3. Notable Locations

The @Street of Flesh: The street of flesh is a wide boulevard running perpendicular to the merchant docks for several miles before arriving at the Great Arena. So called because of the number of slavers and gladiatorial ludi who do business along its length slaves of every description are available, from highly trained eunuch bodyguards, to pillow slaves, to the meanest of labourers are available for purchase. Midway down the street there is a large fortress temple to Thaumagorga frequented by the slavers to gain blessing for their endeavours. The high priest of the temple is a massive heavily scarred Kelt named Cuan Macc Niall.   

@The Salted Swine:  A dive bar in an old watchtower located on the edge of the inhabited area of  Khromarium the Salted Swine is a popular stopping off point for those who wish to explore the catacombs and ruins of the old city. Several enterprising individuals have taken it upon themselves to set up small shops around the tavern selling  provisions and equipment for those who wish to explore the ruins, while others position themselves to fence items that may have been uncovered. Fixers, con artists, sages, sellswords, and confidence men are also drawn to the tavern like flies,  trading in rumours, maps, legends, and the like. It is well known that the Salted Swine is operated as a front by the Iron Band thieves guild.   

@The Great Arena and Hippodrome:  Built of black basalt the Great Arena rises nearly 100 feet into the air and serves (along with the hippodrome) as one of Khromarium's chief sources of  entertainment. The blood sports exhibited within are well known to be the best in all Hyperborea, and the gladiators of Khromarium are known for their fearlessness and tenacity in the face of injury. Games are sponsored by anyone who can afford to hire opposing ludi, and are seen as a wonderful way to gain the support of the populace. The Great Arena also serves as Khromarium's main execution site.   

Though just as popular as the Arena (even more so among the upper classes) the Hippodrome has a significant, and important difference as there are only 10 teams, and each one is financed and maintained by one of the oligarchs. This amplifies the rivalries between the teams and violence between the spectators is commonplace. Indeed nearly 50% of races are never taken to their completion as they are disrupted by the unruliness of the crowd. Team supporters view themselves as a critical part of the team, it is their job to ensure that if their team is losing they force the race to be declared a draw, and the only way to do that, is to cause enough of a ruckus that the race judges stop the proceedings.   

A Day at the Games

A day of games opens with a parade led by the editor, or organizer, of the games. The games begin with staged mock combat matches followed by displays of exotic animals/ creatures. Some animals/ creatures are trained to perform tricks, while others are pitted against one another in combat. Just before lunch, there might be a wild animal/ creature hunt where specialized gladiators, called Bestiarii, dispatch captured beasts. At lunchtime come public executions, where criminals and prisoners of war are put to death in the most degrading, dramatic, and painful ways imaginable. The condemned are fed to beasts, pitted against one another in lethal combat, or forced to re-enact famous historical deaths and battles. This is thought to be a deterrent to petty crime and insurrection. Afternoon brings on the main events, the gladiators. These men (and sometimes women), well-armed and superbly trained, are masters of their art. They are very expensive to own and maintain, possibly only performing a handful of times each year. Gladiators are celebrities and sex symbols, greatly admired. However, they are also despised for being infamous.

The @Street of Steel:  Lined with forges and smithies the Street of Steel is the centre of metalworking in Khromarium. Though most of the smiths are of middling skill and focus their efforts on blacksmithing with iron, several produce high quality weapons and armour. Of particular note is the Temple of Krimmr and the workshops attached to it. These workshops are one of the only places in the entirety of Hyperborea that the secret of steel is truly understood, and the arms and armour produced with the temples mark are among the most highly sought after pieces in the entirety of the city, indeed only the works from the mysterious city of Krimmeria can approach them in quality.   

@The Citadel:  This massive stone structure is the garrison for the two hundred members of the Black Guard. These fierce mercenaries are all Viking emigres and their decedents and are loyal exclusively to the office of The Tyrant. They are responsible for his personal protection, as well as the protection of the great palace located immediately to the north of The Citadel. Clad in chainmail and coats of plate they are also equipped with either spears and shields or large two handed axes as well as a heavy poniard for use in close quarters. They are often regarded as the only faction within Khromarium that is utterly incorruptible, bound by ancient rites and powerful dweomers that make them incapable of taking action against their charge.   

@Spiral Towers of Black Gneiss:  Cyclopean skyscrapers made of a strange black stone stand throughout  Khromarium. Many have no obvious entrance while others have portals of  disturbingly alien size and shape. Indeed, men of learning posit that Khromarium’s  spiral towers of black gneiss were not carved by human hands; neither were they  intended to accommodate bipedalism, but rather something altogether inhuman. Citizens don't look up and walk a little faster when passing one of these towers. In parts of the city, structures have been built around the bases of the towers, hiding them at street level so a traveller can pass by without having to contemplate the cryptic structures. Every month or so, the bellman announces news of a foolish adventurer or unlucky vagrant who fell from one of the towers to a grisly death on the street. Even though some towers have been claimed by sorcerers or colonized by vagrants, veteran adventurers know they bring only madness and loss.   

@Sage's Library:  An ancient and awe-inspiring library that dominates a sprawling campus of  classrooms, meeting rooms, dormitories, and lecture halls administered by the Sages' Guild. The Library is renowned for its rumoured collection of rare occult books such as the Necronomicon and Book of Eibon.    

In addition to housing thousands of tomes and scrolls, the Library facilitates the  study of astronomy, alchemy, mathematics, and medicine.   

@The Lighthouse:  The Lighthouse is a tower of black gneiss that rises from an island several miles south of the Harbour in Khromarium's icy, shark-infested bay. Ancient beyond reckoning, its mystical beacon once glowed with the might of a young Sun, but it's sorcery wanes and the light has dimmed to a dull red. 

@The Sanctuary of Celestial Sapience: ​While many religions upon the Walk of 1,000 Gods espouse free-will as a cornerstone of their respective faiths, every philosophical brick of the Sanctuary of Celestial Sapience reads “do as thou wilt. ”Perhaps this explains the crumbling façade of their many-steepled parish with its dark central tower. But surprisingly well-kept is the faith's hierarchy. The faithful organize around an ever-evolving cult of personality, and their current figurehead is in ample supply. More parishioners file in and out of the church's open doors these days than any remembered. Inside is a collection of esoteric tomes only surpassed by the Great Library itself. While some private libraries among the great houses boast greater offerings, the Sanctuary of Celestial Sapience makes theirs accessible. Albeit, the price may be higher than immediately apparent; return visitors inevitably become members of the faith. The Sanctuary is ofttimes "gifted" with wares (including enchanted items) for which it has little use, of which it will part with for a donation/ conversion. 2070 to go