The Sunset Palace of the Starry Sultan (Dungeon 23 Intro)

 They call Itarra, the City of Many Crowns, because many crowns have been broken here. Throughout the ages, empires have fought over this seat, faiths have declared it holy and profane, and kings have built their palaces here as signs of their victory and as markers of their legacy. Or at least that is the idea. Starting a whole new palace from scratch is a lot of work, so each ruler who takes over the palace of Itarra instead just builds over the old one, creating an ever-expanding labyrinth of tangled opulence and pointless pomp. The palace has become so large that the entire current royal family and their whole staff of servants and concubines all live in about one tenth of the palace. The rest of the twisting halls are basically deserted although many things have been left behind and not all of them are placid treasures waiting to be plundered. Each new monarch thinks their treasures are worth guarding even after their death and so many guardians and traps lie in wait. Monsters, vagabonds, holdovers from old regimes, and things far stranger lurk in these halls. Do not be blinded by gold or you might miss the dagger at your throat.

This is my overview for the setting surrounding my Dungeon 23 entry. I recently watched Three Thousand Years of Longing and the idea of this gigantic palace in a city like Istanbul with different regimes taking over, one after the other, really intrigued me but this idea developed until the city became like a mixture of Rome and Istanbul and Babylon and even a little Jerusalem. 

The current ruler is Sultan Salamane II who returned from exile to kill his brother and take the throne. He returned from exile much changed, perpetually wearing a strange silver mask like the face of a child with a star on its brow and a ridiculously enormous turban. It is said the new monarch prays to strange Gods from Beyond the Stars and has invited members of the Cult of Star Seekers into the palace. This is fairly shocking considering the kings of the east by and large worship the Slumber Lord and no one has hardly even heard of this foreign cult. In this time where even the local guard is wary of the sultan, it seems like a good time to rob the place.

1d20 Character Backgrounds:

