Exploring Titan 12: Kharé - Cityport of Traps

The city of Kharé has numerous names and titles, the gateway to the Baklands and the city of chaos among them. Some say that Kharé simply arose around the only ford across the Jabaji River between Lake Lumlé and the sea, but this is dismissed as an unlikely tale (probably because it's far too ordinary). More probable are the tales that say it began as an encampment of river pirates, who set up there to ambush sailing vessels carrying their wares (mostly fish) between Lake Lumlé and the Kakhabad Sea. This camp became a village, then grew into a city, and became a magnet for the ne'er-do-wells of the Baklands and the Shamutanti Hills. Malevolent creatures, many of whom would kill a man for the laces on his boots, drifted into the city, and it became a lawless place. With no-one else to protect them from the criminals that roamed the streets, the citizens of Kharé created an elaborate system of tricks and traps. This is how the city came to possess it's most famous name of all: the Cityport of Traps.

Kharé does indeed sit upon the only ford across the Jabaji: crossing the river elsewhere is said to be impossible. The city is surrounded by a fortified wall, and has two main gates. The south gate opens to the Shamutanti Hills, and the north gate opens into the Baklands. Both gates are guarded, but the north gate is also wizard locked, to protect the city from raiders from the Baklands. Obviously the denizens of that land are much more aggressive and deadly than those of the Shamutantis, because the south gate is simply locked with a key, and can be unlocked from the outside. More on the north gate spell below.

The city is broken into two distinct sections. South of the river is where the poorer residents live, with winding streets, opium dens, taverns, shops and markets. The wealthier citizens and nobles dwell on the north side, where there are elaborate crypts, gambling halls and temples. It also seems to be further sub-divided into racial ghettos: there's an area where dwarves live, another that is home to the gnomes, and just across the river is where the mysterious red-eyes congregate.

It's not entirely clear how Kharé functions economically, but it is a cityport, and has wharves and jetties along the Jabaji in the centre of town. One trade it definitely indulges in is slavery: anyone who's not careful near the river could find themselves kidnapped and thrown into the hold of a slave ship.

It's tempting to compare Kharé to Port Blacksand, the other famously lawless city of Titan. Although the two are similar in concept, they differ greatly in flavour. Blacksand feels much more "European" for want of a better word, the sort of city you could imagine pirates frequenting during their heyday. Kharé is more alien, at least to my sensibilities, more exotic, decadent and unknowable. It's also much more lawless: the only guards present man the walls, and it seems as though anything goes within those walls. Blacksand has guard patrols everywhere, and while it seems like you can get away with a lot there, it's all at the whim of its tyrant, Lord Azzur.  Cross him, or his guards, and you're done.  In Kharé, you're at the mercy of its many bizarre inhabitants, and if you get into trouble there are no guards coming to help you out. (Kharé does have a gaol, complete with a scramble spell that negates magic, but it seems to be run by the Red-Eyes, with no judicial system attached to it; as far as I can tell, people get thrown in for no reason and never let out.)

THE NORTH GATE SPELL

The door to open the north gate of Kharé is as follows:

So tumblers two sealed deep inside

One lock made out of Golem's hide

By Courga's grace and Fourga's pride

I bid you, portals, open wide

Only one person in Kharé knows the entire spell: Sansas, the First Noble. There are four other leading citizens who have been entrusted with one line each. Two of those are nobles, one is a priest, and the other is a well-known scholar.  Presumably this was done in case the First Noble should die an untimely death. Anyone who tries to open the gate without first reciting the spell will be killed by a Sulphur Ghost that is bound inside a wooden box high up on the frame. (Whether the Sulphur Ghost is actually undead, or just a magical creature created out of noxious fumes, is anyone's guess.)

As for who created the spell and locked the gate, that is not known. All we know for sure is that it was done at least a century ago, as it invokes the god Fourga, who has not been worshipped in Kharé for a long time.

THE NOBLES OF KHARÉ

The current ruler is Sansas, the First Noble of Kharé. He is the only person who knows the entire spell to open the city's north gate, but at the time of the book is away, sailing up the Jabaji to Lake Lumlé.  It's not known exactly how much power he has, but it appears as though Kharé has a rigid hierarchy to its nobility. Aside from the First Noble, the protagonist also hears about or meets the Third, FIfth, and Seventh Nobles.

