The City of Masks
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The Kingdom of Iagos is known for austere tradition and deep piety. For this reason it is all the stranger that such a famous city of sin as Ladroa is allowed to exist within its borders.
Ladroa has a reputation as both a lawless den of thieves and a lurid playground for the privileged. This teeming cosmopolitan port traffics in every commodity and contraband, and the riches that flow through the city have helped to fashion its dissolute lifestyle, where high and low mingle, and nothing is sacred.
For the wealthy, Ladroa is an unending carnivale of rare delights and forbidden pleasures, promising discretion behind the traditional masks worn within its walls. For the poor and downtrodden, Ladroa may be just as cruel and unjust as any city in the Empire, but it is also an anarchic realm of opportunity... as long as you have something you can sell.
For the wealthy, Ladroa is an unending carnivale of rare delights and forbidden pleasures, promising discretion behind the traditional masks worn within its walls. For the poor and downtrodden, Ladroa may be just as cruel and unjust as any city in the Empire, but it is also an anarchic realm of opportunity... as long as you have something you can sell.
WELCOME TO LADROA, TRAVELER...
Ours is a fabulous city full of mystery and excitement; you will never visit another place like quite like it. On our streets one finds a vibrant mix of people - lords and ladies; priests and heathens, merchants and artists, bravos and thieves. And as for the women... so many, from all the world over.
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When the Caliphate of Daramad ruled most of Iagos, Ladroa served as its seat of rulership. Today, the Saints of Braius are honoured with due respect and pageantry, but you can also still taste the flavour of the city's exotic legacy. Whether food, libations, customs, or flesh, the taste of old foreign decadence is a spicy blend.
Some may travel to Ladroa by land, but to arrive by sea is to see the city at its purest. The port is always bustling and always welcoming. Greeting you at the central plaza is the great statue of the Santa La Ladra. With her enticing pose and sultry form, it is perhaps an unusual depiction of a Saint, and yet she somehow manages to seem holy, even with an obscene spackle of gull droppings across her breast.
To its critics, Ladroa's port may be a debased churn of swindlers, harlots, and foreigners, but no sailor is unhappy to make harbour here. The azure waters of the Helicosian are a view beyond compare, the wine stalls are always well-stocked, and the Puerto is often the best place to haggle for deals right off the boat.
One could also wander agog for days in the Mercado Largo - Ladroa's famous “long market." This massive bazaar winds throughout the length of the city and is never at rest. Everything you can imagine is for sale here, as well as many things beyond imagination. You never know what you will find in the Mercado. Here, any desire may be satisfied, and everything is for sale... if you're willing to pay the right price.
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In the most congested areas of the city, be sure to watch for the famous ladros as they bound acrobatically across the rooftops. Toss the roof-dancers a coin for the show if you wish, but do not be fooled by these light-footed rascals. Their agile antics are a marvel to behold, but if your purse happens to fall into their hands, it's as good as gone.
When the sun dips low, don your decorative mask and enjoy our nightlife -- Ladroa respects your privacy! Visit our Colegio district and sample our vibrant cultural venues. Whether your tastes run to opera houses, theaters, and eateries -- or to street pageants, wine tents, and public revels -- you will find it all here! Test you luck in our gambling halls, or carouse all the night in the trendy coffee houses where the students play.
And if you seek diversions of a more intimate variety, all dreams can come true in the Calle Placeres, the pleasure district known across the Empire! Avail yourself of Ladroa's many plush brothels and specialized clubs for every predilection or dalliance. Enjoy quality ether dens and powder merchants, with nostrums and narcotics found nowhere else in Duatha. It is said that some fear the night because it liberates the other senses... but this is a city that never sleeps, by day or night.
One can also take the air in the Bosque, the large wooded parkland nestled within the city's walls. Here are many manors, bordellos, rustic inns, and open-air taverns. Go riding, attend a garden revel, visit the grand baths, or lose yourself along the old back paths. But always tread carefully by the light of the moon - in these shaded copses, one might just as easily disturb lovers rolling in the dew, swordsmen dueling over a scented handkerchief, or a troupe of Mendigos beggars, who are as pungent as they are colourful.
