INTRODUCTION
Confluence Rock is the seat of King Damios the Old, the seventeenth king of the House of Atreus, and the ruler of Thalasson. This city is the only market in the kingdom permitted to do trade with the outside world, and it sits at the confluence of the Iscoin and Arton Rivers, which both flow out to join the Menander. The great bluffs of Confluence Rock can be seen for rods and rods in any direction, and the royal palace, once the High Agora of the Petroboloi kingdom of Palias, is a wonder of the northern world.
HISTORY
The city has its foundation in the time of Palias, when the Stone Giants of the north were warring with the gigantine renegade, Moros Aklaustros, the Unmourned, and his legions of the deathless. The city was called Vrakous, the Rock, and it was in the walls of the mountains themselves that the giants carved Syntasma, the Council Hall, the great public High Agora of their kingdom. After the fall of Palias, men filtered in from the east, particularly those fleeing the destruction wrought during the great Mage Wars between Imperial Miles and Rho'anir the Shapeless.
For a time, men lived among the ruins of Palias and learned from the stone giants, living as they did in relative peace, all the equal of all, but as the giants died out and their old customs with them, men took the public lands to themselves and certain folk grew powerful, while others were made their dependents. The height of that process occurred with the founding of Confluence Rock. Long an empty ruin, the Syntasma Halls were claimed by the House of Atreus and transformed into a personal residence.
The Atreans established a city there, and soon grew powerful enough to control most of old Palias south of the Menander. Thus began the kingdom of Thalasson.
One of Confluence Rock's most notable features is that it lacks walls, relying instead on the rivers for protection. It has never been laid siege or invaded in its long history.
THE GREAT MARKET
The city lives and dies around the Great Market. This boasts a temple to Fortune that stands on a high flat stone overlooking the rivers and a public court of law on the opposite side where merchants from foreign lands are to be "judged by the law of their people." The market itself is a wide open space the size of many small towns. It is constantly patrolled by Crown Assessors and Bailiffs who report directly to the throne. This marketplace is the sole distribution point for all foreign goods in Thalasson, which must come up the River Menander from Port Eisodos. The larger of the two rivers, the Arton, is filled at all hours with ships loading and unloading goods from abroad. The other river, the Iscoin, teams with elvish traffic from Aita Iscoinos and the slender elvish bridge that crosses it is almost always laden with dwarvish and gigantine foot traffic to the east, where gold is brought down from the Petrochores hills and the last giant-city, Petropolon.
Even the esteemed Pandar's Procurements has a distant outpost here on the Great Market of Confluence Rock.
Though there is no "city guard" per se, the Assessors form a sizable platoon of royal servants, and can implement rough and ready justice if and when a fight breaks out in the Great Market.
THE MERCHANT QUARTER
The city directly around the market, in the space between the two rivers, plays host to a number of inns, taverns, boarding houses, and mercantile ventures that operate under the auspices of King Damios. This is a fairly wealthy section of the city, and boasts some paved streets. Remains of old Gigantine statuary and temples are scattered throughout, including a titanic statue of Solon the Self-Creating which is now used to house the city's Beacon Fire, lit every evening to guide travelers safely behind the rivers.
The Three Pillars. The most famous inn and tavern in the merchant quarter is, bar none, the Three Pillars, built around the shell of three enormous pieces of worked stone left over from the giants. It's run by none other than the ex-adventurer Leonas Drakeslayer, known for hunting firedrakes in the broken highlands on the far side of the Menander.
THE STONE QUARTER
The poorest section of the city is to be found beyond the Merchant's Quarter but before the Royal Quarter. This is a belt of collapsed Stone Giant ruins that have been mined for centuries as a source of royal stone. The throne has a monopoly on reclaiming these ruins, and as such it has developed into a somewhat seedy part of town, hosting pot-shops, stews, wolfsdens, and other undesirables who can afford to build their dens only in the lee of some crumbling giant building.
Gnometown. A rock gnome settlement nestled among the ruins, the gnometown is really just a rough region of the Stone Quarter. Gnomish wagons sit in the shadow of old monuments, and the gnomes work as peddlers, coopers, tinsmiths, locksmiths, and metallurgists throughout the city.
THE ROYAL QUARTER
The Royal Quarter is the location of the only mint in Thalasson, where all gold and silver are dyed and struck. It also contains the dwellings of every major dynastic family of the kingdom, and the manors they use when attending court. There are a number of sages, historians, and stargazers who live here, on pleasant tree-clad hills beneath the gaze of the royal palace.
SYNTASMA PALACE
A marvel, wonder, and city all its own: Syntasma Palace, the seat of the House of Atreus, is a court, royal archive, crypt, weapons house, and barracks all in one. Here the Royal Envoys (every giant in the kingdom has this designation) may come to deliver their reports before the throne. Here, the Stone Knights repair when not on campaign. Here, court intrigues occur in the labyrinthine and enormous halls carved from the rock by giants in ages past.
