Rog'osto
City of Spires
From the mouth of the Nogaro River, a 300-mile trip north along the shores of the Crowded Sea leads travelers to Rog'osto, the City of Spires. The reason for its name is immediately evident: the city's unique metal towers soar toward the sky, gleaming in the sun. Some visitors have likened the towers to exotic mushrooms, giving Rog'osto a secondary title: City of Fungus. The bizarre towers are found nowhere else in the Land of Fate. They are the legacy of whatever inhabitants ruled the city long ago, in a forgotten time.
Rog'osto is actually two cities, one built ages ago by unknown, seemingly inhuman hands, the other having grown up around its base during the modem, enlightened age. The Old City comprises metal spires that tower over the area. The towers are constructed from a unique steel alloy. About 50 of these towers are in evidence, though fully half of them are shattered or toppled. The surviving towers stand almost 100 feet tall. The tops and bottoms of the towers are slightly flared, with a long stem in between. The interior of each is an open stairway, spiraling up the inside without a rail, to a great single floor perched at the tower's summit. Three of the intact towers, arranged like the points in a triangle, have been claimed by the khedive for a palace. All three towers have recently been connected by a fortified wall, which adjoins and links their fluted bases.
In the name of the Grand Caliph, the khedive provides grants for the use of the remaining intact towers. Wizards and priests inhabit them, using the towers as research laboratories or sanctuaries. A number of wizards have blocked or removed the interior stairs and provided their own methods of egress. There are only 22 towers (not counting the palace), and they always full, though turnover is regular.
Rog'osto is considered by many to be the most magical city in the Land of Fate. The city's strange towers attract sha'irs, sorcerers, and elemental mages, as well as pragmatists, kahins, mystics, scholars, and researchers seeking the advantages of both privacy and city living. The khedive has set down rules governing the behavior within the spires (e.g., no inter-spire warfare, no experiments that affect the towers or the city), and violating those rules may be cause for expulsion. Rog'osto has lost three towers to such activities.
The New City of Rog'osto is clustered at the base of the towers, a collection of white-washed, mud-brick houses, much like those found elsewhere in Zakhara. This the home of the poor and of the middle class, consisting of traders and artisans. Rog'osto has a thriving business of craft and art, catering to the wizards, who often require the finest materials for their research.
The New City also produces excellent weapons and armor, using metal from the city's fallen towers. As noted, this metal is an unusual alloy of steel. It tarnishes instead of rusts, melts at a lower temperature, and may be drawn thin to make durable metal cords. Otherwise, it is just as strong and light as steel, and can be used in the same fashion. (Weapons produced with this steel function as normal weapons of their type.) The metalsmiths of the city pay 2 gp a pound for this material. A single fallen tower produces several tons. The existing stock has already been claimed by the city's metalsmithing houses, however.
Government
The Ruler:
The elven khedive Samia al-Sa'id has ruled for the past 100 years in an enlightened, progressive manner that has endeared her to both the common people of the city and to those who dwell in the towers. A powerful wizard in her own right, Khedive Samia has gained wisdom over the years and acquired mighty magical items. The khedive helps settle the squabbling between the tower-lords (amir al- burj). She also helps fend off the acquisitive tendencies of both the Pantheon and Afyal.
The Court:
The khedive of Rog'osto is aided in all things by Sherif Akyar al-Awasif , a female noble djinni. The khedive herself freed Akyar from imprisonment, and the djinni serves by choice. Akyar is fanatically loyal to Samia. If the djinni perceives a threat, she will stop at nothing to aid her liege. The sherif (pronounced "share EEF") is on good terms with the other genies who live in Rog'osto's towers. Though (as might be expected) her relationships with dao and efreet are somewhat strained, Akyar speaks for all the genie peoples in court.
The court is large and varied. Each "power group" delegates one representative: sha'irs; sorcerers; elemental mages of flame, sea, wind, and sand; clergy; craftsmen; traders; and foreigners. There are many other groups and subgroups represented in the court, as well as ambassadors from other cities. Major influences include Sherif Akyar al-Awasif, representing the genie peoples; Bojo al-Ami, representing the craftsmen; and Bahij a of Selan, representing all clergy. Here are other characters of note:
- Fayiz al-Wazir represents the sorcerers. He is the most powerful human member of the court. He is prone to the effects of his venerable age, however. Fayiz tires easily, and while his mind is as quick as ever, he cannot converse for extended periods without becoming exhausted. He spends most of his time sequestered within his private tower, communicating with the court through messages carried by invisible stalkers.
- Kharj al-Talqa represents the flame mages, and he has openly declared himself a member of the Brotherhood of the True Flame. Kharj claims that the foul reputation of the group can be attributed to a minority of overzealous members as well as dark lies that are spread by other elemental mages. Considering his background, Kharj is a polite, almost whimsical mage.
- Revered Mother Farida bint Thuriya, humble servant of the Pantheon, is the Pantheist League's ambassador to Rog'osto. She is also a firebrand and a holy crusader. Farida does not trust the city's dilettante mages and soft-sided priests, and she does not believe the inherent power of the city should rest in their hands. This moralist priest has been known to pay adventurers for whatever treasures they recover from the hinterlands, after which she has arranged for the treasures to be smuggled out of the city.
- Othmar bin Kaloth represents the sha'irs of Rog'osto. He is aided by his bound efreeti, Xamus. As the khedive's leading opponent, Othmar believes she is too open and easygoing to be placed in charge of such magical power. He and Kharj, the representative of the flame mages, are old adventuring companions. Xamus, the efreeti, despises Sherif Akyar, and she, in turn, loathes this genie who might dare to threaten her khedive.
- Olla al-Funun is the ambassador from Afyal. She is an open, cheery woman who actively seeks to serve the khedive by reconciling various factions. With her facile mind and exceptional tact, Olla is often both a negotiator and an advisor to several sides of the same discussion. With each passing year, the khedive relies upon Olla more and more. Olla is one of the few individuals in court who have more than a passing interest in whatever race created the towers of Rog'osto. If a pristine tower is found in the hinterlands, she will reward the finders for its contents and the story.
Defences
- 1,000 city guards
- Each tower holder may have a personal guard of 200 sentient beings.
- The khedive's palace (with three towers) has a personal guard of 400 2nd-level fighters, plus 200 jann who answer to Sherif Akyar al-Awasif.
The armed forces are weak, even by Zakharan standards, but no one has seriously considered fighting an entire city of wizards.
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