Once you've had your fill of delights, you can wrap your cloak about you in the morning mist and ride a gondola down La Grieta, the great canal that winds through the city. If your head is perhaps still listing with drink and weariness, worry not - for there is no experience more Ladroan than that!
And should you find time to do any praying in Ladroa, whether in piety or dissolute regret, clasp your hands and prostrate yourself in one of the three towers of the Terceto. This temple plaza is among the greatest in Duatha, honouring all three Prophets of the Trine.
Here you may pray for forgiveness for your sins, for the throbbing in your skull to subside, or for the burning your loins to relent. Praise be to the Saints or to the apothecary... whoever answers first!
The sacred and the profane truly walk hand-in-hand in Ladroa.
The sacred and the profane truly walk hand-in-hand in Ladroa.
HISTORY
Ladroa's history is marked by tides of both hardship and prosperity. The original settlement was built in ancient times on a rocky peninsula called Caopresa by locals (“dogtooth”), which jutted into the Sea of Helicos. By the height of the classical age, it had become a popular port, and many important wealthy citizens of the Cyron Empire kept villas on the peninsula.
When the Old Empire began to falter, its holdings along the eastern coastline became targets for both foreign powers and common pirates. The increased danger led many Imperial citizens to move inland or return to the southern metropoles. Those who stayed on Caopresa led an increasingly tenuous existence.
Although the port remained active, its business and its character shifted. The Dogtooth began to accumulate a growing class of vagrants, swindlers, lightfoots, and cutpurses - those who in the old Imperial tongue were called ladros. Once a jewel of the Empire, the seaside town instead gained notoriety as a haven for smugglers and freebooters... a reputation that lingers even today.
The Holy La Ladra
In this period, the most notoriousraider on the Helicosian coast was the Talumar robber-prince Al-Kajid. One day, Al-Kajid's corsairs were spotted sailing toward the Caopresa port. While others panicked, one vagabond woman leapt onto the rooftops and began to dance. So artful and sensuous was her performance that all stopped to see. As the story goes, Al-Kajid himself was so entranced by this display that he spared the town and sailed on instead.
This event passed into the local folklore, and the mysterious woman who saved the port came to be known as La Ladra Maravillosa. Many years later, she was canonized as the patron saint of the port on the Dogtooth. A century after that, she became the namesake of the prosperous new city of Ladroa.
Today, statues of the Santa Ladra are found all over the city, but the largest overlooks the Plaza de La Ladra in the Puerto district. It is also for this famed lady that the ladros of today are called roof-dancers, and are treated with a degree of tolerance. Both as a nuisance and as a local attraction, the roof-dancers and their lifestyle have now evolved into a distinct local tradition. (see full article)
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Foreign Rule and Liberation
Four hundred years ago, armies of the Daramadi Caliphate sailed across the sea from Talumia and landed in Iagos. Ladroa was the first Imperial city to fall under their rule, and would go on to serve as the governing seat of the Talumar Sultans in Iagos during the long era now called the Heresy.
Ladroa was also among the last cities freed during Iagos' great War of Reclamation. The liberation of Ladroa was both a significant victory and a bloody sack. Braicosi crusaders under the ensign of the Holy Wheel breached the gates and enacted a massacre of all Talumars found in the city... and any others judged to have been too foreign, too impious, or too sympathetic to the old Sultanate rulers.
Ladroa was also among the last cities freed during Iagos' great War of Reclamation. The liberation of Ladroa was both a significant victory and a bloody sack. Braicosi crusaders under the ensign of the Holy Wheel breached the gates and enacted a massacre of all Talumars found in the city... and any others judged to have been too foreign, too impious, or too sympathetic to the old Sultanate rulers.
While Ladroa is known to put a sanguine spin on virtually any holy day on the Imperial calendar, the exception is the festival of Emancipacion Escalonis. This day marks the conclusion of the Great Reclamation in Iagos, but in Ladroa, it is instead observed with unusual solemnity.
