Salt View

Salt View is led by Xaynon, a mul ex-gladiator from the city of Raam, and his advisor, the preserver Arya. This leadership is not one of a dictatorial ruler; Xaynon is much more of a father-figure than a real chieftain of the slaves. The population is divided into a number of classes. While in theory each member of the tribe has the same political power, in practice there is a clear (if informal) hierarchy of leadership. At the top of this hierarchy is Xaynon himself. Xaynon feels that the less the ex-slaves are directly governed, the better that government will be. In times of emergency, however, he quickly assumes the mantle of leadership. His authority is ultimately based upon his strength and fighting ability and those ex-slaves who he sees as jeopardizing the interests of the community in an emergency, may find themselves quickly dispatched at the end of Xaynon's sword. Arya, a preserver, serves as Xaynon's closest advisor. Some villagers are uncomfortable with the wizard. Consequently, she does not necessarily lead raids or give orders to other villagers. It is clear, however, that she has more direct influence on Xaynon's rule than any other tribe member. Xaynon makes few important decisions without consulting Arya. The raid commanders report to Xaynon. These people are Xaynon's trusted lieutenants, and speak (within limits) in Xaynon's own voice. In raids, the raid commanders have military control over their people, and a raider who would publicly challenge his commander's judgment in Salt View will obey without question under the pressure of a raid. In times of emergency, the commanders act as rallying points for the populace, and their orders are unquestioned. While raiding parties were originally assembled on an ad-hoc basis, over time, certain commanders began to request the same raiders for their missions. These groups also associated together socially and became the basis of informal political factions and cliques.

Raiders report formally to the raid commanders only during actually raiding operations. Most raiders have some military skills, either from being in the slave-armies or gladiatorial ranks of the city-states or by virtue of the training they have received in Salt View. In the roughand-tumble existence of Salt View, where disputes are settled as often by blades as any other way, fighting prowess is an important measure of status. A growing political faction in Salt View is represented by the artisans and craftsmen of the village. Fort Fyra has provided a viable market for their work and the additional revenue generated by the artisans is strengthening Fyra's political hand. Many of the artisans are at best indifferent warriors, and their skills have benefited Salt View only indirectly in the past. The distribution of goods had always been the responsibility of the raiders. Naturally, beyond the allocation of food and water, such distributions have not always been equitable. The artisans solidly support Fyra's efforts to move Salt View's operations away from raiding. While every tribe member generally has some raiding and performing ability, the dedicated actors of Salt View command a significant amount of influence within the community. The first troupes of Salt View performers who travelled across the Ivory Triangle region were considered both a source of ancillary income for the community and an intelligence network for the raiders. The performers make up an unpredictable political faction within the village. Popular performers can often rally villagers with compelling oratory, creating mobs that are difficult for even Xaynon to control. Fortunately, the performers, on the whole, do not have a vested interest in the outcome of the current struggle between the raiders and the traders. There will be plenty of opportunities for the actors to perform regardless of the means by which the community survives. Consequently, leaders of opposing factions often lobby popular actors for support. The actors are, as a rule, easily flattered and while articulate, are not nearly as bright as they think they are. The lowest status members of the Salt View community are the refugees. These include those who are undergoing the trial period and those who have been admitted to the tribe, but whose skills are not vital to Salt View's survival. While these people are given food, water, and shelter, they are not influential in the political debates. Most in this class try to gain fighting prowess or performing skill, so that they will be respected by the more established inhabitants of Salt View. 

Salt View survives on the strength of three industries, which combined provide sufficient support to allow Salt View to prosper. Raiding has traditionally been Salt View's core means of acquiring resources. The performing troupes have supplemented the village's income as well as provided valuable information regarding caravan activity. Lastly, Fort Fyra has begun to introduce the benefits of legitimate trade to the small village. The village does not maintain farms or raise herds of animals. Hunting and gathering, while practiced, serve to supplement the tribe's primary source of revenues. Since Salt View's founding, the goods from raiding have been distributed evenly among the village's population, with rarer goods going to those with the greatest influence. However, while this system worked well when Salt View had 200 inhabitants, the village has grown too large for this to satisfy everyone. Thus, there is a substantial trade economy which operates after the official “fair” disbursement. This is primarily barter, with artisans adding their own works to the goods which come from caravans. There is some currency (primarily coming from the artisan troupes and the salt miners of Fort Fyra); coinage from Gulg and Nibenay is most common, but there are even a few coins from far-off Balic. The slaves of Salt View are skilled raiders, and have often been able to capture (or at least threaten) caravans with many more troops and weapons. They are masters of subtle strategies to slow caravans and force them to abandon valuable cargo. Raiders from Salt View try to keep their plundering as bloodless as possible. They see cargo bound for the city-states as fair compensation for the years they spent as slaves to the sorcerer-kings. They have no desire to hurt anyone or see any of their fellows hurt in turn. They will defend themselves and even kill stubborn mercenaries if necessary, but always as a last resort.

