# Port Damali _The Jewel of the Menagerie Coast_ _Everything is legal in Port Damali._ ## Description > You've been here before, but you barely remember the last time, pushed as you were for time. > This time, though, on the deck of your own ship, you take it all in. > Port Damali, the Jewel of the Menagerie Coast, is surrounded one three sides by water and on the fourth by mountains. As your ship pulls in, you see forest to your left, north of Palma Flora, and to the right, across the water. It's the biggest city any of you has ever seen (except for Ora-- Rexxentrum, the closest city to where you lived, was bigger), and it's very busy even at this early hour in the morning. > But what REALLY calls your attention are shapes you spot in the sky. As you get closer, you realize they are ships: sails unfurled, the deck abuzz with people moving around, and mysteriously held aloft in the air. Their undersides are carved intricately in ways that normal ships never would be. These are skyships. ## When they return - [[Verdant Ventures]] has some items ready for them - [[Bawdy Gem]] harbor fees were only paid until 24 Dualahei, so the crew went back to [[Darktow]]. ## Quests in Port Damali - [ ] Talk to [[Doctor Waldorf Perriweather]] on behalf of the [[Plank King]] and ascertain his motives and the motives of [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/The Myriad|The Myriad]] for talking to [[The Revelry|Revelry]]. He will want them to prove themselves by stealing from the [[Clovis Concord]]. [[Heist of the Black Viper]] - [ ] Find [[Asari]]. - [ ] [[Silva]] will have asked [[Cobalt Soul]] to take Ora into training. - [ ] [[Chessia Wakiam]] will admire one of [[Lira]]'s performances if she performs there, and will ask for help in being private entertainment for [[Olesya Lapidus]]. In reality, her goal is to convince Olesya to allow the Myriad to dock one ship a month in Port Damali. She will attempt to seduce Olesya, but when she finds out that Olesya is transgender female, she will attempt to blackmail her. - [[Olesya Lapidus]] or [[Zhelezo]]: - [ ] Find out what the [[The Revelry]] is attempting to smuggle into [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/Port Damali]]. Ship called [[Dragon Turtle]] is suspected to be a pirate ship. It is, and it is smuggling in [[Residuum]]. - [ ] Tail [[Duos Sabado]] and figure out whom he meets with and what he says. He will meet with [[Doctor Waldorf Perriweather]]. The Golden Chain is a front for the [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/The Myriad]]. - [ ] Kill [[Duos Sabado]], leader of [[The Golden Chain]]. - [ ] __**Mephit Madness (High Level).**__ The [marid](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/marid) who was freed beneath the city isn't pleased about its incarceration. Every day, it summons [steam mephits](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/steam-mephit) to terrorize the people of Port Damali with pranks and mischief. The characters are hired to discover the source of the mephit problem and solve it. They must face the marid in its lair, where they might learn the truth of the city's steam power. - [ ] __**Hot Purchase (Epic Level).**__ The characters aim to legally or illegally acquire a powerful item from the Exalted Collection Auction House. They could want this item for themselves or be hired to acquire it for the Revelry, the Myriad, or another faction. While the characters attempt to claim the item, they are confronted by a [balor](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/balor) and a crew of demons who were charged by a demon lord to claim the same item. ## Port Damali at a glance ![[port_damali-inkarnate.jpg]] ![[damali-enlarged.png]] The jewel of the Menagerie Coast, the original Marquesian colony, and the unofficial capital of free trade outside the empire, Port Damali is a bustling city filled with music, color, and commerce. It was built on hills where the [[Lucidian Ocean]] meets the [[Tyodan River]]. The massive port hosts ships from all around the world, creating a mishmash of cultures and trades that mingle to form the society of Port Damali. Trade routes splinter from all other sides of the city to ensure rapid transport of goods to destinations throughout Wildemount and beyond. The city's architecture is varied and inconsistent; the inner wards display their own historical roots or lavish opulence, while the outer wards attempt to combat the slum-like atmosphere with cheap, colorful banners and street buskers. The city has a roiling underbelly of crime, murder, and corruption that many say is regrettable but necessary for the city to function. ### Population 82,110 (51% humans, 16% halflings, 15% elves, 18% other races) ### Government The city is helmed by Marquis [[Olesya Lapidus]], who works with local guildmasters and nobles, bolstered by the distant support of the other Clovis Concord members. ### Defense Port Damali maintains a sizable army alongside the many [[Zhelezo]] who guard the city. Nobles and wealthy merchants keep bodyguards. ### Commerce Nearly any sort of goods or services can be found here, legal and otherwise. The high volume of travelers means that there are plentiful inns, taverns, underground markets, and rare auctions. ### Organizations Temples to the Prime Deities are common, and some notable shrines to the Betrayer Gods are secreted away within this large city. The numerous merchant guilds run most businesses, but [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/The Myriad|The Myriad]] is the real power behind the guilds themselves. ### Government Official: [[Clovis Concord]] Others: [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/The Myriad|The Myriad]], [[The Revelry]] The laws of the Clovis Concord are enforced with varying stringency within each city. Nowhere is this more true than in Port Damali, where the law can be bought like any other commodity. Anything can be purchased here, even the ear of Marquis [[Olesya Lapidus]], the celebrated leader of Port Damali. The Lapidus family rose to prominence over a century ago, when they shifted from employing merchants to deploying mercenaries. In time, anyone who sought safety on the waves turned to Lapidus