Between the Serpents of Smoke & Steel - Bastion of the Roaring Bull

 My party has recently travelled down the Serpent of Smoke in search for some more adventure locations, and have set up shop in a city near the edge of the jungle - the Bastion of the Roaring Bull, or simply The Bastion for short.

Background

The Bastion was once simply the fortified core palace of a much larger city, but as the Empire broke apart and shattered, it ended up eventually becoming a small and very heavily fortified city. The city was used as a safe haven against the raging war with the various invaders, as well as the fights between the forces of Law and Chaos, with people being guided there by the priesthood of the Bull of Heaven, one of the old gods of the Empire. 

Now, a century later, the Bull Priests are firmly in control of the city, along with their devoted guards, and the divine protection of the Bull of Heaven. 

General Description

The Bastion of the Roaring Bull has architecture similar to most of the old Imperial cities, although a lot of the style seems almost archaic, with traditionalism and attempting to maintain the Old Ways of life in the empire are prized within the city walls.

Speaking of city walls, the outer walls of the Bastion are perhaps its most striking feature, being almost absurdly and unnecessarily tall slabs of stone and brick, built up over the preceding century as a reaction to the various armies of Order and Chaos that fought in its vicinity.

The great walls of the Bastion.

The city is composed of a series of walled segments - the largest one is the actual city itself, where only citizens are allowed to enter, or those outsiders given a special permit by the Bull Guards. Next to the city's ports is a single and very heavily fortified gate which leads into the Public Sector, the main place where outsiders, traders and visitors are allowed to stay. The Public Sector does maintain several temples (the largest being, of course, that of the Bull of Heaven), markets and loads of places to sleep, eat or drink. There are even some out of town merchants, mostly members of the Golden Fraternity, who own homes in there. 

To the side of the Public Sector is the Restricted Sector - the place where people who are obviously tainted by sorcery, barbarians and others are permitted to stay. The people of the Bastion dislike magic for its unpredictable and often corrupting way, and while they are okay allowing its practitioners within the city walls, they prefer to keep the more corrupted and mutated ones in a separate location, where they can be kept under watch in case they try to pull something. 

Quirks and Features

Dislike of Sorcery 

As stated above, the people of the Bastion tend to mistrust any magic that does not come from the Bull of Heaven and its sorcerer-priests, or has clear corrupting powers like demonology, necromancy or anything to deal with otherworldly and inhuman forces. Outsiders that perform magic within the boundaries of the city are escorted to the Restricted Sector and allowed to only reside there, or leave. After a second infraction, they are executed without any trial or chance of mercy. 

Most people from the city also tend to greet themselves by throwing up the bull horns with their hand, as a sign of protection against evil magic, and bull testicles are often hung above door frames as a protective charm.

The Sons of the Bull Warrior Society

A Bull Guard standing atop the city walls.

The old Empire had a long tradition of Warrior Societies - organizations somewhere between a social club and mercenary companies, composed of nobles, professional soldiers and others who all shared traditions, military practices or worshiped a specific imperial deity. 

The Sons of the Bull (most commonly referred to as Bull Guards)  are one of the few remaining warrior societies, and Bastion is their city. They are each personally devoted to the Bull of Heaven, and have undertaken the rituals and initiation rites of the society, granting them various powers and martial techniques kept secret from outsiders, as well as the right to wear a horned helmet as a symbol of their status. 

The Bull Guards are in charge of most things in Bastion, being its defenders, police force and guardians. Their leader is Commander Utu, an actual divine offspring of the Bull of Heaven himself - a towering mountain of a man with a bull's head. They are devoted to the Bull Priests and it is incredibly rare for a Bull Guard to disagree with the orders and judgement of one of the priests. 

Alignment

The city is staunchly against both the Lords of Order and Lords of Chaos. The Bull of Heaven is one of the few remaining City Gods and gods of the old empire that still answers the prayers of its worshipers, and as such the population (mostly, again, based on the guidance of the Bull Priests) looks upon both Law and Chaos with distrust - recognizing them as both ultimately inhuman and anti-human forces. 

Anyone associated with either Law or Chaos is generally only allowed within the Restricted Zone, if let into the city at all. The city is thus a strange contradiction - a traditionalist, very conservative and militaristic society, which none the less still ultimately cares about humanity over other concerns. 

Many thanks to Eldritch Fields for helping me come up with the name for this place, as well as some of the cultural quirks of its people.