Emon
The City of Fellowship
Emon stands defiantly against all who would threaten Tal'Dorei and its people. It is the cultural heart of human civilization on this continent, and as the republic’s capital, Emon is a nexus of politics, justice, business, industry and education within the realm.
Encircled by 60-foot-high walls that stretch from the eastern fields to the western shore, Emon is accessible only through its heavily-patrolled gates and by skyship, the denizens of the city are generally well protected from outside attackers and sieges. A well-trained force of guards known as the Arms of Emon enforces the laws of the land from the Military District. Dense farms and farm communities surround the northeastern boundary of the city, while large slums cap the northern and southern landscape outside of the city walls.
While classically the heart of a human empire, Emon boasts a diverse populace, with citizens of nearly all races from all of Exandria’s many nations, thriving on the new innovations and ideas of its diverse citizenry. Tal’Dorei’s tight alliances with the elven nation of Syngorn and the dwarven hold of Kraghammer invited some of those nations’ greatest artisans inside Emon’s walls, and their friends and families soon followed until Emon was home to a significant minority of elves and dwarves. Under the rule of Zan Tal’Dorei, Emon developed into a city whose people valued innovation and collaboration, especially in small, cohesive groups—virtues that some historians believe has given rise to the prominence of the modern adventuring party.
While Emon is becoming more commercial and the use of gold as currency has been ubiquitous throughout Tal’Dorei’s history, many communities within the city are still close-knit enough to use the barter system. During the reign of Drassig, the humans of Emon adopted a dwarven oath called rudraz, an intimate promise between two people to repay a deed or trade. Though the rudraz is not a contract, the dwarves believed that an oathbreaker would be forever barred from passing beyond the Brightguard Gates of Hilmaire; the gates that allow dwarves to pass to the afterlife. Humans in Emon treat the rudraz more lightly, often using it to seal matters of business or politics rather than personal promises, but breaking this oath still carries massive social repercussions—few look kindly upon a person with the epithet “Oathbreaker.”
Prejudice
Though the people of Emon have come a long way since the human supremacy of Drassig’s rule, prejudice and discrimination still burns like a lingering fever. Overt racism is most common in the Upper and Lower Slums, where gentrification threatens to eradicate the culture of one of Emon’s oldest immigrant districts. The scholarly elite of the Erudite Quarter and the nobility of the Cloudtop District like to pretend they are too enlightened to succumb to bigotry, their wealth and power allows them to leave their own prejudices unexamined. While elves and dwarves are fully welcomed into human society for their stereotypical characteristics (elven beauty and arcane talent, dwarven honesty and metallurgical prowess), tieflings, half-orcs, and dragonborn rarely rise to Emon’s highest societal ranks. Rebirth
Emon is still recovering from its destruction at the talons of the Chroma Conclave and Thordak’s subsequent occupation, rebuilding the districts most marred from the short-lived reign of the Cinder King. Thanks to the Clasp’s underground networks and established hierarchies, Emonian society and culture was able to bounce back more swiftly than any other major settlement in Tal’Dorei. Because the last Sovereign relinquished his power, without heirs, before he was killed by Thordak, the Council of Tal’Dorei was able to transition their nation from an imperial power to a republic without war or insurrection. However, the swiftness of Emon’s rebirth has put the Council of Emon in a precarious position. Not only are they socially indebted to a criminal faction, the Council now owes vast amounts of gold to mages in the service of the Alabaster Lyceum. These Lyceum conjurers created thousands of tons of stone and steel, and each of their transmuters rebuilt at the rate of one hundred laborers—and the Council cannot afford to pay them for their service, even with Thordak’s reclaimed treasure hoard. Some members of the Council have already caved to pressure from factions within the Clasp and the Lyceum, and turn a blind eye to the crime and magical abuse that run rampant throughout the city. The fragile new republic already threatens to collapse under the cost of its creation.
