Athkatla

Athkatla - City of Coin

Athkatla is the largest, oldest, and most influential city of Amn, a hard-edged mercantile metropolis on the Sea of Swords where coin is law and reputation is currency. By 1479 DR it held roughly 122,000 people (about 90% human), and virtually every aspect of civic life—politics, law, religion, and security—was bent toward commerce. Its dominant faith is Waukeen, goddess of trade; other active cults include Helm, Milil, Selûne, Lathander, and—more discreetly—Cyric. Athkatlans themselves are famed for their shrewd haggling, appetite for luxury, and a blunt creed: if it turns a profit, it finds a place in Athkatla.

Look and feel

Nights blaze with the glow of “storm-lanterns,” halfling-sized oil lamps kept burning by patrols of lamplighters with double-hooked poles and oil vats. Streets teem with hawkers, brokers, carters, and guards in hire, and the skyline spikes with countinghouses, guildhalls, and sanctuaries to coin and contract. Decadence is open and fashionable among the well-to-do of the Gem District—so much so that overindulgence has its own term: “straking,” a polite society purge after too much revelry or spoiled seafood.

Government, power, and order

Athkatla is ruled by an oligarchy—the Council of Five (formerly Six). By the late 15th century DR the councilors were public figures tied to great houses:

  • House Selemchant, patrons of the Cowled Wizards

  • House Dannihyr, intertwined with the Shadow Thieves

  • Houses Alibakkar, Ophal, and Nashivaar (the last allied with the church of Cyric)

Behind these sit dozens of “High Houses” and merchant dynasties (e.g., Selemchant, Alibakkar, Nashivaar, Ophal, Dannihyr) and additional families like Chainstone, Crimmor, and Hardsharn. Law is transactional: most minor crimes can be prepaid as posted fines, and thieves operate under written contracts more than anywhere else in Faerûn. Lewdness and even slavery are tolerated if they are orderly, licensed, and profitable.

Magic

Open arcane spellcasting is illegal within the city walls under a decree dating to young King Dhanar Parhek in the late 1200s DR. Exceptions exist for those licensed (at a price) by the High Houses through the Cowled Wizards, who act as fee-for-service enforcers, informants, and spell-permit brokers. Divine magic is widespread, especially for temples catering to merchants, sailors, and travelers.

Heraldry

Athkatla’s arms are a purple round shield with a scarlet equilateral triangle (point up) whose vertices touch the rim. Centered is a white diamond with its long axis horizontal, and around the border sit twelve golden discs. The color and shapes speak plainly: refinement (purple), luxury and textiles (red triangle), concentrated wealth (diamond), and coins pouring in from across the world (gold discs).

Districts and notable places

The city is ringed by six outer gates (Alandamer’s, Meirtyn, Heroes’, Sparandar, Julkoon, Oloemandur), plus Sea-Gates to the harbor and a Chain-Gate on the Alandor River—each a toll point where “any one coin” usually means a standard fandar or failing that, recognized silver or gold.

  • Bridge District: Tight, winding streets south of the central bridge shelter the city’s laborers and caravan-service shops. Illicit goods and quick lodging are common. Mithrest is a well-known inn.

  • Center District: Heart of polite commerce and venues for the moneyed middle. Waukeen’s Promenade—an open-air market stadium—anchors the quarter with guild halls, high-end stalls, and items from both surface and underworld trade. Other draws include Daranthur’s Hall (a pioneering shared-roof market), Delosar’s Inn, Sea’s Bounty Tavern, and Silverale Hall.

  • Gem District: New money flaunts itself here in mansions, salons, and private clubs. Notables include the Adamantine Mug (a discreet merchants’ tavern), Dancing Dolphins House (site of “shieldrings,” elite family conclaves), Diamond Dragon (exquisite jewelry), Dome of the Rose (a Lathanderite monastery), Flamethrower Fountain (perfume peddlers’ haunt), and Shadowgates House (exclusive women’s club).

  • Grave District: Monument-packed necropolis linked by the Cold Dolor to other quarters. Heavily patrolled by day, but its mausoleum walks are favored for after-dusk rendezvous.

