~ Khare, The Cityport of Secrets ~

[Nobilis]

𝔇𝔢𝔩𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔊𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔲𝔯​ "Do you know what they say about Khare, Us'nan?" Us'nan Yurah was positively festooned in feathers, high quality silks, small silver chains, and she wore a muted blue face-powder on her face. Thenis, as good of a broker as he was, had not been able to find out where the woman was from. He suspected that she was from Tethis, but that was more of an assessment based on her obvious wealth and her accent when she spoke. However, the dropped the accent on several words—payment, was one of them. "That you can get whatever you want, so long as you have the correct payment method." There it is again, Thenis thought as he listened to the woman speak. She did have, for all the pomp and circumstance of her mannerisms, a rich and beautiful accent. If only it were real—Thenis would have been more convinced that she'd be able to afford what he was offering. Still, he thought to himself, she's never had trouble paying before. Us'nan leaned back in the plush chair in her sitting room, the soft crackles and pops from the nearby fire filled the dead spaces between their words. The light from the flames danced along Thenis' bronze mask. Us'nan had never had difficulties in finding people to do her dirty work, but Thenis was different. He was effective, reliable, and remarkably hard to kill. In her experience, thieves, information brokers, and most other gutter-filth, had extremely short lifespans. They lived dangerous lives, after all. Yet... The Crowhoods were quite skilled. How Thenis had gone from petty thief and murderer to the head of such a powerful organization had always impressed Us'nan. But they were expensive, and they always wound up costing more in the end than initially quoted. Us'nan hated that particular element of their business relationship, but it was what it was. If the Crowhoods were trafficking in something, it was always worthwhile.

🅼🅰🅸🅽 🆃🅸🆃🅻🅴​ 🆆🅾🆁🅳🆂

It was just... business Thenis watched as the other man slowly bled out in the alley. It was a moonless night, and that cover of darkness had allowed him to do his job to perfection. He had his leather-clad hand pressed against the other man's mouth. Try as the other man might, he'd already lost entirely too much blood to put up a fight. "Shh," Thenis said under his breath as the man's eyes slowly rolled up into his head. He took his hand away and started rifling through the man's pockets and bag. It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for. An envelope, non-descript but bearing the mark of some minor noble family, pressed into the wax of the seal. He looked at it for a moment and then down at the man. He got up, dusted himself off and then shoved the envelope into a pocket. Tethis grabbed the man by the arms and dragged him towards the edge of the alley. He peered out in to the dark streets and, seeing no one, pulled the man out into the main street and took him to the other side where the river quietly and quickly carved its way through the night. With a hard shove the other man's body rolled over and splashed loudly into the water below. He watched for a moment as the body slipped into the darkness of the water and disappeared. He turned and walked down the street, off in the direction he'd come. He had information to deliver.​

Navigating Khare​

The cityport is vast and has infinite potential for adventure and intrigue. The streets of the city range from narrow to broad, and buildings of all types and architectures exist. While the Khare Militia do a good job of maintaining the peace, there is simply too much for them to do. Small crimes, in particular thievery and corruption—and the occasional murder—can slip through the cracks. Gaining too much of a reputation can have the added risk of more attention, but also more lucrative contracts. Sanctioned stories will usually have people performing actions or achieving goals for one of the guilds in the city, and sometimes this may result in friends in high places...

Or enemies.​

History

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Established in the Years of Bronze of the World, Khare was founded by several tribes to create a safe city where people could dwell, safe from the wilds of Pomora that stretched out in all directions. While it may have started as a small settlement of huddled people and small fires, it grew over time into a sprawling and immense metropolis, dwarfing many of the nearby settlements, that, over time, are simply destined to be consumed by the ever-growing city. It was in the Late-Years of Diamond of the World that the cityport opened its doors to other non-human sentients from around the world and that population explosion led directly to the city's vast growth. Thousands pass through the vast gates of the city every day, for trade, for business, or just passing through.

In more modern days, the city guards the vast mouth of the nearby Eddies, the massive river that facilitates trade with lands across the sea. After many attempts to sack the city over years, rocks were brought from nearby mountains or dug out of the earth below and the gargantuan walls of Khare were built. These walls are fortified and heavily guarded.

