City of Erelessa

The slums of Erelessa are known for three things: rampant and violent crime, the Shadow Dragon Inn, and the Harrowing.

About Erelessa

In eastern Mazdaram lies the city of Erelessa, which means "City of the World" in Old Ausranian. One of two major cities in Mazdaram, it is culturally and politically the polar opposite of the western capital city of Ashtara, the City of Souls.
Where Ashtara is governed by its arcane monasteries, Erelessa is ruled by finance. And while overall the nation is egalitarian and peaceful, Erelessa is anything but. The city is ruled with an iron fist by a handful of elven, gnoll, and human noble families who live in luxury and splendor in the glittering city core, sheathed in marble and gold. A large city, Erelessa has a small middle class of artisans and traders, most of whom work directly for the cartels run by the city's ruling families. Everyone else lives in the poverty and darkness of the tenement rings expanding out from the core.
Most of Erelessa's wealth comes from its position as the only port city in Mazdaram, as well as the only overland route into the country's interior and to the capital. International trade is a monopoly here, with the ruling families' cartels taking the place of independent guilds. The majority of the city's residents work for one of the cartels, though the trade monopolies of the ruling elite keep wages at the poverty level.
The slums of Erelessa are known for four things: gambling, rampant and violent crime, the Shadow Dragon Inn, and the Harrowing.
The well-guarded city core is home to some of the most luxurious and opulent casinos in the world.

The Harrowing

[Add: the decennial harrowing, where the rich lords of the city release monster into the sewers underneath the City slums. They watch what si happening at huge parties with clairvoyance and illusion spells.]
The Harrowing is a particularly cruel practice of the ruling houses. One random night a year, they release monsters into the sewers underneath the slums, often flying invisibly or scrying to watch the carnage unfold. The creatures rarely do significant damage to the city itself, but the death toll can be horrific. On paper, the City Guard is quickly dispatched to exterminate the "infestation", but as often as not, they are also sent to assassinate dissidents or emergent rivals to the cartels.

The Shadow Dragon Inn

The Shadow Dragon Inn is a must-visit for travelers on business from out of town. A sprawling complex inn, stables, and workshops that takes up half a city block, it is one of five Shadow Dragon Inns in the world - all of them owned and operated by the gnomish organization of Lady Atraxas Greyhaven of Tanatra. All five inns are coincidentally known by the locals as the "Shady Dragon." Lady Atraxas is diplomatically important enough to Mazandaram that her business interest are left unmolested by the cartels. The Shady Dragon is known to be clean, hospitable, and above all safe.

Government

The city is ruled by fourteen noble Houses that also operate as cartel. The cartel has a monopoly on all international trade in the city.

Defences

A City Guard recruited from the most violent of those found in the slums.

Population

250,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Erelessans

Owning Organization

Arcanocracy of Mazrendaram