Jewel Splendour

Summary

Jewel Splendour is the political and symbolic heart of western E'al Talas: a city built from the memory of catastrophe and governed through negotiated power. A fortified western metropolis raised from the scars of the Great War: seat of the Equilaterals, spiritual centre of the Temple of 9, gateway to the Bone Road, and one of the great powers of E'al Talas. The crown, council, clergy, military, guilds, scholars, merchants, and criminals all depend on one another while competing for influence. Its great walls and institutions project civilisation and permanence, yet its deepest stories concern the things that structure cannot fully contain: forbidden gods, old magic, restless dead, monsters beyond the roads, planar anomalies, and the possibility that the ancient wars were never truly finished.

Official Name

City of Jewel Splendour

Common Name

Titan's Gate

Settlement

Fortified coastal metropolis and city-state

Region

Western E'al Talas

Government

The Equilaterals: Royal Family, High Council, and Council of 9

Ruler

King Devin of House Allysum

Royal Consort

Queen Assani of House Greyport

Primary Ally

Port City of Amarin, bound by royal marriage

Major Routes

The Bone Road to Amarin; The Redemption south toward Aetheria

Port

Port Raze

Military / Law

Watchmen, Spearmen, Cutters, Royal Riflemen, and Temple of 9 paladins

Major Quarters

Northern, Central, Eastern/Guild, Western, Southern/Noble

Adjacent Territory

The Jewel Expanse

Population

Not stated in the surviving repository sources

Overview

The City of Jewel Splendour is one of the great urban powers of E'al Talas and is known across the continent by its heroic nickname, Titan's Gate. The oldest accounts place the city upon land ravaged by the Great War, where the Pantheon and the Betrayer Gods fought and where ancient powers were cast from the mortal world. The city that rose from those scars became a monument to survival through unity: mortals enduring what gods and titans had broken.

Jewel Splendour is heavily fortified, commercially powerful, religiously influential, and politically complicated. Its prosperity comes from trade, guild monopolies, scholarship, magic, its western port, and its position at the junction of continental routes. Its stability rests on an equally unusual arrangement: the crown, secular councillors, and the Temple of 9 govern together as the Equilaterals.

For residents, the city can feel secure and prosperous; for outsiders, it is a place of gates, permits, guild interests, religious restrictions, and layers of authority. Behind its monumental institutions sit black markets, illegal cults, secret tunnels, political rivalries, monster contracts, and remnants of the ancient world.

Geography and Strategic Position

Jewel Splendour occupies a fortified position on the western side of E'al Talas. Three sides look across broad land approaches, while the western edge opens to the sea through Port Raze. A wall runs coast to coast, with guarded gates and towers positioned to give defenders early warning of approaching armies.

The Northern Gate feeds the coastal road beside Sickle Bay and the northern settlements. The Eastern Gate is the beginning of the old Friendship Road - now widely called the Bone Road - linking Jewel Splendour with Amarin. The Southern Gate begins the ancient road called The Redemption toward Aetheria through the Kiyanti Wilderness, Dragonspine, Goliath lands, and the elven territories.

History

The city's foundational legend is inseparable from the Great War. Early traditions describe the region as one of the great battlefields of gods, Betrayer Gods, and titanic powers. Later inhabitants built Jewel Splendour from the ruin and gave it the name Titan's Gate as a reminder that survival required people to stand together against overwhelming forces.

The city did not remain politically stable. Over the centuries it passed through dictatorships, tyrannies, corrupt senates, and failed experiments in popular government. In the last major struggle for the throne, noble houses destroyed one another through intrigue and violence. House Allysum survived largely by refusing to join the bloodletting until its rivals had exhausted themselves. The house then took the throne and has ruled for roughly a century.

The current reign of King Devin of House Allysum has been comparatively peaceful. Devin is popular with common citizens, notably for enlarging the Coliseum and investing in public entertainments. His marriage to Queen Assani of House Greyport created a powerful dynastic alliance between Jewel Splendour and Amarin, joining the great western and eastern cities by both treaty and family.

Government and Politics

Jewel Splendour is governed by three institutions collectively called the Equilaterals: the Royal Family, the High Council, and the Council of 9. None is entirely sovereign. The monarchy provides continuity and public authority; the High Council manages secular, economic, military, and scholarly affairs; and the Council of 9 claims spiritual jurisdiction and enormous moral authority.

