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Jrusar (pronounced /ˌdʒruːˈsɑr/) is the capital city of the Oderan Wilds in northwestern Marquet.

Description[]

Jrusar is marked by five reddish rocky spires rising hundreds of feet above the jungle around and between them. It's theorized that the five spires were once one mountain that was destroyed by an unknown force during the Calamity.[1]

Laudna and Imogen on a gondola - Kathrin Kurfiss

Fan art of the gondolas of Jrusar, by Kathrin Kurfiss.[art 2]

The spires are connected, in part, by wire gondolas,[2] which are available for public use for a small fee (1 silver piece)[3] and which are controlled in part by stone automatons.[4] Brumeskippers and other magical means are also used to move between spires, although it is usually more expensive.[5] The only rigid bridge connecting any of the spires is the Fatewalk, a wide stone bridge hundreds of feet long that connects the Core Spire and the Lantern Spire.[6] Near the steps at the base of Jrusar live outcasts and people who wish to be free of the city's business structure.[7]

Aerie Spire[]

The Aerie Spire is the tallest of the five spires but is thinner than the Core Spire, and most of the construction on it is toward its top.[8]

  • Starpoint Conservatory: One of the two famous universities in the city.
  • Ascension's Rise: The other famous university.
  • The Aerie Skyport for skyships.[9][10]
  • The Parlor of the Collective[11] or Collective of Bodhan[12]: The offices of the city's designers, engineers, and arcanists working on maintenance of the infrastructure.

Core Spire[]

Fownsee Hollow - Cers@cersonality

Fan art of Fownsee Hollow, by Cers @Cersonality.[art 3]

The Core Spire is the largest, but not the tallest, of the spires.

  • The Chandei Chambers: The well-guarded meeting place of the Chandei Quorum atop the Core Spire.[13]
  • The Dayal Hall: A private school serving people of all economic backgrounds.[14]
  • Fownsee Hollow: In the center of the Spire, hundreds of feet of climbable space with a network of ladders, walkways, cables, ropes, and rafters; numerous tunnels lead out from the unsupervised, ramshackle hovels to the streets. It is "where people go to disappear."[15]
  • The Mirror Towers: A guild district of four towers located near the top of the spire.[17] The Mirror Towers can be seen in the official art, at the top of the central Core Spire.
    • Moon Tower
  • The Windowed Wall (Viduun-Devaar):[18] A residential neighborhood on the outside of the Spire near the base, with hundreds of homes featuring porches that offer a view.[19] Home of Laudna, Imogen, and Dugger.
  • Eshteross Manor (formerly the Prudaj Estate): Home of the reclusive Lord Ariks Eshteross.
  • The Prism Emporium: A general store on the main road high on the Spire.[20] Owned and operated by Tuyen Otwana.[21]
  • The Spire by Fire Inn: A six-story tavern built into the rock on the edge of the Spire.[22]
  • Dreamscape Theater: An ostentatious theater owned by Stuvan Idrio.

Lantern Spire[]

The streets of Jrusar - Clara

Official art of the streets of Jrusar, by Clara.[art 4]

Those entering the city on foot do so through the Lantern Spire, which has a thriving market in travel and tourist goods.[23]

Lucent Spire[]

The Lucent Spire is the second tallest spire[33] and home to many wealthy denizens of Jrusar.[34]

Smolder Spire[]

To the northwest of the Core Spire, the smallest spire serves as the industrial area of the city. It is full of factories belching colored smoke, and there is a lot of mining of metal, fuel,[40] and gems.[41] There are also some residential portions.[42]

  • Factories
  • The Granite Hold: A prison.[43]
  • Gurge Kisgregg's house
  • Neer-Matown: A quarry in the center of the spire.[44]
  • The Soot and Swill Tavern: A drinking establishment.[45]
  • The Take It or Leave It: Possibly a drinking establishment.[46]
  • Underrush Mines: Southernmost and deepest mine in the spire, owned by the family of the same name.[47][48]
    • Crownset Cavern: A cave system within the Underrush Mines.[49]
  • Temple of the Duskmaven: At the very top of the spire, recognizable by its dark appearance.[50]
Jrusar by Kent Davis

