Port Nyanzaru
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/toa/port-nyanzaru#Chapter1PortNyanzaru
Government
Seven merchant princes rule Port Nyanzaru, each one with an equal vote in matters of state. All are Chultan. Their single qualification is that they’re the seven richest people in the city. Their seat of governance is Goldenthrone, an old, regal Amnian palace overlooking the bay. A merchant prince who retires can yield his or her position to a family member or someone else of immense wealth agreed on by the majority.
The merchant princes surround themselves with loyal family and underlings, but they also employ foreign mercenaries both as city guards and as personal guards. Most of these mercenaries are Zhents, and where one finds the Zhentarim, one can also find Harper spies.
The merchant princes have specific monopolies on all merchandise sold in the city. Characters in need of gear or supplies must deal through these individuals directly or their consortiums indirectly. The only alternative is to resort to the black markets in Malar’s Throat or Tiryki Anchorage.
Districts
- Old City - Three ancient, vine-covered ziggurats tower above this crumbling ward. The whole district is a juxtaposition of ancient and decaying (but still occupied) stone structures interspersed with flimsy new huts and longhouses of bamboo and thatch. The Old City is run by “beggar princes” in a mocking parallel to the merchant princes of the city proper. They have no official authority, but each of them sits atop a web of debts, favors, incriminating information, and loyal muscle that allows them to get things done with an efficiency that the merchant princes sometimes envy. Unlike the merchant princes, whose positions are based on wealth that passes from generation to generation in the same family, the identities and even the number of the beggar princes changes continually. The Old City is run down but it isn’t a slum or a haven for thieves. Most of the residents are lower-class laborers or struggling artisans who can’t afford the higher rents of homes inside the city walls.
- Merchant's Ward - The western half of the city is called the Merchants’ Ward because it’s the site of the Grand Souk and because many of the merchant princes’ villas are there. In general, this is the upper-class section of the city. The majority of the city’s merchants and traders actually live and work in the Market Ward.
- Harbor Ward - Port Nyanzaru’s harbor can accommodate ships of all sizes. The enclosed, eastern portion of the harbor is reserved for the use of the merchant princes, but the rest of the docks are available for use by any ship. If the characters wish to travel by sea, they can book passage on the Brazen Pegasus at a cost of 10 gp per day (for the whole party). A 60-foot sloop built for speed, she has a single mast flying a square mainsail plus two triangular foresails, one aft sail, and a small topsail. All that canvas gives her a top speed of 10 mph under ideal conditions.
- Market Ward - The Market Ward is where most of Port Nyanzaru’s regular shops are located and where most of its tradesfolk, merchants, and other middle-class residents live and work.
- Malar's Throat - This region outside the city walls is Port Nyanzaru’s slum district. Two sheer, jungle-draped ridges flank a deep ravine. Ramshackle buildings cling to the sides of the ridges, each structure seemingly built atop the lower one’s roof. During heavy rain, runoff pours down the ravine, through Ubtao’s Jaws (the large gate in the city wall facing Malar’s Throat), and down the paved streets to the harbor, often sweeping along unattended baskets, dead animals, and even clumsy or unlucky Chultans in its tow. Foot bridges of rope and bamboo hang above the ravine. Some of them are 200 feet long or longer and sway a hundred feet above ground, terrifying the faint of heart. Skilled thieves have been known to drop hooks on thin lines from the bridges and “fish” purses right off victims’ belts.
- Tiryki Anchorage - This district east of the city is populated by animal trainers, river folk, explorers who need inexpensive lodging, and other rough-and-tumble sorts. Smugglers prefer the unregulated docks of the anchorage over the policed and inspected docks of the harbor, despite the shortage of dock workers and beast-powered cranes to assist in loading and unloading. Unlike Malar’s Throat and the Old City, Tiryki Anchorage has no fortified temple or ancient stone ziggurats where residents can take shelter against undead or carnivores. Most people dash for Tiryki Gate when the alarm sounds and hope to get through before it’s locked ahead of them. Fortunately, the animals in their pens are more sensitive to approaching enemies than humans are, so few creatures are able to sneak into the area undetected.
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