JORIA: EASTERN LANDS OF SESAMAR
| Socioeconomics: | Large Poor Class, Some Working Class, and Small Affluent |
| Ruling Body: | Yet to Be Determined |
| Maps: | Surrounding City |
| Rumors: | See below |
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| Joria, Eastern Lands |
Joria is a miserable city. It is barely able to protect itself from hobgoblin raids due to its failing defensive walls. Nevertheless, Jorian smugglers participate in slave trades and the movement of all things to the highest bidder. Jorians who live here feel stuck because the roads to Poxmouth are littered with human robbers and cutthroats, not to mention roving bands of hobgoblins.
Joria will trade with anyone and anything. There are no rules in this town, except the strong survive. Politicians rather misappropriate funds than fix the crumbling infrastructure to protect its citizens from the hobgoblins. This is an evil city and it is home to evil characters.
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Joria's grand iron gates, once a symbol of resilience, now stand as a facade. Though impressive in their construction, with red, black, and silver accents gleaming in the sunlight, these gates serve little purpose. The guards, clad in mismatched ring mail and burdened with helmets, shields, and spears, stand listlessly, their gazes distant and devoid of the vigilance one might expect. Travelers pass through with an unsettling ease, a testament to the city's decline.
Within the walls, Joria crumbles. The once-grand citadel, a monument to a bygone era, looms over dilapidated buildings and deserted streets. The weight of fear hangs heavy in the air, a suffocating presence that chills the soul. The few citizens who remain move with a desperate urgency, their faces etched with a mixture of depravity and a yearning for escape. Service, if available at all, is slow and joyless, a mere formality devoid of genuine care. Joria is a city held captive by its own despair, a place where the grand facade crumbles to reveal the rot that festers within.
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Legal business here is based on mining to the south.
Joria is known for ore (gold, copper, silver, obsidian, iron), alabaster, limestone, dolostone, and grey marble. It is also known for scams, misdeeds, and carnage. It's so bad here, most of the thieves and assassins moved to Poxmuth.
Notable Barrs/Taverns/Inns: Destinknee (I), Cracked Skull (T) and What's Your Poison? (B).
Destinknee (Inn)
While it may or may not be destiny that brings travelers to this inn, it is actually fairly clean.
The inn is run by a huge half-orc, named Hlorkin. He has a tooth that slightly protrudes from his lip, which makes him look angry, but he could naturally be angry. ...all the time.
Here are the rooms it has available.
| | Description | Cost/Night |
Peasant
Rooms 1-10 | These are tiny rooms. They contain a medium bed (it sleeps three), chests with blankets, and a chamber pot. | 1s pp |
Merchant
Rooms 1-5 | These rooms are a bit larger than the Peasant rooms. They are large enough to hold a large bed (sleeps three), a large chest with blankets and a chamber pot. | 2s pp |
Nobleman
Rooms 1-5 | These rooms are larger than the Merchant rooms. There is a very large bed (sleeps three comfortably), a large chest with blankets, a chamber pot, and a desk. | 3s pp |
This is the food and drink specialties it offers.
| Menu Specialties |
| | Description | Cost |
I Mead
Destinknee | The half-orc is at least consistent. It is a mead. Nothing special... | 1s |
| Cherry Wine | It is made from local cherries. Surprisingly, it tastes good. | 2s |
| Soup | It is cooked. It has an unidentifiable meat. The smell is off. It can't be that bad because people are eating it, right? | 1s |
| Pigeon Pie | It looks good. It smells good. ...but if they are saying it is pidgeon meat, then odds are it has to be rat meat. | 1s |
Cracked Skull (Tavern)
Why is it anyone who is looking for a brawl in this town comes to this place? It could be the imagery of the establishment. It has a death motif. There are skulls all over the place. They are labeled. There are representatives of every race, too. There are elves, a lot of them. There are dwarves, humans, gnomes, and lings. There are gnolls, lizard men, and bugbear skulls, as well. There are a few heads that have been worked on by a professional. They are preserved fairly well, but they are hard to look at while one is eating.
This is the drink and food specialties it offers.
| Menu Specialties |
| | Description | Cost |
| Ogre Blood | This is a very strong ale. Two of these too close together may cause a heart attack. | 1s |
| Hob'gor Ale | It is a mutant ale, that is for sure. It is cloudy and some of it is more viscous than other parts. If someone intentionally tried to make this, it is pure insanity in a mug. The server must always serve this with a twisted smile, else it is free. | 1s |
| Chicken Fingers | They are chicken coated with a crispy, salty unknown substance that is fried. If it is not made with chickens, then they are actual fingers. One of the two... | 1s |
| Witch's Brew | This is a soup that has a strange green color with weird floaties in it. It smells exactly how a soup should not smell. Make a constitution check to keep it down. As a bonus, it sold as 'all you can stomach.' | 1s |
What's Your Poison (Bar)
This tavern is more subdued than the Cracked Skull tavern. The higher prices and a 2 sp cover charge keep out the brutes and the general riff-raff. If asked about the 2 sp cover charge, the doorman will say it is used to pay the musicians.
This is a calm place where thinking people come to ponder mighty thoughts, thieves find ways to liberate these thinkers from their goods, and assassins size up their future victims for weaknesses.
The tavern has a large space and tables are at the circumference of the room, all accept for the bar area. The central space is not occupied and everyone's eyes are constantly darting throughout the place looking at opposite ends of the room.
The decor is black. The walls and the front of the bar are all covered with black tapestries.
This is a list of the drink and food specialties it offers.
| Menu Specialties |
| | Description | Cost |
| Nightshade | This is a strong black ale. It has a hot flavor component and the alcohol thrusts straight to the point. | 2s |
| Jointlock | It is a sweet fruit wine made from berries. There is an intriguing, compelling aroma about it. | 2s |
| Torchsword | This mead is red and it contains strawberry pulp and an unknown spice. | 2s |
| Silkwood | This mead is made with a small amount of cream to give it a silky texture. It is earthy and tasty. | 2s |
Rumors
- There are two assassin's guilds in the city: Shadowblade and Blackskull. They are competing for control of the city's dark economy.
- An ogre population south of the Ogre Hills has a new batch of ogres. They have moved back to the Ogre Hills.
- The Cracked Skull (see establishment above) has a bouncer that is an ogre, named Gargo. He's 9 feet tall and must weigh 600+ pounds.
- Volcanic activity has been seen from Vulcanus. It is intermitently erupting.
- Fire giants live near Vulcanus.
- Fire giants have been seen at the Desolate Mountains, reported by fishermen.