In spite of the infamous purge of the Emancipacion a century past, Ladroa today remains one of the most diverse cities in the Empire. While under the banner of the Holy Wheel, ceremonies for all the Prophets of the Trine are still conducted at the Terceto. All about the city are one finds the echoes of the Sultanate era evident in Ladroa's architecture, culture, and people.
A CITY OF MASKS
A curious tradition endures in Ladroa. In times past, some Talumar sects kept their faces hidden from the eyes of the Saints by wearing veils or masks as a sign of piety. After the Reclamation, many upright citizens continued this practice, perhaps encouraged by the religiosity of the Iagosi people -- though more likely it persisted as a way to avoid being recognized while visiting some of Ladroa's less-respectable districts. Over time, this tradition was adopted by virtually everone in the city, from aristocrats to lowly commoners.
While the character of Ladroa is usually perceived as being ostentatious and even promiscuous, Ladroans still show a kind of deference to notions of privacy. Even as masks conceal the scandals of those who indulge in the city's illicit pleasures, they also carry a veneer of respectability. To cover one's face in public can be seen as a form of social propriety, even humility.
That said, while there are no sumptuary laws in Ladroa, masks are expected to reflect standing. The most elaborate styles are typically reserved for people of higher status, while the poor often make do with cast-offs or homemade efforts. It is unseemly for an aristocrat to be spotted in a shabby or out-of-fashion mask, just as it may be considered a kind of affront for a pauper to wear a mask above their station.
Still, faces are not always hidden. It is customary to lower masks indoors, or when
greeting acquaintances. Many day-to-day masks are little more than perfunctory, leaving most features clearly visible.
By day visitors and locals may even go about their business unmasked, but the nights are another matter. To brazenly show one's face on the streets of Ladroa after dark may be seen as a shameless lack of protocol... and in the eyes of some, perhaps even godless.
The cultural cues and symbolic meanings of Ladroan masks can be complex and arcane to outsiders, but much may be communicated by a mask alone. Suffice to say, for locals, a tourist is always easy to spot.
PEOPLE of LADROA
Folk of every human creed are found in Ladroa. The largest ethnic group is of course the native Iagosi, with the second largest being those of Talumar descent. After generations of Sultanate rule, such lines are often blurry, though most Iagosi would be loathe to admit it.
Other groups include communities from neighboring Aesos and Malochovia, Capracians tied to prominent merchant houses, dark-skinned Duma nomads from Ubala, and many fair-haired Londais and Torvarians, whose ancestors settled in Ladroa after arriving as part of the Reclamation crusade. On top of all of those who live in Ladroa full-time, there are also the waves of merchants, sailors, and tourists flowing from all over the world.
More recent immigrants from Talumia may occupy prominent mercantile roles or hold property, but it is said that in Ladroa, the true old Talumar blood is found among the local Mendigos clans. This is a loosely organized semi-permanent population of beggars based mainly out of the Bosque, but who are found dispersed in small groups throughout the city.
Folk from the so-called Fading bloodlines are also found here. Dwarves, halflings, and even the occasional civilized ogre-bloods are not so uncommon in the South, but may enjoy more freedom and tolerance in Ladroa than elsewhere in Iagos, if only because they contribute to the exotic ambiance. There are other beings dwelling in Ladroa who are stranger still, but here they can keep a lower profile behind their masks.
GOVERNMENT
After the Great Reclamation, Ladroa fell under the control of a series of wardens, most of them landless knights who had joined the reconquest efforts to win personal fortune. This form of leadership proved volatile, and gave rise to self-styled warlords who grew rich on trade and piracy... and who often tested the authority of the Iagosi King.
Eventually, when the faltering Old Empire was absorbed into the Clarion Dominion, the issue of the rogue wardens was resolved with the creation of the office of the Count-Prefect, a non-heriditary title granted by the Clarion High-King.
Ladroa was redefined as a special free port under the stewardship of the Clarion Throne, and Count-Prefects were named as governors-for-life (barring removal by the High-King). Although this settled the unruly warlord problem, it would set the stage for future tensions between the local Iagosi monarchs and the centralized authority of Clarion -- and later, the new Kasparian Empire.
