Giilia

At a Glance

Giilia's citizens are a somber and unhappy lot. They have mixed feelings toward strangers. On one hand, they fear that which they do not know. On the other, they fear that a reprieve from their situation will not come from within.

Temples

Esmaran's sole concession to benign rule is that she allows free worship by her subjects. The homely temples house ardent worshipers of the Halls of the Valiant, the Courts of Justice, the Assembly of Light, and the House of Solace. These priests minister with a mixture of hope and fear; hope for improvement and fear that if they come too close to achieving success that Esmaran will have them eaten by ghouls.

Considered by his peers to be the most likely candidate for ghoul food is Protector Navadaal of the Halls of the Valiant. Since his advancement within the faith depends on battling evil, he must sooner or later come to odds directly with Esmaran. He has also been secretly sending out calls for paladins to come to his city, but Esmaran knows about these calls and has already captured and killed most of these errant heroes as soon as they approached his demesne.

Mages & Sages

Esmaran has long since slain all wizards in the city. Sages are few and might publicly announce the study of noble subjects like history, the planes, or mathematics, but all are knowledgeable in the lore of undead. The amateur necromancers hope that their knowledge might bring about the permanent demise of their oppressor and her minions.

Underworld

Giilia has a literal underworld. The untiring ghouls have dug miles of tunnels through the earth. Deep underground lie monstrous ghasts at the heart of the labyrinth, constantly hungry and immensely powerful. The largest of these beasts, Uggurath, is so mighty that his stench allows no saving throw and his touch can turn victims stone dead. Esmaran uses his weakest servants as henchmen in return for the occasional life captured for Uggurath's play. The ghast king's greatest pleasure is to hold a wriggling victim while Esmaran casts fear and scare spells on it, as if the very real terror is not horrible enough.

Government

Giilia answers to the absolute rule of its ruler for the last 200 years, an elven vampire known only as Esmaran.

Esmaran does not intend to concede power. Thecity's next ruler will have to wrest power from her by force.

Defences

The city has no formal militia. For keeping the peace (such as it is) and protecting from humanoid or monster attack, Esmaran relies on three dozen ghouls and their six ghast leaders. Once a month, Esmaran makes a public ritual out of slaying a person (preferably a stranger), draining his body of blood and feeding him to the ghasts.

Industry & Trade

Esmaran discourages Giilia's citizens from trading with outsiders. They are self-sufficient during most years, but winter can be harsh and citizens might have to resort to theft to keep from starving. The bandits in the Headlands make ranching a challenging task, so meat is hard to come by. Most Giilians eat cabbages, leeks, and the almonds that grown naturally north and west of the city.

Points of interest

A cave complex just over a mile west of the city holds one of the largest colonies of bats on Tellene. Sixteen million bats live in a huge underground cavern system that has yet to be fully explored by anyone, even the dwarves. Giilian myth says that mind flayers live in the deepest part of the complex, but the people of Giilia do not like to spread the rumor. They have enough monsters of their own without making up stories about others.

Alternative Name(s)

City of Bats

Type

City

Population

7,100 Reanaarians. The population is growing smaller rather than larger due to deaths and a lack of people moving into the city.

Location under

Reanaaria Bay

Generators

100 things to see in a Vampire Town