WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK 0092 0092
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revealed a city strewn with the bodies of its dead. Some
whispered the Stranger of Brokkan wreaked his wicked
magic there, though those who were there know otherwise. They had long heard whispers of a group of clandestine human rebels who longed to break the shackles
of the slavers.
Slavery was rife in Tukka Falk, as in many Watu settlements, and this city grew from ten years of deliberate
planning. By chance, the slaves found a way to propagate poisons into the food and water of their captors
and slavers. The fast-acting magical poison spread like
wildfire and struck all Pachyaur down over a few short
hours. Once the slaves escaped their bonds, they unleashed their vengeance upon their weakened former
masters.
Tukka Falk is now a Chindi human city, and nonhumans
enter only under strict observation, though natives now
hunt down and imprison or kill any elephantine Pachyaur on sight. The city retains its original architecture
designed for the large elephantaurs, and seeing humans against its massive scale just underscores the differences between the two species and makes the pachyesh architecture look much bigger than it really is.
Wani Chereet
The Prajalu-dominated city of Wani Chereet lies well
to the west of the New Dune Wastelands and slopes
down the side of a rolling hill. Society’s movers and
shakers live in the large stone and thick wood buildings at the top of the city closest to a freely available but
guarded water source. This water source is one of the
largest fountains in the city, and takes the form of a giant conical structure down which water flows into a deep
recessed bowl. A very thin, crisscrossed netting stretches over the bowl, keeping detritus and other scum from
the water. The fresh water seeps through several layers
of porous stone and takes on certain local minerals that
remove impurities from the liquid as well. Large stone
spigots with wooden taps provide a way to measure out
the water.
In Wani Chereet, a building’s degree of decoration
displays the wealth or prosperity of its occupants. The
uppermost buildings are all of fine make and have a distinct angular look to them, with thick glass windows and
heavy shutters. Access to the fountain is strictly controlled by the Raetann, the Water Guild, whose blessings must be sought and whose whims and edicts must
be served.
Further down the slope there are the dwellings, shops,
and warehouses for merchants, crafters and other takaku
90
laborers of Wani Chereet. While not as opulent as those
buildings higher up, they are all functional. There’s also
a covered market that sells many local crafted goods and
produce ranging from wild game to freshly-caught fish.
As the city sprawls downward towards the lower areas,
the houses change to nothing but flimsy shacks. Here
crime, disease and sickness run rampant.
A number of nondescript stone structures house the
administrative warrens of the Gare Atessa, from which
their Exhalt direct their organization’s efforts across the
world. One of these is their magnificent Great Library
of Atsrath. Chroniclers come and go from Wani Chereet,
seldom interacting with the city’s other denizens.
Wharia
Before Khitus changed, the Great Lake glimmered
with abundant fish and saw some of the finest catches
known across the Old Countries. In those days, a southshore Makadan fishing village grew into a sprawling
town and eventually became Wharia, a strong city in its
own right ruled by the Sovetnik Council of Three. Those
halcyon days of growth and prosperity vanished along
with the waters of the Great Lake in more recent years.
Wharia rests on the southeastern edges of the Great
Barren Lake, a shadow of its former glory. The city now
seems a spoiled fruit in a dusty bowl—once beautiful but now rotting inside and out. Its vistas reflect its
falling status, as once-bright rooftops and lacquered
wood decorations fall in disrepair or are buried beneath
clumsily constructed hovels built everywhere to house
an increasing refugee population.
Citizens and their alleged Kral rulers can barely scrabble together enough food from caravans and other
sources to feed people, so many starve in the poorer
quarters of the city. Desperation and deprivation drives
many to larceny or other activities best left unsaid. The
once-proud people are now a wretched collection of
human detritus, scum and desolate villainy. Plagues
now seem the norm on a nigh-annual basis here.
Yet among all this squalor and disease, some attempt
to pull the city back together despite itself. There exists
a small group of healers under the direction of the tribal
cuvarna, or ‘well custodian,’ trying to stabilize the poorest quarters and remove the sources of disease. They
save as many as they can, using various psychic powers
to heal people or repair their homes. The struggle is an
ongoing battle with others in power, as the Council or its
agents often seize any food and money provided for the
poor. Wharia may be a good place for heroes looking to
make a change.
