Old Port Prelude

[Nuclear Catastrophe]

This is to gauge interest in whether anyone would like to partake in an Old Port Prelude this week.

Without going too deeply into the specifics regarding your background, you'd be playing some escaped convicts from Old Port, so anything that fits into that area would be fine.  Not necessary requiring any particular alignment so don't feel obligated to pick evil or even chaotic, though I guess lawful might be a stretch ;)

If you would like to play then note the following :

• It should be your main PC.  If you're playing a PC currently but jaded with it, then of course you can shelve it and play it again at a later date - but only with permission from a DM.  
• No sorcerors (sorcs wouldn't be held at this particular place)

PM me your concepts, and when you'd likely be available as I think the best time for me will be GMT 6PM plus tomorrow or Thursday, (5th or 6th of June!) but I can delay as long as it takes to get enough interested people, and note if there's anything else that might need the team looking at as a whole (subraces, that sort of thing) & I'll let you know to post it in the submissions section as usual.

Cheers,

Nuke

[Howlando]

I thought I'd make myself useful and describe Old Port a little bit for players who are unaware of the city.

Old Port is a sprawling city of some thousands built entirely atop a small Island some distance from Ymph. It is ruled by Count Zarono Senuspur, a tyrannical and paranoid aristocrat who is ably served by his Rubies (an elite group of secret police, assassins, bodyguards, and master duelists) and a small court of Viziers. There is also the Old Port Guard, a largely incompetent and corrupt guard force that assists in the general oppression of Old Port's beleaguered citizenry.

For some years now, most of Old Port's economy has been based off of pirate vessels/slavers sailing into the Port in order to sell slaves and purloined materials to traders who deal with the drow who control a slaver's highway that leads from Old Port's feared "Last Gate" down to the drow city of Traensyr. Within the past six months or so the flow of goods up from Traensyr has ceased altogether, although the prices offered for slaves headed down has increased dramatically.

Those residents of Old Port who are not directly involved in either the slave trade or the Count's despotic regime tend to live difficult lives indeed. It's not uncommon to turn to begging or petty crime, and this is the kind of background that would likely be appropriate for PCs in this prelude.

I'd also mention that Old Port residents are aware about Ymph and its Withering Curse, and likely would fear very much ever visiting Ymph and catching this seemingly incurable curse.

Notable areas in Old Port include:

Fortress Senuspur (the Count's fortress, situated above the Last Gate that leads into the Underdark
The Merchant's District (the central area connected by canal to the sea, generally the only place permitted to the various visiting vessels - whether Calimshan Traders or different pirate groups)
The High Estates (an elevated area filled with various estates of the different remaining aristocratic groups of Old Port, as well as the ruins of those families who opposed the Count)
The Flooded Outskirts (largely outside the rule of Old Port's law, generally populated by the impoverished and desperate - also the location of the Lighthouse of Ojo the Bloodmage, one of the Count's most feared allies)
The Quarantined Zone - the quarantined area where the Withered who have fled Ymph are allowed to dwell in various hovels)
etc.