Vetubræ Campaign Page

Outlines and Summaries

Other Topics:

Many of these topics are the same as in the Guederia World Notes, but this is the original version, without the modifications I made to reflect the changes that led up to the Gabba Campaign.

General Background
Players are members or associates of a couple of noble families living in the Imperial capitol, Babel. Count Vetubræ, who has dwarf connections is the less influential and Count Herrenius is the Grand Admiral of the Mirror Fleet.

The players are allowed to use two wheelock pistols and a wheelock musket in addition to any crossbows they choose. Most players have access to enough wealth that allows them to have iron weapons and armor.

The NPCs
Count Gaius Vetubræ, Dwarf Brother
Father of two of the characters. Non-politically connected noble. Willing to spend a little money keeping his younger sons out of trouble. The Count in now paritucularly ambitious and that has worn off on his first son. His wife died while giving birth to Marcus, the third son and the resulting depression as never really left the Count. For a long time the Count has helped the dwarves in innumerable ways.

Xeno "Mumbles"
Count Vetubræ's tutor from Laz and the tutor of his children. None were particularly dilligent students. Mubles is from Laz and he also tutored Nud the troll child. Nud was a much better student, for he liked reading over waiting around. Xeno is forbidden from touching guns or gunpowder, for he blew up part of the house before.

Gaius the Younger "Tink-Tink" Vetubræ
First son of the count and named after one of the count's dwarven brotheren. Not very ambitious, perfectly content with currect situation. Spends his time carrying out the duties of his position and his title (Master of the Imperial Chariot Corps Office, mainly Araman soldiers.)

Briggida Shea
Female leader of Count Vetubræ's bodyguard. Calvinus is her lover and she gets him to be useful every once in a while. She is one of the few women warriors and has earned her position by raw skill. Her underlings have learned not to question her authority after she has ruthlessly dealt with them.
Tink Tink
Dwarven explorer and acquisitions man. Helped long ago in quests by Count Vetubræ and many times since. The count even named his first son after Tink Tink. Tink Tink still goes on expeditions occassionally and likes to sneak in and visit Count Vetubræ often. Training another dwarf named Mechanix to take his place.

Count Flavius Herrenius
Friend of Count Vetubræ for both were Captains in the Winged Foot Legion long ago. Now Count Herrenius is the Grand Admiral of the Mirror Fleet. He sent his second son to squire with Count Vetubræ and had Vetubræ's second son as squire. Neither family had female children and the two families cannot join through marriage. His wife was killed by a demonic spirit when during the Night of a Thousand Screams two decades ago.

Flavius the Younger Herrenius
First son and a Captain in the Imperial Bodyguard. Friends with Claudius Vetubræ, for they grew up together and practiced arms against each other as children. Flavius the Younger has become a strong and hard man, lossing much of the innocence he once had. He has personally put down a coup attempt by two Generals. Flavius heads a cell of the Wax Brotherhood, a group of citizens against government corruption, whose main tool is sanction (assassination.)

Lucius Blasio the Trader
Member of the Mirror Trade Cartel and current Merchant-Prince. Trades extensively with the Northern Barbarians and the Orcs. He used to be the second son and as a youth went on wild adventures. But an interguild conflict grew into an armed battle and older brother, the heir, weas killed. Since then Lucius has regretted leaving the path of adventrue and now lives vicariously through his second son and his friends.

Iphegina Blasio
Only daughter of Blasio the Trader and a nun/priestess of Regna. She has been a close friend of Claudius Vetubræ since childhood, but the two could never marry for she was promised to Regna before birth for favors granted to Lucius long ago; and Regna forbids nuns from ever marrying. Their love is platonic but strains against the boundaries of their obligations and oaths. She is fond of his assosiates for many of her sisters in Regna are not chaste nuns, and they are always trying to catch a rich noble in marriage.

See Area Descriptions for other NPCs of note

The PCs
Nud "Wimpy"
Dark troll ex-slave ex-porter of the count's. Taught by Mumbles and has become a remarkable ritualist. Very civilized in the human way and has become a scholar in the bodyguard cult of Enikal. When Cori joined the Count's staff, Nud taught him the basics of Darktongue and of civilized behavior. He does not enjoy the insults received duirng trips to the Count's troll lands. Cori and his soldiers, with Nud's help, were the ones to take the Dark Tower.

Claudius Vetubræ
Second son of Count Vetubræ. Long-time member of the Samirah Martial School of Babel and has recently returned from three years at their main school on the Wilh Coast. As a youth, Claudius stayed with the Herrenius family and practiced fighting with Flavius the Younger. Never given a military command, because he lacks the authoritarian leadership style, preffering cooperation and consensus. While in Babel, he spends much time with his best friend, Iphegina Blasio.

Marcus Vetubræ
Third son of Count Vetubræ. Member of the Col-Wan sorcery sect. He has done little but study the sorcerous arts his whole life. Few in Col-Wan know him for he has spent most of his time with Mumbles or other private tutors. He aspires to become a great warrior adept and is only now learned the basics of swordsmanship. Has acquired the extreme hatred the Col-Wan have for demon summoning sorcerers.

