Rock of Bral

(https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/sais/aag/the-rock-of-bral)
Bral is a city built on an asteroid. Its inhabitants, who hail from many worlds, typically refer to Bral as the Rock. There is no other place quite like it in Wildspace.
Bral is populated by an outlandish collection of traders, rogues, mercenaries, pirates, nobles, and entrepreneurs. Generally, law enforcement is sporadic, which means that order is an elusive concept. Most folks who call the Rock home adhere to two principles: mind your own business whenever possible, and enough gold can fix anything.
Getting Your Bearings:
The Rock of Bral is roughly 1 mile long and half that in width and depth, oriented front to back, with a leading edge and a trailing edge. A gravity plane bisects the length of the Rock, separating it into a topside and an underside.
The city of Bral is spread across the topside. On the trailing edge rises the High City, which includes the royal palace of Starhaven and its grounds, the noble estates, and Lake Bral. From there, the geography of Bral slopes down toward the Middle City, the financial and mercantile heart of the city. At the leading edge of the Rock is the Low City, an area populated by folk of modest means and the businesses they patronize. New arrivals at Bral typically disembark at the Low City’s docks.
The underside of the Rock is off limits to the general population and not part of the city per say. It is where Bral’s military forces are based. Most of the ground on the underside is used to grow crops to feed the populace. These fields are tended by convicted criminals who are housed in barracks and guarded by soldiers.
The interior of the Rock, which stretches half a mile from the surface of the topside to the surface of the underside, contains a network of caverns and tunnels. Built by pirates and smugglers, this dungeon is home to one of the city’s underbarons and is frequently used for clandestine meetings.

Government

General lawlessness prevails in much of the city, but that’s not to say that order doesn’t exist. Simply put, most citizens police themselves. No city watch patrols the streets. Tavernkeepers hire muscular folks to break up fights and toss out drunkards. Market vendors trust their own eyes to spot shoplifters. Every person on the Rock is expected to have enough sense to hang onto their purse and not be taken in by a swindler.
Serious crimes, such as arson, can be reported to one of the city’s three magistrates, who preside over the Low City, the Middle City, and the High City, respectively. If the magistrate concludes that the situation warrants their attention, the Magistrate’s Watch is dispatched to investigate and take offenders into custody, if necessary. Most members of the Magistrate’s Watch use the veteran stat block.
Reporting crimes is voluntary, and many folks don’t bother to do so, since the resulting investigation and legal proceedings are likely to take up too much of their time.

Districts

High City:
Rising above the rest of Bral on the trailing edge of the asteroid, the High City is a green, spacious expanse that holds Prince Andru’s palace, called Starhaven, and various noble estates.
Starhaven:
Standing at the highest point topside, Andru’s palace of Starhaven crowns the Rock. Enclosed behind a wall, the seat of the ruling prince is a sprawling structure of gleaming domes and climbing vines.
The palace has many windows, all rendered shatterproof by magic. Attendants in impeccable livery see to the needs of the palace’s occupants, while armored guards stand vigilant around the grounds.
Lake Bral:
Lake Bral fills a chasm and provides most of the water that sustains Bral’s population. The chasm extends through the gravity plane of the asteroid, so that Lake Bral has two surfaces—its topside surface and another in a cavern deep inside the Rock.
Although the lake means that a shortage of water isn’t normally a concern on Bral, the water supply becomes depleted every few years. To replenish it, the Bralian navy embarks on an expedition to latch onto a nearby ice asteroid and bring it back. Before being brought into the Rock’s gravity plane and lowered into the lake, the ice is broken up into manageable pieces.
A natural stone formation, called the Stonebridge, spans a narrow part of the lake.
Festival Grounds and Arena of Frun:
The Festival Grounds is a broad parkland used for public gatherings on holidays and as a recreation spot at other times. Once a year, the Arena of Frun is the site of a series of athletic games, though it is seldom used for organized events otherwise.
Library of the Spheres:
The Library of the Spheres boasts a vast collection of tomes, scrolls, and other manuscripts. The library doesn’t contain any books or scrolls of a magical nature, and none of its contents can be taken off the premises.
The Man-o’-War:
For those feeling fancy or for whom fanciness is a way of life, the Man-o’-War, with its view overlooking Lake Bral, is the finest restaurant and inn in the city. The establishment has a strict dress code, and guests are not permitted to carry weapons.
Shrii Hallek, a respectful female hadozee, manages the Man-o’-War for its mysterious owners, who are rumoured to be adventurers.
Royal Theater Company:
The Royal Theater has been in operation for over sixty years. The company’s lavish stage productions often feature magical illusions and pyrotechnical special effects.
Temple District:
The temples in the Temple District are devoted to various gods, faiths, and pantheons. The priests here are willing to cast helpful spells in exchange for a donation in coins, gems, or art objects of a certain value, as noted in the Helpful Spells table.

