Blackbottom

Blackbottom
Basic Information
Aliases	Free City of Blackbottom, City of Smugglers, City of Thieves (After the Fall of Blackbottom)
Dominant Language	Vaslorian
Geography
Type of location	City
Region	Vasloria, Aendrim

The major deepwater port city of Blackbottom was the largest city in Vasloria.

Geography

Blackbottom found itself in western Aendrim between the baronies of Tor and Bedegar.

Demography

Blackbottom was principally a human city, after the fall, it became more diverse, goblins, kobolds, radenwights, and other folk could be seen walking the streets in broad daylight.

Government

Blackbottom, despite being in Aendrim, fell outside of the feudal structure of Vasloria since even before the coming of the Caelian Empire.

The city council was made of a small coalition of local nobles and merchant leaders. The head of which was the lord mayor.

After the fall of Blackbottom, the heads of senior thieves' guilds became the de facto lords of Blackbottom, because, due to the destruction caused by the Hawklords, thieves' guilds were the only organizations with enough discipline and infrastructure left to get anything done.

Law Enforcement

The city's ranking law enforcement officer was the lord marshal, also known locally as the chief thieftaker.

After the fall of the city, the city became more dangerous, more sinister and sorcerous, with its law being little more than a unique concoction of revenge and retaliation.

Trade

Due to being a free city, Blackbottom enjoyed the privileged of low to none taxation and very little regulation, which everyone from thieves and merchants to barons and dukes benefited from. However, getting goods out of the city into Aendrim and beyond involved paying tariffs at the toll bridges along the roads leading to Tor and Bedegar.

The closest trading neighbor of Blackbottom was the city of Capital.

After the bombing of the city, trade continued to work, with the city now working with even fewer rules and regulations. However, the risks involved in mounting any operation in the city, mercantile or otherwise, became wildly greater, but the rewards had seen a similar inflation.

History

Fall of Blackbottom

^{[as of when?]}The Chain of Acheron shaped a plan to assassinate Mortum in Blackbottom. When Ajax learned of this plot, he teleported the Chrysopolis there and summoned the demon lord Relg. After first slaying Red, the commander of the Chain, Relg lead a fiendish invasion through the city, whilst Ajax's Hawklords bombed it from above.

After this event, great part of the city was destroyed, however, the city continued to function.

Origin of the name

The name Blackbottom comes from the massive black flagstones that tiled the entire floor of the city's harbor estuary. No one knows who laid the stones, never mind how or why, but many fantastical candidates can be found in local folklore - none of them human.

The name "City of Smugglers" had its origins in the fact that people could do business in Blackbottom without the fear of taxation or regulation.

The name "City of Thieves" came from the fact that the city's rulers were heads of thieves guilds, after it was bombed by Ajax's troops.

Known Buildings

Drunken Fool

One of the city's many inns, so named for the time when the local baron's jesters could drink for free. It was known for its luxurious wooded bathtubs which were refilled constantly with hot water heated over large fires. The inn collapses during the fall of Blackbottom.