The Rock of Bral

Bral is a city built on an asteroid in Fringespace. Its inhabitants, who hail from many worlds, typically refer to Bral as the Rock. There is no other place quite like it in Wildspace.

Past and Present

The Rock traces its roots back to roughly 170 years ago, when the eponymous Captain Bral established a pirate and slave refuge here. The asteroid became a haven for thieves and cutthroats, and among them a few merchants and entrepreneurs set up shop. Even in a climate of lawlessness, the place evolved into something resembling a settlement of citizens. After Captain Bral’s death, the burgeoning city became known as Bral, in his honor, and its location as the Rock of Bral. For the next several decades, various pirate captains held sway in the city, but none of them demonstrated an interest in trying to take over sole leadership of the city.

Eventually, the merchants and tavernkeepers who made their livings on the Rock became as numerous as the pirates and brigands who sought refuge there. One of the pirate captains, Cozar, sensed that times were changing on the Rock—that the days of lawlessness were coming to an end. Through a series of strategic alliances and shrewd business deals, he consolidated his political power and dubbed himself Prince Cozar, the Rock’s first overlord. Under Prince Cozar’s long reign, the city evolved from a pirate hideout into a major city, attracting profit-seekers, adventurers, and other more respectable types.

Upon Cozar’s death, the rule of Bral passed to Frun, his son and heir. Frun was far from an able politician. Rather, he was a hedonist whose overindulgences compromised his authority. Business leaders and other influential types grabbed power where they could, and by the end of his reign, Frun was little more than a figurehead. His only notable accomplishments were the renovation of the royal palace and the construction of the arena that bears his name.

Frun was succeeded by his son, Calar, whose bearing and tastes resembled those of his father but whose time as the overlord lasted only days. Calar died six years ago under mysterious circumstances shortly after taking the throne; his body was found floating in space just beyond the asteroid’s air envelope. Leadership of the Rock passed to Calar’s younger brother, Andru, who had a group of malcontents arrested and executed for the crime within days.

Though his place on the throne is secure for now, Prince Andru is merely one player in a maze of political intrigue. He has a host of agents and forces loyal to him, but he must act with consideration, since he has opponents who would rather see Bral ruled by a more ineffectual leader or by a council that could more easily be influenced. Andru maintains his strong base of support because he is a serious and intelligent person—often likened to his grandfather, Prince Cozar, in this regard—and he isn’t easily intimidated.

Life on the Rock

Bral is populated by an outlandish collection of traders, rogues, mercenaries, pirates, nobles, and entrepreneurs. Generally, law enforcement is sporadic, which means that order is an elusive concept. Most folks who call the Rock home adhere to two principles: mind your own business whenever possible, and enough gold can fix anything.

General lawlessness prevails in much of the city, but that’s not to say that order doesn’t exist. Simply put, most citizens police themselves. No city watch patrols the streets. Tavernkeepers hire muscular folks to break up fights and toss out drunkards. Market vendors trust their own eyes to spot shoplifters. Every person on the Rock is expected to have enough sense to hang onto their purse and not be taken in by a swindler.

Serious crimes, such as arson, can be reported to one of the city’s three magistrates, who preside over the Low City, the Middle City, and the High City, respectively. If the magistrate concludes that the situation warrants their attention, the Magistrate’s Watch is dispatched to investigate and take offenders into custody, if necessary.

Reporting crimes is voluntary, and many folks don’t bother to do so, since the resulting investigation and legal proceedings are likely to take up too much of their time.

Getting your Bearings

The Rock of Bral is roughly 1 mile long and half that in width and depth, oriented front to back, with a leading edge and a trailing edge. A gravity plane bisects the length of the Rock, separating it into a topside and an underside.

The city of Bral is spread across the topside. On the trailing edge rises the High City, which includes the royal palace of Starhaven and its grounds, the noble estates, and Lake Bral. From there, the geography of Bral slopes down toward the Middle City, the financial and mercantile heart of the city. At the leading edge of the Rock is the Low City, an area populated by folk of modest means and the businesses they patronize. New arrivals at Bral typically disembark at the Low City’s docks.

The underside of the Rock is off limits to the general population and not part of the city per se. It is where Bral’s military forces are based. Most of the ground on the underside is used to grow crops to feed the populace. These fields are tended by convicted criminals who are housed in barracks and guarded by soldiers.

