Gerek Ru

Gerek Ru is a heat-shielded city, one of the three of the Lo Gir, located on the eastern banks of the Elgot River near the shores of the Iperal Basin. It is the largest port of northwestern Tevhetra and serves as a major hub of trade and pleasure.

Demographics

As a Lo Gir city, most of the permenant residents are ogres, making up about 57% of the population. However, Gerek Ru is the most diverse of the Lo Gir settlements, with groups of dragons, merfolk, elves, myulins, humans, and Voiced, particularly those from species who cannot survive in the cold. This doesn't count all the other people who cross through it.

Industry & Trade

Along with selling lodgings and entertainment to travelers, Gerek Ru also provides a place for merchants of northwestern Tevhetra to trade with each other, mostly in the Ru Eg Market. Gerek Ru is the best place to make currency exchanges in the northwest. The city also maintains some greenhouses and livestock, though less so than the other Lo Gir cities.

History

In the Age of Light, Gerek Ru was a minor ogre tower, but the Nightfall drove the scattered ogres of western Tevhetra to it and the other future Lo Gir cities, desperate for shelter. It was the third city to construct its heat shield. For the first century of darkness, it was a minor settlement that mostly survived through vegetable trade with non-ogres, but as things grew more stable into the second century PN, it shifted into a trading town.

Tourism

Gerek Ru has made its name as a tourist town, especially with elves getting away from the Avantha Kolari, myulins on leave from their research, and Northern Waste trolls coming in to town. It boasts several taverns and hotels of varying quality as well as a park for camping. Attractions include two major fighting pits and one secret one, the gambling tables of the Meruk Plaza, theaters, a walking trail through the greenhouses, the Endless Table (a famous restaurant that deals in rare and exotic fruit), and the Bone Traders (a black market dealing in animals and woods poached from the Avantha Kolari, as well as rare artifacts, that officials turn a blind eye to).

Architecture

As with all Lo Gir cities, Gerek Ru is circular and fully encompassed by a heat shield dome that shifts through shades of amber and green, keeping in the heat and humidity to make the climate comfortable for ogres. Because the heat shield limits city growth, buildings have to grow up or down rather than outwards, though a few non-ogre buildings have been created outside the heat shield. Buildings are stone covered in plaster, often painted in garish colors. Most shops are open air. The heat shield removes the need for streetlamps and allows the growth of exotic, warm-weather plants in window boxes and along the streets. Some less-maintained areas of town have become overgrown with vines.

Natural Resources

As it's on the river and basin, some elves and merfolk have taken to fishing as an extra source of food.

Type

City

Population

~3600

Location under

Tevhetra