  • Guards District: The tolerated home of mercenaries and adventurers—looked down upon elsewhere but essential to Athkatla’s security and ambitions. The Den of the Seven Vales is a clean festhall; the Five Flagons was a mid-1300s favorite.

  • River District: The city’s slums and refuse artery along the Alandor. Barges ferry trash out; the infamous Copper Coronet draws smugglers, pirates, and sell-swords.

  • Scepter District: Most exclusive quarter: council offices and great estates (e.g., Chainstone, Hardsharn). The Council House and Cloakspell Tower dominate civic business.

  • Temple District: Once arcane, later mercantile-religious, it hosts pilgrim-friendly inns, opulent shrines (Chauntea, Talos, Umberlee, Ilmater) and hidden cult niches (Cyric, Mask, Ibrandul). Shops and halls include Brundith Fine Furnishings (secret-compartment replicas), Crown Aflame (grand theater in a former temple of Azuth), Harfin Draether (renowned tavern fare), Pride of Athkatla (enclosed consignment market), Hall of the Society of the Lost Ingot (ex-Ilmater temple turned guild hall), Seven Songs Importing, Silkstone Fashions, and Temple Bell (divine paraphernalia). Just beyond, Goldspires, an abbey of Waukeen and Lliira, sits northwest of the city proper.

  • Trades District: Swarming with independent merchants; the Black Frog tavern is the locals’ choice.

  • Wave District: Seafaring trades—shipwrights, cartographers, sail-makers—with nearby scribes and sages. Landmarks include the Great Griffin storm bell and Moonhall, a temple to Selûne.

Beyond these are oddities and boutiques scattered citywide (Faded Ages, Madroon’s Curios, Odd Candy, Tiny Deaths, Lowmarket, I Change, the Museum of Inquisition), plus major temples such as Arbalest’s House (Milil, c. 1358 DR).

Factions and orders

Two organizations shadow every deal. The Cowled Wizards police (and sell) the privilege of arcane practice and spy on rivals for Selemchant interests. The Shadow Thieves broker theft, protection, smuggling, and quiet murders under an umbrella of contracts and mutual “understandings.” The Order of the Radiant Heart also maintains a presence, but paladins find Athkatla’s moral algebra… challenging.

Economy and law in practice

Athkatla’s lifeblood is tariffs, brokerage, and risk. Merchants pre-purchase indulgences for minor infractions; guild charters normalize practices elsewhere called crimes. Written contracts govern even thieves’ work, and disputes are more likely to be arbitrated behind screens than fought in the streets—unless it benefits someone for blood to run.

History in brief

Founded around 100 DR by the Shoon Imperium (with Murann and Crimmor) through Calishite settlement, Athkatla outlived empire and revolt. Amn became independent in 460 DR, first crowning Esmeltaran as capital. Chronic “trade wars” flared every few decades from 1238 DR onward, culminating in the crisis of 1333 DR when embargos strangled commerce. Thayze Selemchant, a young spice magnate, forged a new compact: using wealth, personal magnetism, hidden magical leverage, and alliances with five other house leaders, he midwifed the Council of Six, fixed a modus vivendi with the Shadow Thieves, and shifted Amn’s capital to Athkatla. Stability—of a sharp, transactional kind—followed.

Religious rivalries later boiled over. By 1369 DR, churches of Lathander and Talos had grown into constant conflict, threatening open war inside the city. In the late 14th century DR, as Amn shuttered other harbors, Athkatla became the last free port and the principal conduit for Maztican trade—until the Spellplague (1385 DR) severed the route by wrenching Maztica to Abeir. Even then, Athkatla leveraged inland caravans, privateering, and tighter riverine control to keep coin flowing.

People and society

Athkatlans prize polish and results. The poor cluster along the Alandor’s slums; the rich sponsor temples, theaters, and salons as much for influence as for piety or art. Public virtue is measured in endowments and posted fines; private vice in jeweled masks and sealed ledgers. The city’s demonym is Athkatlan, and its voice is a chorus of brokers, criers, and scribes chanting the day’s prices.