Fan art of Jrusar at night, by Kent Davis.[art 5]

Society[]

Demographics[]

Because Jrusar's skyship port, like Ank'Harel's, is considered "open" instead of the more closed-off ones elsewhere on the continent, Jrusar is a cultural mixing pot, borrowing rites from many traditions.[51]

People of many races commingle in Jrusar, to a greater degree than typically seen in Exandria: humans, dragonborn, dwarves, eisfuura, elves (including drow), gnomes, goblins, goliaths, halflings, katari, ogres, orcs, and pachydans, among others. The city is also home to half-elves, half-orcs, and uniya, people who are both half-orc and half-elf.

Notable people[]

Name Type Associated
Spire
Description
Anni Aughta NPC Core Spire An uniya performer planning to audition for the Dreamscape Theater.
Ariks Eshteross NPC Core Spire A wealthy elderly orc who carries around a cane and has notable status within the city.[52]
Dugger NPC Core Spire A dwarven member of the Hubatt Corsairs.
Effid NPC Core Spire An eisfuura who lives in the Fownsee Hollow.
Evelyn Wress NPC Core Spire A middle-aged elven woman who helps Lord Eshteross run his estate.[53]
Ishir NPC Core Spire A katari who operates the Spire by Fire Inn.
Milo Krook NPC Core Spire A human who runs the Krook House, a kind of almshouse in the Fownsee Hollow.[54]
Mistress Prudaj NPC Core Spire Now-deceased wealthy benefactress of Jrusar who left her estate to Lord Eshteross.[55]
Stuvan Idrio NPC Core Spire A half-elven man who owns the Dreamscape Theater.
Tefta NPC Core Spire A gnomish woman who manages the finances at the Dreamscape Theater.[56]
Vali Dertrana NPC Core Spire The elven or half-elven business commissioner of the Mirror Towers.
Zhudanna NPC Core Spire A human who runs a guest house in the Viduun-Devaar.
Advik NPC Lantern Spire A human merchant who owns Advik's Wandering Curiosities and Collections in Elder's Post.
Ephred NPC Lantern Spire An elven baker who sells his wares in Elder's Post.
Kamala the Maven NPC Lantern Spire A half-orc woman who runs the Weary Way Tavern.
Marwa Endalia NPC Lantern Spire A young human woman who now runs the Trove of Marwa after her father's passing.[57]
Ovalia NPC Lantern Spire The dragonborn owner of the Root Trader.
Weva Vudol NPC Lantern Spire A human cleric of the Duskmaven.
Yash Mangal NPC Lantern Spire A half-elf who serves as a de facto leader of the Hubatt Corsairs.
Ela Lumas NPC Lucent Spire A human woman who is the ginang (head) of House Lumas.
Jiana Hexum NPC Lucent Spire An elven woman who Ashton Greymoore once tried to rob and now works for.
Oshad "The Anger" Breshio NPC Lucent Spire A renowned bodyguard, who had done work for the Lumas Twins before he was badly injured.
Artana Voe NPC Smolder Spire An uniya bounty hunter.
Preio Madali NPC Smolder Spire An uniya co-owner of the Soot and Swill Tavern.
Pretty NPC Smolder Spire An ogre cook who works at the Soot and Swill Tavern.
Kunthea, Tiron, and Yome NPCs Aerie Spire Members of the staff of the Starpoint Conservatory.[58][59][60]

Nobility[]

Jrusar - Dixie Lee Henning

Fan art of Jrusar, by Dixie Lee Henning.[art 6]

There are several noble houses in the Oderan Wilds, known as the Mahaan houses, and many of them live in Jrusar, benefiting from their position. However, others are genuinely benign and try their best to improve the city.