The city has its foundation in the time of Palias, when the Stone Giants of the north were warring with the gigantine renegade, Moros Aklaustros, the Unmourned, and his legions of the deathless. The city was called Vrakous, the Rock, and it was in the walls of the mountains themselves that the giants carved Syntasma, the Council Hall, the great public High Agora of their kingdom. After the fall of Palias, men filtered in from the east, particularly those fleeing the destruction wrought during the great Mage Wars between Imperial Miles and Rho'anir the Shapeless.
For a time, men lived among the ruins of Palias and learned from the stone giants, living as they did in relative peace, all the equal of all, but as the giants died out and their old customs with them, men took the public lands to themselves and certain folk grew powerful, while others were made their dependents. The height of that process occurred with the founding of Confluence Rock. Long an empty ruin, the Syntasma Halls were claimed by the House of Atreus and transformed into a personal residence.
The Atreans established a city there, and soon grew powerful enough to control most of old Palias south of the Menander. Thus began the kingdom of Thalasson.
One of Confluence Rock's most notable features is that it lacks walls, relying instead on the rivers for protection. It has never been laid siege or invaded in its long history.
THE GREAT MARKET
The city lives and dies around the Great Market. This boasts a temple to Fortune that stands on a high flat stone overlooking the rivers and a public court of law on the opposite side where merchants from foreign lands are to be "judged by the law of their people." The market itself is a wide open space the size of many small towns. It is constantly patrolled by Crown Assessors and Bailiffs who report directly to the throne. This marketplace is the sole distribution point for all foreign goods in Thalasson, which must come up the River Menander from Port Eisodos. The larger of the two rivers, the Arton, is filled at all hours with ships loading and unloading goods from abroad. The other river, the Iscoin, teams with elvish traffic from Aita Iscoinos and the slender elvish bridge that crosses it is almost always laden with dwarvish and gigantine foot traffic to the east, where gold is brought down from the Petrochores hills and the last giant-city, Petropolon.
Even the esteemed Pandar's Procurements has a distant outpost here on the Great Market of Confluence Rock.
Though there is no "city guard" per se, the Assessors form a sizable platoon of royal servants, and can implement rough and ready justice if and when a fight breaks out in the Great Market.
THE MERCHANT QUARTER
The city directly around the market, in the space between the two rivers, plays host to a number of inns, taverns, boarding houses, and mercantile ventures that operate under the auspices of King Damios. This is a fairly wealthy section of the city, and boasts some paved streets. Remains of old Gigantine statuary and temples are scattered throughout, including a titanic statue of Solon the Self-Creating which is now used to house the city's Beacon Fire, lit every evening to guide travelers safely behind the rivers.
The Three Pillars. The most famous inn and tavern in the merchant quarter is, bar none, the Three Pillars, built around the shell of three enormous pieces of worked stone left over from the giants. It's run by none other than the ex-adventurer Leonas Drakeslayer, known for hunting firedrakes in the broken highlands on the far side of the Menander.
The Three Pillars. The most famous inn and tavern in the merchant quarter is, bar none, the Three Pillars, built around the shell of three enormous pieces of worked stone left over from the giants. It's run by none other than the ex-adventurer Leonas Drakeslayer, known for hunting firedrakes in the broken highlands on the far side of the Menander.
THE STONE QUARTER
The poorest section of the city is to be found beyond the Merchant's Quarter but before the Royal Quarter. This is a belt of collapsed Stone Giant ruins that have been mined for centuries as a source of royal stone. The throne has a monopoly on reclaiming these ruins, and as such it has developed into a somewhat seedy part of town, hosting pot-shops, stews, wolfsdens, and other undesirables who can afford to build their dens only in the lee of some crumbling giant building.
Gnometown. A rock gnome settlement nestled among the ruins, the gnometown is really just a rough region of the Stone Quarter. Gnomish wagons sit in the shadow of old monuments, and the gnomes work as peddlers, coopers, tinsmiths, locksmiths, and metallurgists throughout the city.
Gnometown. A rock gnome settlement nestled among the ruins, the gnometown is really just a rough region of the Stone Quarter. Gnomish wagons sit in the shadow of old monuments, and the gnomes work as peddlers, coopers, tinsmiths, locksmiths, and metallurgists throughout the city.
THE ROYAL QUARTER
The Royal Quarter is the location of the only mint in Thalasson, where all gold and silver are dyed and struck. It also contains the dwellings of every major dynastic family of the kingdom, and the manors they use when attending court. There are a number of sages, historians, and stargazers who live here, on pleasant tree-clad hills beneath the gaze of the royal palace.
SYNTASMA PALACE
A marvel, wonder, and city all its own: Syntasma Palace, the seat of the House of Atreus, is a court, royal archive, crypt, weapons house, and barracks all in one. Here the Royal Envoys (every giant in the kingdom has this designation) may come to deliver their reports before the throne. Here, the Stone Knights repair when not on campaign. Here, court intrigues occur in the labyrinthine and enormous halls carved from the rock by giants in ages past.
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