Victor "Vic" Vega
Second son of a merchant family whose head is a friend of the Count Vetubræ. Vic is recently out of an Imperial prison (for seditious acts), where he was put in with evil Tusk Rider sorcerers. He is the Count's body guard now and has been ordered by the count to protect his sons. Vic's father runs the ships of Count Vetubræ. Vic's parents have moved to a villa in Ashqelon after he was put in prison.

Coriolanus "Cori" Lævus
Born as a peasant farmer, he has risen through the ranks of the militia to become a noted soldier. Count Vetubræ noticed his abilty and promoted him to internal staff and gave him titles. Cori watches over the Count's troll holdings along Skyfall Lake. The Count's trolls pay tribute at the Black Tower which Cori is the Master of. Cori is also Keeper of the Levy Armory of the Count in Babel. Learned Darktongue from Nud.

Cornelius Lentulus
Son of a smith and became a Warden of the the Emperor's Park as a youth. Joined the Winged Foot legion and went through the difficult skirmisher school. Posted to the Imperial Staff as an assistant in Babel. But Cornelius, hated being stuck in the city and he got out of the Imperial Army. His father is Count Vetubræ's armorer and he appealed to the Count for a job for his son. Since joining the Count, Cornelius has been helping Cori in his duties and has become Claudius' right-hand man.

Cassius Herrenius
Second son of Count Herrenius, but does not see his family much anymore. He is an administrator in Directorate X (Imperial intelligence.) Well known lothario and dueler. He has spent the last five years wandering Beer Sheva collecting reports for the Directorate. He gets invited to every good party in Babel and Beer Sheva. He has a garden house in Nahariyya well staffed with a top chef, dancers, porters, etc.

Calvinus Veturius
Ex-leader of a now destroyed mercenary company based out of Kal'at, and was for a time a killer-for-hire. Tired of killing for the wims of others and has quit. He has known Vic and Cornelius for quite a while and is now one of the household "permanent" guests. Calvinus was not jailed with Vic, for he was not drunk and was able to escape. Occassionally he helps his lover Briggida and trains the household staff.

Lauro Blasio
Third son of Blasio the Trader-Prince and a noted ship captain. Apprentice sorcerer in the Col-Wan sorcery sect. Lived in Qiryat for three years learing the ways of the orcs and a little orcish sorcery. Known for paying high sums for captured dwarven firearms and any orc copies. He carefully plays the purchasing game to prevent creating a demand for the weapons, instead buying the ones captured anyway. He has been on several voyages on orc ships, even as far as Kos.

Sir Antonio Gabba
Imperial Herald and Messenger assigned to guide the players through the dangerous land of Beer Sheva. Has been travelling all over Beer Sheva for the last five years. Knows Cassius Herrenius well and often stays at his luxurious estate in Nahariyya. Originally enlisted in the Imperial Winged Foot Legion and graduated the skirmisher school with Cornelius, but learned little fieldcraft, for he has always been a soft city dweller. Knighted by the Emperor for services rendered over the last three years, but not given a land grant yet. He is officially under the command of Flavius the Younger Herrenius, but receives few commands from him.

Party Goals
Help the families and players increase their influence and power.
Help Mostal and his workers, the dwarves, in their endeavors.
Prevent the increase of noble forces and prevent conflict between noble forces.
Prevent disruptions in the empire which would allow external forces to threaten it.
Destroy otherworld worshippers and their demonic servants.
Do great service for the empire and get personal Imperial titles or postions.
Prevent undo influence of cults or other groups on Imperial politics.

The Families
(Vetubræ, Herrenius , and Blasio)
The Vetubræ and Herrenius heads are both Counts, but with vastly different position. The Blasio family is a member of the Mirror Trade League and allied with both noble families.

The Vetubræ family have been nobles since the days of the Orisiran Republic, even before the days of the Old Empire. The sons of Vetubræ have held important posts for the empire for generations. At the end of the First Orc War, the Count Vetubræ at the time was the military advisor to the Emperor. He was furious at the ability of the orcs to invade Arama. He blamed the weakness of the empire on the internal battles of the nobles and advised the Emperor to forbid nobles from having large forces. The Emperor was assassinated before he decided and several Dukes were able to strip the Vetubræ family of all holdings and position. Only the family estate in Babel was left intact. Since then the family has regained a few island holdings in the Mirror Sea. and some Troll lands along Skyfall lake.

The Herrenius family were minor nobility until the conquest of the Kutri and Uti lands, where the head distinguished himself and became a Count. When Arama was discovered and interest in Kutri and Uti dropped. The head quickly (and very savily) exchanged his holdings for large sums of money and moved to the spot that became Babel. The family has kept this wealth and has been able to maintain an important position in the empire since. The members of the family have not usually held important legislative positions, but have often held top executive and especially military positions.

The first known member of the Blasio family was a galley slave who escaped from an Imperial warship around the time of the founding of Babel. He worked as a netmaker and helped other slaves escape. His sons became fishermen and sailed small ships to supply the ever increasing needs of the city. A couple generations later the family became one of the foremost transhippers of goods between Arama and the Old Empire lands. After the disaster of the First Orc War, the family switched to mainly sea-borne trade and friendly relations with the orcs. The family now has a fleet of well-protected merchant ships trading all over the Mirror Sea and overland routes to trade with the orcs at Qiryat. The Mirror Trade Cartel is a group of merchant guilds in about a dozen or so cities on the Mirror Sea. The members own or control about 80% of all Mirror Sea merchant shipping.