Oppara

Oppara, Taldor’s shining capital atop the Black Cliffs of the Mighty Porthmos, is an ancient and thriving city. Its majestic villas and glittering towers stand watch over a sprawling settlement once plated in gold. At Oppara’s height, it earned the nickname the Gilded City because of the many roofs, spires, and domes that glittered with austere gold plating in the high afternoon sun. The metal was long ago stripped away to pay for the empire’s blunders, but it left behind a bustling, beautiful city beneath. Though the rest of Taldor fades into ruin, Oppara is the example of what the empire once what and what it could be again.

Oppara at a Glance


Most of Oppara’s buildings are made of stone. Whether it’s the marbled halls of the Senate, the brick row houses in Canal Row, or the granite facades in Seven Towers, the capital of Taldor is a solid example of what extravagance and 6,000 years of history can do to a city’s design. The massive Grand Bridge of the Empire emerges from the heart of Oppara to punch across the sky over the River Porthmos, connecting Oppara with the river’s distant southern shore. Its two harbors are always crammed with ships and the Mighty Porthmos is so filled with river traffic that it’s sometimes difficult to spot patches of water between the towering sailing ships and the flat-bottom travelling vessels from upriver. Every street in Oppara is paved in either grandiose mosaic tile (in the districts surrounding the Imperial Palace) or well-laid cobblestones. The streets are lined with stone gutters that quickly siphon off the frequent summer rains into Oppara’s expansive sewer system, and public fountains dot many of the larger crossroads and squares throughout the capital. At night, the city is lit by tens of thousands of lanterns, a task that keeps the enormous Lighters’ Guild always on the lookout for new employees.

City Districts


Oppara is separated into 15 distinct districts, each with its own unique flavor and atmosphere. A sixteenth district, called the Grandbridge Vagabond Camp, falls under the jurisdiction of greater Oppara, but due to both its location on the south shore of the River Porthmos across the Grand Bridge of the Empire and its history of viciously beating back attempts to raid or destroy it, most Opparan’s don’t consider it part of the city.

Aroden’s View: One of the oldest districts in Oppara, Aroden’s view stands highest above the capital. Its gardens, tree-lined avenues, and massive villas command breathtaking views of the city as well as the river valley that stretches far to the west.

Canal Row: Home to merchants, ship captains, professors, Abadar’s Cathedral of Coins (area 18), and more, Canal Row is Oppara’s trendy residential district for the wealthier unbearded. So named for its tightly packed canal houses along the Central Canal, this district is clean, brightly painted, and always busy.

Crownsgate: Named after Oppara’s secondary gate (area 15), Crownsgate is a poor district, largely filled with canal warehouses and factories. The side streets in this district are largely of hard-packed earth, as many of the cobblestones that once paved the district have long since been torn up and used elsewhere. Crownsgate is a dangerous place at night, with cutthroats, purse-snatchers, prostitutes, and hangers-on of the Brotherhood of Silence filling the back alleys with illicit activities. The Brotherhood’s main chapterhouse is located here, and it’s rumored that the large and influential thieves’ guild owns most of the district.

Eastport: The smaller of Oppara’s two ports, Eastport is split from larger Westport by the massive spans and structures of the Grand Bridge of the Empire. Primarily used to receive river traffic coming in from as far away as Sardis Tonwship in the Porthmos Gap, this dock district is the poorer of the two. Most of Eastport’s structures are made of wood, a fact that makes it stand out in Oppara almost immediately, and the district has burned to the ground twice in the last one hundred years – both times under mysterious circumstances.

Grandbridge: The largest and most central district of the capital stretches the entire width of Oppara just outside the two dock districts. Grandbridge is a mercantile district of worldwide renown and is filled with warehouses, factories, shopping squares, open-air markets, currency exchanges, and import/export firms. Where the district touches the River Porthmos at the split span of the Grand Bridge of the Empire is a large open square that on most days is filled with makeshift stalls, tables, and tents – Oppara’s famed Gray Market.

