The City

Since before the Gods walked, there was The City. In dark eons, creatures unimaginable crept and oozed along its streets. The Gods drove them out and took over The City, building and rebuilding over the tens of thousands of years of their Golden Age, until they tired of their games and left to find something new.

The Elves were next, making The City the center of their empire, over centuries rebuilding it with the spoils of the world. Their time ended and eventually Humans moved in, bustling, crowding the 12 Families of the Elves into one corner of The City. The Elves retain their influence, sitting on the Noble Assembly, their wealth and wisdom serving to, when they can muster the energy or inclination, guide and shape events as their whims take them.

The Dwarves came first as exiles from their mountain kingdoms, in ones and twos. After a time, the destruction of two of their enclaves in the distant mountains of the Edge Plateau by resurgent dragons led to a huge influx in The City 230 years ago. Their skilled hands suited them well for not just stonemasonry and smithing, but for all skilled trades, and today not a single guild exists that does not count dwarves among its members. They remain an insular people, tending to live in their own neighborhoods and speaking their ancestral language among themselves. "Next year, the Mountains" is a popular greeting among them, signifying that for many Dwarves, the call of their ancestry cannot be denied.

20 years ago, the residents of The City saw a curious sight. For centuries, the nomadic Orcs of the Steppes had harried merchant caravans, occasionally laying desultory siege to The City before being bought or driven off, depending upon the strength and wealth of The City at the time. This time, an army of Orcs stood mutely, weapons down, as their Khagan respectfully offered their service to The City in return for refuge. Their beloved steppes were drying out, turning into desert, and a new, unknown power was driving them from their homelands. From the North they fled, no refuge in the deep forests of the East or the mountains of the West, until finally a pitiful remnant arrived at the gates of The City. Males, females and children were moved into shantytowns and some with a handful of coins to their names were lucky enough to move into the slums. Today, they still live in their huts and crowded tenements, scrabbling for a toehold as they try to hang on to steppe traditions that mean less and less to their children with each passing year. Already, an entire generation has never felt Insh'fezz, the simple joy of a spring breeze across the lush grasses. Many Orcs find work as enforcers for the criminal elements in town, or sell themselves into slavery to feed their families. Orcs are not popular in The City, and many an establishment has a sign in the window reading, "No Orcs or Dogs Allowed".

The City today is a teeming, brawling, desperate mass of sentients. The Elves, decadent and withdrawn, focus mostly on their magics and their games. Humans occupy most positions in The City, although the occasional Elf finds it amusing to shuffle paper and make decisions. The ruler of The City, The Peregrine, is at this time Lord Cestiphar, regarded by humans as energetic and capable and his fellow Elves as eccentric and undignified. His term will last another 10 years or until he dies - either in war or at the hands of an assassin.

Religion

Politics

The Law

Crime

Magic

Geography

Timekeeping

Notable People

The Guard

Races