The Third Noble of Kharé does not appear during the book, but they are rumoured to be vampire. All we know for sure is that this noble cursed the Fifth Noble to a "living death".

That Fifth Noble is Shinva, who I suppose would be the former Fifth Noble because he's dead at the time of the adventure. After falling out of favour with the Third Noble, he was cursed to become a Death Wraith, and haunt his crypt for eternity (or until defeated with a silver weapon). Shinva was important enough that he knew one of the lines to the north gate spell. Presumably there's someone else in the city who was given the secret after Shinva's death.  He also knows a couplet about someone called "The Sham", and knows that it will be useful for the protagonist to know. How he knows this is unclear, but it could always be chalked up to the sort of precognition that ghosts and other spirits often possess in fiction.

The Seventh Noble of Kharé is not named, but he currently lives as a blind beggar on the north side of the city, constantly tormented by Harpies who steal his gold.  He was a noble until three years ago, when he was struck by the "black-eyed curse", which might be natural blindness but could also be the result of being zapped by Red-Eyes.  He knows one the lines of the north gate spell, but his memory is going in his old age and he can't remember it exactly.  He's also in possession of a magic ring, fashioned like a serpent, which he presumably had from his time as a noble. I might delve more into that in The Seven Serpents. 

RELIGION IN KHARÉ

The main religion practiced in Kharé - at least in the poorer side of the river - seems to be that of Slangg, the God of Malice.  There is a chapel there, and despite serving a god of malice, the priest appears to heal his followers: one boy is heard remarking that his friend Salen's lame brother was cured at the chapel yesterday. The priest is something of a showman, and appears to enjoy playing tricks on people in front of an audience. He knows one of the lines of the north gate spell, and offers the protagonist a chance to learn it if he can pass the Test of Slangg: a simple mathematical problem. Failure means the protagonist must renounce their own god and worship Slangg, but despite following a god of malice the priest honours his word if the protagonist passes the test.

The other major temple seen in the city of the Shrine of Courga, the God of Grace.  Courga's shrine is a large and richly decorated building, located not far from the north gate, but there is nobody in attendance during the book and no priest to be found, so it's not clear how active the worship of this god is in the present day.  One would think a god of grace's temple would be more pleasant to visit than that of the God of Malice, but this place is one of the deadliest in the game.  There is a portal trap near the main altar, and there are stone gargoyles that will animate should anyone try to steal anything. Deadliest of all, though, is the idol of Courga, and the kissing ritual that accompanies it: "On Courga's face you kiss a cross, and finish with the lips; for answers to your questions you must err not else he spits".  Supplicants may kiss the idol and have any question answered, but kissing it in the wrong place or in the wrong order will result in death from a poisoned dart.  The idol answers those questions truthfully, and does seem to have great knowledge, but the answers given will not always be useful.

Also mentioned is Courga's brother Fourga, the god of pride. Fourga was once worshipped in Kharé, but he fell out of favour with their circle of gods, and hasn't had any followers for close to a century.

The huge bronze statue that stands outside of the Gambling Halls of Vlada is also said to be one of Kharé's gods. Offerings are made to it in the form of gold pieces dropped into a pot at its feet, and it will animate and try to kill anyone who steals that gold. Its only vulnerability is a plate in its knee, which can be prised away; doing so releases the life-giving gas inside the statue and causes to to topple over.  The name of the god this statue represents is unknown, but it's possible that it could be Vlada, given that it stands outside of the gambling halls with that name.

There's at least one occasion where it's made apparent that Libra, the goddess of Justice, is unknown in Kharé, which seems a little odd given that Analand isn't all that far away. I suppose that there's not a lot of traffic going through the Cantopani Gate.

Many other gods are depicted as totems lining the path that leads to the shrine of Courga, but no other details are given.

NOTABLE PERSONAGES

There are quite a few interesting people residing in Kharé. I'll discuss a few of them below.

The One-Armed Sorcerer
This fellow is first encountered in a jail cell near the south gate. He used to be a sorcerer, before he had a run-in with an Ogre from the Schanker Mines (presumably the same one that can be found in the first book).  The implication here is that two arms are needed for spellcasting.  He doesn't know the north gate spell, nor does he know any of the people who hold the spell lines, but he does know how and why the gate was wizard locked.  It's not clear why he's in the cell, but he's not entirely trustworthy and will happily steal from the protagonist if he lets his guard down.  He seemingly lives with the Chainmaker who has a store not far from the jail, and may help him with his work.

