The City of Illi Pesch

I’ve placed a city on my fledgling map and chosen the unusual name of Illi Pesch (pronounced Eel-ee Pesk) for it. It sits at the mouth of a river, but also at the edge of a cliff, so a waterfall is part of its design. I figured the docks area would need some kind of lift or other transport system in order to get people and/or goods up to the city itself. So there’s a system of lifts and pulleys for moving ships from the sea below to the trading docks. Huge beasts pull at a power wheel to operate the lifts. In addition, giant dragonflies, charmed by a powerful wizards organisation, flit down to fetch cargoes from particularly wealthy or well-connected trade vessels who arrange for the service.

Another of the symbols of Illi Pesch is its collection of spiral towers. Inspired by the spiral cities in the module X6 Quagmire, these white towers cluster at the center of the city and house its bureaucratic heart. The central tower is black, and is the home of the Black Queen, the mysterious ruler of Illi Pesch. No one knows who she is, where she comes from, or what she looks like. Or at least if they do know, they're not telling. People don't seem to mind being under the rule of an enigmatic shadow as long as there's food on the table.

I don't want to get too heavily into the politics of the region, at least from a human standpoint, just yet. I pondered having Illi Pesch be a city-state. The little map I've drawn shows it as the only bastion of human civilisation in the region, though the scale is quite small. It's possible to reach every point of interest from Illi Pesch in two days' foot travel. There might be more human civilisation just off the edge of my map.

The river is, necessarily, a feature of the city, as the city was built around it. It flows through the heart of the city and forms a natural moat for the Black Tower.