Port Kilton is designed as a modular location that you can drop into a larger world, complete with character tokens and battle maps. We hope that you will enjoy adapting it for your campaign!
At the mouth of the Warewich River sits Port Kilton, an Imperial trading town. To the east is the ocean; to the west, wetlands like the Dusnak Swamp. The city boasts tall, thick walls on its landward sides, built to deter the lizardfolk of the swamps from raiding.
Port Kilton is majority human, but only barely. People of every species can be found here, even the odd lizardfolk, although any bearing the scar-marks of the swamp clans are refused entry. As an Imperial city, the only official temples in the city are Imperial-sanctioned ones, but small “heretical” worship groups exist throughout the dense housing complexes.
Two major roads divide Port Kilton: Fox Road, which runs from the Fort south to the gates, and Anchorage Way, which runs from the docks to the Garment District and the west walls. The crossroads where they meet is a large plaza called Brick Square, which, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, is surfaced with bricks.
At the southeast edge of Port Kilton sits Little Lemuria, a district of triton refugees built in a rocky cove. Though the people there are friendly, the neighbourhood itself is not, being built for water-dwellers.
To the north is Fort Kilton, home to the city’s guard. The large ballista on its northernmost tower is the first thing most ships from the north see.
The west side of Port Kilton is lined with docks, which get progressively larger as you go further south. The northern ones are mainly used for the ships that traverse the Warewich River, while the southern ones are for the larger ocean-going vessels. These docks are the lifeblood of Port Kilton. While it does have a land connection at the south end of town, the vast majority of its supplies come through the docks, whether brought in by the Royal Ulanov Trading Company or other ships.
Sometimes, on the north docks, you can even see lizardfolk from Clan Akahoya of the Dusnak Swamp, here to trade the bounties of the swamp for the goods of civilization. The atmosphere is often tense when the lizards are around, due to their reputation for violence, but Clan Akahoya does its best to behave while in the port.
In the middle of the docks, where Anchorage Way meets them, you can find a fish market and some residences.
Vrindez, Loxodon Wizard. Vrindez is a researcher from a far off land, who has taken up residence near the docks. He spends his days watching for incoming ships and trundling up to any that dock to ask if he can examine their books, both magical and mundane. He copies most of what he reads, and his personal library is full of arcane knowledge from across the world.
Hook, a warforged with one hand replaced by a hook. Hook is a machine created for some distant war. During the course of those events, his left arm was destroyed by cannon fire, but by the end of the war, the forges of his creation had been destroyed. Now he makes do with a large hook that he can squeeze closed. Hook is only here temporarily, and is looking for passage. To where, he doesn’t really care.
Breeze, goblin fishmonger. Breeze is a green-skinned goblin fishmonger, with a single thin, long strip of white hair running down the back of her head. Breeze has an encyclopedic knowledge of every species of fish, dolphin, whale, seadrake, aquarachnid and shark within 50 miles of the shore.
Jade Honey, tabaxi bard. Jade is a black-furred tabaxi with white paws. She can often be found prowling the bars, charming anyone who’ll listen to her words. As a result of her vibrant nightlife, she knows a lot of the town’s gossip.
These maps might be useful…
In the center of Port Kilton sits a walled complex with a large, ornate cathedral in the center. Both the governor and the high priest live and work here. People stream in and out of this area constantly— politicians, traders, Imperial officials and so on. Some of these people are here for legitimate business, while some are smugglers here to give High Priest Rykov his cut in exchange for their safety.
In the center of the temple complex, under the cathedral, a vault full of gold and foreign treasures sits. Its existence is not widely known, but most criminals can guess that Rykov has to be hiding his profits somewhere.
During the night, when the gates are closed, loud parties can sometimes be heard from inside.
Governor Pyotr Ulanov, human baron. This rotund, pale-skinned noble is the nominative ruler of Port Kilton, although in practice he’s too distracted indulging in obscene pleasures to rule, and leaves the head priest to do it in his place. In his younger days, before he succumbed to the pleasures of wealth, he ran the Royal Ulanov Trading Company.
High Priest Denis Rykov, human theocrat. Rykov is corrupt to the bone. Every contraband smuggler pays him off. He uses the profits to keep Governor Ulanov complacent. Eventually, he plans to take his hoarded gold and goods and flee for a nice island somewhere.
Hurricane, triton cleric. Hurricane came with the initial wave of triton refugees and was awed by the sight of the Imperial Temple. Since then, she’s done her best to rise in the ranks of the clergy, but she’s seen more and more shady characters around the Temple, and she’s starting to wonder if everything is on the up and up.
These maps may help, should your player characters begin poking around…
At the intersection of Fox Road and Anchorage Way is a central plaza, lined with shops.
