Deepberth

Deepberth is the beating, blood-soaked heart of piracy in the Pirate Isles: a sprawling harbor-town built vertically up three stony karst towers on the shores of southeastern Island of Tamerynd. This narrow, ramshackle town is are where fortunes change hands faster than blades are drawn. Murder, deceit, betrayal, and sudden wealth are not aberrations here but the city’s natural weather. A sailor can arrive penniless at dusk, command a crew by midnight, and be floating face-down in the harbor by dawn.

Every six years, Deepberth becomes the political center of the pirate world when the Warcaptains gather to debate, amend, and rewrite the Compact... the only law that pirates broadly acknowledge. During these periods, the city becomes even more volatile, as old grudges resurface and new ambitions are forged in blood and rum.

Geography

Deepberth is not a city laid upon land... it is a city clinging to stone. Along the southeastern shore of Tamerynd Island, three immense limestone karsts rise abruptly from the sea like the broken teeth of some drowned colossus. These karsts form the natural arms of an extraordinarily deep, sheltered harbor, whose waters plunge far beyond the reach of ordinary anchors. It is this abyssal anchorage, it is said able to swallow whole fleets, that gives the city its name. The sea floor drops away sharply between the karsts, creating a harbor so deep that wrecks and bodies alike vanish into blackness within sight of the docks. Some old sailors claim the bottom has never been reached. Though the city is generally protected from the worst of the storms of the Pirate Isles, the climate is wet and plant life verdant... any structure that lasts more than a few weeks either disintegrates from the moisture or grows a thick cover of moss and ivy that, somehow, keeps the buildings of the city clinging to the walls of the three karsts.

The tallest and most sheer of the three karsts, Blacktooth Rise dominates the harbor like a jagged fang, its stone face riddled with iron spikes, rope bridges, and cantilevered platforms driven directly into the rock. On calm mornings and rainy nights, the upper levels vanish into mist and smoke. As with the other two karsts of the city, buildings are stacked vertically, five or six layers deep, collapses are common and rebuilding is constant. Blacktooth Rise is where Deepberth’s most dangerous districts climb skyward, built atop ruins, which themselves rest upon older ruins from forgotten ages. Whole floors and carved caves have been sealed off and forgotten, becoming tombs, lairs, or secret routes.

Broader and more fractured, Gallowskar slopes unevenly toward the jungle interior, its stone split by old fault lines and sinkholes. It is riddled with natural arches and overhangs, many of which now support hanging structures lashed together with chains and timber. It is easily accessed from shore and jungle and has the only road leading out of the city, into farmlands and fishing villages that huddle nearby along the shore. Gallowskar has always been associated with judgment, punishment, and politics. It is said that in some distant past, when Deepberth briefly flirted with law, executions were carried out here—often by rope suspended over open air. The name endured long after the laws did not.

The most outward-reaching karst, Dagon's Horn juts directly into the harbor like a prow, battered constantly by waves and storms. Its lower reaches are perpetually slick with spray, while its upper tiers lean precariously over open water. In her shadow lie docks generally unclaimed and storm-facing drydocks, often with ships in various stages of repair or randomly careened along the shore. Even the buildings that rise up the walls are constructed from or reinforced by ship hulls and scrap from the shipyards. Entire sections of the city here are periodically claimed by the sea as improbable and reckless construction finally breaks and crashes into the waters below. Dagon's Horn is where the city meets the ocean head-on. Ships moor directly to stone piers driven into the karst, and some structures extend so far out that waves crash beneath their floors at high tide. Many believe parts of the Horn are slowly sinking.

The Harbor of Deepberth is deep and dark, providing for plenty of space for even the largest of fleets to dock along her shores. Anchors often fail to reach anything substantial, so mooring chains are essential. Sunlight seems to vanish quickly beneath the oily, grimy surface. Rumors persist of lights seen moving deep underwater and sounds echoing up from the depths on still nights, but whether these tales are superstition or a warning is a matter of opinion...

Geographic Info

Continent: Duria

Region: Island of Tamerynd

Terrain: Coastal karst towers

Climate: Tropical

People

Demographic Info

Population: 9,500

Species Composition: About 65% human, 10% half-elven, 20% half-orc and 5% "other"

Primary Language(s): Tamerish

Secondary Language(s): Aebasan, Neptaran, Zetian

The people of Deepberth are composed of the flotsam and jetsam of societies and peoples from around the Betshaban Ocean, washed up by the Great Gyre into one of the most violent, opportunistic and, conversely, one of the most free communities in the world. Though the population waxes and wanes with the arrival or departure of various pirate ships, there is a sedentary core of people who have come to live permanent in the ramshackle buildings stacked atop one another up and down the three karst towers that the town is built upon. The permanent residents all seek to profit one way or another off the pirates who seek haven in the city, either through prostitution, working he docks, fencing and shipping stolen goods or various other nefarious and even semi-legitimate enterprises.

