Halarahh

Halarahh was a busy port city and the capital of the wizard nation of Halruaa.

Description
Halarahh was built out from around the dock district like many other port cities. The royal city started immediately beyond the harbor, showing its majestic buildings and plazas. Past the docks, Halarahh opened into a giant plaza paved with colorful stone mosaics. The open space was accentuated by huge trees that extended their shade to shelter the city's inhabitants from the region's heat. Various fanciful pavilions rose around the plaza. This open space was used for open-air markets and numerous seasonal festivals.

The city was made of pink coral houses; towers of white, blue, or green marble, crystal, and stone; streets cobbled in semiprecious stone, and fanciful fountains filled the air with fresh splashes and bubbles. Villas of the noble houses were sprawling buildings, and even the middle class of Halarahh lived in large homes, each with its own lush flowering garden. Despite Halarahh's population being close to 8,000 souls, the city's wide streets were never busy. Numerous public parks and large courtyards with many smaller open-air markets faced the precious-stone paved streets. Private residences, stores, and city streets were lined with magically lit lamps that lit up the evening city.

Halarahh did not suffer from the region's heat and humidity. The city was well-cooled by the soft breeze from the Lake Halruaa and the two rivers that merged into the lake, River Halar and River Aluar. The delicate breeze was captured by magical apparatuses and magnified to the benefit of the inhabitants of Halarahh. Smaller magical devices cooled shops and other establishments with scented breezes. For poorer residents, Halarahh sent flat-bedded carts filled with magically summoned blocks of ice, allowing commoners access to cool areas. The ice was magically created in the city icehouse on the shores of Lake Halruaa. This industrial magic affected the weather on the lake. The vast amounts of magical heat, the byproduct of ice creation, rose in swift updrafts, creating fierce winds above the lake. The air chilled by massive amounts of ice created a strong pull for that hot air, resulting in strong and perilous circular winds.

Post-Spellplague
The Spellplague ravished Halarahh along with the rest of Halruaa in 1385 DR. As of 1479 DR, the city's buildings were mere shells and blue fire wafted through the city. In the center of Halarahh sat a huge tree-like entity which may have been sentient.

Heraldry
State officials of Halarahh wore rings adorned with the coat of arms seal. Halarahh's coat was the image of a down-pointing triangle with a star on its tip; this triangle represented the land on which the capital city stood between two rivers and the lake.

Places of Interest

 * The Ilysium: A vast pink marble building in Halarahh that housed the offices of the city's officials.
 * Kholstar's Keep: Kholstar was Halarahh's master keeper of behirs. He was also a talented generalist wizard and specialized in breeding magical creatures. His wife was the city's premier matchmaker and they shared a library full of secrets in breeding of the most formidable, be it uniquely colored behir, or about one of the mighty wizards and his or her family affairs and lineage.
 * The Promenade: On the city wall was a broad avenue, called the Promenade. There the fashionable people of Halarahh came to stroll, to meet, and to be seen.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Magehound