Overview

Far to the south of the Bay of Catazar, on the wide, winding delta of the Umshalla River lies the tottering ramshackle city of Sarcophan. More commonly referred to as the Delves, this great metropolis is said to be home to both the wealthiest, and the poorest, people in the world. The Bedelaar Huisbaas (usually rendered as 'beggar kings' in Imperial, or abbreviated to Bedelaar) of Sarcophan head great merchant families whose wealth is founded on the bounty they harvested from the tombs of their predecessors centuries ago. A relatively young nation, whose people see wealth as the highest aspirations, the Sarcophan have a not-entirely-undeserved reputation for ruthless pursuit of profit regardless of the cost.

The Sarcophan Delves occupy the mouth of a great river, on the northern shores of a continent that is largely unknown to Imperial explorers. The nations near Sarcophan seem to view the city, and the people who live there, as accursed. There have been several wars and skirmishes between the Sarcophan and their neighbours, often using mercenary troops. For the most part, the Sarcophan people are markedly outward-looking, seeking beyond their borders for any opportunity to turn a profit and increase their own fortunes, and the fortunes of their houses. Sarcophan explorers and merchants might be encountered in almost any part of the known world.

Of particular interest to Imperial citizens is the role Sarcophan plays as a port, open to trade with the Empire. The Sarcophan Delves are also the source of the ilium provided by the Steel Fist Seat on the Imperial Bourse. The swamps and marshes are said to have a number of very rich deposits of this rare material.

In Summer 383YE a joint historical research project with some Sarcophan scholars confirmed that the origins of the Highborn lay in the city of Sarcophan.