Government & Politics

There is no formal ruler in Deepberth. At times in its history, a mayor has emerged, but he is always self-appointed, always temporary and always deposed once their strength has faltered. Authority in Deepberth flows from fear, wealth, reputation and the number of thugs you can muster at any one time rather than titles.

Law

There is no real law in Deepberth, other than the Compact that pirates are sworn to uphold (and sometimes do!). Each faction in the city has its own rules and regulations that it enforces as it is able, either in its business dealings or, sometimes, even over a whole neighborhood. Public killings are common, but inefficient or rampant violence is frowned upon... anyone who disrupts business too often tends to vanish quietly into the depths of the harbor.

Law Enforcement

"Justice" is more a cycle of revenge and retaliation than anything organized, characterized by crew retaliation, personal vendettas, syndicate reprisals, gang warfare and, rarely, arbitration by the Warcaptains.

Government Info

Type: Anarchy

Ruler(s): None

Strategic Importance: Pirate haven

Economy

Economic Info

Exports: Stolen goods, including foodstuffs, ore, treasure and whatever else the pirates can bring to the city's fences and repurpose with semi-respectable merchants; some pirates will go "respectable" for a while and sell their services abroad as naval mercenaries.

Imports: Everything. Deepberth produces very little.

The economy of Deepberth is predatory, liquid, and brutally efficient. Wealth here is not created so much as captured, converted, and redistributed through violence, leverage, and fear. The city produces little of its own; instead, it thrives by intercepting the wealth of others and laundering it into forms that can be spent, hidden, or reinvested. It breathes by serving those eager to spend their ill-gotten coin on spirits, luck, sex and everything else coin can buy. Coin flows constantly, but stability does not. A single night can see a merchant family ruined, a captain elevated to legend, and an entire district plunged into scarcity or even falling into the ocean itself. Deepberth’s economy does not reward patience... it rewards timing.

Religion & Belief

Superstition dominates in Deepberth and, generally, the overtly religious are unwelcome unless they are aligned with a god of the sea (the Compact begins with the declaration "Let it be known that no king rules the sea, nor any god save those who dwell beneath the waves." Deepberth is one of the few places in the world that Taltos the Deepdweller is worshipped openly. Once every few years, worshipers or converts to Betshaba the Wavequeen amass in secret to large enough numbers to challenge the worshipers of Taltos, which inevitably leads to blood-soaked docks and nights of terror until one faction or the other (usually the Betshabans) retreats into the shadows.

Worshipers of Pothos the Glutton, god of vice, and Orchus the Bluefeather, god of luck, are not uncommon and, along with Taltosian worship, the only faiths that maintain a relatively stable presence in Deepberth.

Various other faiths can be found in Deepberth, though typically worshipers keep their faith quiet or secret. Worshipers of Cebren the Piper, god of music, tend to be found in the many drinking halls and taverns that are scattered through the city. Orestea the Chalice, goddess of rain, is respected and her adherents sometimes attempt to institute some article or tradition that would soften the darker side of the liberties the inhabitants revel in. Worship of Thea the Muse, goddess of art, is not uncommon, particularly among shipbuilders and naval architects. Unfortunately, open worship of Empusa "Lady Death", goddess of poison; Epimetheus the Drowned Wyrm, god of floods; Tisiphone the Despoiled, goddess of vengeance; and Stheno the Stillborn, god of decay, is not uncommon. Strangely, worship of Podarge the Destroyer, god of destruction and drowning and patron of pirates is not significant in the city, though his cult certainly has a presence. The pirates of Deepberth tend to be too focused on profit and coin to truly embrace the destruction and fear demanded by the Destroyer. Worship of Gyges the Herald, god of thunder, is not unknown and is seen as something of a patron for sailors seeking to avoid the dreaded storms of Podarge. Orthus the Stormrider, god of storms, is feared and appeased... some worship him purely as a matter of pragmatism.

Betshaban cults are often whispered about and cursed in the same breath. Though most of the city's pirates at least pay some lip service to Betshaba and Taltos alike, whenever Betshabans grow numerous enough to become uncovered in Deepberth, they are generally considered enemies by most, if for no other reason than they tend to violently disapprove of the main means of income for most in the city.

