Rayew

Treasures of Rayew
The City is laid out in a circle five miles in diameter, There is a twenty foot high stone wall around the perimeter of the city. The wall is solid, at intervals, the city guard has stacked crates and hay cubes in order to hurry crossbow-wielding patrolling guards to a good vantage point. There are eight gates in the city, one at each of the cardinal directions, and one at each of the intermediate. The cardinal gates are called North, South, East and West respectively and the gates remaining are Winter, Summer, Autumn and Spring. Eight three cart roads smoothly cobbled with stones from a quarry in Resento by dwarf and human artisans. The roads all meet at a lake with a small island in its center. Upon the island there is a magical clocktower. A circular road exists halfway between the wall and the lake. All the sectors created by the roads are gardens, clusters of inns and apartments, trade booths, bazaars, bars, bakeries, banks and tinker-toy shoppes. There are a couple of parks in Rayew where the city guard meet in the mornings and in the afternoons during physical fitness exercises and shift change duties.

The guards are sworn to protect holders of tiles and citizens of Rayew. They are also often generously tipped by merchants who get some of their wares returned. Pickpocketing is strongly discouraged in Rayew. It is an Imperial offense to attempt to disarm, harass, kill, poison or otherwise hinder the duties of the guard. Initially when the Rose Empire gained control of the market of Rayew, both the Hodges and the guards were largely citizens of the Empire as well. Over time, Guard positions were eagerly sought by young people who grew up in the City or had just retired from a hard life at sea. Sometimes guards would accompany vessels as protection from privateers. Emperor Bedlan refused entry to anyone who was not a citizen of the Rose Empire. This included guards, but excluded diplomats and a select few traders.

In the marketplace goods are changing hands morning, noon and night. Spend more than a week in Rayew and you'll soon learn that you can buy an old shoeshine kit from an urchin, earn a couple silver coins for some sewing needles and some granulated sugar, darn a few socks for a couple more silver, buy a bottle of wine from a newly married couple, sell the wine to a drunkard and the bottle to an alchemist, take that gold coin to the fairy races and turn it into ten gold coins! This can be arranged all before lunch.

The section of land between the South and Summer gates belongs to the Duke and the Duchess. They were both born of noble families who held tremendous sway in exports to the Kingdom of Lin and to the Rose Empire on the Far Eastern continent,Kemenjica. The duke's palace was full of ornate drinking vessels, framed maps and treaties, ancient swords and countless safes. Twelve guards are posted within the palace all day long. Some of the guards are rotated weekly. Several luxury guilds hold lectures and workshops on implements of finer trading. In the event of a siege, the elite citizens of Rayew can lay in wait for many weeks and not miss hot chocolate, fried eggs, puppet theater, cheese and of course, wine.

Two barracks stand one at the west gate and one inside the city on the lake side of the Northeastern quadrant. They are heavily guarded and act as armories as well as dwellings and training facilities for the city guard. Sometimes the barracks are visited by imperial officers, heroes or detachments from distant lands. The Bank of Rayew stands directly between the two barracks near the western shore of the lake. It possesses a magical protection that assists in protecting people's valuables. Rarely the bank has to close and issues a bank holiday. The citizens of Rayew usually quit work early and party in the streets until the clock strikes twelve.

There are temples in Rayew. Gods and Goddesses of people traveling abroad can usually identify with at least part of a collective belief's doctrine. All are welcome in the temples save one. The Shrine of the Dragon Knights. Only a Dragon Knight is allowed to enter this temple. There are few Dragon Knights around who are not employed by Emperor Bedlan. Sometimes a lamp's light can be seen from a guard post outside the temple on the city wall. Supervisors encourage rookie guards not to make any log entries about the Shrine of the Dragon Knights.

Allies of Rayew
=Elves of Dalwin Forest=

The Elves of Dalwin Forest are the closest, most responsive allies to the people of Rayew. Though they view the Duke's authority as some kind of joke, they are more or less friendly to the people of Rayew. They live a very simple lifestyle and prefer to hunt with stone and bone arrowheads. They are by no means primitive. Wizards from Rayew's Observatory frequently seek out the elves to compare notes on celestial observations and listen closely to the lore of the continent of Intiea. Especially useful is the knowledge of local herbal lore which is taught patiently to the children and interested adults of the city.

=Dwarf Yed=

The Yed Clan of Dwarves are a hardworking, no nonsense extended family. They are proficent miners, farmers, coopers, ceramic artists, stone masonary, metalsmithing, and articulate cornocopiae of tall tales and dirty jokes. Thier chief income is derived as a sort of subsidized tax in the form of road maintenence, sewer repair, construction, demolition, cart mechanic and assembly and brewmasters. Dwarves have been forbidden from joining the guard since Emperor Bedlan assumed control of the city through means of threat of force.

=Vale Folk=

Vale folk are a quaint, country people of the Draped Vale who enjoy tending thier orchards and farms. They used to complain about the taxes they paid to the Duke of Rayew before the market was seized by the Emperor. Occasionally, Some Vale folk would wander into Rayew and end up on tall ships headed to new places. Upon returning home, the Vale seems unchanged and hauntingly so. Most Vale folk work as traders or producers of raw goods. They cart different types of produce and livestock on loose schedules. Some well to do farmers or retired adventurers send thier tots to school inside the city. A few are well enough to do (thank you very much) that their children attend palacial school resolutely.

=The City of Nemari=

Nemari is located on the west coast of Inteia, the continent found far west near the central lattitude of the cube of Kay Seif. Nemari is a fortified harbor town with several fortresses along the sandy coastline. A small squadron of defected Dragon Knights is said to operate out of this city. Emperor Bedlan is openly criticized and some nobel families have petitioned King Umar of Nemari to resist the influence of the Empire and his advisors. Some of King Umar's top commanders insist that his lordship make a blockade along the southern passage of Taydo in order to stymie the efforts of the Rose Empire. The King refuses to take military action until he meets face to face with the Duke of Rayew and can collaborate on the delicate matter of defecting from the most powerful political force in the world.

Nemari has a very busy port district. Wagons and carts are loaded with sacks of flour or heads of cabbage. Some carts go clanking by full of bent spears, old kettles and buckets full of belt buckles. Incense, exotic fauna and people who talk funny crowd the market near the main land gate of Nemari. Nemari has a fearsome problem of Trolls and Crocodiles in the sewer system. It's main military condribution is a flexible, extremely nimble and armed with magically enchanced water cannons naval escort corporation. Most of the lilly livered scabs are privateers, but when you get a whole city who says they'll pay gold to board and aquire Imperial ships, they suddenly become political like.

Nemari is known for sending able minded Wizards to Rayew to petition the Council of the Wise using a telepathic link. In this way, they are able to plug into news around the world and weather predictions or requests. King Umar demands to hear of any new developments with the assembly of Dragon Knights in his kingdom. He has been a fan of the Dragon Knights since he was young and would like to meet one and see a real live dragon.