The Keep
Overview
Originally built just to house The Keepers, it has come to life in the last century or two. Its new life as the pilgrimage site in Calimshan for many faiths, with almost 8% of the population being priests, clerics, paladins, and other religious figures. The city is split along religious lines, with sabbans tied to certain gods scattered around. The Council of Vizars in the recent decade have taken power over the city away from the Grand Judge causing a lot of tension between the groups.Major Exports
Fishing, temple blessings, bookbinding, writing, and moneylending.The Keep's Underworld
Most underworld activities in this town are run by the Kahmir Family for the Syl-Pasha. Though all the rogue guilds have agents in the town, none of them are nationally known or notable at the time. Akim is an amoral thief that just arrived in town with a secret hoard of gems and a dragon chasing after him. Akim fled to the Genies' Quarter and is hiding out there. He feels safer there than he would be in The Sere. Sabaxal Three-Horns, the black dragon of the Sere is after him to recover those gems.Points of interest
Important Areas in the City - The Genie Quarter is a dangerous area to be after nightfall. From this area a rift into the Fury's Heart was naturally occuring, however it was closed before the Keep's construction. Many genies settled in the area and tried to resist the magical pull and were utterly destroyed. Their hasty magical banishment bound some of them here in spirit, finding them noncorporeal and tied to this specific quarter. They are only vaguely powerful in near-total darkness, where their spirits can appear, and the torchlit walls around the Genies' Quarter keeps the danger at bay. Few dare to enter that neighborhood willingly, but the magical properties of the quarter also block detection from any scrying or divination magics. Thus, folk who do not wish to found sometimes flee here to find salvation from their pursuers.
The Graveyard of Mealhad abuts the walls of the Genies' Quarter and is equally dangerous to travel at night. The presence of an inner city graveyard is common in older cities, though this one is weird because it isn't near a Church of Cehbris. The graveyard is named for a Judge of the Keepers who was corrupted by Ruapceras and went mad several centuries ago. After leading his group to a bloody massacre of several opposing churches, he was buried in mausoleum with his followers under the graveyard to be forgotten. Since that time, rumors have persisted of ghosts and spirit voices coming from the graveyard and long-lost treasure buried with the mad Mealhad soldiers.
Places to Stay
The Keep is very small for a major Calishite community. While it has inns and taverns, none of distinction have rising to national significance. The location has not drawn enough adventurer visitors to require such places, since its purportedly treasure laden locales are both haunted and overly dangerous.Notable Locations and Clergy
One of the least ornamented buildings in the Keep, the Builder's Tower is a stark, chalk-white minaret without a door. Home to Muham el Israhat, the tower thunders internally with magic and experiments, but few suspect Muham's true task: He is out to create an elemental golem of all four classic elements with which he can crush his personal enemies and conquer the town. Nearly any place of interest in the Keep is a temple or former manor turned into a temple. More than half the buildings in town of monasteries, temples, or shrine. The Temple of the Fireyes was long ago a temple dedicated to Tiamat, but since the Dragon Plague and the Dragon War, such gods are looked down upon and now stands as a major temple to Kossuth. The temple is a tower surrounded by burning pyres. Whenever the faithful of the temple begin and end a ceremony, flames gout from the pyres five floors about the ground. A single floating temple with a surrounding promenade, The Sky Temple, has statues of all the elven gods except Erevan. One of the most stunning temples in town, though it hosts few priests. A trio of two story minarets are joined by platforms among their top balconies to support a large blue marble statue of Hespurr. This odd structure has sparked curiosity in those interested in learning about this relatively little-known goddess and others equally intrigued with the construction of the statue and towers. Most obvious and most fortified, the Keep itself is both the headquarters of The Keepers and the largest temple to Ordum on the planet. This location houses the Grand Judge and is the center of the city.
Founding Date
683 AC
Type
Large city
Population
90,500 citizens and 9,000 rural citizens
Characters in Location
