Five Fingers
THE PORT OF DECEIT
Although Five Fingers is nominally ruled by a lord governor, the real power belongs to the city’s four high captains, who oversee its thriving criminal underworlds. No matter how big or small, no illegal enterprise takes place in Five Fingers without one of the high captains receiving a cut. Those who try to cheat the high captains soon find themselves at the bottom of the Bay of Stone.
Despite its general reputation for lawlessness, day-to-day life usually proceeds in a surprisingly orderly—if cutthroat— fashion in Five Fingers, as the high captains regulate trade in commodities both legal and otherwise. In fact, it is an open secret in Five Fingers that the high captains themselves pay a tithe of their earnings to the coffers of King Baird. Known for the clandestine arrangements and secretive intelligence he uses to govern, the Bandit King is a frequent visitor to Five Fingers, where he often takes backroom meetings in a gambling hall and tavern called the Laden Galleon. These off-the-book meetings are every bit as integral to the crown’s control of the nation as any gathering of the Hall of Castellans—and maybe more so.
Named for the five main channels formed where the Dragon’s Tongue River branches and flows into the Bay of Stone, the city of Five Fingers is spread across the dozens of islands in the mouth of the river, although the vast majority of the populace lives on one of the five or six largest. These are connected by a series of bridges, making it possible— though not necessarily advisable—to travel on foot from the north shore all the way to the Cygnaran border on the other side of the bay with only a short ferry ride near the end.
Each island has its own character and personality, from the seat of government on Captain’s Island to the poorest slums of Hospice. The various islands are connected not only by the aforementioned bridges and ferries, but also by a bewildering array of rigging. Often simply called “the Rigs” by locals, this informal network of hanging walkways, rope bridges, and webs of netting connects the buildings of most of the islands in Five Fingers, creating another hanging city above the streets—one populated heavily by the city’s extensive Gobber and bogrin populations.
Five Fingers is also home to a series of tunnels cut into the bedrock beneath some of the larger islands. Until recently, these dark passages, which date back as far as the Orgoth Occupation, were the favored enclaves of the numerous Thamarite septs that call the city home. Even though Thamarites have been free to gather openly in the city ever since the Church of Morrow declared amnesty for those who follow the Dark Twin, they still keep secret safe houses, bolt-holes, and shrines beneath the city streets, including the mysterious Chapel of the Dark Twin, which is said to be located somewhere below Captain’s Island. Able to operate more openly, the various Thamarite septs of Five Fingers have begun more overt explorations not only into the city’s Orgoth history, but also into other esoteric arcane studies. Many of these septs are unaffiliated with each other, and clashes between septs are not uncommon.
The Thamarites of Five Fingers have long relied on the Chatterstones, an underground cemetery beneath Hospice Island, as a ready source of bodies for their necromantic arts. As a result, the burying ground is notorious for being plagued by the undead. An informal watch known as the Blackguard was organized to help usher mourners in and out and to keep the restless dead from spilling into the rest of the city.
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