Below is provided a list of common information that just about every peasant, serf and commoner would know about Llorkh is provided below. None of this information is secret, or hard to discover. Your character is not required to know this information, but it may help you, the player understand things that other people talk about.

 

Llorkh is the last 'civilized' city of the West, and is on the western edge of the Anarouch Desert, a wasteland hundreds of miles across that seperates the Western Heartlands from inhospitable and near unapproachable eastern lands of Thesk, Rashemen, Alagrond and the distant dark-lands of Thay, . These places, with their exotic cultures are often quite xenophobic and hostile and together are commonly known as 'The Unapproachable East', and are often unfriendly to outsiders.

 

Most information from these places are rumor spread by caravan merchants claiming (usually falsely) that trinkets they sell from such lands are enchanted or magic charms, though the averag layman knows nothing of such realms a thousand and more miles away; and most accounts are to fantastic to believe.

 

Common Information anyone could effortlessly find out..

 

• Magic is something most are aware exists, but few have access to or practical experience with. Even minor spellcasters are feared, and public displays of magic are discouraged. Consorting with or summoning "demons" or "dark powers" is punishable by death though the layperson may confuse just about any kind of magic at all as 'unnatural' or 'wicked' depending on how it is used. The use of magic will usually facinate (such as fire-juggling), or horrify (throwing fireballs at enemies) crowds and cause mass panic in public which can lead to arrest and (sometimes unjustified) charges.
   

• Llorkh is a landbound walled city; the largest city in the Greypeak region, though there are a few large towns nearby and many, many small villages and hamlets that forces of Llorkh will march to defend throughout the region. The largest of these towns is Elm to the South East which specializes in sheep-herding and wool clothing. Men of Elm have a reputation for brigandry and theft, being distrusted as troublemakers though this is most often used as an excuse to steal from them in return.
   

• Loudwater (a smaller city to the west) and Llorkh are relatively distrustful of eachother, though Llorkh has a superior, if divided fighting force. Citizens of Loudwater disagree strongly with the practice of slavery in Llorkh.
   

• Slavers from Llorkh openly raid the wood-elves of The High Forest every few generations, and men of Loudwater sometimes make effort to defend them, though either city marching against the walls of the other is rare and usually settled diplomatically.
   

• Llorkh has two major exports: Iron and Silver from it's mines in the Graypeak Mountains.
   

• Llorkh has one two major imports: Food from the western heartlands, and Slaves from amongst lawbreakers, the elves of the High Forest, or the mountain tribes of the Graypeaks.
   

• A gold coin is worth 10 silver coins. A silver coin is worth 10 copper coins. Most coins can be cut or broken into fourths called 'pieces'. The average man-at-arms is paid in food and 2 silver per month. A common steel sword usually costs one gold and two silver depending on craftsmanship and the smith's reputation. The average riding horse is seven gold. The average human slave without a skilled trade is often auctioned around 10 gold. A healthy elven child that can outlive their buyer's children can cost as much as one-hundred gold coins at auction. A meal or a day's worth of them is usually a copper or less.
   

• Slaves and Serfs (embonded commoners whom are bought or sold as part of land trade) do much of the labor in the city. Most slavery is debt-slavery, though the debts of most whom fall into slavery are usually ignored entirely once embonded. Landed serfs have many more rights then slaves.
   

• Llorkh is intensely distrustful of most non-humans and applies heavy taxation to businesses and land owned by non-humans. Sometimes this tax extends to purchases made by non-humans, though this is only arbitrarily enforced. Elves are looked down on. Half-orcs without connections may be robbed and murdered by street gangs of citizens or even some members of the city watch unless they have a wealthy employer and are well known. Members of the brutish races such as orcs, gnolls and other monsters are normally only brought into the city in chains for purposes of deadly pit-fighting or to be executed gruesomely for raiding. Dwarves assisting with mining operation are exempt from taxation of their profits under trade law though still subject to property tax.
   

