Page 93 - Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting

tal’dorei campaign guide

families dotting the grassy hillsides. As surface space grown goods to the people of the city. After the tyrant’s
grew limited in centuries past, the city began excavating fall, an agreement was made, and now the farming com-
a network of catacombs called the Undervaults. Upkeep, munity has grown to become one of the larger sources of
expansion, and general safeguarding of the sites are over- farming products within Emon. While called a slum to
seen by the Gravewatchers, a guild of families that has this day by habit, the humble farmers here are rather safe
held political and social hegemony control over the district from crime and poverty.
for generations. A very recent excavation in the Under-
vaults was found to lead into the Crystalfen Caverns, and the Shoreline farmS
was promptly sealed off. This did not stop some members The Shoreline Farms is a stretch of murky shore that
of the Gravewatchers from seeing an opportunity, how- the denizens of the Upper Slums have converted into
ever; passage is occasionally granted to the Clasp or others farmland specializing in the few vegetables that grow
willing to pay for entry to the dangerous realm below. in saltwater-soaked soil. Bountiful harvests of quattet
fruit and the hard-to-grow brineroot has led to a small
the port of emon
economic boom for some within the Upper Slums. This
The Port of Emon encompasses the massive inlet and situation has led to farmers being fiercely territorial, occa-
series of docks that allow a vibrant flow of shipments in sionally to the point of actual violence.
and out of the city. Over a hundred ships fill this port
at any given time, and the dock crews are ever working, the grotto
carrying crates and goods away to Abdar’s Promenade, or The Grotto is the sprawling series of chambers and halls
to the empty vessels for exportation. The northern sector that composes the Clasp’s main base of operations beneath
of the Port is mostly allocated to the Everline, a powerful the city of Emon. Hidden amongst a series of labyrinthine
fisherman’s guild that frequently feuds with the shipping tunnels and passages that are woven into the sewer system,
guild the Onyx Banner regarding dock space and taxing it’s rumored there are over a dozen entrances into the
dock use. These feuds have never come to blows, but the Grotto concealed throughout the city, and over a hundred
Everline has begun making secret alliances with the others abandoned and filled in for fear of discovery. The
sahuagin of the southern coast. What are they planning? very nature of the Clasp’s business is to keep shifting out of
sight, and as such, the actual core of the organization moves
the upper SlumS
from base to base between multiple subterranean structures,
The Upper Slums began several hundred years ago as a ever building further underground or repurposing a long
tent city, built by citizens too poor to pay Drassig’s outra- abandoned hideout whenever necessary.
geous taxes and were forced outside of the city gates. As
time went on, the slum grew until it rivaled the size of a landmarKs
third of the city. Though their conditions were still meager
gilmore’S gloriouS goodS
when the magnanimous Zan Tal’Dorei ended Drassig’s
iron rule, the city’s denizens chose to remain, having The broad, single-story façade of Shaun Gilmore’s won-
created a community with its own culture of inexpensive drous magical emporium belies the extravagance of its
living and brotherhood in poverty, away from the bustle interior. Within, the air is thick with a dozen competing
of the city’s inner streets. A microcosm society now exists perfumes, each more pungent than the last. The interior is
within the slum, including its own trade square, shrines impossibly large—certainly larger than its exterior walls
for worship, and makeshift farms on the outskirts. would have you believe—and filled with seemingly end-
Though the district’s name was once a sneering insult less rows of arcane curiosities and artifacts, many of whose
by the Cloudtop elite, its people have reclaimed the name, cryptic functions have been lost to time.
transforming the term “Upper Slums” into a symbol of Everburning candles in an array of unnatural colors
pride. Two major ills afflict the region; the most obvious light the shop, casting tantalizing shadows over every
is its rampant crime and Clasp activity, for the Arms of bubbling phial and mystical orb. Characters entering the
Emon care little for defending the district. The second shop are first met by Gilmore’s assistant Sherri, a half-elf
feeds the first; wealthy Emonians have suddenly begun draped in deep purple robes. If they are lucky, or partic-
building mansions homes within the Upper Slums, ularly convincing, they may even meet the hero Gilmore
diluting its unique culture and fanning the flames of himself. Gilmore is ever eager to recount his part in the
resentment. fall of the Chroma Conclave, often embellishing his role
in the final battle with Thordak himself.
the lower SlumS
Gilmore’s Glorious Goods sells all magic items of very
The Lower Slums are a fraction of the size of its northern rare rarity and lower for the price range listed in the GM’s
counterpart residing just outside the southernmost gates guidebook, as well as one or two long-lost legendary items.
out of Emon. When a large refugee band from Othan- Artifact-quality items are beyond even Shaun Gilmore’s
zia was barred entry into the city near the end of Trist usual fare, but he may know clues to a specific artifact’s
Drassig’s rule, the squatters instead set up shop beyond location. Magic items are expensive, and those strapped
the walls, slowly forming a community of farmers who for cash may inquire about sponsorships and quests done
requested land in exchange for providing produce and in Gilmore’s service.

92 chapter 2: gazetteer of tal’dorei