Though the people of Emon have come a long way since the human supremacy of Drassig’s rule, prejudice and discrimination still burns like a lingering fever. Overt racism is most common in the Upper and Lower Slums, where gentrification threatens to eradicate the culture of one of Emon’s oldest immigrant districts. The scholarly elite of the Erudite Quarter and the nobility of the Cloudtop District like to pretend they are too enlightened to succumb to bigotry, their wealth and power allows them to leave their own prejudices unexamined. While elves and dwarves are fully welcomed into human society for their stereotypical characteristics (elven beauty and arcane talent, dwarven honesty and metallurgical prowess), tieflings, half-orcs, and dragonborn rarely rise to Emon’s highest societal ranks. Rebirth
Emon is still recovering from its destruction at the talons of the Chroma Conclave and Thordak’s subsequent occupation, rebuilding the districts most marred from the short-lived reign of the Cinder King. Thanks to the Clasp’s underground networks and established hierarchies, Emonian society and culture was able to bounce back more swiftly than any other major settlement in Tal’Dorei. Because the last Sovereign relinquished his power, without heirs, before he was killed by Thordak, the Council of Tal’Dorei was able to transition their nation from an imperial power to a republic without war or insurrection. However, the swiftness of Emon’s rebirth has put the Council of Emon in a precarious position. Not only are they socially indebted to a criminal faction, the Council now owes vast amounts of gold to mages in the service of the Alabaster Lyceum. These Lyceum conjurers created thousands of tons of stone and steel, and each of their transmuters rebuilt at the rate of one hundred laborers—and the Council cannot afford to pay them for their service, even with Thordak’s reclaimed treasure hoard. Some members of the Council have already caved to pressure from factions within the Clasp and the Lyceum, and turn a blind eye to the crime and magical abuse that run rampant throughout the city. The fragile new republic already threatens to collapse under the cost of its creation.
Government
Emon is the seat of the Council of Tal'Dorei, the nation’s highest governing body. Though the council originally served under the Sovereign of Tal’Dorei, the nation’s final Sovereign was killed when the Chroma Conclave attacked Emon. Following the death of Thordak the Cinder King and the rest of the Conclave, Emon was rebuilt and the Council reformed as the backbone of the new Republic of Tal’Dorei.
One unintended consequence of relying on magic to rapidly rebuild Emon is that the mages of Tal’Dorei now hold incredible influence over the fledgling Council. Some fear that without a Sovereign, the Council will be unable to keep the arcanists in line, and Tal’Dorei will dissolve into magocracy.
Hundreds of tunnels run beneath Emon, the forgotten remnants of paved-over neighborhoods and secret passageways made by thieves’ guilds during the reign of Drassig. These tunnels are now home to the Clasp's secret headquarters, where all manner of thieves, killers, fences, and spies are gathered underneath their banner. Some petty criminals look up to the Clasp, committing ambitious crimes in hopes of gaining the Spirelings’ attention. Though politicians and commoners alike are grateful to the Clasp for their role in rebuilding their city, this unsavoury “auditioning” has once again soured their reputation among the city watch.
Geography
Emon is not a tourist destination for its climate—the city is more temperate and prone to rain showers than most— but those who call it home swear they wouldn’t trade their rain for all the sun in Kymal. The city is blessed with cool summers and warm winters thanks to its proximity to the cool Ozmit Sea. Though snow rarely falls on the city itself, it relies on springtime snowmelt from the Cliffkeep Mountains to fill its reservoirs throughout the year. Emon is, in almost all senses, a city fated by water; were there anyone powerful enough to starve its farms and reservoirs, the city would be theirs.
Abdar’s Promenade
Abdar’s Promenade is the open marketplace district and massive bazaar that dominates eastern Emon. Named for the legendary spicemonger from Marquet who helped fund the construction of Emon, the name of Abdar is synonymous with both generosity and business savvy. Within the tents, carts, warehouses, and shops that stretch for miles of intertwining roads, nearly everything and anything you seek can be purchased, with the darker pursuits leading to Clasp-run rackets that work beyond the reach of the law. The Promenade is ever a whirlwind of commerce and excess, with a vigilant patrol by the city watch. Its most renowned establishments include the four storey Laughing Lamia Inn, the metalworker’s paradise called the Anvilgate, and the emporium of mystical riches known as Gilmore’s Glorious Goods. The Central District
The Central District is the largest residential district within Emon’s walls, housing most of the city’s merchant class, including traveling traders, ship captains, and guild apprentices. The district is a patchwork of thousands of personal homes, tenements, and guildhalls of all shapes and sizes, peppered with small taverns and inns on nearly every street corner. These neighbourhoods lay clustered together among tightly set streets, occasionally broken up by park grasses or the Ozmit Waterways that snake through the region between the promenade and the port. Visitors to the Central District are advised not to go out at night; the wide disparity of wealth from home to home here has seen crime rise recently, and the city watch seems reluctant to find a constructive solution. Residents who know the lay of the land have an easier time at night and can help visitors avoid the most dangerous streets. The Cloudtop District
The Cloudtop District once stood as the height of luxury and throne of the social elite, containing the Palace of the Sovereign alongside the mansions of the various lords and ladies of the city. An elevated port to arcane levitating skyships called the Skyport platform—first port of its kind— stands atop the Skyport tower. This symbol of advanced magical technology is buttressed against a 100-foot-high wall of shining white stone that encircles the district, a second line of siege defense for the political leaders of Emon.
