Ibrido

**Ibrido**, also known as *the Cerulean City* or *the City of Splendor,* is a metropolitan coastal city found on the **Lucain Coast**. It is one of the most important and influential cities in Dharrenal, let alone the Lucain Coast. It is a truly marvelous city of great culture that has attracted artists, craftsmen, and scholars from across the world, as well as a commercial hub for financial interests along the Lucian Coast.

It is one of, if not the most, powerful and influential city-states of **the Lucain Concord**; the coalition of city-states that seeks to maintain independence and safety for the people along the coast.

## Overview

The jewel of the Lucain Coast and the unofficial capital of free trade outside of the empire, Ibrido is a bustling city filled with music, color, and commerce. The massive port hosts ships that sail either sea and sky from all around the world, creating a mishmash of cultures and trades that mingle to form the society of Ibrido. Trade routes splinter from other sides of the city to ensure rapid transport of goods to destinations throughout Dharrenal and beyond.

The city's architecture is varied and inconsistent; the inner wards display historical roots or lavish opulence, while the other wards attempt to combat the slum-like atmosphere with cheap, colorful banners and street buskers. The city has a roiling underbelly of crime, murder, and corruption that many say is regrettable but necessary for the city to function.

#### *The Dark Waters of the Storming Sea*

The waters along the Lucain Coast are rampant with piracy and roving ocean creatures that threaten trade and travel routes throughout the region. The Lucain Concord established a formal navy of nearly four hundred warships to maintain safety in the area. These ships are scattered along the coast, with many stationed further north in Port Calico or situated in the waters south of Auros to prevent skirmishes or conflicts in the north from spilling over into the Lucain Coast. A quarter of the entire navy, however, is maintained within and around Ibrido.

#### *To the Highest Bidder*

A popular destination within Ibrido for wealthy merchants, nobles, and collectors from across Tyrind is the Cobalt Collection Auction House within the Diamond Promenade. Run by the esteemed Signore Georgio Basario of the influential Basario family, this grandiose (if gaudy) establishment has all manner of rare items, collectibles, and historical artifacts brought from around Tyrind to be sole to whomever offers the most gold, with a small portion of the sale filling the Basrio family's coffers.

Socialites, nobility, celebrities, and the fabulously wealthy of Tyrind travel here from all over the world, forging bonds of rivalry with each purchase.

#### *Steam Power*

Until recently, the majority of businesses in Ibrido were heated and powered by a system of steam-powered engines, which were installed beneath the city's streets. Unknown to most citizens, a powerful water fey has been bound within the sewers to power the steam engines for decades. Recently, this fey was freed from its shackles by persons unknown, leaving the engines inert and many businesses without power. A large group of hired druids and mages are maintaining what functionality they can, but Marquis Azuro is desperately looking for an alternative energy source or a replacement for the steam engines.

#### *Port of Sea and Sky*

Ibrido is the central city for most seafaring business and shipping throughout the Storming Sea and a popular destination for those with gold to spend. It's also the only city south of **Tolstov** to have a skyport. This has been the largest factor responsible for Ibrido's rapid growth over the past century and a half. Crowds are still drawn in to see the majestic display of an airship docking into the skyport.

## City Description

Ibrido is built atop a series of tiny islands. This has causes the vast majority of the city's major thoroughfares to be canals and waterways. Gondolas, rafts, and water-baseSignore Georgio Basali of the influential Basali family, this grandiose (if gaudy) establishment has all manner of rare items, collectibles, and historical artifacts brought from around Tyrind to be sold to whomever offers the most gold, with a small portion of the sale filling the family's coffers. Socialites, nobility, celebrities, and the fabulously wealthy of Tyrind travel here from all over the world, forging bonds of rivalry with each purchase. When particularly powerful relics find their way to the auction house, it's rumored that beings from outer planes will masquerade as merchants to snatch them up. d mounts are common anywhere in the city. There are no laws that regulate the use of these canals or the gondola-based transportation system, which has led to widespread abuse from many gondoliers. The Marquis di Maschera has sponsored his own group of gondoliers, however, who use bright yellow boats and standardized rates. Over the last fifteen years, these yellow gondolas have become known as the most reputable service in the city.

The architecture in the city is somewhat eclectic, and changes depending on what neighborhood one finds themselves in. Each building varies a little in its design; some have arched windows and doorways, while others have rectangular windows of elaborate stained glass. The effect is, altogether, very pleasing.

