Aertael

Country: Attellaria

Ruled by:  Faithra Thaos, Queen of Attellaria

Population: 101,000

Primary Business: Trading, Government

Alchemist: The Cauldron's Cupboard, The White Phial

Magic Shop: No

Sage: Merlin, Kelavian, Orpheus

Wizards' School: The Royal Wizards' School of Attellaria

Bards' School: Oberlin College Conservatory

Cooking School - The Knights of the Hollow Stomach is a cooking school that teaches recipes that make magical foods.

Figures of Interest: Former ruler Nimlaure Aglarion, King of Attellaria, named by an elven seeress; his name means "Whitegold Glorious One." He led his country's armies in several successful battles in 1118 and 1119 against Tharn, attaining twelfth level lord before retiring from military duty when his father passed away. He is an only child, and has several children, all of whom rule in various capacities; his oldest child, Faithra Thaos, a daughter, became queen after his death. He had a djinn for a servant and guard, and had a psionic assassin/fighter for a personal bodyguard (who now serves the queen). Nimlaure possessed the Sceptre of Law and Good; the queen now owns it.

He reputedly was one of the few known kings to rule by true Divine Right - he has some powers granted directly by the gods, that have allowed him to do such things as place a globe over the city that enforces his will of what is and isn't allowed.  This can be altered magically as he desires, with the effort performed by his wizard's council (see below).

The Palace of the King

Notes and History: Aertael is very ancient, and has been a government center for many centuries, since 645 Eighth Age. It was probably the first inland settlement in the southern half of the continent. The city is a trading center, and virtually anything can be bought there. There were temples of every major religion in the city, including hidden temples of evil Melnibonean gods, demon lords, drow, and others, but most of these are now empty. There is a large, powerful thieves guild, and an assassin's guild that the king himself has used a time or two. (The king's bodyguard, the assassin, is not a guild assassin; this is a major thorn in the guild's side, as she is probably the highest level assassin in the South of the continent.)

Details on the Thieves' Guild can be found on a separate page.

THE WIZARDS' COUNCIL

The wizards' council is a group of high level magic users who serve the crown. Names include:  Palaran, Calebrdar, Eldharion, Sarfarith, Obeiat, Araigla, Pesthelion, Inarili, Eethelia, and Opari.

The general layout of the city, is that the NW part of town is the 'upper class' residential area, including a gated neighborhood (not magically protected, just walled and patrolled); the NE part of the town is where all the temples are (and much of the 'upper class' businesses); the SW part of town is the middle class residences and most of the rest of the businesses (including the alchemy shop owned by Kibbles and Hazor); the SE part of town is the poor part of town, where warehouses, slaughterhouses, and such are located.

The former Temple of Balder, now occupied by various player characters and their associates, is in the central part of the temple district. 

There are police departments scattered all over the city, but the main office is located in the north central part of town. It is a building 5 stories tall, with the bottom story being split between processing of arrestees in the half that is full of rows of desks staffed by police officers; the police captain (a 50ish human male, no-nonsense, named Riggs) and perhaps 50 officers. Down a hallway is the detectives office; one notable detective is Det. Stana (Stah-nah) Casket - she is a fairly attractive 25ish human female, known mostly for her very high solve rate and willingness to believe in the supernatural or unusual for cause of crimes. She has a few magic items that are loaned to her by her civilian adviser, a man named Jameson Rook (assigned to her through influence of the chief of police, a friend of the family of Rook's), who often assists her on investigations. Rook is a sculptor in marble; he lives in the gated neighborhood mentioned above.

Events of interest - the crown princess had made it known that she was going to make slavery illegal as her first act upon her coronation. The king beat her to the punch, making slavery illegal, rather quietly, in 1163. There were very few slaves left in the country by then anyway, as most owners didn't want to be caught with unsellable property. Slaves owners were not prosecuted, and most slaves were quietly freed and given a small amount of money to start their lives with. Many slaves were immediately rehired by their former owners; for the most part, slavery in Attellaria was a pretty mild form of the practice; slaves could not be killed by their owners, for instance, having most of the same rights as free people, barring the obvious rights to leave their owners and such.