The Royal Family

The ruling house is House Allysum. King Devin tries to govern fairly and avoid the mistakes of previous dynasties, but the surviving notes describe him as young and susceptible to strong advisers. He depends heavily on the High Council for statecraft, the Council of 9 for religious guidance, and Anson Fall for the city's security.

The High Council

The High Council is composed mostly of elected senior officials, nobles, wealthy guild leaders, and powerful specialists. The surviving roster is:

• Lord Tiberius of House Allysum — brother of King Devin; High Council member.
• Lady Rosaline of House Dietes — High Council member.
• Lord Avery of House Trillium — High Council member and assigned overseer of the Coliseum.
• Lady Isabeu of House Lupin — High Council member.
• Flora Maze — Grand Scholar of the Library and Lyceum of the Empire; High Council member.
• Mason Storm — Guild Master of the Banker's Guild; High Council member.
• Orin Munchberger — Guild Master of the Merchant's Guild; High Council member.
• Emma Morgan — Archmage to Jewel Splendour; High Council member.
• Anson Fall — Law Master and Lord Commander of the Watchmen, Spearmen, and Cutters.

The Council of 9

The Council of 9 consists of the senior leaders of the nine accepted faiths. It deliberates on spiritual affairs but can also issue decrees with practical political force. The secular authorities usually accept its collective decisions, though arguments over jurisdiction are a persistent feature of city politics.

• Ronan Grey — Monsignor of Illuma; Spiritual High Councillor.
• Yusha Sand — Monsignor of Tyrn; High Inquisitor.
• Lara Ridel — Mistress of Miel; Grand Arbiter.
• Heron Tigris — Monsignor of Oghama; Grand Scholar.
• Lance Amon — Monsignor of Talos; Grand Defender.
• Tara Segna — Mistress of Malakar.
• Voluna Grey — Mistress of Tya.
• Hestia Raven — Mistress of Ulumbar.
• Anya Nedwini — Mistress of Mysteria.

Law, Defence, and Military Forces

The city's chief law-and-defence official is Anson Fall, the Law Master. His office combines judicial oversight with military command, making him one of the most powerful secular figures in Titan's Gate.

• Watchmen — Peacekeepers, gate guards, wall patrols, investigators, and - when required - undercover operatives. They commonly work in units of sixteen.
• Spearmen — The conspicuous land military of the city, recognised by bronze breastplates, red helmets, and their signature spears. They are trained to respond rapidly to public disorder and military threats.
• Cutters — The naval arm of Jewel Splendour. They intercept threats before they reach Port Raze and specialise in shipboard combat, speed, and surprise.
• Royal Riflemen — The king's personal castle guard. They wear green uniforms and masked headgear and carry sabres and the city's newer 'boom-stick' weapons.
• Paladins of the Nine — Temple-aligned warriors who support the city during religious ceremonies, crises, and war.

The Law Master Office is effectively a small fortress in the Northern Quarter. It contains the Office of the City Guards, Bounty Office, City Jail, Court House, and Recruitment Office, as well as barracks supporting the northern and eastern gates.

Religion

The Temple of 9 is the spiritual centre of Jewel Splendour and one of the city's defining institutions. The complex consists of nine temples arranged around a large square. Each faith maintains its own chapel, school, services, and training traditions. Healers, mystics, paladins, clergy, and pilgrims travel to Titan's Gate to worship and train, giving the complex the character of a city within the city.

Religious freedom in Jewel Splendour is restricted. Public worship is legally limited to the accepted Pantheon of Nine. Other deities and traditions are commonly labelled Betrayer Gods and open worship can bring severe punishment. The policy is justified as necessary to prevent another divine war, but it has also driven forbidden faiths underground.

Current Pantheon of Nine

Deity & Canonical Portfolio

Illuma, Lord of Light and Fire

Tyrn, Lord of Justice and Law

Miel, Mistress of Fortunes and Favour

Oghama, Master of Lore and Virtues

Talos, Lord of War

Malakar, Mistress of Death

Tya, Mistress of the Harvest

Ulumbar, Lord of the Seas and Elements

Mysteria, Mistress of Magic and Mysticism

Society and Economy

Jewel Splendour has enjoyed roughly a century of relative peace under the Equilaterals. The surviving notes describe most residents as content, but political gossip is everywhere: the three branches of government continually test one another's influence, while the city's guilds press for favourable laws, monopolies, and contracts.