To the north of the city, the colossal Gate of Keys stands, a bulwark that guards the entrance of the main city walls and to the east are the Doors of the Sun. Nestled into a mountain to the west and the vast waters to the south, Khare is impossibly well defended.

Population

Hundreds of thousands.

Due to the vast numbers of people who come and go from the city on a daily basis, and this transient population in the thousands if not tens of thousands, the actual population of the cityport is very different to determine. Easily in the hundreds of thousands of denizens, the city is truly vast in terms of cultures and people.

Political Climate

Council-Based Governance.

Major decisions involving the vast city are made by a council of individuals who represent the main guilds that operate within Khare's city walls. These individuals are expected to act in the best interest of the city, even if that means to work against their own guild's interests. While this is not always the case, all of the guilds in the city (begrudgingly at times) admit that for their own profit and survival, the walls of Khare must never fall. It is also true that no one guild is able to amass sufficient control over the city to become a dominant faction. The numerous guilds and the secretive voting measures causes the city to operate in a state of political balance. If one guild starts to gain too much power, the others quickly move to quash it.

Thus balance in Khare is maintained.

Types of Stories​

Khare is very well suited to political and social roleplays. With it's many academies and institutions of higher learning, educational-based roleplays are also very possible. Khare is not well suited for stories involving large natural spaces, as the city has grown to be quite dense and nature is all but absent through the grimy streets. There is a seedy underworld in Khare, and you only need to know where to look...​

He knew his client wanted him dead. Fennick poured himself a glass of wine from the large decanter on the table. He looked across at his client and gave them a toothy grin. Lizard person? Draconid? Who knew. He reached into his coat slowly, the slitted eyes of his client were narrowed and one of the two large hands was under the table. Possibly on a sword. Fennick knew a couple of things about his client. They were dishonest and didn't pay if they murdered you. He had, after all, had needed to be very careful and had selected the Rusty Tankard as the place for the exchange to go down because of its reputation. After the Draconid had tried to just take everything, despite what had been agreed upon, the tiefling that owned the Rusty Tankard had put a bolt through the back of it's head. "I thought no murder?" He asked the tiefling. Tizz, owner and proprietor, smiled broadly wiping away some dust from a sign on the wall. "No MURDER" was written, but In small letters underneath was also written "except when management deems it acceptable". Fennick laughed a bit and toasted the owner of the tavern.​

Establishments and Stories​

Your character can come and go as they please to the many places around the city. There markets, stores, homes, and more. Some locations, such as those below, are major areas of interest and have existing NPCs and histories. Careful where you bring trouble, for you may not like what you find there.

The Rusty Tankard​

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Run by a tiefling, Tizz, a former adventurer himself, The Rusty Tankard is one of the most commonly frequented establishments in the whole city. Very large for a pub, it also has accommodations, a small bartering post/shop, and a very large hall. Tizz is almost always at the pub, night after night, ready to swap stories with adventurers from out of town.

Quessian Academies of Magic​

The magic academies appear to be larger than they should be. The arcane powers of those that built the school have warped reality and space around and inside the academies to ensure that it is both well defended but also that there is ample room to do everything from teach classes to summon elementals without risking the safety of the cityport. Between the hundreds of students that study at the academy and their exceptional teachers, the academy is very well protected.

The Gate of Locks​

One of the major entry points to the city, this vast gate sees more traffic than any other entrance. The heavy doors, made of wood reinforced with large strips of metal, are often open. The towers that rise above the walls of the city are constantly looking out for threats to the city, and once the gates are closed, the city may very well be impenetrable. A common saying in Khare is "As the Lock is sturdy", in reference to when something is a sure thing.

The Adventurer's Guild​

"It's a joke, and it always has been," goes the word about the Adventurer's Guild, but it is also a well-known fact that all the serious guilds in the city of Khare will not consider scouting out candidates who haven't at least proven the most basic level of competency of guild membership. There are rumors that the Adventurer's Guild is actually operated by a half-dozen actual guilds (the Heartguard, the Assassin's Hand, and the Empty Pocket are suspected major players), and entry into the guild is not difficult (a 5-gold entry fee, filing of paper work, and a completed mission are enough to get you into the guild).

