Sabbia

Small City, population 9,454 (37% human, 20% elf, 18% halfling, 10% dwarf, 7% half-elf, 5% half-orc, 3% gnomes)

GP Limit: 15,000 gp.

Cash on Hand (Total for City): 7,077,750 gp.

Imports: cloth, copper, glass, iron, pitch, pottery, rope, tar, tin, wood, zinc.

Exports: dried fish, dried produce, lamp oil, ships, stone.

Community Authorities

Lord Vendner Wroth (LG male half-elf ari 6) Imperial Magistrate; Quelramas Berelmin (NE male elf sor 8) Chairman of the Righteous and Benevolent Society of the Argent Fountain; Mar the Anvil (LN male dwarf war 8), Master of Horse to House Wroth.

Military Formations

Wroth Household Guards (Commanded by Mar the Anvil)

95 troops—1 adept (1 3rd-level), 15 aristocrats (1 3rd-level, 2 2nd-level, 12 1st-level), 1 bard (1 8th-level), 1 cleric (1 5th-level), 12 fighters (1 5th-level, 3 2nd-level, 8 1st-level ), 3 paladins (1 6th-level, 2 1st-level), 2 rangers (2 1st-level), 8 rogues (1 5th-level, 1 3rd-level, 1 2nd-level, 5 1st-level), 50 warriors (50 1st-level), 2 wizards (1 6th-level, 1 3rd-level).

Imperial Naval Garrison

420 soldiers—420 warriors (1 7th-level, 2 4th-level, 2 3rd-level, 8 2nd-level, 408 1st-level).

50 engineers and artillerists—5 experts (1 5th-level, 1 4th-level, 3 1st-level), 45 commoners (1 6th-level, 2 3rd-level, 42 1st-level).

Other NPCs

58 adepts (2 6th-level, 3 3rd-level, 8 2nd-level, 45 1st-level); 40 aristocrats (1 5th-level, 1 3rd-level, 4 2nd-level, 34 1st-level); 22 barbarians (1 8th-level, 1 5th-level, 2 4th-level, 6 2nd-level, 12 1st-level); 21 bards (1 7th-level, 2 4th-level, 2 3rd-level, 4 2nd-level, 12 1st-level); 29 clerics (1 12th-level, 1 10th-level, 2 6th-level, 1 5th-level, 4 3rd-level, 4 2nd-level, 16 1st-level); 8,269 commoners (1 14th-level, 1 13th-level, 2 7th-level, 1 6th-level, 6 3rd-level, 8,228 1st-level); 22 druids (1 8th-level, 1 6th-level, 2 4th-level, 2 3rd-level, 4 2nd-level, 12 1st-level); 284 experts (1 10th-level, 1 9th-level, 1 5th-level, 1 4th-level, 8 2nd-level, 272 1st-level); 18 fighters (1 11th-level, 1 10th-level, 3 5th-level, 5 2nd-level, 8 1st-level); 22 monks (1 8th-level, 1 5th-level, 2 4th-level, 6 2nd-level, 12 1st-level); 11 paladins (1 6th-level, 4 3rd-level, 6 1st-level); 12 rangers (2 6th-level, 4 3rd-level, 6 1st-level); 14 rogues (1 11th-level, 1 7th-level, 1 5th-level, 1 3rd-level, 3 2nd-level, 7 1st-level) ; 30 shamans (4 5th-level, 8 2nd-level, 16 1st-level); 21 sorcerers (1 6th-level, 2 4th-level, 2 3rd-level, 4 2nd-level, 12 1st-level); 12 wizards (1 6th-level, 3 3rd-level, 8 1st-level).

The small city of Sabbia began as a relocation settlement founded by Terel the Conqueror, the grandfather of Emperor Auresh I, who began the process of welding a great nation out of the fractious human city-states and humanoid tribes and clans that came before. The elves of Sabbia are almost entirely the descendants of an elf clan originating in the forests near what is now the city of Floresta. Their forefathers signed a peace treaty to avoid extermination at the hands of Terel’s army; as part of the terms of this agreement, the clan relocated from their ancestral home to Sabbia, and their leaders became hostages in Terel’s capitol at Pianura. Since Terel was shrewd enough to kill off the clerics, druids, and other figures responsible for passing on elven culture to the clan’s youth before he offered a peace treaty, the removal of their political leaders ensured that the next generation of elven clansmen would be socialized as his loyal subjects.

Over three thousand years after Terel, the elves of Sabbia have become thoroughly incorporated into Imperial culture. It would be a mistake to consider them culturally identical to the humans, halflings, and other shorter-lived races of the Empire, since the life spans of these elves mark them out from their more ephemeral and more numerous fellow citizens. But the elves of Sabbia intermarry more frequently with humans than almost any other group of elves, so that the city’s population of half-elves is fully one third as large as its population of elves.

The presence of a small but deep and well-protected harbor at Sabbia ensured the city’s eventual prosperity. The elves and humans of the original settlement were gradually joined by halfling and dwarf immigrants who specialized in metalwork and carpentry, and later by gnomes with similar aptitudes.

Sabbia ultimately became the home of a shipyard staffed by a large cohort of unusually skilled workers. The half-orc population of Sabbia bloomed when farmland nearby became part of the retirement package for soldiers of the Imperial Legion. The city’s reputation for tolerance and diversity attracts middle-aged half-orcs down to the present day, and the land grants and pensions they acquire in the city and its environs have led to the formation of a sub-community of hard working but prosperous small businessmen and farmers.

Sabbia’s function as a resupply point and shipyard for the Imperial Navy makes it the home of a sturdy, heavily garrisoned fortress, Bluewave Keep. The personnel that defend Sabbia and its surroundings are drawn from the navy rather than from the Imperial Legion; they are marines skilled in ship-to-ship combat as well as land-based warfare. The marines patrol the countryside from time to time in cooperation with the household retainers of Lord Vendner Wroth, the local nobleman and imperially-appointed magistrate. Lord Wroth’s retainers also act as the de facto constabulary force in the city.

The presence of diverse racial, political, and mercantile groups in Sabbia has deleterious consequences, as well. Sabbia’s culture of tolerance and forbearance of others’ “funny little ways” considers it rude to pry into the affairs of one’s neighbors. A malicious cabal of sorcerers and wizards with ties to the Church of Ekar led by the charismatic Chairman Berelmin, the Righteous and Benevolent Society of the Argent Fountain takes advantage of Sabbia’s tolerance by operating under the guise of a private social club. Its true purpose is to enrich its members through the sale of forbidden knowledge of all sorts. Berelmin and the rest of the Society use magic, spies, and research to unearth lore that should be hidden—ranging from the true names of devil princes to the formulae and rituals necessary to create terrible magical weapons—and they auction it to the highest bidder. Berelmin has recently developed a personal interest in the sources and nature of life itself, and uses his expertise in the darkest aspects of necromancy and conjuration to set up breeding experiments in the cellar of his mansion outside of town. His fellow cabalists harbor interests and pastimes no less grotesque.