Speculations about Ardonirane & the Thorsz

[Rick_Smith]

Hi all,
This thread is intended to talk about the Thorsz. Feel free to post your thoughts on him and his city here. Note that my stuff talks about orb quest, but that is NOT canon any longer as SJ Games does not have the rights to it.

Warm regards, Rick.

[Rick_Smith]

<This is an article I wrote for one of the TFT fanzines which were created.>

The editor of this fanzine has asked us to write new adventures for the Thorsz.
Metagaming published 3 adventures about the Thorsz: Death Test 1 & 2, and Orb Quest. Now it is easy enough for us to write more adventures but there is a basic difficulty in producing adventures useful to our fellow readers. How can we make an adventure that will fit in to the game worlds of all the other readers when virtually every TFT game world that is in existence has its own city of Ardonirane with unique geography, and surrounding politics?...This article will talk about what has been published about Ardonirane, and will go on to speculate what the area around the Thorsz' city is like.

What is known:
Ardonirane is a powerful city ruled by a war leader Dhallak m'Thorsz Carn. He is ruthless, and has gold (lots of gold). The Thorsz is actively hiring mercenaries so obviously there is sufficient danger locally to require high quality troops. Specifically we know there are ruins in near by Quercim, and some where there are Red Plains complete with orks. He is not the first of his line, he is just one of a dynasty of Thorszes. The first or 'youngest' Thorsz must have been quite the mage for he created the orbs from Orb Quest and distributed them to his wizards. The nameless mage in Orb Quest spoke of the youngest Thorsz having to civilize and tame the surrounding wilds with independent wizards armed with orbs. A few orbs were lost or stolen and are now being collected by some one and are actively threatening the Thorsz.

Geography:
There is very little known about Ardonirane. A large city must have water transport so it is likely located on a river, thus any adventure written could talk of the ports. If it is on a sea or ocean then trade could account for some of the wealth that the Thorsz can spend. However water travel is never mentioned in any of the adventures and they speak of merchant caravans requiring troop escorts, so we can be confident of at least one overland trade route. I suspect that the area is mountainous because:
-- a) There is no shortage of gold and it is rare to find gold deposits in plains.
-- b) In Orb Quest they speak of the 'realms' (plural) of the Thorsz and yet it seems as if his kingdom is centralized enough that all the recruiting of the army is done thru the Death Tests. This would only be possible if travel times are relatively short. Yet the geography is varied enough that it is meaningful to speak of different regions all under the control of the Thorsz.
-- c) Lastly the Red Plains are presumably red because a large number of battles have been fought there. If the terrain is completely flat the fights could happen any where. If the terrain was sufficiently rough that transportation routes would stick to the plains and valleys, it could well happen that a strategic choke point would be the location of many battles.


Political Geography:
The Thorsz does not seem to be fighting a vast empire. On the contrary he seems to be in competition with other states for quality fighting men. In Orb Quest it speaks of the "youngest Thorsz" sending out trusted wizards with the orbs to soften up the wilderness before he went conquering. Some of these wizards betrayed him, presumably to enjoy independent political power. Lately the areas surrounding the Thorsz have grown increasingly "darker, more foreboding, and more dangerous". They mention border patrols going outside of communications and then one in five returning wounded or not at all. Therefore the edges of the Thorsz' realm are not peaceful civilized regions with politically stable boarders, but wild areas requiring scouting by small groups. Now some wizard (who can travel and communicate far faster than normal folk) has started rounding up the orbs that are scattered in all directions around the Thorsz' kingdom, and is starting a policy of deliberate harassment.

The nameless wizard in Orb Quest speaks of the missing orbs being aligned towards evil ends. This may be mere hyperbole and or propaganda but it may be that the Thorsz is a relatively benign overlord in an area where such things are rarities. I tend to believe that the Thorsz is an ok guy, because in DT 2, he shows that (tho bad tempered) he treats his underlings with respect and courtesy.

[Rick_Smith]

Guesses about the Thorsz:
The Thorsz seems to be new to this ruling business, as he is still setting up the Death Tests and working the bugs out of that procedure. Also his system of awarding rank based on fighting prowess, while no doubt giving him brave officers, will tend to put people with no experience of command or knowledge of strategy, in positions of power in his military.

This seems the act of a man whose family until recently was more at home with fighters and heroes rather than advisers and grandiloquent courtiers. I would guess that the youngest Thorsz was the Grandfather of Dhallak m'Thorsz Carn.

The current Thorsz is likely the first to rule from the city and is just discovering the joys of economics, guild politics, and the subtle web of influence that has grown around him.

