Bral

Bral was the sole city on the surface of the Rock of Bral and one of the greatest merchant spaceports known to any of the races of the multiverse.

"I hate Bral. It's dirty, noisy, crowded, and dangerous. There aren't more than ten honest men in the whole city. But I wouldn't miss it for the world."

- Mordreggan Zudrik, dwarven miner.

Description
The city of Bral was built on the upper side of the Rock of Bral. The underside was reserved for agriculture and for government property.

The city was divided into three main sections, termed the High City, the Middle City, and the Low City. The High City was located on the "trailing end" of the asteroid as it traveled through wildspace. Here was located the castle of the prince. A great wall and Lake Bral separated the High City from the rest of Bral.

At the leading edge of the asteroid were the Low City and the docks. Here was where most of the spelljammers would arrive for trade. There were cavern warehouses for storing goods and hoists for lifting things up to the surface. The Low City also contained a dry dock where spelljammers designed to land on a flat surface instead of on water could park.

Notable Locations
The city contained a graveyard, although most of the dead were cremated, composted, or set adrift in wildspace.

Government
The city was ruled by a prince. Piracy and slavery were both officially illegal, but charges were generally only pressed if the prince wanted to get rid of the accused. Betrayal of Bral was the ultimate crime and could include simple treason against the crown or doing something that put the whole asteroid at danger, such as starting a fire, which could deplete the air envelope. Those guilty of such a crime might be handed over to the illithid embassy to be eaten.

Trade
Bral was the epitome of free trade. Money was power, and anything and everything was bought and sold there, from a vast number of worlds and crystal spheres. Bral was full of shops and contained two major open-air markets, the Great Market and the Lesser Market, or Thieves' Market.

Society
Everyone was polite to everyone in the city of Bral; mind flayers could be seen conversing with elves and dwarves with beholders. This was not because they were friends; rather, the city had a policy of "check your vendettas at the docks".

Humans maintained the highest population, but almost all manner of races lived here. The city contained several districts where the various races were dominant. These included:
 * The Burrows, where many halflings lived;
 * The Dwarven District;
 * The Dracon Enclave;
 * The Forest, where many elves lived;
 * Giff-Town; and
 * Shou Town.

Also found in the city of Bral were gnomes, beholders, and mind flayers. Neogi were not welcome in Bral.

Religion
The city contained a number of temples, mostly located near Lake Bral. In addition to many faiths or pantheons from Toril, there were also churches for the Polygots, Pantheists, the Church of Ptah, the Oriental Path, and the Way. Nonhuman faiths also had a presence in Bral.

History
The settlement that would one day become Bral began near the start of the 13 century DR as a pirate hideout for the Black Brotherhood, whose leader was one Captain Bral. When Bral fell in an ambush to elves, the remaining pirates on the Rock named their town after him.

Over time, the population of Bral shifted, until by the end of the 13 century, there were more merchants and shopkeepers in the city, selling goods and ale to the pirates, than pirates themselves. One pirate, Captain Cozar, saw this as an opportunity. He purchased all land in the city and the rest of the asteroid from the merchants and forced any pirates to lease from him or run actual businesses if they wanted to remain. In this way, Cozar became ruler of the city above all the other pirates.

Prince Cozar ruled remarkably fairly for a former pirate, and the city thrived and grew as a legitimate center of trade, as trade turned out to be more profitable than piracy.

Prince Cozar's successor, Prince Frun, was not as good a ruler as his father. Nevertheless, the city continued growing from its trade, as companies from at least twelve different crystal spheres established businesses there. Frun commissioned the building of the Citadel and the Donjon and rebuilt and expanded the royal palace.

At one point during Frun's 35-year reign, he had insulted a neogi trader, which triggered an attack from a neogi fleet set on razing the city. They succeeded in destroying a part of the Middle City by crashing an abandoned dwarven citadel into it, but then retreated.

After Frun died, Prince Calar ruled for only six days before being assassinated by being jettisoned into space. His brother, Prince Andru, then took the throne. Within fifteen years, Andru had doubled the size of Bral's army, tripled the size of its navy, and strengthened the law-enforcement of the government.

Rumors & Legends
The older and more superstitious citizens of the city believed that Bral would one day be destroyed by the asteroid's original inhabitants.