92 Chapter 2: Gazetteer of tal’Dorei
families dotting the grassy hillsides. As surface space
grew limited in centuries past, the city began excavating
a network of catacombs called the Undervaults. Upkeep,
expansion, and general safeguarding of the sites are over-
seen by the Gravewatchers, a guild of families that has
held political and social hegemony control over the district
for generations. A very recent excavation in the Under-
vaults was found to lead into the Crystalfen Caverns, and
was promptly sealed off. This did not stop some members
of the Gravewatchers from seeing an opportunity, how-
ever; passage is occasionally granted to the Clasp or others
willing to pay for entry to the dangerous realm below.the port of eMon
The Port of Emon encompasses the massive inlet and
series of docks that allow a vibrant flow of shipments in
and out of the city. Over a hundred ships fill this port
at any given time, and the dock crews are ever working,
carrying crates and goods away to Abdar’s Promenade,
or to the empty vessels for exportation. The northern
sector of the Port is mostly allocated to the Everline, a
powerful fisherman’s guild that frequently feuds with the
shipping guild the Onyx Banner regarding dock space
and taxing dock use. These feuds have never come to
blows, but the Everline has begun making secret alli-
ances with the sahuagin of the southern coast. What are
they planning?the Upper slUMs
The Upper Slums began several hundred years ago as a
tent city, built by citizens too poor to pay Drassig’s outra-
geous taxes and were forced outside of the city gates. As
time went on, the slum grew until it rivaled the size of a
third of the city. Though their conditions were still meager
when the magnanimous Zan Tal’Dorei ended Drassig’s
iron rule, the city’s denizens chose to remain, having
created a community with its own culture of inexpensive
living and brotherhood in poverty, away from the bustle
of the city’s inner streets. A microcosm society now exists
within the slum, including its own trade square, shrines
for worship, and makeshift farms on the outskirts.
Though the district’s name was once a sneering insult
by the Cloudtop elite, its people have reclaimed the name,
transforming the term “Upper Slums” into a symbol of
pride. Two major ills afflict the region; the most obvious
is its rampant crime and Clasp activity, for the Arms of
Emon care little for defending the district. The second
feeds the first; wealthy Emonians have suddenly begun
building homes within the Upper Slums, diluting its
unique culture and fanning the flames of resentment.the loWer slUMs
The Lower Slums are a fraction of the size of its northern
counterpart residing just outside the southernmost gates
out of Emon. When a large refugee band from Othan-
zia was barred entry into the city near the end of Trist
Drassig’s rule, the squatters instead set up shop beyond
the walls, slowly forming a community of farmers who
requested land in exchange for providing produce andgrown goods to the people of the city. After the tyrant’s
fall, an agreement was made, and now the farming com-
munity has grown to become one of the larger sources of
farming products within Emon. While called a slum to
this day by habit, the humble farmers here are rather safe
from crime and poverty.the shoreline farMs
The Shoreline Farms is a stretch of murky shore that
the denizens of the Upper Slums have converted into
farmland specializing in the few vegetables that grow
in saltwater-soaked soil. Bountiful harvests of quattet
fruit and the hard-to-grow brineroot has led to a small
economic boom for some within the Upper Slums. This
situation has led to farmers being fiercely territorial, occa-
sionally to the point of actual violence.the Grot to
The Grotto is the sprawling series of chambers and halls
that composes the Clasp’s main base of operations beneath
the city of Emon. Hidden amongst a series of labyrinthine
tunnels and passages that are woven into the sewer system,
it’s rumored there are over a dozen entrances into the
Grotto concealed throughout the city, and over a hundred
others abandoned and filled in for fear of discovery. The
very nature of the Clasp’s business is to keep shifting out of
sight, and as such, the actual core of the organization moves
from base to base between multiple subterranean structures,
ever building further underground or repurposing a long
abandoned hideout whenever necessary.lanDmarKs
GilMore’s GlorioUs GooDs
The broad, single-story façade of Shaun Gilmore’s won-
drous magical emporium belies the extravagance of its
interior. Within, the air is thick with a dozen competing
perfumes, each more pungent than the last. The interior is
impossibly large—certainly larger than its exterior walls
would have you believe—and filled with seemingly end-
less rows of arcane curiosities and artifacts, many of whose
cryptic functions have been lost to time.
Everburning candles in an array of unnatural colors
light the shop, casting tantalizing shadows over every
bubbling phial and mystical orb. Characters entering the
shop are first met by Gilmore’s assistant Sherri, a half-elf
draped in deep purple robes. If they are lucky, or partic-
ularly convincing, they may even meet the hero Gilmore
himself. Gilmore is ever eager to recount his part in the
fall of the Chroma Conclave, often embellishing his role
in the final battle with Thordak himself.
Gilmore’s Glorious Goods sells all magic items of very
rare rarity and lower for the price range listed in the GM’s
guidebook, as well as one or two long-lost legendary items.
Artifact-quality items are beyond even Shaun Gilmore’s
usual fare, but he may know clues to a specific artifact’s
location. Magic items are expensive, and those strapped
for cash may inquire about sponsorships and quests done
in Gilmore’s service.