Rock of Bral
Bral is a city built on an asteroid. Its inhabitants, who hail from many worlds, typically refer to Bral as the Rock. There is no other place quite like it in Wildspace.
The Edge
Gaspar's Reclamation
The Great Market
Juggler's Folk Guild
Mage's Guildhall
The Sindiath Line
The Smith's Coster
Valkan's Legion
The Donjon
These definitions are open to some interpretation by the magistrates. For example, few people are ever convicted of smuggling - but neglecting to declare customs is quite a common mistake. Some sentences have been known to be bought off with "fines" paid to the Magistrate.
Notable Locations:
Low City
- The Docks
- The Drydocks
- The Happy Beholder
- The Lesser Market
- Mercane Market
- The Rockrat
- Xenotermination, Ltd.
- The Burrows
- Dwarf District
- Gifftown
Middle City
High City
- Starhaven
- Lake Bral
- Festival Grounds and Arena of Frun
- Library of the Spheres
- Man-o'-War
- Royal Theater Company
- Temple District
History:
The Settling of the Rock
The Rock of Bral has always been a haven for people skirting the line between law and chaos. The rock was settled by infamous pirate Captain Bral of the Vipership, the Starwind. Initially settled as his home base, soon merchants and dealers began to settle the rock as it became a treasure trove of goods. The first non-pirate settlers were rogues and thieves but many found more money was to be had in catering to the pirates. The first merchants to pop up were taverns to celebrate or mourn the recent raids. During one fateful raid, Captain Bral was ambushed by the Elven Fleet after raiding a groundlings city. His 5 Corsair ships we surrounded by 8 Man-o'-War ships. Only 1 Corsair made it back to the rock. In honor of the great pirate, the citizens of the rock threw a wild wake and promptly named the city for him. The city became known as Bral, and its asteroid as the Rock of Bral. For almost 60 years after Bral's death, the Rock remained largely unchanged in character. The city grew slowly, climbing up from the topside of the old pirate lairs. No one tried to impose order on the town, and most people were content to live that way. The pirate captains ruled the city by popular consensus.Cozar's Rule
As Bral continued to grow, the city was changing. About 100 years ago, there came a time when the majority of the citizens were no longer pirates but rather merchants and tavern keepers who lived off the looted gold spent in their establishments. With the new permanent residents came tension between pirate crew and the Bral residents. One clever and ambitious captain sensed the changing times and acted quickly. Captain Cozar systematically and quietly bought every square inch of the rock. Those who opposed the partitioning of the rock into lots were simply bought out, with promises of free leases continued in perpetuity to their descendants. Some powerful or influential holdouts were granted land ownership privileges, forming the basis of the city's later nobility. In a matter of months, Cozar owned the Rock. He then evicted any pirate who could not produce a legitimate business or lease. There were several clashes, but most of the townspeople were tired of the endless brawling in their carefully built ale houses or inss. The other pirates were forced to accept Cozar's generous terms or leave. The pirate turned prince produced a Royal Charter with which he claimed lordship over the Rock and set forth the basic rules under which Bral would now be governed. Thus the House of Cozar was born. By the time of Prince Cozar's death, Bral had been tamed.Frun's Rule
Cozar's sonwas not the man his father was. During the 35 years of his reign, the city flourished and grew threefold. Unrestricted trade drew the great companies and houses of a dozen spheres to the Rock, all to Bral's profit. Frun did not have the strength that characterized Cozar and he allowed the authority of the crown to slide, nearly into nonexistence. He concerned himself only with the accumulation of wealth and comfort. Whatever else might be said about Frun, he knew architecture and engineering. The prince delighted in the expansion and rebuilding of his father's palace. His greatest projects, the Citadel and the Donjon, proved to be superb fortresses, although they sorely taxed the city coffers. After Frun insulted a Neogi trader by making them wait more than a week to see the prince, the Neogi returned 6 months later with a fleet of ships and an abandoned dwarven citadel in tow. The Neogi were repelled by the denizens of Bral but not before the citadel was dropped on the Rock, crushing part of Middle city. Frun promptly seized upon the demolished quarter as the perfect site for a festival ground. Frun died as he had lived, collapsing in the middle of a soiree commemorating Cozar's birthday. His sons, Calar and Andru, were left with the unenviable task of restoring the royal fortunes.Modern Day- Calar and Andru
Frun's oldest son was prince Calar, a decadent man who took after his father. Spoiled and pampered his entire life, most people assumed that under his rule the royal house of Cozar would eventually pass into insignificance. This was, however, tragically erroneous. Six days after taking the throne, Calar was found in the jettisoned rubbish trailing the Low City. Prince Andru, Frun's second son, stepped up and assumed the throne. He was a man cut from a different cloth than his father and brother, a quiet leader who seized the reins of power within hours of Calar's death. Calar's wife protested, claiming that her you son Aric should inherit his father's throne but Andru, firmly entrenched in power, altered the rules of succession. After a quick investigation, an underbaron was accused of collaborating with illithids and sent to his death, along with a small group of his closest henchmen. It was never made clear why the Underbaron would have wanted Calar, an ineffectual and uncaring prince, removed from the throne, but the evidence uncovered in Andru's investigation was irrefutable. If any Bralians had doubts about Andru's role in the whole affair, they wisely remained silent. Andru is a serious, intelligent man who is often compared with his grandfather Cozar. He has struggled to reestablish the power of the royal house of Bral. During the 15 years of his reign thus far, Bral's army has doubled in size and its navy has tripled. The government is returning to the role of regulating commerce and of maintaining law and order in the city. Some feel that Andru's rule heralds the end of Bral's lawless period, but most of the citizens feel that a little peace and quiet would be a welcome change.Life on Bral:
