Narun

Narun
The only settlement in the Southern Wastes, Narun, is also the largest. It is home to nearly ten thousand souls, all hadry survivors of Wasteland living. It is a clean month's travel from the Empire, and this distance is the city's best defense. Unlike most other setttlements in the waste, Narun is visually unhidden and has no special protection outside of sheer distance from other civilization and the normal hazards of wasteland travel.

Narun began as an offshoot of the Alban settlement, and as such shares a special relationship with it. The two settlements are the best known in the wastes, and a collection point for most wasteland expatriates. As a result, the people of Narun live in tightly-knit insular communities, each with its own secrets. Visitors are treated with suspicion and guarded hospitality. If a visitor cannot validate their reason for being in the city, detention is a usual course of action until their purpose can be ascertained.

Narun is home to a cosmopolitan set of people. The Dwarves are assembling a limited foundry underground, and the Con Vipa have established a set of terraced gardens. Halflings work with both parties, and a group of them have established a mushroom growery underground. Humans and elves have their own communities above-ground, and all types are represented in the city guard.

The settlement was founded less than 50 years old, and as such there are only a few 'native' Narunners. The city outgrew Alban within a few years, and its secrecy has worn thin. Some fear that, as the city grows, Imperial action is an inevitability.

Features of the Settlement
A small amount of trade flows from the settlement; perhaps two or three wagons per day pass through the city's gates. Goods otherwise unknown in the waste can be bought and sold here: dates and spices smuggled from the east, goats and horses, steel weapons, and the services of skilled tradesmen.

Narun is the only settlement in the Waste where one can get a drink; the halflings have a brew made from mushroom juice that causes hallucinations; it has come into value among the nomads, and has drawn nomadic traders into the city on an occasional basis. A more conventional, but very potent drink brewed from cactus is available as well. Both can be found, along with food, in the town's one tavern, 'The Ixxen Ox'. The establishment offers a handful of rooms and a stable; it is run by a gregarious halfling with a Kabrak slave tattoo who calls herself Obolong.

At the center of the city is large fortified building; inside is the entry to Narun's extensive underground tunnels, subterranean home to the city's thriving halfling and Dwarven population. Beneath the halfling dwellings, dwarven forges, and mushroom tunnels, lies the true treasure of Narun: the deep well. A complicated dwarven pump pulls water up from the depths to a fountain in the city center where the citizens can fill their pots.

The settlement is ringed with an incomplete cenellated wall, 30 feet in height, composed of stone quarried from the tunnels. Work has continued over the last several years, but the walls are not even a quarter complete.

Additionally, the water source for the city is tainted by mud, sewage, and remnants of Dwarven industry. As a result, there have been a handful of plagues in recent years, which have happened with increasing frequency as the problem has gotten worse.

People of Narun
Obolong


 * The halfling keeper of the Ixxus Ox, Obolong is a jovial sort who will on certain nights play a special fiddle and tell tales.  She is one of few people willing to welcome travellers to Narun, and will inform travellers unfamiliar with the settlement on how to conduct themselves so as not to get into trouble.

Ardus


 * Human Head of the Guard, Ardus is a former Kadrak military commander of 40 some-odd years.  He is an experienced commander and 20-year resident of the settlement.  He speaks little, even for an outlander, and is a sober and wise old gentleman.

Hadz


 * Hadz is human-looking, but is not human.  Other than this, very little is known of him.  He helped found the settlement, and despite his mysterious nature, he has earned the trust of its inhabitants.  He has a shaved head, a portly belly, and a jovial smile.  He knows almost every inhabitant of Narun by name, and enjoys stunning popularity.  He is known to enjoy revelry and games of wit; conversely, the city has stalled in most of its progress and ballooned in size since his tenure.  Some worry that his policies are making Narun a juicy target for the Empire.