Rog'osto

Rog'osto was a Zakharan city famed for its strange and lofty towers of bright metal.

Geography
Rog'osto was located on the coast of the Foreigners' Sea, roughly north of the mouth of the Nogaro River.

Description
In the center of the city were soaring metal towers, constructed of a unique steel alloy, whose architectural style were very alien. There were over fifty of these spires, but by 1367 DR half of them were shattered or toppled. The surviving twenty five towers were over in height. They had tops and bottoms that were slightly flared, with a long stem in between. Some visitors to the city likened the appearance of these spires to mushrooms, giving the city its second moniker, the City of Fungus.

Inside of each tower was an open, rail-less spiral staircase, leading up to a single great floor perched at the tower's summit. Though a number had their stairs blocked or removed and their interiors remodeled to its inhabitants liking by means of powerful magic.

The rest of the buildings that made up the city were white-washed, mud-brick structures, like those common throughout Zakhara.

Layout
Rog'ostro was separated into two districts, the Old City and New City. The former consisted of the city's famed towers, which were inhabited by powerful priests and wizards, known as the amir al-burj (tower-lords). They used these structures as laboratories, libraries, and sanctuaries. In addition, the khedive issued temporary grants for their usage.

Three of those spires, arranged like the points of a triangle, had their fluted bases linked by tall fortified walls. This set of structure acted as the palace of the khedive and were extensively remodeled by her genie allies with a spectacular serpentine stairway and lavish living quarters.

The New City was clustered around the base of the towers and was home to the city's poor and middle class, consisting mainly of artisans and traders. Almost all goods and services were found in this section of the city. The large covered marketplace in this area connected to three important commercial districts &mdash; the Alley of the Booksellers, the Street of the Glassblowers, and the Street of the Metalsmiths. These three were all considered crucial to the city's development.

Government
The royal court of the city's khedive was large, featuring ambassadors from other cities and representative for each of the many power groups in the city. This included representatives for the city's clergy, craftsmen, foreigners, elemental mages, and sha'irs.

Trade
The city had a thriving industry of arts and crafts, which catered to its residents wizards, who often required the finest of materials for their research. The major products of Rog'osto included art, crystal, fine metal craftsmanship, information, and sages. They were particularly known for excellent armor and weapons crafted from the unusual steel alloy of the city's ruined towers.

Defenses
Around 1367 DR, the guards of Rog'ostro numbered a thousand. They were rather weak, though the city's wizards acted as a determent to attack. In addition, each tower had a personal guard of up to around two hundred sentient beings.

History
Back during the days in which the land was underwater and humans had not come to East Zakhara, locathah built the famed spires. In the centuries that followed their role as the towers' creators would go unknown, with many races suggested over the years and one of the more popular theories being the burned elves.

Later on, once the land the spires stood on was above water, Rog'osto was widely believed to have been the site of the capital of the now-fallen kingdom of Nog.

Over time, three different towers in the city were destroyed due to either inter-spire warfare or magical experiments.

In 1267 DR, a powerful elven wizard named Samia al-Sa'id rose to the station of khedive of Rog'osto. Over a hundred years later, she was still the city's acting khedive.

Inhabitants
There was frequent infighting among the tower-lords, though it was inhibited by the political skills of the city's khedive, as well as by laws governing their behavior, such as bans on inter-spire warfare and experiments that could damage the towers or the city itself. Violating such laws could be cause for expulsion. The tower-lords largely kept their conflicts out of the public's sight and often formed protective alliances. They viewed other tower-lords seeking assistance from the khedive as a sign of cowardice and weakness.

In addition to Zakharans, there lived some genies within the city's towers.

Notable Locations

 * Temples & Religious Sites
 * Mosque of the New Moon
 * Mosque of the Venerable Kor
 * Mosque of the Visionary Spring

Reputation
Rog'osto was considered to be one of the most magical cities in the land of Zakhara, rivalled only by Huzuz. This was due to the many elemental mages, kahins, mystics, pragmatists, researchers, scholars, sha'irs, and sorcerers that its famed towers attracted. All of whom sought the advances of city living and privacy.

Due to the city's large population of craftsmen and priests, the mosques of Rog'osto were considered to be some of the finest in the Ruined Kingdoms region.