With the establishment of the Kasparian Empire after the fall of the Clarion Throne, Ladroa was granted continuity as a free city with rights of Imperial Immediacy. The office of the Count-Prefect was retained, thanks to certain favours traded to the future Emperor during the War of the Phoenix.
Today, the current Count-Prefect, Antonio Baracca de Marnao, enjoys the fruits of Ladroa's success, and governs with a light touch. He is rarely seen outside the Palacio itself, which is guarded by his personal forces and the Imperial Garrison.
With the establishment of the Kasparian Empire after the fall of the Clarion Throne, Ladroa was granted continuity as a free city with rights of Imperial Immediacy. The office of the Count-Prefect was retained, thanks to certain favours traded to the future Emperor during the War of the Phoenix.
Today, the current Count-Prefect, Antonio Baracca de Marnao, enjoys the fruits of Ladroa's success, and governs with a light touch. He is rarely seen outside the Palacio itself, which is guarded by his personal forces and the Imperial Garrison.
The laws and governance of Ladroa are within the Count-Prefect's purview, with no small influence from the city's merchant nobility. Much like the rest of Ladroa, he must walk a careful line between the King of Iagos, the Emperor, and the Church of the Holy Wheel... and always with an eye to maintaining both the city's lucrative position and his own.
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| Antonio Baracca de Marnao, Count-Prefect of Ladroa |
RELIGION
Ladroa is the most secular city in the Kingdom of Iagos. Although the city remains technically under the authority of The Holy Wheel, the worship of many faiths is tolerated within its walls.
At the grand cathedral El Terceto, services are held for all three Prophets of the Trine. In the temple district and elsewhere, many chapels can be found honouring the varied Saints associated with th Trine.
Many other religions also have a presence here, including prominent temples to Aesosian God-Titans and to the pantheon of the old Siiga gods. Notably, the Grand Magistrado of Ladroa is himself a Siiga priest of Ka, the Telosian God of Laws. The Temple of Ka is located directly across from the Carcelario, Ladroa's courthouse.
Additionally, various secretive cults might be restricted in other parts of the Empire might be found in Ladroa, operating barely out of sight.
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| The Terceto district is home to many smaller chapels devoted to various gods and saints. |
COMMERCE and SIN
The port of Ladroa is famed for spices, imported textiles and ceramics, and sundry other exotic luxuries of a more salacious variety. Most goods are traded in the Mercado Largo, a massive bazaar boasting merchants from every corner of the world. Nearby is the Calle Placeres, a sprawling red-lantern district offering a veritable banquet of libations, intoxicants, and flesh.
Ladroa is a destination for libertine nobles, but also for the substrata of hustlers, prostitutes, gamblers, and thieves which preys upon them. For every grandiose temple or theater, there are countless more brothels, drug dens, and betting houses catering to any inclination, fetish, or budget.
It is said that whatever happens in Ladroa stays in Ladroa, but this is of course untrue. Tales of Ladroa's risque amusements are told everywhere, though in polite society among Iagosi gentlefolk who honour the Saints, such gossip is recounted only in scandalized (and fascinated) whispers.
Everything Is Permitted, But Prices are Subject to Change...
Due to accords between the King of Iagos and the Kasparian Empire, Ladroa is a free port. However, as the city levies various internal tariffs, smuggling might be considered Ladroa's second-oldest occupation. While this is often simply to evade local taxation and increase margins, Ladroa is also a conduit by which controlled goods may slip into Iagos and the Empire at large.
Almost any object, text, drug, delicacy, or service that is condemned elsewhere can be obtained in the Mercado Largo with little difficulty. Price is the true gatekeeper, for despite the liberal posture of the city, specialized permits are attached to the import and sale of some specialized goods and services, and these fees line the coffers of the Palacio.
This results in a substantial shadow economy of unlicensed services or contraband which can be purchased at lower cost, but with certain risks attached. Even though vices prohibited by civil or religious law elsewhere are technically legal within Ladroa's walls, as always, it is privilege that dictates access.
