Airspur (Chessenta)

Airspur was a powerful trading port city in western Chessenta in the Old Empires. It was a highly cosmopolitan and multiracial city, with an impressively high population of orcs and half-orcs.

Geography
Airspur stood in the north-west corner of Chessenta, on the southwestern shore of the Wizard's Reach and with the Akanapeaks in the west. A trail ran west through the mountains to Reth and another ran southeast along the coast to Cimbar.

History
Formerly a possession of the empire of Unther, the cities of Chessenta rebelled and formed the Alliance of Chessenta under the leadership of the warlord Tchazzar of Cimbar. Driving Untheric forces from the land, they seceded from Unther in the Year of Flashing Eyes, 929 DR. Thereafter, they stood as a part of the Union of Chessenta, a confederation of city-states that swelled into the Chessentan Empire ruled by Tchazzar. However, with Tchazzar's death or disappearance in the Year of the Dracorage, 1018 DR, the Empire broke apart and declined. Although each city-state had sworn fealty to a central monarch, after Tchazzar, they disagreed on who this should be. Finally, in the Year of the Twelverule, 1117 DR, the realm broke up into a number of feuding city-states, with an ever-changing network of alliances, conflicts, and factions.

In the centuries between the break-up and the early 14 century, Airspur and Cimbar fought two wars.

By the 14 century DR, Airspur was in the grip of the priests of Bhaelros (otherwise known as Talos). They ruled as a theocracy and every month they sacrificed a maiden to the Destroyer. Needless to say, they were incredibly unpopular.

However, when a bloody civil war erupted between the orc tribes of the neighboring Akanapeaks, many refugees of the Flaming Spike tribe went to Airspur. They went into business as traders, intermarried with humans, and soon gave rise to a burgeoning population of half-orcs.

In time, the priests of Bhaelros were deposed, with many killed and the rest escaping into the wilds. They were replaced by a military council led by Khrulis and half-orcs held many positions of political power by the late 1350s DR. They were, by all reliable reports, a significant improvement.

However, thanks to their traditional alliance with Soorenar, they were soon dragged into a war with Cimbar and on a war footing by 1357 DR. Soorenar's rulers plotted to form a grand alliance to destroy Cimbar, divide the spoils between the allied cities, and unite all Chessenta under Soorenar's rule; with them with Airspur and Luthcheq, but Luthcheq contributed nothing. The war was unpopular in Airspur; many of the citizens had friends in Cimbar and human racists claimed the orcs were sending them to die. Anti-orc factions sought to "free Airspur from half-orc tyranny", perhaps even to attempt to assassinate Khrulis, and Cimbar was even offered the services of a sizeable dwarf mercenary company who wanted to fight against the orcs of Airspur. Even in Reth, traders called for an alliance with Cimbar against Airspur to be rid of a commercial rival. Airspur suffered heavy losses, even losing much of its navy. While Khrulis could keep the peace at home through the military, he realized he would either not win the war or not win anything from it if he did, and racial tensions would be exacerbated. It was expected he'd negotiate a peace with Cimbar and even turn against the Northern Alliance, given the chance.

All plans and projected outcomes would come to naught, however, in the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, when the Time of Troubles came and the Godswar began. The god Hoar led Akanax against Cimbar, Luthcheq, and Soorenar, and those cities fell into fighting against each other as well. Most of Chessenta fell into warfare. Akanax emerged victorious, and Hoar bound the cities into an alliance, before attacking Unther. Ultimately, Hoar was defeated by the god Anhur and the Chessentans routed. Following the Godswar and the gods' return to the planes, the alliance forced upon the Chessentan city-states swiftly fell apart once again.

In the aftermath, having maintained an aggressive posture towards Cimbar for several years, Airspur set to work rebuilding its might whilst guarding against future enemies, as it was by the early 1370s DR.

Following the suppressed eruption of the distant Ship of the Gods volcano, on Flamerule 25, the, a massive explosion under the Inner Sea rocked Airspur and Delthuntle, rattling the rooftops and causing waves that damaged the docks.

Around 1370 DR, Airspur and Cimbar reported increasing activity by sahuagin in the seas.

Around that time, the halfling bard Phlensos Ursuma entertained at the court of Airspur and did an amazing accurate impersonation of a key political opponent of Khrulis. Amused and more than a little inebriated, Khrulus awarded Phlensos a barony and land to go with it. Not a fool, though, the land was a small plot in the Adder Swamp.

Government
Once, Airspur was a theocracy ruled by priests of a cult of Bhaelros, who sacrificed a maiden every month. They were widely hated.

They were replaced by a military council led by Khrulis, and he and other half-orcs wielded a lot of political power by the late 1350s DR. Khrulis had tight control of the military, and with it, the city.

Circa 1357 DR, there was much discontent in the city, from the unpopular war with Cimbar to entrenched anti-orc bigotry. Many humans against the war even claimed the half-orcs were deliberately sending them to be killed in battle, paving the way for the Flaming Spike to take over, no matter how baseless this was. To deal with this, Khrulis used the Bhaelrosians as scapegoats for the city's troubles. He accused those who opposed his policies of therefore supporting the cult and the sacrifices. Particularly vocal opponents were even covertly charmed into participating in public Bhaelrosian ceremonies to discredit them. While this tactic was for a time successful, the false dichotomy risked polarizing the people of Airspur and turning the cult of Bhaelros, no matter how hated they were, into the only opposition and driving people to join.

Trade
Airspur was at one time among the most important trading ports in western Chessenta, though it had been overtaken by Reth in the mid–14 century DR. It remained a primary port by 1370 DR.

Like many cities in Chessenta, Airspur received much of its food supply from the Akanal farmlands. They likely kept a store of up to three years' worth of magically preserved food in case of war or shortage.

Defenses
Circa 1357 DR, Airspur maintained an army of 3000 soldiers, including 500 cavalry and 500 archers.

In addition, three prominent mercenary companies—the Sailors of the Crimson Sea, the Wardogs, and the Sunlords—were based out of Airspur.

However, Airspur suffered heavy losses after the 1357 war, and its navy was reduced to just one customs vessel.

Law & Order
In Airspur, as in other cities of Chessenta, the revised Code of Enlil adopted from Unther formed the basis of the legal system.

Religion
While Airspur was once a theocracy of Bhaelros, the cult was widely hated and later deposed, with the real priests either killed or fled from the city. Nevertheless, an element of the cult of Bhaelros remained, with some Bhaelrosian ceremonies conducted in public.

Inhabitants
Around 1357 DR, the population of Airspur was reported to be 20,000. In 1372 DR, its population was recorded at 22,282. Airspur was famed for its multiracial society with a high number of orcs and half-orcs, the latter of whom made up 30% of the population and quickly came to dominate Airspur.

The orcs and half-orcs mostly adopted local human customs and values and when they competed with human traders, it was for business, not race. However, this was not without prejudice and hostility, for human bigotry was entrenched in the region. The archmage Heptios argued that orcs who adopted human values might be the greatest threat the Realms had ever known.