The City of Liesech

Nested in the wide gulf called Bite Bay north of the Charneault Kingdom, the city-state of Liesech deploys its dense web of channels and ditches in a constant fight against the sea. On the city’s eastern side, an impressive fortification system relying on water once protected the city against the Bürach Empire’s ambition. On the west side, a giant harbour and arsenal face the sea.

HISTORY

Rise and Apogee

The Bouwengracht family has tacitly reigned in Liesech since its very beginning as a city-state. Back when Liesech was just a large fishing village, Otto Bouwengracht was an ambitious fisherman who direly desired a better, wealthier life. His ambition led him to fish further out in the bay. When he eventually reached the area at the centre of the bay, known as the Eye of the Sea, he came upon an otherworldly creature called the Filth Grazer. The creature felt the fisherman’s ambition and offered him a bargain; she promised advice and access to superior intelligence that would help Bouwengracht raise a superb coastal city, the most wealthy ever known. In exchange, what she asked seemed very little in the eyes of Otto Bouwengracht: the filth of the city.
She wanted to eat all the rubbish produced by the city, including the corpses of the dead. Otto Bouwengracht’s part of the bargain was to instate a cult that would secretly serve the creature’s gluttony under the guise of blessing the sea for all the wealth it provided to the city.

Otto Bouwengracht accepted. True to the creature’s word, he quickly became a famous businessman whose wealth boosted the development of Liesech. He developed tremendously advanced techniques to expand the territory of Liesech, constructing channels and ditches that would prevent floods and optimise transport and logistics. Naval construction also accelerated, and under the Bouwengracht family's rule, Liesech became a major maritime power in only a few generations. They began sending more ships across the seas to explore and gather wealth, and after a few more generations, Liesech had reached a state of wealth and opulence that no one in Etharis could ignore.
That was the moment when the Bürach Empire turned its imperial gaze on the small city. Liesech had become a major trade hub between the nearby regions of Etharis, especially the Bürach Empire and the Charneault Kingdom. These two powers benefited greatly from the improved trade routes, but the Bürach Empire couldn’t bear the taxes applied on all the supplies that passed through Liesech’s harbour. The Charneault Kingdom, on the other hand, favored Liesech’s independence, fearing that an annexation would worsen their position.

Annexation by the Bürach Empire

The Bürach Empire could not leave Liesech in peace, fearing their autonomy might inspire independence movements inside the empire. Leading Bürach aristocrats made a deal with the countess Analita von Raiza, a powerful vampire who was held captive in the Bürach Empire. In return for her freedom, she was to enter Liesech and use her vampiric powers to take control of the Bouwengracht family. Once done, she would open the city to the annexation. Knowing that most vampires crave to hold power over territory and a population, the Bürach aristocrats hoped this bargain would let them absorb Liesech’s wealth while keeping Analita von Raiza under control. They were right, but not entirely.

The Red Morning

Analita von Raiza was a higher vampire, allowing her to notice the magic in action around Liesech, and in particular the Bouwengracht family. It did not prevent her from fulfilling her mission, but shortly after the annexation—and once she understood where the strange magic around Bouwengracht family came from—she saw an opportunity to strike a blow against the Bürach Empire and spoil the jewel that she had so compliantly handed to her former gaoler.
On the morning of the next annual ceremony of the Nurturing Sea, the entire Bouwengracht family was found slaughtered, their blood entirely drained out.

The Weeping Pox

The bargain between the Filth Grazer and Bouwengracht family was therefore broken, and Analita would not allow it to continue in any other form for she wanted to replace the creature’s influence over the city with her own. But the ancient creature was cunning, and enacted revenge against both the Bouwengracht family and the vampire: it infected the corpses of the Bouwengracht with the virulent Weeping Pox. The Bouwengracht family was given a lavish funeral inside the Froth Church, the main church of Liesech, and the disease spread from there to devastating effect.
Analita von Raiza had not expected the Filth Grazer to give the city up easily, but she was nevertheless furious to see her new flock die by the thousands. She was immune to the pox and powerful enough to challenge the creature. A terrible battle ensued. The fight lasted for an entire day and caused giant tides which wreaked havoc on the harbour. At the end of the day Analita von Raiza came back, exhausted but alive. None know for sure who won the encounter or if the Filth Grazer exists, but Analita has never returned to the Eye of the Sea. Instead she spends most of her days within her den atop the High Belfry, the highest building and main place of power in Liesech.

As the Weeping Pox spread quickly in the city, the Bürach Empire deployed troops outside to place Liesech under quarantine. However, it was too late, as they learned later that the disease had already spread outside Liesech.

