[David L Pulver]

Ardonirane - City of the Thorsz was the first big TFT book I proposed. I'd wanted to find out more about the Thorsz ever since I played Death Test back in 1978. I had a lot of fun doing it, with some help from SJ and Henry Cobb.

There's a few details of the book in the Kickstarter page, but I thought I'd mention a few other things that are in ARDONIRANE:

* History! The current Thorsz wasn't the first - there's almost 700 years of history, much of it tied into ongoing plots that are still relevant. The Thorsz has enemies, lots of them, and if you sign up for his guards, you're have plenty of foes to deal with! Or you can join one of the rebel factions... . Many consider a Thorsz a tyrant... You'll also find out the origins of the mysterious ruins of the dark empire of Quercim (mentioned in Death Test 2) -- and can visit the ruins, if you dare. Then there are the fierce Red Plains Orcs, the Forge of Rhakk, and the Mnorenessa trade and its connection to the Vanishing Forest, the secret of the Temple of the Golden Skull, the goblin invasion, the defeat of the Crimson Horde...

* Geography. It's not just a city. There's a complete region, the Red Plains, that is the same size as the Duchy of Dran and environs, fully mapped out, including rival cities like Ars Vaskul, the Onyx Halls, and Ryuvatar, multiple labyrinth sites, ancient ruins, caravan routes, bandit lairs, weird places, and nonhuman enclaves. There's also detailed encounter tables for the entire region. The relationship between the Red Plains region and Dran is spelled out, along with Gate connections (and conventional trade routes) that make it easy to bring characters into Ardonirane or vice versa.

* Organizations. The Red Robes, the Army, the Great Houses, Guilds, rival Gangs, merchants, religions... the tetrarchists, the underguild, the local versions of the Temple of Enok, background on the orcish Rhakkra faith (including their great holy ground, the Forge of Rhakk) and weirder groups like the Mnorenists, and the sinister Disbelievers, as well as the powerful Church of Ryuvatar.

* The City: Ardonirane is a city of 15,000 people, the same size as the capital of Dran, with a multi-ethnic and species population. Every street of the city's multiple quarters has its own description, and each street has several landmarks, establishments or businesses, almost all with some sort of adventure seed. Korba's Alley, Gargoyle Lane and its magical market, The Tower of the Basilisk the Great Temple of Omnipotent Enok,, Starcrusher's Quarry, the Ratcatcher's Guild, Slythazar's Delectable Eels, the Dark Angel, the Devil's Court, the deadly Gardens of Mevrian... Also covered are city customs, landmarks, defenses, festivals, the Bird Races... and the sewers.

* Characters: Over a hundred NPCs are statted out, including movers and shakers like he Thorsz himself, his scheming master mage Irrisee, the loyal orc captain Ayoch, the deadly Grandmother Fang, the enigmatic Shebat Spidersoul and many more... as well as dozens of patrons, guards, actors, physickers, shopkeepers, thieves, wizards, nomads, traders, nobles, and more.

* The Palace of the Thorsz: Of course, the Thorsz is there. Full stats of him, lieutenants, bodyguards, and even lovers... And complete maps and room by room descriptions of the Thorsz's multi-level citadel, and what may be encountered there. (There are more details on how The Death Test and how it came to be, but the actual labyrinth isn't here: it's in the Death Test solo.)

I'm hoping you'll enjoy discovering Ardonirane!