Freeport
Within the Yearning Expanse sits a chain of islands known as the Serpent's Teeth. The islands get their name from the shape of the islands themselves. The most important of the Serpent’s Teeth, A’Val, has a natural harbor that is easily defended. As humanity took to the seas, A’Val was quickly found by roving captains. At first, it was a place to rest, get fresh water, and refit. Before long a village sprang up, and as the years passed this village turned into a town. It was able to thrive by offering services to passing ships and refuge to those unwelcome elsewhere. The sailors took to calling it “Freeport,” and the name stuck.
With its remote location and natural attributes, Freeport became a magnet for buccaneers. Before long they had taken over the town, which became a notorious pirate haven. What made Freeport work in the early days was the simple pirate code: Do whatever you want on the high seas, but don’t go against your comrades in port. That meant no stealing, no killing, and no kidnapping. Duels happened on occasion, but they were formal affairs conducted outside the city walls. Most satisfied themselves with drunken brawls, and of those there were plenty. By and large, though, the peace was kept in Freeport.
Government
The government is run by a Sea Lord who oversees the Captains' Council. While the Sea Lord is the over all ruler of Freeport. The Captains' Council generally runs day to day operations.
Defences
The old city is surrounded by a large wall with towers.
Industry & Trade
Freeport’s attractiveness to merchants means the streets are flooded almost year round with foreigners peddling goods acquired from ports all over the world. Furthermore, the city’s distinct lack of raw materials—iron, wood, and stone are costly to come by on the Serpent’s Teeth—means that many goods requiring these materials are actually cheaper to import than to fashion in the city. Therefore, the city lacks much industry common elsewhere; most people work in service, tending shops, or working The Docks. Those craftsmen and artisans who produce goods for a living have marginal success in the Seaside Market and along the Street of Dreams, but even then, they must compete with goods brought from other lands.
Infrastructure
The city of Freeport has dirt roads leading through all the districts with the exception of the Old City that houses cobble roads. The city has a large sewer system that has been around since the early days of the city leading to fairly clean city overall.
History
About two hundred years ago, the era of the rogue buccaneer came to an end. Lone ships increasingly faced threats from organized navies. At one time a single privateer could hunt merchant ships with impunity, but now it was a fox to the hounds of naval squadrons. As crew after crew was hunted down and destroyed, the pirates of Freeport knew they had to change their ways.
Freeport’s captains realized it would take a navy to fight a navy, so they decided to form a force of their own and go raiding en masse. The only problem was choosing a leader. After much bickering, the pirates settled on two captains for the great fleet. Drac and Francisco were fierce rivals, and the assembled captains believed anything the two could agree on would be a good decision.
It was not an ideal situation, but the pirates had surprise and numbers on their side. The combined fleet went on a three-month raid that netted more money, valuables, foodstuffs, and booze than Freeport had ever seen. It was a spectacular success, and Captains Drac and Francisco were not slow in claiming credit. Before long, each had declared himself Sea Lord of Freeport.
