Port Skaug
Port Skaug originally an island settlement that reached the size of a town. It was founded by Captain Skaug, a hooknosed pirate who used his money and three ships full of stolen lumber and supplies to build the settlement on a small island north of Ioma which would cater primarily to pirates. The town was completely destroyed in 1369 DR by a Juggernaut during Halaster's Highharvestide.
Subsequent to its destruction, Port Skaug had a resurrection at the hands of a wealthy Amnian merchant who smelled opportunity in the lawless Nelanthers. He financed the reconstruction of Port Skaug as a marvelous port city. Its magnificent buildings crowned an artificial island that was the centerpiece of a broad bay, held aloft on great oak pilings. Those huge beams supported great facades of marble grandeur, connected by boardwalks that thronged with richly clothed merchants, exotic travelers, and the passing palanquins of nobility. Known as the Island of Pleasures, the site was a destination for rich and decadent folk up and down the coast. No fetish, vice, or sin was unknown or forbidden.
Time can be cruel, however. The Spellplague hit and the wailing years began. Warfare, corruption, famine, and natural disaster ruined many who loved the Island of Pleasures, and as their resources dwindled, so did this once-magnificent district. But even as fortune turned in the years since, and the region rebuilt from devastation, the Island of Pleasures became an unneeded luxury. New people called the district home: poor, desperate folk crowded beneath fallen gables in hovels tattooed by mildew and damp rot. On their heels came folk whose trade was scorned elsewhere. Alchemists fouled the air and water with poisonous concoctions from failed experiments. The city became more commonly known as "The Styes", so far had it fallen from its previous heights.
Sweat-shop manufactories set up in the Styes and all but enslaved their desperate workers. Tanners and millers and dyers and butchers invaded the district, scraping every penny out of their businesses with no concern over the impact their toxic operations had on their neighbors or the environment. The district bears little evidence of its former glory as it daily sinks deeper into the muck.
In better days, the fact that the Styes was sheltered from offshore winds was one of its more desirable qualities. Now, the Alchemists’ Quarter spews a permanent miasma of acrid, rancid yellow vapor that hangs above the district and coats its walls and roofs with a greasy film. The dense population of the decaying district makes the waters around the port swirl with sewage, blood and offal from butchers, lye and fur from tanners, and indescribable chemical mixtures from alchemists. In the eastern portion of the Styes, the pollution is so bad that the river’s flow has been diverted, leaving a large portion of the district’s boardwalks suspended over a wallow of rancid mud.
Demographics
The current population of the Styes is a little under twelve thousand residents, but they’re packed into an area that might house half that number in a more prosperous settlement. 80% of the district’s residents are human, with the remainder split between gnomes, dwarves, halflings, half-orcs, half-elves, and a smattering of other humanoids.
Government
The Styes is ruled by a group of four officials called “the council.” The four councillors are Mr. Dory, Rashlen, Sliris, and Thornwell.
Defences
The city is policed by a poorly trained militia consisting of some two hundred guards led by ten officers and one commander. The militia patrols in groups of at least ten, for their own protection more than anything. Larger groups of twenty or more usually include an officer.
Industry & Trade
Major Products: Shipwrights, mercenaries; port amenities (rum, beer, ale, money-changing, gambling, festhalls, etc.).
Founding Date
1170 DR
Alternative Name(s)
The Styes
Type
Town
Population
12000
Location under
Owning Organization
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