Yaramuke[]
Yaramuke also known as the City of Black Waters or the Sundered City.
Yaramuke, the City of Black Waters
Yaramuke is a ruined city on the Road of Kings. The city's Sorcerer-queen Sielba, once dared to vie with Hamanu for supremacy in the north. The Lion of Urik responded by leveling her city to the ground.
Yaramuke was once a wealthy and powerful city-state in the Tyr Region of Athas, situated along the Road of Kings, it was Raam’s nearest neighbor and occasional ally. Its prosperity derived from vibrant trade and its strategic location.
Sielba's Palace
History[]
Founded thousands of generations ago by Emperor Kadiran Firehand, Yaramuke was carved from barren wilderness and thrived around a great oasis. Under the reign of Sielba, the city prospered and became an important player in the regional politics and economy of the Tyr Region. Sielba, who was described as as just as a tyrant can be, ruled from an ornate palace and oversaw a flourishing city supported by trade caravans that brought significant wealth to her domain.
Conflict with Urik[]
Yaramuke’s fiercest competitor was Urik, ruled by the sorcerer-king Hamanu. Tensions between the two city-states escalated over control of the obsidian quarries in the Smoking Crown mountains. Sielba coveted this obsidian, which held significant strategic value. When she sent prospectors to establish new quarries in the Smoking Crown, Hamanu retaliated by executing the captured miners and sending their severed heads back to Yaramuke as a grim warning.
Undeterred, Sielba dispatched an army of new slaves to seize the mines by force, but Hamanu’s Imperial Guard crushed them with ease. Beyond military actions, Sielba conspired with several major merchant houses to orchestrate trade embargoes and raise prices, aiming to bring about Urik’s fall and secure control over the obsidian resources. However, Hamanu discovered these schemes before they could be enacted, setting the stage for open war.
The Destruction of Yaramuke[]
Enraged by Sielba’s plots, Hamanu led a small army up the Road of Kings toward Yaramuke, moving deliberately slowly to show his contempt for his opponent. When he arrived after a month-long march, he found the city well-defended, with formidable walls and thousands of warriors prepared to resist. However, instead of launching a conventional siege, Hamanu climbed the highest hill overlooking Yaramuke and began a powerful magical incantation.
The devastating spell drew the life from all plants and animals for miles around, shattered the city’s walls, slaughtered its defenders, and swept through its streets in a rain of fiery death. The cataclysm was so intense that even Hamanu’s own Urikite soldiers were not spared, and many fell alongside the defenders of Yaramuke. By the time the magic subsided, Yaramuke had been reduced to rubble, and its oasis was cursed and poisoned, leaving the surrounding lands defiled and barren for all time. Although the city was destroyed, it was not sacked. To avoid the wrath of The Dragon for killing a fellow sorcerer-queen, Hamanu presented The Dragon with a tribute of Yaramuke’s riches, sparing Urik from further retribution.
The Palace of Sielba[]
Sielba’s palace, an ornate structure and the heart of her rule, was renowned for its opulence. It is rumored to remain buried beneath the sands after Hamanu’s devastating assault. The palace contained the Eye of the Earth, an artifact held in the Temple of Earth’s Wonders, said to be linked to Sielba’s reign.
Within the palace were barracks housing an elite unit of templars who served as Sielba’s personal bodyguards during her frequent travels. These templars were caught unprepared and were slaughtered in Hamanu’s attack, their charred and shattered skeletons still occupying their beds. In the commander’s quarters.
As part of her palace’s magical defenses, Sielba installed obsidian golems intended to protect her from other sorcerer-kings. Unfortunately, she misprogrammed them to attack only if two dragons entered the palace simultaneously. Activating these golems also destabilizes key structural pillars, causing the palace to collapse entirely in a few minutes after their activation.
The Barracks of Yaramuke
The Ruins Today[]
Today, the ruins of Yaramuke consist of scattered piles of stone and a forlorn statue that stands with an upraised hand pointing toward the northern horizon. Though the city was once grand and prosperous, time and the harsh desert have nearly erased all traces of its existence. Areas of magical disruption persist, remnants of the titanic magical conflict between Hamanu and Sielba, making the ruins unpredictable and dangerous.
Few adventurers venture into Yaramuke’s remains, as excavation is exceedingly difficult. Although Yaramuke was destroyed, the city-state was never sacked, and some believe that it still contains secrets and riches. The promise of Sielba’s vast wealth is enough for many adventurers to set aside common sense and plunge headlong into the devastated city.
Sources[]
- Sam Witt (April 1993). DSM1: Black Flames. TSR, Inc. ISBN 1-56076-580-1.
- Dark Sun Boxed Set. 2nd Edition. (1991) TSR Inc.
- Dark Sun Campaign Setting Expanded and Revised, The Wanderer's Chronicle. 2nd Edition. (1995) TSR Inc.
- Dark Sun Campaign Setting Core Rulebook. 3.5 Edition. (2008) Athas.org.
- Dark Sun Campaign Setting. Dungeon & Dragons 4th Edition. Wizards of the Coast (2010).