Social geography is highly visible. Common housing lines much of the outer city, prosperous residents favour the central and waterfront areas, and the Southern / Noble Quarter is deliberately separated from ordinary residents by the Impenetrable Wall. Foreign dignitaries are treated lavishly but are also kept under close observation within the same secured quarter.

The city economy is dominated by organised guilds. The Merchant's Guild claims affiliation with most businesses; the Banker's Guild controls major financial services; and the Hunter's Guild holds exclusive rights to monster hunting in the Jewel Expanse. Arcane commerce is divided between three specialist institutions, while black-market trade persists beneath legitimate business.

Quarters and Notable Locations

Northern Quarter

The Northern Quarter is the city's principal arrival and trade district for the northern territories. Inns and temporary lodging support merchants and travellers, while the density of valuable cargo ensures a heavy Watchman and Spearman presence.

Northern Gate

The northern road runs beside Sickle Bay and connects fishing villages and smaller settlements including Mikonos, Laerin, and Mnemos before joining the wider road network. Seafood, grain, leather materials, and other northern goods enter here. The gate is defended by the 1st Spears Regiment and 2nd Watch.

Notable NPC: Cadmus Sharpe — Captain of the 1st Spears and Commander of the Northern Gate and Wall; principled, gruff, and loyal to his men, sometimes to the point of overlooking corruption among them.

Banker's Guild

A powerful financial guild that safeguards wealth, arranges loans and transfers, manages investments, hires mercenaries, collects debts, and provides expensive special services for wealthy clients. Its willingness to conduct profitable business with almost anyone gives it considerable influence.

Notable NPC: Mason Storm — Guild Master and High Council member; eloquent and reassuring, but deeply motivated by profit.

City of the Dead

Jewel Splendour's graveyard functions as both cemetery and public park. Wealthy families maintain chapels and plots above ground, while poorer citizens are interred in ancient sewer networks converted into a vast ossuary. The cemetery closes at night, when rumours of restless dead, necromancers, and hidden rogue factions become more difficult to dismiss.

Notable NPC: Zola Rivers — caretaker of the City of the Dead and cleric of death rites; knows the cemetery intimately and prefers the dead to the living.

Notable NPC: Landers, 'Lord of the City' — leader of an unsanctioned rogue network operating beneath the graveyard; a vigilante extremist who believes the ends justify the means.

Magic College of All Things

An eccentric hybrid of arcane library, research guild, and magic-item emporium. The College specialises in Divination, Evocation, and Necromancy and is famous for experimental spell-tattoo techniques that embed arcane formulae directly into the body. Its work is expensive, ambitious, and sometimes dangerously close to magical transgression.

Notable NPC: Loth Aerin — Archmage and Guildmaster; enthusiastic about pushing magical limits and convinced of his own superiority.

Law Master Office

A fortified administrative complex containing the city's senior law-and-order offices: City Guards command, Bounty Office, City Jail, Court House, Recruitment Office, and barracks supporting the northern and eastern approaches. It is the operational heart of Jewel Splendour's secular security apparatus.

Notable NPC: Anson Fall — Law Master and Lord Commander; dedicated to the city's safety but resentful of challenges to his authority.

Central Quarter

The Central Quarter is the civic and ceremonial heart of Titan's Gate. It contains the city's great institutions of scholarship, public entertainment, commerce, and religion.

Lyceum of the Empire

A restricted institution built upon an ancient ley line. Its true function is known only to a small circle: the Lyceum can use the underlying arcane current to move people or objects to researched and known locations. Access normally requires the favour of an Equilateral authority.

Library of the Empire

The Lyceum's twin institution and one of the continent's greatest repositories of rare knowledge. Scholars from many lands contribute to its collections. Some subjects and texts are restricted even after a visitor gains admission.

Notable NPC: Flora Maze — Grand Scholar of the Library and Lyceum and High Council member; self-made, exacting, and unwilling to grant special treatment.

Coliseum

The public heart of Jewel Splendour. King Devin expanded the old fighting pits into a massive arena used for circuses, battle royales, mob football, gladiatorial training, festivals, and royal spectacles. Its expansion physically overshadows part of the Temple of 9 complex, a continuing symbolic irritation to the Council of 9.

Notable NPC: Lord Avery of House Trillium — High Council member and assigned overseer; skilled at attracting crowds and revenue despite personally disliking blood sport.

