Ikath

 IKATH, CITY OF SERPENTS

Ikath is the pinnacle of Thulean civilization at its most seductive, its most vibrant, and its most corrupt. A cosmopolitan city on the shores of the Golden Sea, Ikath welcomes nearly everyone—though few leave the City of Serpents with as many coins as they arrived with.  Almost anything can be had for a price in Ikath, including authorities willing to look the other way. Thieves, dark magicians, cultists, and schemers call the City of Serpents home. Serpentmen openly walk (and slither) through the streets of their own district and sometimes beyond, and the undead lurk in the city’s shadows at night. Ikath is a cheerfully amoral place concerned only with its own welfare and continued enrichment.

SERPENTS, MUMMIES, AND ATLANTEANS

An archeologist looking at Ikath would see the city as a layer cake, with each civilization building on the ruins of those that came before. Ikath was founded by the serpentmen of the Empire of Nessk, who used humans only as servants. A series of elven attacks caused the serpentmen to retreat from Ikath, leaving humans in possession of the city because the elves of Imystrahl and Sersidyen wanted nothing to do with it. After the Empire of Nessk was shattered, some serpentment returned to Ikath, keeping a low profile and intermingling with the humans.  

In 1215 AR, Ghedrar the Necromancer rose to power in Ikath, transforming the city-state into the capital of an undead empire that expanded across Dhar Mesh and central Thule. Once again, the living humans became subordinate to Ikath’s monstrous masters, this time Ghedrar and the undead in his service. Ghedrar’s mummified armies kept the peace in Ikath for almost five centuries, until the Atlantean general Nemruth invaded the city by sea in 1673 AR. The Atlanteans defeated Ghedrar, who disappeared at the battle’s climax and remains hidden in the city to this day. The Atlanteans installed a series of puppet governors—once again reducing the humans to servitude—but their ownership of Ikath didn’t last long. Distracted by the war with Lemuria and then the sinking of Atlantis, the Atlantean leadership departed in 1908 AR, and the city has been in human hands ever since . . . at least in theory.

CITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Serpents is a mix of curved stone architecture (some dating back to the Empire of Nessk) and the more angular designs of the Atlanteans. More so than most Thulean cities, Ikath is a city of wards, each effectively its own urban microcosm. Many citizens of Ikath travel from ward to ward, but few of them need to; each ward has its own temples, marketplaces, and residential neighbourhoods.

Jade Temple of Set: The grandest temple to Set on the continent, the Jade Temple was originally made entirely of jade, but major portions of the temple were destroyed when Nemruth attacked the city in 1673 AR.   (The Atlanteans have always been deeply suspicious of Set worship.) Even so, the dark green walls of the temple are a marvel, especially when the noonday sun seems to make the entire temple glow. 

Serpentine Ward: This district is named both for its shape (it follows the left bank of the Khadoor River) and its denizens: serpentmen. In most places, serpentmen are regarded as enemies of civilization, but in Ikath, they’re merely strange neighbours. Few serpentsfolk dare to walk the streets of Ikath beyond Serpentine Ward, but within this district, they outnumber humans and live in relative peace.  

Honour’s Mill: This bawdy taphouse sits well outside city walls, on the outskirts of the great forest of Dhar Mesh. It is a mirth-filled place, well kept, that caters to the woodcutters and trappers who work the forest verge nearby. The proprietors are a retired band of freebooters who call themselves “simple lumberjacks.” The group’s motto, Honour still lives, is burned into the beam above the hearth. 

Atlantean Ward: This small district features the Governor’s Palace (constructed shortly after Nemruth seized the city) and Ikath’s famed “Quill Street,” a collection of bookshops, fortune-tellers, and sages-for-hire is situated in the renowned Hanging Gardens of Atlantis.

Dancers’ Ward: Ikath’s most notorious red-light district (in a city with no less than five wards devoted to adult entertainment), the Dancers’ Ward has everything from boisterous taverns to narcotic purveyors to gambling dens to houses of prostitution. The district is largely lawless by night, with the only order provided by muscle hired by district businesses. “One more job, and then I’m retiring to the Dancers’ Ward” is the retirement plan for many an adventurer.  

