In the First Age, in the deserts of South Sommorea, intertribal warfar and the influx of Orcish and Dwarven invaders caused a massive breakup of tribal affairs, and the primitive tribes of Sommorea were shattered. One tribe, Ioraluke, was driven east by the Orcish Bloody Tongue tribe, and passed over the mountains east of the desert and into the grassy veldt on the coast of the Sea of Stones. The wandering Ioraluke soon came in conflict with a local human tribe, the Somekil. After several large battles on the borders of the veldt, the Ioraluke managed to push the Somekil backwards onto the main grasslands. Soon, the Ioraluke’s territory encompassed almost all of the Somekil’s former land. The Somekil had but one refuge from the former desert tribe: A great bay in the side of the seacliffs on the Sea of Stones, encircled by giant, sheer cliffs. A small beach on the inside of the bay housed the last remaining Somekil settlement, and could only be entered through a large gap in the cliffs above the beach. In the Imperial Year 134, the Ioralukes invaded the Somekil settlement and burned it to the ground, killing every last Somekil and taking the beach for their own. This was the beginning of the city of Yoralaruk (The name is derived from the tribal name Ioraluke.). Today, Yoralaruk is the greatest population center in the entire world, by virtue of it being the only port along the valuable aquatic trade route of the Roon Coast. Housing over six million men, elves, and other races, Yoralaruk is a massive place. In the city, new structures are constantly being built over the older ones, with result being that beneath the current city are layers and layers of other cities, and all are inhabited, down to the waterline, where the oldest incarnation of the city lies as the rotting tomb of criminals and monsters. The lowerworks are a maze of ramps and timbers, pillars of wood that hold up the docks and city above, buried structures, and people, people, people. The highest levels appear as a normal city, if the term normal could be applied to Yoralaruk. The festering hand of poverty and ruin is everywhere. The closer one is to the docks abutting the bay, the worse it is, with gangs running wild, thieves everywhere, and crime omnipresent. Murders, kidnappings, muggings, pressings, and nearly every other crime imaginable can be seen in broad daylight, and, usually, is ignored. Of course, further up the slope, towards the entrance to the veldt, the more affluent districts sit like a beacon of pomp, wealth, and ostentation among the filth. However, these districts have their fair share of crime as well.

Government of Yoralaruk

Though Yoralaruk seems to be near anarchy, it does indeed have a government. It’s official government has been innefectual for centuries, a puppet affair masking the true rulers, the Thief Families. It is an open secret that these Thief Families rule the city, but nobody would dare say it out loud, lest the assassins of the Families come searching for them. There are six greater Families:

-House Lopash: Favored Colors: Blue and Silver. Symbol: Tiger. Traditional rivals of House Tah.
-House Ketong: Favored Colors: Green and Black. Symbol: Spider. Traditional rivals of House Oryltupo.
-House Teruukoa: Favored Colors: Red and Yellow. Symbol: Seagull. Traditional rivals of House Szaatu.
-House Szaatu: Favored Colors: Yellow and Black. Symbol: Hornet. Traditional rivals of House Teruukoa.
-House Oryltupo: Favored Colors: Orange and Green. Symbol: Dog. Traditional rivals of House Ketong.
-House Tah: Favored Colors: Violet and Black. Symbol: Snake/Dragon. Traditional rivals of House Lopash.

Recently, the Lopash family, long the most powerful of the Thief Families, has fallen, due to the assassination of it’s leader, Lopash Atstapsu. For a few months, there really was anarchy, as the Thief Families and soldiers of government (That was trying to regain control) battled in the streets. However, adventurers, hired by Atstapsu’s heir, Replet, discovered the assassin and the Family behind it, the Tah. Though this has solved little, some stability has been brought back to the city due to the return of the Lopash. Going back to the main focus of this article, the government of the city is made all the more complicated by the presence of hundreds of lesser thief families, and a mysterious group known as the Shadow Kings. The Shadow Kings, a group of thirteen mysterious beings, rule an army of thieves, gangs, and criminals who stalk the shadows and carry out strange orders. Nobody is sure why the Shadow Kings do what they do, or why they are in Yoralaruk. Their identities are unknown, and the only reason that they are known to exist is through the signature of their servants: “Thirteen Kings of Shadow have seen here.”