City Image - Chelokhan

Most people assume The Marches are a broad flat plain, maybe with a few low hills. In the Northern parts, there are a few mountain spurs (very small chains) that creep into the plains. It is fairly hot here, like in most of the Marches, but the winters are dry and cold.

Chelokhan is nestled between two close mountains (north and south, with plains to the east and west). These two small mountains have a number of valuable mines honeycombing them. Like all of The Marches, the signs of multiple ownership show through, as there is no one over themed style but a mishmash of Eastern, Western, and Souther building styles. The houses are mostly white, but there are a variety of earth tones added to their paints and plasters. Most of the buildings have a red clay roofs just because of the clay deposits in the nearby river. The tiles are in a variety of styles, some even emulating shake and shale roofs.

Chelokhan has three distinctive features besides being between two mountains. The first is The Skycart. At the foot of either mountain there is a well travelled large mine entrance. In fact there are many stalls and carts selling things in that long entrance shaft. At the end of the shaft, there is an elevator which brings one up to the platform. Strung between the platforms on both mountains, a good twenty feet above any building in town, is a strong metal twine. The wooden Skycart which will carry about 15 to 20 people based upon weight. It is pulled to and fro between the platforms by a Grantz that turns a gear. The Skycart has a canvas roof to allow its use in slightly inclement weather. It can afford someone a great view of the city and really is the fastest way across town. It is practically free, being only two pins (small coppers).

The second is the Cinemal, a large open air theater (or very small colosseum depending on who you talk to). Built here by the Scallians to help ensure their claim here before their civil war, it has become the center of civic life. It can hold a good 2/3s the current population of the city. Here plays are performed, public debates are held, exhibits are presented, and the occasional duel (private or sponsored) is held. (Remember dueling is allowed here, just not spontaneous duels).

The third is the small Underground community here. There is a strange polyglot of deep dwellers here, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Goblins all united in their desire to live underside. They have put aside cultural and political differences here, realizing that they have more in common with each other than with the topsiders. The Underground is a fairly new area, so it has little in the way of artistic and craftsmen flairs one would expect of an Dwarventi tunnel or vault. The entrance to their community is off the entrance to the Northern Skycart. It is a small community, but a strong presence here in the city.