Asperdi

Asperdi is a walled town, set back from the coast, mostly built of a hard reddish-brown stone taken from a quarry to the east long exhausted of its riches. It is bustling and lively, with several large markets and a strong line of armorers and ironworkers in addition to the more predictable naval artisans. The folk of the town, and the isles generally, almost all favor the combination of loose pantaloons and a baggy, wide-sleeved cotton blouse, though those of primarily Flan blood still use face painting as an additional decoration. Bright colors are generally worn, so on a sunny day Asperdi is a vivid sight, with its literally colorful people walking in the shadow of the ornately-decorated city walls. Most carry long, heavy, curved daggers which can be treated as short swords for the purposes of damage, weapon speed, etc.

Any town of seagoing folk has a rowdy quality, with violence not far from the surface. Asperdi is no exception. Basmajian's Naval Phalanx act both as a city watch and as judge and jury in the case of offenses; this is a place of summary justice. The city prison is greatly feared, since it is dilapidated and vermin-infested and in hot weather in particular death from disease and infection is common place. For this reason, Asperdi doesn't attract many thieves. The forbidding crenellated tower overlooking the town is too visible a reminder of where they will probably die if they are detected in their nefarious activities.

Among the main power factions of Asperdi are the guilds of various artisans and the priesthood of Procan. They, together with the commanders of the city watch, who are Basmajian's galleon captains, form an advisory council to the Baron. Also on that council is the wizard Livensten, a true eccentric who often turns up for meetings in partial states of undress because he has forgotten to put all his clothes on. Livensten's passion, however, is inventions and tinkerings. The new astrolabe he has just invented—and his almanacs showing how to compute latitude and distances from the position of sun and moons—is receiving considerable approval from the galleon captains. These aids have enabled the Sea Barons to become true ocean-goers should they wish, in contrast to their traditional role as coastal defenders and patrollers.

This is a mixed blessing for Basmajian, since it encour ages his younger captains to do precisely what he doesn't want them to do, namely to set off on great voyages of discovery far east across the Solnor.

Finally, Asperdi is home to a small matriarchal group whose origins are in the bloodlines of the Rhennee, the bargegoers of the central Flanaess. How they came here is lost in the mists of time, but this community has been here for so long than no one really cares any more. With their mixture of soothsaying, divinations, herbalism, and a little symbolic ju-ju cursing when it suits them, the women are much respected by the men of the islands, who are extremely superstitious about them. One of the women, known as the rhenata, will always be asked to give her blessings to any new vessel about to take its first voyage, and usually to any ship about to set sail for longer than a week or so out of port. This precaution is always doubled with asking for the blessings of a priest of Procan, of course, so the cost of setting sail can be quite high at times. Blessings are not given gratis.