Azure District's representative nobles are the Islarans. The family has held the post of harbormaster for many generations, although rumor holds that old Keltar Islaran's getting on in years and none of his children particularly wants the job when he passes on. Rumors also hold that the Kellani family has designs on this post, but with relations between these two families being as choppy as they are these days, it's unlikely that such a transfer will occur while old Keltar still lives.
Pets and Guardians
Whereas the majority of Sasserine's trade occurs in the Merchant District, Azure District remains a close second. In particular, the trade of exotic animals is a lucrative (and often dangerous) facet of this district's East Market. Most of these creatures are destined for life in the north as pets, but a few of them are more dangerous. This trade is one of the few the Azure Watch monitors (after a particularly tragic incident involving an escaped wyvern) - as a result, the black market and smuggling trade for dangerous animals does a booming business.
Listed below are prices for purchasing exotic and dangerous creatures from the Azure Markets.
Restriction: Certain creatures are dangerous to transport or keep in civilized areas - these creatures are restricted by the city watch. Before you can purchase a restricted creature, you must undergo a 3-hour interview (and pay a 50 gp application fee) with the watch at Azure Garrison to obtain a dangerous pet license. In order to convince the watch you mean no harm, you must make either a Bluff or a Diplomacy check of the indicated DC (you can't take 20 on either of these checks). Success nets you a license; failure gets your name on the watch list. You can apply for a license again in one month's time. Some desperate souls seek out the black market for false licenses - see the Shadowshore District for details on Sasserine's black markets.
Cost: Two numbers are listed here; an initial cost (the price you pay when you purchase your new pet) and the training cost (the price you pay to have your pet trained not to attack you).
City Watch
The Azure Watch is concerned primarily with keeping Sasserine's whaling operations running smoothly. Whalers are generally allowed to get away with more as a result; the watch figures that they're at sea most of the time anyway. An arrested whaler is almost always returned to his captain's ship for punishment or confinement there rather than taken to the district's undersized jail. Members of the Azure Watch tend to be a bit more strict with other criminals, but transfer them to Sunrise Garrison (see Sunrise District) if they require long-term punishment.
Citizens
If you're from Azure District, you probably spent a fair portion of your youth at sea. You have friends or family that work in the whaling industry, and may have spent some time on a whaling ship yourself. You likely worship at the Azure Cathedral, a temple dedicated to Osprem (the goddess of ships and sailors), Procan (the god of the sea), and Xerbo (the god of sea trade). Alternately, you could worship all three, in which case you have access to the domains of Luck, Strength, Travel, and Water. Clerics who worship all three of these deities may be of any alignment.
Water Rat [General]
Most of Azure District's residents learn to swim at a very early age, and take to the water as easily as land.
District: Azure
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Swim checks. When wearing light or no armor and not encumbered, fatigued, or exhausted, you can swim at one-half your speed as a move action or your full speed as a full-round action. While swimming, you gain a +2 bonus on Initiative checks.
Normal: Without the benefits of this feat, a character swims at one-quarter his speed as a move action or at one-half speed as a full-round action.
Notable NPCs
Belrain Daskeral (male human): The high-priest of the Azure Cathedral, Belrain is a soft-spoken man who tends the district church along with his twelve acolytes. Belrain is known to have a powerful temper.
Captain Shadwik (male human): Master of the Whaler's Guild, Captain Shadwik is a gruff, grizzled man who made his fortune as a whaler. Now too old to captain his own ship, he represents the whalers and fisherfolk of the city.
Heldrath Kellani (female human): Matroness of the Kellani family, Heldrath was once an adventurer (some say a pirate) who is thought to have not quite abandoned the questionable pastimes of her youth. She is rumored to be quite ill.
Keltar Islaran (male human): Lord of Islaran Manor and representative of Azure District on the Dawn Council, Keltar is an aging noble whose children have either gone missing or have no real interest in continuing the family's traditional post as harbormaster.
Maklash Gristwhistle (male dwarf): This obese and almost maniacally cheerful dwarf runs the Dredger's Guild, the organization charged with keeping Sasserine's waterways and canals clear of obstruction and filth.
Rowyn Kellani (female human): Eldest daughter of the Kellani family, and the most likely to take over control of the estate when her mother Heldrath passes on.
Azure District's Locations
- Islaran Manor (district representative)
- Best Bait and Desserts (bait and bakery)
- Dredger's Guildhall
- Nate's Nets (nets, fine fishing equipment)
- The Empty Grave (tavern)
- The Bloodthirsty Pelican (tavern/inn)
- Kellani manor (minor noble)
- Bizwor's Balms (medicine and seasickness cures)
- Pearldiver's Guildhall
- The Gull's Nest (brothel)
- Ropemaker's Guildhall
- Azure Garrison
- East Market (general goods, seafood, animals)
- The Mermaid's Secret (brothel)
- Whaleworks (fine scrimshaw art)
- Azure Cathedral (district church)
- The Sasserine Sleigh Ride (tavern/brothel)
- Finback Whaling
- Inker's Guildhall (tattoo artists)
- Sasserine Whaling
- The Drunken Dolphin (whaler tavern)
- Whaler's Guildhall
- Red Sea Whaling
- Fishmonger's Guildhall
- Azure Lighthouse
Osprem
LN lesser goddess of sea voyages, ships, and sailors
Osprem is a generally benign goddess, revered by the Suel people as the protector of those who travel on the water. She is more compassionate than her occasional companion Xerbo, yet she is not averse to punishing those who offend her or disobey her laws. She is shown as a beautiful gowned woman, a dolphin, a barracuda, or a sperm whale; the latter two are interchangeably used as her holy symbol. She wears no armor but is protected by a ring carved from a whale's tooth, given to her by the grandfather of all whales.
Domains: Law, Protection, Travel, Water
Weapon: trident
Procan
(The Storm Lord, Sailor of Sea and Sky)
CN intermediate god of seas, sea life, salt, sea weather, and navigation
Procan is the father of the Oeridian wind gods (Atroa, Sotillion, Telchur, and Wenta) and the sky-god Velnius. He usually ignores other gods save those who rival his control of the sea (Osprem and Xerbo). Typically worshiped for his aquatic aspect, a few inland peoples revere him as a weather god. He is greedy, tempestuous, and mercurial, rarely keeping the same mood for more than an hour. His trident Undertow is made of coral and gold and finds sunken treasure; this weapon over a cresting wave is his holy symbol.
Domains: Animal, Chaos, Storm, Travel, Water, Weather
Weapons: longspear and trident
Xerbo
(The Sea Dragon)
N lesser god of the sea, sailing, money, and business
Xerbo is a stern and indifferent god. He is shown as a large man with matted kelplike hair, wearing dragon turtle armor and shield. His trident, Murky Deep, enchants and grants him dominion over all ocean life and can enchant his opponents. Xerbo is also a mercantile god, where his stern demeanor represents the drive for a hard bargain. Most revere him as a merchant's god and placate him as a sea god. He avoids other gods except his estranged wife Osprem, battles Procan regularly, and sulks whenever Zilchus encroaches on his followers. His symbol is a dragon turtle.
Domains: Animal, Knowledge, Water
Weapon: trident
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