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Kalashport

Overview

Kalashport is a coastal city-state located in the Southern Hemisphere of The Planet. It is the campaign setting of the Faction Campaign.

Geography

Kalashport is located on the East coast of a continent in the southern hemisphere. The weather throughout is temperate and humid, with hot summers, cool winters, and lots of rain. The Kalashport River bisects the city North-South, with Downtown, Highland Heights, and Midtown on the East side and the Canal District on the West side. Downtown and Midtown Kalashport are built on coastal plains, while Highland Heights rests among hills. The Canal District was constructed over a swampy wetland, and a network of canals was built to contain the water. Northwest of the Canal District is a dense undeveloped swamp called the Dark Canal. Further north is an inland saltwater rift lake called Deep Trench and a connected beach called Legume Lagoon.

There are extensive underground tunnels throughout the city. Under the Canal District are the Catacombs, which contain tombs of those who died in a war 250 years ago. Under the rest of the city are old iron mines. Some have been repurposed into a sewer system and others remain undiscovered. The Curds mafia has been digging new tunnels in Downtown, outwardly for a future subway system.

The Maple Tree Network exists throughout the city and serves as portals to the Feywild. After the war 250 years ago, the Fey founded Evening City in the Feywild jungle parallel to the Canal District in the Material Realm.

History

For some reason, very few written records exist that describe Kalashport over 100 years ago. Because of this, the average person in Kalashport assumes the way things are in the present (minus the FerrCO collapse) are the way things have always been. Nevertheless, through artifacts and oral tradition, some have managed to piece together parts of Kalashport’s forgotten past.

The first settlements in Kalashport were in a swampy wetland called Guardian Spring. Guardian Spring was home to the Fey, amphibious species, and goblinoid races who worshiped the Elemental Guardian. Around 250 years ago, Guardian Spring was invaded by an outside force and war broke out. Guardian Spring lost the war, and the Elemental Guardian created the Maple Tree Network portals for the region's population to escape through to the Feywild. The Fey, however, went through first and sealed off the entrance from the other side, leaving everyone else to either flee Guardian Spring toward Deep Trench or get left behind in the war-torn swamps. After the war, Guardian Spring was urbanized and became the Canal District.

About 300 years ago, the technologically advanced Elven Dynasty settled in what is now Downtown Kalashport. Few know what happened to it, though the party of the Faction Campaign has found evidence it became FerrCO at some point in the past, with Dynasty descendants serving as CEO.

For all anyone is aware, FerrCO was the dominant economic and political force in Kalashport from at least 100 years ago to two years ago. The city had a weak governor and council, but it was common knowledge that FerrCO controlled everything. Kalashport was formed on top of a large iron ore deposit, but over time it was depleted completely. FerrCO hid this information and faked its financial profile for several years to hide the losses. Two years ago, the real financial data was leaked, and Kalashport suffered a complete loss of faith in all public and private institutions in an event locally called “The Collapse”.

In the Collapse, FerrCO and government facilities were looted and destroyed. All international trade with the city halted, and in the power vacuum, gang wars broke out across the city. In Downtown, gang wars persisted for six straight months until the Curds mafia ended up on top. The vestiges of the Kalashport Police Department converged in Midtown and governed the region with the police chief as the de-facto dictator. The Canal District was comparatively unchanged, as FerrCO and the city government already had little presence there. The remaining police there became a mercenary guild called the Second Canalvary, and the Canal Authority was formed by community leaders to govern the region. Aristocrats in Highland Heights quickly contracted the Kalashport Security Company to protect the region and isolate it from the violence elsewhere in the city.

Since the Collapse, the dust has settled somewhat in Kalashport. The Curds mafia and the Midtown Police stay out of each other’s territories, and the Canal District is largely ignored by the rest of the city. The Kalashport Shipping and Handling company has resumed international trade, though nowhere near the pre-collapse level. Kalashport presently exists in a delicate power balance between factions with no one group controlling the entire city.

Economy, Culture, and Demographics

It may seem weird to an outsider that economy is grouped with culture and demographics in this article, but in Kalashport, the economy is the culture. The city-state was once the self-proclaimed trade capital of the world, though since the collapse that title probably goes to somewhere else. Even still, decades of international trade and lack of unified traditional customs has shaped a unique culture of entrepreneurship and business spirit. Unlike Makovia's overbearing corporate environment, Kalashport's business culture isn't necessarily toxic, though it can be extremely competitive. Many Kalashport natives see personal businesses and brands as a means to reach whatever goals they may have, but many more are in it purely for the game. Business owners are known to go to extreme lengths to market and promote their brands in the city. To foreigners, that may seem weird or even depressing, but it's just how it is. FerrCO's international success wasn't a topic of resentment but a point of pride and national identity. That's why when its financial fraud was exposed, it upended the very fabric of society in the city.

Few in modern Kalashport can trace their family history in the city back that far. It doesn't help that so much written history was erased, but the past hundred years or so saw an incredible amount of immigration of those from other areas in the world seeking to prosper in the favorable economic conditions of the city. Humans make up about two thirds of Kalashport, and the remaining is split fairly randomly between other species. A sizable number of high elves, dwarves, and halflings live in Downtown. The Canal District is home to many amphibious and 'monstrous' species, contributing to it having the highest concentration of non-humans as well as the highest concentration of those who trace their connection to the city further than a few generations.

Some people in Kalashport have elemental blood that they believe traces them to ancient spirits. In other parts of the world, they might be called Genasi, but in Kalashport, most simply call themselves Elemental Descendants and affirm that they have nothing to do with Djinn.

Trivia

Places

Midtown

  • Alto Sreet
  • Brasserie du Bardlox
  • Pumpkin Street
  • Sellmore Square

Downtown

Canal District

Deep Trench

  • Clamshell Casino
  • Legume Lagoon
  • Saltside Reef

Highland Heights

  • The Arts Block
  • Establishment Ridge
  • FerrCO HQ
  • Machado Plaza

Organizations / Entities