World of Samardan: Pordel, City of the Gorbani Roosts...

Greetings, All:

This is the sixteenth post for this year's A to Z Challenge series. This year, I am describing 26 different locations in the World of Samardan campaign setting, one for each letter of the alphabet. Today, P is for Pordel, City of the Gorbani Roosts.

(Hex) Pordel, City of the Gorbani Roosts

Population: 12,000 (65% Human, 30% Rakran, 5% Other). Ruler: Raganu Podluso Banasam (8th Level Human Warrior[Equestrian]). Resources: Gorbani, Herbs.

Ambiance: A great number gorbani (huge avian creatures with razor-sharp talons that are easily domesticated to serve as flying mounts) roost in nests along the steep mountainous walls above the city of Pordel. Built into and up the cliffside, Pordel is a city of various levels and tiers. This discourages travel by foot simply through the nature of the steep trails leading from one section of the city to another. Herbalists and healers hold Pordel in high regard for the Logarasak, a prestigious academy of medicine.

History: The original settlement of Pordel sprang up around a single aerie, and grew as knowledge of Pordel's superior gorbani stock spread throughout the region. Small mountain valleys provided well-protected sites best suited for certain medicinal herbs. As the needs for veterinary healers grew, the Logarasak emerged as a prominent institution of higher learning. The healing of humanoids was originally only a secondary course of study at the academy, but has since blossomed into its own field.

Encounters: Flyers of all types, both airship and gorbani, can be found in Pordel, as well as a wide variety of Rakrani drawn to study at the Logarasak. Attacks by wild gorbani are rare these days, although it can happen occasionally beyond the city walls. Occasionally, volburi (large winged ursinoid creatures with the ability to psychically stun its prey and a hatred of other creatures with mystical ability) come down from the higher reaches to attack gorbani roosts and the upper tiers of Pordel. Common hazards and encounters include herb addicts, gorbani droppings and the occasional landslide.

Treasure: Sen Sema Loganu, the headmistress of the Logarasak, is rumored to be in possession of lost lore of the Ancient Ones, and even has the ability to restore life to the recently deceased. The eggs of the Sorato breed of gorbani are held in particularly high esteem, for the gorbani of that particular breed fly faster and more fiercely. As such, they make fantastic war-mounts. These eggs are protected within the hatcheries of the Soratopor Aerie, and only sold to the highest nobles and most affluent merchants.

Adventure Hooks: Adventure hooks for this site could include the following:

• A frantic woman wants to hire thugs to kidnap Sen Sema Loganu to raise her recently deceased husband, the crime lord Rapo Dilablad, from the dead before others hear of his demise.
• A Rakran youth named Mal Buraban needs help climbing to a gorbani nest to recover a jeweled collar from the body of his pet, which the mother gorbani had snagged from the pasture to feed to her baby hatchlings. The collar was a gift from his father, a mercenary who died in battle last year.
• Koranu Keran Podganan, a noble from Torkobalem, clandestinely seeks "acquisition specialists" to steal two gorbani eggs from the Soratopor Aerie for him.
• Muda Hanaminan, a Rakran herbalist studying at the Lorarasak, wants to hire men-at-arms to protect her from possible volburi attacks while she harvests some rare herbs in an upper valley.
• Pansanu Hiko Devikasuna is looking for guides to help him hunt down and slay a great black volbur called "Ol' Death".

Standard Disclaimer: As I have not yet decided where to set this particular location on the map as yet, I've left a placeholder to remind me to come back to this in the future. Later on, I'll replace (Hex) with the actual hex location, when I put all of this together into a single document.

Enjoy,
Flynn