Khyber's Gate

District Type: Undercity
Buildings: Dungeons of at least ten rooms (8), temples (Dragon Below, the Shadow, the Mockery, the Fury), poor lodging (20), poor food (40), average trades (20), poor trades (60), average services (20), poor services (80), poor residences (420)
First Impression: This is an actual city beneath the city, with homes and shops carved into the walls of the Cogs. It is still a maze of passages, but the “streets” are a little wider and the ceilings rise higher. The heat is far less intense that in the industrial district, but the air is still filled with the stench of smoke and garbage. Goblins watch from the shadows, and in the distance two ogres stagger out of a bar.
Social Class: Lower class

Khyber’s Gate covers the distance between Ashblack and Blackbones. Due to the lack of lava streams, it does not have any of the heavy industry found to the east or west. For the most part, Khyber’s Gate is a tenement district, filled with tiny houses carved into the tunnel walls. A great many of the monstrous immigrants from Droaam have settled in Khyber’s Gate, using strength or supernatural abilities to drive the original residents away. Beyond these monsters, the vast majority of the inhabitants are goblins. The other inhabitants of the Gate are drawn from all races, though they share a common desperation; an elf resident of Khyber’s Gate has little in common with one of the haughty inhabitants of Shae Lias. Many of the nongoblin inhabitants of the region are criminals who have fled from justice.
Some people have established businesses in the depths, while others travel up to the surface and make a living by begging or stealing. While the vast majority of the trades and services offered in Khyber’s Gate are illegal, there are a few people who practice useful mundane trades. Khyber’s Gate is a community of sorts, and brewers, tailors, and cooks are just as valuable as burglars and assassins.
Khyber’s Gate is an extremely disorganized region. There is no central authority—it is simply a question of who has the power to enforce their desires. At the moment, Daask is the most powerful force in the undercity. The Cults of the Dragon Below have a strong following in the undercity, but as is often the case, the cults are not a unifi ed force; there are three different sects, and they fight one another as often as\ anyone else. The rakshasa Zathara and zakya Nethatar are powerful and deadly inhabitants of the region, but few people even know of their existence.
In Khyber’s Gate, an adventurer should always be cautious—there’s no telling when what appears to be a lowly goblin might turn out to be a vampire, a wererat, a rakshasa, or an even more dangerous fiend.
Shamukaar: This is the largest and most successful tavern in the region, and it is the safest place to deal with members of Daask. Shamukaar is simultaneously a slaughterhouse, a butcher shop, a restaurant, and a tavern. It caters to Droaam immigrants, a category that includes many different species; ogres, gnolls, harpies, minotaurs, and even medusas can be found at the bar. The goblin chefs can prepare an astonishing assortment of meals, all of which share one thing in common: they are disgusting to humans. Any nongoblin who eats a meal at Shamukaar must make a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw or suffer 1 point of Constitution damage and become nauseated for 1 hour. A nongoblin who eats at Shamukaar once per day for a week without failing a saving throw gains a +2 bonus on all saving throws to resist the effects of ingested poisons.
Despite the monstrous nature of its patrons, Shamukaar is one of the safest places in Khyber’s Gate. Even the monsters of Daask recognize the need for a neutral ground and a safe haven, and Shamukaar serves that purpose. Unless provoked beyond measure, a resident of Khyber’s Gate will not start a fight in Shamukaar. And if anyone does start a fight, all other patrons unite together to subdue the aggressor.
The Wounded Dragon: This shop is located in a small side tunnel behind Shamukaar. It has no windows, and the door is locked with seal of the magi. The only indication of its purpose is a small sign above the door, showing a stylized dragon with an injured leg; a few drops of blood fall from its raised foreleg. This is the abode of Cask (NE male changeling artificer 5), a changeling artificer allied with Daask. Cask’s specialty is alchemy, and he provides Daask with wrath, noxious smokesticks, and other alchemical weapons. More importantly, he plays a key role in the dragon’s blood trade, selling from his shop. Dragon’s blood is smuggled into Sharn in an inert, unrecognizable solid form. Cask prepares a special salve; when this is applied to the dragon’s blood, it restores the drug to its proper consistency. Cask cannot create dragon’s blood on his own, and he does not know the ingredients of the drug.
The Temple of the Six: Before the rise of the Silver Flame, it was not uncommon to find people who openly worshipped the Dark Six, either hungry for power or making sacrifices to placate the dark gods. Temples to the Six were usually built in hidden places, and when Sharn was created an enormous temple to the Dark Six was constructed beneath the city. In 484 YK, Flamekeeper Jalus Baine led a force of the faithful and exterminated the followers of the Six, and the temple was quickly ransacked. But it was not completely destroyed. Currently, it serves as the headquarters of Daask and the home of the ogre mage Cavallah (LE female ogre mage rogue 3). Cavallah respects the Mockery and the Shadow and has restored their altars, but for the most part the temple was simply a convenient base of operations. She has established a range of defenses in the temple, and brought a variety of unpleasant beasts from Droaam: gricks, displacer beasts, basilisks, and an assortment of other deadly creatures. The wealth gathered by Droaam lies in the vaults of this temple—but seizing it would be a dangerous task.
Many of the Dark Six have other worshippers in Khyber’s Gate, how have established hidden temples; these folk generally practice their faith in private and have little contact with Cavallah.
The Citadel of the Closed Circle: In the dawn of Sharn, there were three wizard’s circles: The Esoteric Order of Aureon, the Guild of Starlight and Shadows, and the Closed Circle. The wizards of the Closed Circle were interested in the lore of the daelkyr, and soon developed strong ties to the Cults of the Dragon Below. Eventually their work began to frighten the other two circles; it came to a war of wizards, and the Closed Circle was sealed in its fortress in the undercity. Now, centuries later, the Dragon Below has returned to this arcane fortress. A mind flayer named Chyrassk (NE male mind flayer cleric 3) has emerged from Khyber and broken the seals of this ancient dungeon. Chyrassk brought a small force from Khyber—3 dolgaunts, 20 dolgrims, and 1 umber hulk—but he has begun to build up a human following, especially among the refugees of Cyre. He has found many disturbing and powerful relics in this fortress.
The Workshop of Tyrial Dashar: A mighty conjurer created this underground workshop in order to carry out his experiments without placing the city at risk. He was eventually killed by a rakshasa that escaped its bonds, and ever since then his workshop has been a fortress of the Lords of Dust. Currently, the rakshasas Zathara and Nethatar reside in this dungeon keep.

Source: Sharn: City of Towers

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