The Holy City of Baezwar

Located on a mystical mountain, enclosed in the heart of the Dragonback Mountain Range, and situated at the juncture of 5 major mountain passes, Baezwar is one of the largest cities in the Nine Kingdoms. Overlooking Lake Starfall, the city was built from the ruins of at least one abandoned civilization.

Demographics

50% Human 25% Dwarven 10% Gnome 15% Other

Government

The Nine Kings, or holy lords, act as mediators between the people and the gods, performing important sacred ceremonies. The Kings have established their civilization around their capital of city of Baezwar. Each King has a symbolic area of influence, usually corresponding to one of the 9 Kingdoms.

Defences

The city is walled in concentric circles, with armaments ready to rain fire on the city below.

Infrastructure

Baezwar was built around an abandoned ancient shrine to a Bell, the Bell. an enormous bowl of black steel set into the side of Ironhead Mountain. The Shrine was taken over by the Atheneaum, and below it over the course of a hundred years, the foundation of modern Baezwar was built.

Guilds and Factions

The Finnyis Collective - actors' guild, named for Elven saint of deception . Brightberry Society - An alchemist's' society of poison makers and potioneers The Shadowless - Rumored thieves guild. The Honorable Society of the Three Chambers - A society where barristers lodge, train, and carry on their profession. The FoamBeards - A brewers' guild. The Worshipful Company of Woodworkers - A carpenter's' guild. Yutai Opera School - A company of combat dancers and performers. The Brotherhood of Upnu - A healer's guild. The Iron Tamers - A smiths' guild. Children of Druss - A beggars guild that trades in information Church of the Machine - Gnome tinkerers guild The Shortspears -City guard of Baezwar The Arena of Aygh - Gladiator pit, home to the The House of Stone - Powerful collection of builders, architects, and designers

History

Baezwar was built around a massive temple carved into the mountain that became known as Mount Baez in honor of the great leader. From what their best scribes could tell, the whole mountain complex was built around the enormous Bell that hangs out over the city of Baezwar. An ancient place of Saurian magic, Baez’s compatriot, Saint Vaed Ore, established a new Order of the Bell, to oversee the establishment of free god-worship, and built the original city that extended down the mountain face. Over the centuries, the city expanded to the point that it is currently the third largest city on the N’alf of Obsrock. At the foot of the Baez is Starfall Lake. Fed by underground streams and the deep winter snowfalls, Starfall Lake serves as the hub of trade and travel between north and south N’alf. Scribes claim that at it’s peak, the Baezine Empire stretched from the Dragonback Mountains down to the Jhaedi Gulf. While the original size and scope of the empire based in Baezwar is disputed, there is no doubt that Baez the Founder created the first multi-national empire the world of Obsrock had ever seen. According to legend, the city was claimed by the human king Baez the Founder (who ruled 2334-2279 ~1BHE). He expanded on a high temple complex built around the Bell, and abandoned for millennia. He unified the Hune, the Dawaroka, the Green Uulef, the Viamaash, and the Jyaedi kingdoms under the rule of his Baezine Empire, and set the standard for future forms of government in those lands. Like other ancient cities, Baezwar is perched on one vast archaeological site. The modern city sits on top of the detritus of its predecessor cities, arching back into time almost seven millennia. As each city took form, existing structures were collapsed or filled in with earth to form the foundation of the buildings of the next stage of the city’s evolution. Buildings rested on other buildings, roofs became foundations as each layer of the city was successively covered up, gradually morphing into the complex archaeological layer cake that is modern Baezwar. Ancient Baezwar was built around five hills. The crests of which were typically reserved for important public buildings, a function they still serve to this day. Many such buildings are built on the ruins of their predecessors. It is in the valleys between these storied hills that life in ancient Baezwar occurred. Unlike the hill tops, however, which still tower over the city as they did in antiquity, the valleys have accumulated a steady layer of debris—the product of erosion from the same hills, the sediment left by periodic flooding of the Ahmaz and the garbage that was the inevitable byproduct of civilization, then and now. The result is that the streets of ancient Baezwar, which once crisscrossed those valley floors, the streets that connected markets and forums with residential areas, the streets that saw victory parades by conquering generals and solemn funeral processions, are today buried under an average of 20 to 30 feet of debris. Beneath that debris lies ancient Baezwar, many of its streets still intact, its historic buildings filled with earth providing the support of the newer buildings that now straddle them.

Architecture

The architecture of Baezwar is hewn from marble, obsidian, and granite, bringing out a regal and proud air to the capital of the Nine Kingdoms. The stonework is reminiscent of classical art and architecture as seen in Dwarven and Gnomish Antiquity

Geography

The Dragonbacks are the tallest of the mountain ranges in the Nine Kingdoms. They have long inspired stories and tales of far off lands, their clouded heights giving birth to myths, monsters, and legends. Those who live at the feet of those imposing mountains are a proud and hearty folk, toughened by nature, and the supernatural. The creatures who inhabit these peaks are some of the most dangerous on the planet. This mountain range boasts the likes of The Fang and Mount Misery, the tallest and most deadly of the Dragonback mountains. Baezwar is built into the side of Mount Baez, the Fang's little brother. At it's foot, Lake Starfall serves as the hub to transport goods (and troops if need be) down into the rest of the Kingdoms.

Type

Large city

Population

315000

Location under

The Dragonback Mountains

Included Locations