Urik, City of Lions

As much an imposing fortress as it is a city-state, Urik is protected by intimidating walls and fearless defenders.

Population: About 20,000 people live within the city walls, and more occupy the surrounding plantations. Humans make up three-fifths of the population. Goliaths are the most numerous minority race, followed by dwarves, muls, and halflings. Thri-kreen, elves, and other races are represented in Urik as well.

Water: Cisterns gather runoff from the Ringing Mountains, and deep wells throughout the city supply neighborhoods with drinking water. The irrigated lands around Urik draw water from the few oases found nearby. The city-state has ample water supplies.

Supplies: Urik enjoys a robust economy and is famed for its pottery. Obsidian weapons and tools are common. Vast herds in the surrounding lands produce leather, meat, chitin, and kank nectar.

Defense: Urik’s armies are without peer. Not counting the Imperial Guard, which consists of a thousand half-giants, Hamanu can field an army of ten thousand slave warriors and professional soldiers. He is also served by a company of two hundred halfling scouts and slavecatchers sent as a gift from Urga-Zoltapl, chieftain of the Forest Ridge town of Ogo.

Inns and Taverns: Travelers can find accommodations throughout Potters’ Square and the Obsidian Quarter. Urik prides itself on uniformity, so most inns and taverns are identical, with few qualities to set them apart. Only the Old District has unique places with rich character.

Urikite humans have bronze skin, dark eyes, and black or brown hair. The men wear beards and keep them trimmed into spade shapes or squares. Clothing ranges from simple kilts to sleeveless, knee-length tunics or exotic long robes with voluminous sleeves. Veils and scarves are common among the women; the finer the scarf, the higher the station.

Gifted Potter: Pottery is the highest art form in Urik, and the pieces produced in the city-state are among the finest on Athas. You studied under master potters and perfected your craft. How do you use your position? Who was your mentor? Do you still practice the trade?

Scarred Miner: Urik’s obsidian mines kill more slaves than the city’s arena does. Miners who survive rarely do so without suffering terrible scars or a missing limb. Why were you sent to the mines? Were you injured there? How did you come to be freed?

Watchful Astronomer: The stars hold many secrets, and their movements can reveal the future. Urik is famed for its astronomers and their instruments, and you studied under the masters for a time. What omens did you read in the heavens? Were they responsible for your current life as an adventurer?

The templars insist that Hamanu’s Code is a divine gift, a blessing that the sorcerer-king bestowed upon his people so they could prosper and grow. In truth, the laws are oppressive and jealously guard the prerogatives of the king, his templars, and the noble classes. Common Urikite citizens understand that the Code exists to protect the powerful, but they dare not grumble. The only good thing that can be said of the draconian laws is that they discourage street crime.

Hamanu takes an active role in governing, involving himself in every civic function—including dispensing justice, monitoring food supplies, and overseeing his soldiers’ training. He is a difficult master to please, since he expects the same dedication from his servants. He discards anyone who proves unable to meet his high expectations.

• Yellow Cloaks
• Sirdars

In a hilly region where the Ringing Mountains meet the Tablelands, Urik sits in a fertile belt maintained by careful irrigation from deep wells. Grain fields and fruit-bearing orchards surround the city-state in neat rows. Urik gleams, its stone walls steeped in yellow pigment made from the sulfurous waters of the nearby Lake of Golden Dreams. Statues of bold, bipedal lions march to war across its walls. Lions’ heads carved from stone serve as merlons atop the dizzying walls, where sentries stand guard, bows never far from their hands.

Four gates offer access to the city. The Slave Gate sees heavy traffic, including caravans bound to and from the obsidian mines in the Smoking Crown. Nobles and templars enter and exit through High Gate, and most other visitors pass in and out throughhe Obsidian Gate and the King’s Gate. Half-giant guards, archers, and war templars staff the towers at each gate and rigorously question all who enter.

Most of Urik is a place of straight roads and clean lines. Bricks pave the streets. In most districts, houses and buildings are uniform, nearly identical except for writing that designates the function or owner. A visitor unaccustomed to Urik’s style can easily become lost. In addition, one finds Hamanu’s likeness everywhere. The yellow-and-white-glazed walls feature brilliant murals that capture the Mighty King’s many exploits. The sorcerer-king has spared no expense in ensuring that the people do not forget who rules.