Zarash'ak

The city of stilts is the primary port through which House Tharashk exports dragonshards. Founded less than a century ago, Zarash'ak has become the de facto capital of the Shadow Marches, even without formal recognition by the Treaty of Thronehold. Most adventures in the Shadow Marches start in Zarash'ak

When House Tharashk was first searching for a location to establish a port for the dragonshard trade they tried to build on Zarash Bay, near deep waters that would allow for oceangoing vessels. What they quickly discovered, however, was that waters deep enough for ocean vessels were too vulnerable to storms. Zarash'ak was established up the Glum River, after the tributaries unite but before the river splits and spreads into a delta. Oceangoing vessels instead anchor themselves at the mouth of the river, transferring cargo and crew to flat-bottomed river vessels for trade in the city. This strategy is not without risk - Zarash Bay is full of sunken ships that were waiting for deals to be struck when a storm swept up the bay. Treasure hunters hoping to plunder loot have to beware any number of aquatic threats, especially the Drowned, zombified crew members who emanate a suffocating aura.

The Heart

The Heart of the city is nestled in a grove of murk trees, a layered tangle of dragonmarked enclaves and foreign emissary residences. While the Shadow Marches aren't a thronehold nation, every other nation recognizes some level of diplomacy with the clans and House Tharashk helps ensure a steady supply of dragonshards when the Next War begins. The level of investment varies greatly - King Sebastes of Newthrone, Q'barra has sent a full ambassador, while the Flamekeep has only sent a single minister. Beyond Khorvaire, the Sibling Kings of Aerenal have not sent an emissary while Riedra is represented by Ambassador Sosharani.

The treetops in the Heart are home to a Lyrandar airship dock installed only a few years ago. Despite this, the dock has taken only a small portion of the traffic directed through Zarash Bay. The aerial path over Droaam risks encounters with wyverns and harpies loyal to the Daughters of Sora Kell.

The Ring

Beyond the Heart is an ever-expanding jumble of wooden streets and rope ladders. Natives of the Shadow Marches are constantly moving to the city, seeking a life different from their grandparents. The city lacks any form of central planning, so crews of laborers construct new houses and pathways with little consideration for what is to come next and connect to the latest development.

Residents of the ring are always hustling to make the next connection, the next sale, the next big score. While the city lacks the thousand year history and the sturdy towers of Sharn, the attitudes of the two cities are surprisingly similar as people hungry to make it in the world reach ever higher for success and fortune.

The Webs

Hanging below the city is a ramshackle network of floating platforms and hanging canopies, filled with the poor and the mad. The webs are significantly more hospitable in the winter, when the insects die off and water levels are lower. During the summer residents and visitors of the webs are constantly at risk from floods and disease.

While recruitment to strange forms of worship is present in the Ring, many of the actual meetings occur in the Webs. Gatekeeper druids reconnect to the natural world, while cults of the dragon below perform unique and profane rituals to initiate new members. Both groups appeal to residents by promising to restore a missing purpose to their lives and are particularly appealing to those who've had a recent run of misfortune, whether in love or business.

Law and Order

Existing outside the Treaty of Thronehold, even Deneith sentinel marshals have no authority inside Zarash'ak. While this has made the city a haven for criminals and refugees, immigrants to the city need to stay on the good side of the monstrous guards employed by the Dragonne's Roar.

Persons and businesses inside the Heart can expect the full protection of the guards as House Tharashk hopes to build Zarash'ak's reputation. Out in the ring protection is more conditional - foreign dignitaries and house heirs can expect protection, but the common person is typically left to their own devices. This has created a thriving mercenary and bodyguard business for residents without an extended family to provide protection and a threat of revenge.

No lightning rail crosses the Shadow Marches, and House Orien won’t risk its caravans in the treacherous marshlands. No trade roads connect the scattered villages. For generations, the Marcher clans were virtually independent kingdoms, battling all challengers to maintain their dominions in the darkness.

