Sharn
There has been a major settlement on the Hilt of the Dagger River since before recorded history. The current metropolis, Sharn, has existed since the formation of the original Five Nations, about seven hundred years after humans rose to prominence on the continent. For more than two millennia, the towers of Sharn have grown, rising thousands of feet into the sky. This vertical expansion has given the metropolis its title: The City of Towers.
With a tremendous array of cultural, culinary, and commercial delights to sample, and its position as the gateway to Xen’drik, Sharn attracts visitors and adventurers from around the world. It is a hotbed of activity, known in equal measures for its wonders, its crime rate, its amazing amount of corruption, and its genuinely exciting atmosphere.
Geography
Sharn rises from the cliffs overlooking the Hilt, a wide bay at the mouth of the Dagger River. This inhospitable outcropping of rock allowed the city to grow in only one direction—up. The ports at the base of the cliffs load and unload cargo and passengers from seafaring vessels, raising and lowering goods and travelers alike on massive lifts operated by ropes and pulleys that travel through the neighborhood of Cliffside. This working class region is built into and upon the steep cliffs overlooking the river and bay. At the top of the cliffs, the rock walls seamlessly blend into the earliest stonework laid in ancient times. Here, the city and its amazing towers really begin. The City of Towers is rumored to sit atop a massive lake of molten lava. Those who work in the bowels of the city, a subterranean region known as the Cogs, claim to feel the heat rising off the lava streams, but few have ever gone below the great furnaces and foundries of the Cogs to seek for the fiery lake itself. In the Cogs, heat and magic cooperate to allow workers to process ores and other raw materials needed to sustain Sharn’s industrial machine. Also within the depths, ancient ruins, labyrinthine sewers, vertical shafts, and forgotten chambers pile level upon level, climbing higher and higher until the inhabited regions are reached. These higher levels, made up of towers growing like trees in a forest of stone and brick, contain most of the city’s residents and visitors. Poorer members of society live in the deeper portions of the towers, while those above gain wealth and status the higher up they live. The uppermost levels feature open-arched towers, balconies, bridges, and platforms that form a strange lacework of “solid” ground high in the air. Above all of this floats the neighborhood known as Skyway, where the most affluent citizens live and play.The Manifest Zone
Sharn is situated within a manifest zone linked to the plane of Syrania, the Azure Sky. The manifest zone primarily enhances spells and magic items that permit levitation and actual flight. Outside the zone, most of these items either grow weaker or lose the ability to function altogether. Without the zone, the city’s great towers and spires would crumble, its transportation systems would collapse, and the neighborhood of Skyway would plummet to the ground. Sky coaches slowly move from tower to tower, transporting people within the manifest zone. Other ways to get around the city include walking (almost every tower can be reached by multiple bridges that connect the platforms and walkways at different levels), lifts that ride up and down and side to side along magical strands of light, and magebred animals trained to carry passengers within the city’s limits.Commerce
There’s a popular saying on the elevated streets of Sharn: “If it can be bought, it can be bought here.” Shops and trading stalls abound, usually gathered in trade districts, open-air markets (called “exchanges”), or merchant halls (called “tower markets,” often multileveled) found within many tower and building complexes. Some shops jut from the sides of walls and bridges, ramshackle structures of wood hastily thrown together or built around a crack in the stone. Others occupy prime space set aside for such purposes and leased from tower landlords. The tower markets present the most elaborate market exchanges, where shops selling different wares sit side by side and one atop the other inside the open cavity of a tower or multistory blockhouse. Beyond these more or less legitimate business ventures, Sharn boasts a thriving black market wheree verything from exotic fruits and animals to illegal spell components and stolen goods can be traded. Sharn’s authorities do their best to curtail this activity, if for no other reason than so proper taxes can be collected, but supply and demand make it next to impossible to really control. This leads to another popular saying: “If someone wants it, someone sells it in Sharn.” Morgrave University, with its glass walls and roughand-tumble approach to scholarly pursuits, was founded in Sharn and to this day maintains its main campus in the City of Towers. The institute of “learning, relic hunting, and grave robbing,” as it is called by the administrators of the more respected University of Wynarn, provides many opportunities for adventurers new to the craft and calling, and it isn’t hard to get a letter of marque from Morgrave to explore ancient sites.Law and Defence
The City Watch enforces the Galifar Code of Justice throughout Sharn, but in practice, residents are more likely to encounter a law officer among the higher spires than in the lower bowels of the city. Constables conduct regular patrols along the higher bridges, platforms, and walkways, venturing lower only when necessity or prudence warrants. Watch towers can be found in every ward, though there aren’t really enough constables to adequately serve and protect all of Sharn’s populace. The Watch, reluctantly, calls on agents of the King’s Citadel (who maintain a presence in the city) when an incident appears to be more then they can handle. More often, however, the Watch turns to adventurers when it needs additional deputies for a short amount of time. Other than one woefully inadequate attack from the sea that barely scratched the cliff walls rising from the bay, the Last War never reached Sharn—at least not in the sense of marching armies and occupation forces. The City of Towers did have to contend with spies, saboteurs, terrorists, and waves of refugees as the years of bloody conflict dragged on. Perhaps the worst event during those years occurred in 918 YK, when unknown saboteurs (no one ever claimed responsibility for the act) caused the Glass Tower to fall from the sky, killing thousands.Districts
Sharn is a vertical city. It is divided up into five distinct plateaus: Central Plateau, Menthis Plateau, Northedge, Dura, and Tavick's Landing, as well as the Cliffside district built into the sides of the cliff near the Dagger River. While each plateau divides the city into districts, the city is also stratified vertically and divided into several sections. The lowest wards of the city are called the Cogs, and if one were to walk to the heights of Sharn they would then pass through the Depths, the Lower City, Middle City, Upper City, and then finally they would need to find some method of travel to the highest section of Sharn, which is Skyway. Generally, the higher one is in Sharn, the wealthier the citizens are. Each section of the city is further divided into smaller districts.
