Arabel Cinlu is a free city nestled in the Middle Range between the Kingdom of the Five Crowns and the Kingdom of Eiresud.

Overview

Language: Cinlu Valley Kelltic (local Kelltic dialect).

Religion: Various.

Population: 100,000 people

Major Cities: Arabel Cinlu (60,000 people)

Notable Cities or Towns: none

Government: Council of Nobles

Lands

The city-state of Arabel Cinlu is an independent city that lies in a high mountain valley in the uncontrolled Middle Ranges. To the north of the city is Yeti Pass, one of the few accessible passes through the mountainous region of the Middle Range. Yeti Pass is closed through the winter, due to the difficulty in keeping the pass snow-free. The Cinlu Valley is notable for having a number of geysers and hot springs. The prevalence of these natural heat sources gives most of the valley a distinctive brimstone stench, but it also provides a source of heated water for the city's hot baths.

Near the city, there is very little usable land, so the farm communities that support Arabel Cinlu are all located further south, where the Cinlu Valley opens up into arable land.

The Cinlu Valley near Arabel Cinlu is rugged, with a valley floor that is as narrow as five hundred paces. A number of the citadels and residences of the city's leaders are built on the east side of the valley, on a broad ledge that sits a full forty paces above the valley floor.

Government

Arabel Cinlu is ruled by a council of nobles. These individuals are rarely seen in town, and they only occasionally will allow citizens of the city to petition them. The council's diktats are carried out by a sizable police force and an impressive bureaucracy that puts even Hellenic government to shame. The sheer inertia of the government tends to discourage new settlements and immigrants to the city, but this has become less of a problem since the decline of Arabel Cinlu.

There are rumors that the council is nothing more than a puppet, and that the real power is in the hands of the drow. Evidence for this claim is hard to find, and it is dangerous to repeat such an assertion in Arabel Cinlu. However, drow influence readily explains why Arabel Cinlu was never overrun by orcs during the centuries that the Stone Fist Tribe inhabited the Middle Range, and it explains some of the stranger raids on merchant wagons traveling to Ithell's Town.

People

The inhabitants of Arabel Cinlu are human, with most of them being of Kelltic stock - both Northern Kells as well as Eiresud Kellts. A sizable population of Francian people live within the city, as well, and there are significant populations of al-Rhayidhian merchants.

The city's population count is somewhat deceptive. During the winter months, when most merchants have departed and the Yeti Pass is closed, the city's population is only 60,000. Most of these people are involved in the support of the merchant trade, and they spend these months repairing facilities and stockpiling goods for the spring. Once the merchants arrive in the spring, the population swells, as merchants take up residences in the many homes and shops that occupy the side roads of the town. These merchants represent both Kellts and al-Rhayidhians, but a sizable population from the Italic Duchies and even Karasimi can be found during these months. At the height of Arabel Cinlu's dominance of the trade routes, the summer population would sometimes exceed 120,000 within the city limits, not counting merchants passing through the city, due to the numbers of merchants who took up temporary residence and occupied semi-permanent stalls in the marketplaces.

There are persistent claims of drow residing in the city, but any such drow are never seen during the day, and rarely glimpsed in some of the more dangerous markets at night. It is more likely that any such drow are not residents of the city.

Notable Cities / Towns

Arabel Cinlu

Arabel Cinlu exists solely for trade. The city lies along the only surviving Via Avillonia between the northern Kelltic nations and Eiresud. During the years after the Fall of Camelough, when the Stone Fist Tribe occupied much of the Middle Ranges, Arabel Cinlu was the only way to trade between the northern and southern parts of the continent.

The stone-paved marketplaces of Arabel Cinlu are legendary, being the largest open market anywhere in the Kelltic lands. During Arabel Cinlu's heyday, merchants from the south would arrive early in the spring to stake out space in the marketplace, awaiting their fellow traders from the north. Once the spring snows subsided enough that the city's road crews could clear the Via Avillonia over Yeti Pass, merchant wagons from the north would stream into the city.

