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Sulanok

Properties2
tagseraedal, location, city, port, piracy, fencing, black-market, corsairs
aliasesSulanok, Port Sulanok, City of Sulanok

7 min read

Infobox

Sulanok

Municipal Dossier
AttributeDetail
City NameSulanok (Port Sulanok)
WorldEraedal
SovereigntyLand of the South Winds
Regional LocationPendaltor (Peninsula of Pendaltor)
Population~28,000 (~45,000 including transient sailors, pirates, and slaves)
Demographics60% Human, 20% Kobold, 15% Enslaved Non-Humans, 5% Others
Governing BodyThe Concordat of Three (Royal Governor, Harbor Admiral, Master of the Fences)
Primary EconomyMaritime Fencing, Cargo Laundering, Slave Auctions, Ship Repair, Rum Distilling
Patron DeitiesAbadar (Tainted Commerce), Norgorber (The Gray Master), Asmoddeus, Calistria
Naval Facilities12 Deep Berths, 40 Outrigger Slipways, 2 Drydocks, Extensive Smuggler Caverns

🏴‍☠️ Overview

Perched within a sheltered limestone bay upon the Peninsula of Pendaltor, Sulanok is the undisputed capital of maritime fencing and black-market commerce in the southern hemisphere of Eraedal. While officially chartered as a sovereign customs port flying the yellow-and-red winged dragon banner of the Land of the South Winds, Sulanok is known across every tavern from Caer Itom to Bizantium by its true title: The Thieves’ Haven of the Southern Seas.

In Sulanok, the stolen wealth of the world changes hands with astonishing efficiency. Corsair fleets raiding the lucrative shipping lanes of the Strait of Relar bring their plundered cargoes directly to Sulanok’s stone quays. Here, stolen Western Empire silks, warded Timro grimoires, dwarven silver ingots from Acoroc, and holds packed with captured slaves are bought, laundered, re-manifested with royal South Winds customs stamps, and loaded onto legitimate merchantmen bound for foreign markets.

The city is a roaring, vibrant cauldron of vice, cunning diplomacy, and high adventure. It is where cutthroat pirate captains rub shoulders with corrupt imperial governors, where Kobold artificers retrofit stolen warships into high-speed outriggers, and where royal naval spies plot the reconquest of lost colonial territories in the Floenry Isles.

🏛️ Governance: The Concordat of Three

Although the Crown in Zul-Kadir theoretically exercises absolute authority, Sulanok is practically ruled by an ironclad, self-serving triumvirate known as the Concordat of Three:

  1. The Royal Governor (Lord Cassian Vael): A cynical, luxury-obsessed human noble appointed by the King of the South Winds. Lord Vael ensures that a steady 20% tithe of all fenced goods and auction proceeds is safely shipped to the royal treasury, in exchange for turning a completely blind eye to corsair identities and illicit cargoes.
  2. The Harbor Admiral (Commodore Brannick Flint): Commander of the local South Winds coastal fleet. Flint commands four heavy war galleys and a dozen swift trimarans. His squadrons deliberately patrol away from the hunting grounds of allied privateers, reserving their deadly naval ballistae solely for pirate crews who fail to pay their harbor dues or who make the mistake of raiding South Winds royal convoys.
  3. The Master of Fences (Madam Valeria “The Viper” Chen): Head of the Gilded Keel, the all-powerful guild of black-market appraisers, brokers, and money-changers. Madam Chen dictates the value of all plundered booty brought into the city. A devout worshipper of Norgorber, her network of informants stretches into every counting house in Timro and the Western Empire.

🗺️ City Districts & Key Landmarks

                  [ LIMESTONE BLUFFS & BARRACKS ]
                   (Governor's Keep | Red Dragon Battery)
                                 |
              [ THE UPPER BOROUGH: MERCANTILE ROW ]
         (Abadar Exchange | Fencing Mansions | High Vaults)
                                 |
    [ THE SUNKEN BAZAAR ]  <----+---->  [ THE LAUNDERERS' QUAY ]
    (Open Plunder Market,               (Manifest Scribes, Shipyards,
     Slave Auction Ring)                 Drydocks & Outrigger Slips)
                                 |
                     [ THE TIDESITTERS' SLUMS ]
                 (Taverns, Brothels, Smuggler Coves)
                                 |
                     [ THE HARBOR OF SULANOK ]
          (Coral Breakwater | 12 Deep Berths | Corsair Anchorages)

1. The Sunken Bazaar (The Plunder Ring)

A massive open-air amphitheater carved directly into a natural limestone sinkhole near the wharves. Sheltered from the blazing sun by vast canvas sails salvaged from scuttled warships, the Sunken Bazaar is filled with hundreds of shouting vendors. Stolen imperial wine, raw Baalgor spices, exotic feathers, alchemical glassware, and enchanted weaponry are sold openly at 40% below mainland market value.

