Port Damali
The jewel of the Menagerie Coast, the original Marquessian colony, and the unofficial capital of free trade outside the Empire, Port Damali is a bustling city filled with music, color, and commerce. The massive port hosts ships from all around the world, creating a mishmash of cultures and trades that mingle to form the society of Port Damali. Trade routes splinter from all other sides of the city to ensure rapid transport of goods to destinations throughout Wildemount and beyond.
The city's architecture is varied and inconsistent; the inner wards display their own historical roots or lavish opulence, while the outer wards attempt to combat the slum-like atmosphere with cheap, colorful banners and street buskers. The city has a roiling underbelly of crime, murder, and corruption that many say is regrettable but necessary for the city to function.
Government
The city is helmed by Marquis Olesya Lapidus, who works with local guildmasters and nobles, bolstered by the distant support of the other Clovis Concord members.
Defences
Port Damali maintains a sizable army alongside the many Zhelezo who guard the city. Nobles and wealthy merchants keep bodyguards.
Industry & Trade
Nearly any sort of goods or services can be found here, legal and otherwise. The high volume of travelers means that there are plentiful inns, taverns, underground markets, and rare auctions.
Districts
The Tumbledowns. Within the Tumbledowns, the majority of citizens live in cramped structures of varied shape and design, from clay domes to thatched huts to warped wooden shacks. The architecture resembles a mishmash of cultures from all over Exandria, which, along with the Prism Path, creates a pleasant patchwork atmosphere even in the more run-down regions. A number of small temples are also situated in the Tumbledowns.
The Beaded Alley. The Beaded Alley is the center of general commerce and trade within Port Damali, named for the decorative cords that hang over each intersection bearing all manner of streamers and dangling beads. Businesses both young and old all mingle here, competing for the attention of anyone with coin. Many bards and performers bring an air of lively irreverence to the bustling atmosphere.
The Crescents. The ward known as the Crescents was named in reference to the seven large, moon-shaped statues that were a gift from the Alkamar family when the city was founded. This affluent area houses competing guild families and well-connected nobles who wish to live near the politics of the city or the delights of the port. The beautiful Pearl Shrine temple to Avandra and the Sunfall Sanctuary temple to Pelor reside within the Crescents.
The Gilded Esplanade. The Gilded Esplanade is definitely the most extravagant locale within Port Damali. Each street is lined with the most lauded of artists and performers, with markets lush with expensive wares and high-end imports from around the world. Home to the Auction House and venues for recurring festivities, as well as the spire-like skyport, the Esplanade is known to be the sparkling locale that comes to mind whenever people mention Port Damali.
The Larboard Light. The massive harbor that forms the southern edge of the city is known as the Larboard Light. This upscale dockside region is as lavish as docks come. Dozens of ships come into port every day, carrying goods and gold from all over, and many visitors coming to briefly live like a king with the many amusements the city has to offer. The office of the Marquis is located on the northern end of this ward.
Guilds and Factions
Temples to the Prime Deities are common, and some notable shrines to the Betrayer Gods are secreted away within this large city. The numerous merchant guilds run most businesses, but The Myriad is the real power behind the guilds themselves. The Golden Chain Mercenary Company also operates out of Port Damali.
History
The Laws of the Clovis Concord are enforced with varying stringency within each city. Nowhere is this more true than in Port Damali, where the law can be bought like any other commodity. Anything can be purchased here, even the ear of Marquis Olesya Lapidus, the celebrated leader of Port Damali.
The Lapidus family rose to prominence over a century ago, when they shifted from employing merchants to deploying mercenaries. In time, anyone who sought safety on the waves turned to Lapidus family privateers. As the fifth in her family to lead Port Damali, Marquis Olesya steadfastly collaborates with the other leaders of the Menagerie Coast to keep the concord an independent nation, free from imperial control.
However, Marquis Lapidus faces threats on all sides. When she was distracted by the rise of The Revelry, the long-dormant Myriad swooped in and conscripted many of the guilds she was supposed to oversee. Now she struggles to excise The Myriad claws embedded within the belly of her city.
Points of interest
Guided through the Darker Waters
The waters along the Menagerie Coast are rampant with piracy and roving ocean creatures, threatening trade and travel routes throughout the region. The Concord has established a formal navy of nearly four hundred War Ships to maintain the sanctity of the surrounding ocean. These ships are scattered along the coast, with many stationed in Port Zoon or situated in the waters south of Nicodranas to prevent the current war from bleeding into Concord territory, but a quarter of the entire navy is maintained within and around Port Damali.
To the Highest Bidder
A popular destination within Port Damali for wealthy merchants, nobles, and collectors from all across Exandria is the Exalted Collection Auction House within the Gilded Esplanade. Run by the esteemed Lord Gabriel Rymmer of the influential Rymmer family, this grandiose, if gaudy, establishment has all manner of rare items, collectibles, and historical artifacts brought from around Exandria to be sold to whomever offers the most gold, with a small portion of the sale filling the family's coffers. Socialites, nobility, celebrities, and the fabulously wealthy of Exandria travel here from all over the world, forging bonds of rivalry with each purchase. When particularly powerful relics find their way to the auction house, it's rumored that beings from the Outer Planes will masquerade as merchants to snatch up such prizes.
A Steamy Shift
Until recently, many of the businesses in Port Damali were heated and powered by a system of steam-powered engines, which were installed beneath the city's streets. Unknown to most citizens, a marid had been shackled within the sewers to power the steam engines for decades. Recently, another marid in Nicodranas was freed from a similar situation, inspiring an anonymous adventurer to free the marid in Port Damali from its shackles, leaving the engines inert and many businesses without power. A large group of hired druids and mages are maintaining what functionality they can, but Marquis Olesya Lapidus is desperately looking for an alternative energy source or a replacement for the steam engines.
Port of Sky and Sea
Port Damali is the central city for most seafaring business and shipping throughout the Lucidian Ocean and a popular destination for those with gold, but it is also the only city in Wildemount with a skyport. While the Empire refuses to establish a skyport within Rexxentrum, in what many believe to be a symbol of their dedication to their isolation, Port Damali occasionally receives skyships from Tal’Dorei or Marquet, drawing crowds that rush to see the majestic display.
Tourism
Port Damali has been a pivotal nexus of Myriad activity for some time, and nearly all elements of major commerce within the city are tied to the crime syndicate in some way. Many of the powerful merchants and company owners are either part of The Myriad or are indentured to it. As such, the city is the beating heart of Exandria's slave trade, with slavers passing through often to discreetly move their bounty.
Those who fail The Myriad are shackled and shipped off as living contraband. Myriad operatives are plentiful within the law enforcement of Port Damali, so most illegal activity is covered up or allowed to slide, unless such crime interferes with Myriad interests.
Geography
The largest city on the western coast of Wildemount, the resplendent seaside metropolis of Port Damali is nestled against the Tyodan River where it meets the Lucidian Ocean. The city is built atop a cluster of leveled hills, and slight changes of elevation physically mark the variation between wards. Past the farmsteads, beyond the tents and ramshackle homes that mark the boundaries of the city, lies the Prism Path, a series of connecting main roads made of smooth, multicolored stones reclaimed from the ocean shores. These roads carve through the interior wards: the Tumbledowns, the Beaded Alley, the Crescents, the Gilded Esplanade, and the Larboard Light.
Alternative Name(s)
"Jewel of the Coast"
Type
Large city
Population
82,110
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
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