Sharn

Law and chaos dance on a knife's edge here, one never truly gaining advantage over the other. Sharn is a melting pot of all the people and cultures of Khorvaire and beyond. The population is stratified in layers based on their socioeconomic status with the glittering spires of the upper wards being home to wealthy and influencial folks while the gloomy lower wards house the poor and downtrodden.

Government

Bureaucracy mires Sharn’s political landscape. In addition to the massive amount of work involved in maintaining the city itself, Sharn also administers Brelish law to the surrounding region, collecting taxes and revenues on behalf of King Boranel.
The city is filled with ministers, beadles, bailiffs, and minor functionaries of all shapes and sizes. However, it is unlikely that a player character is going to become intimately involved in the repaving of roads or the system of agricultural tariffs collected by the ministers of Sharn. As a result, this section focuses on the pinnacle of Sharn’s government: the people at the top, who have the power to set adventures in motion.

Council of Sharn

Many make the mistake of assuming that the Lord Mayor of Sharn holds the greatest power within the city. In fact, the City Council appoints the Lord Mayor, and the commanders of the Sharn Watch report to the Council.

The Lord Mayor

While the City Council holds the true power in Sharn, the Lord Mayor is still a force to be reckoned with. The Lord Mayor represents the interests of Sharn in any direct contact with the Brelish Crown, including interaction with the King’s Citadel. He also appoints the lesser officers of the city and over- sees all issues of daily administration. He has the power to establish trade agreements with foreign governments, to pardon criminals, and to order arrests and even executions. His worship Cathan ir’Demell has been Lord Mayor of Sharn for twenty years, and he enjoys the luxuries and privileges of his position. He is unlikely to take any actions that would anger Javan Tomollan or Bestan ir’Tonn, his strongest supporters in the council, and he usually consults with these two before making any major decisions.

The King's Citadel

The City Council and the Lord Mayor represent the interests of Sharn; they are not direct servants of the king. The King's Citadel looks after the interests of the crown, and can assert jurisdiction over any criminal matter or issue concerning espionage or national security.

Defences

The Sharn Watch

The Sharn Watch is the overarching organization that enforces the laws of the city. The sentinels of the Watch patrol the streets of Sharn, ever vigilant for signs of unrest. Unfortunately, the Sharn Watch is riddled with corruption, from the commanding officers down to the patrols.

The Blackened Book

The Blackened Book is a branch of the Sharn Watch, consisting of countermages who are trained to monitor and dispel magical energy.

The Guardians of the Gate

The Guardians of the Gate are an arm of the Sharn Watch dedicated to monitoring the actions of foreign nationals and immigrants to the city.

The Redcloak Batallion

The Redcloak Batallion is a highly trained military unit and use careful strategy when dealing with any crisis situation.

The Royal Guard

The Royal Guard are the elite bodyguards assigned to the royal family of Breland as well as some particularly distinguished nobles.

Industry & Trade

Banking

Characters bringing large amounts of valuable treasure from their latest adventure can find the banking services they need in the Upper Central ward. House Kundarak operates the largest bank in the city, the Kundarak Bank of Sharn, located at the top of Kundarak Tower (in the Korranath district). The districts of Korranath and Korran-Thiven feature nine other banks, as well as a number of moneychangers, lenders, and providers of other financial services.

Commerce

Characters interested in carrying on trade can visit any of Sharn’s marketplace districts: Tradefair in Middle Central, North Market in Lower Northedge, the Bazaar in Middle Dura, or Tavick’s Market in Middle Tavick’s Landing. Merchants must purchase a permit granting them permission to set up a booth or other presence in the marketplace.
Merchants interested in buying goods in bulk for transport and sale in another city will likely find what they need in one of the city’s warehouse districts: Cogsgate in Lower Tavick’s Landing, White Tower, Precarious, or the Stores in Lower Dura. Each of these districts serves as a repository for goods coming into Sharn from river or Orien trade road or lightning rail, and also offers warehouse rentals for local merchants collecting goods to ship.

Healing

House Jorasco operates houses of healing throughout the city, though they are concentrated in middle-class neighborhoods (any district that includes average services might include a Jorasco house of healing. The headquarters in Sharn is in Dragon Towers (in Middle Central), and characters in need of a heal spell or similar magic need to find their way to the main enclave rather than to one of the smaller houses elsewhere in the city.

Spellcasting

As with magic item dealers, spellcasters-for-hire offer their services throughout the city. Spellcasters experienced with providing for the needs of adventurers can be found in abundance in Clifftop and Deathsgate. These spellcasters usually have spells prepared that are useful to adventurers, including remove curse, remove disease, break enchantment, divination, and similar spells.
Magewrights and adepts of all levels can be found throughout Sharn, but there are only a handful of other spellcasters of 9th level or above, and these powerful individuals rarely sell their services for gold.

Storage

House Kundarak’s role in the financial world takes a back seat to its role in providing security for warehouses, businesses, and private locations who can afford their services. Foremost among the secure storage facilities they provide in the city are the Vaults that occupy the lower levels of the Kundarak Bank of Sharn in Upper Central’s Korranath district. The Vaults, designed primarily to store small items of great value, feature unparalleled security. House Kundarak also guarantees the security of a number of warehouses in Lower Dura and Lower Tavick’s Landing, which are convenient to the major trade routes through the city.