Imperial Square: Home to Grand Princes of the empire since Oppara’s founding, Imperial Square is named after the exquisitely tiled, open-air square that surrounds the Imperial Palace on all sides for several blocks in all directions. Many members of the royalty keep apartments here to stay close to the Grand Prince, and this wealthy district is largely comprised of a cottage industry built around supplying the palace with everything it needs. As such, some of the best places to shop for food, clothing, arms, and equipment can be found here.

Jadrishar Island: The headquarters of the Taldan Imperial Navy occupies the entirety of this island district. Located just off the west coast of Oppara with full views of all river traffic, Jadrishar Island is surrounded by thick, blackened stone walls. Its one gate on the south side of the island is a fortress unto itself, and anyone travelling through it passes beneath dozens of murder holes, traverses well-marked pits and traps, and notices the arrow slits that line the inside. Taldor’s Imperial Naval College is also located on the island, and the empire’s finest ship captains train here for 4 years before earning a commission as a lieutenant on one of Taldor’s capital ships. The River Guard also maintains an academy here, but it’s small, not well regarded, and significantly underfunded compared to the rest of the navy. Large, well-guarded docks line the southern shore of the island, and dozens of Taldor’s largest warships can always be found at anchor here.

Lionsgate: As the main gate of the city, Lionsgate (area 14) itself is a breathtaking structure, comprised of two enormous stone towers topped by 50-foot-tall animated statues of roaring lions. Though they spend most of the day roaring silently, at noon at Oathday both lions let loose a bone-jarring roar that echoes across the capital. The district that grew around the dramatic gate is hedged in by the two branches of Central Canal (areas 16 and 17) and is largely a market district. Home to traders, importers, and manufacturers, Lionsgate is a noisy district during the day, ringing with the calls of barkers and the clang of smithies, and smelling of boiled leather and butchers’ blocks. Most of the traders here live in small apartments above their workspace, and though the district is comprised largely of ornately carved stone houses, they are all tightly packed together and line narrow paved streets.

Memorial Park: Almost no one lives here, as over the years the empire turned this canal-front district into a memorial to every hero of Taldor, real or imagined. The Statue Garden of Porthmos can be found here along the canal, as can the Monument to the Armies of Exploration, the Memorial Arch of Grand Prince Jalrune, the Shining Obelisk, the Serpent Column, and many smaller shrines to long-forgotten warriors of Old Taldor.

The Narrows: The poorest district of Oppara is also the most dangerous. Even Oppara’s constabulary avoids this district unless marching on it in force. Constructed entirely of rickety wood houses with makeshift shingles and poor planning, the Narrows is a tightly packed den of disease and squalor. The permanent structures here lean and bow into one another and entire houses are frequently known to simply give out and crash into a narrow alley. When walking down one of the Narrows’ tiny streets, it’s not uncommon to be cast in perpetual shadow as the rooftops of opposite buildings lean dangerously along the way, in many cases touching those on the opposite side of the street. The Narrows’ rooftops are clattered with makeshift tent houses, trash piles, and bodies, and only the bravest of climbers (or most desperate) even attempt to traverse the Narrows this way. The streets are muddy, filth-ridden pits, and the stench of the place is often unbearable. The entire district is controlled by a variety of gangs and rogue guilds, and the Brotherhood of Silence is said to maintain a small chapterhouse here. The nearby district of Canal Row has repeatedly asked Oppara Prefecture’s governor to build a wall between the two districts, but the funds to do so have yet to manifest.

Senate’s Hill: Immediately adjacent to Imperial Square, Senate’s Hill is home to the lavish marbled and columned halls of the Senate. Astride the same street as the Imperial Palace, the Senators like to believe that this serves as a reminder to the Grand Prince that while he rules the country, they manage the bureaucracy. This district is a wealthy one, surrounding the majestic senate building with coffee houses, inns, shops, tailors – anything a member of Taldor’s senatorial class could possibly want. Many of the Senators, especially those who represent more distant prefectures of the empire, keep small villas and apartments here.