Some of the noble houses are the following:

  • House Lumas: the house of the scholarly Lumas twins, killed in a mysterious attack[61]
  • House Treshi: oversees official construction[62] and has interests in at least three guilds[63]
  • House Maysoon: owner of the Mahaan Maysoon Trading Company and producer of maps[64]

Factions[]

  • Guro Coterie
  • The Chandei Quorum oversees and controls the larger populace of the region.[65]
    • The Wardens of Jrusar, colloquially known as "Wilders", are the guards and law enforcement of the city working for the Quorum. Some of them are simurgh riders,[66] called Sky Wardens.[67]
  • The Ivory Syndicate, a criminal organization which seems to operate unchecked in Jrusar and across the Honored Trails.[68]
  • The Hubatt Corsairs, an up-and-coming criminal organization that robs the corrupt rich and gives their takings to the poor. They are in frequent conflict with the Syndicate.[69]

History[]

Background[]

Following the Calamity, much of Marquet was devastated, and the jungle that remained become warped by fey influence and thus significantly more treacherous. Survivors struck out to explore the altered landscape, and in the Oderan Wilds, they discovered a striking group of five spires of rock that could serve as a haven from the dangerous wilderness below and which contained rich veins of ore and gems. So Jrusar, like the oasis city of Ank'Harel, served as a trading hub that drew travelers from across Marquet and ultimately across Exandria, making it a melting pot. In time, like Ank'Harel, Jrusar developed a skyport.[70]

Campaign Three: Bells Hells[]

Trivia[]

