Castle Pembroke & The City of Pembroke (Herregor Supplement)

The city of Pembroke is ancient by the standards of southern Herregor, predating even the dwarven settlement of Norbotten. The first settlement in the are was the Volarian College over 1000 years ago. At the time the "college" was little more than a wooden fort and collection of followers brought together under a charismatic Wizard known as Andrew Volarian.

Andrew and his colleges tamed the little area on the coast they had claimed, and soon (though they feared the wizards) other folk began to rally around the towers being built. First it was laborers doing the building and their families, then individuals to provide service to the laborers, eventually the town of Brokeshire was founded at the base of the hill upon which the wizard's brooding tower perched.

Thanks to the presence of the wizards, Brokeshire was spared much of the turmoil that came during the time of the bandit kingdoms. Its population swelled with refugees and the city grew. When Herrod the Second was looking for a place to put down roots it was only natural that he would look to the largest center of population within the lands he claimed. Many works of history gloss over the fact that he had to give tribute to and seek the permission of Andrew Volarian before he could lay claim to Brokeshire as his capitol. What he did to garner the wizard's cooperation is unknown, but the ancient wizard has been loyal to the crown ever since.

Rechristened Pembroke, the Jewel of Arad has only grown since. Now the largest population center on the entirety of Herregor, Pembroke is the center of trade, politics, learning, and corruption for Arad. Where money and people congregate, crime and corruption follows. Like most great cities it is a bright and shining example of civilization built on a thoroughly rotten core.

In the modern landscape Pembroke is a sprawling metropolis that hugs the polluted bay of Gorgonsfoot. Factories and refineries belch smoke and pollution into the air lending the atmosphere a patina of smog. A constant stream of ships and wagons into and out of the city bring goods to and from all corners of the land. A sophisticated network of sewers keep Pembroke cleaner than many cities of it's size, but even so it is still filled with the stink of human habitation. It is a grand and terrible place. The best and worst of humanity can be found within it, and adventure is never far for those looking for it.

Who Rules: Ostensibly King Herrod VI rules Castle Pembroke and the city proper.

Who Really Rules: In truth Mayor Arthur Quorum and Imperial Magistrate Marcus Turen vie for control of the day to day operations of the city.

Population: Officially 115,000 (mostly human with a significant halfling population and a smattering of just about everything else) however an estimated 50,000 live on the streets or in the many catacombs beneath the city and have escaped census. In addition another 100,000 or so can be in the city at any given time.

Imports: Ore, textiles, coal, and spices

Exports: Guns, Oil, fish, timber, and mechanical goods

Locales of Pembroke

Castle Pembroke: Actually a days ride from the city proper, the vast fortress of Castle Pembroke is the home of the Aradian Government and King Herrod. Members of Parliament are provided apartments when it is in session, and there are vast legions of guards and servants always at hand. Outside of the fortress are businesses and service providers that cater to the members of parliament and those who provide for them.

Market Square: The vast market square of Pembroke is renowned for the quantity and multitude of goods available at any given moment. "The Square" is actually a network of winding streets and open air markets filled with temporary stalls and permanent establishments that hug the port and butt up against Halflingtown. Individuals can find anything they might want within the square, but are well advised to keep their eyes open and their purses close.

Halflingtown: The city district known as "Halflingtown" is a relatively new addition built on a scale incongruent with much of the city. The small folk have settled here in droves and built a city within a city that cater to folk their own size. Businesses are built with low but manageable ceilings (by human standards) but private residences are often hard to navigate by big folk. Strangely enough very little real business is conducted in Halflingtown, for most of the small merchants it is a place to retreat from the pressing throng.

The Turathian Embassy: Folks comment that the sprawling manor that houses the Turathian Assembly grew up overnight was raised by dark sorcery. The horned folk keep their own confidence here, though it is not uncommon to find them out and about the city of their new allies. The grounds of their embassy is as the soil of Turath Nor, a sovereign area. Only the tieflings and their slaves set foot upon it.

Gildenhammer Row: Gildenhammer Row is composed of three factories and a series of warhouses in Pembroke's industrial quarter. The row is the heart of the Gildenhammer company. A vast number of fine firearms are produced here every day, and the security is tightly kept by guardsmen employed by the firearms manufacturers.

The Undercity: Pembroke is built on 1000 years of civilization. It crouches on the bones of it's former incarnations in the form of a vast network of sewers and catacombs that interlink with the natural limestone caverns and underground waterways that spill into the sea. Many of the catacombs are still in use and guarded, but several have fallen into disrepair. Criminals, cultists, beggars, and resurrection men have at different times used the tunnels. Rumors also persist of dark things that prowl the streets of the city at night who retreat below during the day.

The Broken Toe: An infamous inn and tavern on the outskirts of the city. It has a reputation for drunken brawls and rowdy behavior, and thus it is a magnet for mercenaries and self styled adventurers as well as those who would hire them. The proprietor is a giant of a man named Dirth who is rumored to be possessed of a bit of Sardonian blood.

Notable Persons

Mayor Arthur Quorum (Male Human Aristocrat 12): Mayor Quorum is the official that oversees the day to day operations of the vast city of Pembroke. He wields a great bit of personal influence along with his official powers. He makes use of a carefully measured professional corruption that has made him both beholden to, and owed by various merchant and criminal interests in the city and is a master of the subtle dance of politics.

Imperial Magistrate Marcus Turen (Male Human Fighter 14): Magistrate Turen is a polar opposite to the Mayor. He is a staunch Aradian patriot, and former soldier, and rather than work with and try to mitigate the corruption that nests in the heart of Pembroke he is waging a personal war against it. He has thus far survived over two dozen assassination attempts but is not deterred. A large portion of the city guard has come to idolize the grizzled veteran and he has assembled a group of very trusted men to surround himself with.

Ambassador Aldamon (Male Turathian Wizard [Conj] 13): Aldamon is the lead diplomat of the Turathian Embassy. He is shrewd, ruthless, and honey tongued devil. He has not won many friends in his time in the capital, but he has gained many allies.

Local Organizations

The Guild: Known simply as "The Guild", it is Pembroke's most influential organization of thieves, assassins, scoundrels, beggars, and other assorted ne'er-do-wells. The guild is organized as a group of semi-independent gangs and crews that each pay tribute up a chain of bosses to the guildmaster. Who this shadowy individual is is a secret to all but those of the inner circle.

The Cult of Gormesh: The Cult makes offerings to a strange god or demon they call Gormesh and claim that making sacrifice to him can bring wealth beyond reason. The faithful hold secret ceremonies in the undercity and make dark sacrifices to their god. The worship of Gormesh is outlawed since a ceremony was broken up where human sacrifice was taking place in which a member of paliament was found involved. The Cult was driven further underground.

The Slave's Market: Trade in flesh has been restricted in recent years, but not entirely stamped out. The only form of legal slavery in Arad is that forced on a debtor, but under cover of darkness, in alley ways and dark warehouses, the Slave's Market does brisk business.

Turen's Hounds: Magistrate Turen has lamented more than once that he often feels he is the only honest man in a city filled with scoundrels. To that end he has gathered about him a group of men whose loyalty and integrity he trusts. Though not an officially sanctioned organization, this group of guardsmenn businessmen, and mercenaries wage war against the worst of the corruption in Pembroke, and they have made many enemies doing it. The lifespan of a member of the Hounds is often short, and the Magistrate is always looking for more decent men to "feed to the grinder".

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