Boralus (pronounced "bohr-AH-luhs")

Geography

Boralus is located on a cluster of small islands south of Siniadòr, and it is a city beholden to the sea.  

Description

Roughhewn wooden planks line intertwining walkways, terraces, and stairs. Sea-weathered rooftops and awnings adorn the buildings, while amber-lit windows and walkway lanterns lend honeyed tones to the atmosphere. Stone thoroughfares and hanging colorful nautical flags strike a contrast to the sea-worn brick-and-wood construction, creating a sense of warmth despite the chill of the surrounding sea.   Iron-reinforced locks in the center of Boralus Harbor bar the way from the sea into the inner channels at the heart of the city, while cannons on either side serve as an additional deterrent to vessels approaching with ill intent. Great galleons make their berth in the harbor.   Within the harbor's Tradewinds Market, visitors will find everything they need for an extended stay in Boralus. The giant, open-air market is thronged with citizens buying and selling food, carfts, and curiosities. Merchants from all over Toriel are drawn here to hawk their wares. And many come to enjoy the joy of the island who never sleep.   In Boralus, lit lanterns are hung outside of permanent establishments to indicate that they’re open for business. On foggy nights, these lanterns cast the city’s lively taverns, dance halls, and fest halls in eerie light.   The city is home to numerous tavern, inn and hotel:  

• The Floaty Mug, a large tavern, known for its ambiance and music... and for the smell.
• The Lost Lady Tavern, a tavern known for its music, it is a feat for any bard to perform at the Lost Lady and to be cheered.

  In addition to those taverns, the city is also known for its smuggler which are said to be able to bring in and out of the city anything, the locals talk about the Smuggler's Cove, hidden on the coast that would serve as a hideout for those criminals.  

Society

Culture

Hymn

 

Economy

Exchange

The economy of this city-state uses a unique currency system. While the value of these coins is primarily recognized within the city, they can be exchanged for standard gold coins at banks or exchange houses. The local coins correspond to standard coin values as follows:  

• 1 mermaids - 1 platinum coin
• 1 glints - 1 gold coin
• 1 nibs - 1 silver coin
• 1 pence - 1 copper coin

 

Hazard

Fog

One of the reasons why pirates find the Harbor attractive is the thick fog that shrouds the river, the docks, and most of City every morning and evening. The fog makes it easy to conduct illicit business or commit a murder without anyone catching sight of the “interaction” through a spyglass.  

History

The mermaids and the seawall

In its oldest days, Boralus was little more than a collection of houses on a rock. Its citizens—fishers, shipwrights, sailors, and pearl-divers—did not live easy lives, for nothing was standing to protect the city from the sea. Each year produced at least one storm that destroyed the ships in the harbor and threatened to permanently wipe the rocks clean of both houses and people. It's said that in the morning, the harbor was so filled with drowned bodies that the living simply covered them with weighted nets to sink them down to the seafloor. It was impossible to build a seawall due to the immense depths of the waters between the spit, and the work of repairing the wall after each storm would've claimed as many lives as it saved. The people of Boralus figured that they would have to get by on their wits and bravery alone.   According to folklore, mermaids lived openly near Boralus in those days. The humans falsely believed that the creatures portended storms and drowned sailors for amusement, but this changed as a result of the mermaid Halia and the human Ery, who fell in love with each other and began meeting in secret. One day a great storm unexpectedly came to Boralus. It continued for several days, dashing the ships and their crews against the rocks and sucking the people of the town into the waves. Ery and the handful of hydromancer who were present gathered in small boats at the river's mouth to divert the water. The mages faltered one by one until only Ery was left, and with Halia's help she stopped a great wave coming for the town. Halia then began constructing a seawall at the bottom of the harbor while Ery continued holding back the water. Halia was soon joined by other mermaids, and together they built the wall higher and higher with rocks, mud, ship debris, and sailors' bones until it broke the surface and continued to rise under Ery's feet, though a number of mermaids died in the process, their power spent. The hydromancer eventually collapsed from exhaustion and fell into the water. Without her power to hold them back, the waves crashed into the seawall, but it held steady. Halia saved her beloved's life by slitting her feet and jumping with her into the harbor, prompting the Mother to turn her into a mermaid. As long as Boralus' mighty seawall has stood, its people now swear on mermaids as symbols of highest honor and good luck, as well as sacrifice, for no mermaids were ever seen in the harbor again. On certain calm sunsets when the red is deeply reflected on the surface of Boralus Harbor, old sailors call it "Ery's blood", which presages good weather, in remembrance of the dutiful hydromancer and the mermaid who loved her.   Due to the harsh living condition on the island, Tana's Empire never bothered to include it within its territory, the city becoming an independent city-state. With the lover's story spread to the coast, bards, and performers were drawn to the city-state. Over the tears, the island gained the name of the island which never slip, as bards from all over Toriel perform all night long.  

Notable members