Seven Towers: Named for five crumbling towers arrayed in a star shape around two central pillars, this district is built on top of the ruins of the original Azlanti town (area 4) that once looked over this region. While most of the ruins themselves are gone, there are dozens of interconnected vaults and dungeon complexes beneath Seven Towers, most of which the government long ago sealed – for what purpose, they didn’t say. The residents of the district, most of whom hail from Taldor’s senatorial class, spread rumors that the dead walk the evening streets of Seven Towers and that the towers themselves sometimes hum with a strange and vertigo-inducing energy.

Westpark: The wealthiest district of Oppara is also its best guarded. The royalty that call Westpark home long ago constructed enormous walled villas and sprawling fenced-in estates to keep the riff-raff out. The constabulary maintains several stations here and can be found patrolling the district at all times of the day or night. When the Lighters’ Guild begins its evening ritual of lighting the streets of the capital, its members always start in Westpark and do so before the sun has set.

Westport: The larger of Oppara’s two ports, Westport services all international traffic, as well as Taldan Imperial Navy supply traffic. Westport’s waterfront is crammed full of inns, bars, pubs, brothels, gambling houses, drug dens, moneylenders – anything a sailor coming in to port might need. The docks themselves are well guarded and lit at night, a duty the Westport Harbormaster takes very seriously. Long ago the constabulary made it clear they couldn’t keep the rest of the city safe at night and watch over Westport, so the Harbormaster formed the Porthmos Militia, a ragtag band of cutthroats, former privateers, ex-soldiers, and thugs, and set them to the task of keeping watch on the capital’s largest port at night. Suffice to say, crime is almost nonexistent in the evening hours, though folks travelling this district under the cover of darkness do best to avoid any entanglements with the militia.

Worldbreaker Hill: So named for the famed bombard of the 5th Army of Exploration, the Woldbreaker used to rest atop this district’s highest point and guard the western river approach into Oppara with its far-reaching cannonballs. In 2089 AR, the Worldbreaker was pulled up out of its foundations and hauled across Golarion for the 6th Army of Exploration, where it was lost forever in the Mwangi Expanse. All that remains of the once mighty cannon is its enormous, empty foundation. Worldbreaker Hill today is home to many of Taldor’s military commanders and sergeants who hold a place of honor besides the denizens of Senate’s Hill.


Important Sites


Several of the more important locations in Oppara are detailed below.

Basilica of the Last Man: Golarion’s oldest temple to Aroden, the Basilica of the Last Man (area 3) is a constant reminder of Aroden’s death and the decline of Taldor. Aroden’s clergy still maintains a presence here, though they are but a shadow of what they once were. The basilica is an enormous domed building built on a hill in Aroden’s View. Its blue-painted dome is a familiar landmark for returning Opparans, as are the four 250-foot-tall fluted pillars that frame the four corners of the basilica’s grounds.

Brotherhood of Silence Chapterhouse: One of the largest and most influential thieves’ guilds throughout the Inner Sea region, the Brotherhood of Silence is based in Oppara’s Crownsgate district. Their main chapterhouse is a nondescript black marble building with darkened windows and two armed and armored men guarding the front door. The Brotherhood of Silence has chapterhouses in every major city in the region – though none are as obvious as their home in Oppara.

Grand Bridge of the Empire: Built 3,000 years ago to more efficiently cross the wide River Porthmos, the Grand Bridge of the Empire (area 12) is an impressive architectural achievement. The Grand Bridge is a cantilever bridge set upon enormous stone piles sunk deep into the Porthmos. The rest of the span is made of magically strengthened mithral steel forged in the dwarven fires of Maheto and hauled over the Tandak Plains to Oppara. The span’s surface is delicately crafted mosaic tile laid across a foundation of thin granite sheets. The bridge stretches 8,314 feet across the Porthmos, with 150 feet of clearance for ships of all kinds to pass beneath. It took more than 200 years to complete the project, at enormous cost to the empire – a cost that many Taldan scholars believe was the impetus for Taldor’s invasion and establishment of Andoran as a vassal state the year before the project was completed. On the Opparan side of the river, the bridge begins as a split causeway that abuts both shores of the Central Canal before climbing to the bridge’s full height and shooting out across the river. The opposite bank washes against steep cliffs, so the bridge runs straight to its terminus in the Grandbridge Vagabond Camp.