LeStraads is situated on the river bank in the Dancers' Ward

Ikath (Large City, pop. 29,800)

City of Serpents, Gateway to the West, the Rotten Fruit, Ikath is a sprawling city built on the ruined ambitions of serpentmen, undead, and Atlanteans. For now, it’s a lawless pleasure-dome of a city, but it’s only a matter of time before someone claims the City of Serpents anew.

Authority: Kenner Yauth is Lord-Monarch and titular leader for the city, though in practice his reach extends only as far as his undermanned, under-equipped city guard. Three other figures wield just as much power, Dyar Presk, high priest of Set; Marden, boss of the Forked Tongue crime syndicate; and the mysterious Sun Set Lord rules the catacombs beneath the city.

NPCs: Ikath is about 65 percent human. About 15 percent of the population is serpentmen, 10 percent are Atlantean, and the remaining 10 percent are a mix of other races.

Yendar Kol is panjandrum to the lord-monarch and handles many of Ikath’s day-to-day affairs. “Yendar the Pragmatic,” is well aware of the need to appease the Temple of Set and the criminal syndicates to keep Ikath running. 

Xarvix Marden, a mixed-blood Ikathi with both human and serpentman heritage, has been the boss of the Forked Tongue crime syndicate for more than a decade—longer than any predecessor within memory. He runs everything from protection rackets to narcotics trafficking to outright theft and assassination. Despite his serpentman heritage, he holds the followers of Set at arm’s length; he cares about wealth and power, not worship.

Trade: Ikath is the center of the ivory and gem trade across Thule, and it also does a burgeoning business in anything else extracted from the surrounding jungle: beast hides, rare botanical reagents, and produce from the orchards and plantations that surround the city’s walls. But its biggest business is entertainment in all its rarefied forms. Many Thuleans come to Ikath seeking pleasure, and few go away disappointed . . .or with any coins in their purse.

Concerns: Travel by sea to Ikath is generally safe and pirate-free, mostly because the weather is mild and there are few places along the coastline for pirates to hide. But Ikath doesn’t have more than a token navy, and ambitious neighbors could easily shut the city down by sea. Some of the city’s merchant princes are considering founding a private fleet to keep the sea routes safe.  Set worshipers can practice their faith openly in Ikath, but some want more than that—they want Ikath as the center of a Set-based theocracy. So far Dyar Presk has demurred, but he’d take advantage of any weakness on the part of Lord-Monarch Yauth or Marden to create a new kingdom encoiled in Set worship. Marden is trying to expand the Forked Tongue Syndicate into a regional crime cartel, controlling legal and illegal trade across Dhar Mesh and as far as Renekrit, Nim, and Droum.  He’s using the headhunters of Kyr to intimidate his way into new territories, but the expansion is going slower than expected.

Quill Street outlets Botanica Magica, Runes, and Relics, The Philosopher's Stone, Abracadabra, Augury and Alchemy, The Little Naga, Orbs and Talismans, Tinctures 'n Tonics Cures and Curses, Arcane Infinity, Hocus Pocus, The Black Cauldron, The Affordable Staff, Horoscopes and Heroscopes, and The Dusty Tome.  

Items currently available on Quill Street

Potions

Healing Potion	1	50gp
Greater Healing Potion	1	100gp
Superior Healing Potion	1	450gp
Supreme Healing	1	1350gp
Healing Kit	5	25gp
Anti-Toxin Kit	11	25gp

 

Arms & Armour
Kal-Zinan forged greatsword	1	1050gp
Kyr Headhunters sling	1	1000gp
Narthan mammoth spear  (+2 Pike)	1	4010gp
Mace of the faithful	1	60100gp
Lomari sword of wounding	1	2020gp
Head-hunters hide armour (resistance to necrotic)	1	6010gp
Alchemists armour of acid resistance	1	6050gp
Chainmail of the stoic (resistance to psychic)	1	6080gp

 Scrolls

Scroll of Catapult	1	120gp
Scroll of Command	1	120gp
Scroll of Eldritch Blast	1	20 gp
Scroll of Produce Flame	1	20gp
Scroll of Mordenkainens Private Sanctum	1	640gp
Scroll of Shadow Blade	1	240gp
Scroll of Snilloc's Snowball Swarm	1	240gp
Scroll of Swift Quiver	1	1280gp