Major Temples

There are no known formal temples in Deepberth, though there are various shrines, often temporary, tucked into its nooks and corners for those who know where to look. There are, of course, constant rumors of a vast temple of Taltos under one of the city's karst columns or at the floor of its harbor.

Religious Info

Pantheon: Any

Dominant Faith: Taltos the Deepdweller, Dagonian god of water, Pothos the Glutton, god of vice, and Orchus the Bluefeather, god of luck

Secondary Faith(s): Cebren the Piper, god of music; Empusa "Lady Death", goddess of poison; Epimetheus the Drowned Wyrm, god of floods; Gyges the Herald, god of thunder; Orestea the Chalice, goddess of rain; Orthus the Stormrider, god of storms; Podarge the Destroyer, god of destruction and drowning; Stheno the Stillborn, god of decay; Thea the Muse, goddess of art; Tisiphone the Despoiled, goddess of vengeance

Persecuted Faiths: Betshaba the Wavequeen

Culture & Daily Life

Deepberth’s people are hard, pragmatic, and often deeply superstitious. Sea-charms hang beside stolen relics. Names are treasured as one of the few possessions that cannot be stolen, but when sullied may be discarded as easily as knives. Loyalty is respected, but only as long as it is accompanied by profit.

Despite its brutality, Deepberth possesses a strange stability. Everyone understands the rules, even if none are written, and those who survive long enough often come to see the city as the only place in the world where freedom is absolute... right up until the moment it isn’t.

Notable Locations

The Knife Market

A sprawling black-market bazaar where legality is irrelevant and morality is optional, the Knife Market is primarily composed of narrow alleyways packed with stalls and hidden rooms. Prices fluctuate wildly with rumor, bloodshed and the tides. if something exists (or shouldn't), it has been bought here at some point. Pickpocketing is a constant, as is quiet violence of those powerful enough to take what they want from others. Market rules are ruthlessly enforced here by the Salt Widow Cartel, who's thugs are constantly wandering the alleys in twos and threes, collecting protection money from the vendors hoping to make enough coin to pay them.

• The Counting Knots: This is currently one of the most significant of many tally-houses in the district where debts are tracked with cord and beads. There is an unspoken agreement to leave these businesses alone and, when that agreement is violated, the locals cooperate to ensure the violator never makes such a mistake again.
• Broken Lantern Row: This alley is strangely silent during the day, its vendors only opening their awnings to trade at night. These vendors are the damned and sacrilegious, trading in stolen relics, dark sorcery and heretical texts.
• Hook & Scale: An exotic goods dealer specializing in monstrous remains, the Hook & Scale operates under a strict "no questions asked" policy as to the source of the goods traded there.
• The Red Canopy: A poison and drug market, these alleyways are covered by permanent crimson awnings and canopies.
• The Whisper Vault: Ostensibly a tavern, the Whisper Vault is a series of soundproofed rooms carved into the face of the karst where patrons pay a fee to obtain the rare moment of privacy for high-risk deals and conversations... and more.

The Lower Docks

The Lower Docks are the lungs of Deepberth, choked with ships, laborers, and the stink of salt, tar, and blood. Everything entering or leaving the city touches these piers at some point. Power here lies not with captains, but with those who decide what gets unloaded. Sprawling beneath the shadow of Dagon's Horn, the Lower Docks are constantly in motion, day and night, and the noise of men working, cranes creaking and wagons creaking through the narrow streets are ceaseless. The docks are controlled by labor gangs with shifting loyalties who load and unload ships moored there, charging informal tolls and "dock fees" enforced with clubs and fists. Accidental fires and entire sections of the town collapsing into the harbor are not uncommon.

• Brotherhood Hall: One of the few semi-permanent structures in the Lower Docks, this is the union hall of the Dockhand's Brotherhood. It operates more as a command center for their operations, particularly when they feel some captain or faction has done them wrong and they're organizing for some payback.
• The Crane Graves: Collapsed cranes, broken ship pieces and abandoned cargo litter this area at the edge of the Lower Docks, often used as hiding places, caches for hidden treasure and ambush points for the unwary.
• The Mud Locks: Filthy, muddy slips where ships dock for little to no fee. This is one of the few places in the harbor that the sea floor is close to the surface.
• Southchain Piers: Heavily guarded unloading docks for valuable cargo. The gangs charge a hefty fee for docking here, but it is well worth the price.
• The Split Bollard: A quiet dockside tavern where labor contracts are negotiated and the laborers come for a relaxing drink and some companionship at the end of their shift.

This page has been identified as needing a map for clarity.