Legoba (lay-goh-buh)
Legoba is an orc city that sits in a small valley high in the mountains of Toldrun's Shoulders. The only access to fresh water for the city is from wells dug deep into the mountains and a few small streams that pass through the valley at various times of the year. At a high altitude in such unforgiving terrain, only the strongest orcs and other outcasts survive in this land. The city itself is an eclectic mix of valley dwellings built from errant stone and pueblo houses carved into the mountainside itself, with the more "wealthy" or powerful individuals living among the mountain safe from rockslides and flash floods.
This city has launched some of the most impressive armies and warbands in history, alternatively descending southward over the Legobar Mountains toward the kingdom of Skerritt or eastward across the unforgiving Legobar Desert toward civilization in The Dale. Though these warbands have never managed to conquer and hold a city for long, some of them have resulted in small groups of orcs staying behind and assimilating into the culture of their new lands.
This city-state is run by the Mountain King/Queen, who serves until death - be it from old age or a challenge from a rival. This Mountain King or Queen usually does not lead the raids on the external areas themself, but rather they anoint war chiefs in the name of their gods who are righteous and worthy of leading such glorious campaigns. Part of any ruler's life here in Legoba is frequent challenges to their authority from other community members and roving warriors who feel they can take over the city. Such challenges are answered with one-on-one combat on the top of a sacred mountain peak a few days' hike from the city. As many citizens as are able make the trek with the challengers to witness the contest. These spectators find room on a neighboring mountain peak that has been eroded over time to produce tiers of almost-seats and large flat areas for standing. The spectator's area is gently sloped toward the sacred peak, giving most people in the audience a good view of the action. Once the challenger and the reigning leader are on the sacred peak, they are joined by a priest of one of the orc gods who blesses the combat and declares it officially begun - before quickly scampering out of the way to a small flat peak nearby. The two combatants pick up their weapons - which had been previously laid at their feet - and begin the fight to the death.
No one is sure how many Mountain Kings or Mountain Queens there have been in the history of Legoba. Human scholars and historians sometimes travel here to study the society of the orcs, but the orcs themselves do not keep records of their various leaders. The powerful or extraordinary rulers live on in the verse and tales of orc bards that entertain people nightly in the various inns and taverns across Legoba's expanse. Every time a historian or scholar ventures up the mountains, they are in awe of how "civilized" the orcs are in their homeland, compared to the voracity with which the warbands attack lower lying cities. This dichotomy of orc behavior is written about lengthily in several scholarly articles, but the average person still considers orcs to be barbaric and uber-violent by nature. The orcs, for their part, have refused every offer of kinship offered them by various kingdoms of the lower lands. Most recently, the dwarves of the Toldrun See approached the orcs with an offer to join their holy nation and reap the benefits of deep mining - as long as the orcs would supply warriors to help the Inquisition (see Dwarven Civil War for more information). The Mountain Queen at the time declined the offer, and the ambassador was sent back to the Holy City empty handed.
The race of orcs and other outcast peoples in this mountain kingdom are some of the heartiest people in the world, and their continued dedication to martial training and hope for eventual conquest of the lower lands are admirable by most who are not in the direct line of fire from their attacks. Scholars and diplomats still hold out hope that the orcs of Legoba will someday join one of the kingdoms - if for no other reason than to spare the frontier settlements the occasional destruction and death. But that is yet to be seen.
Demography and Population
At last census (about 35 years ago) the population of Legoba was right at 12,000. Exact numbers since that time are not known, but the makeup of the city's population is fairly easy to see for any travelers or scholars who visit. The population of the city-state is majority orc, with other "monstrous" races such as goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, and kobolds making up the vast portion of inhabitants. Roaming humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings are also common to find in the city's area, if even just for a night on their travels.
Mountain Strong
Founding Date
Unknown
Type
Geopolitical, City-state
Alternative Names
Orc Territory
Demonym
Legobarians
Government System
Meritocracy
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Barter system
Location
Neighboring Nations
Manufactured Items
Comments