When the Chroma Conclave attacked the city, the dragons focused their ire on the Cloudtop, flying over the protective walls and levelling many of the ostentatious homesteads as well as collapsing the palace itself. Thordak took the ruins here as his den, his presence bringing volcanic change to the earth throughout the inner walls. After Thordak’s defeat, the fires died down and grounds of the district are being reclaimed. Reconstruction of the palace is underway, and Council matters are currently held within the Citrine Garrison, the hub of all large military planning and action within the city.
The Temple District
The Temple District rests in the northern area of Emon, a ward that fosters many great sanctuaries built to uphold the worship of the city’s many dominant religions. Cathedrals to Erathis and Bahamut stand at apex among smaller temples to Pelor, Kord, Melora and The Raven Queen. Many poorer folk come here seeking shelter, while the pious offer their services and energy to upholding the tenets of their chosen deity. Travellers and sailors come to leave tokens and gifts at shrines to bless their journeys, while merchants seek the graces of Avandra before a risky endeavour. The meek search for wisdom in the great halls of Ioun as the artists and wistful folk give praise to Corellon. Not all folk are drawn toward nor trusting of religion, however, and temples past have been exposed as frauds, or worse, corrupting cells hidden in the service of darker gods. The Erudite Quarter
The Erudite Quarter acts as the center for higher education and studious pursuits through not just the city, but the realm of all Tal’Dorei. Beautiful towers stretch to the sky across a cityscape of centuries-old halls of learning and student boarding houses. Here, the finest schools and colleges draw the wealthy, the gifted, and the brilliant. Academies of the arts socially duel with universities of intellectual pursuits, all while overshadowed by the Alabaster Lyceum, the largest and most accomplished institute of arcane study on the continent. Run by Headmaster Thurmond Adlam, the Lyceum acts as both a training facility for talented magic practitioners, and a formidable centre for all forms of arcane research and study. Though its walls were shattered and its libraries crushed during the invasion of the Chroma Conclave, the Erudite Quarter has thankfully been mostly reconstructed thanks to the efforts of the Lyceum’s staff and students. The district’s greatest loss was the hundreds of thousands of pages torched during Thordak’s reign, destroying centuries of magical, mechanical, and historical documents. The Military District
The Military District is one of the smaller districts within the city, containing many barracks and instructional facilities for both the Arms of Emon and the standing military soldiers of the city. Men and women seeking to join the Arms of Emon train within the Walls of Tribute, referred to wryly by recruits as the Quarry, where they are given the necessary skill at combat, arms, and law to keep the city safe. Military recruits are instead trained within the House of Discipline, a grueling camp that readies entrants for the dangers of warfare. While many small stockades are scattered across the districts, the largest prison in the city, called the Black Bastille, is kept here. The Cemetery District
The Cemetery District is a smaller section of the city dedicated to interring the deceased who can afford it. Countless gravestone mark a row of rolling hills sectioned off by tall iron fences, with mausoleums of more affluent families dotting the grassy hillsides. As surface space grew limited in centuries past, the city began excavating a network of catacombs called the Undervaults. Upkeep, expansion and general safeguarding of the sites are overseen by the Gravewatchers, a guild of families that has held political and social hegemony control over the district for generations. A very recent excavation in the Undervaults was found to lead into the Crystalfern Caverns and was promptly sealed off. This did not stop some members of the Gravewatchers from seeing an opportunity, however; passage is occasionally granted to the Clasp or others willing to pay for entry to the dangerous realm below. The Port of Emon
The Port encompasses the massive inlet and series of docks that allow a vibrant flow of shipments in and out of the city. Over a hundred ships fill this port at any given time, and the dock crews are ever working, carrying crates and goods away to Abdar’s Promenade, or to the empty vessels for exportation. The northern sector of the Port is mostly allocated to the Everline, a powerful fisherman’s guild that frequently feuds with the shipping guild the Onyx Banner regarding dock space and taxing dock use. These feuds have never come to blows, but the Everline has begun making secret alliances with the sahuagin of the southern coast. What are they planning? The Upper Slums
