Balad-a-Fast

Written by quest magister

The great continent of Endaar is a place of many dangers, many extremes and many, many deaths. To begin, centering on the region of Balad-a-Fast a great city with numerous factions and noble families located within it. Balad-a-Fast is one of the fastest growning cities in all of Endaar. It thrives with life. Every street is filled to the brim with mobs of beggars, merchants, urchins and soldiers. If you are lucky enough to see a noble man passing by be sure to bow or they will have your head. Respect all diplomatic or authorative figures. If you don't watch your mouth, they may see the high rulers. At this point if you are not out of town you are done for.

Guilds and Factions

The guilds and factions in Balad-a-Fast are many but some of the most prominent are the White Cloaks, War Wizards, and the "Elite Order of Bards and Scholars." The White Cloaks are a large group of warriors who make up most of the cities defenses. They can be found and contacted almost anywhere withing the walls of the city. The War Wizards are a small band of wayfaring wizards that come to the cities aid at many moments of great need or battle. They are however far less reliable then the White Cloaks, and do not always come when they are most needed. The Elite Order of Bards and Scholars are a group of musicians, magic users, librarians, historians, and other such scholars. They are the cities great bank of knowledge and information. If you are looking for a quest or the answer to a riddle concealed in the musty, cobweb filled corridor of time, these are the people to go to.

History

Balad-a-Fast was built in the year 647 according to The Elite Order of Bards and Scholars. After about a decade hundreds of men and women came to Balad-a-Fast searching for a fresh start to life. Many of these people had come from mainly nomadic groups of people who could not afford to stay in one place for very long lest they starve. Another large portion of the folk who now live there were previously bandits or thieves who had had enough of living the rough life and decided to start anew. Nothing dramatic happened within the city until the year 813 at which point mass murder began at the very core of the city. The killings spread all the way to the very outskirts of the city. Not a soul knew what was happening until it was directly beneath their noses. For years now the noblemen of Balad-a-Fast had been vying for power and now finally the arguments had grown to the point of corruption. The house that began the murders of 813 was known as "House Varanth." House Varanth had until now been nearly unnoticable among the other larger more prominent houses. But when House Varanth was blackmailed repeatedly and unexpecatedly they finally decided that enough was enough, deciding to hire assassins they struck out on their mission to become the most powerful, influential house in all of the city. Other houses took them as and example and began to fear them until in the year 832 "Master Varanth" was struck dead in the middle of the night by a mysterious man who many suspect to be a warlock or War Wizard. Now in the year 941 the fate of the vile House Varanth was sealed in a pact of blood. Each and every member of the house was executed and punished cruelly by the devious militia.

Architecture

The architecture in Balad-a-Fast is great in all respects. It is ancienct and crumbling in some places, but in others it is newly built and still shines in the sunlight. As the nobleman of Balad-a-Fast are nearly all immensely aristocratic they can afford to have statues of themselves built all across the city in all manner of expensive materials such as bloodrock, silver, or even platimum at times. The walls and buildings of the city are made of compact stone and smoothed to near perfection. Every section of the wall took days upon days to build and the over all construction of the city took over 240 years. Although some records argue that it was only 180 years and that the former guess is a ridiculous exaggeration.

Natural Resources

Balad-a-Fast has a vast variety of ways to get it's hands on all manner of natural resources. Specifically, there are numerous orchards and vineyards just outside the walls of the city. Cow pastures are abundant a few miles east of Balad-a-Fast as well as scores of farms dotted in between.

The city watch of Balad-a-Fast is a stern group of soldiers armed to the tooth with the most deadly weaponry on the planet. They watch every street from secret outposts in sewers or seemingly empty houses.

Founding Date

674

Type

Megalopolis

Population

9.8 million

The noblemen of the city are arrogant and believe that they alone are the most influential figures in the city. This causes constant struggles for power with each noble house grasping at the priceless chance to become the most powerful in all the land.