There are some limits even here -- although prostitution, drugs, and gambling are broadly embraced, private clubs and speakeasies abound. Most engage in clandestine trade to avoid paying their part to the city (or to their local corrupt watch captain), but there are still others that traffic in forms of contraband too rarified, scandalous, or depraved even for Ladroa's official sensibilities.
CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Ladroa is not wholly lawless, but corruption is rampant and enforcement is lax. During the War of the Phoenix leading to the restoration of Empire, Ladroa provided financial and diplomatic support to the man who would later become the Emperor Reinhardt. In return, Ladroa was granted the status of Imperial Immediacy, permitting limited sovereignty over affairs within its walls.
This allows business to proceed as usual in Ladroa, but it is always a tenuous existence based on the relationship between the Emperor and the vigorously devout King of Iagos, who has long sought to see the wicked city “redeemed". The Count-Prefect of Ladroa keeps a light touch in most affairs... so long as the appropriate tithes are still collected in his name.
And so, like anything else here, the law is often for sale. Swindlers, pimps, and gangsters all prosper, existing in a laissez-faire equilibrium with the upper classes and the religious authorities.
The harshest justice in Ladroa is usually reserved for crimes that threaten public order and the economic stability of the city, especially when committed by those too poor to offer up the requisite bribes.
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| Watch Captain of the Perifericos District |
The MARSHALS of LADROA
Few laws of man or god are enforced in Ladroa, but those matters which are treated seriously within its walls are presided over by los Mariscales.
The fearsome Marshals of Ladroa represent a thin line between civilization and anarchy. It is a small force of anonymous, reputedly untouchable law officers with expanded judicial powers, instituted almost a century ago by the sixteenth Count-Prefect as a measure to bring rampant organized crime to heel.
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| The mask of Mariscal Gorgones |
These masked guardians serve as both judges and executioners for those who threaten the serenity of the city. Although they are few, their reputation, ruthless methods, and unwavering zeal provide at least some small measure of control in such an unruly place.
STREET VIOLENCE
As a free port used by merchants, travelers, and mercenaries, Ladroa has a lax policy regarding the bearing of arms. Elsewhere in Iagos, commoners may not carry more than a knife for utility or self-defense. Only titled gentry or military officers are permitted to carry a sword or pistol in a city. While trade and recreation are the principle occupations of the city, crime remains rampant, and many areas must be considered unsafe at the best of times. Carry of a full-length sword within Ladroa is ostensibly a privilege of class, but here such patents are rarely interrogated. Even so, to go about in full harness or the bearing of field weapons would definitely invite the attention of the Watch.
DUELLING
Iagos has a long-entrenched culture of honour, and the act of duelling in Ladroa is permitted among the gentry. Unlike commoners, a gentleman has the privilege of answering an insult and demanding satisfaction -- or in some cases, paying a second to collect satisfaction for him. Due to the proliferation of unlanded titles granted during the campaigns of the Great Reclamation and the subsequent Punitive Wars, Iagos has no shortage of hidalgos, those “sons of something" willing to exercise these privileges.
These mustachioed ex-soldiers loiter in every tavern, smoking their heathen tobaccos and demanding steel in trade for any slight to their honour. Many of them came to Ladroa to spend their wages after fighting the King's wars overseas, and could not afford to leave. Among these proud men, umbrage is taken and given often, but never freely.
In Ladroa duels are tolerated as long as certain protocols are observed and they do not erupt into open street brawls. They must occur out of the main public thoroughfares, and cannot impact on business activities. Commoners may also (and often do) engage in duels, but without the protection of a title, these are technically be illegal, and are usually conducted clandestinely.
The SLAVE TRADE
In Ladroa, slavery is one of the few vices still obliged to hide itself. Forms of indentured servitude exist in the Kasparian Empire, and feudal serfdom is still practiced in some regions, but outright chattel slavery is illegal, as well as being seen as contrary to the teachings of the Prophet Braius.
