Bassuras

Bassuras is a town in the Hellcatch Valley of Marquet. It is around 900 miles away from Jrusar along the roads or 700 miles by air, a journey of about four to five days by skyship.

Description
The city is on a large plateau rising from the valley floor. It is surrounded by an uneven wall made of the same red stone as the plateau, that ranges from 30 feet to 70 feet high, outside of which is a "sister city" of tents and other repurposed or scavenged structures. A road runs through the city and into the ravine below the plateau. The city skyline includes a number of smokestacks, all of which emit black smoke, and has a ragged and hectic appearance. The city skyline and districts are heavily strung with wires, lanterns, and hanging banners.

The city walls are guarded by crawler gangs, who ride crawlers, metal transports with spiked front wheels, propelled by clawed hind legs that are mechanically controlled by the riders. An interior wall known as the Carmine Curtain separates the inner city from the outer.

Bassuras does not have sewers in the common sense of the word but certain areas do have "dumping zones". Some inhabitants make a living by picking up refuse from individual zones and "carting it to the outside of the town and then dumping it all off the side of the ravine on the eastern side of the cliffs outside of the Skids".

Hondir and his colleagues believe that following the next apogee solstice, multiple ley lines are likely to converge near Bassuras into a nexus point.

Carmine Skids
Carmine Skids, or simply the Skids, is the sister city slum of huts and hovels surrounding the city.
 * The Bone Tree: A tree-shaped sculpture, made from the bleached bones of various animals. The starting point for the Deathwish Run.
 * The Carmine Wall, also known as the Carmine Curtain, is the large red wall that marks the exterior of the inner city of Bassuras, separating it from the outer Skids.

Salmagunda Strip
The Salmagunda Strip is a huge marketplace on the northern side of the city. It is strung with the same lanterns and wires of the rest of the city, and even late at night, is busy and lively, full of music and all-night food carts.
 * The Raha Den, a caravanserai.
 * Yunis's General Supply Shop: A front for a black market business selling drugs, poisons, weapons, and powerful magic items. Run by Yunis.

East Dregs
The East Dregs is a rather scruffy part of town with closely spaced hovels, ramshackle buildings, and clusters of scrap and rusted materials, which were left to serve as decor or as emergency weapons for its inhabitants. This is a perfect place in Bassuras for anyone who wants to get out of sight.
 * Finders Takers, a shop that sells scrap materials and black powder.

South Dregs

 * Taste of Tal'Dorei, a theme restaurant and inn.

West Dregs
While the buildings in the West Dregs are, much like those in the Carmine Skids, built from whatever material was available, the West Dregs are nicer and better kept. The buildings in this district range from new to centuries old, and some elements of the walkways are reminiscent of those in Jrusar's Core Spire.
 * Seat of Disdain: Headquarters of the Paragon's Call, a three-floor stone building with defensible battlements.
 * Storm Cisterns: Tall, crooked spires that collect rainwater for the city during monsoons. They hold the city's entire water supply, and are therefore covered in ladders and platforms that are guarded and patrolled by the Gajakhandas.

The Ends
An area of the city known for being home to a number of tinkerers; where Fresh Cut Grass spent most of his time in the city.
 * Imahara Joe's, a tinker's workshop, supplying the Crawler gangs at large.
 * The Sonyon Row, a workshop for crawlers and automatons.

The Undercarriage
A series of shop tents on the western edge of the city, set upon a clustered series of platforms connected to each other by ladders and catwalks, with sleeping rooms accessed by stairways leading below ground.
 * The Rubble and Break or The Revel and Break, an open-air caravanserai with good beer.

Other points of interest

 * Bank of Renewal: An open air market.
 * The River of Renewal: A pawn shop owned and run by Hiro family.
 * Greymoore State Home: An orphanage where Ashton Greymoore and the Nobodies were raised.
 * Tahdiq Glow: A tall tower, made of scrap metal, in the center of the city. It has a green-tinted spotlight that is used on approaching aircraft after dark.
 * The Ravine: A cavern-filled ravine encircling the plateau that creates the foundation of the city of Bassuras. It is part of the Deathwish Run.

Society
Ashton Greymoore described Bassuras as "kind of a shithole," and Lord Eshteross advised the party to wear shabby cloaks while there and keep an eye on their coin purses, saying that the local military "likes to keep things fluid when it comes to law" and that it is a dangerous place. Despite this, it is one of the largest trade centers in the Hellcatch Valley, acting as a nexus for commerce between various regions of Marquet. Many factions there vie for power, including Paragon's Call, although the Call's recent activities elsewhere have diminished their influence within Bassuras. According to Ashton, word spreads very quickly in the city, and it is unwise to ever overpay.

Factions

 * Crawler gangs
 * Paragon's Call
 * All-Minds-Burn
 * Gajakhandas
 * Fists of the Ruiner
 * Division of Public Benefit: A group of adventurers working out of Bassuras. F.C.G worked with them on their last mission in a silver mine near Evishi.
 * Nobodies: A crew of small-time criminals raised with Ashton in Bassuras.

Background
Because of the frequently dangerous weather in the Hellcatch Valley, Bassuras does not have a skyport. When Bells Hells arrived on the Silver Sun, it was the first skyship visit in at least fifteen years.

Campaign 3: Bells Hells
Bells Hells traveled to Bassuras to track Armand Treshi, who had fled there from Jrusar. They arrived late at night and stayed in the Raha Den in the Salmagunda Strip. The next morning, they quickly encountered Dusk, who was being attacked by multiple assailants, and came to their defense. Afterwards, the group headed to Taste of Tal'Dorei. There, they learned that Dusk had spent time in the Feywild and was trying to find Birdie and Ollie Calloway. Imogen cast Sending to Birdie, who told them to meet them at Imahara Joe's in a few days. Some of the party then followed the tracker orb to the River of Renewal, where they learned Treshi had pawned his ring. They then scouted out the Seat of Disdain, the headquarters of the Paragon's Call, but did not find Treshi.