  • Sillgoats are used as draft animals in the city.[71]
  • Jrusar doesn't have conventional sewers, instead relying on downward-draining holes that empty directly at the base of each spire.[72]
  • There is at least one cemetery or funeral facility in the city, the Lucent Memorial Mausoleum.[73]
  • According to Ashton, there are certain animals in Jrusar that choose specific areas of the city where they go when they are going to die.[74]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. See "The Tunnels Below" (3x15) at 41:37.
  2. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 1:24:30.
  3. See "A Woodworker's Quandary" (3x08) at 2:33:08.
  4. See "A Woodworker's Quandary" (3x08) at 2:37:13.
  5. See "Reunited" (3x64) at 1:22:58.
  6. See "Trial by Firelight" (3x02) at 1:16:51.
  7. See "On the Trail of a Killer" (3x04) at 2:51:36.
  8. See "Thicker Grows the Meal and Plot" (3x09) at 2:37:27.
  9. See "On the Trail of a Killer" (3x04) at 2:37:38.  Jrusar is one of the two major open skyship nexuses in Marquet, along with Ank'Harel.
  10. See "To The Skies" (3x23) at 1:07:33.
  11. See "Pyrrhic Return" (3x35) at 2:42:36.
  12. See "Pyrrhic Return" (3x35) at 4:23:44.
  13. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 31:31.
  14. See "Trial by Firelight" (3x02) at 1:47:13.
  15. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 0:44:38.
  16. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 0:43:42.
  17. See "Thicker Grows the Meal and Plot" (3x09) at 2:37:59.
  18. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 1:36:45.
  19. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 3:08:47.
  20. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 57:53.
  21. See "Chasing Nightmares" (3x11) at 3:48:09.
  22. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 1:00:54.
  23. See "The Threat Between the Walls" (3x05) at 0:42:50.
  24. See "Trial by Firelight" (3x02) at 1:17:25.
  25. See "On the Trail of a Killer" (3x04) at 3:24:21.
  26. See "Trial by Firelight" (3x02) at 3:37:26.
  27. See "On the Trail of a Killer" (3x04) at 3:39:54.
  28. See "The Threat Between the Walls" (3x05) at 0:42:01.
  29. See "The Threat Between the Walls" (3x05) at 0:41:55.
  30. See "Trial by Firelight" (3x02) at 1:48:07.
  31. See "Heart-to-Heartmoor" (3x17) at 1:33:54.
  32. See "Trial by Firelight" (3x02) at 1:16:22.
  33. See "Chasing Nightmares" (3x11) at 3:49:17.
  34. See "Growing Bonds and Teasing Threads" (3x06) at 2:09:36.
  35. See "Chasing Nightmares" (3x11) at 3:50:20.
  36. See "Ghosts, Dates, and Darker Fates" (3x10) at 1:24:25.
  37. See "Chasing Nightmares" (3x11) at 4:02:10.
  38. See "Make It Fashion" (3x12) at 38:41.
  39. See "Reunited" (3x64) at 2:05:10.  Team Issylra arrives through a tree in this spire.
  40. See "On the Trail of a Killer" (3x04) at 2:54:05.
  41. See "A Woodworker's Quandary" (3x08) at 2:33:48.
  42. See "A Woodworker's Quandary" (3x08) at 2:32:07.
  43. See "A Woodworker's Quandary" (3x08) at 3:18:16.
  44. See "The Tunnels Below" (3x15) at 34:07.
  45. See "Thicker Grows the Meal and Plot" (3x09) at 50:45.
  46. See "A Woodworker's Quandary" (3x08) at 3:08:37.
  47. See "The Tunnels Below" (3x15) at 1:29:07.
  48. See "The Tunnels Below" (3x15) at 2:30:56.
  49. See "The Tunnels Below" (3x15) at 2:06:29.
  50. See "A Path of Vengeance" (3x65) at 2:40:42.
  51. See "On the Trail of a Killer" (3x04) from 2:37:38 through 2:28:06.
  52. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) from 3:53:20 through 3:54:06.
  53. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 3:47:43.
  54. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 48:30.
  55. See "The Trail and the Toll" (3x03) from 3:29:34 through 3:31:54.
  56. See "Behind the Curtain" (3x07) at 1:33:45.
  57. See "Make It Fashion" (3x12) at 1:33:35.
  58. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 0:25:46.
  59. See "Make It Fashion" (3x12) at 0:14:57.
  60. See "Make It Fashion" (3x12) at 2:56:18.
  61. See "Growing Bonds and Teasing Threads" (3x06) at 2:43:02.
  62. See "Behind the Curtain" (3x07) at 3:30:18.
  63. See "Thicker Grows the Meal and Plot" (3x09) at 57:42.  Lord Eshteross mentions the Treshis control three guilds.
  64. The official map of the Oderan Wilds by Deven Rue bears the mark of a "Mahaan Maysoon Trading Company".
  65. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 16:17.
  66. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 1:00:21.
  67. See "Trial by Firelight" (3x02) at 2:58:50.
  68. See "Trial by Firelight" (3x02) at 1:00:53.
  69. See "On the Trail of a Killer" (3x04) at 2:31:40.
  70. Exquisite Exandria: The Official Cookbook of Critical Role, p. 103.
  71. See "The Draw of Destiny" (3x01) at 1:38:03.
  72. See "Trial by Firelight" (3x02) at 3:36:34.
  73. See "The Momentum of Murder" (3x39) at 1:03:02.
  74. See "Nice" (3x69) at 2:21:29.

Art:

  1. Official art of Jrusar, by Clara (source). Used with permission.
  2. Fan art of the gondolas of Jrusar, by Kathrin Kurfiss (source). Used with permission.
  3. Fan art of Fownsee Hollow, by Cers @Cersonality (source). Used with permission.
  4. Official art of the streets of Jrusar, by Clara (source). Used with permission.
  5. Fan art of Jrusar at night, by Kent Davis (source). Used with permission.
  6. Fan art of Jrusar, by Dixie Lee Henning (source). Used with permission.
  7. Fan made map of Jrusar, by Son of Joxer (source). Used with permission.
  8. Fan art of Jrusar, by Son of Joxer (source). Used with permission.
  9. Fan art of Jrusar, by BlackSalander (source). Used with permission.
  10. Fan art of Jrusar, by Sam "Qelric" Spencer (source). Used with permission.
  11. Fan art of Jrusar, by Cers @Cersonality (source). Used with permission.
  12. Fan art of Jrusar, by Savvy Jensen (source). Used with permission.
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