Central Plateau
A largely upper and middle class district in the middle of the city, Central is the center of government where the city government and embassies from other nations are located. Upper and Middle Central are home to some of Sharn's finest businesses, banks, and wealthiest citizens, and even the Lower Central district is the nicest part of the lower city. The appropriately named Highest Towers are the tallest point of the city, outside of the floating Skyway.
Menthis Plateau
The trendiest of Sharn's plateaus, Menthis is an entertainment hub and popular tourist destination. It is also home to Sharn's Morgrave University on the upper level, and the notorious Torchfire entertainment district at the lower level.
Northedge Plateau
Northedge is a relatively quiet, largely residential plateau. It stretches from apartments and tenements in the lower district to shining penthouse suites in the upper, with a scattering of temples and commercial wards.
Dura
Dura is the largest and poorest plateau, with only the Cogs being worse off. A mixture of residential and business districts, it is also home to the widest variety of peoples. The lower levels of Dura are massed warehouses connected to Cliffside, tenement blocks and ruins, while Upper Dura holds respectable housing, shopping, and the Cliffside Ward known for catering to adventurers and soldiers.
Tavick's Landing
Tavick's Landing, located at the eastern edge of the city, is the home for most of the Dragonmarked Houses, including travel hubs for the lightning rail and airships. Upper Tavick's Landing is considered the safest, most patrolled ward in the city (short of the Skyway), while Lower Tavick's holds the largest gates to the city, entertainment and shopping, and the largest number of Cyrans in the city.
In addition to the main plateaus are several other districts and regions:
Cliffside
Cliffside is built into the side of the cliffs along the Dagger and Hilt Rivers, clinging to the outside of the Lower Dura district. Its businesses all catered to either shipping or adventuring interests, and the moving of people and goods in and out of the city.
Skyway
Skyway is but a single district, not connected to any plateau but rather suspended by magic above the rest of the city (a magic that only worked because of the manifest zone). Skyway is the home of the most fantastically wealthy and prestigious residents, as well as businesses that attended to them.
The Depths
"The Depths" is the generic name for the regions below the main plateau, excepting the Cogs and Cliffside. Largely a system of sewers and ruins.
The Cogs
The churning industrial heart of Sharn, located below the Depths, especially below the floors of the chasms that divide Sharn's plateaus.
The City of the Dead
On the fields to the north of the city is a sprawling district of tombs, catacombs, ruins, and the ocassional cluster of houses and shops. Mostly holding the oldest of the city's graveyards - cremation is more popular in modern times - it is outside the manifest zone and sparesly populated.