The Upper Slums began several hundred years ago as a tent city, built by citizens too poor to pay Drassig’s outrageous taxes and were forced outside of the city gates. As time went on, the slum grew until it rivaled the size of a third of the city. Though their conditions were still meagre when the magnanimous Zan Tal’Dorei ended Drassig’s iron rule, the city’s denizens chose to remain, having created a community with its own culture of inexpensive living and brotherhood in poverty, away from the bustle of the city’s inner streets. A microcosm society now exists within the slum, including its own trade square, shrines for worship, and makeshift farms on the outskirts. Though the district’s name was once a sneering insult by the Cloudtop elite, its people have reclaimed the name, transforming the term “Upper Slums” into a symbol of pride. Two major ills afflict the region; the most obvious is its rampant crime and Clasp activity, for the Arms of Emon care little for defending the district. The second feeds the first; wealthy Emonians have suddenly begun building homes within the Upper Slums, diluting its unique culture and fanning the flames of resentment. The Lower Slums
he Lower Slums are a fraction of the size of its northern counterpart residing just outside the southernmost gates out of Emon. When a large refugee band from Othanzia was barred entry into the city near the end of Trist Drassig’s rule, the squatters instead set up shop beyond the walls, slowly forming a community of farmers who requested land in exchange for providing produce and grown goods to the people of the city. After the tyrant’s fall, an agreement was made, and now the farming community has grown to become one of the larger sources of farming products within Emon. While called a slum to this day by habit, the humble farmers here are rather safe from crime and poverty. The Shoreline Farms
The Shoreline Farms is a stretch of murky shore that the denizens of the Upper Slums have converted into farmland specializing in the few vegetables that grow in saltwater-soaked soil. Bountiful harvests of quattet fruit and the hard-to-grow brineroot has led to a small economic boom for some within the Upper Slums. This situation has led to farmers being fiercely territorial, occasionally to the point of actual violence. The Grotto
The Grotto is the sprawling series of chambers and halls that composes the Clasp’s main base of operations beneath the city of Emon. Hidden amongst a series of labyrinthine tunnels and passages that are woven into the sewer system, it’s rumored there are over a dozen entrances into the Grotto concealed throughout the city, and over a hundred others abandoned and filled in for fear of discovery. The very nature of the Clasp’s business is to keep shifting out of sight, and as such, the actual core of the organization moves from base to base between multiple subterranean structures, ever building further underground or repurposing a long abandoned hideout whenever necessary. Landmarks
Gilmore’s Glorious Goods
The broad, single-storey façade of Shaun Gilmore’s wondrous magical emporium belies the extravagance of its interior. Within, the air is thick with a dozen competing perfumes, each more pungent than the last. The interior is impossibly large—certainly larger than its exterior walls would have you believe—and filled with seemingly endless rows of arcane curiosities and artifacts, many of whose cryptic functions have been lost to time. Everburning candles in an array of unnatural colors light the shop, casting tantalizing shadows over every bubbling phial and mystical orb. Characters entering the shop are first met by Gilmore’s assistant Sherri, a half-elf draped in deep purple robes. If they are lucky, or particularly convincing, they may even meet the hero Gilmore himself. Gilmore is ever eager to recount his part in the fall of the Chroma Conclave, often embellishing his role in the final battle with Thordak himself. Azalea Street Park
