Liscor

Liscor

Ruler

Liscor's Council

Location

Izril

Inhabitants

Drakes, Gnolls, Antinium, Humans

Affiliation

Drakes

Liscor is a city-state located in Izril, and is inhabited by Drakes, Gnolls, Humans, and Antinium. The city has more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Liscor’s emblem consist of a city-on-the-waters, representing the Floodplains and spring rains. Liscor’s symbol consists of a cut line bisecting the outline of Izril, as the city that divided a continent.

Geography

Detail map of Liscor's surroundings (Artist's rendition)

Overview map of the area south of Liscor (Artist's rendition)

Liscor is located 88 miles south of Celum, over 30 miles south of Esthelm, 116 miles away from Remendia and 118 miles away from Ocre. Furthermore, Liscor is located 435 miles south of Invrisil. It is about 380 miles north of Pallass and 500 miles south of Riverfarm.

The city sits on the Floodplains that divide Southern Izril from the human-colonized northern half of the continent. It has a lot of natural defenses; the only way to reach it is from the north and the south. The mountains make it impassable, and the southern border is guarded by the highly dangerous Blood Fields. Furthermore, it is always flooded for the first two months of Spring every year, due to its natural geography and non-stop rainfall. During this flooded period, powerful monsters populate the flooded waters.

Natural dangers

About a quarter of all traveler's deaths around Liscor are due to goblins. It was also said that rain, undead and war are the worst dangers to Liscor. Both of these statements were made before the Dungeon beneath Liscor was discovered.

Demographics

Liscor had about 80,000 civilian inhabitants at the end of book 1, not counting the 4,000 members of the watch and the 2,000 members of the Liscorian Army fighting abroad. Whether adventurers were already included into either civilian or military numbers, is unknown. However, the city was unprepared to house even more inhabitants inside its boundaries - and the population has dramatically increased after the dungeons around the city were discovered.

The Antinium in their hive below the city (according to estimates by Olesm and Zevara) number 9,000 soldiers and 24,000 workers. In case of a war, they are contractually obliged to mobilize in the defense of the city.

History

A millennium ago, there was already a city near the place where today's Liscor stands. That city fell to corruption from within. They built terrible weapons, loosed monsters in their walls, and the city turned into a dungeon deep underground, only to be forgotten afterwards.

Note: So far, nothing more has been revealed about the pre-history of Liscor before the latest decades. Since the humans invaded Izril more than 3000 years ago and slowly expanded their influence southwards, the city-turned-dungeon might have been the way for the Drakes to close the single remaining bottleneck that allowed easy entrance to the South. This likely means that "modern" Liscor was founded just a few centuries ago, long after the Human invasion of Izril and also after the ruin of the old city described above. Nobody in the city could tell much about the even more ancient dungeons/ruins below Liscor.

Liscor is recorded as never falling to siege since its creation.

First Antinium War

The First Antinium War is dated about 24 years before Erin's arrival near Liscor.

The Liscorian Army was commanded by General Sserys and was regarded one of the strongest forces on the continent. They were available for hire as a mercenary force and thus away from Liscor fighting in the defense of the Walled Cities when the Antinium made a push towards the northern part of the continent.

Liscor was besieged by the Antinium, who couldn't scale its walls. Sserys arrived from the south to relieve the siege but was stopped short before the city. A coalition army of Humans under Magnolia Reinhart could drive off the Antinium however. The rest of the war didn't touch the city of Liscor much afterwards, although the Army fought for a longer time, and Sserys died at the end of the war.

Second Antinium War

Ten years ago, the city was almost destroyed when The Necromancer unleashed his armies of the undead on the continent. With the help of the [General] Zel Shivertail, the inhabitants of Liscor were able to hold off the undead by themselves for months. (See: Necromancer's Siege of Liscor)

After the Antinium War, the city entered into a contract with the Free Antinium Hive who offered military assistance for the right to stay under the city. This greatly increased the strength of Liscor. Moreover, the hive would have to provide goods and services to the city.

