City of Glass
Documents Handbook of Law in the City of Glass
Selkies have no use for the coins and pearls they collect in their wanderings, but the City of Glass provides a uniquely satisfying opportunity to dispose of this weight. On the third week of each month, without fail, dozens of selkies in human form descend on the city in a peculiar custom that's come to be called "Selkie Week". These forays are vacation time for the selkies, who cash in the valuables they've acquired in the previous three weeks to indulge in all the pleasures the city has to offer. They're particularly fond of wine, something they can't enjoy in their underwater form. Those who've accumulated enough wealth immerse themselves in the haven of Dolomite's Reverie.
The overall effect is akin to loosing a few hundred drunken sailors on a port city. Brawling is common, as are attacks on the selkies by criminals. Although many citizens complain about their escapades, the city council has never taken action against the selkies because of the money they bring in. In fact, the selkies were able to win a seat on the council with their economic might despite being in the city for only one week a month, they argued, the influx of cash they provided should made them eligible for citizenship. The council, greedy for continued revenues, agreed to this and authorized the appointment of a selkie representative. ( Strangely enough, since that point few important votes take place the third week of the month. )
Most of the city's inhabitants have made a mockery of council elections, using bribes and gangs to get their way. The selkies, though, were quite taken by the idea of democracy and threw themselves into it with gusto. The City of Glass soon found out the only thing worse than Selkie Week is Election Week. During that all members of the selkie tribes who regularly visit the city show up at once, causing mayhem. Leaders of rival tribes compete fiercly for the coveted council seat, squeezing entire policial campaigns into just one week. The selkies rent out the coliseum from the sahuagin for ad ay to hold their raucous popular election. The victory celebrations are so boisterous that even the greediest merchants are glad Election Week happens only once every five years.
Selkies can be found almost anywhere in the city, but most often in the camp ( 50%), Central District ( 25% ), Jewelers' District ( 15% ), Reverie ( 5%), or other (5%).
Selkie Week
Perhaps the most unusual inhabitants of the City of Glass are the selkies. These creatures resemble seals but are faerie beings who can breathe water, unlike the mammals whose shape they wear. Selkies roam the Elemental Plane of Water in tribes, hunting and scavenging as they go. For one week each month, a selkie can transform into human form.Selkies have no use for the coins and pearls they collect in their wanderings, but the City of Glass provides a uniquely satisfying opportunity to dispose of this weight. On the third week of each month, without fail, dozens of selkies in human form descend on the city in a peculiar custom that's come to be called "Selkie Week". These forays are vacation time for the selkies, who cash in the valuables they've acquired in the previous three weeks to indulge in all the pleasures the city has to offer. They're particularly fond of wine, something they can't enjoy in their underwater form. Those who've accumulated enough wealth immerse themselves in the haven of Dolomite's Reverie.
The overall effect is akin to loosing a few hundred drunken sailors on a port city. Brawling is common, as are attacks on the selkies by criminals. Although many citizens complain about their escapades, the city council has never taken action against the selkies because of the money they bring in. In fact, the selkies were able to win a seat on the council with their economic might despite being in the city for only one week a month, they argued, the influx of cash they provided should made them eligible for citizenship. The council, greedy for continued revenues, agreed to this and authorized the appointment of a selkie representative. ( Strangely enough, since that point few important votes take place the third week of the month. )
Most of the city's inhabitants have made a mockery of council elections, using bribes and gangs to get their way. The selkies, though, were quite taken by the idea of democracy and threw themselves into it with gusto. The City of Glass soon found out the only thing worse than Selkie Week is Election Week. During that all members of the selkie tribes who regularly visit the city show up at once, causing mayhem. Leaders of rival tribes compete fiercly for the coveted council seat, squeezing entire policial campaigns into just one week. The selkies rent out the coliseum from the sahuagin for ad ay to hold their raucous popular election. The victory celebrations are so boisterous that even the greediest merchants are glad Election Week happens only once every five years.
Selkies can be found almost anywhere in the city, but most often in the camp ( 50%), Central District ( 25% ), Jewelers' District ( 15% ), Reverie ( 5%), or other (5%).
Selkie Camp
Each month during Selkie Week, a transient camp springs up in the Central District on the shore of Icelake. The selkies rent tents and pavilions from outfitters, who wisely stock up beforehand, and lay down temporary floors of seaweed covered with soft cushions ( another luxury unavailable in their water-dwelling form ). These camps are like big neighborhood parties, with plenty of music, drinking, and carousing. The selkies are sociable and invite all anyone to join the festivities. Though once things get rambuctious, a visitor is like as not to be chucked into the lake.Demographics
Its around the size of London ( 30 miles diameter )
Government
A merchant council runs the City of Glass. To prevent imbalance, the council’s limited to a single representative from each of the fifteen races that inhabit the city. There’s a new election every five years. Councilors are usually the heads of major merchant houses. The marids, despite their loss of the city, have been represented on it from the beginning and still wield great power.