Guilds and Factions

Dragonmarked Houses

While all of the dragonmarked houses have some presence in Sharn, four of the houses are particularly important in the city:
House Cannith
Following the destruction of Cyre, House Cannith split into three factions. The southern faction is led by Merrix d’Cannith, who makes his home in Sharn. House Cannith has always had a strong presence in the city. Cannith engineers and architects helped rebuild the city, and it was Cannith artificers who developed the flying buttress that allows for the construction of the enormous towers. During the war, the Cannith enclave in Sharn was one of the main production centers for the magic weapons and potions that Breland purchased from the house, including the majority of Breland’s warforged soldiers.
Today, House Cannith provides a wide variety of services within Sharn. House Cannith alchemists produce the bulk of the magic potions found in the city, and most 1st-level potions carry a Cannith seal. Cannith engineers and masons help with the continued development of Sharn, and just as importantly they help to repair and maintain the existing towers and suspended streets and roads. Cannith artificers maintain the spells powering the great foundries in the Cogs. Both of these duties are handled by Cannith heirs, but also by teams of skilled laborers trained and employed by the house.
One of the secrets of the house is that quite a few of its members are followers of the Traveler, in its aspect as the god of artifice. While this generally has little impact on things, it does form a common bond between some members of House Cannith and the Tyrant changelings.
The Cannith enclave in Dragon Towers is used for diplomatic relations, but most of the important work is done in the Forgehold, the industrial complex in the Ashblack district of the Upper Cogs. Smaller Cannith enclaves are scattered about the city, primarily alchemical workshops and outposts for the Tinkers Guild.
House Deneith
On the surface, House Deneith plays the same role in Sharn as it does in most of the major cities of Khorvaire—it provides soldiers and bodyguards to anyone with gold. In addition to the nearly two hundred members of the Deneith bloodline who reside in Sharn, the house employs a host of mercenary warriors.
The Blademark of Sharn includes 500 soldiers—49 heirs of Deneith and a host of Brelish conscripts. Many of these warriors fought in the Last War; today they serve as private security for the wealthiest citizens of Sharn. Many of the lords and merchants of the Upper-City employ the services of Deneith mercenaries; they have a particularly strong presence in Upper Tavick’s Landing, where they have equal authority with the Sharn Watch. Most of the remaining heirs of Deneith serve in the Defender’s Guild, and there are nine Sentinel Marshals in residence.
House Kundarak
Sharn is the greatest center of trade and commerce in Khorvaire, and it is small wonder that the House of Warding would have a strong presence in the city. For the most part, Kundarak’s only interest in Sharn is business. Aside from the vast amount of gold that flows through the Kundarak Bank each day, the house owns magically secured warehouses and sells magic and mundane locks, alarms, and traps to the many wealthy and powerful inhabitants of the city.
But while Kundarak tends to be a passive house, there are things that can stir it to action—notably, the loss of wealth. During the Last War, Breland took out vast loans from the Kundarak Bank to pay for the war effort. King Boranel has been coming up short on his payments, and the Kundarak elders are displeased. Acting on their behalf, Daphanë d’Kundarak has been talking with the members of the Brelish Parliament who wish to see the monarchy removed from power, notably Lord Ruken ir’Clarn and Hass ir’Tain. Aside from satisfying the wounded pride of the house, this could provide Kundarak with considerable influence over the new prime minister—and this appeals to the elders.
House Sivis
House Sivis conducts a great deal of business in Sharn. As a center for international trade, communication is vitally important in Sharn, and there are over a dozen Sivis message stations in the city. House Kundarak is just one of the groups that employs Sivis scribes and accountants. Sivis mediators and barristers are in high demand in the courts of Sharn. And with the proximity of Xen’drik, there is always a call for skilled translators. The house performs all of these functions, and quite well. It maintains its policy of absolute neutrality with all forces in the city, including the Zilargo embassy.
However, there are traditions to be upheld, and as a result House Sivis still fights its one ancient enemy: House Sivis. The gnomes are engaged in constant battles of wits and intrigues. It is a delicate balancing act. The gnomes fight for power and position within the house, and humiliating a rival is the best way to gain advancement—demonstrating wit and cleverness while revealing the victim’s vulnerability. However, the schemer has to make sure that his actions do not sully the reputation of the house. Causing a Sivis barrister to lose his case may very well embarrass him—but it is also a black mark on Sivis as a whole. It is a tricky and delicate battlefield, and one that is difficult for outsiders to understand.

Adventurers' Guilds

Clifftop Adventurers' Guild
The Clifftop Adventurers' Guild is a guild for explorers and professional adventurers based out of the Clifftop district of Sharn.
Deathsgate Guild
The Deathsgate Guild is a guild for adventurers and mercenaries based in the Deathsgate district of Sharn.
Wayfinder Foundation

Circle of Song

The Circle of Song is an informal organization that can be found across Khorvaire. In principle itis open to all bards. Bards have much to gain from the company of other bards. When bards come together, they can exchange news, stories, and songs, expanding their repertoiresand base of knowledge.