1. Brass Binder: Arms covered in ceremonial brass rings, red sash dangling with all manner of bottles. The Brass Binders of Itarra once ruled the city under the Myriad King who was a sorcerer rumored to be the wisest man to ever live. Following his teachings, they bind demons, djinn, and angels alike to their service to perform magic.
2. Petal Maenad: The pleasure mad devotees of the 12 Petal Muses, goddesses of debauchery, art, and madness. The cult of the Muses once ruled this city and still their brothel temples continue to attract "pilgrims" to this day.
3. Mute Novitiate: Slaves with potential are purchased from the pits by the Mutes, an order of assassins who have been so influential in overthrowing rulers in Itarra that they now mostly serve themselves. After their initial training, Novitiates are encouraged to seek out danger so they can speak of their Seven Deeds and have their tongues cut off to fully enter the order. 
4. Feathered Fellow: One of the fancifully dressed pirates, thieves, and raiders that belong to the many different gangs of the city who wear colored feathers to show their allegiance. Long ago this was a cult of the Great Birds of Fortune: the twin Crains of Fate and Folly and the Peacock of Extravagant Risk. They butt heads with the Gutter Kings.
5. Alchemist Monk: The Alchemist came and spoke of the Eternal Mysteries before achieving a new immortal state of existence and vanishing from this world. His followers have long studied the Mysteries to follow in his footsteps. Many Grand Students have been interred with their final notes in the palace.
6. Physician Astrologer: For the physicians of Itarra, your horoscope is as important as your symptoms. The stars above will help guide us to the cure just as they guide sailors across the sea. Some of this order have been seduced by the strange sciences of the new Cult of Star Seekers.
7. Hammer of Har-a'Diin: One of the mercenaries of the Hammers, northmen brought to the city to serve Akavasian Emperors but they also became so integral to selecting the next monarch that they began to rule the city themselves in all but name. Their order mostly collapsed due to growing fat and lazy, and they were driven out by the Iron Prince. The order lingers around the city mostly as swords for hire, drunks, and ruffians.
8. Reliquary Knight: An uncommon sight in the city, these westerners return to the city in search of the relics of the Living One's saints. Just as the Living One died a Thousand Deaths and yet could not die, so too do the relics of his saints remain in their wondrous incorruptibility, but Reliquary Knights exist for a reason. Outside the light of the Living Temple (the church), the relics of the saints take on strange new life and lash out at heathen captor and believer alike.
9. Dust Scholar: The College of Dust in False Tower maintains a vast collection of ancient scrolls and historical artifacts. Scholars of this school seek out history and bring it to light.
10. Masked Stranger: Abyssia is a land steeped in mystery. It is said a single gift from them ended the Akavasian Empire. Everyone in Abyssia wears a mask, constantly and it is rumored they consort with demons and gods to this day, trading their humanity for otherworldly powers.
11. Spear of Abiodun: Warriors from the south, said to be from the far off city of Axum which is said to rival Itarra in its splendor, but is hidden from all the world. Yet, their warriors and envoys come bearing gifts and stories of Axum's impossible grandeur.
12. Morphean Sailor: Mystics of the Slumber Lord, God of Dreams, who sail the Sea of Dreams in ships of cedar and gold while they sleep, hoping to transcend the Waking World entirely.
13. Gutter King: The Iron Prince escaped death at the hands of King Baloram the Great, not to be confused with the later Baloram the Cowardly. It is said he escaped into the gutters and sewers of Itarra to become the first Gutter King, taking the beggars, urchins, and thieves of the city and transforming them into a kingdom of the discarded. "Each one has his crown" so they say. The Gutter Kings have divided the city six ways under the Crowns, but it is Gutter Law that reigns. The Iron Prince wrote this law by hand and it has been passed down and amended by the various Moots throughout the centuries, the most democratic body in the world as each King has his vote. 
14. Key Maker: Itarra's intricacy and age makes it the most fantastic city in all the world but also the most difficult to navigate. It doesn't help that the Myriad King built large parts of the city with spirits, binding them into the very bricks and mortar. The city shifts and moves, secret ways opening and closing. Many homes, temples, and palaces were left simply abandoned and built over. The Key Maker's Guild alone holds the secrets of navigating the forgotten recesses of this strange city.
15. Goldsmith Guildsman: Anyone in the business of handling large sums of money is a member of the Goldsmiths Guild. Sultan Rabaan the Mad once outlawed all other Guilds and so business quickly consolidated. It remains the traditional guild of merchants, bankers, and actual goldsmiths. 
16. Paradise Gardener: The Paradise Gardens of Itarra is one of the wonders of the world. Flowers, birds, and beasts from all over the world have been brought into this massive garden in a great crystal dome and arranged into fantastic beauty. Generations of gardeners have lived and died in the gardens, attending to their duties with religious fervor.
17. Cat: Just a regular cat or so it might seem. Itarra is freaking full of them, but many are truly familiars or were familiars of wizards who were killed during the numberless attacks on the city. 
18. King Mocker: Impersonators of the countless monarchs who have ruled over the city. They are essentially folk historians who are always in demand in taverns and play a special role in the annual Parade of Crowns were performers in giant paper mache heads become a great procession of kings all depicted in the manner of their deaths all the way back to the Myriad King. This is a continuous reminder to the current monarch that their power is bitterly fragile.
19. Fountain Fate: Some fortune tellers are frauds but the oracular tradition of the Fountain Fates has endured as a true school of divination and the reason for the countless fountains throughout Itarra.
20. Homunculus: The Heretic Flesh Workers who splintered off the Brass Binders endeavored to bind demons into fleshly forms grown in vats. This turned out to be a fantastic failure as such incarnation is antithetical to demons. However, a different sort of spirit inhabited these little twisted bodies with a childish intelligence and a mischievous nature. These odd small beings have come to be servants of the many magical practitioners of the city. They are loyal if impish and learn voraciously though they are rarely ambitious. Noone is  exactly sure where these spirits come from, but they don't age and so many have outlived their sculptors. 

1d6 Hooks and Rumors:

1. The Myriad King sealed his ring in a vault in the depths of the palace. The Myriad Ring holds the bindings of countless spirits and would make the one who finds it incredibly powerful.
2. The only Feathered Fellow to ever take over Itarra lasted a whole month before infighting and greed took over. Alania "Kingfisher" Nahreem, thief-priestess of the Twin Crains, fled into the depths of the palace with her loot and was never found. 
3. Sultan Salamane II, the current monarch, has allowed the Cult of the Star Seekers to practice their strange sciences on one of the lower levels. Rumor has it they are constructing a fabulous silver chariot that will ride the heavens to bring the Sultan to the Gods from Beyond the Stars.
4. Three Grand Students of the Alchemist served the Iron Prince, experimenting on growing and implanting new organs capable of giving the qualities of the Immortal Body. You might find their notes and interred bodies in the palace.
5. The relics of Saint Armasius have been scattered throughout the palace whose devotion to the Living One has allowed his relics to retain their life and grow, lashing out at all who come near with holy rage. Nevertheless, the relics are sacred and valuable.
6. Princess Darzzana the Pale was the daughter of King Baloram the Cowardly who fled the city before Sultan Daliim the Empire Builder arrived with his armies. However, the princess did not accompany the king in his retreat and her body was never recovered. The western kingdom of Entralia is now ruled by King Baloram the VI and he will pay handsomely for her remains. Yet, some say she still lives in her beloved mushroom garden.