[Rick_Smith]

Personalities:
The individuals that we know of are:

-- The first, youngest Thorsz (a wizard, now dead)
-- Dhallak m' Thorsz Carn
-- Captain Ayoch (a Red Plains orc)
-- Captain Trevare Spell Sword (a wizard)
-- Irrissee (a wizard and advisor)

* Dimholt (dwarven architect)
* Zennorre (elf, chief of intelligence)
* Ahram t'Topeck (local lord of a realm and in the Thorsz's bad books)

* Not official, Rick's characters for my adventure.

< A long discussion on the orbs from Orb Quest has been dropped, including adventure hooks. It is no longer relevant to the situation in 2018. >

Future Adventures:
The Thorsz has several problems that future adventure writers can exploit. Most of his troops are there for the money so there should be officers that have taken bribes, which can put the players in hot water. His borders are growing more dangerous so small groups could run into trouble on patrol. Lastly the Thorsz would be in trouble if his income is threatened, groups could be sent out to gain vast treasures and then would be tempted to run off with them.

[Rick_Smith]

Military Structure Of The Thorsz' Army:
This is somewhat confusing, because in DT 1 & 2 they give 5 ranks, namely Recruit, Warrior, Sergeant, 100 Leader, and Thorsz' Guard. But in DT 1 in paragraph 167 they talk about Privates, and in the introduction of DT 2 we meet Captain Ayoch. We could claim that these last two modernism are simple mistakes, which is what I did when Ardonirane was part of my campaign. But let us look at the structure presented.

Recruits and Warriors are grunts, while I assume that a Sergeant, then like now, is a Non Commissioned Officer who has the job of taking care of the details when an officer gives an order. Even if we assume that the Sergeant commands a squad sized group of 10 men with out aid, there are no other ranks between him and a 100 leader which is hard to believe.

Lastly I thought that a Thorsz guard would either be a personal body guard, or a member of an elite unit rather than someone in the Line of Command.

My suggestion is that at the time of the first 3 adventures, the way the army is classified IS somewhat disorganized. As well as the 5 ranks from the Death Tests, there are any number of people with odd ranks and different responsibilities. This results in increasing amounts of confusion.

Eventually (after the events in Death Test 2) the military is reorganized to fit the system in the next post. The new people entering his service will fit into these neat categories, but the old guard of the Thorsz' cronies, may well have 'funny' ranks and far more influence than might first be suspected.

[Rick_Smith]

Rick's Revised Ranks for his city of Ardonirane:

Rank ........................... Ideal # of ............... Pay ............... Job's
................................... of Attributes: .......... $ / wk ........... Risk Roll
Private's Listings:
Recruit ........................ 36 ..........................$ 100 ............. 4 / 16
Warrior ....................... 39 ............................ 150 ............. 4 / 15
Veteran ....................... 42 ............................ 250 ............. 5 / 15
Campaigner ................. 45 ............................ 500 ............. 5 / 14
Thorsz' Guard .............. 50+ ........................ 1,000 ............. 6 / 13

Sergeant's Listings:
Logent ......................... 40 ........................... 150 .............. 4 / 15
Sergeant ...................... 44 ........................... 250 .............. 5 / 14
Padrone ....................... 47 ........................... 500 .............. 5 / 14
Sergeant of Guards ....... 50+ ....................... 1,500 ............. 6 / 12

Captain's Listings:
Decathon (Leader) ......... 44 ........................... 250 .............. 5 / 14
(Decathon) Prime ........... 46 .......................... 250 .............. 5 / 15
Hundred Leader ............. 48 ........................... 500 .............. 5 / 15
Hundred Prime ............... 50 .......................... 500 ............... 4 / 15
Captain ......................... 52 ........................ 1,000 .............. 4 / 16
Captain of Guards ........... 53+ ...................... 2,500 .............. 5 / 13

(Note I prefer to uses fantasy sounding ranks. But feel free to change them to modern corporals, Lieutenants, etc., if you wish.)

To use the above tables in DT 1 & 2 any body that makes it thru may gain any rank in the Private Listings which are directly proportional to the 5 original ranks given in the DTs (tho those that ran away from their friends once will not get a rank above Recruit). The leader of a well managed party may be put on the Sergeant's list (either as a Logent or a Sergeant). To get on to the Captain's List, you must be on the Sergeant's list and then distinguish yourself as a leader.

The column entitled Ideal # of Attributes is a guideline showing what the testers are aiming for. A character should never be given a promotion to Veteran because he has just reached 42 attributes, nor should a promotion be denied because some one is short. This if you wish, is the ideal average capability of people entrusted with that much responsibility. (The actual average attribute totals would be about 2 to 5 points lower in most of the higher ranks. But this is what would be ideally wished for.)

