It’s probably easiest to imagine the Five Winds as a single massive city, with its five sections spread across mountain peaks, rather than as five separate entities. Though each of the Five Winds was established long before the coming of Order, each is now but a part of a greater whole, and so the nature of the cities has changed as well. Though hints of the old cities remain, they have become devoted to a greater cause, and the old ways are disappearing. Each city also sponsors an Adventurers’ Guild of a specific type. Members of the adventuring classes are expected to stay at, train with, and promote the goals of their individual guild in harmony with those of the other cities.
The cities all share a basic layout, with streets running north/south and east/west. The outer side of the city is apportioned to Guild-related activities—training structures, barracks, mess halls, supply depots, and so forth, with a wide boulevard on the very outer edge. This boulevard follows the outer edge of the Great Weaving. The civilian sides of the cities are populated with artisans, city officials and employ-ees, and traveling merchants. Each city maintains a commu-nal well and basic set of food stores and livestock pens in the event of a successful Chaos raid, but most depend on the breadbasket of the farms below.
Commerce between the cities is mainly a token gesture to keep track of desires and necessities. Money rarely changes hands between residents, though a monetary system is estab-lished for purchasing from outside merchants. Adventuring outsiders are expected to contribute their expertise to the effort against Chaos, and in exchange, they can gather many of their supplies here for no charge. If they wish to purchase with gold instead, they can expect to pay triple the normal prices.
The elders of the Five Winds have established an honor system of chits that rates various services, and adventurers Beyond Countless Doorways
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INHABITANTS ABOVE THE CLOUD
can earn better equipment by performing these services for the cities (see the “Services and Rewards” table on the next page). In certain cases, they can borrow equipment and return it later, but those who try to flee with this equipment before rendering services face the wrath of a kolyarut, an inevitable whose sole mission is to track contract breakers.
Kolyaruts are fairly common in the Five Winds, for the crys-talline intelligences of Order require contracts to be hon-ored and will dispatch these beings as necessary.
Crime is rare in the Five Winds, for punishment among the Fair People is extremely harsh. The least offenses result in expul-sion from the plane unless the offender is willing to pay restitu-tion in honor chits. Middling offenses result in banishment to the lands below the cloud. Major offenses result in execution.
Allowances are made for a criminal’s knowledge of the law, so first-time visitors will not be unduly punished. Crime is meas-ured mainly by intent to harm. Thus, pickpockets are considered lesser criminals, while murderers are major offenders. Guards patrol the streets in groups of six and can be reinforced quickly.
Turquto
The entrance to Turquto is also the primary entrance to the Five Winds, from a gentle trail rising up from the inner bowl. It has devoted an entire quarter of its space to ameni-ties and information for first-time travelers and those here on short trips. The quarter is bounded by tall stone walls, atop which guards patrol day and night. The quarter is filled with trees and plazas, and helpful aides in eagle-feathered robes answer questions about the structure of the Five Winds for the curious.
The remainder of the white-towered city of Turquto is a center for research and development in the Five Winds, and as such, is the home to the Mages’ Guild. It is a place of gleaming white marble, of broad avenues and tall buildings that hide the sun. All the residents live in these tall build-ings, and though the city thrums with activity, it is an intensely quiet place. The loudest sound one is likely to hear in the street is the howling of the wind through the canyons of stone, and occasionally a muffled explosion
from the laboratories at the hearts of the marble towers.
Couriers—signified by their black-feathered robes—dash through the streets with messages from one mage to anoth-er. Torch-bearers take their place at night, their activity never ceasing.
Though all magical and mundane researchers work toward the common goal of understanding and thus defeat-ing the enemy, they still have time for internecine struggles over whose remedies might prove most effective. Because they want to steer the direction of the resistance with their work, and because they seek the use of scarce resources to prove their theories, they often come into conflict with each other. Their dedication to their visions is the very thing that drives them apart. Someone with a taste for politics might be able to gain power by playing them against each other. On the other hand, someone with a taste for victory might be able to bring them together.
Grimshead
Grimshead, the southern city, is the Temple City, a place of worship and contemplation. This city is far more organic, green, and wet than Turquto. The colors are green and brown, and the dirt streets are lined with trees. Glades and gardens are the norm, and they almost disguise the gridlike layout of the city. The guild here is devoted to those who draw their strength from the gods or from nature, and all residents of the Five Winds are required to attend services or make devotions in this city once a week. The planners of
Grimshead have erected temples and churches to over 100 gods from a variety of different worlds, and the civilian members of the city are always available to build more—
assuming the petitioner can provide 10,000 gp worth of honor chits.
