Arnesport

Arnesport is a moderately sized city and a bustling port for Spelljamming ships, especially those traveling to or from Faerun. It is located on the far side of Selûne, Toril's moon, in the middle of a lake. The climate within the crater that makes up the lake is warm and hospitable, unlike the barren wasteland covering much of the rest of the lunar surface. It is a lawless haven for space pirates, here it's your own fault for being stupid enough to get robbed or even murdered. That said it also functions as a vibrant hub for trade and a haven for ships in need of service, just don't act like such an easy mark if you want to keep your purse.

Demographics

Anything and anyone from across space and time, but especially outlaws, cutthroats, and pirates. Population ~15,000

Government

There is a hereditary nobility and baron of the city but the only laws that are enforced involve tampering with or stealing ships at dock. See Council of Pirate Lords

Layout

The city is broken up into three main districts: The Bridge where all the nobles keeps are, The Berthing where the middle class and tradesmen live and work, and The Bilge where the rabble drinks and where one goes to disappear.

History

The city of Arnesport began as little more than a space-pirate hideaway for “The Lioness” Amber Arnes and her crew two hundred years ago, but as her fleet's victories grew so did her riches to the point that she could retire to the far side of the moon where she built a luxurious castle and surrounded by some of the seediest taverns and black markets in the system. She turned from active piracy to providing the perfect location to bring all the underbelly of the spacefaring community together, and made a killing in the process. The settlement grew and more successful captains followed in her footsteps in their own time, establishing castles and keeps around Arnesport and converting their battle flags to coats of arms and declaring themselves lords and ladies in an ever-growing network of royalty built on ill-gotten gains.

Over the years the spaceport has grown into a city with its own culture and landmarks and even a (very very limited) form of government, and many of the ruling class look more like real nobles than scurvy-dogs in costumes, despite their families’ origins.

But at its core Arnesport is a place of lawlessness where everyone is expected to police themselves and it’s your own fault if you were stupid enough to get robbed or killed in an alley. The only crime that is truly punished (other than those that affect the wealthy nobility) is the tampering with or theft of ships in port. This iron law is enforced brutally and has been since a stroke of genius by Arnes herself, which has allowed the port become a bustling hub of activity for trade, smuggling, and adventuring.

Drawing attention meant the city could grow quickly, but it also drew the ire of an immense, territorial, and ancient lunar dragon that claims the entire moon as its domain. Most weren’t concerned by the loss of life in the attacks but the property damage was simply too great an injustice to suffer. After “the third razing” the nobility of the city managed to convince the dragon to leave the city alone so long that they provide shipments of riches to add to the dragons horde once per lunar day.

As a docking fee every ship entering or leaving the port must provide pearls, black diamonds, silver coins, or other treasure that matches the dragon’s taste for colorless light-dark aesthetic. This is collected and sent to the far side of the moon to the dragons lair, a small price for the huge riches to be made from plundering the ships around Toril, but enough to keep the dragon at bay.