Notable NPC: Titus Ford — Gladiator School Master; master combatant, proud and stubborn.

Notable NPC: Aaron Day — bookie and relentless gambler with an eye for profitable opportunities.

Farmer's Market

A vast cobbled square beside the Coliseum where local farmers and visiting traders sell food, components, curiosities, and foreign goods from dawn to dusk. The old saying is that if an item cannot be found here, it may not be available anywhere else on the continent.

The Crossroads Bookshop

A shop that appears permanently closed for repairs but secretly acts as the entrance to an underground place of worship for a forbidden deity. The site is one of the clearest signs that outlawed religions survive beneath the Temple of 9's official monopoly.

Temple of 9

The spiritual centre of the Pantheon of Nine: nine temples surrounding a common square, each maintaining its own clergy, chapels, schools, rites, and training. Collectively, the complex can mobilise a formidable religious and military force.

Eastern Quarter — Guild Quarter

The Eastern Quarter is also known as the Guild Quarter. It began as a welfare and lower-income residential area, but guild houses brought employment, security, and commercial power. Watchmen and Spearmen maintain a constant presence around the Eastern Gate.

Eastern Gate

The beginning of the Friendship Road to Amarin, now widely called the Bone Road because of the deaths caused by brigands, monsters, territorial conflicts, and the road's passage through wild lands. Dignitaries, farmers, caravans, and ordinary travellers all use this gate. It is defended by the 2nd Spears Regiment and 7th Watch.

Notable NPC: Ariel Winters — Captain of the 2nd Spears and Commander of the Eastern Gate and Wall; utterly committed to her oath and notoriously inflexible in applying the law.

Hunter's Guild

The city's licensed monster-hunting organisation. It profits both from civic contracts to remove dangerous creatures and from harvesting valuable monster components. The guild's political strength comes from its monopoly, especially its exclusive rights in the Jewel Expanse.

Notable NPC: Lyra Belle — Mistress of the Lodge; an expert on monsters and how to kill them, impressed primarily by extraordinary feats of strength.

Wizardry Institute

A deliberately shabby storefront concealing one of Jewel Splendour's three specialist arcane schools. The Institute focuses on Abjuration and Conjuration and also practises the city's distinctive spell-tattoo tradition.

Notable NPC: John Ramsay — Archmage and Guildmaster; eccentric, fond of cats, and burdened by a gambling problem.

The Drinking Pits Tavern

An institution among adventurers and a legendary meeting place where early guilds are said to have formed. Its exterior looks like a tiny dilapidated tavern, but the threshold opens into a magically enlarged interior with dozens of tables, lodging, and relics from earlier ages. Its proprietor has become part of the tavern's mythology.

Notable NPC: Gregory Prack — barkeeper and owner; reputedly more than two centuries old, extraordinarily resourceful, detached from ordinary worldly concerns, and one of the best sources of adventuring information in the city.

Merchant's Guild

Arguably the city's most powerful guild. The surviving notes claim that nine in ten businesses are affiliated with it. Its control of trade, employment, and revenue ensures the Guild Master a seat on the High Council and gives the organisation major influence over city policy.

Notable NPC: Ollie Munchberger — Guild Master responsible for security contracts; loyal to adventurers willing to take dangerous work, but inclined to solve problems with drink or force.

Notable NPC: Orin Munchberger — Guild Master and High Council member; the more strategic of the brothers, genuinely protective of members but willing to operate in morally grey territory when large profits are at stake.

School of Alchemy

The third of Jewel Splendour's specialist arcane schools. It focuses on Transmutation, Enchantment, and Illusion and is regarded as having refined the city's spell-tattoo process further than its rivals.

Notable NPC: Soren Wilde — Archmage of the School; relentlessly inquisitive and dangerously unconcerned with his own safety during experiments.

Western Quarter

The Western Quarter is a more prosperous residential and commercial district shaped by sea trade. Merchants and shipping interests favour houses near Port Raze, and shops here commonly deal in foreign, specialist, or expensive goods.

Port Raze

The city's western harbour, developed centuries ago under Raze of House Nymebia. Ships continually arrive, unload, take on passengers and cargo, and depart under Watchman and Cutter protection. A white marble lighthouse guides ships into the docks and doubles as a watchpoint against threats from the sea.

Notable NPC: Barry Bardum — Port Master; exceptionally knowledgeable about the sea and maritime expeditions, but almost perpetually too busy for lengthy conversation.