The Chainmaker
Not much is revealed about this fellow, except that he is a Svinn from the nearby village of Torrepani, who makes his living by crafting and selling chains.

Vik
Vik is a man of some reputation and influence in Kharé, although his exact position is not known.  Being his friend is of great help, as many residents of Kharé respect or fear him: even the Red-Eyes are afraid to cross a friend of Vik.  He is a good friend of Glandragor, the retired warrior who runs the tavern in Birritanti, and once upon a time he is said to have saved a slave galley captain from the clutches of the Shield Maidens of Lumlé.  He doesn't know any of the lines to the north gate spell, but he does know who holds at least two of them.  He can be encountered in the book, in the market crowd watching a prize fight.

Vangorn the Murderer
Vangorn lives in a house in the labyrinthine streets south of the Jabaji. Whether he has a job is unknown, but it appears that his great joy in life is to invite people in for a drink and a chat, and then poison them.  He claims to be Vik's brother, and loves him enough that he will give the poison antidote to anyone who claims to a friend of Vik.  He also says that he has no quarrel with sorcerers, perhaps out of fear, and will let anyone who displays magical prowess go free.

Lortag the Elder
Lortag is a scholar who lives south of the Jabaji.  He doesn't like trespassers, and will readily set his pet Bristle Beast upon intruders, but he is quite welcoming to those who approach his house by the front door and surrender their weapons.  He says that he has a good life, and wants to do his part to help civilize the city by teaching the children (some of his students include a gang of Orclings who will happily rob the protagonist; it's also mentioned at one point that nobody knows mathematics in Kharé, so Lortag is doing a bad job). Lortag knows one of the lines of the north gate spell, so he must have some contact with the nobility of Kharé, and be well-respected.  He won't give up the spell line without getting something in return though; in the case of the protagonist he requires the solution to a puzzle that's been vexing him.

Flanker
This assassin could be met during The Shamutanti Hills, where he was way-laying travellers to sharpen his fighting skills. He's currently in Kharé, where he seems to be having a grand old time.  He can first be encountered at the market, where he will greet the protagonist jovially and perhaps lead him to the house of his friend Lortag.  After that he heads to the Vlada Gambling Halls, and has a run of luck. From there he goes to the Wayfarer's Rest inn, where he'll happily give the protagonist some of his winnings and warn him not to drink too much of the ale.  He's last seen leaving the inn, arm in arm with two dubious characters, singing and skipping into the night.  (I'd love to catch up with this merry assassin again, but I don't think he's in any more of the books.)

The Prize Fighters
There's a fight happening at the markets. One of the fighters is billed as Anvar the Barbarian, and is taller than an ogre.  His origin isn't specified, but I'd think it likely that he hails from the Baklands, unless he's a slave shipped over from Allansia or somewhere else. 

The other fighter is billed as the "brawling champion of Kharé: the mighty Ogre, the one they call Skullsplitter - Cagou of Daddu-Ley!".  Daddu-Ley, also known as the Copperstone Caves, lies on the coast of Kakhabad, south-east of the Shamutanti Hills.  In the first book it was mentioned that the priests of Daddu-Ley wore skullcaps.  So far, that's all we know about those caves.

"Slangg"
There's a guy who is encountered south of the Jabaji who is an obvious compulsive liar, to the point where every single thing that he says is a falsehood.  He claims that his name is Slangg, that he lives beyond the north gate, that his mother is a skunkbear, that he eats nothing but rat brains, and is the personal servant to the First Noble of Kharé.  He's actually quite a helpful fellow, and will happily direct the protagonist where he wants to go, he just lies all the time.

TRAPS OF KHARÉ

There are many mundane traps set up by the denizens of Kharé: the Chainmaker's net, the pot of hair remover that the Flayer has perched over his door, the elaborate series of ropes and pulleys that the innkeeper sets up to hover a guillotine over the neck of his sleeping patrons. There are also magical traps: the paintbrush that paints a doppleganger of its victim, and the Firemaster's fire, which is not hot at first but becomes so when exposed to a handful of special powder. Not to mention the sulphur ghost on the north gate. The most common and notorious of these, however, are the portal traps.