2. The Launderers’ Quays & Customs Houses

Here, teams of skilled forgers, scriveners, and corrupt customs magistrates work day and night under the auspices of Abadar. Stolen merchantmen are repainted, figureheads are swapped, and forged cargo manifests are stamped with counterfeit seal wax. Within hours, a hijacked Timro grain ketch emerges legally documented as a sovereign South Winds trader chartered to sail for Credia or the Eastern Territories.

3. The Iron Shambles (The Great Slave Block)

Located at the center of the docks, the Iron Shambles is a heavily fortified stockade where non-human captives are auctioned off. Thousands of Orcs, Goblins, and ape-like Grimbor captured from the Yin-Sloth borderlands or the Floenry Isles are inspected, branded with the red dragon insignia, and sold to mainland sugar plantations or the penal labor gangs of Burcee.

4. The Outrigger Shipyards

Operated by master human shipwrights and three clans of integrated Kobold craftsmen. These yards specialize in retrofitting conventional vessels with outrigger floats, lateen rigs, and ram prows. It is also the premier production center for the famed South Winds Trimarans (“Tri-Hulls”), whose lightning speed makes them the terror of the southern sea lanes.

5. The Tidesitters’ Quarter & Notable Establishments

The shoreline district is a chaotic maze of stilt-houses, fish-gutting tables, taverns, and gambling dens:

  • The Broken Keel: The favorite watering hole for corsairs of the Pirate Federation, where bounties are claimed and duels are settled in the back courtyard.
  • Madam Chen’s Repository: A heavily warded, subterranean counting house guarded by iron golems and warded pressure plates, containing millions in fenced gems and bullion.
  • The Brine Shroud: A secluded dockside shrine dedicated to Norgorber and Gozreh, where smugglers offer silver coins to the waves for safe passage and thick sea fog.

📜 The Tri-System Synthesis: Sulanok Canon

1. The Physical Shell (Palladium Canon)

  • Sulanok is explicitly identified in Palladium Fantasy RPG Book III: Adventures on the High Seas (page 171) as: “The city of Sulanok, on the Peninsula of Pendaltor, in the Land of the South Winds, is a port friendly to pirates and skilled in fencing stolen goods.”
  • Functions as the primary terrestrial outlet for piratical operations across the Strait of Relar.

2. The Ancient Bones (Praemal / Ptolus Lore)

  • Beneath Sulanok’s modern limestone wharves lie submerged basalt foundations dating back to the primordial Battle of Gods.
  • Deep sea-caverns beneath the harbor breakwater contain ancient, water-filled passages that delve miles beneath the seafloor. Smugglers use these tunnels to bypass harbor chains, but divers occasionally whisper of shadowy, tentacled horrors slumbering in the abyss—the lingering presence of the Galchutt / Old Ones.

3. The Active Pulse (Pathfinder 2e Remaster)

  • Moral Alignment: Lawful Evil (authoritarian corruption and slave contracts) mixed with Chaotic Neutral (corsair anarchy).
  • Faith:
    • Abadar: Revered in the customs houses, twisted into the god of commercial greed, counterfeit paperwork, and lawful usury.
    • Asmoddeus: Invoked during slave auctions to seal unbreakable magical contracts of servitude.
    • Norgorber: Patron of the fencing guilds, poisoners, and shadow brokers.
  • Statblock Profile:
    • Sulanok Fence / Appraiser (Creature 4 rogue/expert, Perception +12, Thievery +13, Society +11).
    • Harbor Marine (Creature 3 fighter with heavy crossbow and halberd).

🎯 Role in the Active Campaign: “Prophecy and Balance”

  1. Staging Ground for the Reconquest of Oen: In Sulanok’s deep berths, the South Winds Royal Navy is currently outfitting six heavy war galleys and twenty armed trimarans. Crown admirals are marshaling thousands of mercenary soldiers and penal slave-conscripts to launch a surprise amphibious assault to reclaim Port Oen from Drogon Deathbringer and the Order of the Indomitable Shield.
  2. The Intelligence Clearinghouse: Every scrap of information concerning the rebellion on Oen passes through Sulanok first. Smugglers arriving from Vernazza, Borlon, and Manarola sell news of the insurgents’ troop movements to royal agents.
  3. The Lebrac Bounty: The merchant houses of Sulanok, having lost four major slave shipments to Captain Lebrac, have collectively placed a staggering 10,000 gp bounty on the elven corsair, making the city a hub for ruthless bounty hunters and mercenary captains seeking his hidden jungle sanctuary.
  4. Connection to Ramsbottom: Just 15 miles north along the coast, the hamlet of Ramsbottom and Deadeye Suli’s Inn funnel hardened pirate recruits directly from the mainland into Sulanok’s harbor syndicates.

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