Kalri

The closest of the Isharian City States to the Kingdom of Peloria , in the past Kalri acted as the primary source of fine Pelorian Lumber for all of the Badlands of Ishar, as well as importing a bountiful amount of food with the wealth accumulated. Since The Fall however, the city has fallen on hard times and is no longer rich enough to keep itself running. The government has effectively collapsed and the underground rule openly.  

The Mudflats

  The Kalri of today is but a dark shadow of what it once was. The once pristine sandstone walls, intricately covered in flowing runes and wards, are now scarred and obscured by lean-tos. These lean-tos form a vast shanty town that thrives beyond the city walls, stretching all the way to the shores of what was once the River Avo. What was once a picturesque garden in times of antiquity, is now simply known as the Mudflats.   The first thing you see upon approaching Kalri, and certainly the first thing you smell; the Mudflats are the result of thousands of displaced refugees and a catastrophic lack of food. What was once a shallow and almost depleted river is now awash and overflowing with sewage. This is only made more disgusting by the sight of fishing rafts. Despite this obvious squalor though, children run through the alleys with smiles on their thin faces as they clutch stolen bread rolls from within the city proper.   After asking around, The Unlikely Lot discovered that the Mudflats have existed for almost a decade now. Originally setup as a temporary housing solution for those fleeing Peloria, the inhabitants now shrug at their apparent abandonment. The overwhelming opinion is one of relief at having escaped when they did, although some express an uneasiness at still being able to see the shroud of darkness on the horizon.  

The Sprawl

  After pushing through the vast and chaotic bazaar of Narun Plaza, there is a sudden 30 foot drop. From this vantage point you get your first glimpse of The Sprawl. In ancient times, the city held a large artificial lake that filled the entirety of the lowest tier of Kalri. The water has long since dried up now however, and the citizens have claimed the land for themselves. From the Plaza, The Sprawl is a maze of chaotically arranged streets with buildings varying from single story dwellings to protruding towers acting as landmarks for unwise visitors.   Many view The Sprawl as a single homogenous district of the city proper, when in truth it is practically a city in itself, with its own politics and currents. The various criminal guilds of Kalri have strong connections to The Sprawl, with the Thieves Guild practically ruling entire swathes of it. The relative political strength of the Thieves Guild, paired with their typical viewpoint towards authority have made them a natural ally of the Shadow Court, although many believe they will eventually need to fight back to preserve their livelihoods.   The Sprawl is self policed by the various notable personalities of the Undercity. Wealthy merchants, aspirational minor nobility and corrupt politicians all hire mercenaries to keep the peace. Committing a crime in The Sprawl is like playing roulette. Depending on who you offended, your punishment could be more, or less, severe than you deserve. If you happen to offend one of the many guilds located within The Sprawl, you could find yourself racing for the safety of the plateaus and being exiled from the Undercity for the rest of your days.  

Firedrop Plateau

  Instead of descending into The Sprawl from Narun Plaza there are two beautiful and well decorated staircases leading up to even higher plateaus. The western staircase leads you to Firedrop Plateau, a hub for some of the richer merchants of Kalri. Firedrop is the centre of operations for the Underminister of Trade and has a strong Wraith presence monitoring the coming and going of the citizenry as they collect their weekly food rations. The staircase to Firedrop is not guarded like the other plateaus, but it does impose a curfew for anyone who is not a resident of a Plateau.   The Plateau itself is a breathtaking district of ancient beauty. The roads of the district seem to flow like molten metal. Crisscrossing every major artery of the city are the aqueducts. Despite not being used in centuries, they are still maintained and used by fearless street kids to reach every part of the city. In fact, every direction you look you can see street kids. Whether begging for scraps before being moved along, or dangling from ropes so that they can clean the windows of the multistory buildings that dominate the district.  

Other Plateaus

  There are 4 other Plateaus in Kalri, and more can be learned about them on another visit. Tinderspark, Blazeclaw, Pyremount and Waterspire.