units: 2x Mounted Crossbows, 5x archers, boarders
Total Cost: 8 Gold, 4 Wood

((Kizilsafi Fire Dromon
At the time of the Second Sundering, New Forgehall had achieved naval supremacy in its day.  To combat the onslaught of demons, the Kizilsafi Order developed a sophisticated firespout system to lay waste to the fleets of infernal raiders.  This wasn't enough to save New Forgehall, but its descendants still guard its secrets.
Hull: Galley
Units: Firespout, 2x boarders
Total Cost: 8 Gold, 1 Wood)) -- NOT YET ACTIVATED

Ghafari Chargers
Warrior-disciples of Saint Ghafar the Knight.  Since the Second Sundering, they lost their characteristic steel armor, but they remain a force to be reckoned with for their great skill and resolve.
Armor: Light Armor
Weapon: Pike
Movement: Light Cavalry
Training: Fanatic
Total Cost: 8 Gold

Tabithayi Vanguards
Warrior-disciples in the tradition of Saint Tabitha the Noble.  They excel in both regular and irregular combat, as flank guards and raiders respectively.
Armor: Light Armor
Weapon: Warbow
Movement: Light Cavalry
Training: Professional
Miscellanous: Scouts
Total Cost: 10 Gold, 1 Wood

Nakbaji Shieldwall
Warrior-disciples in the tradition of the Twice-Living Saint Nakbaj the Champion.  They make a disciplined force of infantry that can hold its own against heavier counterparts.
Armor: Medium
Weapon: Handweapon & Shield
Movement: Infantry
Training: Elite
Miscellaneous: Throwing Weapons
Total Cost: 9 Gold, 2 Iron

Toreyani Guards
Warrior-disciples in the tradition of Saint Toreyan the Smith.  They carry on the legacy of the Commonwealth Guard, the great army of Forgehall from the time of Queen Taraba before the First Sundering.
Armor: Light
Weapon: Crossbow
Movement: Infantry
Training: Professional
Total Cost: 6 Gold, 1 Wood

Hayani Infantry
The armed branch of the disciples of Saint Hayan the Peasant.  Though lacking the skill and discipline of most other Forgehall troops, these farmers are also breeders: They bring war-dogs to sow confusion and fear in enemy lines.
Armor: None
Weapon: Spear & Shield
Movement: Infantry
Training: Militia
Miscellaneous: Warbeasts
Total Cost: 6 Gold

[Admin]

Accepted.

Resources:
Capital: Sacred Site (Grand Hall. +2 Divinity/turn)
Village 1: Good Ground
Village 2: Lumber
Village 3: Luxury (honey)

Hero Trait:
Grandmaster Olga Nakbaji - Someone in every town: +[I] Subterfuge rank

Enemy Deity: Citlalmin, god-emperor of Tikal. (PC enemy god. Enemy gets discount spells and other bonuses against you)