GM
In a place where money rules all, Fingas is surprised to discover that there is no dirty underground. 'Legality' is a nebulous concept that waxes and wanes depending on the amount of coin one has. Almost anything someone wants to buy can be found at VanZent's Auction House. Once a month they even have a slave auction with the "merchandise" being brought from Dis, the only region in Rul where slavery is legal. In Kem, taboo and dangerous items aren't kept underground, so much as they are kept behind a paywall. There are quite a few magic shops however, peddling charms, potions, and geegaws of dubious value. The real stuff, Fingas suspects, is likewise kept in vaults and other safe places until one has the key of money to unlock them. Spending his day walking among the city, Fingas does stumble upon a one-eyed priest of the Seer standing on a soapbox, preaching the end of the world.
"They seek the end of the world! I have seen its end and it is the written word. As the world was thus created by words, so shall be its end! The words of magic will be used to undo us all! We must not let them find the words! Heed my words, we must excise the taint of magic users before they spell our doom! The Missing Twelve was just the first sign of many troubles ahead."
Theodore spends his day gambling and drinking, staying sober enough to put together whispered words and drunken slips of the tongue. A few of the patrons are sailors and many words are said about missing ships recently off the coast of Set. Speculation abounds that it could be pirates, the great leviathan Ktu'mak, or the displeasure of Oceanus, a near-forgotten minor god of the sea.
In Kem, dwarves aren't as isolated as the goblins and are found in every aspect of daily life. They do tend to congregate at drinking establishments that specialize in dwarven ale, however. The most popular of these is the Malachite Mug. The tavern sign depicts a stone mug made of copper that has oxidized and turned patina green to resemble the color of malachite. Inside is decor befitting dwarves: a large stone hearth, sturdy wood and iron furniture, and walls and floor of finely worked stone. Inside are two dozen dwarves with almost the same number of other ancestries sitting about with their sturdy mugs and plates of meat and potatoes.
