Tradegate was a large gate-town leading to Bytopia from the Outlands.[1]
Description[]
Tradegate was built in the shape of a star and was surrounded by a wall of grey stone. Within the gate-town, old buildings are frequently demolished and new structures built in their place. As a result, the appearance of Tradegate was constantly changing.[1]
The center of Tradegate was home to a grand bazaar, a large five-sided plaza with gold and purple tiles laid out like a checkerboard. The bazaar was home to a multitude of booths and stalls and was one of the main trading hubs in the Outlands. Four sides of the plaza were flanked by four large buildings: the Parliament, Tradegate's mint, the armory and barracks and a library. The fifth side of the plaza opened up onto the hotel district, home to the gate-town's many inns.[1]
Gates[]
Unique among the gate-towns, the gate found in Tradegate was actually a living creature, a bariaur who went by the name of Master Trader. He could be found wandering within the forests located near the gate-town. On occasion he ventured to Tir na Og. If one successfully completed the long, complicated trading process, Master Trader opened the gate to allow passage into Bytopia.[1]
Government[]
Tradegate was ruled by a council of merchants called the Parliament. They met on a weekly basis and concerned themselves primarily with trading regulations. New members to the council were not elected, rather anyone who was not of an evil alignment, and also had 500,000 gold pieces, were welcome to join the Parliament.[1]
Trade[]
Tradegate was aptly named due to the fact it was a major center of commerce. The gate-town minted their own currency, a coin with a star on one side and an engraving of the Faerûnian god Ilmater on the other. According to the locals, the coin represented the dual nature of Bytopia. Goods were bought and sold via barter or purchase with hard currency, credit was rare and never given to on who was not from the gate-town.[1]
Inhabitants[]
The inhabitants of Tradegate were primarily gnomes and humans, and were an industrious lot with a strong work ethic. Begging and vagrancy were forbidden and punishable by a sentence to a workhouse.[1]
History[]
At some point, a group of adventurers from the Prime Material world of Toril came to the city of Sigil, having purchased a map from a sage in Shadowdale. When the group's fighter unfolded the map they began scanning it in search of the gate-town Glorium, only to quickly be corrected by his rogue ally that town headed to Gladsheim and they were looking for the gate-town to Bytopia. Watching the adventurers argue among themselves, a peddler emerged from the shadows with a variety of shaped mimirs floating about him. He offered a skull-shaped one to the group's fighter, who proceeded to ask it their query and was told what they sought was Tradegate. Impressed, the adventurers paid the peddler for the mimir and went off on their journey.[2]
In the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR,[note 1] a planeswalking merchantile caravan in the Torilian city of Ravens Bluff was being sponsored by local Ravenian noble Lauren DeVillars and doing business with the gate-town of Glorium,[3] though they had aims to soon start trade missions with both the gate-towns of Tradegate and Torch.[4]
Rumors & Legends[]
It was rumored across the Outlands that one could purchase fiendish equipment and weapons salvaged from the various battlefields of the Blood Wars at certain stalls in the bazaar. Word was that anyone interested in such purchases had to wear boots with red stripes while within the bazaar. If seen, they were approached and a meeting was scheduled.[5]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The events of the Living City Ravens Bluff campaign took place on a timeline that advanced together with the real world's time. Even though all Living City adventures and issues of Ravens Bluff Trumpeter were dated with real-world dates, there were events that received a DR year. The Living City timeline can be derived from Myrkyssa Jelan's historic events of the late 14th century DR. Myrkyssa Jelan attacked Ravens Bluff in 1370 DR, according to The City of Ravens Bluff and Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition; these events are chronicled in an in-and-out of universe issues of Ravens Bluff Trumpeter. This places the real world year 1997 as 1370 DR, and in 1998 (1371 DR), Myrkyssa was at last arrested and tried and said to have been executed, only to reappear in 1372 DR in The City of Ravens novel. As the real world's months and the Calendar of Harptos are virtually identical, we can also date all events of the Living City Ravens Bluff as close as an in-universe month.
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Jeff Grubb (May 1995). A Player's Primer to the Outlands. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 26. ISBN 0-7869-0121-7.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb (May 1995). A Player's Primer to the Outlands. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 2–3. ISBN 0-7869-0121-7.
- ↑ Erich Schmidt (August 1999). Three Coins in a Well. Living City (RPGA), p. 2.
- ↑ Erich Schmidt (August 1999). Three Coins in a Well. Living City (RPGA), p. 9.
- ↑ Colin McComb (July 1996). “The Chant of the War”. In Ray Vallese ed. Hellbound: The Blood War (TSR, Inc.), p. 29. ISBN 0-7869-0407-0.
Connections[]
Caverns of Thought • Court of Light • Dwarvish Mountain (Deepshaft Hall • Soot Hall • Strongale Hall) • Flowering Hill • Gzemnid's Realm • Hidden Realm • Labyrinth of Life • Marketplace Eternal • Mausoleum of Chronepsis • Palace of Judgement • Semuanya's Bog • Sigil • Sleeping Lands • Tir na Og (Deep Forest • the Great Smithy • House of Knowledge • the Pinnacle • Tir fo Thuinn) • Thoth's Estate • Wonderhome
Gate-towns
Automata • Bedlam • Curst • Ecstasy • Excelsior • Faunel • Fortitude • Glorium • Hopeless • Plague-Mort • Ribcage • Rigus • Sylvania • Torch • Tradegate • Xaos