Wizard Circles

True wizards, sorcerers, and artificers are rare and remarkable. They can perform feats of magic beyond the talents of the most gifted magewright or adept. Over the past thousand years, the arcanists of Breland formed three wizards circles. These provide the magically gifted with sanctums to practice their arts and share mystical knowledge.
Esoteric Order of Aureon
The Esoteric Order is the oldest wizards circle in Breland, and it helped King Galifar I spread the rule of law across the nation.
The Guild of Starlight and Shadows
The Guild of Starlight and Shadows emerged in a form of rebellion against the strict rules and structure of the Esoteric Order of Aureon. The Guild has always included a large number of sorcerers, many of whom found the endless research of the wizards to be dull torment.

The Sixty Families of Sharn

Twenty-five of the twenty-seven noble families of Breland have strong ties and interests in Sharn, along with all of the dragonmarked houses. But the majority of the wealth of the city lies in the hands of the gentry: merchants and landowners who have built their fortunes through centuries of hard work and clever investment. There are hundreds of powerful families in the City of Towers, but a few stand out from the rest. These are known as the Sixty.
Sharn was built with the gold of the ir’Tain family, and today the ir’Tains are the most powerful and influential family in the city. Once each month, they hold a grand party for the aristocracy—The Tain Gala. When the ir’Tains were building their new manor on Skyway, Lady Shala told the architects to make the banquet hall large enough to seat sixty families and their servants. The Sixty of Sharn are those with standing invitations to the Tain Gala—the clear sign of success. It should be noted that other people may attend the gala, as it is uncommon for all sixty families to bring all of their family members and servants, and the hall was designed to hold entertainers as well as guests. But a single invitation, while prestigious, is entirely different from being invited to join the Sixty.
All of the noble families and the dragonmarked families are members of the Sixty; this means that any Sharn resident with the ir’ or d’ prefix on his last name could be found at the Tain Gala. Other members are generally identified as such in their descriptions. A standing invitation can always be revoked to make room for a more deserving candidate; one of the greatest fears of Councilor Sorik Senso is that his family will be displaced to make room for Councilor Javan Tomollan.

Organzied Crime

The Boromar Clan
The Boromar Clan is the most powerful criminal organization in Sharn. From a humble start as a gang of smugglers and thieves, the Boromars have risen to become one of the most influential forces in the city.
Daask
Daask, an aggressive criminal organization led by monstrous immigrants from Droaam, has beenbuilding its power in the Lower-City for a decade.
House Tarkanan
House Tarkanan is known as a small order of highly skilled assassins and thieves. Members bear aberrant dragonmarks.
The Tyrants
The Tyrants are a mysterious guild of shapeshifters. They control most of the bordellos in Sharn, and they primarily deal in information.

History

Over the course of ten thousand years, the city by the Dagger River has risen and fallen time and again. The many scars of history can be seen everywhere—each representing a score of dangers to threaten the present-day inhabitants.

Duur'Shaarat

Thousands of years before humans came to Khorvaire, the land belonged to the hobgoblins. One of the greatest cities of the Dhakaani Empire was the hobgoblin metropolis of Ja’shaarat (“Bright Blade”), nestled by the edge of the Dagger River. The early Dhakaani architects carved their city into the stone instead of raising towers above the ground, and the halls of Ja’shaarat extended beneath the surface of the land. The goblin miners pushed into Khyber, discovering a vast lake of fire that burned with a supernatural heat. The blades and armor of the greatest Dhakaani warriors were forged here, and tempered in khaar draguus, the blood of the dragon. Later, they raised great monolithic buildings that covered each of the plateaus and would later serve as the foundation for the City of Towers.
When the alignment of the planes brought the daelkyr and their armies of horrors to Eberron, the Dhakaani empire fell before them, and Ja’shaarat was devastated. The empire never recovered from the conflict and the great city was never restored. The goblin tribes that hid in the ruins renamed their home Duur’shaarat, “Blade of Sorrows.”

Shaarat

In time, the humans of Sarlona began to explore across the ocean. A wave of humans followed the famed explorer Lhazaar to Khorvaire’s eastern shores. The humans didn’t stop there, however. They pushed inland and explored the northern and southern coasts seeking land to settle and kingdoms to erect. As a result, Malleon the Reaver discovered the inlet of the Dagger River twenty-five years after Lhazaar’s historic undertaking. Malleon enslaved the goblins and built a fortress within the ruins on the bluff above the river.
Malleon, a superstitious man, hoped to make peace with whatever spirits remained in the ruins. He sealed off the deeper levels of the goblin-made mountain-monoliths that had been home to the majority of the hobgoblins, and he named the city Shaarat, deriving the name from the stories told by his goblin slaves.
Over the next six hundred years, Shaarat grew into a powerful and wealthy city. Breggor, first ruler of the nation that would eventually bear the name of Breland, demanded that Shaarat bow to his author- ity. Malleon’s descendants refused. A long siege followed, ending when Breggor ordered his wizards to rain destruction on Shaarat.

