City of Tanatra, Capital

Founded two hundred thousand years ago as the first city by the ancient gnomes, Tanatra has from time immemorial been a raucous melting pot of a city. All races are seen and welcome here, and many have found safe haven in Tanatra when persecuted or hunted in their homelands. It is both the oldest city in the world, and the second largest after Indrasen in Nymeria.
Tanatra is built on a narrow band of flat land between the sheer cliffs and slopes of the Tanatran Mountains and the shores of Lake Aghara. While there is an enormous sprawling city between the cliffs and the docks, there is rumored to be an even bigger city extended into and beneath the surface. Only gnomes are allowed beyond the first few layers of the intricately carved tunnels and chambers dug into the mountain over tens of thousands of years. No one but the gnomes know how far or how deep the caverns go, and only the elite of the city know how to find the farthest recesses.
The other gnome cities in the larger nation of Tanatra are more fully gnomic, though with a surprising number of dwarves. While dwarves are always extremely rare, there are more of them in Tanatran Alliance territory that anywhere else.
The Tanatran cities are protected by an elite Black Guard, an unknown number of flying, invisible, undetectable snipers, assassins, and other warriors. The Guard reports to the Tanatran High Council and is led by the Speaker of Tanatra.
Tanatra is a gerontocracy: the oldest two dozen gnomes serve on the Council, while the oldest gnome in Tanatra serves as Speaker. This body consults dozens of formal magical, diplomatic, cultural, and other technical advisors.

The Taraneshi District

Most adventurers find themselves living in the Taraneshi District. The district is built into the side of the mountain, and the area has been the home of a colony of kenku since before the city was founded. Today the District and the aeries and caves above it are inhabited entirely by the kenku and their enormous adopted family, known as the taraneshi. Like crows collecting shiny things, kenku collect people. They have an elaborate adoption ritual and they like initiating strange beings and interesting people who have done the colony some service are adopted (sometimes against their will). Though people are beginning to wonder if maybe they've lowered the bar on 'service', as kenku have been known to sell adoptions occasionally.
The Taraneshi District tends to attract adventurers for three reasons. The first is the presence of the headquarters of several of the largest companies of mercenaries, explorers, and salvage operations. The second reason is that the most famous adventuring company in Tanatra lives here, The Seven. The third reason adventurers tend to gravitate here are the low rents.
On the corner of Trollman Avenue and Paladin Street is Allfire Park. Allfire Park is home to The Oak. Rumor says the tree is older than Tanatra itself, though the plaque at the tree's base differs, stating it was planted twelve hundred years ago to mark the end of the Halaanic Wars.
The Cernoan Embassy can be found in the Taraneshi District, as can its Ambassador, Esreithane, the world-famous aasimar bard.

The Allfire Park Neighborhood

When not adventuring, many of the Company of the Seven Stars can be found in the shade of the Oak's expansive branches. Chief among them is the silent monk-priestess Nix, who often spends her days healing the sick. The goblin wizard Nisroch of Mazandaram, the werebear druid Berien of the Wood, and the half elf Tavener are often there as well. Across Paladin Avenue from Allfire Park can be found 'Eye of the Beholder Used Books and Stationary', whose owner is a retired member of the Seven Stars, the halfling bard Azrael. Azrael prominently displays a real beholder's eye in the shop, and enjoys telling the story of how he got it.
Continuing a block down Paladin Avenue is Manticore Street, a dead end. On the corner of Paladin and Manticore is a large, well-appointed smithy. The sign out front says, "Dhaaqa & Co." In smaller print below that is "Arcane Smithy and Apothecary. Weapons forged and potions brewed." It is run by two half-siblings. The half ogre smith Joran Dhaaqa and the half orc alchemist Aletha Dhaaqa shared a human father whose had particular preferences in wives.
Continuing down Manticore Street, one finds the balding, homeless Haras, recovering from a day of begging in the park with his trained rat. He usually sleeps in a doorway across the alley from the famous Shadow Dragon Inn. Near the end of Manticore Alley, where it widens enough for small front yards and a few trees, is the reason anyone would come down here - the Shadow Dragon Inn. One of them, anyway.

Type

Capital