Azalea Street is one of Emon’s oldest neighborhoods, and is full to bursting with small businesses, quaint homes, and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Amidst the chaos of daily life, Azalea Street is also home to a peaceful park overlooking the Ozmit Waterways. When the stress of constant battles becomes too much to bear, adventurers in the know take a moment to visit the Azalea Street Park and recover, maybe even swapping stories with other relaxing heroes. Legend has it that heroes who meditate among the flowers and drink in the sea air return invigorated by the spirit of the Wildmother. A dual statue of Melora and Erathis dancing stands within a fountain in the centre of the park. Thordak’s Crater
The very center of the Cloudtop District, despite restoration crews’ best efforts, remains a smoldering ruin, home only to rubble and molten slag, still supernaturally hot from Thordak’s fiery corruption. Whenever a restoration crew enters the crater, the pools of slag and cinder rise to life, repulsing all living creatures. Why Thordak’s magic lingers enough to create these mindless cinderslag elementals is a mystery; but it seems to be limited to the crater, as the elementals cannot go beyond it without collapsing into inert slurry. The Godsbrawl Ring
Though the Temple of Kord always has a fighting ring in its center, the annual Godsbrawl transforms the earthen, torch-lit sanctum into one of Tal’Dorei’s most unusual tournament grounds. On the Day of Challenging, the Stormbringer’s holy day, the athletic priests of Kord invite warriors and worshipers of the entire pantheon to the Godsbrawl, asking that each temple offer forth their greatest warrior to act as their god’s proxy in the tournament. The clergy of Pelor and Erathis send their champions but rarely take it seriously, for they scorn the storm-priests’ notion of “might makes right.” Conversely, the champions of Kord and Bahamut have a fierce - though friendly - rivalry, trading the title of Supreme Champion back and forth each year after a bloody final round. Traverse Junction
It looms over the bustling center of the Erudite Quarter, shining like a pyramid of pure sapphire, its walls thrumming with arcane energy. It is the Traverse Junction, and it is one of the most magically-active structures in Tal’Dorei. In nearly every major Exandrian city exist teleportation circles that link mages to other circles around the world. Each and every one of these major circles has a twin in the Traverse Junction, a travel nexus for approved mages and world leaders. Any characters renowned in Emon or honored by the Alabaster Lyceum may make use of the Junction (perhaps at cost), allowing them to travel to major cities such as Westruun, Syngorn, Kraghammer, or even far-off Ank’Harel. The telemagi who curate the circles are always in search of new teleportation sigils to different lands; perhaps brave adventurers can aid them? The Black Bastille
Named for its ash-blackened walls, the ominous Black Bastille is a single-storey prison that sprawls across the eastern end of the Military District. The compound has no windows, no open courtyards, and only one entrance of two imposing steel doors flanked by watchtowers. During the reign of the Chroma Conclave, the prison was one of the first buildings attacked, setting hundreds of Tal’Dorei’s worst criminals loose to sow chaos across Emon. The Black Bastille has since been rebuilt, but dozens of its most deplorable inmates still run free, and the Arms of Emon are eager to recover them. Some include the human demon-summoner Felrinn Derevar, betrayer of the Arcana Pansophical; the half-elf pyromancer Illaman Falconsong, exile of the Fire Ashari; and the vampiric tiefling Ixrattu Khar, cultist of Vecna and Tal’Dorei’s foulest mass murderer. Tomb of the Last Sovereign
Uriel Tal’Dorei II, the last of his line, was slain by the noxious breath of the green dragon Raishan during the attack of the Chroma Conclave. Uriel’s wife, Salda, survived him and petitioned the reformed Council of Tal’Dorei to build their last sovereign a tomb befitting his benevolence and magnanimity. They complied, and the monumental Tomb of the Last Sovereign is now home to not just Uriel’s ashes, but to tribute from all who loved him. Those with wealth gave gold, while those whose hearts outweighed their purses gave more personal tribute. Of late, the Gravewatchers have closed the tomb to all. The act is within their right as defenders of the dead, but Salda Tal’Dorei grows suspicious of their true intent. Catyurit Farm
The Catyurit family has grown chellerum gourds on their land for generations, and the farm is currently run by a human single mother, Helina, her two sons Rych and Empi, and her youngest daughter Foryuna. The chellerum is a briny vegetable known for being a hearty meat substitute, and has fed Emon’s people in thin times since before the first sovereign. PCs can buy chellerum here for 5 sp each, and a roasted gourd can feed a group of six for a full day.
