Procampur

Procampur is the richest of the independent cities of the Vast, challenged only by Ravens Bluff and Tantras. It was a booming city before the founding of the Standing Stone and the creation of Dale-Reckoning. The city-state is bordered on the north coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars and the eastern shore of the Dragon Reach.

From its early days until now, it has been a city noted for its skilled goldsmiths, ornate and fine quality hardware (smithy work), and gem cutters. It is ruled by a hereditary overlord with the title of Thultyrl. The present Thultyrl is a young man, Rendeth of the Royal Blood, who is aided by the Hamayarch, the mage advisor to the Thultyrl. The current mage is Alamondh.

The latest census of the city (in 1370 DR) sets Procampur’s population at 49,000 (98% human, 1% half-elven, 1% dwarven).

Beyond the Thultyrl’s Castle, the city was divided into areas reserved not so much for differing classes, but for differing activities. The eight districts are delineated with walls of 15 feet high. Royal orders are strict with regard to which activities may be performed in which district.

The city is roughly circular. Two stub walls curve southwest to meet the shore, forming a crescent outside the circle. This crescent is the port, where visitors and citizens come and go freely, acting more or less as they please. The Great Way is a broad avenue that runs from the Port District up to the Thultyrl’s castle. Opening off this walled avenue are gates into the eight inner city districts, each with is own guards. Each district also has gates into adjacent districts. Each district is marked by slate roofs of a different color.

Adjoining the Castle District on the north is the silver-roofed, luxurious Nobles District, followed (as one goes west back to the harbor) by the yellow-roofed Services District, home to all Procampan servants, handypeople, restaurants, and taverns. West of that is the blue-roofed Sea District, home to sailors, outfitters, and cargo-storage and shipping businesses. West of Sea District is the harbor.

Moving inland along the south side of the Great Way, one finds the gray-roofed District of the Poor, where the Thultyrl owns all buildings. Most buildings here are rooming houses. Long-term visitors may dwell here alongside beggars, the unemployed, and the poorest city laborers. There's no stigma to dwelling in "Graystreets." Next is the narrow, red-roofed Adventurers' District, home to all who make their living by exploration or other dangerous pursuits, and to businesses having to do with weapons and their use. This gives way to the sea-green roofs of the Merchant District, containing the homes and shops of all Procampan merchants whose businesses aren't directly concerned with the sea or adventuring. This, in turn, adjoins the Temple District, where all buildings have shining black roofs.

Early history
Procampur was an ancient and established city, the oldest in the Vast, with a long heritage.

There was originally an anchorage on the site of what is now Procampur. When thieves stole the treasury of King Glaurauth the Great of Westgate (−301 to −291 DR), they fled by ship and anchored here, before venturing into the Earthfast Mountains, with Westgate's wizards in pursuit. Both forces were slain in Elvenblood Pass.

Dwarves from Earthfast founded the underground town Proeskampalar in the Year of the Starry Shroud, −153 DR. That same year, it was joined by human refugees from fallen Jhaamdath (what is now Chondath) who also settled there. With this influx, Proeskampalar swiftly became a boom-town and a significant trading partner with Westgate, thanks to its talented goldsmiths and gemcutters.

In time, the human surface settlement grew into a great city, now known as Procampur, which was founded in the Year of Trials Arcane, 523 DR. However, its wealthy miners and craftsmen were plagued by thieves and various other criminals, and frequent pirate raids drove many Procampans away. This left only the most resolute, miners mostly, who vowed to force back the killers and robbers. They hired powerful mercenary forces to defend their city, but then needed to control the mercenaries. Magic was the key, and the local Thultyrl family of wizards rose to a position of power, and hereditary rule. Procampur developed into a fortress-city, where the Thultyrls preferred peace, order and discipline in a walled and guarded city. To reduce petty crimes like theft and enable easy rule, the expanding city was segregated into walled, self-contained districts, connected by guarded passages, unlike in other open and sprawling cities. Some Thultyrls ruled as tyrants, demand total obedience and instilling terror in their subjects.

In the Year of Long Shadows, 1164 DR, the master jewelers of Procampur crafted a new crown for the coronation of King Palaghard I of Cormyr. The crown was stolen when the legendary pirate Immurk the Invincible raided the merchant-ship carrying the precious cargo. The crime was so audacious that Palaghard believed that no one could be so brave, and that the Procampan jewelers were cheating him instead. He mustered his armies and nearly declared war on Procampur, before being corrected. This crime signified a rise in piracy on the Inner Sea, and the nations around it began building warships to protect their merchants. The crown was eventually recovered, but so heavy, grandiose and ugly that it was only used for a few months.

The Year of the Blazing Banners, 1209 DR was the time of the Pirate Wars, when kingdoms around of the Sea of Fallen Stars allied against a pirate fleet based at Dragonisle. Procampur contributed a number of mercenary forces and, with Impiltur and Aglarond, formed the eastern fleet of 75 ships. Working with the western fleet of Cormyr, Sembia, and the Vilhon Reach, they defeated Urdogen's pirate fleet in the Battle of the Fallen. For the eastern fleet’s brave rescue of the Sembia force, Procampur and Impiltur claimed a greater share of the prizes. The alliance fell into bickering soon after and broke apart.

In the early 13th century DR, a fever in Procampur killed several people, including the current Thultyrl. He was succeeded by his son, a young man. The current Hamayarch was the Pearl, who’d apparently held the position for some three generations, despite her youthful appearance. The mid-13th century saw the Vast suffer rampaging hordes of orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, supplemented by some human brigands and half-breed rogues. In the Year Of Burning Steel, 1246 DR, the orc warlord Fottergrim and the magelord Archlis led a mixed horde of them in an invasion and take-over of Tsurlagol. The Thultyrl chose to honor Procampur's treaty with Tsurlagol and led an army to besiege and free the city. To supplement his forces, he hired mercenaries, including camel-riding cavalry from the Shaar and the Siegebreakers adventuring band of sappers. It was an expensive undertaking, paid for by Procampur's nobles and merchants; by the treaty, Procampur expected to recover its expenses from Tsurlagol. It also had to be done quickly, before those paying for the campaign grew too restless.


 * The date of 1246 DR was not included in the novel Crypt of the Moaning Diamond due to editing error. It was mentioned by author Rosemary Jones, here.

However, the Pearl believed that the Thultyrl was destined to die young, at the age of 26 and early in his reign, in battle against Fottergrim before the walls of Tsurlagol. Instead, he was wounded on a hunting trip during the campaign (an event perhaps orchestrated by the Pearl). The Pearl secretly prevented his wounds from healing to keep him away from the frontlines and Fottergrim, believing that he would go on to become a good king and complete the Great Codex of Procampur's laws. Thanks to the Siegebreakers and the Moaning Diamond artifact, Fottergrim and Archlis were slain, Procampur's armies victorious, and Tsurlagol was liberated. Fottergrim's silver-plated skull was mounted on a pillar halfway between the two cities with a warning against threatening Procampur's allies.

Later in the mid-13th century (i.e., over a century before the 1360s DR), a hobgoblin horde marched near Procampur. It was defeated with the aid of the mage Snilloc, who earned some fame for his actions here.