Bilgewater

This Article is in accordance with the version 0.94 of Runarcana RPG

“Nestled away in the Blue Flame Isles archipelago, Bilgewater is a port city like no other—home to serpent hunters, dock gangs, and smugglers from across the known world. Here, fortunes are made and ambitions shattered in the blink of an eye. For those fleeing justice, debt, or persecution, Bilgewater can be a place of new beginnings, for no one on these twisted streets cares about your past. Even so, with each new dawn, careless travelers can always be found floating in the harbor, their purses empty, and their throats slit… While incredibly dangerous, Bilgewater is ripe with opportunity, free from the shackles of formal government and trade regulation. If you have the coin, almost anything can be purchased here, from outlawed hextech to the favor of local crime lords.”

Bilgewater is perhaps the most important port city in the world, passing through it all kinds of people and creatures, with the most diverse origins and destinations, even staying there. A place of stories that travel the world through the ships that anchor there, it survives like a floating plague, making the survivors even stronger or leading them to burials in water, the funerary tradition of this region.

Characaters

When creating a character from this region, you gain the following traits:

Languages. Choose one between: Bilgewatrian and Buhru.

Skill. Choose one between: Deception, Intimidation, Medicine, Perception, Religion, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, or Survival

Activity. Choose two proficiencies from the following options: Dagger, flintlock pistol, greatsword, hand cannon, harpoon, long sword, musket, scimitar, short sword, trident, guide: cartographer or navigator, locksmith, a forger's discipline, apothecary, a player of a game or musician of an instrument.

Buhru

Even being a region where it is possible to find people from all nations and regions of Runeterra, Bilgewater has a native population, those who were there before the region became the most important city port in the world.

The Buhru, the natives of the region, know this place by another name, The Serpent Isles, their culture is still common in the region and respected by the islands especially because of their traditional medicine and monster hunting techniques, especially the sea ones, both sets of techniques and teachings, form the cultural basis to which all those who come to live there end up adapting, if not for the appreciation, effectiveness and considerable improvement of the chances of survival in such a dangerous region.

For other nations, to battle is to prove their strength and their value, through power and dominion of others, for the Buhru, it is not a test of strength, but of will, this relates to the understanding of the processes of life through perpetual motion and self-control in the fluctuations of life. They are respected locally and are whom foreigners often resort to when they face the threats hitherto unknown by foreigners, but have long been studied, understood, and dominated among native peoples.

Among the Buhru, the figure that stands out the most is Illaoi, Priestess of Mother Serpent, a woman of enormous stature, powerful and who tests the will of those who cross her path. It is the teachings of his divinity that cherish the will to move forward and do not allow themselves to be consumed by weakness.

The teachings are formed in three doctrines which are at the heart of religion: every spirit is born to serve the universe; desire is inherent in all living beings, given by the universe; the universe only moves toward its destiny when living creatures try to fulfill their desires.

As the religion's Truth Bearer, Illaoi's function is to serve her god directly, clearing the flow of the universe. To this end, she has two sacred responsibilities.

The first duty of a Truth Bearer is to lead the fight against the undead. Being outside the normal flow of the universe, the undead are considered an abomination in the face of Nagakabouros. Although the protection of the indigenous population against the Harrowing is the responsibility of all the priests of The Kraken, the Truth Bearer fights its most powerful spirits and makes the Black Mist retreat.

Secondly, Illaoi is in charge of searching for individuals with great potential and challenging them with the Nagakabouros Test. This task is the burden that the title of Illaoi reflects. With her enormous sacred relic, The Eye of God, the Truth Bearer subtracts the subject's spirit from his body and forces them to face it to prove their worth. She does this knowing that whoever fails will be completely annihilated, for the great Kraken has no tolerance for cowardice, doubt, or hesitation. However, destruction is never the goal. Survivors of the ordeal change forever and will always have the will to seek their true destiny.

Although Illaoi is the most powerful and respected Bringer of Truth of the last hundred generations, the paradigm break of her faith is what best describes her. After completing her training as a Bringer of Truth and at the height of her power, Illaoi left the golden temples of Buhru for the sordid Bilgewater.

The pirate city is the only place in the Serpent Isles where foreigners are allowed and is seen as a dirty and stinking gutter by the people of Illaoi. The previous Truth Bearers ignored the city and saw the outsiders who arrived as untouchables. Illaoi broke this tradition when she chose to protect the residents of Bilgewater from The Harrowing, or worse when she decided that some of her residents had souls worthy of the great test. However, only a few temples were opened in the city, and very few Paylangi (island name for residents of continental descent) were allowed to enter. Independently, it was Illaoi who brought the knowledge of The Mother Serpent to Bilgewater, and it was her indomitable spirit that made her religion prosper there.