War in Freeport
The next ten years were tense ones in Freeport. The great raid set off a panic among the maritime nations, which spent huge amounts of money and resources building up larger navies. The Sea Lords were forced to fight battle after battle against determined foes. Freeport itself was assaulted on three separate occasions, but its defenses proved too strong for the attacking ships. This undeclared war had no clear victor. Freeport withstood the assaults and inflicted several stinging defeats on its enemies, but attrition was high on both sides. In the end the conflict petered out as the warring navies ran out of ships and crews to hurl into battle. After a decade of constant fighting, there was a long lull, during which each side licked its wounds. During the war, adversity kept the pirates united. When the pressure eased, however, trouble was not slow in coming. The Sea Lords had long hated each other, and this animosity flared up anew—with deadly consequences. After a series of provocations, real fighting broke out in Freeport for the first time in its history. The followers of Drac and Francisco killed one another in the streets, breaking the pirate code that had bound the city together. Neither Sea Lord gained an upper hand. Before the conflict could be resolved, word came of yet another hostile fleet bound for the city. The pirates called a truce, and the fleet sailed out to defend Freeport, united once again—or so it seemed. Captain Drac realized this ongoing war was one they could not ultimately win: The only chance for survival was to become a part of the world that was trying to destroy them. Drac entered secret negotiations with the enemy, using a wizard as a go-between. He agreed to betray Francisco in exchange for a truce and recognition of Freeport as a free city. The enemy leaders were only too happy to sign such an agreement and end the ruinously expensive war. With no knowledge of his comrade’s duplicity, Captain Francisco led the fleet to the attack. Once his forces were engaged, Drac’s ships simply sailed away, leaving Francisco’s fleet exposed and without support; they were quickly surrounded and destroyed. In the meantime, Drac returned to Freeport to announce the new city-state and claim his new regime.A Nation Emerges
Captain Drac quickly consolidated his power. He declared himself the sole Sea Lord of Freeport and eliminated his remaining enemies before they could organize against him. Some of the other pirate captains left Freeport rather than serve Drac, whom they despised for betraying Francisco and blamed for violating the pirate code. Most, however, seeing which way the salty wind was blowing, chose to remain in Freeport and ride out the storm. As it turned out, Sea Lord Drac’s reign was less bloody than anyone had believed possible. He ruled Freeport with a firm hand for the next thirty years, turning a pirate haven into a commercial hub of substantial importance. He set up trade routes with former enemies, cracked down on rogue pirates, and organized a Captains’ Council. Drac’s word was still law, but the Council was in charge of the city’s day-to-day affairs and advised the Sea Lord on important matters. Although Drac fancied himself a king, he resisted the urge to take the title. Somehow he knew that the citizens of Freeport would not accept something so contrary to their natures. Similarly, he knew that he could not found a dynasty. The Captains’ Council would never submit to Drac’s son, a mere boy who lacked the experience of those salty dogs. But Drac needed to ensure the survival of Freeport as an independent city-state after his death. With melancholy in his heart, he chose another old hand, Captain Cromey, as his successor. Furthermore, he even set into law a requirement that the Captains’ Council approve the Sea Lord’s nominee. At the end of life, Drac chose the interests of the city over his own glory, and for this he is remembered as a great man in Freeport.A Century of Growth
The next hundred years were profitable ones. Freeport continued to grow, which necessitated building a newer and larger city wall. As new trade routes to the east opened up, the city became an even more important maritime center. Freeport was largely able to stay out of the wars that broke out on the continent, although it did cement alliances with several important powers. All in all, this was a period of stability and growth, with a succession of competent Sea Lords assuring the city’s continued importance.A Bad Seed
Things began to change fifty years ago, when a descendent of Captain Drac succeeded the outgoing Sea Lord. Marten Drac is rumored to have used blackmail and assassination in his rise to power, and he most certainly used them to maintain his position. Marten ruled for only fourteen years, but the damage he did to the city was substantial. A series of burdensome duties and taxes fattened his coffers but drove away many merchants. More ominously, he drove through a new law—over the objections of the Captains’ Council—that required the Sea Lord of Freeport to be a descendent of the original Captain Drac. Marten’s youngest brother, Anton Drac, who became Sea Lord on Marten’s death, saved the city from complete disaster. Anton Drac proved to be cut from the same cloth as his illustrious ancestor and was able to undo the worst excesses of Marten’s reign. He abolished the unfair duties, as well as providing incentives to win back lost trade. He also provided limited military aid to several important nations, earning their thanks and their business. Anton’s one failing was that he did not abolish Marten’s succession law. He was regularly urged to do so by the Captains’ Council, but the Sea Lord could never quite bring himself to do it. Despite his enlightened rule, he did consider Freeport to belong to his family. This was to prove his undoing.Decade of Deceit
