Descent into Avernus

(Jeff_L) #1

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to exclusive trade agreements with various caravans.


As soon as mid-afternoon a rrives, however, shoppers


are shuffied back out the arched gates, and the only


non-Calishites still allowed within the neighborhood are


those who've married into a Little Calimshan family or


otherwise earned the sacred trust of a drudach"s resi-


de nts. While many residents of Little Calimshan venture
into the larger city for business or pleasure, not even
the Flaming Fist is able to force its way into the neigh-
borhood-turned-fortress after hours except in the direst
circumstances, and each drudach is instead patrolled

by a militia of young unmarried warriors (guards with


scimitars instead of spears) called amlakkars.
While Little Calimshan presents a unified face to the

rest of the city, it has all the problems of any settlement.


Income inequality is made all the more obvious by


density, with paupers living literally side-by-side with

wealthy genie-binders. Older isolationists clash with


young folk eager for more interaction with the wider


city. Yet by far the largest issue is the gang war currently


ravaging Little Calimshan. Seeing the Guild as fun-


damentally an outsider organization, a Calishite gang


called the Right Pashas seeks to oust Guild agents from


Little Calimshan's underworld. The Guild's popular


half-Calishite kingpin, Rilsa Rael (see the accompany-


ing stat block), naturally objects to this insult, and each


night residents bar their doors tight as a turf war of


thugs and thieves rages across their rooftops.


Among Little Calimshan's most notorious locations


is the Calimjewel Emporium, widely regarded as the


best jeweler in the city- and the best place to fence


BALOUR'S CAT£ CAZEITEER


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stolen gems, as it's also th e local Guild headquarters. In


addition to hosting regular public forums in her shop,


Rael tacitly oversees the Garden of Whispers, a maze of


wood-and-paper screens where people from across the


city can buy and sell secrets with Guild agents and each


other, speaking through the barriers so as to maintain


anonymity. Also popular are schools like the Lamp of


Learning and the Verdashir Academy (also known as


the De rvis h Academy), which train spellcasters and war-


riors in the styles of their ancestral homeland, allowing


only the most talented outside rs to access their archives

or join in their lessons. And, of course, every patriar


in the city has visited the famous Oasis Theater, home


of the city's most daring-and sometimes dangerous-
productions.

OASIS THEATER
Baidu r's Gate plays home to a variety of small theaters

and cabarets, but none can hold a candle to the epic


spectacle of the Oasis. Theate r owner and director Jonas


Goodnight, a chaotic neutral male human spy, puts on


shows even more outrageous than his magnificently


crafted outfits. Productions involve everything from live
monsters to powerful illus ion magic, whHe also show-
casing the most talented performers in the city. Actors
and musicians perform thei r songs and monologues

from atop flaming trapezes or huma n towers, wbiJe ac-


robats s hock the audience with physical feats bordering
on the supernatural.
Even lowbrow theatergoe rs unable to decipher

Good night's artistic genius can appreciate his flagrant

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