Gord, monkeyfolk barkeep. Gord is a large, hairy humanoid from somewhere beyond the sea. He has a decent grasp of Common, but prefers to speak in Dwarven when possible. He says he’s able to express himself more easily in it. Some people say he’s just here to be muscle, but he also makes an excellent spiced nightfall.
The Roosting Albatross, tavern and inn.
The Roosting Albatross is a wooden tavern just a few blocks from the docks. It used to be a warehouse, and the doors of the loading bay are usually opened during summer to cool the place down.
The back half of the warehouse has been converted into rentable rooms for travelers. Its primary clientele is sailors and, as such, the place can get a bit rowdy.
| Menu | Price |
|---|---|
| Breaded Lime & Pepper | 1 GP |
| Lime & Garlic Crab | 5 GP |
| Sailor’s Special | 3 GP |
| Spiced Nightfall | 5 SP |
| One-person room (per night) | 2 GP |
| Two-person room (per night) | 3 GP |
| Four-person penthouse (per night) | 10 GP |
Breaded Lime & Pepper Tuna: Breaded and fried sticks of tuna, served with chunks of lime. It’s not exactly clear where pepper enters the equation.
Lime & Garlic Crab: Acidic lime juice and tangy garlic combine for a tasty dish that will really wake you up in the morning.
Sailor’s Special: Pineapple pancakes served with breakfast sausages soaked in lime juice. Perfect for anybody at risk of scurvy.
Spiced Nightfall: Dwarven ale mixed with highly potent elven spirits, named for the way the spirits sparkle in the pitch-black ale.
Stitches, potion seller. Stitches is a felt puppet on the hand of former potion maker Mij Nos’Neh. Due to a freak potion accident, Stitches gained sentience and has taken over Mij’s body. If Stitches could be separated, perhaps Mij could take control again. In the mean time, Stitches brews and pours the potions, preferring to use his puppet hands whenever possible. Nobody knows that Stitches is alive, and they assume that Mij is just very committed to this ventriloquist bit. Stitches sells his potions from a stall in Brick Square, though he does the actual brewing at a facility in the Garment District.
Hammer Northson, half-orc muscle. Hammer speaks Common with a distinct northern accent (Ideally Scandinavian, but Canadian works too). Hammer Northson is a good, reliable fella. Outdoorsy sort. He used to be a lumberjack and he had a long-term girlfriend in the town near the camp. When that relationship went south, so did he. He can often be found kicking around Brick Square, looking for anyone who needs a wilderness guide.
These maps might be useful in a pinch…
At the west walls you’ll find the Garment District, a cramped maze of factories and ramshackle houses. Here, fabric imported from the wider world is laboriously transformed into elegant dresses, regal cloaks and stunning hats. Hours are long, conditions are poor and pay is bad.
Finding your way in the Garment District can be quite troublesome, due to its haphazard construction. Residences are often squeezed in between factories, taking up what used to be alleys. Occasionally a factory burns down and becomes a thoroughfare, until somebody decides to rebuild there.
Nie’Ven Thero, half-elf factory owner. This dashing half-elf with a fondness for cigars runs a major textile factory, where conditions are horrible and pay is even worse. Many of the workers are children, and they’re sometimes chained to their machines. Nie’Ven doesn’t really have any redeeming traits.
Xir Clifffang, kobold activist. Xir is a young, black-skinned kobold with two fingers missing from his right hand. He spends a lot of his time wandering Brick Square and Lemurian Square telling people about the horrible factory conditions and trying to get people to help, but due to being a kobold with a tenuous grasp of common, he is often ignored.
The Knives are a gang of hoodlums who operate out of the Garment District. They’re all working class teenagers who have managed to avoid the factories and, instead, they make their money by robbing people and doing dirty jobs for “legitimate” businessfolks, like Nie’Ven Thero or High Priest Denis Rykov.
Bobby “The Knife” Riley, human thug. Bobby the Knife runs the Knives, and he got his nickname from the fact that he owns a large knife. Bobby is blond, lanky, and prone to dramatic “tough guy” statements.
Roman Vladislavovich Manin, human thug. Roman is a fast-talking chap with a nice hat and few morals. In contrast to Bobby, Roman doesn’t like to fight, and prefers to try to find solutions that let everybody win. And by everybody, he generally means the Knives in particular, but maybe the other party doesn’t get stabbed.
Isaiah “Wings” Rezek, human thief. Wings is small, but strong, for his age. He’s black haired and fair skinned, with dexterous fingers and strong legs. His primary role in the Knives is breaking into places and stealing things, running over roofs and squeezing into places.
Xir Clifffang begs the party to help him liberate some of the child workers from Thero’s factory. They’re being forced to work 16 hour days in dangerous conditions, and they’re kept there by tough goons.