## Layout

The city is not laid out like cities north of the **Dawnrise Mountains;** the boundaries of the different neighborhoods are not gated walls but canals and bridges. The city is strange and overwhelming to many first time visitors, but is fairly easy to navigate once one gets the idea. Additionally, there are only a few major canalways and thoroughfares from which every other smaller waterway branches, so it's fairly easy to get around once you understand how the major canals relate to each other. At the very least, there's always the gondolas.

Ibrido is a city of broad boulevards that thrumk with traffic. All day and well into the night, a bewildering melee of wagons, carts, horses, carriages, buggies, rickshaws, gondolas, and more surges through its major thoroughfares. Fortunately, most streets have paved sidewalks that give pedestrians plenty of space.

Note that all points of interest are places visited by player characters or prominently mentioned.

### Artist's Alley

One of the smallest neighborhoods of the city, encompassing only a few streets that contain many small galleries, artist workshops, novelty inns, and cheap apartment buildings. Artist's alley is known as a bohemian neighborhood, and liberal even by Ibrido's standards.

### Blue Sky Bay

This area is located to the northwest of the city, where the city's skyport is located. There's little to this neighborhood apart from the skyport, and a handful of taverns and general good stores. Very few refer to this neighborhood by it's official name, usually just calling it "Blue Sky".

* **Skybound Tavern:** An inn and tavern popular with airship workers. Anybody who needs crew fast, and anybody who needs work on a ship right away, often find it here. The tavern's main floor is home to deckhands and roughneckers, while the balcony is home to officers and captains only.

### Cerulean District

Located within the center of the city, this district is one of two separated from the rest of the city, due to the presence of the Cerulean Palace being there. It is where the Cerulean Council meets. It is home to many noble families and houses the Cerulean Knights; an elite order of eldritch knights tasked with protecting the palace.

### The Cliffs

Cliffside, often just referred to as "the Cliffs", resides on the cliffs overlooking Ibrido proper, marking it as a district outside of the city walls, but under the full protection of the city, and residents are counted as citizens of Ibrido. The Cliffs has its own garrison, known as the Cliffguard, and its own town hall. A more rural community, much of the city's food is produced here and sold to businesses or farmer's markets in the city.

### Diamond Promenade

The most extravagant locale within Ibrido. Each street is lined with the most lauded of artists and performers, with markets lush with expensive wares and high-end imports from around the world. It is home to the Auction House and venues for recurring festivities. It is a sparkling locale that comes to mind whenever visitors think of Ibrido.

Separated from the rest of the city by a wall, the Diamond Promenade is home to the majority of the city's wealthy elite, lesser nobility, and local celebrities. It is clean, well-guarded, and posh. Nobody is granted entry without a writ, an escort from a resident or noble, et cetera. Wards on the gates prohibit anybody from gaining entry via illusion or enchantment magic.

### Dust Town

Dust Town is a slum located beyond the front gates. A collection of tents, lean-to's, and makeshift huts. Some peddlers or merchants have set up shop here in an attempt to sell to wealthier travelers headed into the city. So named due to the massive clouds of dust that constantly hang in the air, kicked up by travelers into the city.

### Erudite Quarter

The Blue Sun Academy, Ibrido's university, is found in this quarter. Many book shops, magical good stores, and other academically-inclined stores can be found. It is not densely populated and the roads are noticeably wider than the rest of the city. A large fountain of Usef Bern, the half-elf sorcerer who fought alongside King Azuro to liberate the city from the Black Dynasty four hundred years ago, is found here. Known as Bern's Square, it's a large park popular with students, philosophers, and artist's alike.

### Front Step

The first place one encounters when first entering the city. Dozens of taverns, shops, and merchant stalls are found here. Most of the city's stables are located here, as well. Most noticeable is the large statue of Waukeen, found in the square. It is tradition to throw in a coin and make a wish when first entering the city.

### Raven Court

The Raven Court is no drab cemetery. it is a great park of grassy hills, tended flower beds, artfully placed clusters of trees and bushes, beautiful sculptures, astounding architecture, and gravel paths that wind through it all. Long ago, the people of Ibrido abandoned the practice of burying their dead, instead choosing to entomb them in mausoleums.

Those who can afford it memorialize the departed with sculptures, making the Raven Court a sort of open-air museum that features some of the most stunning, haunting, mournful, and downright eeriest statues ever crafted from marble or bronze. Nobles and wealthy merchants have competed to erect the grandest markers for their dead, leading to a wide variety of styles and concepts created by artists at the height of their skills.