Districts
The city is divided into districts, largely along racial lines. Within each, merchant houses maintain fortified towers to defend their interests. The leading houses also control the watch in their district, staffed by those they serve; to prevent interracial friction, watches rarely work with those of neighboring districts.
The watches' primary responsibility is patrolling the gates against abuses of hospitality. They detain visitors until a delegation of their or a related race can be summoned to greet them. There's also the matter of the entry tax ( the equivalent of 1 gp per pound of weight ) for visitors and goods. Those who arrive uprepared can sign a voucher for the debt, but must pay it in full before they leave. Need money ? Pawnbrokers will buy "excess" gear, and the city hires temporary workers for its maintanance crew ( earning 1-20 per month, depending on how dirty one's hand - or whatever - get ). The watch also instructs visitors in the rules of the city and directs them to lodgings. There's no law against moving about the city armed, but the watch encourages visitors to leave armor at their inn and carry only minor weapons. Most accommodate these wishes.
The city council takes a hands-off approach toward plannar travelers, since it wants to encourage tourism and commerce, but levies a 10% duty on all goods that travel through the city.
Guilds and Factions
What few outside the city know is that the merchant houses are in a virtual state of war. While the races have learned to get along in the city council, it's too much to expect that sea elves and sahuagin can really live together in harmony.
The most important conflict is economic, as befits a trade center: Merchants compete ruthlessly for business. Sometimes, though, deals need to be backed up by muscle, so virtually every merchant house sponsors a street gang to support its interests. These gangs protect shops, patrol territory, and enforce contracts. In keeping with the customs of the city, they wear little armor and favor light weapons. A war of rapier and dagger is fought in back streets under the cover of darkness.
The City of Glass has no organized thieves' guild, but there's still plenty of crime. Some gang members commit illegal acts, but they're the exception; Through they seem to disrupt order, gangs are as much as part of the law as the Watch.
The most important conflict is economic, as befits a trade center: Merchants compete ruthlessly for business. Sometimes, though, deals need to be backed up by muscle, so virtually every merchant house sponsors a street gang to support its interests. These gangs protect shops, patrol territory, and enforce contracts. In keeping with the customs of the city, they wear little armor and favor light weapons. A war of rapier and dagger is fought in back streets under the cover of darkness.
The City of Glass has no organized thieves' guild, but there's still plenty of crime. Some gang members commit illegal acts, but they're the exception; Through they seem to disrupt order, gangs are as much as part of the law as the Watch.
Independent criminals
The true criminals of the city, the small-time pickpockets, con artists, cat burglars, muggers - they owe allegiance to no merchant house. These thieves don't have it easy - they have to duck both the Watch and the gangs. Their one advantage is that district watches don't share information. Criminals who find the Ale District too hot, for instance, can transfer operation to Alcazar without fear of pursuit.History
Many Primes believe that conditions on most of the Inner Planes are too harsh to survive. What they don’t know is that each Elemental Plane is more like a stew, with bits of other elements dispersed in it in these “elemental pockets” outlander life can thrive. The City of Glass is an excellent example. Though its builders are unknown, an aquatic race of genies, the marids, laid claim to it and built a grand city beneath the dome that’s friendly to air- and water-breathing creatures alike. Races as antagonistic as sea elves and sahuagin live here side by side, trying to set aside their cultural differences in the interest of trade and profit.
A Brief History of the City of Glass
Architecture
The Dome
The dome is one of the great wonders of the Inner Planes. Although it looks like glass, it is as tough as steel, 5 feet thick and able to withstand a leviathan. It somehow bars entry by ethereal and teleporting beings, yet air passes through it from the surrounding water. The dome cyclically shifts from transparency to opaqueness, providing the city with a sort of day and night. None have been able to divine the secrets of its construction, but planar scholars theorize it’s a unique form of water, hard as glass.The Ice
Beneath the dome is a wonder of a different kind, a huge berg entirely of eternal ice. This rare substance is normally found on the Paraelemental Plane of Ice. Eternal ice never melts, no matter the temperature. This is both a blessing and a curse, for while it forms a stable foundation and offers ready-made food preservation and storage, it also chills the waters nearby to arctic cold. The city dwellers have adapted by adding thick insulating layers of crushed shell and coral aggregate; walls usually have a rubble fill or employ a wattle-and-daub technique using silt and reeds. Thoroughfares are “cobbled” with shells, but the rest of the streets are icy and best traversed by sleds. To reduce slipperiness, city crews scatter crushed ice and silt though greater rollers and saw roughen the coral surface more on top. This gives the city streets a distinct pinkish color. The underside of the iceberg is riddled with caves, most of which are occupied by merfolk. Inhabitants of the city hew cellars from the ice to store perishables.Maps
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City of Glass
Alternative Name(s)
P'un'kâr
Type
Large city
Population
100.000+
Included Locations
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