Sharn and the War of the Mark

Breggor wanted the city on the Dagger River for his own, and he didn’t allow the place to remain ruined for long. Within a decade of the siege of Shaarat, Breggor renamed the city Sharn. For the next eight hundred years, the towers began to rise and the city flourished along with the Five Nations. It was during this time that the dragonmarked houses began to grow and prosper. Between the pure marks, the mixed marks, and the frequently appearing aberrant marks, the more powerful houses saw a threat to their growing wealth and economic power. The houses began to argue, and soon strong and angry words led to full-scale battle. War had come to the dragonmarked houses.
The War of the Mark, a terrible and bloody conflict, changed the face of Khorvaire, firmly establishing the dragonmarked families that hold power to this day. The pure families and their allies outnumbered those possessing aberrant and mixed dragonmarks, but the aberrant marks held considerable destructive power. At first it was a simple purge, as the aberrants were hunted down one by one. But in the third year of this inquisition, Lord Halas Tarkanan gathered his aberrant kindred. Tarkanan, a brilliant tactician, used his military skills and the power of the aberrant dragonmarks to turn the tide of battle. Tarkanan and his queen seized control of Sharn, turning it into a bastion for the aberrant marks.
In the end, Tarkanan simply didn’t have the numbers to overcome his enemies. The battle continued for another four years, but Tarkanan and his forces were slowly beaten back to Sharn. As House Cannith, House Deneith, and the armies of pre-Breland closed in, Tarkanan and the Lady of the Plague called upon the full power of their aberrant dragonmarks and released horrific magical forces. Terrible quakes caused parts of the city to collapse, and rivers of lava flowed up from the fiery lake deep below. Those who escaped the flames were devoured by swarms of vermin or stricken down by deadly plagues. The War of the Mark was over—but Sharn had suffered greatly and was abandoned.
For over five hundred years, superstitious folk shunned the ruined city, muttering about the curses of the aberrant lords. Despite the superstitions, the location had considerable strategic and economic value. When Galifar I took control of the Five Nations, he sent a force to rebuild the ruined city. House Cannith played a critical role in the reconstruction, and to this day House Cannith remains one of the most influential forces in Sharn. Dwarf engineers were brought in from the Mror Holds, and a few of the Brelish nobles invested a great deal of gold in the city. Chief among these was the ir’Tain family. The ir’Tains are known as the slumlords of Sharn, and over the centuries the family has made a fortune from its many tene- ment properties. Today, the ir’Tains are one of the most powerful noble families in Breland; Lord Hass ir’Tain is an influential member of the Breland Parliament, and his mother Celyria is the unquestioned leader of high society in Sharn. Other powerful families and merchants flocked to the new city, and Sharn prospered and grew.
When work began, only a few towers remained standing above the ancient goblin foundations and human ruins. It was believed that the curse of the Lady of the Plague still lingered in the darkness, and the remnants of the old cities were quickly sealed away. In time they were forgotten, lost in the shadows of the new towers that stretched toward the sky. Occasionally treasure-hunters venture down into the haunted levels that lie between the Lower-City and the Cogs, but the vast majority of the citizens know little or nothing of the ruins that lie in the Depths.
Today,Sharn stands as a center for trade, diplomacy, and intrigue, a city with an important role to play in the future of Khorvaire. When dealing with Sharn, remember that the city has an ancient and rich history, and that as you descend you are effectively traveling through time. The lowest levels of the oldest towers are over ten thousand years old, and the buildings within them have gone through many changes. What is now an apartment complex might once have been a cathedral. A tavern might have been a hobgoblin armory. This sense of history and change can add a great deal of color to an otherwise simple location.

Tourism

Entertainment

Whether a character seeks nothing more than a fun evening on the town or wants to witness a great performance by a renowned artist, Sharn offers abun- dant entertainment on a nightly basis. The hub of the entertainment industry in Sharn is Menthis Plateau, and from the towertops down to the Cogs this quarter is a bustle of activity from sundown to sunup.
The Torchfire district in Lower Menthis occupies the bottom of the entertainment ladder in Menthis, but remains a fine place to enjoy inexpensive entertainment. The Ten Torches Theater gives this district its name, and it has become something of an institution in Lower Menthis. Its offerings focus on the bawdy, with a strong dose of music and comedy, all presented in a crowded, smoky atmosphere. The low price of admission and the raucous entertainment of the shows combine to pack its seats every night.
Gailan’s, a restaurant in Torchfire, enjoys a reputation for bringing the best up-and-coming talent to its stage—musicians, actors, and other performers who often go on to play more prominent venues in the higher levels of Menthis. The food is good but the entertainment—offered in the round—is the reason for going. The proprietor has claimed for years that he is looking for new cooks and planning to build up an impressive wine cellar, but such improvements remain for the indeterminate future.
Across the plateau, in the tavern district of Downstairs, a new theater offers the Ten Torches its first dose of local competition in ages. Called the Diamond Theater, it features a large stage and spacious seating—at least compared to the Ten Torches.

