Hal-Sur
It is built in white salt galleries under the dried inland sea. Families who own mining shares vote; Goblin and Kobold are not majority citizens.
City identity
It was built on white salt galleries under the dried inland sea. Families who own mining shares vote; Goblin and Kobold majority are not citizens.
City information
Neighborhoods: Hall of Shares, White Shift, Goblin Deep, Silent Vault, Ordan Inn. Economy: Salt, alchemy, fossil and body preservation. Current crisis: A dead shareholder in the oldest salt cellar is said to have regained consciousness. If legally alive, most of the current parliament may lose their seats.
Location in Avarra
| Field | Record |
|---|---|
| Continent | Nareth |
| Region | The dried inland-sea basin of the Pale Basin |
| Physical site | Galleries descending through the white salt crust and the old coastal cliffs |
| Access | Salt caravan road, collapse-prone freight lifts, and seasonal salt sledges |
| Nearby ties | Namaris, Dry Harbour, Bitter Well, and Ordan Inn |
From afar, Hal-Sur is only a white, blinding flat. The real city lies below its surface. Roads that once followed the inland sea’s shore are now cut by salt fissures and collapsing galleries. That makes salt costly to move, but forces any besieging army to face thirst and reflection sickness before it reaches the gates.
The city beneath the shareholders
The Hall of Shares is the only grand building on the surface; voting power follows salt shares more than family names. Under it lie the White Shift workers’ quarters, Goblin Deep water-gathering and ventilation networks, and the Silent Vault, with fossils, burial salt, and sealed family coffers. Kobold diggers and Goblin water workers sustain the city while most remain outside formal citizenship.
Its most valuable resource is not salt but the past inside salt. Some galleries preserve the inland sea’s creatures; some vaults preserve salted bodies whose legal existence protects family claims. If the oldest shareholder truly shows consciousness again, not just council seats but the entire chain of property will be contested.
Table tensions
- Before a gallery collapses, its salt veins begin writing names on the walls.
- Water workers in Goblin Deep strike to protect the only fresh-water pocket the surface council wants to cut off.
- The “dead” shareholder speaks, but three bodies in the vault are registered under that name.