One of the cemetery's most impressive attractions is the Raven Queen's Monument. This intricate, sixty-foot high sculpture depicts the Raven Queen, masked with a raven on her shoulder, carrying the Lantern of the Dead. Real fire burns within the lantern, providing the area with decent illumination at night.

### Sapphire Square

The Sapphire Square is the center of general commerce and trade within Ibrido, named for the decorative blue cords that hang over each intersection bearing all manner of streamers and dangling beads. Businesses both young and old all mingle here, competing for the attention of anyone with coin. Many bards and performers bring an air of lively irreverence to the bustling atmosphere.

The square is located across a deep blue lagoon from the docks and is most readily accessed by gondola, though the lovely North, West, South, and East Bridges connect the square to the main thoroughfares. It's lovely, paved with colorful cobblestones, and the perimeter is lined with buildings all painted in light, pastel tones. There's much to see and do in the district, which is bustling, lively, and filled with merchants, visitors, performers, and artists.

A tall clock tower looked over the square, which the locals affectionately refer to "Uncle Time". It chimes every thirty minutes, and can be heard throughout the town.

#### Points of Interest

* **Forsythe's Antiques:** A shop for oddities, knick-knacks, and antiques of every variety.
* **The Iron Strike:** A blacksmithy owned by a dwarven smith named Kali Irondown.
* **The Lucky Shoe Tavern:** A tavern located in the heart of downtown. Popular with locals and visitors to the city alike.
* **Seafloor's Bounty:**  A general store run by a tiefling named Vivienne.
* **Trembling Sparrow Inn:**  A popular inn among sailors, where one may purchase time with "soft company".

### Sacred Row

While churches are spread throughout the city, a number of churches were built along the same street. This was done to accommodate visitors, and was done quite rapidly. There are few merchants or places of business along this street, which is usually packed with worshipers. The sounds of prayers and music, and the smell of incense is strong anywhere you go. The churches of **Pelor, Boccob, Yondalla, Sune, Heironeous, Moradin,** and **Ehlonna** are found here. In the middle of the square is an ever-burning bonfire, meant to symbolize the eternal hope and light of the gods.

### Shoreline

The major port of the Lucian Coast region, this massivew harbor that forms the southern edge of the city is about as lavish as docks come. Dozens of ships come into port every day, carrying goods and gold from across the world, and many visitors come to briefly live like kings with the many amusements the city has to offer.

Alongside the more upscale and lavish establishments and institutions, there are dozens of cheap inns and shady storefronts to be found here. Two large breakwalls are built around the docks, and a tall lighthouse sits upon either wall. The floating church to **Melora** is found here, as is a hostel that serves as a **church of Fharlanghn.**

#### Points of Interest

* **Meandering Treasures:** A pawn shop, where one can sell pretty much anything. It won't pay top coin, but it's a quick way to earn some coin.

### Silvercut District

This district is named for the old coin mint that once operated here that printed Ibrido's currency of silver pennies, before the city joined the Iron Bank and adhered to the Gold Standard. This affluent area houses competing guild families and well-connected businesses. The beautiful Pearl Tower temple to the Lawbringer and the House of Prosperity temple to the Lady of Coin reside within the Silvercut District. In short, the Silvercut District is the financial center and the heart of industry in the city. Many of the most famous businessmen and traders, as well as guildhalls and banks, are found here.

* **The House of Prosperity:** This temple to the Lady of Coin is a gilded building that appears to be a well-guarded bank, and that's because it is.
* **Library of the Cerulean Sun:** This sprawling institution is home to one of the largest libraries in the Lucain Coast, rivaled only by the Grand Library of Auros.
* **The Pearl Tower:** A striking temple dedicated to the Lawbringer. The tower is the most notable feature, but a number of halls are connected to the primary entrance within the tower that lead to various law offices, court rooms, and the like.
* **The Promenade Arcana:** A purveyor of magical artifacts and arcane scrolls. Owned and run by **Cecil Tortuga**, a tortle wizard who has run the shop for decades now.

### The Spears

Found on the north side of the city, near the Cerulean District, this area includes a well-guarded prison, as well as barracks, many forges, and training grounds. Every military regiment of the Army of Ibrido trains and are based here. The City Watch also has its base here in the Tower of Spears. **The Azure Aren**a is found in the Spears, at the very edge of the district, adjacent to the **temple of Kord**.