At World's End Inn

A deliberately unimpressive dive that conceals the true Thieves' Guild. Those who know the password can enter an underground tavern and black-market network offering illegal substances, smuggling, theft, clandestine transport, and darker contracts. The guild considers itself economically necessary: where bureaucracy stops movement, it provides another route.

Notable NPC: The Old Man — Guild Master of the Thieves' Guild; outwardly eager to make allies, privately ruthless and vindictive toward betrayal.

Mr Daywood's Bargain Quest

One of Jewel Splendour's best-known adventuring emporiums. The shop specialises in high-end equipment and charges accordingly, while its owner is willing to offer more questionable merchandise to customers he believes can be trusted.

Notable NPC: Avery Daywood — proprietor; generous with discounts when it suits him and comfortable dealing in illegal wares.

Wonder Forge

The city's premier artisanal forge. Its craftsmanship is renowned, but demand makes commissions slow. The forge repairs damaged equipment, undertakes rare custom work, and deals in raw metals and specialised forging components.

Notable NPC: Gilli Wells — owner and master forger; physically formidable, blunt, and entirely unimpressed by conventional expectations of refinement.

Southern Quarter — Noble Quarter

The Southern Quarter is more commonly called the Noble Quarter. Senior officials, nobles, foreign delegates, and the royal family live or work here. Access is restricted, and the quarter is enclosed by its own high defensive barrier.

The Impenetrable Wall

The wall historically protected the noble houses from popular revolt; the modern government describes it instead as a security barrier for senior officials. Watchmen patrol its perimeter continuously, supported by the 3rd and 4th Spears, the 3rd and 4th Watch, and Temple paladins during major ceremonies or war.

Notable NPC: Cedric Balon — Captain of the 3rd and 4th Spears and Commander of the Southern Wall and Gate; influential and well connected, but recently promoted and arguably overwhelmed by the scale of his command.

The Barracks

A major training and lodging centre for the 3rd and 4th Spears and Watch, positioned to support the Noble Quarter, Southern Gate, and nearby port approaches. Cutters are also quartered here.

Notable NPC: Janny Darson — Commander of the Cutters; a former pirate who rose through the ranks, believes strongly in redemption and hard work, and drinks to blunt memories of war at sea.

The Embassies

Foreign delegations receive individual residences and offices within walking distance of Castle Splendour. Officially this demonstrates generosity and diplomatic closeness. Strategically it also allows the Equilaterals to monitor foreign representatives and, in the event of war, ensures that an aggressor's delegation is already inside the city's secured quarter.

Notable NPC: Duriel of House Greyport — brother of Queen Assani and Amarin's ambassador in Jewel Splendour.

Notable NPC: Katernin Kulenov, 'Lady Jade' — delegate associated in the legacy source with the Dragon Lands; current setting references should be read in relation to Scalemarrow and the Dragon Hunter sphere.

Notable NPC: Berin son of Ronim — ambassador from the elven city of Aetheria.

Castle Splendour

The seat of the crown and one of the city's great landmarks. From above it resembles a white five-petalled flower: five linked round towers surrounding a central white spire. One tower houses the royal family, one provides meeting space for the Equilaterals, and the others support ceremonies, extended royal lodging, and government offices. The grounds around the castle form an open public park rather than a moat.

Notable NPC: King Devin of House Allysum — ruler of Jewel Splendour; strives to be fair and popular but can be heavily influenced by advisers.

Southern Gate

The start of The Redemption, the ancient road toward Aetheria. The route crosses the Kiyanti Wilderness and Dragonspine before passing through Goliath lands into elven territory. The road's name recalls the many diplomatic journeys made over the centuries to repair relations after disputes. The gate is held by the 3rd and 4th Spears and Watch under Cedric Balon.