Volume 1

In the autumn when Erin arrived near Liscor and started her business at the first Wandering Inn, a drake shepherd had discovered ancient ruins ten miles to the southwest of the city. This attracted many adventurers towards the city. Many adventurers and merchants arrived from the predominantly-human north half of the continent, among them five silver-rank teams chose to explore these ruins. (see: Ruins of Liscor)

As the expedition of these five teams failed, they triggered Skinner's Attack on Liscor. The undead guardian of the ruins invaded the city and killed many inhabitants, but was driven off towards the Wandering Inn, where Skinner was slain. Afterwards, the ruins were checked and found mostly empty. However, another entrance to a seemingly separate dungeon was discovered, but treated with much more caution than the ruins. Even more entrances were found in the months afterwards. (see: Dungeon of Liscor)

Volumes 2 to 4

Following these events, the noble thief, Lyonette, who had been present in the city ever since the human's arrival, caused her second fire in Liscor's marketplace. She was caught and banned from the city, but found shelter in the Wandering Inn, which had been rebuilt closer to the city after an explosion. In that same winter, Erin installed a Magical Door in her inn, first only leading to Celum. Also, a [Necromancer] Goblin Lord bypassed Liscor on his way into the human-filled north of the continent.

Volume 5

At the onset of spring, adventurers in Liscor's dungeon triggered the Moth's Attack on Liscor, which nearly led to the destruction of the city, but was fended off with help from gold-rank adventuring teams, Antinium, Celum's city watch, and adventurers arriving from Pallass. This event was broadcasted by magical spells and orbs all over Innworld and made Liscor's dungeon famous as an adventuring destination. It was declared a gold-rank dungeon.

Some time later, Raskghar inhabitants of the dungeon started another attack on Liscor and abducted Gnoll citizens to gain strength from a blood ritual. Their plan was prevented, and their leader was imprisoned.

The Goblin Lord Reiss was then returning to the south, hounded by the human forces of Lord Tyrion Veltras who intended to lay claim to Liscor using the pretense of a goblin invasion to claim the city without killing a single drake. This plan almost succeeded even when the forces of Liscor's goblins and their allies were able to kill most of Reiss' host. Only the intervention of Magnolia Reinhart saved the city from destruction, as she extorted Veltras' retreat with threats on the life of his children. (see: Goblin-Human Siege of Liscor)

Volume 6

In early summer, the housing situation of Liscor had deteriorated so much that the population demanded to elect a new council who would sort out the problems by expanding the city walls. This led to a fierce campaign between the parties of Lism and Krshia, who offered different solutions on how to manage this. (see: First Elections of Liscor)

Volume 7 to 8

No longer as isolated from other Drake settlements thanks to the road bypassing the Bloodfields, Liscor established contact with the city of Hectval. However, those talks broke down due to Hectval's treatment of Gnolls. In retaliation for the perceived insult, Hectval sent a group to attack Liscor which resulted in the 'death' of Erin Solstice. This prompted Liscor to declare war on Hectval and raise a new army to wage it. (see: Liscor-Hectval War)

Layout

Liscor Walls by Enuryn

Liscor is enclosed on all four sides by massive walls (40 feet high) with above-average magical defenses, second only to the famous Walled Cities. This gave the city a square shape before its expansion. Citizenry is only allowed on the walls when accompanied by an officer. The city can be entered through gates from the south, north, east, and west.

The city could be divided into four quarters, with the northern areas being traditionally richer than the southern areas. The northwest area was typically the nice higher-income part of the city where the nicer guilds were located. The northeast was a medium income area, and the smelters and smithies are there. The southeast is the more Gnollish part of the city, and has lots of appartments placed together and smaller streets. The southwest was the warehouse districts. It used to be poorer until the expansion made it more appealing, and it is where the entrance to the Free Hive is located.

Along the four main streets from the gates, the Mage and Driver's Guilds are located. The northern and southern gates have the most commercial buildings situated near them. The Watch House is located around the southern gate, having been built before the Bloodfields had grown and thus the city saw more traffic from the south.

The stone-and-wood architecture of Liscor has lots of gently sloping roofs and open rooftops. The streets are either made of dirt or paved with cobblestones

Park & Playground:

In the midst of the city there is a park with a playground occupying a part of it. The playground is like a jungle gym; long tunnels of smooth, polished wood connect towers that spiral upwards like a miniature castle. Monkey bars are set twenty feet in the air, above a floor that you have to climb up a long rope just to get to and a slide that curves downwards over thirty feet. The towering construction of wood and stone goes up four stories high. It has separate rooms with glass windows for children to occupy and play in walls with grips and even a huge rope bridge which sways and wobbles.

There are magical spells on the playing area, cast by a Wistram mage and checked upon each year. One of the spells freezes the air around the falling child and slows them down to a crawl, until they softly land on the ground.

Landmarks

• The Wandering Inn (Inn Outside the City)

Guilds:

Adventurer’s Guild

Rebuilt after it was destroyed by Erin Solstice posting a <Mythical> quest there.

Driver’s Guild

Located along one of the main streets.

Mage’s Guild

Located along one of the main streets.

Mason’s Guild

Located on Tellshale Road.

