Bet Rogala
Common Knowledge
Sheltered and protected by the landforms surrounding it, this city is filled with simple people. Housing many different races has made total confusion of the architectural styles, but it also lends a simple charm. The economy is mostly local, but anyone traveling through with valuable merchandise should be able to sell it easily.
At a Glance
Bet Rogala, located on the northeastern shores of Lake Eb’Sobet, is home to a wide variety of both humans and demi-humans. Most of the city’s residents are artisans, farmers or fisherman. These simple folk live comfortably because of the plentiful supply of fish and the mild climate. Additionally, the high concentration of affluent mages and their adventuring companions brings a good deal of wealth into the community. The city’s architecture is an eclectic mix of different styles and sizes of buildings. The ancient lake-houses of the Dejy still house some of the city’s poorest inhabitants, while small natural or artificial hills are home to halflings and dwarves. Soldiers bivouac outside the city’s walls, and the middle and upper classes live in large brick homes.City Map
Temples
Bet Rogala is the proud home to the Holder of the Platinum Key, the highest cleric of the Temple of Enchantment. Thomas Palinwayt is personally powerful, but he is politically impotent because his religious zeal prevents him from separating lay and clerical matters. His position as Chancellor of the College of Magic is nominal only and is typically given to the Holder of the Platinum Key as a courtesy. His temple sees 200-300 worshippers on larger holy days, but when the College of Magic calls its annual Magic Fair, the temple nearly bursts at the seams as wizards and apprentices pack its hall.Mages & Sages
Bet Rogala has a greater concentration of wizards than anywhere else on Tellene. Its College of Magic alone claims two dozen instructors and possibly fifty dedicated students at any one time. Its graduates become leaders of the city and of the nation. The Archmage Zenith, the current Dean of the College, is not a man to anger if one has any aspirations in the city. He is quick to forgive, fortunately, but he is also quick to take long-term offense to seemingly minor incidents. Gramar Harukan, the prince's personal bodyguard, does not attract much attention, but he has the deep respect of the faculty at the College. He stays behind the scenes, hiding behind the prince’s Honor Guard-a number of deadly swordsmen who number from four to twelve, depending on the level of threat that Gramar perceives. Gramar is reputed to have several killing spells of short range but fearsome effectiveness. Zo’Amas the Lame is the former tutor to the prince’s progeny. He fell out of favor when his personal endeavors took more of his attention than did the prince’s two young sons. Zo’Amas is a master of curses, wards, and magical traps. His book, “Shielding the Mind and the Body” is one of the best-known tomes of magical defenses.Underworld
The Thieves’ Guild of Bet Rogala
If there exists a true name for this guild it has never been spoken, recorded or repeated. The thieves’ guild controls all of the larceny in the city of Bet Rogala. It is also well known for the goods it smuggles through the kingdom and into the city. The strangest piece of information regarding the guild, however, is that it only accepts those rogues that are human. It is very aggressive in making sure that any rogue in the city of Bet Rogala is indeed a human rogue. In order to join this group a member must meet the following requirements:- be of human descent
- have at least 1 level of rogue
Government
The Pekalese Prince, Content Not Found: kafen, has organized a collection of demihumans to help him rule the city. In actuality, these three elves, two gnomes, and four halflings do little other than police their own semi-independent races. Kafen is busy with maintaining trade, advancing the war with Tokis, and his own shrewd plan to convince Adoku Soriba to part from the Kalamaran Empire. Kafen has his own man inside the Pekalese delegation to Bet Seder, a subtle and charismatic elf who enjoys pursuing this impossible task.
Defences
The army epitomizes racial integration. Halfling slingers. gnomish engineers, and elven scouts and archers round out a core of human foot and horse. War wizards, skilled at attacking the enemy with fireball and affecting the battlefield terrain, stand beside clerics who heal the wounded and counter enemy spells.
Recently, the Kalamaran Empire has managed to slip a Few spies into the Pekalese military machine. The discovery of a few of these spies has caused speculation and fear about how many more there might be and how high up the chain of command the infection has spread. Any suspicious activity concerning any soldier or sailor (a midnight meeting, rumors about consorting with the enemy, or a sudden influx of wealth) results in a quick inquiry and possibly court-martial. The officers’ efficiency is thus hampered, but the tight cohesion and experience of the troops have thus far prevented major deterioration of the army.
The elves are led by a prince of their own race, Elevion Solivandrial. Elevion boldly wears a gold diadem that he took in a raid on Pipido, a full day’s ride over the border with Tokis. Elevion is a proud warrior and fiercely protective of his troops. He takes offense to the suspicious atmosphere his troops are subjected to when they enter town and lately has camped his archers around a Temple of the Patient Arrow three miles from the capital.
The halfling leader, on the other hand, is Nolan Brightstar, a hardworking soldier who bunks and messes with his slingers. Nolan is slow, but clever, and he personally discovered ‘one of the spies by following a soldier who slipped out of the barracks the night before a planned raid. He is currently in favor, and the Prince is about to allow him to expand his force of slingers. Since they are far cheaper to train and equip than archers, Nolan plans to add another 400 men to his command-nearly double its current size.
Industry & Trade
Bet Rogala’s primary trade is with the small communities encircling Lake Eb’Sobet, from which it collects raw goods and foods and to whom it sells finished works such as wagons, small boats, furnishings, and tools. Bet Rogala sees little in the way of foreign trade as most of the larger merchant trains find it easier to travel along the Banader and Renador rivers, thus bypassing Bet Rogala. The city does see its share of domestic trade as Pekalese merchants from Baneta and other cities come to trade with the Rogalans. These smaller merchants find that the wealth of the Bet Rogalan citizenry warrants the overland journey.
Thus, rare and exotic foreign goods may be purchased in the city, however, the prices are highly inflated. Several local caravans head south to Baneta each year, and the same often continue north to Koreta and Bet Regor after they stop in Bet Rogala.
Points of interest
The city is famous for the College of Magic that was built during the reign of Kolokar. All schools of magic are offered for study within its hallowed halls. The eccentric wizard Zenith has been Dean of the College for the last thirty years. The College has always had a strong influence in the governing of the Principality and a centuries-old law requires that all magic performed in Pekal be approved and licensed by the College. The penalty for performing unlicensed magic varies from warnings to death, depending on the power of the magic and the ruling of the Dean.
The College of Magic hosts an annual Fair, where performers of all kinds gather from around the Young Kingdoms to display their talents. After dark each night for a week, adept jugglers, rowdy musicians, vigorous dancers, and clumsy clowns entertain crowds for a few copper coins. Despite the proliferation of wizards, the common man knows little about magic.
People understand a good fight, though, and another event occurs at a flat area called simply “the Green.” This event is the annual wrestling competition hosted by the Temple of Three Strengths. Hundreds of entrants and thousands of spectators gather in the city for a
weekend of boasting, betting, and brawling.
Type
Capital
Population
20,900. About half are human of various races ( Kalamarans, Brandobians and Dejy), and the other half is split evenly between gnomes, halflings, and elves.
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