Who Rules: Sir Rorre Silverhall (LG, Human Male, P9), is the duly elected High Lord Magistrate of Grand Arbor. When the former ruler passed away, the main rival faction put Sir Rorre's name up for nomination, hoping his inexperience would make him easy to manipulate. They were wrong. Sir Rorre is quite aware of his inexperience, and he isn't afraid to ask for advice, or help, but he proved quite adept at reading the real motives behind those giving him advice. There have been several failed assassination attempts upon his life in the 2 years he has been in office, all have which been foiled by Sir Rorre himself.

Who Really Rules: Sir Rorre Silverhall.

Population: 65,250 (98% human, 2% mixed other races). Despite being a main port town with a large influx of different races aboard ships, and despite being situated so close to the Free Cites of Dorgan, racism towards non-humans runs fairly high. This racism is not overt, and everyone in town tells you that they are friends with this dwarf, or that elf, etc. The few minorities that live in Grand Arbor are not treated badly, but then again, they are not overly welcomed.

Major Products: Fish, ship repairs, sails, marines (training), mother of pearl products, candies, lamp oil, and dyes, and Reef Wreck, a very strong and popular brandy which is made with a very old recipe that is a closely guarded secret.

Armed Forces: 1,250 heavy infantry, 250 artillerists, fleet of 24 warships of various sizes, and 1,000 marines, who are either stationed aboard ships, augment the city garrison, or are hired out as mercenaries and advisors (on average, 40-60% of the marines are hired out at any given time, and in a time of emergency 10% will return every week until up to back to full force). The town can also call upon a reserve militia force of 4,500 who drill twice a month.

Notable Mages: Yurik the Proud (CG, Human Male, W16) is a close advisor to Sir Rorre, and while he is loyal to Sir Rorre, he does on occasion try to bend the will of his ruler to suit his own needs, but only in minor matters, some of which come to pass.

Fiestra Ravenhair (LN, Human Female, W14) is an albino, though she once had raven colored hair. It is rumored that she battled with a lich, and that is why her hair turned white. Because of this rumor (which is true), she is feared by many and has very few open rivals.

Notable Churches: Torm, Tymora, Helm, Istisha the Elemental Water Lord, Selune.

Notable Rogues' and Thieves' Guilds: Guardians of the Rack, led by Firesky (LE, Human Female, T19), an infamous arsonist who had a 50,000 gp bounty on her head. As far as the authorities know, Skirra Cihance, the real arsonist, was turned in by a local merchant. The merchant then disappeared shortly after collecting the bounty. After Firesky had framed her sister, collected the bounty, and slid back beneath the city, the truth came out. The bounty is now 100,000 gp.

Equipment Shops: Full, especially maritime equipment.

Adventurers' Quarters: Adventurers are allowed anywhere within the city, but they are only truly welcome in the Harbor Quarter, and near the main land gates. In other areas they are viewed with anything from mild suspicion to outright distrust.

Important Characters: Mist (LN, Mermaid, T6) operates independent of the local guild, only because no one can follow her for long underwater, and also because she sells information on valuable cargo to the local thieves guild. She will sell anyone information on any ships that have come through the port, for the right price, and if she knows about the ship. There is an 85% chance that she will have recorded information on any ship in her log.

Grith Herston (LE, Human Male, W9) is the self-stylized leader of the local chapter of the Cult of the Dragon. He has a following of 6, and while they have accumulated a vast fortune, they have as yet not been able to successfully approach any dragons. The one dragon that they have approached, an ancient green named Jade, has taken the treasure offered and killed the emissary, on all six different occasions. While he keeps his Cult affiliation a secret, and while inept at dealing with dragons, he is an expert on dragon information.

Important Features in Town: The town of Grand Arbor is built on an artificial peninsula, one created out of large, 50' square granite blocks that were magically hauled and positioned here. The central area of the peninsula is 200' above sea level throughout most of the town, and is surmounted by a 50' tall, 50' thick wall. Surrounding this area is the Harbor Quarter, which is set at an elevation of 10' above the water, and is also surrounded by 50' tall walls. The Harbor Quarter is reached via several 50' wide avenues (roads with stairs alongside) that rise up to the upper levels where the main gates are located. There are ten dock areas that are built within the Harbor Quarter, each of which can hold 8 ships. Four of these protected anchorages are owned by the navy; two are owned by the city and are used as ship yards. The remaining four are owned by various merchants and used as private docks for their ships. All other remaining docks are located outside of the harbor walls.

Local Lore: The waters surrounding Grand Arbor are full of dangerous reefs, and there are only 6 known passages along its 16 mile length. Just inside each of these passages are built 100' square, heavily defended towers that rise 100' above the water. This is where the on-duty guides reside. Passage through the reefs requires all crew and passengers to be below deck and all windows are blackened with darkness spells. Each guide only knows one-fifth of his route's passage and when one is steering, the others are blindfolded. This is to ensure that guides can't be forced to reveal the passages. The only ones who know the entire route are the high level mages (9-13) who oversee the guides. They are magically protected from being forced to reveal any information, and can erase any of this information from the minds of the guides. Only two routes are kept open at a time.

The reefs are full of shipwrecks, due in part because of the reefs, and the shaugin that live within the reefs, who periodically raid the passage towers or the city itself.