Sharn - Overview

Sharn is a city of magic - it's ground into the very stones of the towers. It's also a city of industry, money, crime, politics, art and culture. It's a mile and a half side to side and top to bottom. Over a million people are crammed into five wards over three bands, webbed together with bridges, platforms, wires and luck.
The City is built in a millennia-stable manifest zone of the Plane of Air - it's this influence that allows the horizontally-constrained city to build as tall as it has

History

The site of Sharn was originally founded by the Goblinoid Dhakaani Empire, over 12,000 years ago. The original city - Ja’Shaarat - was destroyed by the Daelkyr invasion of Eberron 8000 years ago.
The site of Sharn was rediscovered 3000 years ago, when some of the first humans to set foot on the continent of Khorvaire came across the site. The human settler-raiders lead by Malleon the Reaver slaughtered and enslaved the remaining native population, and built a fortress which they named Shaarat.
Malleon’s descendants ruled the city for the next 600 years, until it was annexed by Breggor Firstking, ruler of the nearby nation of Wroat. Wroat would go on to become capital of the nation of Breland, to which Sharn nominally still belongs.
Over the next 1000 years, the city began to grow into its current form. However, the city was destroyed during the War of the Mark when Halas Tarkanen and his consort, the Lady of Plague, realising they were trapped in the city, decided to destroy the city than allow it to be captured. Rivers of lava flooded the lower wards, while terrible plagues wracked the rest of the city.
Sharn remained in ruins for the next 500 years until it was rebuilt during the reign of King Galifar the Uniter. The City rebuilt its reputation for commerce and diplomacy, and even continued to thrive following the collapse of the nation of Galifar, and the 100-year-war that followed.
While Sharn was never put under siege during The Last War, it suffered several significant attacks by commando squads and saboteurs. The most infamous was the Aundairian attack that brought down the floating Glass Tower, devastating the ancient temple district now known as The Fallen. While this is the most notable attack, many other smaller-scale incidents have left physical and psychological damage across the city, which have only just started to be repaired.

Demography and Population

1 million inhabitants
30% human, 20% dwarf, 10% halfling/gnome, 50% other
The city’s population has swelled significantly following the last year, of the war, with thousands of refugees seeking shelter in the nominally neutral city.

Territories

Sharn looms atop cliffs on a tall mesa overlooking The Hilt, a bay at the mouth of the Dagger River in Southern Breland. The area is also a stable manifest zone of The Azure Sky, a zone of the Plane of Air, whose elemental influence has allowed the city's builders to reach higher and higher.

Cityscape

The city is divided into five distinct plateus known as Wards, with the districts of Skyway, the Cogs and Cliffside topping and tailing the city. While the five wards are also subdivided into districts, the city is also vertically stratified. Generally, the higher you are in Sharn, the wealthier the citizens.
Tower Districts: Central Plateau Dura Menthis Plateau Northedge Tavick’s Landing

Foreign Relations

Sharn is the most populous and richest city in Breland. There has been a growing independence movement that seeks to have Sharn established as a city-state in it's own right even during the war - how it grows in peace is still to be seen.

Trade & Transport

Trade

While trade is the lifeblood of any Sharn resident, the economy is most closely managed by the Dwarves of House Kurandak's banking division. 

Transport

Formally, transport is divided between House Orien on land and House Lyrandar in air and sea - however, Orien's caravan, teleportation network and lightning rail systems, and Lyrander's elemental galleons and airships, tend to focus on longer-distance travel. Within the city, there are a broad array of independent operators, including lift operators, carriages, skycoaches, flying animals, and a new plague of rental brooms.

Education

Morgrave University (University, Den'iyas and Ivy Towers, Upper Menthis) is not the most reputable university in Khorvaire, but is nevertheless a notable and powerful institution. The university library is particuarly notable for its collections in arcana, artifice, geography and history, and has an open interest in aquiring any interesting artefacts that come on to the market. 
The university frequently funds research and exploration expeditions. Some of these expeditions have been described as 'smash and grab' raids, and the university's Ethics Board works retrospectively through a system of advisory notes.

City of Towers

Maps

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  Sharn Overview

Founding Date

5YK

Type

Geopolitical, City-state

Alternative Names

The City of Knives, The City of Lost Souls, The City of a Thousand Eyes, The Gateway to Perdition, Ja'Shaarat, The Fall

Currency

House Kurandak maintains a internationally-accepted currency known as Pieces, though national currencies (such as the Brelandish double crown - 2cp, or the Cyrene throne - 5sp) are also in circulation and may be accepted in Sharn at the discretion of the vendor. 1 platinum piece = 10 gold pieces 1 gold piece =  10 silver pieces 1 silver piece = 10 copper pieces

Legislative Body

Council of Sharn - 17 councillors directly elected by the ward they represent. The Council appoints the Lord Mayor to oversee day-to-day administration of the City and represent the city in negotiations with the Brelish Government