Welcome back to our look at the powers of the Meniri Mountains. Last article we looked at one of the biggest threats to stability and law in the region … Orm the Red Dragon. Now in addition to destroying the major Dwarven stronghold in the area Orm also took the time to spawn a brood of little Orms that spread out across the region and settle their own little empires in the image of Dear Very Old Dad.
So each one of those brood are important to the structure of Orm’s Empire. He uses them like a Prefect uses Palatines, to hold territory and spread his influence. In this behavior we can see that Orm, as far as Dragon’s go, is a smart Lizard. He’s looked at what works and put his own spin on it.
The first of the brood we’re going to take a look at is Nindukugga, a female Red Dragon that has settled in #51 Redoubt on the Earthway. I’m going to start with what details I can glean from her entry which is the only time she’s mentioned in the book … which ain’t shit. Just her name and that she’s got a tribe of Ogres that serves her.
The Earthway was a damned important resource for the Azen Kairn Dwarves. It managed shipping in and out of the Azen and generated Hydraulic Power for the Azen. This redoubt was the largest on the Earthway so it makes sense for an ego driven creature to make her lair in the ruins. It also is likely where Daddy Orm set her up, this river accesses the area of his lair so he’s going to put his most loyal ‘child’ there to guard his back door.
So from all this I’ll make some assumptions. Nindukugga is likely the oldest of Orm’s brood and the most loyal to her father.
Not to mention she’s squatting in a damned interesting area. Picture it.
It’s a Dwarven fortress on the connection between the Mirmen River and the Earthway River. The Fortress was focused on Power Generation, Defense, and Trade. How many Dwarven settlements involve a large waterway? All the equipment has long since failed so the river is running wild from the Earthway into the Mirmen. The dams having failed the Earthway is pouring out of a vine covered carved Dwarven Face in the side of the mountain wall over the ruins of the once massive water wheel that powered the Redoubt. Cracked stone support pillars and ruined equipment littering the emergency channel that the Earthway now rushes down.
The emergency channel empties down through the ruined Fortress, having jumped out of it’s channel due to damage from that long ago battle. Part of the Fortress would have washed out and helped make room for Nindukugga to lair. A massive defensive works that would have commanded a powerful position over the Mirmen now with shattered walls and melted stone flowing like the river that it once contained. Where Dwarves would have once peered down sighting equipment now brutish Ogres stomp the length of the wall.
Down by the Mirmen would have been the settlement itself. Part of the reason for this Redoubt was trade. There would have been stone docks, warehouses, homes for workers, merchant shops, taverns, artisan’s businesses. All of the things that come from a successful port, now all ruined and flooded. Goods would have been hauled up from the low lands, loaded onto specialized ships that would travel up the Earthway … likely on a pully system or perhaps a system based on water pressure and lifting locks. Unloaded at Azen Kairn and then reloaded with Dwarven goods for sale that would travel back down the Earthway and into the system of warehouses to be shipped down the Mirmen … hmmm … it might be interesting if the Dwarves had built a series of lifting locks into the Mirmen river. Smoothing out the roughest parts of the mountain river so they could use the river to move goods up and down stream.
That would be a series of water gates and locks over roughly a 24 mile long stretch to the low lands. It would be all ruined and useless now but the wreckage and stories of how the Dwarves once tamed the mighty Mirmen would add to the tragedy of the fall of the Dwarven people. Those ruined water locks would make excellent lairs for other monsters and tribes of Beastmen along the Mirmen River towards the low lands.
I like it.
Now that we’ve figured out what Nindukugga’s environment looks like and how it got to be that way let’s take a look at her and her servants.
Let’s assume that Orm’s destruction of Azen Kairn got him the attention from other Red Dragons and attracted him quite a few mates. He pulled off a hell of a thing and I could see how that would play in Red Dragon mating rituals. So let’s make Nindukugga his oldest child, we’ll likely make the Young Red Dragon in #33 one of her brood. So that would make Nindukugga around …. hmmm … she could be anywhere from Very Old down to Adult depending on the last time that Orm could tolerate a female long enough to mate. Well let’s assume that an older a Dragon gets the less prone it is to mating so she’s likely at the end of the Old category and just moving into Very Old. So Nindukugga is likely 14*** to 15*** HD.
Now that tribe of Ogres that she rules over would very likely be flourishing. They’ve got easy access to food due to the Mirmen and Earthway and plenty of land to spread out over so we’re going to say that they’re likely in very good shape. Plus with their ruler’s support they’d be lording it over the other Beastman tribes with the choicest loot and slaves. No doubt that they are thriving.
Next article we’re going to go through the steps of building up Nindukugga’s Chaotic Domain and how she fits into Big Red One’s domain as his Vassal.
Do you think she's truly loyal, or might she have ambitions to replace her father and claim his horde herself? The Earthway is notably back into the mountains and somewhat out of the way, a good spot for Orm to put her that's important but makes it harder for her to project power independently of him. Might she look the other way if adventurers tried to use the river to assault Orm, perhaps?
Ooo cracking! That’s a really interesting location and what sounds like anything but a “generic red dragon” coming in :)