Poortool’s Horde

An extraordinarily dispassionate man, Poortool runs his tribe as an even-handed autocrat. He is willing to hear out the opinions of even his gith sentries and scullery slaves. He believes that anyone may have valuable information to contribute to his decision making. He does not suppose, however, that everyone is equally qualified to make decisions and disdains the time-wasting, consensusbuilding processes of democracy. He has at times, reversed a decision in response to dissension. He does not see this as a sign of weakness, but rather as proof that he is open-minded and dedicated to the best interests of the community. Poortool leaves the day to day administration of village affairs to Tordos, his second in command. Tordos tracks inventory of dry goods as well as magic components. He also directs the staff of slaves that the village has acquired both through raids and the slave markets of the city-states. The slaves are employed in all aspects of life in the village. The mages need only get involved in the mundane tasks of day to day life to the extent that it interests them. The security of the village is the responsibility of Garreth, a human soldier who escaped the prisons of Gulg on a Red Moon Hunt and sought asylum in Poortool’s village. He commands the gith warriors who protect the community, and he coordinates their raids. Poortool himself decides who will comprise the parties that are sent on various missions required to advance the interests of the community and its allies. There are currently eight mages in the tribe, in addition to Poortool and Tordos. They are encouraged to spend their time engaged in study and research and to leave the administration of day to day affairs with Poortool. Poortool arranges for the purchase of necessary goods through House Tsalaxa. Poortool allows the members to pursue whatever interests they may have, but they must be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice to undertake a mission for the community or of its allies. Poortool demands the unquestioning responsiveness of a military organization in all missions and raiding activity. They respect Poortool’s vision and realize that he has only succeeded because of a willingness to make hard decisions. There are two young mages within the Gulg Veiled Alliance who are loyal to Poortool, and one in Nibenay. There are 50 gith who serve as the camp garrison. The gith come from tribes who have been displaced by Blackspear’s activity. Their efforts are coordinated by Garreth, the garrison commander. They serve the tribe in exchange for the goods they steal in raids, as well as the aid Poortool offers in defending their own tribes against Blackspear. None of the warriors are psionicists. Twenty slaves comprise Tordos’ staff. Among these slaves are some artisans who maintain the buildings and fences, a kitchen staff, herders, and a few laborers. The slaves are treated well and not overworked. This is not because of any compassion on Poortool’s part. But it simply reflects his idea of how to enhance the productivity of his property

The tribe mounts two types of raids. The first are the shakedown raids and the second are raids in the service of their allies. The shakedown raids are used as part of Poortool’s recruiting campaigns within the Veiled Alliance. They are attacks on elven tribes that are intended to drive the elves away from a particular city-state. This in turn drives up the cost of magic components and reduces their availability. The Veiled Alliance naturally feels the impact of such a change, and the first thing to suffer within the organization is the training of younger members. Poortool uses this tactic to heighten the discontent of the lower ranks of the secretive society and then uses his insiders to flush out potential tribe members. Raids are also conducted for the benefit of Poortool’s allies. These currently include the tribes of gith who serve him and the merchant House Tsalaxa of Draj. The tribe will send mages to support the gith as needed. Poortool has recently struck an alliance with House Tsalaxa, which hopes to increase its influence on both Gulg and Nibenay. The tribe is often requested to escort caravans carrying sensitive cargo. They are also hired to raid competitor’s caravans or client villages. The tribe uses the revenue from their mercenary work to purchase goods directly from the merchant house. They also sell some of the magic components that they acquire through their shakedown raids to House Tsalaxa. Poortool draws upon the gith tribes to supplement his garrison for particularly difficult attacks. He also dedicates at least two mages to each raiding party. He is currently looking for a few psionicists to augment the mobility and communications capabilities of his raiding parties. Daily living within the camp is attended by the staff of slaves. These slaves are fairly dedicated to the tribe, partly out of fear and partly because they are treated well and know that their lives would be much more difficult back in the city-states or with the slave tribes in the wilderness. The slaves’ activities include minding the camp’s small erdlu herd and preparing meals. 

