First time in Ambar? Don't answer, I can see it. Everyone comes off that gangway with the same face, half wonder, half terror. That's the right face to have. Name's Niko. You're going to want to know me.

Here's the city in one breath. Biggest market in the world, everything's for sale, and every soul in it is trying to take your money, me included, so at least I'm honest about it. I take a little and I save you a lot. That's a better deal than anyone else on this dock will give you, and I'll prove it before we've walked a hundred steps.

First thing, free, because I like your face. Every price you hear in this city is a lie. It's a starting number. You look shocked, you laugh, you offer half, you settle somewhere near it. Pay the first price and the whole street calls you dinner. Don't be dinner.

Now. You need a bed, a moneychanger who won't shave your coin too thin, and someone to carry that bag. I know the good ones. The honest ones. Honest to me, anyway, and I'll keep them honest to you, mostly. Costs you a few coins you'll never feel, and you'll thank me by nightfall.

So. Bag on your shoulder, hand on your purse, stay close. Ambar eats slow travelers.

So, what do they call you?

TL;DR

• The biggest market in the world, at the mouth of the Logathriad Sea. All ocean trade passes through it.

• Oligarchs run the city. Wealth is the only source of power in Ambar, and contracts are enforced above all other law.

• Most of the city is markets and warehouses, and buyers and sellers bargain in dozens of languages.

• The black market is as large as the legal one, and the oligarchs profit from both.

• Some quarters are dangerous. Most visitors hire a guide or fixer on arrival.

Location

Ambar stands on the northern side of the mouth of the Logathriad Sea. The land behind the city is desert and full of monsters, so the only way in or out is by sea.

The People

Ambar is the most crowded city in the world. News from every continent reaches it first.

Ambar has grown with the ocean trade for twelve hundred years. People come to it from all over Khora, and its population is more mixed than that of any other city on the Logathriad Sea. Most come to make money. Others come after losing their money elsewhere.

The Oligarchs

Ambar governs itself, and the oligarchs run it. They own the docks, the warehouses, and the fleets, and they hold most of the city's debts.

Wealth is the only source of power in Ambar. The greatest families are enormously rich. The oligarchs lend money, insure ships and cargoes, and issue credit. Credit from a great family trades more easily than coin across the Logathriad Sea.

Ambar enforces contracts above all other law. The city ruins anyone who breaks a deal or avoids a debt. Every other rule can be negotiated.

Trade

The Gateway

All trade into the Logathriad Sea passes through Ambar. A ship crossing the open ocean for the Logathriad Sea stops at Ambar first, because the market is in Ambar. The buyers, brokers, moneylenders, and outbound fleets are all in the city, so more sellers come and the market grows.

The Greatest Market in the World

Buyers inspect goods before they buy, so most of Ambar is markets and warehouses. Its port, its warehouse district, and its markets are the largest in the world. Goods from every part of Khora are sold in Ambar. The lanes are too narrow for the goods stacked in them, and buyers and sellers bargain in dozens of languages.

The Black Market

An illegal trade runs alongside the legal one, and it is just as large. Goods that are banned or restricted elsewhere sell openly in Ambar. The oligarchs allow it because they profit from it, and they often own it through front companies. Contraband and stolen goods are sold there, and relics turn up occasionally.

Living in Ambar

Some quarters of Ambar are dangerous. A newcomer alone in one of these quarters is likely to be robbed or killed.

Visitors hire guides and fixers, locals who keep them safe, bring them to sellers, and charge both sides. Most hire one on arrival.

Character

Ambar keeps its bargains.