Thirteen years ago a great civil war broke out within the Odis Empire dragging in many of the nations of the continent into its bloodly conflict known as the Civil War of Broken Laws. Anton stayed out of it at first, but he knew he would have to honor the existing treaties. He announced to the Captains’ Council that the Freeport navy would go to the aid of its allies in the spring—the first time the full fleet had sailed to war since the days of Drac and Francisco. The Council was torn on the issue, approving the move by only a single vote. Anton allowed enough time for preparations to be made throughout the winter. Unfortunately, this also gave his enemies several months to concoct an ambitious plan. In fact, it was so ambitious that many suspected the plotters had outside help from agents of governments that wanted Freeport to stay neutral. Rumors continue to circulate to this day. Toward the end of winter, as the Sea Lord was inspecting the fleet on the docks, a single yellow-feathered arrow flew from the crow’s nest of an anchored ship, piercing Anton’s chest. The wound should not have been mortal, but the arrow was enchanted with death magic. Anton died on the spot, leaving Freeport without a Sea Lord for the first time in two hundred years. The assassin was cornered and killed before he could talk, and his body disappeared before priests could try to speak with the dead man’s spirit. The Captains’ Council dismissed the attack as the act of a lone renegade. The Council had more pressing business to attend to, namely, who would succeed Anton? At this juncture, Milton Drac stepped onto the stage of history. A distant cousin of Anton, Milton appeared as if from nowhere. He was not a member of the Council, but he enjoyed tremendous support there. Those most likely to oppose him were strangely silent, as if they feared the consequences of such an action. In a matter of weeks, this previously unknown Drac became the new Sea Lord of Freeport. Milton’s first official act was to cancel all military aid to allied nations: The fleet was to restrict its activities to guarding commerce, nothing more. As war raged on in Odis Empire, Freeport stood neutral. This was a grave disappointment to the nation counting on its navy, who branded Milton a traitor. Some called him the puppet of foreign agents or a religious cult. Milton pooh-poohed these accusations and continued his rule of Freeport with little opposition. After canceling the fleet action, Milton used the war chest to build a monument to his ambition: the Lighthouse of Drac. It has been under construction for the past ten years, on the closest island of the Serpent's Teeth. Meant to be one of the wonders of the age, the Lighthouse soars towards the heavens, taller than any structure in the world. The Sea Lord’s stated goal is to make Freeport the preeminent maritime power of the world, but the reality has fallen short of that ideal. The Lighthouse of Drac, or “Milton’s Folly,” as some have taken to calling it, nearly bankrupted the city. Taxes and duties have risen steadily during its construction, and an army of migrant workers was needed to finish the structure on time. The structure is set to be complete in the early fall of 788 NE.Madness of Milton Drac
What no one knew was that Milton Drac was secretly a member of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. This malefic organization had somehow survived since the breaking of Valossa, biding its time until it could strike once again. They had found a dark prodigy in Milton Drac and aided him in his ruthless rise to power. The lighthouse was the centerpiece of Drac’s scheme. It was specially constructed to channel the energy of the Unspeakable One, the terrible power worshipped by the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. As part of his plan, Milton had announced a gala celebration for the lighthouse’s unveiling. He wanted ships from all the world’s nations to choke the harbor. When the time was right, he and the Brotherhood planned to enact a magical ritual that would use the lighthouse to project the Yellow Sign into the night sky above Freeport. Charged with the power of the Unspeakable One, the Yellow Sign would drive the assemblage mad, and from Freeport, the madness would then spread across the world. That was Drac’s plan. Luckily for Freeport, a small group of heroes that go by the name Justice League of Ronia foiled it seven years ago Drac was slain and the Brotherhood thwarted. Heroism, it seemed, was indeed a match for the madness of the Unspeakable One.Succession Crisis
