Kymal

Kymal is a small city built on the rocky foothills of the Ironseat Ridge in the Republic of Tal'Dorei, south of the Silvercut Crossroads.

Description
Kymal was originally a mining town, built from the camps mining a vein of gold in the Ironseat Ridge. However, by the early 700s PD, the mines had run out. The city clumsily pivoted towards trade, with little success, and the citizens relied on fishing and farming to survive for decades until around 766 PD, when Calis Krishtan, an immigrant from Ank'Harel, erected a casino, The Maiden's Wish. From there, Kymal built up its new reputation as a place for gambling and entertainment and recovered economically.

As of 812 PD, Kymal was known as a destination for those interested in games of luck, but had also become popular among criminals hoping to game the system or take advantage of those in need of money. Both the Myriad and Clasp have notable presences within the city, each running their own casino named the Wishing Well and the Dragon’s Hoard respectively.

Kymal does trade with the small communities on the shores of the Foramere Basin, and it has a small private line of trade in illicit goods with Syngorn through that city's Linens Guild.

Demographics
In 812 PD, Kymal was a small city with a population of 7,991 made up of humans (73%), dwarves (14%), and various other races (13%), including some gnolls. By 836 PD, Kymal's population had grown greatly to 29,440. Humans were still the majority (63%), followed by dwarves (24%), and others make up the rest (13%).

Many tieflings embrace their infernal ancestry in this seedy town, and the margrave in 836 PD is a tiefling. The city is a center of the rock gnome population in Tal'Dorei, but aside from Sybil and Kaylie, there were no other female forest gnomes there while Kaylie was growing up.

Notable people

 * Kaylie, gnomish member of Dr. Dranzel's Spectacular Traveling Troupe and daughter of Scanlan Shorthalt who helped in his resurrection ritual and subsequent criminal exploits in Marquet.
 * Calis Krishtan, entrepreneur from Ank'Harel who opened the small Maiden's Wish casino that began Kymal's revival.
 * Former Margrave Jaktur Krishtan, Calis's son, heir to the Maiden's Wish, and local political-celebrity figure.
 * Current Margrave Khavasta Almiji, In or just before 836 PD, Prudence became acting margrave.
 * Claret Director emeritus Teresa Dulamar, former head of the Claret Orders of Tal'Dorei who mostly stays in Kymal.
 * Theona Balmhand, wandering gnomish healer from Kymal and member of the Golden Grin
 * Sylker “the Millionaire” Uttolot, a former subordinate of the crime families of Shadycreek Run, joined the Myriad and became the first individual on that continent to hoard one million gold pieces.

Factions

 * Public Defense: Kymal's constabulary, around a thousand armed guards.

Crime
Kymal is the epicenter of drug trade for both the Clasp and the Myriad. Though the creation and possession of these drugs is strictly prohibited in most of Tal'Dorei, they have found popularity in Kymal, where the Public Defense is quite susceptible to bribes, arrestign rather small-time crooks working for these criminal organizations, almost never the high-ranking members.

History
Before 612 PD, a gold rush in the Ironseat Ridge made Kymal into a boom town over the next century. A century later, Kymal's gold rush came to an end as the deposits ran dry, and the mining industry died within a decade. The town only recovered several decades later with the founding of the Maiden's Wish casino.

Kaylie, daughter of Scanlan Shorthalt and Sybil, was hardened by the experience of growing up in Kymal.

Campaign One: Vox Machina
After the Chroma Conclave attacked Tal'Dorei in the beginning of Arc 3, refugees from Westruun sought shelter, food, and aid in Kymal. Some, including Elowen Brist and her son Simon, were turned away because Kymal was unable to accommodate so many refugees.

Anna Ripley found Kynan Leore in Kymal; she persuaded him to join her in the search of the Vestiges of the Divergence after telling him that it was Vox Machina that was responsible for the attack on Emon.

When Scanlan died in, Vex'ahlia teleported to Kymal to get Kaylie in order to bring her back to Whitestone.

By 812 PD, the Myriad had gained a foothold in Kymal, and was engaged in a proxy war against the Clasp there.

Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn
Technically, Khavasta "Prudence" Almiji was the main authority in Kymal, starting around 806 PD, but was appointed as margrave only in or just before 836 PD, replacing Jaktur Krishtan. As acting margrave and the commander of Kymal's Public Defense, Prudence has considerably reduced the visibility of gang violence in the city (though it still occurs in secret).