City Infrastructure

The city receives most of its water from an aqueduct that runs from the Yasuette River to the north.  Waste water runs into a large sewer system, which is continuously flushed by excess water from the aqueduct and rainwater.  This waste water runs into underground caverns south of the city, and apparently drains into Rygall's Swamp, fifteen miles to the south.

Businesses of Note

Several businesses are linked below.

Jewelers: There are four 'high class' jewelers where items of significant quality can be bought and sold in the city. Jewelers will also cut and polish uncut gems for 10% of the increase in value caused by this act. 

    Two of them are very upper class, don't allow armed people or those who radiate magic inside, and who don't deal in magical items in any way.  The first is Tiffany Jewelers, a very old family owned (third generation) high class jewelry business.  The second is the Cartier Jeweller's, owned and run by Francois Cartier,  a fairly young (mid-thirties) male human.  The third jeweler is more accessible to the adventuring set, has a special showroom where items are shown to those who radiate magic (but no weapons allowed, still), is called the Lorraine Jeweller's, and is owned and run by the head of the family, Lady Halle Lorraine, a fortyish human woman. 

    The last is the Bulgari Jeweler's, owned and run by a middle aged female human named Sotirios Vulgaris. Bulgari's also has a special viewing room for those who radiate magic, and weapons are allowed.

    When shopping for particular gems, as might be needed for magical item creation, one should check this page.

    There is a supply shop for all sorts of items relating to writing of books and scrolls named the Scroll and Pen.

    No doubt there are a number of pawn shops, back-alley dealers, and so on, where one could buy gems and jewels of questionable history and value.

In the SE part of town there are many businesses; one that has been visited before is a combination inn/tavern/whorehouse, formally named the Den of Iniquity, nicknamed the Sin Den or just the Den. It is owned and run by a pimp known as Red Dog, whose real name is Terrence Hightower. He's a lowlife, cares not at all about his staff. He employs a cook and five wait staff, a dozen or so whores, and four or five to keep the premises clean enough to suit him. This includes a nine year old 'pot boy' who dumps the chamber pots, known as Scruff, real name Timmin Relway.

Conner's Inn/Tavern, the Humping Harpy, is also in this part of town.

Genealogists - This is not a major profession, as in a world with magical means of contacting the dead and seeking knowledge, it's not all that hard to research one's family tree.  However, there are a few who excel at searching through public records and building graphics showing ancestors.  (Note this can be much more difficult with long-lived races such as elves, when a single generation can easily be a hundred years or more).

    Tasimgar Magun is the best-known researcher in the city; he may be a retired mage, as he seems to be able to track down information not written down anywhere.  He charges 100 gold per day of research, but will seldom work for one person for more than a week.

    Ibana Essroth is less well-known, but reputedly also very good, and charges 70 gold per day.  She has contacts in government and religious circles who provide her with information not easily found by a layman.

    Ledartia Nasuri is not very well known at all, operates out of a small, cluttered office.  She is a bit of an eccentric, apparently has some sort of spirit creature that is at her call, charges 40 gold per day, but reputedly does good work.

White Mane Inn and Tavern a high quality place, frequented by nobility and wealthy adventurers.

The city has many hotels ranging from extreme luxury to flophouses.  The most expensive is Claridges, where if you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it. It is located on the main city square by the palace.  The owner is the current patriarch of the Gandy family, Pior Gandy. (Rumor says that a room costs 20,000 gold per night, and includes every imaginable service and product that is legal.)

Racial Makeup

    The city population is 70% human, or about 78000 humans; there are about 7000 dwarves, mostly living in the southwestern area outside the walls, in an area generally called Dwarftown; about ten thousand elves, mostly in the small forest in the southeast part of the city, outside the walls; about 6000 gnomes, in an area adjacent to Dwarftown; about 6000 half-elves, somewhat scattered through the elven area and the city in general; and about 6000 halflings, most of whom live in combination above-ground homes with tunnels underneath (as the land is mostly flat, their famous 'hobbit holes' aren't really easily built here) in the part of the city between the farms and the forest - many of them are farmers, or work on the farms owned by others, either other halflings or humans.

For a map of the city, see the Aertael City Key page.