Hypothesis: Can we use the Crossroads better?

[Sadok]

This is a long post. I make no apologies.  

It is unfortunate but true that our roleplay in Razor Hill is usually stale. The tribe sit next to a campfire at ‘the tree’ far above anything or anyone, entirely failing to interact with the settlement or anything around it. We do not get the sense that we are ‘at’ Razor Hill, or even that we are anywhere at all - we become isolated from everything but that campfire and tree.

This changed in our most recent stay in Razor Hill. Rather than staying at the tree, we engaged with the setting. Locations all over the town were utilised: Orcs drank and ate in the tavern; duels in the centre of the town; the Rrosh-tul held an emergency gathering inside the barracks; conversations were held in secret behind the barracks and inn; even the campfire moved inside the settlement. Much like our stays in Garadar, we roleplayed in a settlement rather than next to one - I felt satisfied with those weeks in Razor Hill.

It would seem that for the time being, the tribe will be staying in Northern Barrens, with our key events and random RP largely based out of the Crossroads. After leaving Razor Hill, my heart sunk slightly as the entire night’s RP was based on the watchtower hill, the Crossroads equivalent to ‘the tree’. This is unfortunate because whilst the Crossroads has perhaps fewer amenities than Razor Hill, there’s still quite a lot of ways we can properly interact with the settlement as a whole.

I’ve taken a comprehensive look at the Crossroads and detailed ways we might better incorporate the town’s facilities into our roleplay. These are intended as just suggestions, but hopefully it’ll get people thinking about ways we can better use the whole of the Crossroads rather than the immediate area around the watchtower.



1- Watchtower - Looming above all, this tower is more than a landmark. It offers unrivaled vision of the entire settlement and the savannah beyond; though the view is picturesque indeed, it might be of considerably more interest to the guards that patrol the Crossroads. The Varog’Gor, ever-obsessed with identifying and eradicating possible threats to the tribe, might consider this an appropriate point to conduct their vigil from.

2- Apothecary’s Tent - Next to the settlement’s perched wyvern (available for private hire at a modest price) is a makeshift tent is stocked with alchemical apparatuses and reagents both innocuous and sinister. This area might be suitable for pursuing research and experiments of a scientific or spiritual nature.

3- Seers’ Hut - Housing a variety of shamanistic paraphernalia, including dreamcatchers, kneeling mats and a pool of water (that might be used in scrying rituals), this wooden-bracketed hut is perhaps a natural fit for the Thur’ruk, Gosh’kar and other spiritualists to congregate for rituals, ideological discourse and other spiritual matters.

4- Shady Rest - This small tent is stocked with few provisions, but might offer brief respite from the Barrens sun. Its position on the outskirts of the settlement might favor lone wolves, outcasts or perhaps the darker elements of the Horde, preferring to conduct their business with hushed voices in this small nook of the town.

5- Forge - Ably servicing blacksmiths of all specialties, the Crossroads boasts a large forge adequately stocked with hammers, tongs and anvils. From novice to grand-master, there is space enough for beginners wishing to hone their craft, or for talented experts to forge weapons and armor alike.

6- Stables - Alongside the inn, riding wolves, hunters’ beasts and travelers’ steeds are capably catered for. Though not as impressive as most orcish stables, the Crossroads stables provides the bare essentials. Large troughs and sacks of feed keep stabled beasts fed and watered; a thick totem-like pole provides a place for them to be restrained.

7- Marketplace - Just outside the inn, merchants and tradesmen ply their trade and offer their expertly-crafted wares to travelers and residents alike. With a variety of props including supply crates, weaponry, hookahs and dry fruits, this area presents significant opportunities to both buyer and seller.

8- Crossroads Tavern - Standing at the centre of the settlement, this large and shady inn-house is a welcome respite for those looking to escape the heat. Well stocked with ale-kegs and a table-cooker, the innkeeper can provide both a satisfying morsel and a strong drink to orcs relaxing after a hard day’s hunting. Housing nearly a dozen beds, bunks and hammocks, wayfarers and tribesorcs alike can also be ably accommodated.

9- Butcher’s Tent - Though ‘Butcher’ carries negative connotations in the wake of Taurajo’s razing, this crude shade boasts meathooks from which choice cuts of raw meat hang. With soft hide-carpets, cleavers and an impressive cooking fire, an aspiring cook might use this area to prepare a meal.

10- Training Dummies - These wooden targets are crudely fashioned in the image of a dwarf and human respectively; marked by hundreds of axe cuts and arrow marks, these dummies offer practice for both unskilled novice and experienced veteran. The Rrosh-tul, Nag’Ogar and other orcs of a warriorlike disposition might be found here honing their skills and perhaps sparring amongst one another.

11- Bakery - This tent’s twin grindstones continually turn thanks to an ingenious wind-powered mechanism. Large sacks of grain, mortar and pestle and clay bowls complete the range of props that a tribesorc might use to bake goods such as crusty hunks of bread or cactus-apple pies.

12- Tailors’ Hut - This spacious hut contains several large looms that the tribe’s tailors, packweavers and tradesorcs might employ as they craft fine cloth goods for the tribe’s benefit.

13- Stormcloud Tepee - A large tent of stitched canvas walls that houses a variety of wooden crates. Said props could be used to house companion pets or even captives of the tribe.

14 - Well - In the arid climate of the Northern Barrens, this tauren-made well provides a rare opportunity for tribesorcs to get precious water for a variety of reasons. These might include refilling a water skin, boiling water for tea or plainstrider soup, or to wash garments ranging from coarse flax robes to battle regalia.

15- Burning Blade Banner - This infamous emblem could provide a gathering spot for honorable Blademasters passing through the Crossroads, or indeed serve the tribe’s own Blademasters as they sip tea, share wisdom, spar together and compare sandals.


I'd welcome any further suggestions (and of course criticisms!) if you'd be so kind to leave a comment.

[Drevan]

This grizzly old Veteran loves it

[Thrash'Nak]

Nice post, thanks for showing us, Sadok.

[Regorn]

16- Mysterious bag - A bag sitting on a hidden place were the wind carries away the stench. Several attempts have been made to move them but the Peons and even the Grunts falls unconscious before reaching the bag, even the Forsaken won't go close. Shamans speculate the bag to be haunted and is only having the rotting body of the said dead person body, and his spirit refuse to let someone move it. Maybe someone who can't feel the Stench can remove this haunted bag?

oh yes, that would be amusing to see

maybe you should hold a "find Regorn's hidden Yolk" contest? Just see were Sadok is running away like a girl from to find a place were it is hidden

[Morgeth]

This is a really nice initiative, that must've taken time to create and write out. I appreciate the notion of orcs usually locking themselves around a specific spot. Perhaps we're simply stuck in those times when we used to be smaller and thus needed to focus more heavily into an area of an area. Your map of the crossroads is ace, and perhaps this can be used as a nice foundation for future events to not be hosted on one specific spot all the time. This also opens up for more fresh thinking in regards to other locations we use, such as Garadar, Razor Hill etc.