Old Camp
From World of Gothic
The Old Camp was the oldest and by far the richest camp established by the convicts in the Valley of Mines. It was centered around an old castle and was the only one that had an established trade deal with the outside world and King's forces.
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Overview
The Old Camp was the biggest camp of the three under the Barrier. The castes here were very distinct and passing to a higher one was very difficult and in many instances even impossible.
There were two distinct areas: the Outer Ring and the castle, both of which ruled by different sets of rules and customs.
Outer Ring
The Outer Ring was a name for the area located between the outer wooden palisade and the castle's walls. It was also the most densely populated place in the colony.
Here, the Diggers and Shadows lived in wooden huts of their own construction. The huts occupied every available space and were built hastily and badly constructed, as those abandoned decayed rapidly, falling apart in a matter of weeks. Those huts belonging to more prominent Shadows were kept in a better shape and more sturdy.
Three main locations of the Outer Ring were the marketplace, where Fisk and Dexter traded their wares to a wide array of clients, including Guards. Another place was the Arena, ran by Scatty, where gladiators from all camps and occasionaly other Old Camp guards used to clash in mortal combat to the amusement of the spectators.
Castle
An old royal castle constructed in the Valley of Mines of Khorinis formed the core of the Old Camp. Following the revolt of convicts, it was under Gomez's control.
The castle was built around a hill in the center of the valley, with buildings and walls surrounding the center courtyard. The buildings, clockwise from the main gate, were the guards' barracks, interconnected to the dungeons underground, which were abandoned and laid in disuse following the revolt.
Next building was the smith's shop, ran by Stone and Skip, with an adjacent weapons storage, where Guard's weapons and armors were forged and maintained.
Opposite the warehouse the Temple of Innos was located, inscribed on the inside with ancient writings and magical symbols. Here, the Fire Mages of the Old Camp lived, experimented and performed their rituals. They were Corristo, Torrez, teacher and merchant, Damarok working as an alchemist, Drago and Rodriguez.
The main building, opposite the gate and next to the Temple was the Ore Barons' house, where Gomez, Raven, Bartholo, Arto and Scar ruled over the Old Camp and controlled the trade with the outer world. The house was outfitted with a large kitchen, an armory, two throne rooms, conference room and four bedrooms. The house was also connected to the tower, where all the goods of the Ore Barons were kept, along with the old treasury of the castle.
History
The Old Camp was the first camp established in the Valley of Mines by the King's forces in order to mine magic ore. Convicts were kept in the dungeons below the castle and treated little better than slaves.
When the Barrier was erected and malfunctioned, the crew of the castle was bewildered by the fact, and the convicts used the situation to their advantage, killing the guards and taking control of the castle, under the lead of Gomez.
The King, facing the prospect of losing a source of magic ore, decided to strike a deal with the self-proclaimed Ore Barons, and in return for various goods, he'd receive shipments of magic ore from the colony. This status quo was maintained throughout the years, and the Old Camp grew in prominence and power within the colony's microcosm, as they were the only one with a direct trade link established with the outside.
However, this would abruptly come to an end with the collapse of the Old Mine, when diggers tapped into an underground river, which caused the entire mine to collapse and cave-in. Fearing loss of influence, Gomez immediately ordered an invasion of New Camp's Free Mine. The Fire Mages opposed this decision and forebode Gomez from invading the mine, demanding pertractations and negotiations with other camps, and this proved to be their demise - in their stubborn arrogance, they didn't foresee that Gomez would not take such an attitude lightly and ordered them to be executed for treason. All were killed.
All except Milten.
The plan fails, and the camp spirals down into near anarchy, barely contained by the guardsmen. Shortly after, the Barrier falls and much of the camp's crew flees the Valley, eventually organizing into a bandit force operating from Jharkendar.
The Old Camp disbanded at the very moment the Barrier fell.
Hierarchy
- The Diggers were the lowest caste in the Old Camp, forming the backbone of its workforce. The diggers were working in the Old Mine, mining magic ore to exchange with the King. However, they were also the least respected group, abused by the Guardsmen regularly and disregarded by most of the Old Camp.
- Shadows were the members of the Old Camp that were more fortunate that diggers. Shadows were thieves, assasins, scouts, traders and leaders, used by Gomez for special tasks. Unlike Guards, they were used only as a last resort when it cam to fighting and most of them usually preferred to run away from dangers. They were led by Diego, and prominent figures among them included Dexter the sly merchant, Fisk the trader, Fingers the master thief, Cavalorn the hunter, Scatty the arena master, Sly and Whistler.
- Guards were the main fighting force of the camp - wearing armour salvaged from royal guards killed in the revolt, equipped with top notch weapons and crossbows, these highly trained warriors were sworn protectors of the Old Camp and Gomez. Being so powerful, Gomez used them as invasion force against the Free Mine and the guards themselves often abused lower ranking members of the camp. Important guards included Bullit, Scorpio, Jackal, Bloodwyn or Cutter. All were led by Thorus.
- Fire Mages were members of the Circle of Fire who assisted Gomez, helping him with advice and their magic abilities. They were initially led by Xardas, but when he started experimenting with necromancy and black magic, the rest of the mages and Gomez became increasingly disturbed by his experiments, Xardas left the camp to avoid an escalation of hostilities. The Fire Mages were then led by the less skilled Corristo. They were the spell-casters of the camp, but even that role didn't protect them from being assassinated by the Guardsmen when they tried to forbid Gomez from invading the Free Mine. Members of the Circle of Fire affiliated with the Old Camp included Corristo, Rodriguez, Torrez, Drago and Milten.
- Ore Barons were the men who ruled the Old Camp and controlled all trade with the exterior of the colony. They were the ones that initiated the revolt and established the trade deal with the King. The most powerful one was Gomez, followed by his aide Raven. They wore the most sophisticated armors available to the Old Camp members, designs of which were used even by the King and his court.
| Guilds | Araxos, Circle of Fire, Circle of Water, Dragon hunters, Mercenaries, Militia, Orc Slayers, Order of Innos, Ring of Water, Thieves' Guild, |
| Factions | Hashishin, Nomads, Orcs, Rangers, Rebels, Nordmar |
| Disbanded | Old Camp (Shadows, Guards, Ore Barons), New Camp (Rogues, Mercenaries), Brotherhood of the Sleeper (Novices, Templars, Gurus) |