Regardless, a black market slave trade still manages to thrive in Ladroa, sometimes barely concealed under questionable legal provisions and outright graft. Despite efforts to break up this industry, it is a poorly-kept secret that the Dogtooth is a major hub for traffickers smuggling slaves into the Empire, or exporting captives out to markets in Koshkovia, Rastania, Talumia, and even Old Cyrona.
It is said that well-connected visitors (or their agents) can arrange private auctions with underground suppliers for more specialized requests. These transactions are typically conducted secretly to protect both purveyors and their privileged clients from exposure, but even such crimes are not immune to Ladroa's decadent flair for showmanship.
FACTIONS
Several factions are known to be active in the city. Some are loose, informal groups, while others are clearly defined and/or sanctioned organizations. Among these are many merchant associations and guilds, though in a city as anarchic as Ladroa, it is difficult for any one organization to predominate.
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The WATCH
The Watch of Ladroa have a particular reputation for negligence and corruption. Behind their stern bearded masks, they are a callow, dissolute bunch. The anonymity of their uniform seems only encourage their brazen behaviour, freely taking bribes to look the other way, or extorting wealthy visitors for a few coins to support their carousing habits.
And how else could they exist in such a place? Given the permissive ambiance of the City of Masks, there is little else for them to do besides quelling drunken brawls and ensuring the salacious business of Ladroa can be conducted smoothly - especially for the wealthiest of visitors.
Of course, this makes their subordinate relationship with the notoriously implacable Mariscales somewhat fraught. It is said that in Ladroa, few are more dismayed by the appearance of a Mariscal than the Watch themselves.
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The IMPERIAL GARRISON
When the Emperor ascended to his throne at the close of the War of the Phoenix, and Ladroa received its first Imperial Garrison since antiquity, some feared that this show of authority would herald tighter control over the city. This was in fact not the case.
The soldiers of the garrison are well-trained and well-equipped, but a relatively small force. They regularly accompany the Count-Prefect, but are rarely active outside the Palacio and surroundings.
Some astute political observers have opined that the garrison exists chiefly to maintain the Emperor's interests in Ladroa - less to protect it from foreign threats than to serve as a reminder of Imperial power to the King of Iagos himself.
In practice, the Garrison seems to do little beyond perfunctory exercises, intermittent pirate patrols, and contribute well beyond its fair share to the local economy of gambling and debauchery. Indeed, for soldiers of the Empire, the Ladroa Garrison is one of the most sought-after postings... even if the lifestyle here proves too much for many, and turnover is high.
In practice, the Garrison seems to do little beyond perfunctory exercises, intermittent pirate patrols, and contribute well beyond its fair share to the local economy of gambling and debauchery. Indeed, for soldiers of the Empire, the Ladroa Garrison is one of the most sought-after postings... even if the lifestyle here proves too much for many, and turnover is high.
By military regulation, these soldiers do not wear Ladroan masks, but may do so when off-duty. The rivalry between the Ladroa Watch and the Garrison is well-known.
Los PENITENTES
The closest thing Ladroa has to a decency brigade, this loose organization of religious zealots sometimes instigate angry mobs in protest of the city's latest transgressions against the morality of the Saints. It is unclear whether they are a cabal of upright citizens, a sect of fanatic monks, or even just a group of hooligans acting under false pretenses. They maintain their anonymity, and their true numbers are unknown.
Among the tenets of Los Penitentes, one must not show an unclad face in Ladroa... except on certain religious holidays (of which there are many), when conversely it becomes an affront to hide your sins from the Saints. This is one claim, but in truth, no one is quite sure what rules the Penitentes follow.
The Penitentes allegedly roam areas of the city during holy periods, descending on lone revelers or even everyday people who are deemed insufficiently pious. This ranges from cases of harassment to brutal hazing. In rare but extreme cases, Penitente punishments involve the scarification of victims, carving the name of a sin on the face to force them to hide behind a mask or lay bare their shame.
Los Penitentes have grown more brazen in recent years. Word has spread beyond Ladroa thanks to an incident with a high profile visitor. This has drawn the eyes of the Mariscales, but no one seems to know when these vigilantes will strike next.
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