As Salt View has become more securely established, its raiding bands have traveled further afield. Salt View raiders (or those claiming to be from Salt View) have been encountered on the trade route between Gulg and Altaruk, on the road between Nibenay and Raam, and even in the village of North Ledopolus. The raids are causing prices of many goods in the area to rise. This is hitting the small client-villages of Gulg and Nibenay particularly hard, as they do not have the capital required to pay the higher prices. They are willing, however, to pay for the heads of dead raiders. 

While Xaynon's band has always been strict about killing victims only in self-defense, many other raiders in the area are less concerned with the survival of their prey. More than one caravan near the Crescent Forest has been lost entirely to other slave tribes. The merchant houses have no way of distinguishing between raiding parties and any retaliation is likely to be targeted at Salt View. Unless Xaynon can somehow drive off the competing slave tribes, Salt View could be in danger. The second major industry is the theater. The actors and singers of Salt View present plays throughout the Ivory Triangle. These troupes of artists travel throughout the area as wandering freemen, with no hint that they are really from Salt View. They supplement the earnings from their plays with an occasional theft (usually from the local templar or noble). They also gather information about caravan routes and planned dates for the raiders. Initially, the performing troupes were an escape; an opportunity for the tribe to forget about the difficulties of their fugitive life. Over time, however, the actors began to take touring companies out on the road. The plays have become more and more profitable, and their legitimate visits to traders, villages, and cities allow them to acquire some items (such as spices) which are too difficult to stumble onto in a caravan raid. The acting troupes from Salt View never put on shows for nobles or templars, and they have been known to refuse even the invitation of Nibenay's sorcerer-king (who thought he was hiring a group of freemen). To perform for these people would be akin to once again donning the shackles of slavery, no matter how much wealth may be offered. They may satirize these classes in their plays, but they will not perform for them. The third and final industry is the salt-mine and artisan market supported by Fort Fyra. Most salt-miners live at or near Fort Fyra, rather than in Salt View proper, but their revenue (when the salt business makes a profit) goes to support Salt View. The artisans have increased their production in order to sell goods through the merchant fort.

