Sharn
City of Towers
I’ve been here a week, and it’s still hard not to feel overwhelmed by the city. The towers rise up until they disappear into the clouds. Lights gleam in a thousand windows. Skycoaches work their way through the maze of bridges connecting the towers, and up above I can see the burning ring of an elemental airship. Distracted by the sights in the sky, I nearly walk into a warforged as it brushes past me. It’s my first time seeing one, but then there are so many things I’ve never seen in this place. Over there, a tattooed elf haggles with a masked halfling, arguing about the price of lizard meat. Beyond them, a gargoyle watches from a high perch. I gather my senses and keep moving. It’s not until I reach the lift that I realize the warforged stole my purse. —A newcomer to the big city
Sharn is a place of adventure, magic, and intrigue, with skycoaches circling mile-high towers and mystic forges toiling endlessly in the bowels of the city. It is the most populous city in all of Khorvaire, and arguably all of Eberron, with about half a million people calling it home.
Humans make up about a third of that number, and dwarves are a sixth of it; the rest is a blend of every race found across Khorvaire. Halflings, elves, and gnomes all have a significant presence in the city, but even kalashtar and changelings have communities in Sharn.
Beyond the permanent population, tens of thousands of people pass through Sharn every day. Refugees from the war still find their way to the city, along with tourists, spies, merchants, and folk hoping to find their fortune in the grandest city in Eberron.
Geography
Location
Sharn is located at the mouth of the Dagger River, overlooking its eastern tributary called the hilt, in the south of Breland. Mountains line the shores of the Dagger, so Sharn Can't spread out horizontally like most settlements would, so instead, it has grown ever upwards. It is known as the "City of Towers" due to the fact it is a city that is almost entirely made up of different towers built on top of layers after layers of each other.
Quarters
The city is primarily made up of the following Quarters:
- The Central Plateau
- Dura
- Menthis Plateau
- Northedge
- Tavick's Landing
At the hub of each of these quarters is a cluster of enormous core towers. A web of bridges and platforms connects many of these vast spires, and smaller turrets sprout from the edges of the core towers.
Wards
In between those extremes, each of the quarters is divided into an upper ward, a middle ward, and a lower ward. Each Ward is made up of a number of districts, so that the location of a place in Sharn can be expressed with a combination of a Ward name and a district name.
Since Sharn is a mostly vertical city, elevation is an indicator of status and wealth. Each quarter is roughly divided into three levels, and the combination of quarter and level defines a Ward. Thus, wards have names such as Lower Dura, Upper Central, and Middle Menthis.
Upper Wards
Upper wards are the domain of the rich and powerful. Here you’ll find the finest goods and the most expensive services. Only those who maintain a wealthy or aristocratic lifestyle can easily afford the prices for meals and lodging, and adventurers who maintain a squalid or wretched lifestyle might be treated with disdain.
Violence is rare in any of the upper wards, and the Sharn Watch actively patrols these areas. Although the guards here might be corrupt just as in a middle or lower ward, they’re already being well paid by powerful nobles and criminal organizations, and they work efficiently in the service of these forces.
Middle Wards
Middle wards are home to the middle classes. Here you’ll find bustling markets and taverns, along with a wide range of entertainment and housing. Most goods and services are affordable by those of a modest or comfortable lifestyle, with a few higher-priced options tucked away. The Sharn Watch has a presence, but not as strong as in the upper wards.Lower Wards
Lower wards house the hard-working laborers, along with the destitute and the desperate, including refugees who lost everything in the war and orphans who never had anything to begin with. Services priced for a modest lifestyle can be found, but overall the lower wards are home to those who have no better than a poor lifestyle; a visitor who displays signs of a wealthy or aristocratic lifestyle might attract unwanted attention. The watch pays little attention to the lower districts, making them a haven for criminals and gangs.These are stereotypes that don’t apply to all wards. Dura is a particularly poor quarter, meaning that Upper Dura is effectively a middle ward in economic terms; similarly, because Central Plateau is a hub of wealth and power, Lower Central is effectively a middle ward.
Districts
Each ward is further subdivided into districts, which are neighborhoods defined by an economic role, a separate culture, or both. For example, Lower Northedge includes the districts of Stoneyard, Longstairs, and North Market. It’s generally true that the combination of a district’s ward and Quarter will give you a broad idea of what to expect there. A district in Upper Central will typically be well kept and swarming with guards, while a district in Lower Dura will be squalid and dangerous.
Skyway
There are a number of floating towers that drift above the upper wards of Sharn, but these are dwarfed by the Skyway, an entire district that is suspended above the upper wards and is between the Centeral Plateau and Menthis Plateau.Built on an island of solidified cloud, Skyway holds the mansions of the wealthiest people in Khorvaire—nobles whose feet never touch the ground. It’s a realm of wonders, filled with the finest examples of luxury and extravagance that gold can buy and magic can produce.
Cliffside
Cliffside encompasses the docks and waterfront of Sharn, running along the edge of the Dagger River and up the cliff above it. Massive lifts levitate goods up to the skydocks in the district of Precarious. The area’s rough and poor, filled with sailors and dockworkers. Many of these boisterous folk love the life in Cliffside; as a common saying goes, “Better a tankard of ale in Cliffside than a barrel of Central wine.”
Plenty of legitimate services can be found here—ships need supplies and repairs, goods need to be stored, captains need to hire crew, and sailors need a dry bed to sleep in once in a while—but other businesses meet different kinds of demands. These services include bordellos, taverns, gaming dens, and shadier entertainments for sailors to spend their off-duty hours and wages on.
The Cogs
Type
Large city
Related Reports (Primary)
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