A great city of the Green Age, Celik is now a ruin, but it has not been deserted. Over the centuries, the city became a meeting place for nomadic tribes drawn by its excellent wells and the shelter offered by its crumbling walls. Dune traders followed the nomads, setting up seasonal posts, and eventually, escaped slaves, outcasts, criminals, and others seeking refuge or opportunity found their way to Celik. From time to time, the ruins fell empty again, but sooner or later someone would settle in the old city’s outskirts. Monsters plague the ruins, including bands of anakores, gith, and a few hungry gaj that haunt the old cistern network below the streets.
An ambitious, middle-aged human trader named Korsun controls Celik. He is the head of House Mareneth, a small merchant house trading in Tyr, Altaruk, and Balic. Anyone who wants to set up shop in Celik or explore its ruins must buy a license from Korsun; if someone can’t afford the cost, he or she can become indentured to the trader instead.