Freeport’s succession law required a descendent of the original Sea Lord Drac to take over, and this bloodline seemingly ended with the death of Milton Drac. To make matters worse, Drac had murdered Councilor Verlaine; Councilors Melkior Maeorgan and Brock Wallace died defending the mad Sea Lord; and the Privateer Seat (the only council seat with a term limit) was soon to be up for grabs as well. Freeport was lacking a Sea Lord and three of the twelve members of the Captains' Council. Marilise Maeorgan took over the seat of her slain brother Melkior (as permitted by the law), but the larger issues remained. The city had not seen such a power vacuum since its early days. Candidates claiming to be members of Drac’s bloodline cropped up everywhere. Their claims ranged from the dubious to the ridiculous, but the council tried its best to vet them all while debating whether the succession law should simply be abolished. The candidate with the best claim was Drak Sockit, a half-orc bastard son of Milton Drac who led a militant group of orcs (the Sons of Krom) responsible for several riots.A Very Bad Year
Freeporters who hoped Drac’s death would lead to renewed peace and prosperity were sorely disappointed. Multiple disasters rocked the city over the following year. First, another war erupted on the continent, this time between the elves and the giants. When the war went against the giants, they tried to save face by sacking Freeport. The citizens rose up to defend their homes, and a vicious battle raged in the streets. The formidable warrior Drak Sockit led the city’s orcs against the giants, aiding Freeport in its hour of need, but he lost his life in the battle. After much bitter fighting, the giants were expelled and the city saved. Months of rebuilding followed, and the political crisis continued. Finally, the Captains' Council made its decision: the succession law would be revoked. To the shock and horror of the councilors, the city erupted in violence. Gangs of Freeport used the announcement as an excuse to stir up the populace, which blossomed into full-fledged rioting. While the gangs had hoped for a certain amount of anarchy to enjoy a crime spree, the rioting spun out of control. The Sea Lord’s Guard was unleashed to quash the rioters, and blood ran in the city gutters once again. The Commissioner of the Sea Lord’s Guard was killed by an angry mob, and in return, the forces of law and order went on a rampage of their own. The two dominant gangs of the city, the Buccaneers and the Cutthroats, were utterly smashed, drastically changing the politics of Freeport’s underworld. Also during the riots, Arias Soderheim had his rival, Councilor Elise Grossette, kidnapped and whisked out of Freeport. He wanted her out of the way so he could make his move and become Sea Lord. In turn, he was betrayed by a continental agent who bribed the kidnapper into torturing and killing Grossette and pinning the blame on Soderheim. Grossette was rescued, but only after suffering terribly at the hands of her kidnapper. The whole ugly mess went public, and Councilor Marilise Maeorgan called for Soderheim’s head, which she received in short order, ending the whole affair. Grossette, disgusted with politics and traumatized by the torture she had endured, resigned from the Captains’ Council and quit politics forever. And then, just to keep things interesting in the City of Adventure, a hurricane slammed into Freeport and caused yet more destruction.New Sea Lord
After Arias Soderheim’s bid for power failed, the Council knew it must stabilize Freeport or face civil war. Councilor Marilise Maeorgan argued the empty seats must be filled before a new Sea Lord could be chosen. The other members saw this as an opportunity to get new blood on the council without interference from a Sea Lord, so they agreed with Maeorgan’s suggestion. At this point, the Captains’ Council consisted of the following members: Captain Garth Varellion, Captain Hector Torian, Dirwin Arnig, Sister Gwendolyn, Liam Blackhammer, Captain Marcus Roberts, and Marilise Maeorgan, with Captain Xavier Gordon in the Privateer’s Seat. Since Xavier Gordon’s term in the Privateer Seat was almost up, he resigned and offered up his candidacy for a regular seat on the council. This was gladly accepted. Peg-Leg Peligro, high priest of Laido, took over the Privateer Seat at the councils’ urging because they wanted someone they could trust. The council was filled out with three new members: Captain Jacob Lydon, a roguish former pirate whose merchant shipping company had seen better days; Nathan Grymes, a powerful merchant said to run an extensive smuggling ring on the continent; and Enoch Holliver, a retired mercenary captain with many influential friends and enough gold to keep his fingers in many pies. With the Captains’ Council back to its required twelve members, debates on who should take over as Sea Lord began in earnest. With Lady Elise Grossette and Arias Soderheim out of contention, the field was wide open. Captain Garth Varellion put himself forward, as did Liam Blackhammer and several outside candidates. In a surprise move, Marilise Maeorgan advanced