Important Organisations

• The Equilaterals — The tripartite governing system of Royal Family, High Council, and Council of 9.
• House Allysum — The current royal dynasty, which emerged after the previous noble houses exhausted themselves in violent competition for the throne.
• Temple of 9 — The dominant religious institution, spiritual centre of the Pantheon of Nine, and a major political and military power.
• Watchmen — The city's peacekeepers, guards, investigators, and covert law officers.
• Spearmen — The visible land military and rapid-response fighting force.
• Cutters — The city's naval defenders and maritime interceptors.
• Royal Riflemen — The king's elite personal guard at Castle Splendour.
• Banker's Guild — Financial institution controlling deposits, lending, investment, debt collection, and high-value contracts.
• Merchant's Guild — The dominant commercial association linking most businesses and shaping city economic policy.
• Hunter's Guild — Licensed monster hunters holding exclusive hunting rights in the Jewel Expanse.
• Magic College of All Things — Arcane institution specialising in Divination, Evocation, Necromancy, and magical tattooing.
• Wizardry Institute — Arcane institution specialising in Abjuration and Conjuration.
• School of Alchemy — Arcane institution specialising in Transmutation, Enchantment, and Illusion.
• Thieves' Guild — A hidden but entrenched illicit network operating beneath At World's End Inn.
• The Crossroads — An underground forbidden-faith network hidden behind the facade of a closed bookshop.

Notable NPCs

NPCs, Role / Significance

King Devin of House Allysum

King of Jewel Splendour; popular young ruler and member of the Equilateral power structure.

Queen Assani of House Greyport

Queen of Jewel Splendour; dynastic link between Titan's Gate and Amarin.

Lord Tiberius of House Allysum

King Devin's brother; High Council member.

Lady Rosaline of House Dietes

High Council member.

Lord Avery of House Trillium

High Council member and overseer of the Coliseum.

Lady Isabeu of House Lupin

High Council member.

Flora Maze

Grand Scholar of the Library and Lyceum; High Council member.

Mason Storm

Banker's Guild Master; High Council member.

Orin Munchberger

Merchant's Guild Master; High Council member.

Emma Morgan

Archmage to Jewel Splendour; High Council member.

Anson Fall

Law Master and Lord Commander of Watchmen, Spearmen, and Cutters.

Ronan Grey

Monsignor of Illuma; Spiritual High Councillor.

Yusha Sand

Monsignor of Tyrn; High Inquisitor.

Lara Ridel

Mistress of Miel; Grand Arbiter.

Heron Tigris

Monsignor of Oghama; Grand Scholar.

Lance Amon

Monsignor of Talos; Grand Defender.

Tara Segna

Mistress of Malakar; Council of 9 member.

Voluna Grey

Mistress of Tya; Council of 9 member.

Hestia Raven

Mistress of Ulumbar; Council of 9 member.

Anya Nedwini

Mistress of Mysteria; Council of 9 member.

Cadmus Sharpe

Captain of the 1st Spears; Commander of the Northern Gate and Wall.

Zola Rivers

Caretaker of the City of the Dead.

Landers, 'Lord of the City'

Extremist leader of an unsanctioned rogue network beneath the graveyard.

Loth Aerin

Archmage and Guildmaster of the Magic College of All Things.

Titus Ford

Gladiator School Master.

Aaron Day

Coliseum bookie.

Ariel Winters

Captain of the 2nd Spears; Commander of the Eastern Gate and Wall.

Lyra Belle

Mistress of the Hunter's Guild lodge.

John Ramsay

Archmage and Guildmaster of the Wizardry Institute.

Gregory Prack

Owner and barkeeper of The Drinking Pits; legendary adventurer contact.

Ollie Munchberger

Merchant's Guild Master responsible for dangerous private-security work.

Soren Wilde

Archmage of the School of Alchemy.

Barry Bardum

Port Master of Port Raze.

The Old Man

Guild Master of the hidden Thieves' Guild.

Avery Daywood

Owner of Bargain Quest.

Gilli Wells

Owner and master forger of Wonder Forge.

Cedric Balon

Captain of the 3rd and 4th Spears; Commander of the Southern Wall and Gate.

Janny Darson

Commander of the Cutters; former pirate.

Duriel of House Greyport

Amarin ambassador; brother of Queen Assani.

Katernin Kulenov, 'Lady Jade'

Delegate associated with the Dragon Lands / Scalemarrow sphere.

Berin son of Ronim

Ambassador from Aetheria.

