Ank'Harel

Ank'Harel is a city in Marquet, the center of Rumedam Desert, and the center of culture, history, and power for the continent. It is also known as the Jewel of Hope, the translation of its name from the northern Marquesian dialect, and the Jewel of Marquet. It was built "long ago", the earliest mention dates back four hundred years ago since the reign of J'mon Sa Ord.

Description
Ank'Harel was described by Jarett Howarth as being "comparable, a bit bigger" relative to Emon. The city is ovular in shape, standing on differently leveled platforms, with enormous, 65-foot-tall outer walls that have tall guard towers decoratively shaped like hands cradling the walls from underneath. Within the city are around a hundred tall, multi-level spires. Many buildings have pointed rooftops and colorful murals. The city is draped in multicolored cloth that hang across the buildings and red cobblestone streets.

The gates of the city close at night, and many caravans camp outside.

Ank'Harel is surrounded by a wide web of smaller villages.

Points of interest

 * A Kingly Home: Appears as furniture store, but inside is a secret hideout for Asharru with a hidden passage behind a basement cabinet, leading toward the Suncut Bazaar.

Guided District
Contains a number of ornate houses of worship to each of the Prime Deities. The poor may find food and clothing here.
 * Temple of The Mentor: The Cobalt Soul archive.

River District
A number of canals begin in the River District. The spring, the perpetual oasis that fuels the city is located here. It is noted that many of the caravans of Marquet travel to and from this district in particular.

Sand-Herald District
Loacated at the upper central platform of the city.
 * Cerulean Palace: The seat of government and court in Ank'harel.
 * Tower of J'mon Sa Ord: A building adjacent to the palace, made for watching over the entire city.
 * Scarlet Prison, also known as the Scarlet Oubliette: Dungeon located beneath the Cerulean Palace. It is rumored that people are placed there to be tortured or to be part of various experiments.
 * Bowl of Judgment: The site of duels sanctioned by the Hand of Ord. Nearby the Cerulean Palace.
 * Indala Skyport

Sigil District
A district on the south-eastern side of the city. The streets here are paved with an opaline material, including a very faint trace of whitestone particles.


 * Crystal Chateau: A large multi-tiered structure made of a smoky quartz mixed with white marble. There is a large white iron heavy gate that surrounds the building itself and a fairly well-kept garden grown around the chateu. A small stream runs through the trees with a bridge off the main path that leads to the chateau. The water seems to butt up against the chateau and vanish beneath it.
 * Excavation pit: A 150 foot wide pit whose excavation is overseen by the Allegiance of Allsight.
 * Omnival Library

Suncut Bazaar
Distinguished by strands of crimson flags that run across the street corners, the Suncut Bazaar features a few shops that go indoors, but mostly open sky and hundreds of various tents, carts, pop-up stand-ups, and even the center of the street, blankets set out, with the various merchants there with their wares strewn across the ground, waiting for anybody to come and approach.
 * Luck's Run: A casino.
 * The Corner Cove: An inn within the Suncut Bazaar.
 * The Debt's Respite: A tavern in Ank'Harel run by Treev Bonebreaker. It is known for being the base of operations for the mercenary group known as the Scarbearers.
 * Oddities & Eccentricities: A curiosity stall managed by Nisaba.
 * The Shade: A lounge tavern with a distinctive, dark green tent steeple.
 * Bone Garden: Trades construction materials at the most northern side of the Suncut bazaar.

Demographics
During their short travels to Ank'Harel, Vox Machina noted that it has a mostly human population with a wide variety of people living there, but everyone seemed to mesh together without prejudice. Notably, they noticed a number of dark-skinned halflings, a few half-elves, and some half-orcs. They also saw tieflings more frequently than would be found in Emon.

Vox Machina did not see or encounter a single dwarf or goliath, and only one elf.

Factions

 * Allegiance of Allsight: A group that runs a scholarly institution in the city.
 * Alsfarin Union: A group responsible for the creation and maintenance of brumestones and skyships.
 * Scarbearers: A group of mercenaries.
 * Den of Drujah: A criminal organisation which ran rather violent activities in the city around 730-740 PD, until an unknown assassin wearing Cabal's Ruin eliminated the den around 760 PD.

The Hand of Ord

 * &rarr; Main article: The Hand of Ord.

The Hand of Ord is the primary guard protecting the city of Ank'Harel and nearby townships and villages.

Culture

 * Kurrak fruit: a fruit that looks like a mango with a spiny, rough exterior. Difficult to hold, but has a delightful flavor comparable to a sweet water experience.
 * Fusaka: a cooking spice used to season meat.
 * "Be pleased" as a common expression of politeness, accompanied with a small bow, preferably with the hand down towards the stomach.
 * Sandkheg's Hide, an extremely intoxicating beverage

Background
The city is built atop the Drowned City of Cael Morrow, a civilization wiped out in the Calamity. The ruins remain intact. It has been ruled by J'mon Sa Ord for the entirety of its approximately 400-year history.

When Riskel Daxio attempted to flee Emon before being captured by Vox Machina, a leader of the Clasp stated that Daxio was heading to Ank'Harel.

Before Vox Machina travelled to Ank'harel in search of the vestige Cabal's Ruin, Jarett told them to greet people with the phrase "Be pleased", and that water was as valuable as coin. Once they arrived at Ank'harel, the gates were closed for the night so the group camped inside Scanlan's Magnificent Mansion. Guards from the Hand of Ord expressed concern about the 'strange magic' of the mansion, and advised them not to use it within the city.

Once inside the city, the guards advised them to keep their weapons sheathed. The party visited several areas, including the Suncut Bazaar, noting the similarity to Emon and the range of races of the inhabitants. They next visited two taverns: The Shade, a lounge tavern with a hookah bar, and the Debt's Respite. While at these taverns, they tried Sandkheg's Hide, an extremely strong local beverage.

They visited the Cerulean Palace to seek an audience with J'mon Sa Ord, the ruler of the city. Once inside the palace, they traveled up a tower to a central chamber that looked upon the majority of the desert.

After their audience with J'mon Sa Ord, Vox Machina visited the Luck's Run casino where Scanlan completed his spice deal. After getting kicked out of the casino, the group went back to their rooms at the Debt's Respite.

The next day, the group visited the Crystal Chateau on the upper-class side of the city, where Percy noticed traces of Whitestone in the cobblestone.

Behind the scenes
According to Matthew Mercer, Ank'Harel is distinctly influenced by real-world Arab culture. Ahead of Campaign 3, Matt wrote in a blog post on the official Critical Role website that the city of Ank'Harel was "deeply realized and fleshed out" with the help of others on the Call of the Netherdeep adventure module from Wizards of the Coast. Makenzie De Armas, a Wizards of the Coast writer on Call of the Netherdeep, stated that the writing team wished to make Ank'Harel cosmopolitan without creating a monolith of any culture and that southern and western Marquet are inspired by her Filipino heritage. She described seeing the setting reflecting her Southeast Asian identity as "important and cathartic".