*A crude map has been scribbled on this piece of parchment, leading from Fort Mur, south into the Badlands, and more or less, all the way to the city of Sanctuary, branching off to the gates of both 'Upper' and 'Lower'. The map has been marked accordingly*
I am aware that past and/or present visitors and residents of Fort Mur have expressed an interest in the settlement known as Sanctuary. Whatever anyone chooses to do with the settlement is none of my concern, and the bounty is of no importance to me. Regardless, for reasons I will not state here, I am making it my concern to share with you, and anyone who wishes to benefit from this letter where, why and what the settlement of Sanctuary is, and how it operates.
The town was formed by escaped slaves from the city of Traensyr, who stumbled upon an abandoned svirfneblin settlement named Dunwarren. No clue was left as to why the settlement was abandoned.
Dunwarren was claimed and dubbed 'Sanctuary'. Soon enough, with the help of trade, the city was surviving within comfortable means. Three generations have passed since the founding of Sanctuary, and despite the settlement's original intentions as a temporary base of operations from which to plot a way to the surface, most of its citizens feel quite content with the idea that they will never see the sun.
Sanctuary is run in a democratic system involving an elected body of bureaucrats, named the city council. Part of the council's responsibility is to elect the city's defenders.
Today, Sanctuary is protected by two main groups of defenders: - The Spellguard, a guild of mages which burdens itself with the responsibility of managing all matters regarding magic and svirfneblin technology. - The Town Watch, which operates as both a police and civil defense force for the city.
The Spellguard holds tight control over magic, forbidding the use of all magic by normal citizens in 'unwarded' areas in fear of detection and attacks by magic eaters. Wards are expensive to maintain, so there are relatively few establishments which sport them. The spellguard also maintain 'automats' - constructs left behind by the svirfneblin, repaired and employed to aid in the defense of the city. The Spellguard conduct a great deal of magical research, and their tower features an extensive library which is exclusively intended for use by the organization.
The Town Watch are normally trained to operate as warriors, and most are competent with melee and ranged weapons. They do little or nothing for the development of the city, but rather control crime and take action in the event of invasion by hostile forces.
Both the Spellguard and Town Watch have the power to respond appropriately to crime in the city, acting with fines, confiscation of magical items and imprisonment. Crimes which sufficiently endanger Sanctuary and its members merit capital punishment, which is judged by a randomly selected member of the council. From there, if decided guilty, the accused will either be exiled from the city, or 'stoned' - this involves locking the unfortunate individual in a cage, and having the population hurl stones until the accused is dead.
The settlement is split into an 'Upper' and 'Lower' Sanctuary, each with a gate which can be used to go to and from Fort Mur. Upper Sanctuary is quite successfully governed by the influence of the Watch and Spellguard, and normally a lawful citizen residing in Upper will be well protected by the laws of the city. Unsurprisingly, nearly all of the resources of the Watch and Spellguard are allocated here.
Lower Sanctuary, however, is in a state of anarchy. Members of the Watch and Spellguard do not enter without a disguise for fear of being assassinated, and most people who choose to live in Lower wish to be free of both the control and protection these agencies offer. Crime in this part of the city could not be worse, and people are constantly killing each other off for the sake of greed and power without negative consequences. The only direct means of accessing Upper Sanctuary from Lower is a single manned lift (the Lift of Peace), as the staircase which previously separated these two parts of the city has been destroyed. Regardless, I predict that anyone wanting to make an attack on the city would best do so here. Its defenses are poor, and the little authority which does exist in Lower is constantly wracked by local gangs. With luck, given the limited means of travelling between the sections of the city, Upper would very slowly come to Lower's defense, clearing Upper Sanctuary to be mown down by a casual band of invaders.
It is a generally accepted fact that none of the slaver races, including the main factions of Illithid, Beholders and Drow are aware of the presence of Sanctuary. It may or may not be that these races would pay handsomely for this information. Exploit this at your leisure.
Regards, Anonymous
*The base of this letter has been stamped with the image of a blackened bone hand holding a silver sun*