Spell	Donation
Commune	1,000 gp
Legend lore	1,500 gp
Lesser restoration	150 gp
Raise dead	2,000 gp
Remove curse	250 gp
Scrying	1,000 gp

Middle City:
The financial and mercantile centre of Bral, the Middle City is home to thousands of Bralians who can afford to live outside the Low City but don’t have the privilege or means to dwell behind the walls of the High City.
The Donjon:
The Donjon is a walled fortification near the shore of Lake Bral where some offenders and malefactors against the crown are held. In addition to its role as an auxiliary barracks for the Royal Guard, the Donjon is where those judged too dangerous to serve sentences working the fields on the underside are imprisoned. The Warden of the Donjon is a plasmoid boss named Ux.
The Edge:
One of the largest and busiest taverns in Bral is the Edge, an establishment that’s popular among space travellers visiting the Rock. A chatty, philosophical thri-kreen mystic named Vikka tends bar.
Elmandar’s Star Charts:
Elmandar, a retired elf adventurer, is Bral’s most accomplished astronomer. The star charts that he and his staff of cartographers create are highly sought after by navigators. These maps don’t come cheap, each one priced between 300 and 800 gold pieces, but the owner of an Elmandar map can bring it back to the shop at any time for an update at no charge.
Gaspar’s Reclamations:
Gaspar’s Reclamations specializes in recovering magic items, gems, and works of art on behalf of its clients. The firm makes a living by charging a modest “finder’s fee” for returning a lost item to its rightful owner. More important in the short term is the boost to its reputation that the business receives with every successful recovery.
Great Market:
A chaotic expanse of small vendors, street performers, beggars, orators, merchants, and customers of all descriptions, the Great Market is the hub of the Middle City. During business hours, throngs of people swarm the area, and pickpockets dart among them to ply their own trade.
Juggler’s Folk Guildhouse:
Operating behind the façade of a small backstreet playhouse, the guild of thieves known as the Juggler’s Folk doubles as an acting company that puts on bawdy and crass comedies to maintain their ruse. The underbaron known as the Juggler operates out of the theatre, occasionally performing before audiences unaware of her identity.
Red Masks Guildhouse:
The Red Masks are a group of violent youngsters fighting for influence on the Rock. They frequently come into conflict with members of the Juggler’s Folk. Fronted by a modest tavern, the Red Masks Guildhouse is located within a series of linked cellars beneath the streets. The tavern has no sign that bears its name, though a placard hanging over the door depicts a thrashing bull rendered crudely in red paint.
Most of the tavern’s patrons don’t suspect the establishment’s true purpose. Those who are here on guild business need to be admitted to the Red Masks’ secret sanctum before they are permitted to speak freely with the group’s leaders.
Mages’ Guildhall:
A sturdy three-story tower, the Mages’ Guildhall is the headquarters and meeting place of the Mages’ Guild of Bral. All arcane spellcasters in the city are entitled to join this loose federation, either as short-term guests or permanent, dues-paying members. The benefits of membership include access to hard-to-find spell components, the use of the guild’s research facilities, and the prospect of professional discourse with others of a similar mind.
The Sindiath Line:
A gaudily decorated building tucked away in a cluster of residences is a branch office of the Sindiath Line, a charter service that ferries passengers from Bral to destinations throughout Wildspace, including other Wildspace systems. The captains who work for the Sindiath Line are capable and dependable.
The Smith’s Coster:
The largest and most successful merchant company based on the Rock is the Smith’s Coster, which maintains a fleet of trading vessels and several warship escorts. The company specializes in trafficking weapons—for instance, providing iron blades to a community that lacks smithing in exchange for furs and other valuable merchandise, or making firearms available to a culture in which they were previously unknown.
Valkan’s Legion:
The largest group of soldiers on the Rock, aside from the forces commanded by the prince, belongs to the mercenary company called Valkan’s Legion. The organization maintains a building in the Middle City as a meeting place and mustering point for its members, who reside in their own homes when they’re not on active duty.
Led by the renowned Valkan Riogan, who heads up many of the legion’s larger operations personally, the company takes on missions on behalf of the crown as well as hiring out squads of soldiers to rich individuals who need protection or security on a temporary basis.
Low City:
The beating heart of the Rock lies in the warren of streets and crowded markets of the Low City. It buzzes with activity at all hours, its streets choked with boisterous peddlers, clamorous beggars, and sneaky thieves.
The Low City has a preponderance of taverns, inns, alehouses, shops, and crafting establishments and an equally staggering number of vacant buildings.
Docks:
Most ships approach Bral at the asteroid’s leading edge, where a set of wooden docks extends into Wildspace to provide berths for new arrivals. Caverns at the gravity plane have been cut into the Rock’s edge and turned into storage areas. Many of them are fitted with hoists used to transport cargo to the warehouses topside.
The Drydock:
Referred to as the drydock, the shipyards, or simply the yards, this large, flat area along the leading edge is where ships are built and repaired.
The Happy Beholder:
This prosperous tavern is owned and run by Large Luigi, a locally famous, lawful neutral beholder. Luigi has encyclopedic knowledge of all sorts of topics, and he’s more than happy to share information with just about anybody. He is a civic-minded, well-liked citizen who has no political ambitions. His tavern is rarely troubled by bullies or thieves.
Lesser Market:
The Low City’s marketplace is much smaller and shabbier than the Great Market of the Middle City. Most of its structures are rickety stalls where small merchants peddle their wares. Though it draws its clientele mostly from the surrounding neighborhoods, the Lesser Market also attracts new arrivals, fresh from the docks, who are looking for a bargain or perhaps for something more sinister.
Mercane Agency:
Mercanes recently established a presence on the Rock by taking over an unmarked, inconspicuous building near the Lesser Market. The place is occupied by a small staff of agents who act as an intermediary between the mercanes and those who want to do business with them. Such business typically involves the purchase of spelljamming helms and other magic items.
The mercanes don’t advertise their involvement with the facility, nor do they visit the agency very often. When they do, it’s usually to conduct business with a particularly wealthy or influential client.
The Rockrat:
Of all the taverns on Bral, the Rockrat has the reputation of being the most dilapidated and filthy. Its only concession to decoration is a few hanging pieces of damaged nautical gear. Its owner and proprietor is a friendly, foul-mouthed wererat named Maya.
Xenotermination, Ltd.:
This small group of highly capable combat specialists and spellcasters makes a living by hiring themselves out to capture or kill formidable Wildspace creatures. Typically, they are hired by an individual or a business whose welfare (financial or otherwise) is threatened by a monster that has defied less potent attempts to remove or subdue it.
From time to time, Xenotermination takes on temporary members, who are sought out because they have a particular talent. Anyone who wants to offer their services, on either a permanent or occasional basis, is welcome to visit the building where the present members of the group house themselves.
Historic Enclaves:
The Rock has several neighbourhoods' that started as enclaves for immigrants who arrived in large groups. Since then, many of these neighbourhoods' came to overlap as they merged into the roiling expanse of the Low City, though the name and a bit of the character of each remains. Three of these neighbourhoods' took root in areas immediately adjacent to the docks:

