The Ageless Promise

The group arrived from Vyre aboard the Daughter of Black, with Samira, and spent the winter here: they rented a house from Miz Falounduche, found work, were joined by Sif and Alrik, solved the trouble at the silver mines for the Silver Council and freed the people taken by Barzillai’s memory, before setting off on the road to Oprak.

Kintargo, the Silver City, is the capital of Ravounel, on Nisroch Bay at the mouth of the river Yolubilis. It is the main port for ships heading north to Varisia and west to Anchor’s End. The climate is warm and humid in summer; winters are long, cold and rainy, often wrapped in fog.

Kintargo has always been a cultural capital, famous for art, entertainment and a tradition of welcoming dissidents and rebels from all over the Inner Sea. The Kintargo Opera House is its most iconic symbol, and its streets speak of a freedom won with blood. Compared with Vyre it is elegant, clean and graceful.

The river divides the city into two halves, joined by the Silver Span (formerly Bleakbridge), on which any kind of toll is strictly forbidden. There are eight districts: three north of the river and five to the south.

Government

Since the Kintargan Rebellion the city has been led by the Silver Council, made up of Ravounel’s noble houses and influential citizens, alongside an elected Lord-Mayor. Since 4724 AR the office has been held by William the Bard, a key figure of the rebellion, who is now less and less popular. The Council currently meets in the Counting House, in the Greens district, while work on the People’s Temple is completed.

William’s obsession with Lady Fiammetta Steiner, a Chelish noblewoman, is common knowledge: he commissioned statues of her all over the city. The people of Kintargo have not forgotten the Steiner family or the atrocities they committed during the war, and most of the statues are defaced, with signs reading “Murderer” hung around their necks.

History

The official founding dates back to 3213 AR. Under Cheliax, Kintargo was part of the Archduchy of Ravounel and became a refuge for dissidents, especially after House Thrune rose to power in 4606 AR. In 4715 AR, when Thrune tried to install loyalists in the Archduchy, the Kintargan Rebellion broke out, starting with the violent Night of Ashes in the month of Arodus. Led by the Silver Ravens and coordinated by the Silver Council, it ended with Ravounel’s secession from Cheliax through a loophole in the Kintargo Contract. In 4717 AR Kintargo became the capital of independent Ravounel.

After independence, the temples banned under Cheliax and destroyed by Barzillai Thrune were reconsecrated: Calistria, Cayden Cailean, Irori, Milani, Sarenrae, Shelyn and Zon-Kuthon.

Economy

Kintargo grows rich on the nearby silver mines, and on its historic salt and fish trade. It depends on outside suppliers for building materials (timber and stone), a weakness made worse by the heavy damage of the rebellion. Two merchant companies dominate the supply trade: Cross and Wheel, the largest, and Axley Import Export, in serious difficulty, whose owner Armand Axley moved here from Vyre.

Notable places

• Kintargo Opera House: the cultural heart of the city.
• Castle Kintargo: on Argo Isle, the administrative and military seat.
• Alabaster Academy: the city’s most famous school.
• People’s Temple: formerly a temple of Asmodeus and then of Aroden.
• Longroad Coffee House: Laria Longroad’s café, a meeting place for rebels.
• Silver Span: the toll-free bridge over the Yolubilis.
• Redroof: one of the districts hardest hit during the rebellion.

People

William the Bard, Clémentine Faure, Miz Falounduche, Aurélie Moineaux, Laria Longroad, Raigo Ayuwara, Makoto Otsune