This situation changed with the rise of House Tharashk and the demand for dragonshards. Galifar’s hunger for the mystic crystals was a source of wealth and influence for the heirs of Tharashk, provided they could process the crystals and move them to the markets of the east. The three dominant Tharashk clans were quick to establish refineries, but their ancestral homes were too deep in the Marches to facilitate easy trade with Galifar. The leaders of the clans came together to build the largest city the Marches had ever seen—a port that could carry shards and services to the wider world.

It proved impossible to erect a city on the shores of the Zarash Bay, so architects made their way up the Glum River until they found a region that was stable enough. Even then, building the port was no simple task. The Glum is unpredictable and prone to floods, and the only way to secure a foundation was to raise the city above the river. This style of building is common throughout the Marches, but no construction on this scale had ever been attempted. The creation of Zarash’ak took a decade and the resources of all three great clans. The Torrn druids raised mighty murk oaks from the depths of the Glum. Aided by the brute strength of Aashta laborers, clever Velderan architects built a foundation of interlocking platforms using the trees as supports. Additional piles and pillars were dropped into the Glum, and in time Zarash’ak was born.

Today Zarash’ak is known across Khorvaire as the seat of House Tharashk and the gateway to the Shadow Marches. Those who wish to deal with the leadership of the House of Finding or venture into the depths of the Marches likely find their way to the City of Stilts.

Traveling to Zarash’ak

No secure overland route to Zarash’ak exists. In recent years House Lyrandar has established an airship docking tower in the City of Stilts, and airships remain the swiftest and safest way to reach Zarash’ak. However, many captains refuse to risk their vessels in the skies of Droaam or the wild Marches. As a result, most visitors come to Zarash’ak across the water, laying anchor in Zarash Bay and taking ferries up the Glum River. Typically, the journey costs 10 gp per traveler, but no standards are enforced; ferry operators might charge more for wealthy passengers. The threat of Tharashk bounty hunters generally deters piracy along the Glum, but the river’s dangers include chuuls, mad cultists, and strange horrors of the daelkyr that have risen from the depths.

Getting into the City

Rope ladders and lifts carry new arrivals from the Glum to the platforms of Zarash’ak. Tharashk recently installed a single levitating lift for the heaviest loads, but most of the cranes and elevators are powered by orc muscle or ogre laborers from Droaam.

The primary docks are beneath the Heart, the original core of the city. Those who enter through the docks are evaluated by the Liondrake guards of House Tharashk. These minders care little for identification papers or nationality, but they have a good nose for visitors with trouble on their minds, and a person who offends the Liondrakes might be pushed off a platform into the river. The easiest way to avoid the scrutiny of the guards is to arrive in the company of a Tharashk heir who can dismiss them. Another option is to work with the heirs of Clan Orgaal, who bring goods into Zarash’ak on the wings of wyverns. An Orgaal camp sits north of Zarash’ak, and sufficient gold or other interesting offers can purchase a means of entry into the City of Stilts.

Citizens of the Five Nations often find their first visit to Zarash’ak a disturbing experience. The stench of the city’s waste mixes with the naturally foul waters of the Glum, and Marchers have different attitudes toward body odor than do the people of the east. These factors inspired the poet Kessler to call Zarash’ak “the city of a thousand stinks.” Amid the squalor, the magic of the Torrn druids ensures that the residents have pure water for drinking.

The Heart is the original center of the city, supported by the trunks of massive murk oaks. This area is dominated by the Tharashk enclave and its associated businesses and barracks. The dragonshard refineries are deeper in the Marches, but at any given time the vaults of the Heart hold a fortune in shards waiting to be shipped to the east. The enclave of Zarash’ak is the home of the Tharashk triumvirate, which sets the overall vision for the house. It is also the seat of the Finder’s Guild, and many Tharashk heirs learn to harness their mystical gifts in the Heart of Zarash’ak.