her own claim, despite her youth and the short time she had served on the Captains’ Council. Even more surprising, she quickly became the leading candidate. Despite her deceased brother’s involvement with Milton Drac, Maeorgan had three things going for her. First, her family had been prominent in Freeport’s affairs for over a century. Second, her family fortune gave her a lot of money to spread around. Third, her vehemence in punishing the treachery of Arias Soderheim won her many public accolades. So it was that Marilise Maeorgan became the second female Sea Lord. While this coup was not greeted with enthusiasm in all corners of Freeport, neither did it cause an uproar. While most folks understood that Marilise was almost certain to be corrupt, plain old corruption was preferable to the insanity of Milton Drac or a prolonged civil war.Turbulent Times
The new Sea Lord was quick to make her mark on the city. With the Commissioner of the Sea Lord’s Guard, Xander Williams, slain during the recent rioting, there was an important vacancy to fill. She split the Guard in two and made her father, Marshal Maeorgan, Commander of the Sea Lord’s Guard. His men were given two primary duties: protect the Sea Lord and defend the city from outside threats. The policing of the city was made the purview of the new Freeport Watch, with Enoch Holliver appointed Commissioner. By giving important positions to her father and a councilor who had supported her bid for Sea Lord, Marilise Maeorgan made clear that nepotism was back and stronger than ever in Freeport. But with Marilise Maeorgan’s ascension to the Sea Lordship, there was yet another vacancy on the Captains’ Council. Liam Blackhammer nominated Tarmon, the High Wizard, in a move that caught the Sea Lord and the rest of the Council alike off guard. Tarmon had advised the council for many years, but had never expressed a desire to serve on it. The Sea Lord did not want to make an enemy of the High Wizard, so she supported the nomination, and Tarmon joined the Captains’ Council. This was the first time a powerful wizard served on the Captains’ Council, and it made (and still makes) many in Freeport uneasy. The first year of Maeorgan’s regime was trying. First, the Great Green Fire nearly destroyed everything; in a freakish supernatural event, the island of A’Val was set ablaze, and Freeport was nearly wiped off the map. The Wizards’ Guild of Freeport finally squelched the fire, but not before half the island was reduced to ash. Second, the town of Libertyville was refounded and began competing commercially with Freeport. The past five years, with Marilise Maeorgan in the high seat, have—at long last—been back to business as usual for Freeport. Maeorgan has been a stronger leader than expected, and her distinct lack of grandiose plans has made most citizens sigh in relief. Freeporters know how to deal with corruption, and in that the Maeorgan regime excels. Marilise has power, and through that power, she and her friends make money. She sees her job as maintaining the status quo, and by and large, this has been achieved.Tourism
No matter the time of day or night, there’s always something going on in the city. Taverns stay open as long as there are paying customers. Gambling dens thrive on the edges of the Eastern District and Scurvytown, while prostitutes offer their comforts throughout the city. For those looking for oblivion, drug-dens rent out beds and ply their clients with near-endless supplies of opium to keep them comfortable and unconscious. For those who have the coin, there’s always something interesting for sale.
Arenas
Freeporters love a good brawl, so people of all classes and stations turn out to watch two popular combatants fight. Bets are placed with a flurry of activity as the fighters circle. Most duels involve just fists or saps, and they last until one contestant falls. Fights may be bloody and result in a smashed nose or broken ribs and fingers, but they’re rarely lethal. The One Ring is the best known official arena, and on certain nights of the week, people from all over the city crowd around to see the latest match and place bets. For those interested in a little more excitement, a few discreet inquiries and a couple of silver will lead them to hidden fighting pits where stakes are much higher. Such arenas are well concealed—the Freeport's Guardsmen frowns on such duels, at least in their official capacity—so they take place in the cellars beneath disreputable taverns or in abandoned warehouses in The Docks, Scurvytown, or sometimes even in the Warehouse District. These matches can be quite interesting; the fights last until first blood or sometimes to the death. Those who participate are well paid since spectators spend a lot of gold to watch. These days, many of Freeport’s newly arrived orcs have taken to underground fighting to make both a living and a reputation for themselves in a city that otherwise doesn’t tolerate clan warfare.Drinking
