Oeble

Oeble was a city in the Border Kingdoms, well-known as a trade center and as a haven for criminal activity in the region.

Description
Streets of Oeble were chaotic and maze-like, twisting and turning around private walled courtyards, tallhouses with looming balconies, swayed into dark bawling alleyways, and homes that rose up to four stories high above stores and business on ground floors. Oeble's two main streets were Alhan's Ride and Vriel's Walk that crossed the River Scelptar via bridges (Alhan's Span and Vriel's Leap respectively) and sliced the city from north to south. Between Alhan's Ride and Vriel's Walk stood the city's third bridge – the Arch of Gargoyles, that linked Laskalar's Square to the northern side of Scelptar. All three bridges were in chronically poor condition.

Over the city's streets stretched the so-called Rainspans. These elevated ways connected high-rising buildings of Oeble. These rickety and often crumbing bridges could be found leaping from balconies, windows, roofs. No building was untouched by Rainspans, including commercial structures, such as the Griffingate House inn in the heart of Oeble.

Underneath Oeble laid its shady subterranean underbelly – the twisting underground ways and tunnels known as the Underways.

Geography
Oeble straddled the River Scelptar west of the Qurth Forest near the center of the Border Kingdoms. Oeble was connected to its eastern neighbor – the town of Bloutar, with the road, known to locals simply as the Green Road.

Laws
By the late 14 century DR, the government of Oeble placed a ban on leaping off the Rainspans or causing a creature's fall, as well as dropping or tossing items onto the streets below. However, this law never stopped Oeblaun from dropping deadly missiles, darts, knives, or rocks onto the heats of unlucky targets.

Trade
The chaotic nature of the city led to relatively quick turnaround of small businesses that sprang and got extinguished across Oeble. It was very common for businesses to change names and locations every few months. However, some more permanent establishments managed to be stable enough to be known outside the city and even received mention in Volothamp Geddarm's famous, or infamous, travel guides.

Yuan-ti of the House Eselemas trafficked slaves and mordayn powder from beneath the town in an area called the Underways. It was from there that they maintained a portal to the city of Essembra in Battledale around the year 1359 DR. Slave trade and fencing of stolen goods were done in the open in the Underways. Persistently, there were rumors of spellcasters dwelling deep in the Underways, who offered permanent facial alteration through magic to those on the run from the law.

Notable Locations

 * Griffingate House, a large ornate and old inn in the center of the city.
 * Laskalar's Square, a city plaza in front of the Griffingate House.

Inhabitants
"I remember Oeble, all right. The only place I've shared an inn bunkroom with with a kenku, a wemic, a lamia clad from talons to fingertips in full barded plate armor that she never took off, and a manscorpion. I was quite surprised to find all of us alive and unharmed in the morning..."

- Ranger Balderstone Dree of Cormyr, in conversation with Volothamp Geddarm, 1353 DR

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Black Bouquet