Runner’s Guild

The Runner's Guild of Liscor is usually filled with young part-timer Street Runners who would likely never become City Runners if they stayed within Liscor. This is due to other Drake cities being too far away and the inhabitants of Liscor rarely making deliveries to the nearby Human cities.

Buildings

Government Buildings:

• City Hall
• Liscor's Antinium Hive
• Watch’s Barracks

Public Buildings:

• Antinium dormitories
• Barehoof Kitchens
• Bathhouses
• Blood Bank
• Crab Bowl - Restaurant
• Dancing Drake - Restaurant

Businesses:

• Baker’s Bonanza - Bakery Shop
• Barehoof Kitchens (also known as Barehoofs)
• Carrotgrass Emporium - Grocery Shop
• Elirr's pet shop
• Garry’s Antinium Edibles - Bakery Shop
• Liscor Cuts - Butcher Shop
• Liscor Hunted
• Lism’s Exceptional Market
• Silveran's Cleaners
• Silverfang Emporium - Krshia’s Shop
• Whorled Woods - Furniture Shop

Inns:

• Firehearth Inn
• Pawful of Cotton
• Tailless Thief
• The Drunken Gnoll
• The Wandering Inn (Outside the city - Also a landmark)

Taverns:

• Dancing drake
• Furry Wing
• Saucy’s Bar
• Wishdrink's/Wishdrinks
• ? - A local [Teamaker]'s café

Streets:

• Ancestor’s Walk
• Cherile Walk (has a good [Baker])
• Clawgrass Way
• Dragondance Plaza
• Greas Street (rundown area)
• Hessal Street
• Main Street
• Market Street
• Sailtclaw Way (has a ball shop)
• Salpik Avenue (had Mella, the [Florist])
• Scaithi Walk (Southeastern Street)
• Scuttle Street (octagonal design, with streets branching off the main street into eight sub-blocks. Hexel plans to remodel it)
• Shivertail’s Plaza aka. Teleport Plaza (Center plaza in front of City Hall)
• Servail Street (mainly Drake inhabitants)
• Silvershine Street (Northwest side, many [Merchants])
• Stonesong Boulevard
• Tellshale Road (has the [Mason's] Guild)
• Thericiam Avenue
• Trader’s End (Northern section, close to the gates)
• Turnip Street

Government

Liscor was originally ruled by a civilian council made up of the 8 foremost important Drakes in the city. They decide what must be done from time to time and take care of bureaucratic measures. Liscor has no nobility. This council became an elected position consisting of Gnolls and Drakes after the city's election.

The 8 New Council Members:

1. Krshia Silverfang
2. Raekea Silversmith
3. Elirr Fultpar
4. Lism Swifttail
5. Jeiss Sielmark
6. Alonna Swiftwing
7. Tismel Lischscale
8. Zalaiss Holmfyre

The 8 Former Council Members:

1. Stales Greenscale - Current head of Liscor’s Merchant’s Guild
2. Yalla Aldrake - Landlady
3. Ulseil - Head of the Merchant’s Guild
4. Fleiss - Guildmaster of the Merchant’s Guild
5. Unknown - The Foremost [Mage] (Usually Head of the Mage’s Guild)
6. Unknown - Unknown
7. Unknown - Unknown
8. Unknown - Unknown

Laws

• The Celli’delr Maurons law: Grants a modest sum and rent-free housing for certain periods to anyone moving to Liscor to work. The sum increases based on levels and for families. Anyone over Level 30 receives a large stipend and free housing.

Economy

Historically, Liscor crafted and sold armor made from Shield Spider chitin and receives shares of the loot obtained by the Liscorian Army on its campaigns.

With its expansion, much of the city's new buildings are being bought by foreign nobles at high prices. This alongside the Magical Door allowing people from bigger cities to come and buy comparatively cheaper goods has caused inflation that affects the city's poor and middle-class citizens. The council has been attempting to rectify this.

Liscor has recently adopted a new paper currency, the Liscorian Mark, whose value is tied to one piece of bread from Garry's bakeries. It's current worth is calculated to be the equivalent of one silver and five coppers.

• The 1 value bill depicts Tekshia Shivertail.
• The 2 value bill depicts the city and the Free Hive.
• The 5 value bill depicts Liscor's Dungeon and the Wandering Inn.
• The 10 value bill depicts Generals Sserys and Zel.

Military

Liscor's walls are about 40 feet high and so fortified that they allowed the Drakes to repel the Antinium host in the First Antinium War for months and later the hosts of the Necromancer. (Note: Apparently, the Antinium didn't have siege weaponry, while Az'kerash tried to use gigantic Bone Constructs to scale/approach the walls but failed.) The siege weapons of Laken Godart were able to damage them, however.