• Llorkh's culture is patriarchal, with legal claim on inherritance passing first to male children; even bastard sons favored over daughters, however frequent battles with gnolls, orcs and even inter-house rivalries reduce male populations and female warriors though uncommon are not unheard of. Nobles often keep female slaves as concubines.
   

• Women outnumber men in Llorkh three to two and Llorkh itself is underpopulated. Even the poor-folk in the city may have unusually large homes, given the number of them that are empty or being occupied by squatters.
   

• Many gods from different Pantheons have temples and are worshipped, or at least have have public shrines or statues and are paid respect in the city - however it is considered a capital offense to worship 'dark gods' or to 'consort with demons.' This law is often ambiguously enforced at the convenience of local politics. Llorkh has in the past welcomed (or at least tolerated) followers of 'Loviatar, The Maiden of Pain' ... and executed the priests of alien dragon gods such as Tiamat and Bahamut from the far east.
   

• Llorkh exercises a few major punishments for lawbreakers; Beating and public humilation in the stockades, Fines, Jailing at the cost of food for those whom cannot pay fines, and Slavery for those whom cannot pay for food in prison. Murderers and rebellious slaves are often executed by hanging, beheading, or crucifixion on the merchant road beyond the great eastern gate. Slaves (although not serfs) have few rights and are occassionally killed with little or no cause, though this is far from the norm. If a slave owner in the city is murdered and a slave is suspected in the death: All of his or her slaves will be executed without trial - usually by crucifixion to die of exposure.
   

• Laws are enforced by individual Noble House guards, the houses are paid a portion of collected taxes in the city, and laws are enforced at the discretion of the nobility. If a law has not been broken or is still being investigated, a commoner may still be arrested 'In Contempt of the Nobility' at the discretion of titled land owners.
   

• Though commoners may "buy" land, they are effectively paying the current resident to move out; as the land properly belongs to the nobility. Those whom do not pay their taxes will have their property confiscated and resold at the pleasure of the nobility.
   

• Llorkh has had no titled ruler since the murder of King Redblade by the Zhentarim hundreds of years earlier. The City is ruled by a council of minor noble houses still carrying titles from that period known as 'The Peerage' or 'Council of Peers'. Over time, their politics have caused the ruin of several houses with lofty titles such as Duke or Count, and others, with minor titles such as knight or gentry rise to prominence - this makes negotiating with "Llorkh" for concessions or trade incredibly difficult as Llorkh rarely presents a united front except in times of war.
   

• The largest and most influential noble house in Llorkh is House Krell ruled by Duke Tyranis Giltan Krell, which lost much of it's power durring an attempt to take control of the city decades earlier, though House Krell maintains by far the largest standing force of several hundred armored riders; the elderly would-be usurper stepped aside years ago and allows his son Lord Dreston Krell to lead his house. Neither of them are seen in public.
   

• The largest and most influential faction in Llorkh is 'The Guild' - though there are many guildes in Llorkh across the majority of professions, any time someone in Llorkh refers to 'The Guild' or 'Red Cloaks' they are referring to The Llorkhian Slaver's Guild; the remains of a branch of the Zhentarim trade guild that origionally overthrew House Redblade. Many Noble Houses are heavily invested in The Guild. Different members of the guild deal in everything from skilled tradesmen, common laborers or the training of exotic concubines.
   

• Fifty years ago half of Llorkh was burned down by a large, fire-breathing dragon which was slain by Duke Tyranis Krell and a famous elvish dragon slayer, Leordan of Svandi. A district of the city consumed by fire was ruined and never reoccupied is known as 'The Scar'; which is sometimes used by smugglers and brigands. All gates into the scar are secured, but it can still be reached by looters through the city's tunnels and sewers though those caught looting may be prosecuted; although this zone is never patrolled by the city watch. Ghouls and other scavengers are sometimes spotted in The Scar.