Gateway to Xen'drik

Many adventurers come to Sharn solely to get someplace else, using the city as a launching point for an expedition to the ancient ruins and trackless jungles of Xen’drik. Morgrave University and the Wayfinder Foundation both send teams to Xen’drik on a regular basis, and Sharn hosts a thriving antiquities market that provides demand for items recovered from Xen’drik by both official and amateur expeditions.
The Cliffside ward is a good place to find ship captains experienced in the passage to Xen’drik, who have contacts with the sahuagin of Shargon’s Teeth and can secure safe passage through those straits. The journey from Sharn to Stormreach is about 1,500 miles and takes a little over a month by sailing ship. The usual cost of passage is about 300 gp. It is sometimes possible to hire an elemental galleon for the journey, which takes only three or four days but costs 3,000 gp. A House Lyrandar sailing ship (without elemental power) can make the trip in 11 days and costs about 1,500 gp. Airships do not normally make the trip from Sharn to Xen’drik.

Places to Stay

For those planning shorter stays in Sharn, the city offers abundant inns, hostels, and boarding houses. No less than five inn districts provide lodging in all areas of the city, all concentrated in the lower levels. Hostelhome in Lower Dura, High Walls and Dancing Shadows in Lower Tavick’s Landing, Boldrei’s Hearth in Lower Central, and Underlook in Middle Dura together offer over six hundred inns and hos- tels to travelers and other visitors. That said, almost every business district in the Sharn has some type of inn, and upscale districts such as Platinum Heights and Highest Towers (in Upper Central), Seventh Tower (in Upper Menthis), and Skyway feature the best lodging in the city.
House Ghallanda offers a secure shelter, a lodging option popular among adventurers. The dragonmark heirs of the house establish these shelters in North Market (in Lower Northedge) or The Bazaar (in Middle Dura) whenever demand requires
Characters without money to pay for lodging can find shelter in one of the many almshouses located in the city’s poorer districts (primarily slums and tenement districts in Lower Dura and the Cogs). Though lodging here is free, such places are notoriously dangerous.

Architecture

Towers
The towers of Sharn range in height from about 100 feet to nearly a mile tall, but their basic construction resembles that of a traditional castle or other stone building. Extensive magic goes into their construction, from the spells used to lift blocks of stone to such enormous heights to the magic that strengthens and supports the towers, allowing them to stand despite all probability. Even with such magic in place, the towers are generally broad at the bottom and narrow at the top, many of them peaking in elegant spires or domes, while others are crowned with flat platforms that hold parks, pools, or small estates. The streets of the ancient city have been swallowed up as towers were built upward and lower walls thickened, to the point that now the towers tend to merge at ground level into a solid maze of walls, jumbled together with no discernable pattern.
Most towers are roughly 800 to 2,500 feet in diameter at the bottom, narrowing to about 200 to 600 feet in diameter at the top. Some have narrower spires extending farther upward.
Every tower is built of magically reinforced stone. A typical Lower-City exterior wall is 15 feet thick. In the Middle-City, exterior walls are 10 feet thick. In the Upper-City, exterior walls are only 5 feet thick. Interior walls also consist of stone construction. Some serve important structural functions and are as thick as exterior walls, but most are only 1 foot thick.
In general, a tower has one story per 10–12 feet of height. Ceilings tend to be lower (and stories packed more closely together) at lower levels and higher toward the top levels, but there are certainly exceptions (warehouse towers, for example, usually have high ceilings). Stories might also be subdivided: a popular residential design features an open central plaza, 20 feet or more in height, surrounded by two-story homes built as if hanging off the wall of the tower. A minor variation on this design has even higher ceilings and three-story units surrounding the plaza, with the bottom story of each unit housing a business.
Most towers are studded with balconies, riddled with windows, and connected to neighboring towers with bridges.
Balconies
Balconies range from simple ledges with protective railings where a homeowner can step outside to enjoy the sunset, to large platforms where skycars can land to discharge passengers. Most towers have at least one balcony per story; many towers have many more balconies, at least at certain levels. Since flying is so prevalent in the city, any balcony is a potential entry point to a tower. Balconies opening into businesses or residences can be secured by some means, ranging from a simple door or portcullis to magical means such as a wall of force or an alarm spell. A great number of balconies, particularly the larger ones, open into public space.
Streets
Streets run through the towers of Sharn, allowing horses, mules, and wagons to travel in a fairly normal fashion within the city. Unlike the streets of a typical city, most of these streets are broad thoroughfares rather than twisting alleyways, either suspended high above the ground, arcing around towers, or constructed through the center of a tower or other building. These streets are 25 feet wide with 5-foot-wide walkways on either side.
Because the streets of Sharn are almost entirely indoors, most are artificially lit with everbright lanterns or everburning torches. In general, the upper levels have the best lighting, while torches in the Cogs are spaced so far apart as to leave large spaces of darkness.
Bridges
Most bridges connect the streets running through the towers, allowing wagons and pedestrians to cross from one spire to the next. As such, they are generally as wide as the streets. Low walls along the edges of a bridge prevent people from falling accidentally. Major bridges can be as wide as 50 feet across, and actually have structures built along the edges, crowding the roadway down to a width of 10 feet or so. Such bridges are popular sites for street fairs and open markets.
A great number of narrower bridges span the gulfs between towers as well, not designed for carrying wagons but for facilitating pedestrian traffic. These bridges are five to ten feet wide and almost always have low walls or railings.
Lifts
One of the most important uses of magic in Sharn is in the creation of magic lifts to facilitate vertical travel between the levels of towers. Particularly at lower levels, ramps wind around the inside or outside of large towers to get wagons from level to level, but at higher levels special levitation devices carry passengers and even cargo up and down within the towers.

