Porthmos Prison

Porthmos Prison

(Location)

Locale

Porthmos Prefecture, Taldor

Type

Prison

Residents

Chokers, criminal gangs, gnolls, orcs, political dissidents, smugglers

Affiliation

Government of Porthmos Prefecture

Source: Taldor, the First Empire, pg(s). 51 (1E)
Belly of the Black Whale, pg(s). 68 (2E)

Porthmos Prison is located in Porthmos Prefecture in eastern Taldor, at the foot of the World's Edge Mountains, on the edge of the Whistling Plains and near the town of Sardis.

History

The prison was originally constructed by Taldor as a small, sturdy border fort named Edgeside Keep, notable for its impenetrable design and magical protections. It served as the base for a full battalion tasked with defending the eight-mile watch from the keep to the Porthmos Gap.

An earthquake damaged the keep a few centuries after its construction, shortly after the end of the Grand Campaign. Due to the cost and labor required to repair structural issues and the lack of an eastern aggressor, Taldor opted to abandon the keep in ruins. Strange symbols in the keep's basement suggest the earthquake might not have been entirely natural.

Nearly a century after its abandonment,✝ prefectural governor Grand Duke Thestro Briarsmith took over the ruined keep and recommissioned it as a prison, effecting the minimal repairs necessary to its walls to imprison criminals, debtors, dissidents, adventurers, and captured tribes of various humanoids.

Structure

Historic

Taldor built Edgeside Keep with a 60-foot outer wall topped with crenelations and outward-facing spikes, and a similar inner wall with inward-facing spikes. It also constructed a seven-story inner keep, a dungeon beneath the keep, a dozen support buildings, and its own water supply, and enhanced its defenses through magic.

The resulting fortress was almost impenetrable, and from its construction until the end of the Grand Campaign it withstood several attempts to invade Taldor from the east.

Modern

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The original keep is in a poor state of repair, with crumbling walls and obvious damage to many buildings. The walls' only entrance is a pair of large wooden doors blocked on either side by guard towers, allowing for only a small, guarded channel to enter or exit the keep.

A courtyard with several small buildings and guard towers is located within the inner wall, with the prison proper situated in the centre of that courtyard atop a hill. Two unoccupied guard towers stand in front of the main prison entrance, with staircases which pass between them and meet at the prison entrance.

Prisoners refer to the prison's central courtyard as "Hell" for its history of blood and violence, and it is considered off-limits to all prisoners unless they wish to challenge the authority of the prison's dominant gang. Most of the courtyard's buildings were destroyed in the earthquake, leaving little more than rubble, though a small number built of red rock ring its edge.

Magical wards prevent the use of teleportation to enter or exit the prison.✝ The wards do not prevent access to the prison through flight of any nature. Tunnelling to the keep's dungeons is also fraught with peril due to the soft sandstone and burrowing of local bulettes and chokers.

While the prison's sewers allow for some smuggling to occur, it is infested with vermin, giant centipedes, and chokers, and its exterior grate is guarded by the gargoyle Grinnd.

Operation

The prison is unusual in that it is almost wholly run by the prisoners themselves. Guards live outside the walls, and their only interactions with the inmate population are supplying food once a day and keeping them from escaping, which occur from the safety of the prison's walls. As of 4717 AR, Captain Erta Manigold led the small contingent of human prison guards, with Grand Duke Briarsmith retaining her loyalties through both fear and compensation.

The rest is left up to the prisoners, who typically band together into gangs for mutual protection. New prisoners are often murdered shortly after arrival unless they can prove themselves useful to other prisoners.

Prisoners

The prison has a theoretical capacity of 175 prisoners of all genders, and many imprisoned within Porthmos Prison are genuine criminals. However, many are innocent people who committed no wrong other than displeasing local nobles or incurring the enmity of the provincial governor Grand Duke Briarsmith, who has ruled Porthmos Prefecture as a dictator since at least 4709 AR and remained in power as of the War for the Crown in 4718 AR. Prisoners can be tortured on the instructions of Briarsmith or other nobles if they are thought to hold valuable information.

As of 4709 AR, notable prisoners included:

• Enga Invaglak, an Ulfen barbarian and former adventurer. She leads the Smashers gang within the prison.
• Helist, a human fighter who leads the Gates gang.
• King of the Tower, an ill-tempered dwarf barbarian who leads the Tower Guard gang, which occupies the prison's northeast tower.
• Rivak Redburn, a young reckless halfling ranger who leads the Gnolls gang.
• Rokna, a Qadiran merchant who is the prison's longest-serving living inmate. He serves as the primary contact for smugglers and led the prison's Silver Palm gang.
• Skange, an introverted dromaar warrior whose cell is on the first floor, facing the inner courtyard. He is the illegitimate cousin of governor Thestro Briarsmith.

As of 4720 AR they also included:

• Kanara the Spared, a disgraced cavalier who led the prison's Blood Moon gang.
• Erastani Ginette, an exiled aristocratic reformer who led the prison's Nightrunners gang.
• Rokna, who remained incarcerated.

Gangs

Porthmos Prison's anarchic operation leads to the formation of many gangs that are perpetually forming, battling each other, and being destroyed or merged with existing gangs.

As of 4709 AR, the prison's gangs included:

• The Gnolls Gang, formed from a band of gnolls who fought their way into the prison in 4708 AR with plans of looting it, only to find themselves trapped inside with the prisoners. The Gnolls Gang was led by Rivak Redburn.
• The Smashers, led by Enga Invaglak.
• The Gates gang, led by Helist.
• The Tower Guard gang, led by the King of the Tower.

As of 4717 AR, the prison's most prominent gangs were:

• The all-woman Blood Moon gang of humans and gnolls, led by Kanara the Spared, who attempt to keep peace within the prison.
• The Setting Suns gang, composed of nobles and politicians and led by Erastani Ginette.
• The Nightrunners, who conscript all imprisoned spellcasters.
• The Silver Palm, the gang with control over most of the prison's smuggling, led by Rokna.
• The Tower Guard gang, led by the King of the Tower.
• The Waste, a gang of crafters and smiths composed of former adventurers and poor laborers, led by Hadge.

Other notable inhabitants

Grinnd, a gargoyle, has lived in the building's rooftops since the keep was first constructed, and fancies himself "Keeper of Porthmos". Grinnd controls access into and out of the prison's sewers in exchange for books or artwork, which he adores despite their tendency to quickly fall apart in the elements.✝

References

Paizo published an article on Porthmos Prison in Taldor, the First Empire and set the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild scenario Stay of Execution within the prison.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.