Stilben
Stilben stinks to high heaven. Most sailors who
pass through it—be they honest traders of theClovis Concord in Wildemount or pirates seeking their
next conquest—call this dismal burgh the Rotted
Lot. The stink and the crime that run through this
town make the name an apt one, but things aren’t
all bad in Stilben. The largest port on this coast of
Tal'Dorei , Stilben is the focal point of international
trade with Wildemount. Even though Stilben’s
permanent population is a scant ten thousand, its
more transient population of sailors who stay for
a few days or weeks at a time is just as large, and
fully triples Stilben’s total population in the sum-
mer months.
Predictably, the vast majority of Stilben’s business caters to folk who won’t stay for long. There are brothels aplenty, at least one inn and one tavern each on every street, and countless other com- forts for the weary traveler. The town is nestled in the sticky depths of the K'Tawl Swamp , and its putrescent stink mingles with the humidity and the ever-present buzz of insects to produce an air of misery around Stilben’s outer districts. Pushed out of Stilben’s cozy, cosmopolitan heart, its poor and disenfranchised citizens—derisively called muck- dwellers by the town’s bigshots—struggle to eke out a living in the K’Tawl’s murky waters.
Central Stilben houses most of its businesses, residences, and attractions. Those living in Stilben’s heart like to present a clean, “civilized” view of their town, maintaining it as a thriving commercial hub. The cross-continental Silvercut Roadway leads from Stilben all the way to Emon, and its robust trade of rare goods, textiles, and spices has given rise to a formidable merchant ruling class. Though the aging Margrave Wendle Truss is Stilben’s ruler in name, it is the guilds that hold true power. Their vast wealth and sizeable “protection” force have impelled the bombastic-yet-ineffectual margrave to acquiesce to the guilds’ will in order to maintain peace, as well as to preserve his own station within the city.
Order is kept by the Waterwatch, Stilben’s official constabulary, but corruption is common within their ranks. The past few decades have been hard for the Clasp in Stilben. Though the local Spireling has kept a tight grip on the margrave and the Water- watch, the Myriad has used bribes, intimidation, and every dirty trick in the book to winnow away the Clasp’s power. Now, Stilben is little more than a crucible for the power struggle between the two criminal organizations.
67% human, 11% elf, 11% halfling, 5% half-elf, 6% other
Predictably, the vast majority of Stilben’s business caters to folk who won’t stay for long. There are brothels aplenty, at least one inn and one tavern each on every street, and countless other com- forts for the weary traveler. The town is nestled in the sticky depths of the K'Tawl Swamp , and its putrescent stink mingles with the humidity and the ever-present buzz of insects to produce an air of misery around Stilben’s outer districts. Pushed out of Stilben’s cozy, cosmopolitan heart, its poor and disenfranchised citizens—derisively called muck- dwellers by the town’s bigshots—struggle to eke out a living in the K’Tawl’s murky waters.
Central Stilben houses most of its businesses, residences, and attractions. Those living in Stilben’s heart like to present a clean, “civilized” view of their town, maintaining it as a thriving commercial hub. The cross-continental Silvercut Roadway leads from Stilben all the way to Emon, and its robust trade of rare goods, textiles, and spices has given rise to a formidable merchant ruling class. Though the aging Margrave Wendle Truss is Stilben’s ruler in name, it is the guilds that hold true power. Their vast wealth and sizeable “protection” force have impelled the bombastic-yet-ineffectual margrave to acquiesce to the guilds’ will in order to maintain peace, as well as to preserve his own station within the city.
Order is kept by the Waterwatch, Stilben’s official constabulary, but corruption is common within their ranks. The past few decades have been hard for the Clasp in Stilben. Though the local Spireling has kept a tight grip on the margrave and the Water- watch, the Myriad has used bribes, intimidation, and every dirty trick in the book to winnow away the Clasp’s power. Now, Stilben is little more than a crucible for the power struggle between the two criminal organizations.
Demographics
67% human, 11% elf, 11% halfling, 5% half-elf, 6% other
Origins of Vox Machina
The citizens of Stilben do not know that some of Exandria’s greatest heroes, Vox Machina, first met in their humble city and went on their first adventure in the muck of the K’Tawl Swamp. Back then, even the exalted Vox Machina were just two-copper adventurers, quickly forgotten by Stilben’s haughty elite. One dwarf named Heinrich Runescribe, a junior member of the Alabaster Lyceum’s revered Lorekeeper Society, practically worships the heroes that defeated the Chroma Conclave, and has made it his mission to record all of their travels. He has found a wealth of evidence that the heroes of Vox Machina first gathered in Stilben under inauspicious circumstances and were dragged into an unexpected battle against the Myriad.
Comments