Shearwater's Rest

Shearwater's Rest
Nation	Aesar
Ruler	Viceroy Sintil Arsun
Government	Autocracy (de facto); devolved viceroyalty (former)
Demonym	-
Adjective	-
Population	~60,000
Demographics	Various ancestries, particularly humans, suli, ifrit, and oreads

Shearwater's Rest is the largest city on Aesar Island and the capital of the de facto nation of Aesar. When undead hordes began to rise in Oscan in Y9940^*, the former island backwater of the kingdom was the only region spared. In the following years large numbers of refugees flocked to Aesar, and to Shearwater's Rest in particular. Today the city is heavily overpopulated.

Once an austere but well-designed city, today tents and ramshackle constructions cover the streets and parks of Shearwater's Rest. The city's population has increased six-fold in the last thirty years, and there is simply not enough housing or basic necessities to go around. The clergy of various religions attempt to ameliorate the situation as best they can, but have limited success.

A vibrant black market and criminal underworld have formed in Shearwater's Rest since the population influx. While many goods in Aesar are officially rationed, they are often more easily accessible on the black market, albeit at an increased price. Black market goods are not hard to find and their vendors are well known to the guards of Aesar, who by and large do nothing to stop them.

Paladins traveling to the Deathlands usually arrive in Shearwater's Rest first. As the closest major safe port, these religious warriors use the island as a stopping point before attempting to fight the undead of the mainland - as long as their items and equipment aren’t stolen from them in the slums of the city first.