OCKLESS

In the days following Zar's apotheosis his sons quarreled and separated, forming the three tribes of Zarland. Ockless, youngest of the three sons, was denied an inheritance. His older brothers Surlt and Nidik took the two citadels built by their father. Leaving his people behind, Ockless journeyed into the wilds and returned several years later with three large giants, kept docile by a magic ring. Ockless commanded the trio of behemoths to build his citadel for him. Upon its completion, he ordered them to go home. (They later mistakenly sacked the citadel of Nidik in revenge.) Except for an early feud with Surlt in which the Surlite forces captured Ockless for a year, Ockless was peaceful until the invasion of the orcs a century ago. The ruling dynasty was wiped out (occasionally some hunter claims a royal bloodline) and was replaced by a family acceptable to the conquerors. A bloody war followed, in which foreigners were recruited to help the Zarings, but was unresolved until a local hunter settled the dispute. He, Halcyon var Enkorth, went to parts unknown and returned with terrible sorcery and a band of loyal orcs. The invaders were killed, the sorcerer set up his own rulers, and he has maintained puppets ever since.

Since then, the citadel has housed an orc garrison under the rule of a puppet king. Halcyon has tolerated worship of Hilme and the local gods, but has also introduced worship of Redeye. Membership has grown through force, for the king usually offers wrongdoers a choice of death or initiation into the cult. Currently under construction is a black stone temple devoted to Redeye. Under the rule of Halcyon and his kings the native life style changed drastically. Hunters became serfs and the Ockless populace now labors slavishly under close orc supervision. Under Halcyon's orders the orcs extort food and goods from the humans. Most resident humans have always lived under such pressures. Due to either Halcyon s magic or contact with the orcs, Ockless is evolving from a neolithic culture to a more civilized, though also more coarse and brutal, society. While still a far cry from the jaded cities of the mainland, Ockless has much to offer to theVotanki, who have yet even to adopt use of the wheel.

Grain-based alcoholic beverages are a novelty in the region. Until the last half-century, there was not organized agriculture at all in Zarland, and even now the plants are weak and more wild than not. A favorite use of the grain is to make Ockless beer. The locals drink it up. Most foreigners equate it with a mild systemic poison.

Justice is swift and cruel in Ockless, and foreigners are not welcome unless invited by the ruling nobility. In the streets, the begging "itty bittys" remind everyone that death is not the worst punishment here... Unknown to orcish rulers, the itty bittys have formed a secret society in the sewer system, leaving on the refuses of the city and trying to evade the cruelty of surface inhabitants and the horrors of the catacomb dwellers...