family privateers. As the fifth in her family to lead Port Damali, Marquis Olesya steadfastly collaborates with the other leaders of the Menagerie Coast to keep the concord an independent nation, free from imperial control. However, Marquis Lapidus faces threats on all sides. When she was distracted by the rise of the Revelry, the long-dormant Myriad swooped in and conscripted many of the guilds she was supposed to oversee. Now she struggles to excise the Myriad claws embedded within the belly of her city. ## Geography and Map  _Note: This map contains an errata. The scale should be feet, not miles. It's 1.828km from top to bottom._ The largest city on the western coast of Wildemount, the resplendent seaside metropolis of Port Damali is nestled against the Tyodan River where it meets the Lucidian Ocean. The city is built atop a cluster of leveled hills, and slight changes of elevation physically mark the variation between wards. Past the farmsteads, beyond the tents and ramshackle homes that mark the boundaries of the city, lies the Prism Path, a series of connecting main roads made of smooth, multicolored stones reclaimed from the ocean shores. These roads carve through the interior wards: the Tumbledowns, the Beaded Alley, the Crescents, the Gilded Esplanade, and the Larboard Light. From one end to the other, Damali is 1.828 km long. ### [[The Tumbledowns]] ### [[The Beaded Alley]]  ### [[The Crescents]]  ### [[The Gilded Esplanade]] ### [[The Larboard Light]] ## Key characteristics ### Magic is abundant and used for convenience - Flying Carpets are used to go from one side of Damali to another; most prominent in [[The Beaded Alley]] where people do business, [[The Gilded Esplanade]]and [[The Crescents]] where the more affluent people live - Everbright lanterns are hung along the Prism Path in different colors, adding to the multicultural, multicolored atmosphere that Damali is known for. - Town crier's voices are magically amplified. - Prestidigitation (heating, cooling, minor illusion) enhance daily lives. - Fashion: Glamerweave is popular among the wealthy; it is clothing imbued with illusions. ### Many factions hold the power of the city #### The [[Clovis Concord]] #### [[Guilds of Port Damali]] #### [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/The Myriad|The Myriad]] #### [[The Revelry]] #### [[Cobalt Soul]] ## Problems ### [[The Revelry]] steals cargo, ransacks ships, and generally causes chaos The waters along the Menagerie Coast are rampant with piracy and roving ocean creatures, threatening trade and travel routes throughout the region. ### The war between the [[Dwendalian Empire]] and the [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/Kryn Dynasty|Kryn Dynasty]] threatens to spill over into the [[Clovis Concord]] The concord has established a formal navy of nearly four hundred warships to maintain the sanctity of the surrounding ocean. These ships are scattered along the coast, with many stationed in [[Port Zoon]] or situated in the waters south of [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/Nicodranas|Nicodranas]] to prevent the current war from bleeding into concord territory, but a quarter of the entire navy is maintained within and around Port Damali. ### The city lost its main electricity source Until recently, many of the businesses in Port Damali were heated and powered by a system of steam-powered engines, which were installed beneath the city's streets. Unknown to most citizens, a marid had been shackled within the sewers to power the steam engines for decades. Recently, another marid in Nicodranas was freed from a similar situation, inspiring an anonymous adventurer to free the marid in Port Damali from its shackles, leaving the engines inert and many businesses without power. A large group of hired druids and mages are maintaining what functionality they can, but Marquis Olesya Lapidus is desperately looking for an alternative energy source or a replacement for the steam engines. ### [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/The Myriad|The Myriad]] has increased criminal operations Port Damali has been a pivotal nexus of Myriad activity for some time, and nearly all elements of major commerce within the city are tied to the crime syndicate in some way. Many of the powerful merchants and company owners are either part of the Myriad or are indentured to it. As such, the city is the beating heart of Exandria's slave trade, with slavers passing through often to discreetly move their bounty. Those who fail the Myriad are shackled and shipped off as living contraband. Myriad operatives are plentiful within the law enforcement of Port Damali, so most illegal activity is covered up or allowed to slide, unless such crime interferes with Myriad interests. ### [[The Golden Chain]] Mercenary Company has increased the volume of its murders for hire The sheer volume of trade and travel along the Menagerie Coast creates plentiful opportunities for sellswords, bodyguards, and adventurers seeking to make some coin and a name for themselves. One crew in particular established itself within Port Damali nearly sixty years ago and has become the most sought-after, expensive, and efficient mercenary band on this side of the Lucidian Ocean. Known as the Golden Chain, it prides itself on having no affiliations, no morals, and no tolerance for failure. Those who can afford its services earn the temporary loyalty of the most ruthless hunters and enforcers on the coast, no questions asked. The Golden Chain is organized and led by [[Duos Sabado]], son of the famed bounty hunter Quan Sabado who founded the company. Few ever dare to cross the Golden Chain, let alone fail to pay it, for those who have challenged these mercenaries are remembered mostly for their bloody demise. ## Factions ```dataview table description as "Description" from "ttrpgs/The Slayers Five" where contains(type,"faction") and contains(location,"Port Damali") sort file.name ASC ``` ## People ```dataview table shop as Shop, faction as Faction, description as Description from "ttrpgs/The Slayers Five" WHERE contains(type, "NPC") and contains(location,"Port Damali") SORT file.name ASC ``` ## Completed - [x] Talk to [[Aro|Aro]].