The town of Yaraq is the busiest trading port on the shores of the great Inner Sea. It has long been the lifeline to explorers trying to carve out a piece of destiny in the Direlands. For decades there had been a tentative truce between the Gharu'ndim people and the large, proud members of the nomadic orc tribes that roam the desert. Recent increases in caravan travel to Yaraq combined with the increasingly scarce hunting returns have stressed the orcish truce to its breaking point. Orc raiding parties have begun plundering small encampments in the surrounding areas and are moving ever closer to the walls of the town.
Inside the walls, the town teems with merchants hawking their wares in open air markets and sailors running across mast booms answering their captains' orders. The energy of the town is contagious and many traveling merchants tend to find themselves wondering how they ended up turning a two week trading trip into a permanent residency. The draw of money has brought along not only merchants, but also the groups that feed on the darker side of greed. Thieves, mercenaries, and gypsies have become a constant source of agitation for the guards, and of fear for the general populace.
Many come to make their fortunes, but still others come to take someone else's.
Inside the walls, the town teems with merchants hawking their wares in open air markets and sailors running across mast booms answering their captains' orders. The energy of the town is contagious and many traveling merchants tend to find themselves wondering how they ended up turning a two week trading trip into a permanent residency. The draw of money has brought along not only merchants, but also the groups that feed on the darker side of greed. Thieves, mercenaries, and gypsies have become a constant source of agitation for the guards, and of fear for the general populace.
Many come to make their fortunes, but still others come to take someone else's.