Maruthala Moti
Overview
In the heart of the salt-covered Bone Wastes in southern Ithara lies the gleaming pearl city of Maruthala Moti, an oasis in a sea of death. The Merchant King Vishal Kurkani, a former adventurer and known collector of mystical artifacts, established the city as a testament to Itharan ingenuity. Fresh water flows freely within the city gates, and on the paths through the Bone Wastes, Vishal has implemented fresh water wells untainted by the sea of salt; free for limited use, but a little coin gets more water. This has made the Bone Wastes a survivable trade route, greatly reducing the length of travel in southern Ithara.
It is an open secret that the source of this unlimited fresh water is one of Vishal's many artifacts, though precisely which one is unknown. The exact quantity of his horde has never been made public, and the identities of most of his artifacts have only been guessed at.
Maruthala Moti also houses one of the largest artificer schools in Ithara, owing to the aether-rich surroundings of the Bone Wastes, and the artificers directly employed by Vishal are allowed to study a limited volume of his personal collection in exchange for total secrecy about its contents. It is their goal to be able to replicate these ancient treasures’' effects for larger production, much like the devices now used to produce fresh water.