Geography

Central Plateau

A long wall rings the Central Plateau at its lowest level, interrupted by towers along its entire length. Inside the wall, structures rise higher and higher toward the tallest towers near the middle, creating a great artificial mountain at the heart of the city. Mostly populated by the upper and middle classes, the Central Plateau houses the seat of the city’s government, its wealthiest citizens, and its finest businesses. Embassies from other nations, important representatives of the dragonmarked houses, and banks are found here as well.

Dura

Dura, the largest quarter in Sharn, covers the great expanse of the western plateau from the cliffs overlooking the Dagger River to the crevasse of the Western Cog. It is also the poorest, excepting the Cogs, with even its topmost levels solidly middle class. Dura mixes various businesses and housing, never approaching a true residential district but holding a number of apartments, tenements, and (near the bottom) slums. The lower levels of Dura include a large population of immigrants from Darguun and Droaam, forming a neighborhood of goblinoids and other monstrous residents.

Menthis Plateau

Menthis Plateau serves as the entertainment hub of the city, and is home to Morgrave University and a variegated quilt of different races. Certainly the most trendy of Sharn’s quarters, Menthis is a popular tourist destination. No walls surround Menthis, though its tallest towers are spread along its outer rim. The enormous dome of Morgrave University, ringed by five tall, slender towers, stands near the center of the plateau.

Northedge

Northedge, the most residential of Sharn’s quarters, contains everything from towertop penthouses in the heights to tightly packed apartments on the lower levels. Aside from a marketplace district near the bottom of the towers, Northedge is a quiet neighborhood with little commerce and little crime.

Tavick's Landing

Tavick’s Landing, at the eastern edge of the city, is in some ways defined by being the terminus of the Orien lightning rail line and trade road. The lower levels cater to travelers and traders entering Sharn by rail, and include an entire city district that has been converted to provide housing for refugees from the Last War. The middle and upper levels are broader in their purposes, including a variety of trades, services, and residential districts.

Skyway

Skyway is magically suspended above the city on gigantic disks of force, like Tenser’s floating disks taken to a fantastic extreme. These disks are among the many magic items and effects in the city that work only because of the presence of the manifest zone linked to Syrania. Not a cloud palace but an actual extension of the city, Skyway includes some of Sharn’s finest inns and restaurants, exotic and upscale trades, and a number of mansions belonging to the very richest citizens.

Cliffside

Cliffside is a neighborhood perched precariously on the side of the cliffs above the Dagger River and Sharn’s waterfront. It includes the waterfront businesses far below Dura, as well as towers built up from the cliff face and a shantytown of caves dug into the sides of the southern cliffs overlooking the Hilt. The businesses of Cliffside are either directly related to shipping or cater to boat crews, adventurers, and other transients.

The Depths

The Depths is the generic name for everything that lies beneath the city’s main plateau, excepting Cliffside and the Cogs far below. The upper levels give way to active and inactive sewers, some of which have their own inhabitants, as well as the mostly forgotten ruins of earlier settlements built long before the towers started to rise. Far below and accessed by well-maintained tunnels and shafts, the Cogs sit at the very base of Sharn and serve as an actively populated center of industry. In fact, the roots of modern Sharn’s towers lie underground in some places, buried by the passing of centuries.

The Cogs

The Cogs are the churning heart of the city, full of forges and foundries powered by steaming geysers, molten lava, and bound fire elementals. Extending far below the foundations of Sharn’s towers and built along the banks of the great chasms that divide the city, the Cogs incorporate elements of ancient ruins and natural caverns.

Maps

• 

  Sharn, the City of Towers

Founding Date

Approximately 10,000 Years Ago

Alternative Name(s)

The City of Towers

Type

Megalopolis

Population

500,000

Included Locations

• Central Plateau
• Cliffside
• Dura Plateau
• Menthis Plateau
• Northedge Plateau
• Skyway
• Tavick's Landing Plateau
• The Cogs

Owning Organization

Breland

Districts

Central

Upper
Highest Towers: Civic district
Korranath: Finance district
Korran-Thiven: Finance district
Mithral Tower: Wealthy residential
Platinum Heights: Fine Shops
Skysedge Park: Park district

Middle
Ambassador Towers: Embassy district
Dava Gate: Professionals
Dragon Towers: Guildhall district
Sovereign Towers: Temple district
Sword Point: Garrison
Tradefair: Marketplace

Lower
Boldrei's Hearth: Inn district
Granite Halls: Shops
Myshan Gardens: Average residential
North Towers: Shops
Olladra's Kitchen: Tavern district
Vallia Towers: Average residential