The Ring surrounds the Heart and is constantly expanding. New levels are added to existing buildings, and new platforms are attached to the old. This work is done by different architects with wildly varying levels of skill, and the result is a ramshackle patchwork of a city. Some platforms have wide paths that could almost be considered roads; on and around other platforms, rope ladders are the only way to move from place to place. Most of the respected heirs of the house live in the Heart, leaving the Ring to traders, laborers, and travelers who can afford to stay out of the Webs. However, as the city’s population continues to grow, some members of the Tharashk clans are forced to settle in the Ring.

In general, the Ring is a bustling place. Merchants abound, offering everything from broiled slugs and handmade knives to healing salves and Gatekeeper charms. Beggars and thieves watch for unwary foreigners, and cultists of the Dragon Below take to the streets in search of new recruits. It’s a wild and chaotic environment, with opportunities for those seeking to make contact with Gatekeeper druids, followers of the Dragon Below, or guides to the deeper Marches.

The Webs stretch beneath the rest of the city, in the cramped space between the surface of the river and the lowest platforms of the Ring. The structures here are canopies supported by ropes anchored to the platforms above and the stilts. All of these structures are temporary by design, because when flooding is bad, the lowest canopies can be swept away. Here the poor and the mad mingle with those who enjoy the freedom of a hidden life in the shadows. If you know your way around, the Webs can be the fastest means of moving about Zarash’ak, but running the ropes is dangerous for anyone who has poor balance or enemies in the deeps.

The City of Stilts has no streets as such, and directions are typically based on the names of buildings, the presence of certain people, or strong scents. For example, a traveler might be told to “follow the scent of the midden heap on the North Ring, and look for Torgaan’s black door.”

For a city of its small size, Zarash’ak is a thriving community. In addition to the blood heirs of Tharashk, the City of Stilts draws people from across the Marches. Despite Tharashk’s growing influence, most of the dragonmarked houses prefer to deal with the Finder’s Guild in a more stable location, and many of the services that travelers are accustomed to buying from the dragonmarked must be purchased through locals. A single Sivis message station exists in the Heart, along with the Lyrandar Tower and a lone Gold Dragon Inn; healing services are provided by leech-wielding novice druids instead of the heirs of House Jorasco.

The Shadow Marches aren’t a recognized nation. The Marches didn’t sign the Treaty of Thronehold and aren’t bound by the Code of Galifar. What order exists is imposed by House Tharashk; enforcement and execution are in the hands of the elite Liondrake soldiers and inquisitives. Crimes that occur outside the Heart are largely ignored unless they threaten the house or the city, but anyone who tries to rob the Velderan vaults or disrupt the Sivis message station is hunted down with ruthless efficiency. In general, Marchers are expected to handle their own problems, whether that means defending themselves, hiring ogres as guards, or having a clan of vengeful relatives willing to pursue offenders.

Humans, and orcs make up the bulk of the population in Zarash’ak. A few hundred goblins live in the Webs, along with a number of gnomes, halflings, and half-elves. Traffic with Droaam has brought monstrous creatures to the city; ogres and gargoyles work across Zarash’ak, and each of the Tharashk triumvirs has a medusa bodyguard. The Common tongue remains the standard language in the Heart, but many in the Ring and the Webs speak only Goblin. A significant number of residents speak a language they call Azhani, a blend of the Old Common of Sarlona and Goblin. People who speak Riedran or Goblin can communicate with those who speak Azhani, but nuances can be lost.

Traffic with the east has brought the coins of Galifar and Riedra to the city, and they are used interchangeably in Zarash’ak. Some merchants prefer to barter for goods, and many citizens use raw dragonshard crystals as a form of currency.

Drowned

Zarash Bay holds one of Khorvaire’s largest ship graveyards, and the drowned occasionally rise from the depths to trouble the citizens of Zarash’ak, the City of Stilts, to the north. The drowned are also known to haunt Lantern Keep, a ruined stronghold in the fetid swamp west of the bay. Ships lost in the Straits of Shargon and Kraken Bay have also led to troubling encounters with drowned in southern Breland and Darguun. The frontier city of Stormreach on the northern tip of Xen’drik has also faced the hungry wrath of a drowned crew