Sarvos

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Regions of Sarvos

Overview

Sarvos is constructed on an island just off the coast, like a beacon of light in the water. It bis the cultural centre of the League, and arguably the whole Empire. It takes its common epithet from the many mirrors found upon the roofs of the city, said to "sparkle like gems" during the day. Folk legend suggests that if the mirrors are shattered the city will surely fall, and for this reason some citizens carry a mirror about their person, an affectation that encourages unfair accusations of vanity.

Sarvos is as driven as any city in the League, but art is its true passion. They claim to have invented theatre, a ludicrous claim but believable in a city graced with so many theatre-houses. They are certainly the originators of the magician troupes that are now commonplace throughout the League and they are usually the centre of League performance magic. Not just theatre is popular however; there are rival opera houses whose bitter divisions are every bit as keen as those of the leading theatre troupes. Several wealthy merchant princes have endowed their collections of art on the city and there are public galleries where the most beautiful pictures and sculptures can be viewed in exchange for a ring or two.

The land around the Bay of Catazar is lush and fertile, with low flood-plains; olive farms and prime grazing lands fed by the waters of four rivers: the lazy Couros that flows along the border of Highguard and Urizen; the flighty Scorrero, whose capricious nature has drowned many an unwary river captain on its course through the Brass Coast; the broad-banked Gancio, solid and well-defended; and the furious Vassa that flows down through Tassato. The four rivers are central characters in the art and folklore of the city. All the classic literature and theatre includes them in one form or another, whether as central characters or “clowns” during the interludes. A popular game between playwrights and critics is to conceal the characters in some way and challenge the critic to locate them.

Art in all forms is held in high regard, Sarvos is famous for its architecture, but it is also a byword for excellent food, and every bar, street vendor and hostelry prides itself on providing its own speciality snack: perhaps a particular way of spicing ham, or salting and smoking beef, or an excellent dipping sauce for vegetables. It is said that an epicure can dine out every night of their life in Sarvos and never eat the same meal twice.

Caricomare in it's primce

Cramped streets flow between soaring towers, choked with merchants, tradesmen and students. It is the site of Diora University, a prominent seat of learning that specialises in researching obscure topics for money. Here can also be found Capodomus Cathedral, one of the largest religious structures in the Empire, a towering monument encrusted with precious materials and objets d’art.

Major Features

The Spider's Dream

An elegant bridge spans the river Vassa here, connecting Trivento to the Brass Coast. It is a marvellous piece of engineering that resembles a spider's web. There is a toll to pay, or you can take the long way around. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the Spider's Dream. Resources initially used to maintain it were siphoned off in the time of Emperor Walter, and the bridge became increasingly dangerous to cross. In Spring 377YE, however, the Imperial Senate took steps to ensure it's restoration to full functionality - reinstating the Imperial Title of Spider's Tollkeep in the process and heading off potentially unpleasant implications for the people of both Sarvos and Madruga.

Asavean Embassy

Following the Spring Equinox 378YE, construction began on an official embassy to the Asavean Archipelago under the watchul eye of Miroslav, Senator for Sarvos.

Sarvosan bishops of the Church of the Little Mother (with orphan)

Caricomare

Ruined and abandoned suburb of Sarvos, destroyed by an Autumn storm during the equinox of 348 YE. The tomb of the Empress Giselle still stands in the ruins of the Alivetti guild estates here, but the ward was better known as the site of the wondrous Carciomare Quays, a great wonder unmatched elsewhere in the world. The mechanical quays were devastated by the storms that flooded this part of the city.

On the south side of Sarvos are the drowned streets of Caricomare – a shattered ruin, waist-deep in water at its highest points and submerged entirely in others. Thirty years ago, it was a prosperous suburb of Sarvos. On the night of the Autumn Equinox 348YE, however, a great storm came out of nowhere and the river burst its banks. The route of the river changed overnight and a mighty wave washed away the foundations of many buildings. In a single night, Carciomare was ruined – buildings were toppled and the streets filled with saltwater. The repairs were considered too costly and the floods created a displaced populace, compounding the overcrowding in the city. Caricomare today is an abandoned, dangerous place, a maze of flooded streets and waterlogged buildings, but it is said that riches can still be found in the depths, for those brave enough to investigate.

Regions

Bocche

This western region shows some influences of the Brass Coast. A major highway passes through Bocche to Madruga, passing over the marvellous suspension bridge, the Spider's Dream. On the eastern side of the bridge is the town of Trivento. Once Trivento had ambitions to become a city to rival Sarvos, but this was before the bridge effectively removed their control of the Vassa crossing. Centuries later there is still some bitterness; Sarvosan sophisticates love to characterise inhabitants of Trivento as "country cousins", while the broadsheets of Trivento regularly depict Sarvos proper as a hive of vice and corruption that needs to be washed away. The people of Tassato are known to gleefully poke both sides of this ancient enmity - and to be quietly pleased that there is not a second city on the Vassa.

Cigno

This is where the jewelled city proper is found. It spreads across the entire island, and in some places extends a short distance into the bay on sturdy quays and pontoons. On the southern side of the island are the drowned streets of Caricomare - although recent decisions of the Imperial Senate mean that these ruins might finally be about to be reclaimed for the League. Keywords: City

Foracci

The wide plains and scattered woodlands of Foracci are the site of many "country estates" owned by guilds and wealthy individuals from Sarvos. Some bring additional profit to their owners, maintaining farms or woodland preserves. While the region appears on the outside to be resonably idyllic, there are enough nooks and crannies that travellers here are occasionally confronted with unscrupulous bandits, and most of the estates maintain a small cadre of guards in case these bandits become too ambitious.

Upriver along the Gancio is Rodez, more of an extended suburb of Sarvos than a settlement in its own right. Its harbour is alive with many-oared craft of all sizes; river-boats stopping off from the north, freighters from foreign lands and pleasure-cruisers carrying the wealthy from Sarvos to their inland estates. Many overland visitors to Sarvos stop here to take a ferry to the island.

Riposi

In the far east of Riposi is the large cave system known as Orphan’s Haven. It takes it's name from a tale that two shipwrecked children found a fortune in ancient pearls here, stashed by someone long-forgotten. Upon being rescued by local fishermen, they used the greater part of their wealth to finance a home for orphans in Sarvos in the name of the Little Mother. The cave itself contains carvings from lost Terunael, and some people believe it was used in pre-Imperial times as a covered port.

Uccelini

Uccelini extends along the southern coast, and includes a number of small and medium-sized islands that cluster along the northern shores of the Bay of Catazar. Many of these islands are uninhabited, or the site of estates or business concerns that have long-since fallen into ruin. The remaining estates here tend to be quite well fortified - they need to be able to endure occasional raids by Grendel pirates that slip past the Freeborn corsairs.

The highest point along the coastline from Calvos to Sanctuary, Glass Point has a look-out point and a beacon set on a high tower above the cliff. A small town has grown up around it that shares it's named. Some sailors who spent a great deal of time away from shore have adopted the beacon of Glass Point as a tattoo. Some ship captains prefer to trade out of Glass Point rather than Sarvos proper, and those that do have a reputation for smuggling and dealing with barbarians and miscreants in search of a profit - they have taken recent decisions in the Senate very poorly. Keywords: Coastal

OOC Notes

• All the regions of Sarvos are under the control of the League (and by extension, the Empire) making Sarvos a completely Imperial territory.