The Rock of Bral is a bustling, dirty, port city filled with the most outlandish collection of traders, rogues, mercenaries, pirates, and thugs imaginable. Law and order are virtually nonexistent; there is no City Watch to keep order in the streets. There are two rules you need to remember when visiting Bral: 1.) Mind your own business 2.) Enough Gold can fix anything Bral is somewhat overcrowded, but there are few who are truly poor. Enough money flows through the town in the hands of merchants and adventurers to profit everyone. For example, there's always work to be had as a longshoreman down on the docks, and it's a rare day when a passing ship isn't taking on crew. There is money to be made in Bral. If courtesy is king in Bral, then gold is queen. Trade is the life of the city, the sole reason for its existence. People who do not work for a merchant house or trader company cater to those individuals who do. Of course, whereever gold is found there are all the kinds of rogues you care to mention: con men, swords-for-hire, mountebanks, charlatans, and of course, the common thief.Government:
On paper, the Rock of Bral is an uncharted monarchy. he ruling prince is basically unfetered in the levying of taxes, regulation of trade, waging of war, and in the administration of justice. Since this is a lot of work for one person to handle, several different government bodies have come into being to address different issues. The typical citizen makes their voice heard through the Council of the City, which is a body of 30 individuals appointed for life. These people are referred to as Councilmen and each represents a different neighborhood or barrio of Bral. On occasion, the membership changes to reflect the fluid population of the Rock. The Noble Council is made up of the 37 chartered landowners and can, by majority vote, disenfranchise any landowner on the Rock. The ruling Prince however has a 49% vote by definition. The most powerful government body is the Council of Captains, which is made up of all individuals or firms that own 5 or more ships and that lease or own property on the Rock. The Council of Captains is responsible for regulating trade, setting tariffs, exchange rates, and enforcing the rules of fair trade. The ruling prince sits on the council but only has a tie-breaking vote and a veto.Law and Order:
The average lawbreaker has to go out of their way to be taken into custody on the Rock. Most citizens believe in policing themselves; tavern keepers will have a couple of stout bouncers nearby to break up fights, market vendors trust to their own eyes to spot potential shoplifters, and every person on the Rock is expected to have enough sense not to be taken in by a con or victimized by pickpockets. If a person discovers a very serious crime, such as arson or muder, they would go to their neighorhood Council to report the crime. If the Councilman agree that the situation warrants intervention of the crown then it is passed along to the magistrate of the respective part of the city and a small force of militia known as the Magistrate's Watch would b dispatched to begin an investigation or to take the offender into custody. However, there is no law requiring anyone to report heinous crimes such as murder or armed robbery. However, arson is above and beyond the most despicable crime in Bral. A person who intentionally starts a fire on the Rock and risks fouling or depleting the atmosphere, as well as possibly destroying the city, is deemed the worst kind of felon. A mage casting fireball in the town would be extraordinal lucky to escape a lynching on the spot. Even the inadvertent setting of a fire will probably be worth 10 years of hard labor for the idiot who start one. Typical sentences for common crimes:| Offense | Punishment |
|---|---|
| Burglary | 1 year hard labor |
| Armed Robbery | 5 years hard labor |
| Piracy | Jettisoning |
| Arson | Jettisoning |
| Negligent Arson | 10 years hard labor |
| Murder | Jettisoning |
| Manslaughter | 5 years hard labor |
| Smuggling | Confiscation of goods and 5 years hard labor |
| Treason | Impalement |
| Common Theft | 1 year hard labor |
2nd offense |
5 years hard labor |
3rd offense |
Jettisoning |
| Provocation | 30 days hard labor |
Day-to-Day Life
As you can imagine, living in Wildspace makes basic necessities hard to come by for a reasonable price. Air, water, food clothing and shelter all pose distinct problems for a large population. Air on the Rock is free to citizens, but all ships pay an air tax when they dock. Generally this is calculated at 4 sp per cargo capacity tonnage for a vessel. Docking with a fouled atmosphere incurs a 100 gp fine, and docking with a poisoned atmosphere incurs a 500 gp fine. While the Rock is large enough to make the effect of an individual ship negligible, Bral is a city of more than 12,000 people. There is a fragile balance between the oxygen consumed by the population and the oxygen produced by the vegetation of the noble villas and the Underside fields. Water is plentiful on Bral, due to its large lake. Lake Bral is abnormally clean and cold, and water is drawn from the lake by large gravity driven pumps located on the gravity plane. Public water service has been installed in most of the High and Middle Cities, but large areas of the Low City must get their water from the few central piped wells. The docks actually feature fresh water puped right up to the ships, which decreases the time and expense of watering tremendously. Water service at the dock is availble for the modest fee of 2 sp per 5 tons of cargo capacity. Water itself is considered to be a plentiful resource but it does need to be replenished every 4 to 7 years. The Bralian Navy is tasked to explore for a large ice asteroid and bring it back to the Rock. Once near Bral's gravitational field they break the asteroid into more managable chunks and gently lowered into Lake Bral slowly refilling it back up to its maximum capacity. Food, on the other hand, is expensive on the Rock. The carefully tended fields of the Underside can support no more than 3,000 people, so many merchants import large quantities of foodstuffs. Some companies operate asteroid farms in the nearby belt, while others buy inexpensive groundling fare and transport it to the city. Both are costly and risky propositions. The average citizen trying to save on grocery bills and still eat decently will have to spend about 2 sp per household member. This adds up to about 6 gp per person, per month, or almost 25 gp per month just to feed a family of 4! Meat of any kind is especially expensive because no livestock is kept on Bral - the cost of importing feed would be too much to turn a profit. Land is valuable on Bral; it’s never going to get any bigger, so there is a very real ceiling on the number of buildings which can be built upon the Rock. Many very successful people live out their entire lives on Bral and never own their own land.
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