Abdar’s Promenade is the open marketplace district and massive bazaar that dominates eastern Emon. Named for the legendary spicemonger from Marquet who helped fund the construction of Emon, the name of Abdar is synonymous with both generosity and business savvy. Within the tents, carts, warehouses, and shops that stretch for miles of intertwining roads, nearly everything and anything you seek can be purchased, with the darker pursuits leading to Clasp-run rackets that work beyond the reach of the law. The Promenade is ever a whirlwind of commerce and excess, with a vigilant patrol by the city watch. Its most renowned establishments include the four storey Laughing Lamia Inn, the metalworker’s paradise called the Anvilgate, and the emporium of mystical riches known as Gilmore’s Glorious Goods. The Central District
The Central District is the largest residential district within Emon’s walls, housing most of the city’s merchant class, including traveling traders, ship captains, and guild apprentices. The district is a patchwork of thousands of personal homes, tenements, and guildhalls of all shapes and sizes, peppered with small taverns and inns on nearly every street corner. These neighbourhoods lay clustered together among tightly set streets, occasionally broken up by park grasses or the Ozmit Waterways that snake through the region between the promenade and the port. Visitors to the Central District are advised not to go out at night; the wide disparity of wealth from home to home here has seen crime rise recently, and the city watch seems reluctant to find a constructive solution. Residents who know the lay of the land have an easier time at night and can help visitors avoid the most dangerous streets. The Cloudtop District
The Temple District rests in the northern area of Emon, a ward that fosters many great sanctuaries built to uphold the worship of the city’s many dominant religions. Cathedrals to Erathis and Bahamut stand at apex among smaller temples to Pelor, Kord, Melora and The Raven Queen. Many poorer folk come here seeking shelter, while the pious offer their services and energy to upholding the tenets of their chosen deity. Travellers and sailors come to leave tokens and gifts at shrines to bless their journeys, while merchants seek the graces of Avandra before a risky endeavour. The meek search for wisdom in the great halls of Ioun as the artists and wistful folk give praise to Corellon. Not all folk are drawn toward nor trusting of religion, however, and temples past have been exposed as frauds, or worse, corrupting cells hidden in the service of darker gods. The Erudite Quarter
The Erudite Quarter acts as the center for higher education and studious pursuits through not just the city, but the realm of all Tal’Dorei. Beautiful towers stretch to the sky across a cityscape of centuries-old halls of learning and student boarding houses. Here, the finest schools and colleges draw the wealthy, the gifted, and the brilliant. Academies of the arts socially duel with universities of intellectual pursuits, all while overshadowed by the Alabaster Lyceum, the largest and most accomplished institute of arcane study on the continent. Run by Headmaster Thurmond Adlam, the Lyceum acts as both a training facility for talented magic practitioners, and a formidable centre for all forms of arcane research and study. Though its walls were shattered and its libraries crushed during the invasion of the Chroma Conclave, the Erudite Quarter has thankfully been mostly reconstructed thanks to the efforts of the Lyceum’s staff and students. The district’s greatest loss was the hundreds of thousands of pages torched during Thordak’s reign, destroying centuries of magical, mechanical, and historical documents. The Military District
The Military District is one of the smaller districts within the city, containing many barracks and instructional facilities for both the Arms of Emon and the standing military soldiers of the city. Men and women seeking to join the Arms of Emon train within the Walls of Tribute, referred to wryly by recruits as the Quarry, where they are given the necessary skill at combat, arms, and law to keep the city safe. Military recruits are instead trained within the House of Discipline, a grueling camp that readies entrants for the dangers of warfare. While many small stockades are scattered across the districts, the largest prison in the city, called the Black Bastille, is kept here. The Cemetery District
The Cemetery District is a smaller section of the city dedicated to interring the deceased who can afford it. Countless gravestone mark a row of rolling hills sectioned off by tall iron fences, with mausoleums of more affluent families dotting the grassy hillsides. As surface space grew limited in centuries past, the city began excavating a network of catacombs called the Undervaults. Upkeep, expansion and general safeguarding of the sites are overseen by the Gravewatchers, a guild of families that has held political and social hegemony control over the district for generations. A very recent excavation in the Undervaults was found to lead into the Crystalfern Caverns and was promptly sealed off. This did not stop some members of the Gravewatchers from seeing an opportunity, however; passage is occasionally granted to the Clasp or others willing to pay for entry to the dangerous realm below. The Port of Emon
