Port Zane

## **Background**

Port Zane is Irorasol's hub of sea trade and its oldest city. It was established through a compromise between Selune and the Zane, a race of powerful Djinn that ruled the natural elements of Irorasol. Once the humanoids took over, they secretly imprisoned many of the Zane in powerful artifacts. Port Zane was mostly unharmed during the War of Beasts, but it lost its status as Iroraol's major city once Dawn's Promise was established to the north. The Fazhul Canal gives Dawn's Promise most of its trade route, but a trail has been carved at the base of the Nil'Krugs to connect the two major cities by land, though it's not too popular. Port Zane does yield to the political rulings from Dawn's Promise, but it's far more free-spirited and diverse than the religious mecca to the north.

## **Layout**

Port Zane is divided into districts that represent the function and wealth level of the homes and businesses therein. Unlike most cities, Port Zane sees its wealthy homes established in the lowest portions of the city nearest the beaches while the slums are at the higher plateaus to the northern border. The city is surrounded by ocean to the south, and to the north, a small canal leading to the Mono'Lak.

The major districts are as follows:

Vanity & Veils (Clothing, Dyers, Accessories)

Sticks & Stones (Masons, Wood, Wicker)

Ins & Outs (Merchants, Smiths)

Chock ‘a Block (Docks, Fishmongers, Markets)

Demimonde (“Underbelly," Fighting Arena)

Hooverville (Poorest Slums)

Skirt’s Hem (Rural area nearby)

Salt & Pepper (Residential area, Middle class, Salt a bit nicer than Pepper)

Sea Side (Wealthiest Homes, Estates, Finest Goods)

Nobody’s beach (Craggy Coastline, Wild)

## **Organizations & Leadership**

Port Zane seems to be run by ambassadors from Dawn's Promise, those these leaders are usually retired army men looking for an easier life. They keep the peace, as does a regiment of guards from Lythandar's Holy Army, but have been known to let the city be run by its local guild consortium and its underbelly organizations, presuming no major conflict occurs. Pirates are forbidden in theory but allowed through bribery in practice.

The current city and guild leadership is as follows:

Ambassador: Noel Alphar

City Defense Secretary: Gerard Diesel

Clay & Stone Workers: Mason Jarry

Clothing & Accessories: Jason Charles Penning

Dyers & Weavers: Niet Rorshack

Merchants & Smiths: Calvin Hoz

Wicker Workers: Nicolai Cahj

Wood Workers: Jesus Lachrymore

Dock Master: Jean LaFitte

Underbelly (not a guild): Priscilla the Heart (also the Drow ambassador)

## **Underbelly**

Perhaps the true power-holder of Port Zane, Priscilla the Heart runs an underground resistance league with allied Gith minions to do her dirty work. The primary function of the underbelly is to filter illegal substances and rare artifacts from the Mono'Lak and from smugglers to the wealthiest buyers in Irorasol. The Demimonde Arena is also a city attraction for gamblers and adventurers alike and is said to be home to a number of rare "pets." Priscilla also has a number of Holy Army guards under her thumb. Other underground organizations run racketeering schemes with the permission of Priscilla, but they always yield to her power in moments of conflict.

## **Current Events**

Port Zane was plagued by an enormous whirlpool seemingly caused by the Earthquake that recently rattled the region. The whirlpool prevented any ships from leaving or arriving at port for months. The economic crisis caused by the whirlpool was detrimental to the entire city, especially its poorest members who already suffered from great wealth disparity. This crisis, along with secret prompting from the Cult of Rebirth, was the genesis of the "Occupy" movement. That movement faced an embarrassing setback when it tried to sabotage a wealthy party only to see that the Cult of Rebirth had catfished them into unleashing a terrifying beholder-like creature on the town that the Middle Men managed to dispatch.

The Middle Men also successfully ended the whirlpool by nearly-defeating the ancient Zane Water Djinn that had been released from a crushed lamp at the bottom of the ocean, binding it to the nearby lighthouse lamp that "Old Bill" guarded.

The Middle Men's tenure as heroes of the city was shortly lived, however, as Priscilla sought a commanding rebound for her Occupy movement by publicly slaughtering the northern Drow colony's newest royal courtship and blaming it on the Middle Men, causing them to flee.