While attending to other business in the District, the party notices smoke billowing out of one of the factories and, what’s worse, the doors of the factory appear to have been chained shut! Can they save the workers?
These maps might serve well for an encounter…
Little Lemuria sits along the seafront in the southeast corner of the city. A series of canals cut through it, allowing tritons to swim around as they see fit. This makes Little Lemuria difficult to traverse for landbound people, but for those who want to experience triton culture without having to hold their breath, there’s Lemurian Square, a marketplace and park located where Little Lemuria borders the main city.
Little Lemuria was once a rocky cove near Port Kilton, too blocked up by rocky pillars to be useful for much of anything, but not land-like enough to be of much use to the city. That was, until the destruction of a major triton city drove a significant amount of refugees to the surface. They found the pillars to be perfect for them, giving them a firm center to their buildings and salt water for them to swim in. Now, what was once a useless gap in the coast is a brightly-painted, vibrant neighbourhood, built out of coral and wood.
Small shops are interspersed through Little Lemuria, selling crafts or aquatic vegetables raised at the base of the pillars.
Where the cove butts up against the main city, a cultural center has formed. Triton merchants trade coral sculptures, humans hawk bright fabrics, humans and tritons work side by side to make elaborate seafood dishes.
Wade, triton coralsmith: Wade is a lanky, white-skinned triton with unusually long fingers. He was an apprentice before the cataclysm, but now he’s responsible for much of the coral architecture of Little Lemuria.
Isla, triton chef. Isla is a blue-skinned triton with unusually pointy ears. She can usually be found at Lemurian Square with her business partner, Dagny Alm, cooking traditional triton dishes for tritons and land-dwellers alike. Her grasp on Common is a little rough, but it’s more than sufficient to do her job.
Dagny Alm, human chef. Dagny is a tan skinned, tall human woman with braided black hair. Her most prized possession is a pattern-welded filet knife. She’s quieter than Isla, preferring to let her do the talking while she does the fancy cutting.
Ara, triton guard. Before the Cataclysm, Ara was a guard at the royal palace of Lemuria. Now, this pale green triton wanders the district aimlessly, searching for some greater purpose.
Li, tortle. Li has been around for a long time, and he spends his days on the beach just south of Port Kilton, drawing intricate figures in the sand. When he’s not there, he spends his time in Little Lemuria, where he lives.
These maps might be suitable for a scene in Little Lemuria…
The Empire’s military stronghold sits on a rocky outcropping at the mouth of the river that feeds into the ocean.
Fort Kilton is a relatively simple stone fort with four towers and a large, wooden gate. At the top of one tower is a massive ballista, in case of attack from the ocean or the river. Thanks to lax leadership, the inside of the fort is messy and disorganized; Piles of barrels and crates are strewn around more or less at random, weaponry and armor can be found in unusual places, like the loft of the stable. The only really organized area of the fort is the armorer’s forge.
Marko Razic, half-elf commander. The long-lived, dark-skinned Commander Razic is responsible for the Empire’s military interests in the area. He spends much of his time trying to solve the “Lizard problem.” His single-minded focus on this issue has resulted in a breakdown of discipline among the guards stationed here. He’s a likely source of jobs for the party— hunting bandits, securing parts of the Dusnak swamp, so on and so forth. His voice is very deep and gravelly, the result of an acid splash that hit him in the throat.
Trafton Canyon, earth genasi armorer. Trafton Canyon is the unfortunate soul in charge of maintaining the equipment of every guard in the fort. His small corner of the fort is immaculately organized; steel sorted by grade, hammers sorted by weight, everything ready to go for whatever needs to be fixed or built. He is very neurotic, and doesn’t like anybody aside from him or his few apprentices crossing into his domain.
Tea [Tay-uh] Stanic, human squadron leader. Stanic is a pale-skinned woman with blonde hair. She’s a violent sort, and she has a bad habit of escalating confrontations.
Mislav Muratagi, human guard. The son of a foreign merchant and a local warehouse foreman. Mislav is young, timid, and working as a town guard to help prop up his father’s faltering business. His skin is tan and his hair is black.
Wynissa Canyon, earth genasi guard. Wynissa is a tall woman with gray skin and jet-black hair. She is unusually studious for a guard and, between that and her very neat handwriting, she writes most of the fines the squad hands out.
These maps might help…
You can find a our specific recommendations listed in each district section, and here are a few more general recommendations:
Feel free to Right Click > Save our character tokens too! They are .webp image files (or .png if you first click and zoom in) that are compatible with Roll20, FoundryVTT, and most modern virtual tabletops.
Garmbreak1
Former esports wannabe, current TTRPG streamer and TTRPG creator interviewer. I like science fiction and I have a soft spot for licensed tabletop RPGs. You can find all the campaigns I’m in and interviews I’ve done over on YouTube.
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