WestKeep and EastGate
The Basics
Even after the recent plague swept through the region, the Sister Cities are the largest and most densely populated urban area in the Basin by a large margin. WestKeep and EastGate began life as two distinct entities, but eventually merged into a single urban colossus. The city is just mind-bogglingly huge. In fact, it would be entirely possible to be born, live and die without ever setting foot outside of the sprawling urban landscape (which has almost certainly been the arc of a great number of people’s lives). You can find literally anything in the Sister Cities. You want magic? It’s here. You want poison? It’s here. Drugs, gambling, “Lady Favors” (nod to Critical Role) – all here and easily accessible. Goods from all corners of the Basin pass through the city. Almost all of the trade goods from the Loch region flow through the Sister Cities and given that the Silver River is the main trade route for the west, everything coming from that direction flows into the massive city as well. For most of the Basin’s history, the Sister Cities were controlled by the Mourngrym family, most recently, Lucian Mourngrym, who fought in the Great War. In that war, the Sister Cities played a pivotal role, being the place where the united forces of humanity retreated to when they were forced to withdraw from Kell. Humanity’s last stand against the Dark God was here, and it was fighting tooth and claw, block by block in the streets of WestKeep and EastGate that humanity prevailed. After the war, Lucian married Franchesca DuFraine, a beautiful but cold woman from IronPort. Although no one dares speak this openly, popular opinion is that she poisoned her husband so she could rule in his place. With Lucian out of the way, she proclaimed herself Queen and named her vast territory Fraine. Structurally, Fraine is run like a Renaissance Italian City-State. All the power is confined to the city itself. The rural areas are important only insofar as they exist to serve the city. Rural Lords who don’t comply find themselves overrun by the city’s massive military might, and once they’re out of the way, a friendlier and more understanding rural Lord is promoted. If you are of the ruling class inside the city, you matter. If you’re not inside the city, even if you have some or other title of nobility, you’re nothing. Even the commoners inside the city matter more than a rural Lord. Everything outside of the Sister Cities exists to serve and further enrich the Sister Cities, and that’s all. As far as the Queen is concerned, the rest of the Basin is expendable.Prominent People & Places
Obviously, there are scores, if not hundreds of interesting people and places in a major city like this, but here are just a few tidbits to get your creative juices flowing.Francesca DuFraine (Warlock – Bel’Sheggorath)
The Queen of Fraine. She’s a badass. She’s dangerous, and she’s a bit of a sadist. Low level adventurers have ZERO chance of getting a meet. High level adventurers will have a hard time arranging one and then, only if they have some immediate value to the Queen. Best case, you’ll be meeting with some low to mid-level functionary who may pass your message up the chain, if sufficiently well bribed. Just picture Cruella DeVille and Maleficent, merged together into a single, awful human being. Then you’ll have a pretty accurate mental picture of the Queen of Fraine.Ephram Kane (Captain, Queen’s Guard)
The son of Zander Kane, one of the most feared generals during the Great War, Ephram serves as the Captain of the Queen’s guard and is unmistakably his father’s son. He’s in heaven under the leadership of Queen DuFraine. If you see him in passing, look the other way and don’t draw attention to yourself. He has been known to randomly pluck people off the street to practice his torture techniques. If you meet face to face, it’s probably not going to be pleasant.Temperance Valdrossa (Proprietress, The Weeping Maiden)
Temperance is the owner of the Weeping Maiden, which is one of an innumerable number of inns/taverns in the city. It’s by no means the most expensive or exclusive but represents a nice middle ground, offering decent food, easy access to both the Temple and Merchant districts, and ale strong enough that you won’t spend too much time thinking about how or why the place got its name. Temperance is part of a small underground movement wanting to overthrow the Queen of Fraine and hand power to, in her words, “someone at least vaguely human,” though unless she knows you well, she is unlikely to divulge this fact.The Temple District
The architects of the Sister Cities took IronPort’s concept and took it to the next level. Here, you’ll find temples to J’honsa, Kaylaar, and the Gods of the Hearth, along with shrines dedicated to all five Warlock patrons, plus Ollux and the Master of the Hunt and even a few gods and spirits you’ve never heard of. Want to make an offering to the God of Flatulence? You can do that in the Sister Cities. It’s obvious that some of the “shrines” were set up mostly as a joke but it’s equally clear that some of the shrines dedicated to obscure deities were done so in all seriousness. They may have few followers, but the few they have are sincere in their beliefs. A visit to the Temple District is truly a trip down the rabbit hole.The College of Valor (Templeton Hargrave, Presiding)
The Bardic College of Valor is here. The current Dean is the leader of the underground movement in the Sister Cities to see Queen Francesca overthrown. He’s a longtime friend of Antoine LeBeau, who quietly supports the movement. The college has a decently sized library (some 600 books) and a modest collection of Minor Arcana made available to ‘friends of the college’ – again, DM’s discretion as to exactly what that means. The College of Valor pulls double duty as the University of EastGate, which provides general education services for the children of the wealthy families of the region.The Market District
If you’re going to go to the Sister Cities, you’ve got to go shopping while you’re there. The market district is filled with literally hundreds of shops, some temporary kiosks, other vendors selling from the backs of wagons, and the wealthier shopkeepers having an actual storefront. You can find literally anything here. Granted, you may get mugged, robbed, beaten to within an inch of your life, kidnapped, sold into slavery, or any number of other things, but that’s all part of the Sister Cities shopping experience. Stay alert and be careful though (safety in numbers), and you can find just about anything you can imagine.Plot Threads
You could literally run an entire campaign, from start to finish without ever leaving the confines of the Sister Cities. I only included a few items here to give you a very broad sense of the place but as you can imagine in a city of this size, that barely scratches the surface. The possibilities are endless here, and among other things you could:- Have a campaign that strictly focused on life in the Sister Cities, having the PC’s just trying to survive day to day, or perhaps having them join an Investigative Agency or find a patron who will see to their upkeep while they look for opportunities. Just make it a free form, free flowing campaign.
- Politically, you could have the players join the underground movement against Fraine, or if you wanted to play something grittier, have them be on the side of the Queen and try to unite the Basin under her rule (which would suck, but hey – if that’s what you wanna do).
- Again, using the University as a base would be fantastic and give players all sorts of options in terms of resources and training.
- If you wanted to focus the campaign on StroudHaven, being based out of the Sister Cities would be an excellent option, giving you the best of both worlds (a spooky wilderness and a huge, sprawling urban environment).
Alternative Name(s)
The Sister Cities
Type
Capital
Population
206,903
Library Size
~600 Books
Held By
The Kingdom of Fraine
Goods Availability
- Food and Lodging
- All Mercantile Goods
- Apothecary
- All Weapons
- All Armor Types
- Special Orders
- Masterwork Items
Available to Characters w/Connections
(University Students/Graduates, Personal Invites, etc.) In Mischief Alley Etc.- Quick Potions
- Some Magic Items
- Artificer Creations
- Spell Book Access
- Poisons
Prices
Standard List
(Masterwork and Specialty Orders have a premium set by the DM)
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