The Port encompasses the massive inlet and series of docks that allow a vibrant flow of shipments in and out of the city. Over a hundred ships fill this port at any given time, and the dock crews are ever working, carrying crates and goods away to Abdar’s Promenade, or to the empty vessels for exportation. The northern sector of the Port is mostly allocated to the Everline, a powerful fisherman’s guild that frequently feuds with the shipping guild the Onyx Banner regarding dock space and taxing dock use. These feuds have never come to blows, but the Everline has begun making secret alliances with the sahuagin of the southern coast. What are they planning? The Upper Slums
The Upper Slums began several hundred years ago as a tent city, built by citizens too poor to pay Drassig’s outrageous taxes and were forced outside of the city gates. As time went on, the slum grew until it rivaled the size of a third of the city. Though their conditions were still meagre when the magnanimous Zan Tal’Dorei ended Drassig’s iron rule, the city’s denizens chose to remain, having created a community with its own culture of inexpensive living and brotherhood in poverty, away from the bustle of the city’s inner streets. A microcosm society now exists within the slum, including its own trade square, shrines for worship, and makeshift farms on the outskirts. Though the district’s name was once a sneering insult by the Cloudtop elite, its people have reclaimed the name, transforming the term “Upper Slums” into a symbol of pride. Two major ills afflict the region; the most obvious is its rampant crime and Clasp activity, for the Arms of Emon care little for defending the district. The second feeds the first; wealthy Emonians have suddenly begun building homes within the Upper Slums, diluting its unique culture and fanning the flames of resentment. The Lower Slums
he Lower Slums are a fraction of the size of its northern counterpart residing just outside the southernmost gates out of Emon. When a large refugee band from Othanzia was barred entry into the city near the end of Trist Drassig’s rule, the squatters instead set up shop beyond the walls, slowly forming a community of farmers who requested land in exchange for providing produce and grown goods to the people of the city. After the tyrant’s fall, an agreement was made, and now the farming community has grown to become one of the larger sources of farming products within Emon. While called a slum to this day by habit, the humble farmers here are rather safe from crime and poverty. The Shoreline Farms
The Shoreline Farms is a stretch of murky shore that the denizens of the Upper Slums have converted into farmland specializing in the few vegetables that grow in saltwater-soaked soil. Bountiful harvests of quattet fruit and the hard-to-grow brineroot has led to a small economic boom for some within the Upper Slums. This situation has led to farmers being fiercely territorial, occasionally to the point of actual violence. The Grotto
The Grotto is the sprawling series of chambers and halls that composes the Clasp’s main base of operations beneath the city of Emon. Hidden amongst a series of labyrinthine tunnels and passages that are woven into the sewer system, it’s rumored there are over a dozen entrances into the Grotto concealed throughout the city, and over a hundred others abandoned and filled in for fear of discovery. The very nature of the Clasp’s business is to keep shifting out of sight, and as such, the actual core of the organization moves from base to base between multiple subterranean structures, ever building further underground or repurposing a long abandoned hideout whenever necessary. Landmarks
Gilmore’s Glorious Goods
The broad, single-storey façade of Shaun Gilmore’s wondrous magical emporium belies the extravagance of its interior. Within, the air is thick with a dozen competing perfumes, each more pungent than the last. The interior is impossibly large—certainly larger than its exterior walls would have you believe—and filled with seemingly endless rows of arcane curiosities and artifacts, many of whose cryptic functions have been lost to time. Everburning candles in an array of unnatural colors light the shop, casting tantalizing shadows over every bubbling phial and mystical orb. Characters entering the shop are first met by Gilmore’s assistant Sherri, a half-elf draped in deep purple robes. If they are lucky, or particularly convincing, they may even meet the hero Gilmore himself. Gilmore is ever eager to recount his part in the fall of the Chroma Conclave, often embellishing his role in the final battle with Thordak himself. Azalea Street Park
