CHOLDAI

The Infamous City of Jade

Tone: Unpleasant, brutal, hard-edged, and oppressive city carved into limestone ledges.
Timeframe: -1600 to present
Artifice: Generally Standard, but dipping down to Low in areas related to comfort.
Region: Tears of Vrylakos
Capital: Choldai (~820,000)
Notable Settlements: miscellaneous mining camps (~100 to ~2,000)
Government: Autocratic Tyranny
Ruler: Lord High Despot for Life, Draach Gurka, Fourth of that Name
Races: Human (95%), Other (5%)
Languages: Vrylakian
Religions: Putatively the Tearic Pantheon, but the Despots have made a practice of squelching religion for centuries and only a handful of embattled temples exist.
Coinage: Choldai mints an iron Duraba that is worth the equivalent of 1cp. Only the small upper class are wealthy enough to conduct transactions where this small unit of currency would be impractical, but they use foreign currency amongst themselves.

Synopsis

Located on a rocky, rugged, and ugly crater-pocked Shard, the city of Choldai itself grew from a collection of jade and iron mining towns. Choldai has always been a rough and brutal settling; historically an anarchic state of squatting and feuding miners, fourteen generations ago a brutal tyrant and his cruel thugs managed to exert control over the region where Choldai now stands, declaring himself the Despot of Choldai, and his progeny quickly spread that control to the entire Shard. The resulting tyrannical autocracy dominates the city and its Shard to this day.

The city itself is dark and cheerless, carved from rock in tiers and gullies and decorated sparingly by the downtrodden populace. Austere and foreboding, it leaves little pleasant in the memories of those who have visited. The chief of the city's few attractions are inarguably the infamous Fighting Pits of Choldai, where ritualized pit fights are regarded as a national art form. Unlike the gilded gladiatorial Arenas of Fair Phanosh where mock combats and light fighting are staged for entertainment, or the Challenge Circles of Ohjavia where expert warriors meet to test and better their skills, the Fighting Pits of Choldai are small filthy holes where men bleed and die to the cacophony of blood-fevered folk who care little for skill, preferring savagery and brutality.

Folk look the other way in oppressed Choldai, and no good deed goes unpunished by the Depot's men lest it engender hope in the populace. Cruelty and inhumanness are a way of life encouraged and enforced by the heartless Despots for generations. Survivors see to themselves, and the strong prosper by exploiting those weaker than themselves. Those who are crippled or die are believed to be weak or at least unlucky and therefore deserving of their fate.

Choldai is considered one of the Nine, for despite its smaller populace, the Despot's personal fortune is vast from generations of graft and extreme taxation. Several times over the generations the Despot of the day has hired off-Shard mercenaries when needed to bolster their conscript forces and bully boys.

Edit

Magic

Magic use is basically against the law in Choldai, though as usual in this shithole its generally nothing a few greased palms can't overcome.

Edit

Details

The Bleeding Way: In such a culture it is unsurprising that many learn some form of self defense, and make a deliberate attempt to toughen themselves up. Most Choldani fighting styles revolve around the concept of durability first, skill second, and the current reigning school in the Fighting Pits known simply as the Bleeding Way takes this to extremes. The Bleeding Way concentrates on learning how to take a hit to avoid long term handicap, taking a hit to score one yourself, and continuing to fight though sorely injured. Due to generations of de facto culling of the weak, the natives are already typically hardy, and many are able to refine this into a nearly mystic discipline.

Edit

Adventure Seeds

Where ever there is oppression, there is an underground: The Despots have ruled for fourteen generations with an iron hand. But there is of course a lot of discontent, and a few brave souls operate in cells of semi-organized resistance. The Despot's Chamberlain Breku Dar's bully boys and snitches are their natural enemies, and a few members of the underground are caught every so often resulting in sham trials and cruel punishments...but viva la resistance!
Easy money if you don't mind the work: The Despot is looking for a handful of crack mercenaries to root out a particularly entrenched resistance cell using a remote mining camp and the shafts below it half a day from Choldai to rally supporters. The team's mission is to assault the camp in force causing as much collateral damage as possible, seek out the ringleaders of the cell, and bring them to the Despot for trial and public execution. The payout is very generous, and everyone knows that the Despots of Choldai always pay mercenaries what they are owed (so as not to poison the well). It's a great opportunity for those lacking morals or ethics to make some coin...

killershrike.info