Notes:
The (Deca)thon is a group of men theoretically 10 in number but with a great deal of variation. Guard thons have either a Sergeant (if small) or a Captain, but not both. The parts of the names in brackets are usually not used in speech so a Decathon Leader would just be called a Decathon.

It is rare to see a Veteran or Campaigner because by the time the individual is that capable he is expected to at least be on the Sergeant's List. Some heros that have proved to be such terrible commanders that after the reorganization they were moved into these new ranks (and they are really angry about it because of the loss in status).

The ranks of Prime, and Hundred Prime are semi official. The officers stay at their old rank and rate of pay but are given responsibility over approximately 3 times as many men. These semi official ranks are much desired because it is an acknowledgement that you have earned the right to be groomed for promotion. Normally a person will only be in one of these ranks for 6 months to a year. If the candidate is not ready to be moved up after that time, he is 'sent back' to his old rank for at least 6 months. This is to let others try the position.

There is theoretically no disapprobation attached to being sent back, but of course the people sent back are disappointed, and in fact they are less likely to be considered for this semi official promotion a second time compared to new blood.

[Narmer]

Ancient armies often had pretty simple rank structures.

For example, the basic unit of a Roman legion of the late Republic/early Principate period was an 8 man squad (Contubernium) led by a Decanus. Ten of these made a century led by a Centurion, assisted by an Optio. Six centuries made a cohort which, when necessary, which was led by the senior centurion. And six cohorts made a legion which was led by a Legatus. At the century level there were specialists who ranked higher than the common soldier who might be considered NCOs of sorts but they didn't have a command role in battles. There were also officers below the Legatus but for simplicity's sake I've omitted them

So, if you look at the Thorsz ranks in light of the Roman army it looks something like this:

Recruit = Recruit
Warrior = Miles, the Common Soldier
Sergeant = Optio, Decanus and the specialists
100 Leader = Centurion
Thorsz Guard = Praetorian Guard of the Emperor or personal Guard of Provincial Governors, etc.

How does this look?

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by Narmer

Recruit = Recruit
Warrior = Miles, the Common Soldier
Sergeant = Optio, Decanus and the specialists
100 Leader = Centurion
Thorsz Guard = Praetorian Guard of the Emperor or personal Guard of Provincial Governors, etc.

How does this look?

Looks good to me, and about what I'd expect.

As for Rick's concern about Private and Captain, I think those could be terms of address or assignments without being extra ranks or job categories. In fact, I think it makes sense that one wouldn't necessarily address someone by the name of their rank or category, and I don't think Recruit, Warrior, or 100 Leader (or Thorsz Guard) sound very much like always-used terms of address.

[Narmer]

Originally Posted by Skarg

Looks good to me, and about what I'd expect.

As for Rick's concern about Private and Captain, I think those could be terms of address or assignments without being extra ranks or job categories. In fact, I think it makes sense that one wouldn't necessarily address someone by the name of their rank or category, and I don't think Recruit, Warrior, or 100 Leader (or Thorsz Guard) sound very much like always-used terms of address.

I agree. A Warrior is a Private and a 100 Leader is a Captain, at least in common usage

[malchidael]

Originally Posted by Rick_Smith

Hi all,
This thread is intended to talk about the Thorsz. Feel free to post your thoughts on him and his city here. Note that my stuff talks about orb quest, but that is NOT canon any longer as SJ Games does not have the rights to it.

Loved (and still do) the writeup you did on this, Rick. I never really paid much attention to the Thorsz while I was playing back in the day. In our minds, he was "off the map", but we could still travel to Ardonirane via gate (same with the Dragonadon lands, because Treasure of the Silver Dragon was my introduction to TFT).

A few years ago, while I was thinking about once again trying to start a TFT campaign, I had a brainstorm (or a minor stroke - you decide.....)

The Thorsz = The Invincible Overlord and Ardonirane = the City State of the Invincible Overlord. While he has armies to defend his lands against the Skandians and the armies of the Green Emperor, he needs mercenary heroes for the big dangerous things - after all, the Thorsz knows why the Mnoren left, and he's scared.

I was then pondering OrbQuest, and had this thought - what if, buried beneath the Thorsz' city, was a mountain-sized powerstone that naturally recharges. It is used by his wizards to power the defenses of this city-state, and they channel the power through the Orbs. So, the missing Orbs are a strategic threat - not only can those who have them draw power from his city, weakening his defenses, but they can use that power against him. So, he is very interested in getting the lost orbs back, and those that oppose him are equally as interested in getting their hands on them.

I'm not sure if/when I'll run this, but those are my random thoughts about the Thorsz and his city.