Game information regarding the Forgotten Realms background:

The Calendar of Harptos

The Faerunian year lasts 365 days and is dividied into 12 months of 30 days.  Each month is divided into three tendays.  Five days each year fall between the months and these holidays mark special points in the seasons or the changing of the seasons.  These five festival days are:

Midwinter - Halfway between winter and spring
Greengrass - The start of spring
Midsummer - Bad weather on this night is an extremely ill omen
Highharvestide (falls a few weeks after the autumn equinox) - Celebrates the autumn harvest
Feast of the Moon - Celebrates ancestors and honored dead (falls a few weeks before the winter solstice)

Shieldmeet - Every four years another holiday is added the day after Midsummer night known as Shieldmeet. It is a day of entertainment for all people and is usually marked with tournaments, jousts and the like.

Years are kept track of in terms of Dalereckoning (DR), marked by the raising of the Standing Stone and the pact between the elves of Cormanthor and the first human settlers of the Dalelands.

The Months (gregorian equivalent in brackets)

Hammer (January)
Alturiak (February)
Ches (March)
Tarsakh (April)
Mirtul (May)
Kythorn (June)
Flamerule (July)
Eleasis (August)
Eleint (September)
Marpenoth (October)
Uktar (November)
Nightal (December)


The current year during this adventure is DR1368 Year of the Banner and the adventure begins in the month of Mirtul. The adventurers, through word of mouth or some other means of notice, are told to report to Kraust Hingleswip's laboratories in the Emerald ward, Marekh Sabban at noon on the first day of Mirtul.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:18, Wed 17 June 2009.

The Professor

Professor Kraust Hingleswip - a name of infamy among the wealthy Sabbans of the Emerald Ward in Calimport. He is most likely the sole reason why real estate values in the northeast quarter of the Marekh Sabban have stayed relatively constant whilst the rest of the Sabban has sky-rocketed. There is hardly a day that goes by where the pavements do not shake or the air screech with grinding metal as the professor carries out some experiment deep in the bowels of his laboratory.

Those old enough are quick to point out the many fires that have engulfed the city over the years - but the Professor will of course be quick to wave away any fears of safety - happily reminding any critics of the work he has done for the Emerald Ward and indeed the city herself over the years.

Despite this level of infamy, the Professor remains something of a mystery to Calimport. He spends most days locked away in his laboratory - a huge building that takes up an entire tenement in the Sabban and is even rumoured to extend deep into the Muzad beneath. Only rarely will he be glimpsed - as the vast sky-doors of his estate open and the sleek form of the Scilandar once again takes off into the sky. This signals the beginning of another wild expedition into the world. And he has one such expedition planned, or so you have heard...
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:18, Tue 16 June 2009.

Calimport:



Notes:
Calimport is divided into 17 Wards. Each ward is in turn divided into Sabbans usually between 3 and 5 - each acting almost as a seperate city with its own dividing walls, governing council and policing force (the Sabbalad). Each Sabban is in turn divided into Drudachs, which are effectively neighbourhoods. While Calimport employs almost no defensive outer walls, it is regarded as one of the hardest cities in Faerun to besiege due to the number of internal walls dividing the city. Every Ward, Sabban and Drudach has its own dividing walls and walkways, effectively making the city a giant jigsaw puzzle, each piece being a seperate walled off area.

To make a comparison to earth, Calimport would resemble Damascus in the middle ages. If you ever get a chance to play Assassin's Creed, you'll know what I mean.

Helpful Calimport Sources:
Calimshan name generator:
Male: http://www.ummah.net/family/masc.html
Female: http://www.ummah.net/family/fem.html

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads - Calimport 2nd edition sourcebook (Free download).
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:42, Mon 22 June 2009.

Jala Ghusoon

When a new, wealthy visitor entering Calimport asks about where they might find a 'good time', they would almost always be directed to the Naiit sabban in the Khanduq ward. Filled with gambling taverns, festhalls, brothels and luxury villas, the Naiit sabban is widely regarded as the entertainment centre of Calimport.

However, the face behind such an establishment is not male as one would expect. The Sultan Daud el Vehmet takes his slice of the vast profits of course, yet the more revered name throughout the sabban is that of Jala Ghusoon, the Perezian Mistress. On paper, her husband the Sabbalad Abbud Karim still controls the sabban but he is rarely even in the city, let alone one sabban - his Guild Arcane duties taking him far out into Calimshan and beyond. In truth, everyone, even the Sultan himself, knows who runs the district - and none question it, for there is not one noble in the city who hasn't experienced a night of Jala's 'hospitality'.

Many would now consider the Perezian Mistress to be one of the most powerful women in the city, and one of the most beautiful as well. Her empire now extends well beyond the sabban and there are few bazaars, brothels or entertainment establishments that she does not have a hand in.

Her breath-taking villa in the heart of the sabban and the outrageous 'parties' she hosts every night are displays of wealth that make it clear this woman possesses a lot more than mere good looks.


This message was last edited by the GM at 12:04, Sat 11 July 2009.