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Using the Geography​

There is nothing stopping your character from setting up shop in Khare, or setting up shop in someone's house. Without many exceptions, your character can come and go as they see fit, so long as the story is being justified. Did you come into town and buy yourself a small house in the slums? No problem. Did you the leader of the Adventurer's Guild out of their office? That is unlikely and would require significant justification and RP on your end. Remember though, the world is there for you to explore and create.​

What's a drink amongst enemies? Fennick clutched at his throat and tried to support his weight on the edge of the table. What was happening to him? He stared at the drink on the table, and then at the tiefling. Tizz was on his feet quickly, wrapping his arm around Fennick's waist and settling him down on the chair. They were in one of the Rusty Tankard's many private rooms and were going to talk about the price that needed to be paid by Fennick in exchange for the bodyguard duty that Tizz had pulled. Tizz did have a reputation to maintain, of course, about being his inn being a place where nonsense wasn't tolerated. "You know," said Tizz as he put his hands on Fennick's shoulders and straightened him in the chair. "If you have not told me that you were getting this specific information, you would have walked out of here. But, given that it's quite the valuable piece of knowledge, and too many people knowing something lessens it's value, I'm afraid that you and I will not be able to continue to do business long term." He fished Fennick's coin purse out and took ten gold coins out. "For my body guard services," he said, reattaching the pouch to Fennick's belt. Then he sat down, opposite his former associate, and slowly watched him die while drinking his wine. ​

The Sale As a rule, Us'nan did not like dealing with Thenis. She didn't abhor his practices, she hated him. He was uncouth, drab, and altogether boring. Even his voice was monotonous. Surely this raspy 'I am terrifying, be scared of me' act that he put on got old quickly. Us'nan stared across the table and rested her fingertips gingerly against her cheeks. She had only recently finished applying the pale blue face paint, not that this filthy badger of a man could appreciate how good it looked. She waited as he fished through his pockets for the required items. "What happened to Fennick?" she asked. "Tizz killed him so that you could get your prize." She shrugged and tossed him the bag of gold coins that they had agreed upon. It was not surprising, she knew that the tiefling owner of the Rusty Tankard could be bought, but she hated Tizz more than she hated Thenis. But, success in Khare meant that you'd occasionally need to rub elbows with the wrong people to get a job done. Thenis and Tizz were low-class scum. Us'nan was very much the wrong kind of people to need to rub elbows with—and she liked it that way.​

The People of Khare​

The city, vast and large as it is, has many people to interact with. If you are looking to interact with the powerful, this may not be easy to achieve. Pockets need to be lined, information needs to be acquired, and favours need to be done. The payoff for such efforts can be very very rewarding. With trivial or minor NPCs, these can largely be roleplayed as you see fit and befitting your character's story.​

Thenis Cutpurse​ gender age sexuality origin alignment male unknown, assumed mid-30s unknown likely Khare native selfish​ "Let's see what secrets you spill along with your blood..." Little is known about Thenis Cutpurse the man. His reputation as a thief and murderer is well known, and his the costs of his services are very high. While he has never been arrested, tried, and imprisoned, several attempts have been made to do so. This has resulted in hushed voices from up high ensuring the release of the thief. After all, when you've done the dirty work for the powerful for years, you know where the bodies are buried. This has allowed the guild he now leads, the Crowhoods, to operate within the city—largely undisturbed. Thenis is well aware that there are balances that need to be maintained, though, and he is not stupid. Seeking out Thenis can lead to a world of trouble, or any information you seek... For the right price, of course.​ ▶ song title - artist < / >​

Us'nan Yurah​ gender age sexuality origin alignment female 47 heterosexual unknown, perhaps from Tethis neutral​ "Prices can be negotiable, surely. The quality is not." Tethis is known for its long established family lines and fortunes, but the merchant class has largely been excluded from power. This is not the case in Khare, where money can, and does, buy you whatever you want. Us'nan hails from a static land, and craves power—political and social. Usually dressed in the finest of robes, she paints her face in the manner of her family lineage. Like any colourful animal in nature, it serves to attract, and also to warn... As the owner of many warehouses and shipping vessels, her pockets are deep. Money is rarely of interest, but information and power are always currency for her.​ ▶ song title - artist < / >​

Interacting with people in the city​

If you need someone to be an NPC for a story you are doing, please feel free to reach out. Please just keep in mind that you should be telling your own stories unless you specifically need to be interacting with someone to accomplish a specific goal. We cannot be all characters to all players. Thank you.​