Annoying Little People- Jermlaine

The plainsjan I described in my recent Baator post reminded me of some creatures that have been skulking about right here in Diamond City.  I considered including them in my vermin post, but I didn't want to be insulting, so I'm presenting them right here in their very own series of Annoying Little People posts.

First up, we'll have a look at the jermlaine, the grumpy-looking, baggy skinned creatures you may have seen hiding behind your neighborhood sewer grate, or peering at you from the window of a local abandoned building.  The jermlaine are ambushers from the Underdark of Theta.  No one knows how or why they were brought to Diamond City, although some speculate that they were undesirable slaves of the Neogi who, in order to be rid of them, dropped them off in our unsuspecting city.  Others tell of an elaborate trap involving fifty infiltrated crates of dried fungi and a crashed spelljammer in the outskirts of Alam.  Either way, the jermlaine are now everywhere in the city where there are rats, which is to say they are everywhere.

Baator

Ages ago, before it was known as the Nine Hells, the small planet Baator was home to a winged race of beings known as the avariel.  The leader of the avariel was a powerful immortal known as Asmodeus.  Asmodeus was a lawful but prideful immortal, and he became convinced that it was his destiny to slay the corrupted lord of the Tetrahedron, Primus.

Asmodeus led a contingent of the most powerful avariel into the Tetrahedron, and the group fought its way to the center of the ship. After a long, hard-fought battle, only Asmodeus and Primus remained in the chamber at the Tetrahedron's core.  As Asmodeus approached to do battle with Primus, the evil Primus begged for his life and, appealing to Asmodeus' vanity, acknowledged Asmodeus as the superior being. In exchange for his life, Primus offered to Asmodeus his greatest asset, a second yellow cube that Primus had been constructing, similar to the very extradimensional cube which had corrupted Primus.  Primus claimed that a being with the lawful heart and wisdom of Asmodeus would be able to use the cube for good, and provide the Pyrax system with a counterbalance to his own evil power.

Whether through magical enchantment or simple guile, Primus was able to convince Asmodeus to accept his offer.  Asmodeus took the small cube and returned to Baator.  He began mistaking law for goodness, and became obsessed with rules and punishment.  Some of the avariel joined Asmodeus as he assembled an army to conquer the solar system in the name of his rapidly degrading sense of justice.  Others saw through his corruption and rebelled.

The avariel fought a long and brutal civil war.  Asmodeus eventually lost all pretense of righteousness as his power grew, and he granted infernal powers to the avariel who sided with him, creating the devils.  As the rebellious avariel began to be slaughtered, the Celestial Emperor saw the good in them and granted them divine powers of their own,  creating the angels.  The angels and the devils fought for a hundred years, but the devils continuously gained the upper hand.  Eventually the angels retreated to Carceri and other planets, from which they continue to battle the devils.  For seven thousand years the planet Baator has rested firmly in the hands of the devils.

Cliffside Cabal

The Duchess and her cabal belong to the Gracious Order of Accord, and as such it is considered the ruling order.  The order was originally an ancient kalashtar psionic order.  It currently consists of three cabals: the Duchess' Midnight Cabal. the Cliffside Cabal detailed below, and the Undying Seal, to be described soon.

Cliffside Cabal

Cliffside is the northeastern-most portion of the city.  It is the section of the city closest to the mountains, and in that region the city is all built on steep hills and plateaus.  Most of the criminal elements of Diamond City reside in this district.  The barons of Cliffside Cabal are all crime lords, and their membership in the Gracious Order of Accord pushed that order into the ruling position it currently enjoys.  The strength of the crime lords is such that the cabal was able to gain a seat on the Noble Council, a situation that many other councillors wish to reverse.

Vermin of the City

In the depths of the city, there are many small creatures that feed off the inhabitants and their scraps.  Many of these creatures have been detailed in other tomes, such as the kestrekels of Cliffside or the bloodthorn vines that cluster in Temple Park.  Spiretop drakes are especially common, and of course rats and the ubiquitous feral cats of Alam.

But I would like to have a look at a few of the critters that help define Diamond City, critters not as prevalant in most other urban areas, such as the demonic sawfly and the plague moth.

The Fall of the Kali Empire

There are five races in the Pyrax System, some of whom I have previously mentioned, that all stem from a common ancestor, the kali of ancient times.  These races are the tieflings, the kalashtar, the humans, the devas, and the shadar-kai.  Here I would like to describe the history of the kali, as it is a story of the forces that define our worlds.

The kali were a powerful psionic race that came to our solar system ten thousand years ago in a massive space vessel known as the Tetrahedron.  They were an ancient race even then, having traveled the galaxy exploring star systems and collecting specimens of thousands of different species.

They stationed the Tetrahedron in orbit around the distant, dream-like planet of Limbo.  There they discovered an ancient gateway in the center of the planet, a gateway sealed with a massive crystal and known as the Living Gate.

The Diamond City Trade Conglomerate

The Diamond City Trade Conglomerate is a new faction born of the increasing power and wealth of two shadar-kai merchant houses, who were originally refugees from ravaged Courlark.  The shadar-kai leaders of the order gained the financial strength to force other commercially-based noble houses into alliances, creating a faction the other barons were effectively forced into.
The Trade Conglomerate supports the Duchess, and reaps the financial benefits.  Most government contracts go through them.  If cicircumstances were such that the arrangement was no longer profitable, I have no doubt that the support would vanish.

Behgtau Mercantilium

Leading the Trade Conglomerate is the Behgtau Mercantilium, an alliance of three very wealthy noble houses.  Two of these are the previously mentioned shadar-kai merchant houses, and the third is the ancient ruling family of the githyanki.

Midnight Cabal- The Noble Cabinet of Diamond City

Welcome back.

I'd like to tell you a little bit about my home, Diamond City.  Without wasting time on blithering, I'll introduce you to our fine leadership, the Noble Barons of Diamond City.

Duchess Hazel rules the City, and serves on the Senate of the Noble State of Alam. However, the Duchess must rule with the consent of the barons; she can be replaced if an election is called for by the Noble Council.

Diamond City is ultimately managed by 95 noble barons, each in control of a city district.  The barons serve the Duchess, but swear their allegiance to the protection of the city and its inhabitants.

The barons organize into factions, and each faction sends a representative to the Noble Council of Diamond City.  The barons and their immediate families are all referred to as the nobility, while the extended families of the barons are referred to as the gentry. The immediate and extended family of each baron is collectively referred to as a noble house.

As the primary defenders of the city, the barons are expected to be adept in combat.  Each baron periodically leads a contingent of warriors from his or her district into the frontier regions of Alam, and even to other planets to battle the demonic forces of the Tetrahedron.

Most barons engage in subterfuge or even brute force in order to position themselves for titles of power, or to push their agendas.