Port Nyanzaru hugs the coastline at the south end of the Bay of The Waking Jungles. No other city exists in The Waking Jungles, along the coast or anywhere else, except in ruins or overrun by monstrous creatures. Until recently, Port Nyanzaru was under the firm control of Amn, a foreign nation. Nine years ago, Amn was forced to relinquish the city to a wealthy and powerful consortium of The Waking Junglesan traders backed by the Ytepka Society (pronounced yeh-TEP-kah), or risk a bloody conflict that probably would have ended with the city winning its independence anyway. Seven The Waking Junglesan traders have since grown into influential merchant princes, enticing folk from up and down the Sword Coast with their wares.
Port Nyanzaru is a bastion of civilization and commerce in a terrifying land. The amount of business that unfolds here and the cash that moves through its counting houses would make any merchant of Baldur’s Gate or Waterdeep jealous. It’s also a colorful, musical, aroma-filled, vibrant city in its own right. Other than trade, the biggest attractions are the weekly dinosaur races through the streets. Locals and visitors alike wager princely sums on the races’ outcomes. The city also boasts grand bazaars, glorious mansions and temples, circuses, and gladiatorial contests.
Enemies surround Port Nyanzaru on all sides. The jungle teems with ferocious reptiles and murderous undead, pirates prowl the surrounding sea, and the mouth of the bay is home to a greedy dragon turtle.
City Descriptions:
Port Nyanzaru is a city of walls within walls. Burgeoning wealth has driven the city’s richest residents to raise defenses against the jungle’s dangers, and possibly against the dangers they perceive from the city’s less-well-off districts, which all lie outside the main wall. The walls are impressive barriers of massive, fitted stone. Like other structures in Port Nyanzaru, they’re decorated with colorful paintings of geometric designs, animals, and mythic figures.
The city is defined by four steep hills. The westernmost hill, called Temple Hill because it’s home to the temple of Savras, is completely walled off from lower ground. A wide stone bridge crosses on arched columns from Temple Hill to Throne Hill, site of Goldenthrone. A second bridge connects Throne Hill to the southern slopes, site of several merchant princes’ villas. East of the harbor, the Hall of Gold gleams atop the city’s tallest hill, Mount Sibasa, which is connected by bridge to the neighboring Yklwazi Hill (pronounced yick-ul-WAH-zee), site of the Grand Coliseum. Steep, stepped streets and terraces surround each hill.
Outside the main walls are three slums: the Old City to the southwest, where many buildings are remnants of older, pyramidal construction; Malar’s Throat to the south, where buildings cling to the walls of a lush canyon spanned by rope bridges; and Tiryki Anchorage to the southeast, where explorers and river folk gather.
About half the city’s population lives crowded together outside the walls, where they’re always exposed to sudden attacks by carnivores or undead. A volunteer citizens’ brigade keeps watch for approaching danger. When residents of the outer wards hear the long blast of warning horns, day or night, they scramble for the safety of the Market Ward and Merchants’ Ward until the all clear sounds.