CULTURAL HAPPENINGS

The Ceremony of the Nurturing Sea

Once per year, the people of Liesech would gather at the harbour for a great celebration dedicated to the sea and the great wealth it provided to the city. The aristocrats and especially the Bouwengracht family would place many offerings on boats and send them out on the water. The event was only held if there was a good wind coming from the land, to push the offerings towards the centre of the bay.
Although one would expect at least some of the ships to wash up somewhere in the bay, none were ever retrieved. Moreover, the ceremony was always followed by strange currents in the bay, and the harbour would stay closed for the entire day after the ceremony. In fact, the offerings were all for the benefit of the Filth Grazer. It is said this ceremony still takes place within the damned city of Liesech, driven by the insidious remnants of the Cult of the Sea.

The Week of the Grand Citywide Market

A major event that used to be held on a yearly basis was the week of the Grand Citywide Market. On this occasion, the whole city would be transformed into a vast, open-air market lasting for an entire week. The variety and the quality of the available products and merchandise were simply unequalled in Etharis, even by the city-state of Morencia. These days are likely gone forever now that the Weeping Pox has devastated Liesech. If the market persists at all in the disease-stricken city, it is doubtlessly in a debased and corrupted form.

NOTABLE LOCATIONS

The Eye of the Sea

The centre of Bite Bay has been mostly impassable to ships from time immemorial. In taverns, they tell stories of mermaids or other mystical sea creatures that repel human boats and capture any trespassers. The awful truth of the Filth Grazer is known by a few people only, including the late Bouwengracht family and the vampire Countess Analita von Raiza.

The High Belfry

At the centre of Liesech is a huge square that once served as a public forum for popular debates, while the decisions about Liesech’s politics and laws were made in the tall bell tower that overlooked the square. The High Belfry was constructed centuries ago by one of the first Bouwengracht governors, and this major place of power remained under their control until the Red Morning. The centre of the city is now ruled by the Cult of the Black Lady, and rumours say that Analita von Raiza takes her regenerating sleep on the highest floor of the High Belfry.

The Froth Church

The Bouwengracht family initiated and financed the Cult of the Sea, a religious movement that revered the “Nurturing Sea” and made offerings in its name, in order to feed the Filth Grazer. Many churches were constructed for the cult in Liesech, but the most important is the Froth Church, the place where every Bouwengracht family member used to be buried. Built on the city’s westernmost quay, the Froth Church is in direct contact with the sea. A small channel was set up to allow passage to the waters of the bay—and to allow the secret delivery of morbid offerings to the Filth Grazer. Because of that foul visitor, the sea around the church always foams and froths, hence its name.

FACTIONS AND INSTITUTIONS

Morbus Doctore

"No knowledge should be feared, because knowledge is power." The Morbus Doctore appeared shortly after the release of the Weeping Pox. Wearing strange coats and masks meant to protect them from the disease, they wander the city looking for newly infected people. But only a fool would submit to their treatments, as they are known to conduct unbearable experiments on their “patients”. They seem to be convinced that the Weeping Pox actually is a blessing that must be studied, exploited, and controlled to bring humanity forward to a new level of existence. Listening ears have heard them speak of “the Great One from the Bay” in reverential and fascinated terms.

Cult of the Black Lady

"We worship beauty in this lost world. A dark, demanding, and thirsty beauty." When the countess Analita von Raiza arrived in Liesech, she did not immediately take control of the Bouwengracht family. As the smart mind she is, she understood that the best way to reach the places of power in the city was to create a reputation. She therefore gathered attractive young individuals she transformed into vampires and started a business of luxury. Thanks to the timely disappearance of several rich clients, her business grew rapidly and allowed her to constitute a small army of perverted but devoted followers. These fanatics now bear the name of the Cult of the Black Lady and control the centre area of Liesech to protect their mistress’s den in the High Belfry. It is also said that they hunt for non infected people to steal their blood and serve it to the vampire countess while she is regenerating after her fight against the Filth Grazer.

Golden Barge Company (G.B.C.)

"To keep people connected is the only true duty, as not fulfilling it would mean the end of civilization." Regarded as the last remnant of Liesech’s former glory, the G.B.C. are almost as ancient as the Bouwengracht family. They have one purpose, a duty they will carry out until the end whatever no matter happens, and that is the transportation of people and goods on the channels of Liesech. They are an honourable and devoted company whose members neither discriminate nor exploit their fellow man. They just ask the right price and nothing more for every course. But their exposure to every traveller in the city also makes them a highly valuable source of information for those who respect them and are ready to pay the extra coin.