• The Burrows. This lively, friendly community of halflings stands ready to greet new arrivals to the Rock by offering fresh bread, cookies, flowers, charming gift baskets, and directions.
• Dwarven District. Many dwarf crafters live in this Middle City district, and their handiwork is second to none.
• Gifftown. Many of Bral’s giff residents reside in or near Gifftown, gathering in taverns to swap stories of their accomplishments. Gunshots ring out from time to time as giff challenge one another to games of marksmanship.

Underside:
The underside of the Rock is under the purview of the prince. No private citizens are allowed to reside here. The surface area is devoted mostly to fields that are planted and cultivated to replenish Bral’s supplies of food and air. It also contains the headquarters and docks of the royal navy, barracks that house prisoners, and the army headquarters known as the Citadel, which overlooks the entire expanse.
The underside is under military control. Unauthorized visitors who get themselves apprehended are generally assumed to be either spies or prisoners trying to escape.
The Citadel:
The well-defended fortress at the centre of the underside is the command centre and barracks for Bral’s army. The Port Tower and the Starboard Tower are connected to the Citadel by narrow, covered walkways. Three passages branch off from each tower and end at smaller towers dispersed along the edges of the Rock. All these locations enable soldiers to maintain surveillance of the asteroid’s immediate environs, and they are equipped with ballistae and mangonels to defend against an invasion.
Fields:
The fruits, vegetables, and grains harvested from the fields on the underside keep the Rock’s occupants well fed without the need for imported foodstuffs. The planting, cultivating, and harvesting of the produce are performed by farmers and a handful of convicts working off their sentences.
The work of the prisoners is loosely supervised by bands of army regulars.
Naval Base:
Along the leading edge of the underside is an array of docks where ships of the royal navy are berthed. At any time, at least two or three ships are actively stationed at the docks, prepared to depart at a moment’s notice.
Just inland from the docks is a sprawling complex, the base proper, that includes a drydock area where most of the fleet is moored. The facility also contains barracks and mustering areas for captains and crews.
Prisoner Barracks:
Convicts who have been sentenced to hard labour on the underside are housed in two rectangular, windowless buildings connected to the Citadel by narrow walkways. When they’re not out working the fields, prisoners are kept behind locked doors in the barracks and left to their own devices.
The Vanes:
The vanes, extending out from four towers on the trailing side of the asteroid, are enormous sails that can be moved to generate a disturbance in the Rock’s air envelope, causing the Rock to rotate or turn in a certain direction if the need presents itself. If no other reason arises, the vanes are adjusted once every few months to ensure they’re in good operating condition.