#### Points of Interest

* **Azure Arena:** A massive, domed arena where gladiator games are held daily. The stands are almost always packed. It's not too hard to compete, and the incentives to win are considerable; gold, fame, and sometimes even more. While fights aren't to the death, it still happens from time to time.
* **The Fist of Fury Tavern:** An inn and tavern found on the outskirts of the district. For those wishing to compete in the arena, and for those simply wishing to spectate, it's *the* place to stay. The tavern is built around a small, stone arena where boxers beat the shit out of each other. Open 24 hours, and it's always lively.

### The Tumbledowns

Within the Tumbledowns, the majority of citizens live in cramped structures of varied shape and design, from clay domes to thatched huts to warped wooden shacks. The architecture resembles a blend of cultures from all over Tyrind, and along with the Glittering Road, creates a surprisingly pleasant patchwork atmosphere even in the more run-down regions. A number of small temples are situated in the Tumbledowns.

#### Points of Interest

* **The Low-Way Tavern:** This three-story building is impossible to miss and has been here for nearly a century and a half, becoming something of a local landmark. It is notable for being a popular stop for adventurers due to the giant pit in the middle of the building that leads to the Undercity; a massive dungeon located beneath the city. Many tales exist that tell of the dungeon's riches. Many go into the dungeon every year, and very few ever return. But those who do are forever changed by the experience. Local law prohibits groups of fewer than five from entering the Pit.

### Watercrest

A slum located outside the city walls, built along the shore. It is mostly sandy, rocky beaches and small, ramshackle buildings. The neighborhood regularly flood, which has driven many of the businesses and "wealthier" residents to build scaffolding and raised platforms to keep out of the water. This has created two layers to the neighborhood--Upper Watercrest, which is a series of bridges, scaffolding, walkways, and platforms built atop 15-20 foot poles and ropes; and Lower Watercrest, a muddy, damp pit where everyone else lives.

## Geography

The largest city in southern Dharrenal, the resplendent seaside metropolis of Ibrido is nestled against the Tagliamenta River where it meets the Storming Sea, and the city is crisscrossed by dozens of canals. These canals serve as the primary method of transport around and across the city.

The city is built atop a cluster of leveled hills and slight changes in elevation mark the variation between districts. Past the farmsteads, beyond the tents and ramshackle homes that mark the boundaries of the city, lies the Glittering Road; a series of connecting main roads made of smooth, multicolored stones reclaimed from the ocean shores. These roads care through the interior districts, on either side of the canals.

### Plumgroves

The Plumgroves, also called the Forests of Plums or the Woodlands of Delight, the Plumgroves are a luscious woodland filled with soft grasses, swaying tropical trees with white bark and purple flowers, and numerous varieties of delicious, celebrated fruit. Nowhere else is there such a condenses collection of sought-after berries and fruit throughout the continent, and the people of Ibirdo have based much of their identity and lifestyle on this abundance. Fireplums are native to this forest.

Local laws limit the hunting of wild game to ensure a controlled ecosystem and guard are always patrolling around the forest to prevent poaching. The Plumgroves are beautiful and safe, and it's not uncommon for families and children to be strolling through the public trails.

## Demographics

As a cosmopolitan city and center of trade, Ibrido is rather populous, with a population of just over 200,000. The population is mostly human (68%) with a rather sizable dwarf (7%) and halfling (6%) population. Almost every sentient race can be found here, making up the remaining 19% of the population.

## Government

The laws of the Lucain Concord are enforced with varying stringency within each city. Nowhere is this more true than Ibrido, where the law can be bought like any other commodity. Anything can be purchased here, even the ear of Marquis Ambrose Azuro, the city's celebrated and much-loved leader.

The Azuro family are the direct descendants of the hero Eclesus Azuro, who slew the dragon Naust and defeated the Black Dynasty nearly four centuries ago. It was his bloodline that established the city of Ibrido, and it is his blood that governs the city to this day. It wasn't only the heroics of the family's patriarch that brought people to him, however; the Azuro family began attracting merchants and hiring mercenaries and bringing them to the city. In time, anyone who sought safety on the waves turned to the Azuro family privateers. As the most recent in his family to lead Ibrido, Marquis Ambrose Azuro steadfastly collaborates with the other leaders of the Lucain Coast to keep the conord an independent nation, free from foreign control and influence.

## Crime

Ibrido has been a pivotal nexus of criminal activity for some time, and nearly all elements of major commerce within the city are tied to crime syndicates in some way. Many of the powerful merchants and company owners are either part of the Grinners, the Aspis Consortium, or are indentured to them, or some other group. Criminal operatives are plentiful within the law enforcement of Ibrido, so most illegal activity is covered up or allowed to slide, unless such crime interferes with criminal interests.