All lawful and neutral gods are welcome here. Those who worship no gods are still required to spend time in quiet meditation.
The Guildhouse houses itinerant priests whose gods are not represented here, and some of the vast parks play host to druids who work on ways to make the plants and animals below the cloud hardier and more resistant to its physical alterations. They offer honor chits for parties to test out these new strains and bring back samples.
Crowskill
The western peak holds the city of warriors, and so it’s fit-ting that the only exterior entrance to and egress from the Five Winds is found on its heavily fortified western slopes.
It is from Crowskill that adventuring parties descend into the murk. Oddly, the creatures below don’t wait at the base for travelers, instead preferring to come across them by chance later.
The city is a mélange of architectural styles, building materials, and open and closed spaces, interspersed with enormous covered stadiums used for creating various artifi-cial landscapes for combat training. The law states that war-riors must spend at least three hours a day training; they Beyond Countless Doorways
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Service Performed GP Equivalent of Supplies
Easy reconnaissance (near the mountains’ bases)
Nonhazardous 100 gp
Moderate hazard 500 gp
Extreme hazard (Tormentor encounter) 1,000 gp
Medium reconnaissance (out to 50 miles)
Nonhazardous 250 gp
Moderate hazard 1,000 gp
Extreme hazard (Tormentor encounter) 2,500 gp
Long reconnaissance (beyond 50 miles)
Nonhazardous 1,000 gp
Moderate hazard 2,500 gp
Extreme hazard (Tormentor encounter) 5,000 gp
Slaying chaos creatures (per creature)
Challenge Rating 1–3 100 gp
Challenge Rating 4–6 500 gp
Challenge Rating 7+ 2,500 gp
Beneficial research
Easy (one to two days) 100 gp
Medium (up to a month) 1,000 gp
Hard (a month or longer) 5,000 gp
SERVICES AND REWARDS
must sign in and out of approved training facilities, and their attendance is logged and filed. Fortunately, the instructors of Crowskill are top notch, having spent nearly their entire lives studying the ways of blade and bow. Many of them are willing to sign on with parties descending into the cloud, and some of them are authorized to assign raid-ing missions on various Tormentor strongholds.
The most notable of these is Dorian Longshiver. Her brother Vivian sacrificed his squadron to learn the secrets of the Tormentor Spatterskull, and then took the Tormentor’s place and name for himself. She has sworn vengeance, and she pays handsomely for word of his whereabouts. She’ll gladly join a party to restore her family’s honor if it means crossing his path. In addition to Common, Dorian speaks Abyssal, Celestial, Elven, and Terran.
Dorian Longshiver, female half-elf Rgr10: CR 10; Medium humanoid; HD 10d8+10; hp 66; Init +3; Speed 30 feet;
AC 17 (+3 Dex, +4 armor), touch 13, flat-footed 14; BAB +10;
Grapple +9; Attack +9 melee (1d8–1, critical 19–20/×2, longsword), or +15 ranged (1d8+1+1d6, critical 20/×3, cold longbow); Full Attack +9/+4 melee (1d8–1, critical 19–20/×2, longsword), or +15/+10 ranged (1d8+1+1d6, criti-cal 20/×3, cold longbow); SQ Evasion; AL LG; SV Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +6; Str 9, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 10 Skills and Feats: Craft (carpentry) +11, Diplomacy +6, Gather
Information +3, Heal +16, Hide +14, Knowledge (geogra-phy) +12, Knowledge (nature) +13, Listen +16, Move Silently +19, Profession (hunter) +14, Search +4, Spot +2, Survival +16, Swim +11; Iron Will, Manyshot, Rapid Shot, Self Sufficient, Skill Focus (hide), Skill Focus (listen), Track, Weapon Focus (longbow)
Possessions: +2 leather armor, +1 cold longbow, masterwork arrows (24), longsword, boots of elvenkind, potion of neutralize poison Spells (2/1; save DC 11 + spell level): 1st—alarm, charm
animal; 2nd—barkskin
The civilian members of the population are responsible for cleanup and maintenance of the training sites, and for logging the hours trained by each particular warrior. They also run the mess halls and infirmaries.