Relations with the Wider Setting

• Amarin — Jewel Splendour's strongest major ally. King Devin's marriage to Queen Assani binds the cities politically, militarily, and economically, while the Bone Road physically connects them.
• Aetheria — Described as one of Jewel Splendour's oldest allies. The southern road called The Redemption exists partly because generations of diplomats have repeatedly had to repair disputes along that route.
• Scalemarrow and the Dragon Hunter sphere — The Noble Quarter hosts a delegate associated in the legacy source with the 'Dragon Lands', reflecting diplomatic contact with the dragon-hunting powers around Dragonspine.
• Mitis, Milros, and Mikonos — Relations are strained by Jewel Splendour's annexation of the Jewel Expanse. The three towns view the expansion as encroachment and a potential threat to their sovereignty.
• The elder peoples — Human road building and territorial expansion have repeatedly brought Jewel Splendour into conflict with peoples who regard the old forests and magical currents as territories that should not be divided by roads.

The Jewel Expanse

Jewel Splendour annexed a large section of the old forest and renamed it the Jewel Expanse. Officially, the purpose was to make roads safer, investigate monsters, and prepare land for eventual expansion. The Hunter's Guild received exclusive rights to hunt there, creating a lucrative monopoly while making the guild responsible for an enormous and dangerous territory.

The Expanse contains or is rumoured to contain several major anomalies: untouched Craters of E'al Talas associated with God Tears; Broken Earth leading toward deep subterranean regions; displaced giants and trolls suggesting that something even more dangerous has driven them from their territories; a hidden floating island; and possible planar gates.

Secrets, Legends, and Prophecy

The surviving prophecy tradition identifies Jewel Splendour as one of four ancient cities of E'al Talas, together with Ashmore, Stone Mount, and Amarin. Each is said to hold a key or key-fragment. When combined, the four can unlock a planar prison connected to the figure known as John John. The prophecy belongs to hidden campaign-level lore, not ordinary public knowledge.

• The Crossroads — A forbidden religion survives beneath the Central Quarter despite the Temple of 9's legal monopoly.
• At World's End — The city's most established Thieves' Guild operates beneath an apparently miserable inn.
• City of the Dead — The graveyard's ancient tunnels conceal both restless dead and an unsanctioned extremist rogue network.
• The Lyceum — Its public identity conceals its use of an ancient ley line for long-distance transport.
• The Embassies — Foreign diplomats are honoured guests, but their secure placement also lets the Equilaterals monitor - and if necessary contain - them.
• The Jewel Expanse — The city's expansion policy may be opening territories whose ancient magic, monsters, and planar anomalies are not understood by the people claiming them.

Adventure Hooks

• Corruption at the Northern Gate — A Watchman is extorting travellers for bribes. Challenging him may expose a wider protection racket inside the gate garrison.
• Hold the Wall — A hostile horde drives civilians toward the Northern Gate. The party must hold the approach long enough for refugees to enter and the gates to close.
• The Restless City of the Dead — Undead sightings lead through the graveyard and ossuary toward a necromancer using the dead against the city.
• The Lord of the City — The official Thieves' Guild wants an extremist rival captured from the tunnels beneath the graveyard.
• A Traitor in the Watch — Anson Fall suspects that someone inside the eastern security apparatus is feeding caravan information to Bone Road brigands.
• Favour of the Equilaterals — Access to the Library or Lyceum requires the party to earn the favour of one branch of the city's ruling structure.
• The Crossroads — A character devoted to a forbidden faith receives visions directing them to the hidden shrine beneath the closed bookshop.
• Champion at the Eastern Gate — A mysterious figure challenges the city's greatest champion to a contest whose outcome is tied to a prophecy of approaching darkness.
• Hunt in the Jewel Expanse — The Hunter's Guild offers a contract to investigate why giants and trolls are abandoning deeper territories and moving toward the roads.
• The Broken Earth — A new fissure opens in the Jewel Expanse, and creatures from the depths begin appearing near trade routes.
• The Floating Island — Fragmentary research in the Library suggests that a hidden island above the forest may contain divine relics or a planar threshold.
• Storm over Port Raze — Storm giants rise offshore and attempt a vast weather-working ritual while an unnatural storm threatens the harbour.
• Something Beneath the Waves — A ship is dragged under near the port by a colossal sea creature, forcing the party to choose between rescue and survival.
• Embassy Intrigue — A foreign delegate asks the party for discreet assistance, drawing them into a conflict the Equilaterals are already monitoring.
• Dragon on the Southern Horizon — A dragon is sighted near Dragonspine. The Southern Gate raises the alarm before anyone knows whether the creature is hunting, migrating, or preparing for war.
• The Four Keys — Evidence surfaces that one of the four prophetic keys is hidden somewhere in Jewel Splendour, turning the city itself into the centre of a race between factions.