Poortool’s intelligence showed as a child, and he was taken into the tutelage of the king’s defilers in Nibenay. He had an insatiable appetite for knowledge, but little patience for discipline. His master recommended he be sent for psionic study to improve his concentration before he continued studying magic. He quit his magical studies and continued to serve as a clerk to the templars. His talent had not gone unnoticed, however, and he was soon recruited by the Veiled Alliance. Starting from scratch, he began his magical training as a preserver. Over time, however, he found the secretiveness of the organization that oppressed him and the structure stifled his growth. He eventually stole a contact’s spellstring and set out into the scrubland. He had been traveling for a week when he was set upon by a small pack of gith. He quickly disabled his attackers and decided to ransom them back to their tribe. The incident earned him the respect of the gith warriors, who admired his cunning. He offered to assist the gith in planning a raid and, while they were suspicious, the success of the raid confirmed the young half-elf’s intelligence and formed the basis of his current relationship with them. Poortool decided to establish a permanent base and called upon the gith to help him capture some slaves from the caravans traveling out of Nibenay. Once he had put the slaves to work building the small encampment, he set out to recruit some like-minded young mages. Through a series of clandestine meetings reinforced by a sudden scarcity of magic components, Poortool quickly-found a handful of initiates. It was the gith who named the tribe as they saw the young mage begin to collect adherents. Over the years, Poortool has expanded his small community. He hopes now to tap into the cities of Balic, Raam, and Dral for more tribe members.

Poortool fully recognizes that his tribe will remain fugitives from the law as long as the sorcerer-kings remain in power, or at least until his tribe can grow in strength to the point that they can defy the sorcerer-kings and conduct their affairs openly. That day, however, is unlikely to come to pass in this King’s Age. Consequently, a strict policy of secrecy must be maintained outside the community. Even the tribe’s allies at House Tsalaxa know the tribe as a roving band of mercenaries. Only their gith allies of the Blackspine Mountains know of the encampment. Poortool views the Veiled Alliance with disdain. While he recruits from their ranks, he tends to view them as a secret society of doddering old men and intriguers. He enjoys exposing their weaknesses and culling the most promising mages from their ranks. While they are not currently aware of his tribe, were an Alliance chapter to approach Poortool, he would entertain the value of an accord with them just as he would any other organization. Poortool has no particular aversion to defiling magic, but he does not believe it is practical to allow defilers to join the community when there are so many mages working together in close proximity. He does occasionally provide a passing defiler with spell components or a place to hide. He reminds his preservers that all mages are fugitives and that such relationships may sometimes prove valuable. He sees the tribe’s relationship with House Tsalaxa as a way of meeting the tribe’s needs for various goods without exposing the group unnecessarily to the city-states and villages of the region. He would, however, gladly enter into a relationship with another merchant house if it served his interests. Presently, the availability of goods, combined with a single point of contact, make the House Tsalaxa relationship quite satisfactory. To this point, the tribe has only maintained alliances with solitary gith tribes that have been displaced by Blackspear. Poortool is now preparing to establish an alliance with Blackspear himself. The mage believes that one day when his small tribe has become a nation, he will need an army to carve out its home. Neither the elf tribes whom Poortool’s gith harass, nor the templars whom he occasionally aids, are aware of the existence of the tribe. The mages generally remain concealed in the raids on the elf tribes. Consequently, the elves simply think the attacks are just the random strikes of roving gith tribes. The templars of the city-states believe that the tips they receive simply come from concerned citizens. Poortool will strike a deal with anyone if he believes that it will serve the long-term interests of the community. He has hired small bands of mercenaries to find odd items for the tribe or to serve as escorts on Tsalaxa caravans.

Strangers happening upon the encampment are likely to wake up a distance away with no recollection of having ever seen the place. Poortool has no qualms about killing intruders if necessary. It would not attract undue attention for traveler’s to fall prey to gith and disappear in the vicinity of the Blackspine Mountains. Poortool will, however, actually extend hospitality to mages and their traveling companions. His intention, of course, is to find new members for the tribe. A mage expressing interest in joining the tribe is interviewed by Poortool and Prasad, the tribe’s psionicist. They use magic and psionics to confirm the veracity of their candidate’s answers. The candidate is permitted to remain in the community for a week, enjoying the open company of other mages. The candidate is then taken on a raid. If the mage proves him or herself, he or she is accepted into the tribe. Interestingly, only the gith are permitted to evaluate a candidate’s performance on a raid. Defilers are not permitted to practice in the community but will be shown hospitality.