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Chapter 4: THE CITIES
the horizon and help hide it from prying eyes. They also
provide practical landmarks and starting points from
which to dig, since the city is often engulfed by sandstorms and silt storms that rage in from the wilderness
and the Mundair Sink.
There is very little crime among the close-knit streets
of this community. Everyone knows each other, as if the
population were somehow just one big extended family. Natives adorn themselves with mauxon greenstone
jewelry, and treat strangers with kindness until they
break the law or slight the city in some way, and then
they face the wrath of every inhabitant of Bariga. Many
would-be thieves or raiders find themselves driven into
the Mundair Sink for their transgressions.
Brokkan
Jul the Hunter, he is a mighty warrior who prefers to
hunt huge game with his bone spears, bow, and arrows.
Other affluent groups in Alos include the Skinners’ &
Tanners’ Guild and the Bonesmiths’ Guild; at least one
member of each of these three powerful guilds always
sits on the Dotrong Council.
Bariga
To the south of the Mundair Sink lies Bariga, a small city
more a town in truth. It is home to a desert sub-tribe of
Attite humans who are swift hunters, clever trackers, and
fierce warriors. They prey upon marauding raiders that
venture too close to their home, hunt the dangerous regional beasts such as the matakata and wild thakal, and
even brave the dangers of the Mundair Sink itself.
Bariga’s construction is typical of many desert tribal
settlements: short buildings with flat rooftops for most
homes. There are a few peaked roofs here and there
where the construction breaks with tradition for good
reason. These distinctions break the lines of the city on
Once called the City of Whispers, the Prajalu city of
Brokkan was a hive of rumors and gossip. It enjoyed the
lurid status as a place where one could discover literally
anything for the right price. Then came the Stranger.
This bandage-wrapped outsider wandered through the
city and left misery, disease, and death in his wake. Few
know for certain, but refugees claimed he was a deformed mage, an insane Shadazim, a plague-ridden
mind bender, or a powerful centuries-old undead being. Regardless of the truth, the Stranger preyed on the
people of Brokkan’s Old Town and warped their bodies to
his own fiendish ends.
This ghoulish visitor has given Brokkan its new name
as the City of Silence. Not a single creature moves
through the Old Town’s empty streets, and only sparse
plants and insects touch its once thriving walls. In the
span of 20 years, the Old Town has become a ghostly
place, a forgotten memory to many and a cursed nightmare to some. The Stranger remains, according to those
who have glimpsed a figure in the swirling desert sands
around Brokkan. Many say he stands often atop the
White Spire, the highest point of the city, watching and
seeking something on the horizons. Life goes on in the
ring of city around the Old Town, normal but for the lingering horror that lurks nearby.
The White Spire, a decrepit ruin of its former self, is no
longer a pallid glimmer in the sun, its unkempt stones
stained by the ravages of time. Regardless, any responsible Khitan guides and trackers warn travelers to keep
a broad distance from Brokkan or risk oblivion, despite
the fact that many thousands live fruitfully around its
perimeter. Rumors swirl across many tongues and many
winds, claiming that the Stranger within may soon
leave the City of Silence for a new city to defile.
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