by Jay Batista
 

T'u Lung

Cities of T'u Lung

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Oriental Adventures

Kara-Tur

The city of Eleven Gates and Nine Great Walls is a
series of fortresses and suburbs stretching from the
Old City, founded in 469, all the way to the Dakarazu
Palace Compound in the north. It encloses two very
large parks, the Nwekasu Walk and the Do Chi Botanical
Gardens, with its attendant school of philosophernaturalists.
The city has overbuilt itself, arching new
highways over the roofs of squalid slums and erecting
new buildings above, clearly stratifying the actual
buildings as well as the classes. Certain grade status
allows one access to "higher" parts and more influential
sections of the capital city.

The streets are crowded and the lower levels are in
perpetual squalor, but in contrast, the clan mansions
and Dakarazu Palace are the most splendid buildings
in all T'u! Their towers and minarets rise gracefully
into the skies, and their domes sparkle with gold leaf
and silver. Green copper dragons adorn every rooftop
and elaborate trolleys and elevators link the city?s
parts. Ivory balconies wrap the sides of the palace,
and jeweled chimes tinkle in the breeze. The current
Emperor enjoys caged birds, so a thousand gilded
cages with birds of all descriptions hang from balconies
and windows, chattering and singing. The Palace
is so large it can house 1,500 guests for one event, and
often less important guests are kept in the village of
Donus'ai, miles to the south where they won?t be
annoying.

Even as beautiful and cultured as Wai appears, it is
all a mask for the plotting and scheming that is rampant
in our capital. It is unwise to enter this city without
powerful allies, or a most important reason, for
often bystanders are drawn into bad situations not of
their liking. I have lost two friends to the political
intrigue of Wai, and a third rots in the Emperor's
dungeons for crimes he did not commit. Heed my
words and steer clear of Wai.