Guilds and Factions

Prince Andru and His Court:
The Bralian monarch is a slender, graceful man of 44 years. Self-serving and devious, he firmly believes that the end justifies the means. After secretly orchestrating the murder of his brother Calar, the previous monarch, Prince Andru consolidated his power and has held the throne in the years since.
Prince Andru surrounds himself with a small group of advisors, two of whom are described below.
Proconsul Gadaric Main:
Gadaric is Andru’s chief advisor. His appearance is that of the stereotypical elderly court wizard. He is hot-headed and a bit unreliable.
Captain Mahaxara Khal:
Mahaxara, the current captain of the Royal Guard, is tall and athletic. She has snake tattoos adorning her arms. She is unflinchingly loyal to House Cozar, though she has no appetite for courtly politics.
Underbarons:
Four underbarons, each one equivalent to the master of a thieves’ guild, compete among themselves for greater shares of influence and income in the city. Despite their status as lords of criminal fiefdoms, the underbarons enjoy the prince’s tolerance, if only because each one’s existence serves as a check against the others.
The businesses in any given area of the city operate under the protection of one of the underbarons. That service is paid for through the collection of “insurance” fees. The arrangement isn’t strictly extortion, because it’s common for an underbaron to reimburse clients who suffer losses because of a rival guild’s actions.
The four current underbarons are as follows:

• Ozamata. This lawful evil human controls the docks and most of the Low City.
• Meredin Sandyfoot. This neutral good halfling, headquartered in a neighbourhood known as the Burrows, holds sway over craftspeople.
• The Juggler. This chaotic good elf oversees a network of swindlers and minstrels. Her real name is Kiria Evensong, and she runs the Juggler’s Folk Guildhouse.
• The Unknowable One. Within the cavernous interior of the Rock dwells a mysterious underbaron who specializes in smuggling.

History

The Rock traces its roots back to roughly 170 years ago, when the eponymous Captain Bral established a pirate refuge here. The asteroid became a haven for thieves and cutthroats, and among them a few merchants and entrepreneurs set up shop. Even in a climate of lawlessness, the place evolved into something resembling a settlement of citizens. After Captain Bral’s death, the burgeoning city became known as Bral, in his honour, and its location as the Rock of Bral. For the next several decades, various pirate captains held sway in the city, but none of them demonstrated an interest in trying to take over sole leadership of the city.
Eventually, the merchants and tavernkeepers who made their livings on the Rock became as numerous as the pirates and brigands who sought refuge there. One of the pirate captains, Cozar, sensed that times were changing on the Rock—that the days of lawlessness were coming to an end. Through a series of strategic alliances and shrewd business deals, he consolidated his political power and dubbed himself Prince Cozar, the Rock’s first overlord. Under Prince Cozar’s long reign, the city evolved from a pirate hideout into a major city, attracting profit-seekers, adventurers, and other more respectable types.
Upon Cozar’s death, the rule of Bral passed to Frun, his son and heir. Frun was far from an able politician. Rather, he was a hedonist whose overindulgences compromised his authority. Business leaders and other influential types grabbed power where they could, and by the end of his reign, Frun was little more than a figurehead. His only notable accomplishments were the renovation of the royal palace and the construction of the arena that bears his name.
Frun was succeeded by his son, Calar, whose bearing and tastes resembled those of his father but whose time as the overlord lasted only days. Calar died six years ago under mysterious circumstances shortly after taking the throne; his body was found floating in space just beyond the asteroid’s air envelope. Leadership of the Rock passed to Calar’s younger brother, Andru, who had a group of malcontents arrested and executed for the crime within days.
Though his place on the throne is secure for now, Prince Andru is merely one player in a maze of political intrigue. He has a host of agents and forces loyal to him, but he must act with consideration, since he has opponents who would rather see Bral ruled by a more ineffectual leader or by a council that could more easily be influenced. Andru maintains his strong base of support because he is a serious and intelligent person—often likened to his grandfather, Prince Cozar, in this regard—and he isn’t easily intimidated.

Alternative Name(s)

The Rock

Type

Large city

Location under

Astral Plane