Xaynon and his original tribe of raiders grew tired of the nomadic life they were leading. They wanted more than just the freedom of the trail. They wanted the freedom to establish homes and raise families. They wanted the safety and security that only a fortified village could provide them. When his tribe set foot upon the eastern face of the Mekillot Mountains and found the abandoned salt mine, Xaynon knew that they had found their home. Xaynon had been a gladiator, regularly fighting for his life in the arena in Raam. When the mul finally found freedom, he imagined that his days of fighting were over. He was wrong, for he soon found himself fighting the leader of the slave tribe he joined for command of the group. His victory began a new chapter in this tribe's existence. First, the mul led them away from Raam, taking his tribe southwest in search of plunder and adventure. Second, he changed the tribe's habit of killing those they stole from. There was no need to bring more death to this dying world, he told them. He also gave them more freedom to determine their fates. When they needed a leader, he was there. When they did not, he let them make their own decisions. More ex-slaves joined Xaynon's tribe as it traveled around the perimeter of the Sea of Silt, past the Dragon's Bowl, and south toward the Great Ivory Plain. Besides the soldiers and gladiators that flocked to Xaynon's side, he attracted a large following of artists. Perhaps this was because he enjoyed the arts, and even fancied himself something of an artist. He loved to tell stories and dance, and he could listen to sculptors and painters talk for hours about the techniques of their craft. In the Mekillot Mountains, he ordered his tribe to halt. The time of travel was over, he decided, at least as far as he was concerned. Anyone who wanted to continue on was free to go. Those who wanted to stay would have to help him build the village he always dreamed of living in. That was how Xaynon and his tribe came to build Salt View within the caves of the mountains. The portion of Xaynon's original band that stayed to help him numbered around 200, including both warriors and artisans-and a few who were both. The artisans saw the cavernous salt mine as an opportunity to build a city of their dreams; Xaynon's warriors saw it as a shelter secure from the reprisals of the city-states. The salt mine hid the village from the prying eyes of Templars, and its only entrances were narrow tunnels which could easily be sealed should the village's location somehow be revealed. Further, the ready supply of stone discarded around the mine provided all the materials needed to build a defensive wall within the cavern itself. The warriors raided caravans for the other materials needed to make the cavern livable; the artisans used these materials to build the small village filled with theaters, taverns, and artisan's workrooms. One ex-slave had wanted to mount torches on the walls of the cavern surrounding the village. “Toward what end?” asked Xaynon. “So you can have a better view of the salt?” With this joke Xaynon had coined the name of their newly constructed home. Not long after the first dwellings were built and the perimeter wall was constructed, a few artists who had shared stories and poems with Xaynon asked if they could build an arena. The ex-gladiator was aghast at the suggestion and in his anger he almost struck the man who suggested such a thing. But they quickly explained that they wanted this arena to serve as a showcase for the arts, not for bloody entertainment. So Xaynon agreed and Salt View's first theater was built. During the caravan raids, Xaynon's band sometimes freed slaves. Those slaves who seemed to have the spirit and talent were given a choice: make your own way among the desert, or join Xaynon's band. Preference was given to slaves who were skilled warriors or artisans; the village had little need for laborers and bearers. Slaves who had turned them down (or even those who had never been asked) began to spread the word of Xaynon's band and the mysterious village of Salt View. Soon the raiders were encountering lone ex-slaves (or even small groups) who were interested in joining with Salt View. The new slaves quickly began to outnumber Xaynon's original band. Salt View, which had been constructed as a lovely village for 200, was becoming an overcrowded village of 400. Furthermore, some of the new members were of a violent temperament, and the ills of the citystates were beginning to develop in this village of hope. Xaynon stepped in to reestablish his leadership. He executed the most severe troublemakers and established the main law of Salt View: no one in Salt View shall limit the freedom of another, unless the survival of Salt View is at stake. As the leaders of Salt View, Xaynon and his raiding commanders are the arbiters of when Salt View's survival warrants the loss of some freedom. Finally, he established the trial period system which determines who will and will not be accepted into the community. Xaynon's law did not result in a utopia. The ex-slaves had too varied a background (and too great a desire for freedom) to work together in perfect harmony. The village's layout quickly deviated from the idealized plans of the original artisans, as more and more people added their own touches to the village design. Disputes arose, settled by violence as often as reasoned debate. Since that time, the village has continued to grow. Over 500 people of all races now inhabit the village, and the artisans work feverishly to extend the facilities to support them all. Raids have increased to support the increasing population. With the raids comes more notoriety and more recruits. 

The village of Salt View lies within a huge cavern with great salt pillars supporting its ceiling. The cavern is concealed against the eastern face of the Mekillot Mountains, and can be accessed only through a circuitous series of high passes, winding trails, and tunnels. These trails are laid out to confuse any pursuers looking for the village, and they are defended by deadfalls, rock slides, and guards to ensure no one gets in uninvited. The village itself occupies only a sixth of the interior of the cavern, and is laid out in a rough hexagonal shape. The walls are 8 feet high and constructed of rough-hewn stones mortared together with a salt paste. While this mortar is not as strong as that defending the walls of the city-states, it has held up fairly well. The wall is wide enough to allow a man to walk along the top. Under siege, ladders would be laid against the inner wall to allow the warriors of Salt View to repel attackers.

Every inhabitant of Salt View is given some training with weapons. At any one time, at least half the raiders are in the village, providing a garrison of 150 trained warriors. Xaynon's raiders have made an extra effort to collect the weapons from the caravans they have captured, and the market section of the village has a near inexhaustible supply of melee weapons, bows, and arrows. If the cavern is attacked, deadfalls within the tunnels can be dropped to seal the invaders out. A secondary tunnel is blocked by a makeshift rock wall; this tunnel is intended as an escape route if the other tunnels are collapsed. 

