Manshaka Manshaka was a city ( a town by Calishite standards ) in Calimshan , most well - known for its Blood Arenas and slavery . A home for gamblers and smugglers , such was its disrepute that more euphemistic aliases existed for this city than any other in Calimshan . It was the second - largest gambling center in all Faerûn , next to Calimport . Geography and Layout . Manshaka was located on the coast south of Calimshan ' s central plain , on a north – south stretch of shore of the Shining Sea . The city contained eight sabban s composed of a total of 36 drudach s . It was split into two halves by Drudach Street , which led from the city ' s only gate to the coast . Appearance . The of Manshaka were fully glazed and made from red bricks . Local legends claimed that these Red Minarets of Manshaka were once white but had been stained red by the blood of slaves who died there . Defenses . The Red Minarets had archers stationed on them , who would often " shoot first and ask questions later " regarding any disturbances in the city below . The external city walls were encrusted with metal and stone shards , making attempts to climb into or out of the city a dangerous task and giving the walls a sparkling effect . The walls also contained a dedicated garrison of soldiers . The Pasha ' s Palace occupied the entire northern drudach of the northeastern sabban . It was more heavily fortified than even the syl - pasha ' s palace in Calimport — both structurally and magically . Government . For over 50 years , the city was ruled by Pasha Abon Duum , a ruthless despot and crime lord . This was the Ninth Age of Calimshan , a time when Calimshan was a collection of city states more than a unified nation , and so Pasha Duum had ultimate control . When he vanished suddenly in 1357 DR , power nominally rested for a time in Vizar Artouk Fanzir , a businessman and moneylender , who headed a council of twelve prominent citizens , comprising eight other rich businessmen , two formidable magic - user s , and a sage . Decisions on important matters were made collectively by the council and Fanzir passed on the results . This group mostly only looked out for their own interests and only occasionally for the city ' s . Their main focus was in maintaining the very profitable Arenas of Blood ; they openly encouraged betting on the fights , as these were a primary source of tax revenue . In less than a year , Ralan el Pesarkhal , an advisor to a sultan under Pasha Duum , had all of the twelve counselors assassinated and rose to power as Sultan of Manshaka . During the Darkstalker Wars of the next year , Sultan Pesarkhal abandoned Manshaka for Calimport , to become ruler of the entire unified county of Calimshan and beginning its Tenth Age as syl - pasha . He intentionally left no one on the throne , so that he could control the city from Calimport by means of his agents . Law Enforcement . In 1370 DR , the city maintained a defensive force of about 700 amlakkar and an additional 200 sadimmin tasked with guarding the two Arenas of Blood . Owning to its position as a port city , it was a rough place . There was very little law in Manshaka , its legal codes were lax , and the guards were little better than slavers or robbers themselves . They were very open to bribery . Offending the wrong person might get someone executed on the spot or thrown into the Arenas as a slave . Trade . Manshaka was a market center for cattle and other kinds of livestock from the ranges of Calimshan , as many in the south found it easier to drive their stock there than to Keltar . While the town of Keltar was better known for its livestock business , in actuality , a greater " variety " of livestock passed through Manshaka ' s gates . In addition to common chickens , pigs , sheep , and cattle , Manshaka also dealt in buffalo , camels , deer , and even elephants . These were shipped lived on cargo vessels to other cities along the coast . Manshaka was an especially busy port in 1357 DR , a common stopping point for sea traders traveling from Memnon to Suldolphor and Teshburl . Surprisingly , they stopped there , not for the livestock ( though they did take on meat ) , but primarily because the city was known as a moneylending center . This in turn attracted merchants requiring capital for a venture , traders needing to make repairs , and adventurers looking for a backer for an expedition . Anyone could be found to fund anything in Manshaka , but rates naturally varied according to risk and trust in the borrower and their skills , ranging from a modest 10 % or 15 % a year to a massive 100 % a month for the riskiest ventures . Most of the humanoid slaves ( although not human s or demihuman s ) coming into Manshaka to fight in the Blood Arenas were imported from the city of Almraiven . History . Early History . This city , like many in Calimshan , was ancient , being founded in −5980 DR as part of the empire of Coramshan . The population of the city was nearly annihilated in −943 DR because of a mysterious and magical plague , known as the Cats ' Plague , which slew nine out of ten people . Drow invaded the city in the Year of the Triton ' s Horn , −697 DR and maintained an influence there for decades . In the Fifth Age of Calimshan , at the end of the Throne Wars , Tasyn el Tarshaj from Manshaka rose to power over all of Calimshan . After the fall of the Shoon Imperium in 450 DR , Calimshan entered its Seventh Age . Taking advantage of the time of unrest , the mameluks , warrior slaves , rose to power , and from 533 DR to 1018 DR , Manshaka was the new capital of Calimshan . The mameluks abolished slavery and ruled from their palace , the Hall of the Mameluks . Modern History . After a rage of dragons ended mameluk rule , the individual cities of Calimshan , including Manshaka , were ruled as separate city states for centuries . In such a time , it was easy for rich and powerful men such as Pasha Abon Duum to wield control by managing information and a system of favors . He would rule for over fifty years a ruthless tyrant and crime lord . In the late 1340s DR , the con artist Conner and his girl accomplice Vaji came to Manshaka . Finding lax and corruptible law enforcement , they felt safe to attempt grander and more profitable cons than they had in other parts of Calimshan . Unfortunately , Conner approached Abon Duum with a scam in which he claimed that Vaji was the intended bride of Hoar , god of retribution . Impressed by Vaji , Duum initially believed this outlandish tale , but even after he came to doubt it , he still desired her . When Conner ' s scheme at last went awry , he was forced to sell Vaji as a slave to Duum . The young Vajra Valmeyjar soon became the most accomplished of Duum ' s stable of gladiators at the Arena of Blood However , after a decade , Vajra escaped from the Arena to freedom , being one of only two slaves to ever successfully do so . For a brief time of less than a year after his disappearance , Vizar Fanzir and his council of twelve controlled Manshaka from the Hall of Mameluks , but in the Year of Shadows , 1358 DR , Sultan Ralan el Pesarkhal orchestrated their deaths . He drugged their wine , and when they were drunk , an argument started . During this time , he arranged for a brazier to " accidentally " be knocked over . The tapestries caught fire , and the Hall of the Mameluks went up in flames , killing all of the counselors . Sultan el Pesarkhal then took the throne . He had greater ambitions than Manshaka , and within a year , he had taken control of Calimport as well and with it all of Calimshan . The city saw great destruction in the Year of the Gauntlet , 1369 DR when the Drudach Fires raged through much of the city , slaughtering nearly half of its population and burning many of its notable buildings to the ground . The largest gladiatorial event in Manshaka ' s history occurred in the month of Hammer in the Year of the Tankard , 1370 DR . Known as the Great Games , the event saw the deaths of over 3 , 000 gladiators and 5 , 000 wild animals and monsters . It also saw the escape of a pack of dire wolves into the crowds of onlookers , when an unidentified spellcaster used magic to dissolve a portion of the walls . Rumors and Legends . The disappearance of Abon Duum remained an issue of rumor for many years . Some claimed he was murdered by Vajra Valmeyjar , an adventuress and former slave of his . Others believed that something happened when he sought to attain the power of the gods , such that his soul was lost in the plane s . Inhabitants . Few mages lived in Manshaka relative to the rest of Calimshan ; the majority who lived there frowned on the use of magic . As elsewhere in Calimshan , many nobles in the city would retire to estates in the southern foothills of the Marching Mountains during the hot summer months , particularly in the vicinity of the headwaters of the River of Ice . Crime in the city was largely under the control of el Kahmir family . Their headquarters was located in the city . In 1370 DR , notable persons who called Manshaka home included :