Dura

Upper
Clifftop: Adventurers' quarter
Daggerwatch: Garrison
Highhold: Dwarf neighborhood
Highwater: Average residential
Hope's Peak: Temple district
Overlook: Apartment townhomes
Redstone: Shops

Middle
The Bazaar: Marketplace and shops
Broken Arch: Average residential
Hareth's Folly: Tavern district
Rattlestone: Apartment townhomes
Stormhold: Average residential
Tumbledown: Tenement district
Underlook: Inn district

Lower
Callestan: Inn district
Fallen: Slum
Gate of Gold: Tenement district
Malleon's Gate: Goblinoid slum
Oldkeep: Apartment townhomes
Precarious: Warehouse district
The Stores: Warehouse district

Menthis

Upper
Den'iyas: Gnome neighborhood
Ivy Towers: Average residential
Platinate: Wealthy residential
Seventh Tower: Fine shops
University District: University

Middle
Cassan Bridge: Shops
Everbright: Magic district
Little Plains: Halfling encampment
Smoky Towers: Theater district
Warden Towers: Garrison

Lower
Center Bridge: Average residential
Downstairs: Tavern district
Firelight: Red light district
Forgelight Towers: Average residential
Torchfire: Theater district

Northedge

Upper
Shae Lias: Elf neighborhood
Crystal Bridge: Wealthy residential
Oak Towers: Wealthy residential

Middle
Holdfast: Dwarf neighborhood
High Hope: Temple district
Oakbridge: Average residential

Lower
North Market: Marketplace
Stoneyard: Apartment townhomes
Longstairs: Apartment townhomes

Tavick's Landing

Upper
Copper Arch: Professionals
Dalan's Refuge: Wealthy residential
Ocean View: Wealthy residential
Pinnacle: Temple district
Silvergate: Fine shops
Sunrise: Average residential
Twelve Pillars: Professionals

Middle
Cornerstone: Tavern district
Dancing Shadows: Inn district
Deathsgate: Adventurers' quarter
Graywall: Average residential, Karrn
Kenton: Apartment townhomes
Little Barrington: Average residential
Tavick's Market: Marketplace

Lower
Black Arch: Garrison
Cogsgate: Warehouse district
Dragoneyes: Red light district
Foundation: Apartment townhomes
High Walls: Refugee slum
Terminus: Caravan district
Wroann's Gate: Caravan district

Skyway

Azure: Sky district
Brilliant: Sky district

Cliffside

Grayflood: Waterfront district
Mud Caves: Shantytown
Sharn's Welcome: Red light district
Ship's Towers: Waterfront district

The Cogs

Ashblack: Industry district
Blackbones: Industry district
Khyber's Gate: Undercity

Demographics

• 33% human
• 17% dwarf
• 9% halfling
• 9% goblinoid
• 8% gnome
• 7% elf
• 5% half-elf
• 4% shifter
• 3% changeling
• 2% orc and half-orc
• 1% warforged
• 1% kalashtar
• 1% other races

A Vertical City

Sharn rises from five distinct plateaus. While each plateau has its own unique feel and personality, you have to remember that the city also rises vertically into the usually cloud-filled sky. So, while the city is divided into horizontal neighborhoods, it is also divided and stratified vertically.
Take a typical tower block in the Central Plateau. Starting at the uppermost level of the city, Skyway floats above the Central Plateau’s tallest towers that actually touch the ground. The Upper-City sees the most light and enjoys the freshest air, and consequently the most well to do members of society live and work among the skybridges and platforms and balconies that extend from the uppermost towers.
Dropping down to the next section, we come to the Middle-City. This part of the city is a bit more enclosed than the section above it, but there are still open-air balconies and platforms here and there. A wide range of middle-class citizens live and work in this region.
Descending farther, we arrive in the Lower-City, where the poor must toil and struggle to survive. Few windows and only the occasional balcony or skybridge can be found among these levels, where the tower foundations grow close together and seem to merge with each other in ways almost unimagined in the higher sections of the city.
Beneath the Lower-City, the weight of Sharn’s towers seems to crush all memories of the Depths. Sewer networks fill the upper regions of the Depths before giving way to the ancient ruins and forgotten levels of earlier ages. Passages and shafts are neglected, and many have collapsed over the centuries, but who knows what wonders and horrors roam these vaults that have been abandoned by those living higher in the city.
At the very base of the city, beneath ground level, lies the Cogs, whose great foundries and massive forges fuel Sharn’s industrial economy. Shafts and tunnels that bypass the Depths lead directly to the Cogs.
In all, it’s hard to tell where one vertical section of the city begins and another one ends, and it certainly isn’t a uniform division from one ward to another.

Climate

Most of the year, Sharn’s weather varies from hot and humid to hot and rainy, with brief periods of warm and dry conditions. It doesn’t rain constantly in the City of Towers, but it certainly rains more often than not, and few days pass that boast no precipitation at all.
Rain aside, Skyway and the Upper-City enjoy more pleasant weather, and a cool breeze blows across these levels most of the time. The Middle-City and below feel the brunt of the hot, humid conditions that regularly visit the region.

