The City of Ved is one of the few sizeable towns in the Land of Trikāf in the Underworld. Its wealth (such as it is) comes from its control of the trade routes to the Lands of Kargen and Harrig, as it sits astride the point where the River Sarif enters the valley through the long ranges of the Gums and Far Hills that leads ultimately to those distant lands. It is also a marketplace for coal from the Ash Waste, iron and precious metals from the Far Hills, lumber and furs from the Gums Hills, and slaves from the frequent wars and raids that sweep Trikāf.
Ved is an orcish town, though there are a few human or dwarf slaves, and even a few free human, dwarvish or half breed workers living in its faubourg. It is generally ruled by an independent Warlord of Evil/Chaotic Alignment. At the end of the Year 2503 its ruler is the Warlord Dirhjg, a worshipper of DAELOTH, Mistress of Terror. He keeps control of the town by the use of execution and torture squads, undead from the Necropolis, and monsters thralled by the power of Terror and ridden by his soldiers. He is at war with Azord, Warlord of Kner, who serves STRAMMASCH, Lady of Violence.
The city is protected by a ring of four watchtowers, strategically positioned on its surrounding hills to the North, West, South and East. These are connected by an outer trench line, which is manned against raiders but is far too long to defend against serious attack, and was in fact dug by successive besieging armies. Inside this is the inner trench line, which protects the faubourg that lies outside the river and city walls, and forms the city's first serious line of defence. The city itself lies on an island in the River Sarif, formed by the digging of a canal and the formation of lakes upriver and downriver due to the bridges above and dam below. As well as this moat it is protected by stone walls (partly breached on the lake shores where the docks are). At its heart lies the Warlord's Citadel; a formidable black tower whose outer walls are constantly demolished and rebuilt every time there is a change of ruler.
Inside the outer trench line lie allotments fed by an irrigation system, the Necropolis of PHANTOM, the Parade Grounds of ZAKEL and the Waste Tips of TERRIK. Outside the defences can be found scattered settlements, mostly farms, inns, logging camps and the hunting lodges of the elite. The largest nearby settlement is the village of Sarz, two leagues downstream of Ved at the mouth of the valley. Under Dirhig's rule this is the base of his feared Wargrider cavalry, led by Lieutenant Slaarg, a half-orc who is said (but not to his face) to have too much human blood in him and to be a Werewolf himself. Slaarg has made his base in the nearby Minotaur's Head Inn, now renamed the Wolf's Head.
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