The following day, members of the Paragon's Call met the party at the Raha Den where they were staying, having noticed that they had scouted out the Seat of Disdain the prior day. Ashton convinced them they were interested in taking up Ratanish on the offer he had made back at the Chandei Quorum ball. Bells Hells then prepared for the Deathwish Run, which Ashton suspected they might need to enter. Laudna and Orym continued to scout the Seat of Disdain from a more hidden location, and late in the day saw Treshi take a break on the roof. Ashton, Imogen, and Chetney went to All-Minds-Burn where Ashton asked a favor of his old friend Justi Pross and Imogen noticed the members of the crawler gang seemed to be connected to an underground hivemind. FCG, Dusk, and Fearne went to Finders Takers, run by Esmer, an old flame of Dancer's. Esmer sold them explosives, but also told FCG that she'd recently seen Dancer. The party then all met up at Joe's, where they put down payments for two crawlers. Joe also was fascinated by FCG and told them that they were likely of Aeorian make.

The next day, most of Bells Hells went to the Seat of Disdain and expressed their interest in joining. They were met by Ratanish and Otohan Thull, who challenged them to the Deathwish Run later that evening. Bells Hells agreed to the challenge and collected the crawlers and explosives they had previously requested. They won the race, though Imogen recognized Otohan from her dreams, and FCG seemed to be quite damaged. Ashton and FCG stayed at Joe's while FCG underwent repairs. The rest of the party went to a bar to celebrate, and Chetney accused Dusk of hunting the Calloways, rather than trying to find them, which they denied.

In the morning, Bells Hells and Dusk went to meet Birdie at Imahara Joe's, but Dusk immediately changed into their changeling form and grabbed Birdie. A tense fight and argument ensued, in which Dusk, who revealed their true name as Yu Suffiad, asked Birdie to return the Moontide Crown. Bells Hells successfully negotiated for Birdie to return it after the upcoming apogee solstice instead. Yu then left, and the party followed Birdie to Hondir, an ally of hers hiding out in one of the city's water towers. Hondir was familiar with Imogen's set of powers, and provided the party with information about the upcoming solstice before they all left to the hideout a few hours outside the city where the Calloways were staying.

Bells Hells encountered the Fists of the Ruiner on their way to the hideout, but made it safely. There, they encountered Ira Wendagoth as well as Fearne's father Ollie. Ira showed the party the Veilscatter Scope he had been working on, and pointed it towards Ruidus, where Imogen was able to see a city on the moon. With Imogen's help, Fearne learned that her parents had not realized the amount of time that had passed since they had left her with Morri, and that they were likely being manipulated by Ira. Ira then absconded with the Moontide Crown, and Ashton broke the Weave Lens that Fearne had brought in an attempt to check if it was magical. Bells Hells stayed the night at the hideout, and the next morning, FCG messaged Dancer, who seemed terrified and told him he had killed the rest of the Division of Public Benefit. FCG lost control and attacked the rest of the party until they were knocked unconscious. He had no memory of the incident, and the party decided to return to the city to meet with Dancer and the Paragon's Call.

FCG and Dancer met at the Revel and Break, where she told FCG that she'd purchased them, and that they had attacked the rest of their party, killing them near Evishi. FCG apologized, but Dancer told him she could not resume their relationship until FCG had dealt with the instability that had led them to attack. Imahara Joe was able to provide more information: the seller called himself D, and FCG may have been an aeormaton from an event called the Care and Culling. He gave FCG a coin of the Changebringer. Bells Hells then went to the Paragon's Call, where they were welcomed and given a tour, during which they noticed many of the members loading strange crates with symbols of the Cerberus Assembly on them. While in their rooms, FCG located Treshi beneath them, and Chetney scouted out the lower levels and confirmed Treshi's location. As a dust storm began to kick up, Laudna and Ashton purchased Treshi's ring back from the River of Renewal, and the party made plans to retrieve Treshi. They then all heard an alarm raised, as the Seat of Disdain was under attack.

Bells Hells joined in, seemingly helping fight off the assault, while Imogen, Chetney, and Orym went to retrieve Treshi. There, they ran into Artana Voe, also after Treshi, and briefly allied with her to take Treshi and put him in the portable hole. The rest of the party stole one of the crawlers in the courtyard, and Laudna planted the ring on Otohan Thull. They rendezvoused outside the gates, but Otohan Thull had been alerted and attacked them, killing Fearne, Orym, and Laudna. Otohan repeatedly encouraged Imogen to engage her powers, and Imogen leveled part of the surrounding block, during which the still-living party members had visions of their pasts. FCG resurrected Fearne, who was able to resurrect Orym but not Laudna. They then fled to Imahara Joe's. He allowed them to stay in his storage cellar but warned them that he would if necessary give them up to the Paragon's Call to save himself. There, the party questioned Treshi and called Xandis to pick them up. They fled Bassuras on the Silver Sun, with the Call in pursuit.

On their way to the Tishtan excavation site, Bells Hells stopped again at the Calloway's hideout to speak with Ira and ask him if he wanted to help destroy the Malleus Key. He accepted. Ashton, Imogen, and Orym went into town to go to Yunis's General Supply Store, which Jiana Hexum had recommended to Ashton, and were able to purchase healing potions and several magical items after they dropped Jiana's name.

Trivia
The name "Bassuras" is named after "basura", the Tagalog word for garbage, trash, or junk.