Verazul is the queen city of the Stygian Blue, sitting nestled in the outstretched rocky arms of two promontories reaching towards the sea. The city’s fortuitous location is responsible for primacy in the region. Its deepwater harbor is the only one on the Stygian Blue that allows seaworthy ships with deep drafts to enter port without fear of foundering and sinking. For this reason, all shipping of goods to and from points within the Stygian Blue flows through this port. The large, merchant ships required to cross The Hungry Sea are unable to safely travel the Stygian Blue and instead dock in Verazul. The shallow and nimble ships that ply the Stygian Blue would be quickly swamped and sunk on The Hungry Sea.
Over a hundred years ago, the city was just a prosperous village until it served as the first military headquarters of Kal the Vanguisher. His army contained stonemasons and architects with skills not previously possessed in the area. In their first years, fearful of counterattacks or invasions by the Polonians that they were fleeing, they built the first stone city in the region. Large stone towers were built to defend the harbor and a stout wall was built to encircle the village. Soon after, the plaza within the city was dedicated to Kal and a large statue was erected.
However, the Polonians didn’t come for almost sixty years and when they did, it was not an invading army, but instead was the Polonian West Mercantile Company. The Polonians quickly established trading outposts, sugar plantations, and spice harvesting colonies throughout the Stygian Blue. Over the next forty years, the economic power and political clout of the Polonians grew. While the details of government were left to the natives of Verazul, a new, improved harbor was dug and a trading enclave was setup within the city where