## Traditions & Holidays

* A common insult is "Doth thy mirror crack?", based off of a popular opera. It's meant to signify that the target of the insult is both ugly and stupid.
* It is customary to say "go with peace" when ending a conversation of any sort.
* It is illegal to harm a cat for any reason. Due to this, stray cats are a common sight across the city.
* Thanks to the Scrivener's and Clerk's Guilds, Ibrido has a remarkable custom of labeling its streets, and even many of its alleyways and courts. The method of identification by district and neighborhood, from carving into stone to brass plates.
* The phrase "Dabbler but no master" is a local variation of the popular adage "jack of all trades, master of none". This stems from a popular folk song, with the line "No wizard am I / I am a dabbler, not a master, I cannot tell a lie / No mastery burns within my heart / Which aches anytime that we're apart / No spell can I cast and I do not know lore / But I'll sail 'cross the oceans 'til we're parted no more".
* There are many different names for people who boast of martial skill but shrink from actual violence. Such names include "sharpjaws", "bullyblades", and "babyblades".

### The Festival of the Cerulean Sun

A weeklong festival in memory of the city's liberation from the Black Dynasty by King Eclesus Azuro over four hundred years ago. It's an extremely popular festival, attracting thousands to the city every year.

The fourth day of the festival is famous for the Grand Melee; a massive free-for-all of fifty warriors held in the arena amidst a constantly-changing battlefield.

## History

### Ancient History

Ibrido was once a collection of small, semi-nomadic human tribes who called themselves "Ventodan". These people once fished from the myriad waterways in the area, moving from island to island as the fish moved. They are thought to have been a relatively peaceful people. There exists a written account of these tribal peoples, evidenced from the writings of **Adeva Lindeni**, an elven scribe who explored the Lucain Coast with a band of elven explorers nearly 2,000 years ago. As Lindeni wrote:

*"Beyond the cliffs we found islands beyond count, connected by fast-moving canals, some as wide as lakes, and others narrow enough to step across unaided. Columns of smoke indicative of fire were seen and we descended into the valley, where the human natives came upon us using a fleet of small canoes, made and bound together from the thin trees that grew along the cliffs. They belonged to the natives, who call themselves the 'Ventodan'. We can only communicate through the magics of Lady Ura, thank the goddess. We spent the next week among them. They were a peaceful people, and kind. They seem to worship Melora, or some aspect of her. They are expert fisherman and can navigate the canals as easily as a bird can navigate the winds."*

### The City of Dread

At some point after that account was written, the valley was conquered by the Black Dynasty; a line of cruel Pharaoh Lich-Kings who covered the lands in a wave of terror and malice. For centuries they stood unopposed and ruled the majority of the Lucain Coast.

They built the center of their empire, Xhohax, the City of Dread, over the islands and canals of the Ventodan people. The city was the largest on the peninsula, with tall, jagged black walls. The dead writhed in the streets, the waters grey and filled with evils beyond reckoning. And in the center of this city, the Dread Ziggurat, where the Lich King lurked.

Then came **Eclesus Azuro**, the Blue Storm. A lowly slave boy born in the holy city of Auros, Azuro earned his freedom in the Arena of the Stormlord, and left Auros to become a mercenary. With time, his reputation and skill grew. He witnessed the evils of the Black Dynasty firsthand and went to the Ecclesiastic Pansophical in Auros and pleaded for their aid in his goal of slaying the Lich King, but they refused to interfere. Furthermore, they forbade him from doing so himself, for fear that any provocation would turn the Lich King's eye toward Auros.

With no other option, Azuro raised a small army of his own and marched on the city. They arrived at the gates of the city, and Azuro sent the Lich King a gift--a crate filled with the heads of his chief lieutenants; vampires who ruled over the lands directly beyond the walls. A note had been nailed into the head of the greatest of them: "You can leave now, or you can join your friends."

What followed was a week long battle past the gates and through the winding streets. Azuro's strength and courage pushes his men onward to devastate a much larger force than their own. Azuro himself entered the Ziggurat at sundown on the fifth day with a unite of his most trusted comrades. At dawn on the seventh day, the banners bearing Azuro's crest--a gleaming, blue sun--were hung from the towers. The remaining dead crumbled to dust. Azuro tore down the Ziggurat and, on its consecrated ashes, built the Cerulean Palace.

The new free city was named Ibrido, which means sacred waters. Ever since, the city has grown considerably and has enjoyed peace, prosperity, and security. The ruling family still belongs to the bloodline of the hero Azuro, and is known as the **Azure Dynasty**.