Azalea Street is one of Emon’s oldest neighborhoods, and is full to bursting with small businesses, quaint homes, and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Amidst the chaos of daily life, Azalea Street is also home to a peaceful park overlooking the Ozmit Waterways. When the stress of constant battles becomes too much to bear, adventurers in the know take a moment to visit the Azalea Street Park and recover, maybe even swapping stories with other relaxing heroes. Legend has it that heroes who meditate among the flowers and drink in the sea air return invigorated by the spirit of the Wildmother. A dual statue of Melora and Erathis dancing stands within a fountain in the centre of the park. Thordak’s Crater
The very center of the Cloudtop District, despite restoration crews’ best efforts, remains a smoldering ruin, home only to rubble and molten slag, still supernaturally hot from Thordak’s fiery corruption. Whenever a restoration crew enters the crater, the pools of slag and cinder rise to life, repulsing all living creatures. Why Thordak’s magic lingers enough to create these mindless cinderslag elementals is a mystery; but it seems to be limited to the crater, as the elementals cannot go beyond it without collapsing into inert slurry. The Godsbrawl Ring
Though the Temple of Kord always has a fighting ring in its center, the annual Godsbrawl transforms the earthen, torch-lit sanctum into one of Tal’Dorei’s most unusual tournament grounds. On the Day of Challenging, the Stormbringer’s holy day, the athletic priests of Kord invite warriors and worshipers of the entire pantheon to the Godsbrawl, asking that each temple offer forth their greatest warrior to act as their god’s proxy in the tournament. The clergy of Pelor and Erathis send their champions but rarely take it seriously, for they scorn the storm-priests’ notion of “might makes right.” Conversely, the champions of Kord and Bahamut have a fierce - though friendly - rivalry, trading the title of Supreme Champion back and forth each year after a bloody final round. Traverse Junction
It looms over the bustling center of the Erudite Quarter, shining like a pyramid of pure sapphire, its walls thrumming with arcane energy. It is the Traverse Junction, and it is one of the most magically-active structures in Tal’Dorei. In nearly every major Exandrian city exist teleportation circles that link mages to other circles around the world. Each and every one of these major circles has a twin in the Traverse Junction, a travel nexus for approved mages and world leaders. Any characters renowned in Emon or honored by the Alabaster Lyceum may make use of the Junction (perhaps at cost), allowing them to travel to major cities such as Westruun, Syngorn, Kraghammer, or even far-off Ank’Harel. The telemagi who curate the circles are always in search of new teleportation sigils to different lands; perhaps brave adventurers can aid them? The Black Bastille
Named for its ash-blackened walls, the ominous Black Bastille is a single-storey prison that sprawls across the eastern end of the Military District. The compound has no windows, no open courtyards, and only one entrance of two imposing steel doors flanked by watchtowers. During the reign of the Chroma Conclave, the prison was one of the first buildings attacked, setting hundreds of Tal’Dorei’s worst criminals loose to sow chaos across Emon. The Black Bastille has since been rebuilt, but dozens of its most deplorable inmates still run free, and the Arms of Emon are eager to recover them. Some include the human demon-summoner Felrinn Derevar, betrayer of the Arcana Pansophical; the half-elf pyromancer Illaman Falconsong, exile of the Fire Ashari; and the vampiric tiefling Ixrattu Khar, cultist of Vecna and Tal’Dorei’s foulest mass murderer. Tomb of the Last Sovereign
Uriel Tal’Dorei II, the last of his line, was slain by the noxious breath of the green dragon Raishan during the attack of the Chroma Conclave. Uriel’s wife, Salda, survived him and petitioned the reformed Council of Tal’Dorei to build their last sovereign a tomb befitting his benevolence and magnanimity. They complied, and the monumental Tomb of the Last Sovereign is now home to not just Uriel’s ashes, but to tribute from all who loved him. Those with wealth gave gold, while those whose hearts outweighed their purses gave more personal tribute. Of late, the Gravewatchers have closed the tomb to all. The act is within their right as defenders of the dead, but Salda Tal’Dorei grows suspicious of their true intent. Catyurit Farm
The Catyurit family has grown chellerum gourds on their land for generations, and the farm is currently run by a human single mother, Helina, her two sons Rych and Empi, and her youngest daughter Foryuna. The chellerum is a briny vegetable known for being a hearty meat substitute, and has fed Emon’s people in thin times since before the first sovereign. PCs can buy chellerum here for 5 sp each, and a roasted gourd can feed a group of six for a full day.
Type
Capital
Population
287,500 (68% Human, 7% Dwarven, 6% Elven, 19% Other)
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