Fort Inix

Fort Inix was built when the oasis near it was more fertile and the foliage stood year round. At that time, House Shom established a breeding ground for inix here. This breeding effort produced some of the best inix mounts in the Tyr region, and the fort was built as an adjunct to the breeding Effort. According to the stories, the fortress was also used as a way station for the huge House Shom caravans that traveled from Nibenay to thriving settlements east of the Ivory Triangle. Caravans from across the Tyr region would pass through Fort Inix, collecting mounts and trade goods for the long caravan route. As the climate dried and the oasis withered, the livelihood of Fort Inix went with the water. In time, the oasis could no longer support vegetation year-round, and the inix rapidly gnawed the remaining vegetation to the ground. After that, the inix breeding efforts had to be moved closer to Nibenay, in the protection of the Verdant Belt. As the eastern settlements fell, there were no anger huge caravans passing through the oasis. Over time, the fortress has become more and more isolated, with less and less purpose. House Shom made valiant efforts to preserve Fort Inix's sefulness. It established a number of small villages in the scrub plains south of the ruins of Giustenal, supported and serviced by House Shom caravans. As soon as those villages became somewhat self-sustaining, however, the agent running Fort Inix increased its prices threefold to provide the cash required to purchase a popular gladiator. Those villages that did not immediately collapse under the weight of increased prices turned to other merchant houses for their goods. Over the last century, Fort Inix has become a visible symbol of the fallen might of House Shom. The leaders of the family are preoccupied with maintaining their hedonistic lifestyles in Nibenay. Other merchant houses eye Fort Inix as a puzzling waste. 

As is typical of House Shom, the complement of the fort has not diminished with the declining activity. Extensive resources are committed to maintain a huge staff to manage the nonexistent inix herds and caravan trade. Because of its history, Fort Inix is a prestigious post for an up-and-coming agent of the house despite its uselessness, and many vie for the honor of becoming Fort Inix's new master trader. The post of master trader is at best temporary, as any assigned to this post are quickly transferred either to higher posts, or – if they are not politically adept – to even less prestigious backwaters. Few traders come to Fort Inix, primarily because prices here are so high. There is a sizable black market selling goods in the bazaar at lower prices, and many believe that this black market consists entirely of goods stolen from the warehouse in the fort. Prices in the black market are less than those charged at the fort itself, but they are often not competitive with the less heavily burdened fortresses of the other houses in the region. Because the master trader is constantly changing, traders have become used to dealing with the more permanent minor functionaries. Simply surviving at Fort Inix is becoming more and more difficult. The huge population of the fort (consisting of 75 staff and 200 slaves) taxes the production of the oasis. Over the years, the oasis has been shrinking, primarily because Fort Inix consumes so much of the water for itself. As conditions continue to worsen, the day when there will not be enough water to support the staff rapidly approaches.

The staff of the fortress is divided into four main organizations, all reporting to the chief trader. These are the storehouse, the herd, the garrison, and trade operations. The master of stores and his staff of 10 workers and 30 slaves maintain the inventory of trade goods and supplies that are to be kept available for House Shom caravans. With regular caravans, most of these goods are lost to decay long before a caravan arrives to use them. As a result, this organization is primarily dedicated to identifying stores that have become useless, discarding them, and requesting new stores from Nibenay. The current master of stores is Berdeth Wesran; he is known privately as a good source of inexpensive goods, and many believe that some of the discarded stores end up in the hands of his personal customers. The master of the herd and his organization (6 workers and 30 slaves) care for the inix herds. Since there are no inix at the fortress (the oasis can no longer support them), they spend much of their time waiting or training in outdated methods of inix care. The current master of the herd is Sermap Yestrev, a slender man in his fifties. Sermap has been master of the herd for nearly 20 years, and makes no secret of the fact that he plans to die in the job. He views his generous salary and light duties as a sinecure owed him by House Shom or is ears of service. Sermap has done little to endear himself to the rest of the fortress garrison. His staff contributes little to the fort's daily operations. Sermap has a long-running feud with Berdeth Wesran, stemming from Sermap's suspicions about Berdeth's inventory management and Berdeth's resentment regarding Sermap's ineffectual staff. The master of the garrison, Werelev, is responsible for maintaining the defenses of Fort Inix. Werelev is a belgoi, and his 40 troops are a mixture of that evil race, half-giants of evil or chaotic temperament, humans, muls, and thrikreen. Werelev maintains a rough, violent discipline, and more garrison members are lost to internal disputes or Werelev's discipline than are lost defending the fortress. Typically, half of this force remains at the fort at all times, while half can be found "on patrol," raiding nearby villages and caravans of other houses. The chief trader himself heads the last department, whose purpose is to trade with those who visit the fort, regardless of house affiliation. This department has 15 members plus 55 slaves, and operates a bazaar just outside the fortress walls. Of all the departments in Fort Inix, only this one is still doing the work of supporting House Shom. Unfortunately, the costs of goods at the fort are determined in part by the market, but mostly by the huge overhead costs that go into supporting the enormously over-staffed fortress. As a result, prices at Fort Inix are uncompetitively high, and few will purchase anything here they can get anywhere else. The only product traded heavily at Fort Inix is lumber, and this is only because Nibenay and House Shom hold a virtual monopoly on lumber in this region. In addition to the slaves mentioned in the various departments above, every free member of the garrison has a personal servant-slave. The department heads have three slaves each; the chief trader has five. These slaves have no direct duties, except to provide for the comfort of the garrison. While in theory each slave is assigned to a specific individual, in practice they are managed as a labor pool, and a garrison freeman needing help will seize the nearest servant-slave.