The city has a reputation as the one place in Avillonia where one could buy anything. Some smaller markets in the city open only at night, and they deal in transactions of the sort not permitted in more civilized places. Slaves, and even forbidden magickal items, are among the goods one could acquire if one knows the right merchants to ask. However, asking the wrong merchant may lead to one's disappearance.

Gambling dens and other houses of iniquity are everywhere to be found, but many a merchant avoids these places - the consequences of being unable to pay ones debts in Arabel Cinlu are dire. The city council long ago permitted the city's debtor prison to lease prisoners to the city and permanent residents for various tasks, such as cleaning the city, and maintaining and improving the Via Avillonia through the city. Such indentured servitude can require months, if not years, to earn enough coin to buy freedom. For some indentured servants, the cost of servitude exceeds the meager nominal salary that is paid for their service, and such individuals can wind up becoming slaves for all intents and purposes.

The city is also famed for its vast bath house. This structure rivals the greatest bath houses in Hellenas, but it has the additional benefit of being able to use the naturally heated water from the hot springs of the Cinlu Valley. Rare is the traveler to Arabel Cinlu who does not visit the city's bath house at least once.

Visitors arriving in the city along the Via Avillonia may stop at small buildings that are nominally ports of entry into Arabel Cinlu's territory. At these checkpoints, a visitor may purchase a warrant that allows them to avoid debtor's prison for minor debts. When the warrant is invoked, town watch will escort the visitor to the nearest entry checkpoint, where the visitor is expected to immediately depart the city. Failure to comply, or attempts to return to the city (for instance, to pick up one's possessions from an inn) are grounds for imprisonment, so it is questionable how valuable the warrant is.

Another factor for visitors to keep in mind is that not all of the town watch are honest. The hours they are required to work, and the inertia of the city's bureaucracy, have given rise to a number of watchmen who are willing to look the other way, for a sufficient reward of coin. Some will even arrest people on fabricated charges, if there are enough coins added to their purse. Such watchmen are typically identified by a thin purple ribbon tied around the grip of their sword or dagger. Since bribery is one of the many infractions buried in the town's law books, woe be to the visitor who tries to bribe the wrong watchman - or to provide too small of a bribe to the right watchman.

History

Arabel Cinlu has existed for centuries, nestled high in the mountains of the Middle Range. It has been a trade city for all of this time. After the Fall of Camelough, the Stone Fist Tribe orcs took up residence within the Middle Range. For a number of years, there was still a safe trade route through the lower hills west of Arabel Cinlu, kept open by the Kingdom of Albane and the Kingdom of Failghe. Once the latter kingdom was destroyed by the Stone Fist Tribe, that other route closed, leaving only Arabel Cinlu to connect the northern and southern lands.

During this time, Arabel Cinlu thrived. Any trade taking place between north and south had to occur in Arabel Cinlu, and the city prospered. It was during this time, as well, that the seedier aspects of the city first manifested. Merchants would occasionally disappear in the city, and the debtor's prison became a source of revenue as the prisoners were used as forcedlabor. In spite of the negative elements of the city, it was the only option available to merchants - the rest of the mountainous regions of the Middle Ranges were too rough, and the gentler hills were overrun by orcs, and there were not enough hired swords available to clear safe corridors through the orc lands.

It was only after the destruction of the Stone Fist Tribe, and the founding of Ithell's Town in the late 2040's, that Arabel Cinlu saw decline. Many merchants - especially those of the more honest nature - found that the new route to Ithell's Town was preferable. While the road quality was poor, Ithell's Town was a much shorter route, and its low hills were passable even in winter, with enough effort. In the few short years since Ithell's Town was founded, Arabel Cinlu has seen its seasonal trade population drop precipitously, to the point that the influx of merchants no longer doubles the city's population - instead, it is now closer to 30,000 merchants who reside in the city during trading season, and that number has dropped every year since Ithell's Town gained prominence.