Although not easily found anywhere, her vision is enough for those who witness her believe in her creed of strength, if not for her stature, for her irresolute faith, carrying a golden image of Nagakabouros, the mere fact of carrying something so heavy and so valuable, without there being any mention of assaulting her, is enough for anyone to understand that she is not a woman to mess with.

Rat Town

In the West Bay, there is the largest settlement of Bilgewater, the Rat Town, a kind of gate that receives those who arrive there and is the most populous region. From it, it is possible to reach other points such as The Slaughter Docks, Butcher's Bridge, the Temple of the Mother Snake, among many other places.

A dirty region full of people in the most deplorable living conditions, the Rat Town does not have that name for nothing, its stench adds to the rotten fish, human waste, the sweat caused by the causticizing climate, and the cheap rum.

This is where many adventures begin, end, or are interrupted, either by the success of those who manage to prove themselves victorious or by those relationships that often end in treason.

Butcher's Bridge

Looming over the main harbor is Butcher's Bridge, an ancient stone overpass built into the cliffs, which serves as a path to many destinations.

In it is located the undercover market of the city where goods of dubious origin can be acquired, smuggled, exotic meats, and much more than money can pay.

Another common occurrence on the Bridge are the duels, for whatever reason, they always end up being resolved at the cost of the lives of those who have miscalculated their situation.

This is the scenario of many of the stories involving Bilgewater, the merchants here are dangerous, and pickpockets don't have the slightest desire to plunder the unwary travelers who are surprised by the variety of what can be found there.

The Slaughter Docks

In this region of Bilgewater, there is an infinity of extremely dangerous adventures ready to happen, here industries take advantage of the hunting of sea monsters to convert them into meat, oil, leather, scales, and even bones and teeth for the most diverse purposes.

Bilgewater's constructions are almost mutants, always changing due to the way they are erected. Often ship carcasses are used or even demolition masonry, causing it to grow in a disorderly and organic way. In addition to these constructions, many of the most important trading houses were built on the remains of an ancient civilization, especially abandoned temples.

But there is not only blood, stench, and death in Bilgewater, as the highest heights of the city are reached, unique and often forbidden pleasures can be found, which usually makes those who arrive there empty their pockets just to go back to the pier in search of new adventures and riches.

Nagakabouros

Although not a place of open spirituality, the prevailing religiosity in Bilgewater prays for the Goddess Mother Serpent, the Great Kraken, or even the Bearded Lady, the goddess of life, growth, and perpetual movement.

Usually represented as a huge and monstrous head with many spiral tentacles, this divinity is a factor present in the lives of those who live by and for the sea.

His lower priests are charged with the maintenance of temples, invocation of divine serpents, and teaching the words of Nagakabouros to the people. As the Bringer of the Truth of religion, Illaoi's function is to serve her god directly, clearing the flow of the universe.

The Black Mist

The proximity of Bilgewater to the Shadow Islands charges its price annually, at a certain time of the year, the fog that levies the Shadow Isles spreads, reaching Bilgewater's beaches.

Beside the mist also come terrors and hauntings, creatures that can travel only through the mist reach Bilgewater and give horror and death to the unsuspecting. Perhaps, for this reason, one of the greatest obligations of the Great Priestess is the fight against the defunct creatures, the undead.

As the years went by, the residents began to seek to warn and alert the travelers and the unsuspecting since those who are harvested usually return in the following years giving even more strength to the dead.

Gangplank

The Gangplank figure was once the iron hand that controlled the entire region of Bilgewater, with its brutal and cruel power, some order still existed in the midst of all this gut and blood stinking of rotten fish everywhere.

The revenge of a bounty hunter, however, caused the tyrant to lose his rank of power amidst the rumor that he might be dead.

Thanks to this event, the gangs lost the figure that made them fear and started to fight for power in every corner of Bilgewater, making the region even more dangerous.

Bounty Board

Although there are laws written in Bilgewater, a place where strength commands and strategy lives, the Bounty Board is closest to a code of laws accepted by all. In it are written the names of the most wanted criminals of the regions, besides having the value for their heads. It is said that before his disappearance, Gangplank regularly added a silver serpent to his name as a challenge to everyone.