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 many tall spires. Many buildings have pointed rooftops and colorful murals. The buildings of the city are often draped in multicolored cloth. The streets are mostly red cobblestone.

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
This district is where the oasis on which Ank'Harel was built is located. It is also where a number of canals originate, for water flowing from the spring of the oasis; and where many caravans coming to Ank'Harel make their first stop.

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 in an opalescent stone that includes trace amounts whitestone particles.


 * Crystal Chateau: An elaborate, multi-story white marble and smoky quartz building. The grounds include gardens and a small stream, and the entire chateau is surrounded by a large, white-painted iron gate.
 * 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 are hung from the street corners, the Suncut Bazaar is an open-air market with a handful of permanent shops.
 * 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 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 minority populations of halflings, half-elves, half-orcs, and tieflings. There seemed to be little prejudice, particularly none like that which tieflings at the time experienced in Emon. They noted that elves and gnomes were particularly uncommon, with Scanlan receiving some odd looks, and goliaths were unheard of.

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. The flavor is described as 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".