Azure District

Azure District is Sunáthüma’s true waterfront. Consisting of two sections, Azure District also houses the majority of the city’s slums and lower-class citizens, although they aren’t quite as desperate a catch as those forced to live in Shadowshore. The western section of Azure District is primarily concerned with the city’s internal waterways, while the eastern section is home to the city’s booming whaling industry.

Azure District’s representative nobles are the Ioannides. The family has held the post of harbormaster for many generations, although rumor holds that old Kimon Ioannides getting on in years and none of his children particularly want the job when he passes on. Rumors also hold that the Kellani family has designs on this post, but with relations between these two families being as choppy as they are these days, it’s unlikely that such a transfer will occur while old Kimon still lives.

Pets and Guardians

Whereas the majority of Sunáthüma’s trade occurs in the Merchant's District, Azure District remains a close second. In particular, the trade of exotic animals is a lucrative (and often dangerous) facet of this district’s East Market. Most of these creatures are destined for lives in the north as pets, but a few of them are more dangerous. This trade is one of the few the Azure Watch monitors (after a particularly tragic incident involving an escaped wyvern)—as a result, the black market and smuggling trade for dangerous animals does a booming business.

City Watch

The Azure Watch is concerned primarily with keeping Sunáthüma’s whaling operations running smoothly. Whalers are generally allowed to get away with more as a result; the watch figures that they’re at sea most of the time anyway. An arrested whaler is almost always returned to his captain’s ship for punishment or confinement there rather than taken to the district’s undersized jail. Members of the Azure Watch tend to be a bit more strict with other criminals, but transfer them to Sunrise Garrison (see page 14) if they require long-term punishment.

Citizens

If you’re from Azure District, you probably spent a fair portion of your youth at sea. You have friends or family that work in the whaling industry, and may have spent some time on a whaling ship yourself. You likely worship at the Azure Cathedral, a temple dedicated to Mazu (the goddess of ships and sailors), Poseidon (the god of the sea), and Njord (the god of sea trade). Alternately, you could worship all three, in which case you have access to the domains of Luck, Strength, Travel, and Water. Clerics who worship all three of these deities may be of any alignment.

Demographics

76% Human (Hellenic, Ostmen, Hantzu), 9% Halfling, 5% Elf, 3% Cecropon, 2% Wyvaran, 1% Half-elf, 1% Kitsune

Industry & Trade

Whaling is, by far, the most lucrative industry in the district. Unfortunately, it's a foul smelling trade and as such there's a dedicated wall built around the edge of the waterfront where whaling vessels dock. Many businesses catering to whalers are also located beyond the wall, allowing sailors to stay close to their ships.

Guilds and Factions

• The whaling guild maintains order among the competing whaling vessels who service the area.
• The Pearldiver's guild ensures that no one oversaturates the local luxury goods market, and regulates the harvest of pearls from nearby oyster and mussel beds. Also, they set prices so magically created or farm raised pearls don't outcompete natural ones.
• The Ropemaker's and Fishmonger's guilds control the market for these goods so that it's difficult, if not impossible, for an independent person to break into these businesses.
• The Dredger's guild bargains prices with the city wards on behalf of their guild members, so that these hardworking laborers are fairly compensated for their dangerous work.

Points of interest

1. (A3) Ioannides Manor (district representative)
2. Best Bait and Deserts (bait and bakery)
3. (A4) Dredger’s Guildhall
4. Nate’s Nets (nets, fine fishing equipment)
5. The Empty Grave (tavern)
6. The Bloodthirsty Pelican (tavern/inn)
7. (A5) Kellani Manor (minor noble)
8. Bizwor’s Balms (medicine and seasickness cures)
9. Pearl-diver’s Guildhall
10. The Gull’s Nest (brothel)
11. Ropemaker’s Guildhall
12. Azure Garrison
13. (A6) East Market (general goods, seafood, animals)
14. The Mermaid’s Secret (brothel)
15. Whaleworks (fine scrimshaw art)
16. (A2) Azure Cathedral (district church)
17. The Sunáthüma Sleigh Ride (tavern/brothel)
18. Finback Whaling
19. Inker’s Guildhall (tattoo artists)
20. Sunáthüma Whaling
21. The Drunken Dolphin (whaler tavern)
22. (A1) Whaler’s Guildhall
23. Red Sea Whaling
24. Fishmonger’s Guildhall
25. Azure Lighthouse

Azure District

LG Large town

Corruption +1; Crime +2; Economy +2; Law -2; Lore +0; Society +1

Qualities notorious, organized crime, strategic location

Danger +25; Disadvantages

DEMOGRAPHICS

Government Autocracy

Population 5,300 (76% Human (Hellenic, Ostmen, Hantzu), 9% Halfling, 5% Elf, 3% Cecropon, 2% Wyvaran, 1% Half-elf, 1% Kitsune, 3% other)

Noteable NPCs

• Brynjar Dannson: The high-priest of the Azure Cathedral, Brynjar is a soft-spoken man who tends the district church along with his twelve acolytes. Brynjar is known to have a powerful temper.

• Captain Searc: Master of the Whaler’s Guild, Captain Searc is a gruff, grizzled man who made his fortune as a whaler. Now too old to captain his own ship, he represents the whalers and fisherfolk of the city.

• Hildreth Kellani: Matroness of the Kellani family, Hildreth was once an adventurer (some say a pirate) who is thought to have not quite abandoned the questionable pastimes of her youth. She is rumored to be quite ill.

• Kimon Ioannides: Lord of Ioannides Manor and representative of Azure District on the Dawn Council, Kimon is an aging noble whose children have either gone missing or have no real interest in continuing the family’s traditional post as harbormaster.
• Modolf Hveidynja: This obese and almost maniacally cheerful dwarf runs the Dredger’s Guild, the organization charged with keeping Sasserine’s waterways and canals clear of obstructions and filth.
• Rowyn Kellani: Eldest daughter of the Kellani family, and the most likely to take over control of the estate when her mother Hildreth passes on.

MARKETPLACE
Base Value 2,800 gp; Purchase Limit 15,000 gp; Spellcasting 5th
Minor Items 3d4; Medium Items 2d4; Major Items 1d4

Type

District

Population

5,300

Location under

Sunáthüma