Bhaluin, the Drowned City
Little is known of Bhaluin even by the Sempharans who live along the coasts of the Gbor Nor.
It is not that adventurers never return from the ancient ruins; they almost always do— dead, adrift
in strange little hide boats. Those that do come back alive only add to the confusion. Their stories
are eagerly grabbed up by the curious populace and quickly garbled beyond all recognition. Some
adventurers have come back rich beyond imagining: others have returned with no more than what
they started with. Most return dead. Bhaulin can only be approached by boat or air,
since it is built on a large island about 10 miles out in the Gbor Nor, or Brightstar Lake. The city
fills the northern end of the island, the houses built in terraces down the rough slopes of the
shore. The ruins extend into the water and below, giving the place the name the Drowned City. Marine lizards bask themselves in the sun at the water’s edge.
It is believed Bhaulin was built in the ages of the great Raurin empires, over four thousand
years ago. The building style of these ruins is similar to others found in the heart of the Raurin
Desert, particularly the ruins of Raudor. Older than Mulhorand, these empires are thought to
have also been more powerful than decadent Mulhorand in strange magics and lost arts. Some
say powerful wizards kept the desert sands of Raurin at bay. Others claim equally powerful wizards
destroyed these empires and transformed the lush Raurin plain to desert.
Although ancient, the ruins of Bhaulin are wellpreserved. Most of the buildings are stone or
brick that have out-lasted the centuries. Only a few have roofs since the wooden beams have long
since crumbled away. The narrow streets are often choked with sections of collapsed wall. At the
center of the ruins, on the highest part of the city, are seven minarets of swirling rose-colored stone. Strange wails are heard from these towers, thought to be created by the wind whistling through the finely pierced windows. Because of the bodies found drifting in the
leather boats, it is certain someone or something lives in Bhaulin. No one, however, has ever communicated or traded with inhabitants of the island and by normal standards it is deserted. Some returning adventurers have told of battling manlike things in tattered and dirty red robes.
Whether these were men or beasts, living or dead, is not clear. The robed figures did seem to be
some sort of cult.
Game Information:
Bhaulin is one of the few remaining strongholds of the Imaskar Empire, although over four thousand years it has become only a ghostly shell of itself. Since that time many other desert kingdoms have risen, claiming to be equal or greater than Imaskar. The most recent of these was the kingdom of Bakar. None have ever truly rivaled Imaskar. Even Bakar was only a pale shadow of that glory.
Bhaulin is inhabited by a secret cult of the dead. This cult reveres the dead and seeks ways
to preserve life. The group is led by powerful undead creatures, results of this attempt at life extension. The cult members themselves are living humans and lesser versions of undead
creatures—members who have died over the centuries and yet preserved their life energy in one
unholy form or another. Indeed they have perfected a method of conferring un-life on cultists.
The potion of un-life bestows on members a permanent state of un-life. Unusually, the undead
and humans mix freely without the usual animosity. For the cult members, there is no distinction,
no line, between life and death. Over the centuries, the members have adopted practices to blur the distinction between life and death. Members wear masks and their clothes are ancient and rotten. All have come to shun daylight. They prey on adventurers and the shipwrecked, and
the humans also raise edible fungus. Dead strangers are set adrift, since none but cult members are allowed on the island. A dead body is considered just as much a threat as a live one. The cult is rich with symbols of life and death.
The cult’s researches into the nature of life and death have caused it to gather and create a varied
collection of art objects and magical items relating to life and death. They have templelaboratories
filled with strange elixirs, potions, balms, rods and wands. They also guard these fiercely and have created bizarre creatures to protect their riches.
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