Rybad-Kol was a fortress prison serving the Strife Emperor during the Calamity and, several centuries later, became one of the city-states of the Iron Authority.
Description[]
Rybad-Kol is situated on a volcanic plateau.[1]
Before the Divergence[]
Shortly before the Divergence, Rybad-Kol was a fortress prison, with a central plaza where a thousand prisoners could be gathered. The skies around it were choked with ash, so that a vampire could stand outside comfortably during the day.[2] There were different sections named for different purposes: the Pit (where prisoners worked),[3] the Mop (the infirmary), and the Slop (the kitchen).[4] Within the very walls of the prison, a narrow prison-like space was built, and in those labyrinthine "Wandering Walls" prisoners where left in isolation until they died or were retrieved again.[5] The main Steel Keep there was a massive tower built of black stone, with Gothic architecture. Interior spaces had cracked earth and gravel.[6] A fine dining room high in the Keep had obsidian walls with golden flecks, and several sculptures of servants of the Great Emperor made of volcanic glass.[7]
Later, it was believed that the soil of the plateau around it was reduced to ash and permanently sterilized during the final battle of Bane, the Strife Emperor and his goblinkin legions during the Calamity; long afterward, it was called the Beynsfal Plateau.[1] In fact, by the time the Strife Emperor was defeated, his lands had already been ashen wastes devoid of life for some time.[8] There were roads leading from Rybad-Kol to various villages,[9] whose inhabitants (mostly goblin peasants) worked for Rybad-Kol and weren't allowed to leave.[10] Some small settlements outside the prison were laid to waste by the battle; one village was wiped out by something that carved a small canyon.[11]
Era of Reclamation[]
Several centuries after the Calamity, little was known about Rybad-Kol that was not true of the rest of the Iron Authority, which was marked by towering structures of black iron on a plateau of volcanic rock where no plant life grew. Its one distinguishing description, both in 812 and 836 PD, was that it was the city of the Forge Lords.[1][12]
Society[]
Demographics[]
Before the Divergence[]
Fire giants, demons, goblinoids, humans, and half-orcs resided there as workers and guards.[13] There were at least a thousand prisoners[14] of various races, including hobgoblins,[15] dragonborn, and tieflings.[16]
Late Era of Reclamation[]
Presumably, like the rest of the Iron Authority, Rybad-Kol is dominated by hobgoblins, who rule over other goblinkin (mainly goblins) and slaves of various races.[17]
Notable people[]
End of the Calamity[]
- Azmog, the Sundering Lord: Vampiric hobgoblin ruler of the Steel Keep, commander of the garrison[18]
- Captain Rustgut: Dwarven lieutenant
- High Priestess Sata'al
Era of Reclamation[]
Rybad-Kol is ruled by one of the four royal generals serving under Tz'Jarr, the Iron Emperor.[19] The Forge Lords are not described.[1][12]
History[]
The Calamity[]
The fortress prison was largely reduced to rubble by the battle in which the Strife Emperor was defeated. The Steel Keep had been thrown two miles into a mountainside, while other towers had been torn down by briars. Followers of the Strife Emperor were slain in detail. Some were swarmed by hordes of mice[20] or killed by larger beasts (including a huge bear and some prehistoric beasts),[21] others were beheaded by a tide of rapidly growing thorny vines.[22] A group of fire giants was felled by a powerful blast of lightning.[23] Azmog, the vampiric leader of the prison and its garrison was almost certainly incinerated by a catastrophic burst of sunlight of the Dawnfather. Apparently thousands of survivors—including almost all of the prisoners—fled mostly to the northeast, looking for nourishment.[24]
Era of Reclamation[]
For centuries afterward, those hobgoblins who remained asserted power over the other goblinkin, and launched grand military campaigns to grow their holdings, but conquest was always followed by collapse. Then, around 722 PD,[1] the Iron Regiment devoted itself entirely to Bane, impressed their kin into military service, and began a series of conquests called the Iron Tide that conquered the entire Beynsfal Plateau in a decade and brought all of its city-states, including Rybad-Kol, under its firm control.[25] That empire has lasted through at least 843 PD.[26][27]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 76.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:16:39.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:21:23.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:44:37.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 2:38:31. See also 1:48:22.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 1:07:29.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 2:02:54.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 4:24:39. See also 1:41:01 and 3:21:41.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 4:14:34.
- ↑ See "Seven of Them" (E4x02) at 0:39:25.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 4:12:52.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, pp. 113–114.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:13:47.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:13:33.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:16:59.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:53:48.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, pp. 119–120.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:11:49.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 120.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 3:20:07.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 3:38:16.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 3:34:35.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 3:57:20.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) from 3:36:58 through 3:41:26.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 113.
- ↑ In early 843 PD the Qoniira Tetrarchy, perceiving omens of terrible things to come, sent people south toward the Iron Authority to see if that empire had anything to do with the omens. See "Exandria Unlimited: Kymal, Part 1" (E2x01) at 0:06:11.
- ↑ At least several months later, the Maiden's Wish casino in Kymal had a buffet option called the Iron Authority Grill. See "Exandria Unlimited: Kymal, Part 2" (E2x02) at 1:52:28.
Art:
- ↑ Official map of Rybad-Kol and the rest of the Beynsfal Plateau, with the Rifenmist Jungle to the north, by Andy Law from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting. This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
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