Looking at the Factions in Cerulean Hills

It has been awhile since I wrote up any thoughts on the various factions and how they interact with each other in wildnerness/slayer areas.  I already written about Tangleroot Gorge, Searing Heights, and the Red Fens.  Now with Erdrique (Level 2 Monk) working on his next life, I wanted to use that opportunity to talk about the Cerulean Hills and the enemy factions and their interactions.  The Cerulean Hills has the following factions:

1).  The Gruul Tribe Orcs (Kargoth and Garunt appear to be leaders)
2).  Bugbears
3).  Twinfang and her fiendish lions
4).  Wolf pack (led by a single black wolf)
5).  Thaalan and his Quickfoot thieves
6).  Ebony and her scorpions
7).  Lotigath, the protecting gargoyle
8).  Rats

The Cerulean Hills has become overrun by the orcs of the Gruul Tribe.  It looks like they have recruited the help of some bugbears as they are commonly encountered with each other.  What is interesting is that we don’t see any of the leaders for the bugbears (in other words, no rare encounters for the bugbears).  My initial thoughts on this is that perhaps the Gruul Tribe leaders have made contact with some of the more unsavory bugbears in Stormreach, most likely Hazadill.  I’m thinking Hazadill has made a deal with the orcs that somehow secures his “import” business.

Erdrique looking out over the Cerulean Hills and pondering the enemies he will encounter.

With this thought, it is also likely that Gruul Tribe has dominated the local wildlife.  The Gruul tribe have a large number of scouts, rangers, clerics, and wizards and it appears that they have successfully communicated or negotiated with Twinfang and her pack of fiendish lions and they probably have interacted with the black wolf and her pack as well.  I’m guessing this because these two sets of natural wildlife are not attacking the orcs of bugbears and are also commonly found among their ranks.

Now with that said, I still think Ebony and her scorpions are still independent.  Her cave is scattered and littered with bones of the unlucky, and I’m thinking these are the bones of the unlucky orcs that tried to subdue her and her brood.  This is also punctuated by the fact that she has adventure packs and other adventure goodies laying around her den.  I’m thinking that the orcs have decided to leave her alone, for now.

The presence of the Thaalan and his Quickfoot gang is quite interesting.  I’m wondering if what we are actually seeing at this point in time is the attempt of the Quickfoot to get into the good graces of these powerful orcs.  In many cases, bugbears are guarding the outside of their cave/hideout suggesting that their presence is known and tolerated.  With that said, the numbers of Quickfoot present is meager compared to the orcs and their bugbears which makes me think this interaction is just now starting to form.

So just leaves the gargoyle, Lotigath and the rats.  Like Ebony, I think the orcs have decided that Lotigath isn’t worth the trouble to dominate.  He is definitely and independent entity and he attacks you when you approach him in order to protect his statue brethren.  During that battle he mentions how he has bested other orcs.  I’m thinking that the orcs are just “tolerating” his presence for now.  The rats, unlike the fiendish lions or wolves, don’t seem to be in a “pack” and are relatively scattered around the farms near the Stormreach Harbor gate.  They are most likely considered to be a nuisance, if anything else at all.

The Cerulean Hills actually have more enemy types than one might first think.  However, everything is centered around the domination of the Gruul Tribe Orcs.  I do believe some of the factions are independent but they are still influenced by the orcs and their numbers.

Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting out in the Cerulean Hills!!