The interior of the Rock, which stretches half a mile from the surface of the topside to the surface of the underside, contains a network of caverns and tunnels. Built by pirates and smugglers, this dungeon is frequently used for clandestine meetings.

High City

Rising above the rest of Bral on the trailing edge of the asteroid, the High City is a green, spacious expanse that holds Prince Andru’s palace, called Starhaven, and various noble estates.

Noble Estates

These estates are home to the astronomically rich and famous and represent the movers and shakers of Bral.

Temple District

The temples in the Temple District are devoted to various gods, faiths, and pantheons. The priests here are willing to cast helpful spells in exchange for a donation in coins, gems, or art objects of a certain value.

Graveyard

The Bralian Graveyard is the resting place of some of the most influential and powerful individuals across the Astral Sea, allegedly including the body of Captain Bral himself deep within one of its catacombs.

Middle City

The financial and mercantile center of Bral, the Middle City is home to thousands of Bralians who can afford to live outside the Low City but don’t have the privilege or means to dwell behind the walls of the High City.

Great Market

A chaotic expanse of small vendors, street performers, beggars, orators, merchants, and customers of all descriptions, the Great Market is the hub of the Middle City. During business hours, throngs of people swarm the area, and pickpockets dart among them to ply their own trade.

Low City

The beating heart of the Rock lies in the warren of streets and crowded markets of the Low City. It buzzes with activity at all hours, its streets choked with boisterous peddlers, clamorous beggars, and sneaky thieves.

The Low City has a preponderance of taverns, inns, alehouses, shops, and crafting establishments and an equally staggering number of vacant buildings.

Docks

Most ships approach Bral at the asteroid’s leading edge, where a set of wooden docks extends into Wildspace to provide berths for new arrivals. Caverns at the gravity plane have been cut into the Rock’s edge and turned into storage areas. Many of them are fitted with hoists used to transport cargo to the warehouses topside.

The Drydock

Referred to as the drydock, the shipyards, or simply the yards, this large, flat area along the leading edge is where ships are built and repaired.

Lesser Market

The Low City’s marketplace is much smaller and shabbier than the Great Market of the Middle City. Most of its structures are rickety stalls where small merchants peddle their wares. Though it draws its clientele mostly from the surrounding neighborhoods, the Lesser Market also attracts new arrivals, fresh from the docks, who are looking for a bargain or perhaps for something more sinister.

Historic Enclaves

Historically, the Rock has several neighborhoods that started as enclaves for immigrants who arrived in large groups. Since then, many of these neighborhoods came to overlap as they merged into the roiling expanse of the Low City, though the name and a bit of the character of each remains. Three of these neighborhoods took root in areas immediately adjacent to the docks:

The Burrows

This lively, friendly community of halflings stands ready to greet new arrivals to the Rock by offering fresh bread, cookies, flowers, charming gift baskets, and directions.

Dwarven District

Many dwarf crafters live in this Middle City district, and their handiwork is second to none.

Gifftown

Many of Bral’s giff residents reside in or near Gifftown, gathering in taverns to swap stories of their accomplishments. Gunshots ring out from time to time as giff challenge one another to games of marksmanship.

Underside

The underside of the Rock is under the purview of the prince. No private citizens are allowed to reside here. The surface area is devoted mostly to fields that are planted and cultivated to replenish Bral’s supplies of food and air. It also contains the headquarters and docks of the royal navy, barracks that house prisoners, and the army headquarters known as the Citadel, which overlooks the entire expanse.

The underside is under military control. Unauthorized visitors who get themselves apprehended are generally assumed to be either spies or prisoners trying to escape.

Fields

The fruits, vegetables, and grains harvested from the fields on the underside keep the Rock’s occupants well fed without the need for imported foodstuffs. The planting, cultivating, and harvesting of the produce are performed by farmers and a handful of convicts working off their sentences.

The work of the prisoners is loosely supervised by bands of army regulars.

The Vanes

The vanes, extending out from four towers on the trailing side of the asteroid, are enormous sails that can be moved to generate a disturbance in the Rock’s air envelope, causing the Rock to rotate or turn in a certain direction if the need presents itself. If no other reason arises, the vanes are adjusted once every few months to ensure they’re in good operating condition.