Types of Buildings

Trades

Most trades, especially the exotic and upscale proprietors, operate out of an established shop. Most poor trades operate out of stalls in open markets or set up tents in the streets, skybridges, or common areas of towers.
Exotic
Alchemist, art dealer, calligrapher, costume shop, imported goods, magic armor dealer, magic item dealer (general), magic weapon dealer, pet store, potion dealer, rare wood merchant, scroll merchant, soap maker, spice merchant, trapmaker, wand merchant.
Upscale
Antique dealer, bookbinder, bookseller, candy maker, clockmaker, cosmetics dealer, curio dealer, dice maker, distiller, fine clothier, gemcutter, glassblower, glazier, goldsmith, inkmaker, jeweler, mapseller, papermaker, perfumer, pewterer, sculptor, seal maker, silversmith, toy maker, trinkets shop, vintner, wiresmith.
In addition to the indicated trades, upscale trades might include fi ne artisans of the types listed under average trades. As the masters of their trades, these artisans sell items of fine quality at increased prices, including masterwork goods. For example, Sharn’s finest weaponsmiths would be found in districts with upscale trades.
Average
Armorer, baker, bazaar, blacksmith, bonecarver, bowyer, brewer, butcher, carpenter, carpet maker, cartwright, chandler, cheesemaker, cobbler, cooper, coppersmith, dairy, fletcher, florist, furniture maker, furrier, grocer, haberdasher, hardware store, herbalist, joiner, lampmaker, locksmith, mason, merchant, music shop, outfitter, potter, provisioner, religious items dealer, roofer, ropemaker, saddler, sailmaker, seamstress, shipwright, stonecutter, tailor, tapestry maker, taxidermist, thatcher, tilemaker, tinker, weaponsmith, weaver, wheelwright, whipmaker, wigmaker, woodworker.
In addition to the indicated trades, average trades might include fine crafters of the types listed under poor trades, selling masterwork versions of their goods. There are not many masterwork basket weavers in Sharn, but they would be found in districts with average trades, not poor trades.
Also, average trades might include inferior crafters of the types listed under upscale trades, selling inferior goods at lower cost. Using inferior tools is better than using no tools at all, but still imposes a penalty on checks made with such tools.
Poor
Bait and tackle shop, basketweaver, brickmaker, broom maker, candlemaker, charcoal burner, dyer, firewood seller, fishmonger, fuller, leatherworker, livestock, lumber, miller, netmaker, tanner.
In addition to the indicated trades, poor trades might include inferior crafters of the types listed under average trades, selling inferior goods at lower cost.

Services

Not all services represent established places of business. Many—particularly criminal services such as assassins, burglars, and fences—are individuals who live in residences in the district and whose services are available for hire to those who know how to contact them.
Similarly, professionals such as architects, bookkeepers, and guides may not have a fixed place of business, but might work from their homes or travel to their employer’s place of business when they have a contract. Finding such professionals is usually much easier than making a criminal contact, however, since most rely on advertising or extensive word-of-mouth to get new business.
Upscale Animal trainer, apothecary, architect, assassin, bank, barrister, bounty hunter, cartographer, dentist, engraver, illuminator, kennel, masseur, mews, money-changer, sage, scribe, spellcaster for hire, tutor.
Average Auction block, barber, bookkeeper, bordello, clerk, engineer, fortuneteller, freight shipper, guide, healer, horse trainer, interpreter, laundry, messenger, minstrel, navigator, painter, physician, public bath, sharpener, stable, tattooer, undertaker, veterinarian.
Poor Acrobat, actor, boater, buffoon, building painter, burglar, carter, fence, gambling hall, juggler, laborer, limner, linkboy, moneylender, nursemaid, pawnshop, porter, ship painter, silo, teamster, warehouse.

Other Types of Buildings

In addition to trades and services, Sharn hosts all kinds of businesses and buildings. Remember that most of these aren’t freestanding structures; instead, they occupy one or more floors in a tower or large building. Some are freestanding structures built on the platforms, balconies, and skybridges that form the “ground” of the higher levels of the city, or jut out from the side of a larger tower or building.
Lodging
Almshouse, boarding house, hostel, inn.
Food
Club, eatery, restaurant, tavern.
Temples & Shrines
The Sovereign Host (and specific deities), the Silver Flame, the Path of Light, the Undying Court (in areas with elf populations). Sharn has no overt temples to the Cults of the Dragon Below, and its one temple of the Blood of Vol is specifically detailed in the Graywall district of Middle Tavick’s Landing. A few hidden shrines to the Dark Six do exist.
Residences
Many businesses are also residences, but residences indicated in district descriptions are single-purpose dwellings. Upscale residences are generally large and spacious, although those located in Northedge and Upper Tavick’s Landing are larger and more like mansions than comparable residences in the heart of the Central Plateau or Menthis, which are more like penthouse condominiums. The largest residences might occupy an entire level of a tower near its summit. Average residences are comparable to a smaller condominium or townhouse. Those on the outskirts of the city are generally larger than those downtown. Poor residences are small apartments crowded close together.