Liscor's City Watch can take care of any monsters that appear, as they are known to have highly skilled and strong members who could be considered Silver-rank or even Gold-rank adventurers, like Relc. The City Watch consists of 4000 members, but has been reduced by recent attacks on the city.

There are several mages in the city but none are particularly strong. Magic isn't much practiced in the area in the first place, making it likely that generally few mages come from Liscor compared to other places.

If it is being attacked by a foreign army, Liscor can recall its own army, the Liscorian Army, who act as mercenaries for other nations, for appropriate payment. They can field two thousand Drakes and a few hundred Gnolls at any given moment. Unless the walls could be breached in a week or less, the army would come running right back and smash them. They are currently located east, fighting near a Walled City.

Lastly, in time of war or during a crisis, the Antinium will defend the city and help out with construction and other jobs.

Recently, the city has raised a Volunteer Army, which notably includes Antinium battalions and is thus the only army in the world that contains faith-based classes like [Crusaders].

Notable Known Inhabitants

Drakes:

• Drassi Tewing
• Lism Swifttail
• Olesm Swifttail
• Peslas
• Relc Grasstongue
• Selys Shivertail
• Tekshia Shivertail
• Zevara Sunderscale

Gnolls:

• Beilmark
• Elirr Fultpar
• Ishkr
• Krshia Silverfang

Antinium:

• Anand
• Belgrade
• Bird
• Free Queen
• Garry
• Klbkch
• Ksmvr
• Pawn
• Purple Smile
• Twin Stripes
• Yellow Splatters
• Silveran

Beastkin:

• Hawk

Humans:

• Erin Solstice
• Imani
• Joseph Ortega
• Lyonette

Trivia

• [Mages] possessing even a single level in the [Necromancer] class are usually killed on sight in Liscor.
• In the public bathhouse in Liscor, Drakes and Humans have to pay only 5 coppers for entry, while Gnolls and Beastkin have to pay twice as much because of their fur.
• Liscor's written language is not English, unlike Celum.
• The Gnolls in Liscor are forbidden from howling, unless there is a full moon.
• Over a quarter of the deaths of travelers on the roads around Liscor are due to Goblin attacks.
• It is said that the three most dangerous things to Liscor are rain, the undead, and war.
• During Skinner's attack on Liscor with over 40,000 (in the first draft: 400) undead, over 80 [Guardsmen] and nearly 200 civilians perished before the Hive was mobilized.
• The Antinium lost 65 Workers and 47 Soldiers, during Skinner's assault on Liscor.
• The fee for selling something on Liscor's streets is 5 silver coins for a profit of over 4 gold coins.
• Liscor has - as of volume 2 - two people capable of a [Courier’s] speed — Hawk and the Gecko.
• Liscor is considerably bigger than Celum and Esthelm.
• Crime in Liscor isn’t very profitable, as no criminal wants to arouse the wrath of the Antinium. Something about an Antinium Soldier smashing through a wooden door as ten more burrow out of the ground tends to discourage many thieves and muggers.
• Watch Captains, such as Zevara, hold a higher position of authority than in Human cities. Among Drakes, the Watch Captain generally shares the same rank as members of a ruling Council and is usually given complete authority in local military matters.
• The city council devoted funds to the park and playground as a matter of public benefit, so that the residents can relax and enjoy themselves when confined to the city during the spring months.
• In the early chapters the distance between Celum and Liscor was around/over 100 miles, however in the newer Timeline the distance is 88 miles, leaving the true distance between both cities uncertain.
• Corusdeer meat is Liscor's local specialty.
• The relationship between Liscor and its army has always been strained.
• Due to Erin being connected to multiple crazy events, it has almost become a sport of its own, or tradition in Liscor, for Liscorian citizens to share stories and rumors about her to any outsider who wants to know about her.
• Liscor's walls had been expanded two times before the council's election and subsequent city expansion.
• While it's an old tradition, duels are legal in Liscor.
• Mint crackers, a mint leaf-infused semi-sweet cracker, were a traditional treat in Liscor before the introduction of sugary treats.
• Citizens of Liscor are obligated to complete a mandatory training course and earn at least 1 Level in the [Soldier] class.
• [Hunter] is a common class in Liscor due to the Floodplains.

Gallery

• 

  Liscor by Jason Yao

• 

  Birds of Liscor by Enuryn
  (commissioned by Pirateaba)

• 

  Full map to large for wiki. https://wanderinginn.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/liscor-by-enyavar.png