Freeport’s drink of choice is rum. Made from sugar cane that grows all over the islands, rum is plentiful in nearly every local tavern. Wine and fermented fruit drinks are also popular. Ale and beer are less common here, since the islands lack the necessary ingredients to produce these drinks in quantity. Instead, most taverns substitute mead made from locally harvested honey. Those who prefer beer frequent Strebeck’s Beer Hall, one of the few true breweries in the city. Most other beer and ale is imported from the continent at prices considerably higher than that of rum. Freeporters have long distrusted the local drinking water, and the Salt Curse has made potable water scarce and expensive. As a result, even normally nonalcoholic beverages tend to have alcohol in them here, usually cut heavily with rum or wine. Hot beverages are the exception, and those who can afford the higher prices usually favor coffee over tea (both of which have grown even more expensive since the curse fell because the water too must now be purchased from the Rainmakers Group). Taverns outnumber all other businesses in the city. Some locals claim there’s at least one pub for every family in the city; while this is an exaggeration, it’s not far from the truth. Many taverns can be found in The Docks in particular, catering to sailors fresh off the ships, but there are plenty elsewhere too.Narcotics
A less popular but still thriving industry is the drug trade. Freeport sees all sorts of strange substances pass through its docks, from the numbing smoking herbs grown on the islands to hallucinogenic mushrooms and even opium. Naturally, some drugs are worse than others, so the Harbormaster controls the amount allowed into the city as well as he can; those that are allowed receive steep tariffs, which helps the city. Of course, with such controls in place, smugglers do good business selling contraband in drug dens in the Underside. Two drugs are unique to Freeport: snake weed and abyss dust. Both are derived from a single plant, the sunburst flower, native to the Serpent’s Teeth. Snake weed is the dried form of the plant; when smoked, it has a fairly harmless euphoric effect. Abyss dust is a narcotic, also smoked and inhaled, but it has far more harmful and addictive properties. For years, snake weed was legal. Abyss dust first appeared about 50 years ago, when an enterprising alchemist discovered how to make it. An epidemic swept the city, and the Captains’ Council launched a massive investigation into the new scourge that was turning the freebooters of Freeport into drug-addicted zombies. The alchemist was located without much trouble, and his head was stuck on a pike outside the Dock Gate. When it was discovered that abyss dust was made from snake weed, the Council outlawed the growing, selling, owning, or smoking of both drugs and even funded a slash-and-burn campaign that eliminated the sunburst flower from the whole of southern A’Val. Of course, this campaign merely drove snake weed underground, right into the welcoming arms of Freeport’s criminal element. And, of course, the abyss dust formula survived and is now well known among the wrong elements in Freeport. These days, while it is technically still illegal, snake weed is still extremely easy to come by, and the possession of it is largely left unprosecuted. Abyss dust is a different story. Enforcement of the law concerning the stuff is much stronger, and penalties for its possession are harsh. Sentences range from a public whipping for possession to death by drowning for its manufacture. Compared to snake weed, abyss dust is harder to find, though determined addicts seem to have little difficulty finding a steady supplier.Food
As one would expect, a Freeporter’s diet consists largely of things harvested from the sea. Local waters are rich with marine life, and fishermen do well here. Lobster is considered a rare delicacy seldom found outside the fine dining of the Merchant District. Crab, which is plentiful, is considered gauche by the old money of the city, fit only for the dregs in Scurvytown; however, there is a growing trend among the newer aristocrats to dine on these “sea bugs.” Other shellfish is a common meal for all classes, and sailors and aristocrats alike dine on succulent scallops, oysters, or clams. For those wanting something landside, goat and swine are good alternatives to seafood. While not as plentiful as fish, some farms outside of the city supply Freeporters with meat. Beef is expensive since there’s not enough grazing land for cattle, and it’s not profitable to bring cows by ship. Many Freeporters also dine on pheasant, chicken, and the stringy wild turkey of A’Val. Freeport has a rather feeble agricultural system, so fresh vegetables and grains are pricy. Several merchants in the city import grains and flours from the continent, ensuring good business between the mainland and the islands. What little grain Freeport does grow is maize, introduced to the city a century ago by explorers. The corn is ground down to a powder and fried to make fritters or baked into bread. Common vegetables are onions, yams, and beans. Greens sometimes do well—when they’re available, they’re plentiful. Freeport also has fruit in abundance thanks to its mild winters and warm climate. Most fruit is harvested from the jungles, and pineapples, melons, and bananas are a staple of every Freeporter’s diet. One thing that grows in great abundance is coconuts, which is worked into more meals than most foreigners can imagine. Freeport cuisine is spicy, laden with chilies and ground pepper. This fact originates in the city’s founding. Given the scarcity of meat and foodstuffs, the old pirates used heavy seasonings to mask the rancid taste of spoiled meat or turned vegetables. Local dishes are also quite salty for the same reason. Freeporters rely heavily on sea salt to preserve their foods.Arts