As Salt View grows, it becomes more integrated with the Ivory Triangle region. While Xaynon would like to keep Salt View totally independent (except for raiding caravans), in practice some connections have developed. First, Salt View is the primary means of support for Fort Fyra. The trade from the fort has also begun to create indirect relationships between Salt View and some of the merchant houses that conduct caravans through the area. Second, Salt View has begun trading with some of the client villages in the Verdant Belt. This trade began as a side activity of the traveling performing troupes, who use the smaller villages as shakedown performances before taking their shows to the larger markets. They have taken the opportunity to exchange the currency their shows bring for useful goods. This activity bolsters the Fort Fyra faction's contention that legitimate trade is the only course that Salt View should pursue. Salt View's nearest neighbor, the dwarven village of North Ledopolus, refuses to have anything to do with the slave tribe. They consider the raiders a threat to their caravans, as evidenced by the amount of cargo that never reaches its destination. The merchant houses that regularly trade with Gulg and Nibenay are familiar with Salt View and its practices. Many order their caravan drivers to simply give up part of their cargo as tribute to the raiders, in effect purchasing free passage through the Great Ivory Plain and its surrounding environs. Others try all kinds of things to deter the raiders – varying their caravan schedules, traveling at night, adding extra guards, employing powerful psionicists and mages, even sending out decoy caravans carrying worthless cargo to occupy the raiders while the true caravan takes another route. Sometimes these ploys work, but more often than not the raiders get their share of goods to distribute at Salt View's market. Third, Salt View's acting troupes are now a sufficiently common sight that they are themselves subject to raiding. Most slave-tribe raiders receive a terrible shock when they discover that the defenseless troupe of actors is actually comprised of battle-hardened warriors. Nevertheless, the troupes are earning enough to make them a tempting target to more aggressive groups (such as the elven raiders). Moreover, other raiding activities threaten the economic lifeline which the performers represent. The advance of the gith hordes from the Blackspine Mountains in the north and the corresponding forays of giants from Ledo Island in the south have begun to pinch at Salt View's lifeline to the economy of the city-states. Thus far, Xaynon and his lieutenants have done nothing except advise the troupes to use caution. However, if the raids continue to intensify, he may have no choice but to guard the troupes like a caravan, or abandon them altogether. Not all Salt View's relationships are positive. Gulg and Nibenay have forbidden trade with the raiders, and the dwarves of North Ledopolus despise the ex-slaves. The merchant houses do not particularly like the raids, but as Salt View has shown some restraint (and low propensity to kill merchants) they view the raids as a cost of business, and raise prices accordingly. To preserve its reputation for raiding without murder, Salt View raiders often find themselves in conflict with other raiders (particularly the Swiftwing elves) who work the same territory as Salt View's raiders.

All new inhabitants of Salt View must undergo a trial period before being accepted as full members of the community. Before the trial period begins, any potential inhabitant of Salt View is warned of the details. Xaynon does not relish the occasional refusal he must make, as he feels there has been enough death in his life, so he gives a prospect the maximum opportunity to turn away before drastic measures must be taken. A potential member of the Salt View community is usually found as part of a raid, or by a traveling acting troupe. When freed, a potential candidate is told that they may be able to join the community of Salt View. The basics of how the society operates are sketched out, but the location of the village is kept secret at this stage. The new prospect is then warned that there is a trial period, and that those who are judged not to fit into the community are not permitted to survive. The prospect is then asked if they are willing to try. If the prospect declines, then he or she is let free, and no more is said. There are no hard feelings, and more than once someone who turned down an opportunity to join the tribe later came back to find some representatives and petition to join. If the prospect accepts, they are taken to the village. When the prospect reaches the village, he or she is assisted in finding a place to live and assigned duties in the village. Any task is allowed to the prospect, and tasks are chosen for them in the same way as any permanent resident. The prospect is permitted to remain in Salt View for up to three months before a judgment is passed. Particularly heroic or heinous acts will accelerate this time. If, at the end of the trial period, the prospect has demonstrated an ability to get along in Salt View, and has shown skills which the community needs or can use, he or she is accepted as a permanent inhabitant of Salt View. If, on the other hand, the prospect has shown himself to be violent, cowardly, untrustworthy, or unwilling to fit in, Xaynon denies the petition, and the now-failed prospect is taken to the Sea of Silt to die.