Kellador

Overview

Kellador is known as the city of Kings. For thousands of years, Kellador was the seat of power for the entire realm, holding dominion over all but the dwarves. The hundred-year war with Dannukan-Ryttn, the Lich King, ended with Kellador’s royal family turned to undead versions of their former selves, doomed to serve the Black King in his dark tower until the end of time. This shattered the Realm into the nation-states that exist today. Today, Kellador is a city of squalor, overrun by crime. The once shining walls and towers of the Royal Keep waste away, overrun by vines. The King’s halls sit empty with nothing but wind and rats to traverse them. The city itself is filthy and dangerous, a battleground of warring factions each vying for control of sections of the city.

Criminal Syndicates:

Xanathar Thieves’ guild

The Xanathar Thieves’ Guild are a criminal organization known for dealing in information via their spies within and outside of their legitimate establishments. Their leader is unknown, as is the location of their base of operations. What is clear is that guild members execute their tasks relentlessly, fearful of being murdered by their fellow guild members should they fail in a task. The Xanathar Thieves’ Guild also operates all of Kellador’s casinos.

Black Boar Tribe

The Black Boars are a guild of smugglers and thieves. They frequently raid land-bound merchant caravans and act as hired muscle for visitors to Kellador (protection). The Shadow Syndicate This group of assassins are rarely seen, but their reputation is well-known and extremely feared. No one knows exactly what they want, and no one gets in their way.

Greyclaws

The Greyclaws are known primarily as smugglers, and have taken to piracy in recent years. Their ships are known for being fast and silent, manned by crews of pirates who are among the deadliest men on the seas once they board a merchant’s ship. Amlithor Hallgruss, their leader, built up a reputation as a notorious thief in his own right before developing the Greyclaw organization. On land, the Greyclaws control every brothel in Kellador.

Religion

Church of Tharizdun

The Church of Tharizdun is a cult obsessed with freeing the God from his imprisonment so that he can bring about the end of the world. They conduct many evil deeds including living sacrifices and unholy rituals in his honor. Additionally, they are obsessed with collecting the 333 gems of Tharizdun, which are believed to be the key to freeing the God.

Torm

Torm, the God of Duty, Loyalty, & Righteousness is the patron of Kellador. Once buoyed by tribute from the city's church, his tithings have reduced substantially with the city's decent into squalor. He is in a proxy-war with Tharizdun for control of the city.

Major Locations

Dock Ward:

Once bustling with merchant ships and markets, the dock wards are home to moored Greyclaw ships, the nearby taverns filled to bursting with crew looking to spend coin earned or stolen at sea.

• Kellador Warehouses: These abandoned warehouses have become an HQ of sorts for the Greyclaws. They store their goods, hold meetings, and even sleep inside.

North Ward: 

The large, lavishly detailed buildings in this section of the city were once home to Kellador’s nobility. Today, the villas have been transformed into casinos, brothels, and other attractions designed to cater to the interests of elite clientele from outside the city. The thieves’ guild and Greyclaws alike work to maintain an upscale atmosphere and luxurious atmosphere, preventing Tharizdun’s zealots from abducting visitors and banning petty murder and theft on the streets. The establishments in the North Ward have proven extremely profitable for Kellador’s guild leaders.

• The Pharaoh’s Dream: One of several high-end casinos catering to rich clientele. The casino is run by Eddard Brend and owned by the Xanathar Thieves’ Guild. The casino property was a villa of some wealthy lord or merchant before the city fell. It has stone walls on all sides. The grounds are large and well-kept with manicured shrubbery, pergolas, and fountains throughout. Inside, the castle-like structure is decked out in gold- gold carpets, gold curtains, and beautiful serving girls in gold dresses.
• The Forest: A sprawling compound that now serves as the most lavish brothel in the realm. Inside the walls, the grounds seem not unlike a forest, filled with an exotic tree not seen elsewhere. A winding cobblestone walkway leads to the main house, a five story affair with blue-glass windows built from deep-red dragonstone. This building’s rooms are used by a broad array of ladies offering all manner of physical services. Along the coastline to the rear of the property, there are 7 smaller structures, single-room cottages (cottage not coming close to describing their unique luxury). These buildings are reserved for the 7 Duchesses of Kellador, women whose company costs a small fortune per night in addition to receiving an invite that can’t be bought. There doesn’t appear to be anyone other than the women for hire in the compound, but The Forest’s patrons know better than to misbehave after previous patrons mistreated the property or it’s staff and were never seen outside the walls of the compound again.

Southern Ward

Kellador’s Southern Ward is largely a residential area, filled with peasants who can ill-afford to relocate themselves or their families elsewhere. The people here live miserable lives, scratching out meaningless lives through fishing, hunting in the nearby woods, or by working in the city’s taverns or providing services to the guilds.

Kingsmarket

Kingsmarket is where most of the city’s shops, Inns, Butchers, Smiths, and Taverns are. These stores largely exist due to the patronage of their criminal clientele. Each business displays the sigil of a criminal guild on their facade indicating which criminal organization they compensate in return for protection from harm.

• The Butcher’s: A Butcher shop, but that’s not where it got it’s name. The proprietor, The Butcher, was a freelance hitman for most of his life, and upon retirement figured that he may as well bring a new meaning to his nickname and carry on with his love for carving.
• Brass: Brass is an out-of-towners’ tavern favored by those of a more exotic disposition. It’s run by a very flamboyant wizard with a flair for the dramatic. Visitors can expect colorful characters of all types, games and contests of every persuasion, and frequent indoor fireworks.
• Redric’s: A store that sells magical items. Redric is a half-elf and is always on the hunt of rare items. Afraid to leave the city, he usually has a list of “leads” that he’ll pay adventurers to check out for him.

Plot Points

• The city is controlled jointly by the criminal syndicates which are headquartered here. They actively discourage a legitimate government from reforming.
• The cult of Tharizdun rob and murder indiscriminately and kidnap citizens to use for ransom or as sacrifices in their rituals.
• An unknown entity has introduced an addictive substance called ink which acts like a recreational drug at first, but physically corrupts those who use it in excess.
• The leaders of Aendrim wish to reintroduce legitimate government and prop up the exiled Castellan as the city's new leader

Maps

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  Kellador

Major POCs

• Eddard Brend: The owner of The Pharaoh's Dream, secretly employed by the Xanathars' Guild.
• Dwayne Ryder: Leader of the Blackboar Tribe. 
• Stephane: Leader of the Greyclaws. No last name.
• Ymor Broaden: Leader of Kellador's military police, exiled to the Citadel.

Type

Capital