History
Ja'shaarat: Unknown to -2800YK
Thousands of years before humans came to Khorvaire, the land belonged to the hobgoblins. One of the greatest cities of the Dhakaani Empire was the hobgoblin metropolis of Ja’shaarat, “Bright Blade”, nestled by the edge of the Dagger River. The early Dhakaani architects carved their city into the stone instead of raising towers above the ground, and the halls of Ja’shaarat extended beneath the surface of the land. The goblin miners pushed into Khyber, discovering a vast lake of fire that burned with a supernatural heat. The blades and armor of the greatest Dhakaani warriors were forged here, using techniques considered strange and barely understood today. Later, they raised great monolithic buildings that covered each of the plateaus and would later serve as the foundation for the City of Towers.Dur'shaarat: -2800YK to -1700TK
When the alignment of the planes brought the daelkyr and their armies of horrors to Eberron, the Dhakaani empire fell before them, and Ja’shaarat was devastated. The empire never recovered from the conflict and the great city was never restored. The goblin tribes that hid in the ruins renamed their home Duur’shaarat, “Blade of Sorrows.” For hundreds of years, the city lay in ruins, known to be cursed and devastated, infested with eldritch horrors.Shaarat: -1700YK to -1100YK
In time, the humans of Sarlona began to explore across the ocean. A wave of humans followed the famed explorer Lhazaar to Khorvaire’s eastern shores. The humans didn’t stop there, however. They pushed inland and explored the northern and southern coasts seeking land to settle and kingdoms to erect. As a result, legendary pirate Malleon the Reaver discovered the inlet of the Dagger River twenty-five years after Lhazaar’s historic undertaking. Malleon enslaved the goblins and built a fortress within the ruins on the bluff above the river. Malleon, a superstitious man, hoped to make peace with whatever spirits remained in the ruins. He sealed off the deeper levels of the goblin-made deep caverns that had been home to the majority of the hobgoblins, and he named the city Shaarat, deriving the name from the stories told by his goblin slaves. Over the next six hundred years, Shaarat grew into a powerful and wealthy city. Breggor, first ruler of the nation that would eventually bear the name of Breland, demanded that Shaarat bow to his authority. Malleon’s descendants refused. A long siege followed, ending when Breggor ordered his wizards to rain destruction on Shaarat, ending the threat of a pirate-slaver fortress within his borders.Old Sharn: -1100YK to -300YK
Breggor wanted the city on the Dagger River for his own, and he didn’t allow the place to remain ruined for long. Within a decade of the siege of Shaarat, Breggor renamed the city Sharn. For the next eight hundred years, the towers began to rise and the city flourished along with the Five Nations. It was during this time that the dragonmarked houses began to grow and prosper. Between the pure marks, the mixed marks, and the frequently appearing aberrant marks, the more powerful houses saw a threat to their growing wealth and economic power. The houses began to argue, and soon strong and angry words led to full-scale battle. War had come to the dragonmarked houses. The War of the Mark, a terrible and bloody conflict, changed the face of Khorvaire, firmly establishing the dragonmarked families that hold power to this day. The pure families and their allies outnumbered those possessing aberrant and mixed dragonmarks, but the aberrant marks held considerable destructive power. At first it was a simple purge, as the aberrants were hunted down one by one. But in the third year of this inquisition, Lord Halas Tarkanan gathered his aberrant kindred. Tarkanan, a brilliant tactician, used his military skills and the power of the aberrant dragonmarks to turn the tide of battle. Tarkanan and his queen seized control of Sharn, turning it into a bastion for the aberrant marks. In the end, Tarkanan simply didn’t have the numbers to overcome his enemies. The battle continued for another four years, but Tarkanan and his forces were slowly beaten back to Sharn. As House Cannith, House Deneith, and the armies of pre-Breland closed in, Tarkanan and the Lady of the Plague called upon the full power of their aberrant dragonmarks and released horrific magical forces. Terrible quakes caused parts of the city to collapse, and rivers of lava flowed up from the fiery lake deep below. Those who escaped the flames were devoured by swarms of vermin or stricken down by deadly plagues. The War of the Mark was over—but Sharn had suffered greatly and was abandoned.Modern Sharn: 226YK to present
For over five hundred years, superstitious folk shunned the ruined city, muttering about the curses of the aberrant lords. Despite the superstitions, the location had considerable strategic and economic value. When Galifar I took control of the Five Nations, he sent a force to rebuild the ruined city. House Cannith played a critical role in the reconstruction, and to this day House Cannith remains one of the most influential forces in Sharn. Dwarf engineers were brought in from the Mror Holds, and a few of the Brelish nobles invested a great deal of gold in the city. Chief among these was the ir’Tain family. The ir’Tains are known as the slumlords of Sharn, and over the centuries the family has made a fortune from its many tenement properties. Today, the ir’Tains are one of the most powerful noble families in Breland; Lord Hass ir’Tain is an influential member of the Breland Parliament, and his mother Celyria is the unquestioned leader of high society in Sharn. Other powerful families and merchants flocked to the new city, and Sharn prospered and grew. When work began, only a few towers remained standing above the ancient goblin foundations and human ruins. It was believed that the curse of the Lady of the Plague still lingered in the darkness, and the remnants of the old cities were quickly sealed away. In time they were forgotten, lost in the shadows of the new towers that stretched toward the sky. Occasionally treasure-hunters venture down into the haunted levels that lie between the Lower-City and the Cogs, but the vast majority of the citizens know little or nothing of the ruins that lie in the Depths. Today, Sharn stands as a center for trade, diplomacy, and intrigue, a city with an important role to play in the future of Khorvaire. When dealing with Sharn, remember that the city has an ancient and rich history, and that as you descend you are effectively traveling through time. The lowest levels of the oldest towers are over ten thousand years old, and the buildings within them have gone through many changes. What is now an apartment complex might once have been a cathedral. A tavern might have been a hobgoblin armory. This sense of history and change can add a great deal of color to an otherwise simple location.
Comments