Perhaps surprisingly, many Freeporters have an appreciation for the arts. Actors and performers can make a good living, and nearly every district is home to one or more theaters or troupes of street performers. Burlesque and bawdy comedies do extremely well in The Docks and Scurvytown, while higher-brow performances thrive in the Merchant District. In Drac’s End, near the Cluster, there are “cafes” (coffee houses) where students sing, play instruments, or recite poetry for extra money. In some corners of the city, entertainment leans toward debate, and philosophers argue politics, metaphysics, and theology to crowds of interested onlookers; however, they rarely enjoy success outside of The Old City, Temple District, or the Cluster of Drac’s End. (In fact, elsewhere they would most likely be beaten, robbed, and left hemorrhaging in an alley.) Opera is extremely popular in the Merchant District thanks to the spectacles put on by the Freeport Opera House. Many of the city’s elite are patrons who donate considerable funds to the Opera House and other, smaller theaters. Usually, the wealthy attend the same production a dozen or more times—it wouldn’t do not to be seen, after all. Audience members do their best to pay attention the first few times they attend, but after six or more viewings, they spend most of their time chatting, showing off their new jewelry and fine apparel, and gossiping about their peers.Communication
Freeporters get their news from the local paper, the Shipping News, or from one of its few (non)competitors. Even though many people in the city can’t read more than a few words, they find it’s worth a penny to hear someone else read the news. Students or other educated locals gather in taverns and accept coins in their cups to read the latest news. On particularly slow news days, a reader might embellish or completely fabricate what he reads to ensure his audience comes back the next day. Many students pay for their drinking habits by reading letters, the Shipping News, and whatever else anyone brings them. Letter writing is also a bustling trade. Again, few people can read their names let alone an entire letter, but for the average citizen, it’s a noteworthy event to receive something as special as a letter. And when they get an extra penny or two, they take the letter to find a reader who will read the contents with a dramatic flair. For just a penny more, a good reader will do his best to forget what he just read (assuming someone isn’t willing to pay a few more pennies later to jog his memory).Games
Gaming is a common pastime in Freeport. Dice games are preferred because knucklebones are cheap and easily replaced. Cards have gained ground, although they are expensive (and require their owners to keep up with all of them). The first decks derived from fortune-telling cards, but as they have gained popularity, the arcane images began to disappear in favor of simpler and cheaper markings that can be created by hand with a bit of charcoal or dung. Specialty cards can also be found, and they may have images of nude women from all races—very fashionable with sailors—or common nautical themes such as monkeys, captains’ wheels, parrots, and so on. Dominos and tiles are often good substitutes for cards or dice, and there are a slew of complicated games for those with the patience to learn them. Finally, chess and draughts are great time-killers; between voyages, sailors and other travelers may play a few games while waiting for the next ship to sail.Prostitution
Prudes may bristle at the thought, but Freeport’s courtesans compose an entire industry. Most survive by attending to the needs of those who come to visit or stay or trade. Freeport produces few things; its citizens generally make their living in service professions, or in plunder if they sail the seas. A warm night in the arms of a woman (or a man) is something every sailor craves, and those without a lover are willing to spend a few coins for the company. The quality of Freeport’s prostitutes varies a great deal, however. The better courtesans and higher-priced mistresses are found in places like the House of Serenity in The Old City or in one of several classy establishments in the Merchant District. The worst and most decrepit walk the streets and alleys of Scurvytown or work back rooms of The Docks’ taverns; cleanliness is not certain, and venereal disease, in all its shapes and colors and smells, is a constant and annoying problem in the poorer quarters.Maps
-
City of Freeport
Settlement Level
7
7
Founding Date
463 NE
Alternative Name(s)
City of Adventure
Type
City
Population
10,200
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
Related Tradition (Primary)
Characters in Location
Comments