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Sitting on coast on the southernmost part of the Mhair jungles lays a city shrouded in mystery. Forged atop ancient buried ruins of a splintered city, Gothmoor has the ocean to its back, mountainous hills to one side and the deadly Mhair jungle on it's other side and front. Getting to the city can be just as dangerous as living or visiting there.
Often rumored to be created as a favor from the gods themselves, Gothmoor has its shares of rumors and legends. One solid fact is the original city, no matter how it was formed, was ruled by the Von Luen family. Lord Sir Bruce Von Luen was the first ruler of Gothmoor and built the city up to what it is today. History has been recorded as Lord Von Luen creating the city along the shore of the Great Sea with the help of a local underground city of dwarves. The city of Gothmoor was built upon the ruins of another civilization that the Dwarves refused to tell Lord Sir Bruce about. To this day, no one who vocally admits it or speaks of it knows about the original city that once stood here.
Often called the Waterdeep of the South, those who find even Skullport too unruly and Waterdeep too constrictive, find themselves comfortable in the walls of Gothmoor. Originally used as a southern waterways trading port, the city has grown into something most don't even dare to dream. The last known recorded size overland of Gothmoor would fit Waterdeep and part of Baldur's Gate within. It is a huge sprawling town. The town originally was like any other town, with people crammed along cramped streets and living atop one another, multiple feet up with two and three story homes, but once the Southern city became noteworthy, people began to spread out. As more and more of the Mhair jungle's encroaching edge is cut back for firewood, building lumber and crop land, the size of the city is increasing.
The local inhabitants of the Mhair do not approve of this human encroachment and often attempt pitiful raids on the Northern wall. The City Watch, also known as The Keepers, keeps strong vigilance and rotates from wall duty to inner city patrols. Most regional patrols outside the city are done with paid conscripts (adventurers) accompanied by a Keeper Captain.
Many jobs can be had within Gothmoor's walls, from cooking and butchery, to armed guardsmen and even bouncers. The port keeps many bodies coming and going, as well as the constantly running earth of the city's graveyard. Jobs become available almost nightly. If you're quick, either with steel or wit, you can find a fortune, or at least a comfortable living within Gothmoor. The only thing that keeps the gravediggers busy year round, or the stockades full, is one thing, racial hatred. Anyone who is not tolerant of other races, or vocally or physically attacks another due to their race in Gothmoor is quickly punished and dealt with behind locked and barred iron doors.
Public executions are common. The local arena is where many work more vicious crimes off, to the enjoyment of others. Slavery is not unheard of in the Southern Jewel of Faerun. You will see a wood elf and a dark elf sipping tea in a parlor house, while a grey dwarf sings a drinking song alongside a shield dwarf with full mugs of grog in their hands. Does this mean everything is happy and compliant? On the surface, yes. But there are ways of getting rid of a hated enemy without getting caught, and that is yet another way one can find his fame and fortune in Gothmoor. Many will smile at your face, because a few minutes earlier, planned for your death. If Gothmoor's upside is as shiny as Waterdeep, Gothmoor's underbelly is twice as dark as Skullport's. Many a patron has drank with his most hated enemy, only to have a shank in his back before he wakes up, while his enemy is in public view with a complete alibi. Strangers must be wary their first few months in the big city. Things that may go bump in the night may just rip the flesh from your face and turn you into a mindless zombie for fun.