These portal traps were set up by the nobles of Kharé who live north of the Jabaji, presumably to protect their wealth from thieves.  They appear as a black, shimmering circle, and can be mistaken for a pool of water.  They are only found on the north side of the river, but are quite numerous: there's one inside a monument, one in a side room in the Vlada Gambling Halls, another guarding the entrance to Shinva's tomb, and others besides.   Anyone who falls in will find themselves floating in a black void before being unceremoniously dumped in the sewers of Kharé.  Although they were originally set up as traps, one suspects that they now double as waste disposal and toilets.

CREATURES OF KHARÉ

There are a number of varied and interesting creatures that can be found within Kharé, which is has a very cosmopolitan population.  A lot of those are creatures that have appeared in Fighting Fantasy before: gnomes, black elves (although these ones are smoking the drugs), orcs (young orclings, in fact), dwarves, a sprite, a pixie, ogres, an elvin (from the valley in the Shamutanti Hills; he's been imprisoned in the gaol for months), harpies, and gargoyles. The new monsters are mentioned below:

Living Corpse
This creature is similar to a zombie, except that when it is struck it splits into six parts which float around and attack their victim. This one is just lying in the street, looking as though it has been run over by a chariot. It seems to have been there a while, as the gnomes are quite happy when you rid their neighbourhood of the creature.

Bristle Beast
This is a lizard-like creature - about the size of a dog - with large spines that acts as a pet and attack animal of Lortag.

Mantis Man
A spindly humanoid creature with the capacity to remain motionless for great lengths of time. Its method of luring in prey is to pretend to be a statue, then to quickly seize whoever investigates and bite their throats with their huge jaws. I'm not sure about the name, but I think it comes from the way the Mantis Man is posed, as though praying, similar to a praying mantis.  The Mantis Man has a locket around its neck, which might be there as a lure in greedy victims. Its house is full of human bones, so its been pretty successful.

Flayer
This creature is a humanoid with a head like a jellyfish. It has no arms, but can manipulate objects with its many tendrils. Some of those tendrils have venomous stingers.  The one encountered in Kharé is a cook, and quite friendly. They're similar to the Brain Slayer from Caverns of the Snow Witch, and both are obviously nicked from D&D's Mind Flayer, but there's no explicit relation between the two.

Mite
This is yet another tiny, winged humanoid, which we've had plenty of variations of in the books so far. This one's been stuck in Hanna's Cabinet of Fortune, where it picks out prizes at random for those who pay a couple of gold pieces. One suspects it's not in there of its own free will.

Red-Eyes
Living on the north bank of the Jabaji, these appear as regular people, but go everywhere with their eyes closed. This is because their eyes, when opened, shoot a powerful beam of energy that can vaporise a target or strike it blind.  Those encountered in Kharé are arrogant, disdainful, and belligerent towards strangers passing through their territory. (This monster is almost certainly adapted from Cyclops of the X-Men; we know for a fact that Steve Jackson was a reader of Marvel, and the similarities are too close.)

Dark Goblins
The protagonist can buy teeth in this book that are apparently from Dark Goblins. Nothing else is said about them.

Slime Eater
A huge sewer-dwelling monster that is blubbery and vaguely humanoid in shape. This one dwells in the muck of Kharé's sewers. It's alone, but Slime Eaters are said to feed in groups. (In fact it can be encountered multiple times, so that line was probably thrown in to cover that possibility.)

SOME OTHER MYSTERIES AND TIDBITS

• The guards on the north gate are from Mauristatia. They're human, and can't look too different from the people of Analand, because they'll quite readily accept that the protagonist is from their homeland. They speak Crolian.
• What's with the silverfish in the fountain that bites you when you try to take the gold piece at the bottom? Is there anything to the word it whispers when you try to listen to it? That word is bwrthhrs. I assume it's a red herring (so to speak), but I'm not completely sure there's not more to it.

NEXT: It's on to my wrap-up posts for The Seven Serpents. I've been trying to post every Saturday, and I'd like to keep that schedule, but dissecting the books takes a while.  If I'm done in time, I'll have a Final Thoughts post up next weekend.