House of the Immortal Son: Once the second-oldest temple to Aroden (the first being the Basilica of the Last Man, also in Oppara), the House of the Immortal Son has, since the death of Aroden, been Taldor’s most opulent and expensive opera house. It is a large, windowless, cylindrical building made of polished marble and granite and surrounded by thick, finely carved pillars. Built in the earliest traditional styles of the Azlanti, the opera house lacks windows (visitors are meant to look up, not out) and its roof is a complicated piece of stone statuary that replicates the holy symbol of Aroden, a winged eye gazing forever toward the heaven.

Imperial Palace: The home of Taldor’s Grand Prince since the empire’s founding, the Imperial Palace (area 2) is a magnificent and ancient structure. Taldor’s first Grand Prince didn’t believe that the palace should be cut off from the people, so rather than surround it in heavy walls he ordered heavy walls be built for the city itself, and stipulated that the blocks surrounding the palace be kept clear in city planning. Today, the palace is a simple granite building, rectangular in shape, four stories high and surrounded on all sides by a large open square. The Taldan Phalanx and Taldan Horse maintain a strong presence here, marching across the square daily and constantly guarding the entrances to the palace.

Kitharodian Academy: Of Taldor’s two famed bardic colleges, the Kith (area 13) is the larger of the two. Located in Canal Row, it sits astride the northern cliffs of Oppara and has an impressive view of the Porthmos River valley as it winds its way north. Its spires, towers, domes, and pillars are nearly as breathtaking as its melodic symphonies. The Kith allows anyone to attend their performances, and it’s not uncommon for the Grand Prince to rub shoulders with the Unbearded on campus.

Memorial Arch of Prince Jalrune: The memorial to Taldor’s assassinated Grand Prince, this arch (area 7) spans Central Canal in Memorial Park. The arch bears an engraved pictorial history of Emperor Jalrune, starting with his fabled birth in the Dragonscar on the Memorial Park side and stretching throughout his life to his crowning at the top of the arch and his assassination at the end of the arch at the Canal Row side. Interestingly, his assassins are portrayed plain and faceless, which goes against the common view of the people that he was murdered by Qadiran agents.

Oppara Arena: The roar of the crowd and the stench of blood coat the oldest arena (area 10) in the Inner Sea. Located in Grandbridge, the arena can fit 20,000 citizens and runs daily gladiatorial battles and slave fights, and can even be flooded to simulate naval engagements. One copper piece gets you access, and it’s not uncommon for the royalty and senatorial classes to feed those in attendance.

Rhapsodic College: The smaller of the two bardic colleges in Oppara, Rhapsodic College (area 11) is tucked away in the clutter of Westport. A few small buildings surrounding a performance and practice hall are all this school is comprised of, but despite its size it’s well-regarded as Oppara’s best-kept secret. The Kith might produce more trained bards every year, but the Rhapsodic College produces the best. The courts of Cheliax, Osirion, Katapesh, and many countries beyond the Inner Sea employ graduates of Rhapsodic College as their primary musicians and storytellers.

The Senate: Much larger than even the Imperial Palace, the Senate (area 1) is built of white-marbled halls and surrounded on all sides by columns. At night, huge lanterns are lit around its foundation so that the entire hall glows white. One hundred steps lead to the Senate’s main entrance, and the prevailing wisdom among the senators is that each step reminds them that they live only to serve the empire. Most members of the Senate use the rear entrance.

The Serpent Column: Originating in the ancient Azlanti settlement that pre-dated Oppara, the Serpent Column (area 8) is the heart of Memorial Park. The column is actually two columns, built side by side and then twisted together as if by the hands of a giant. It rests on a green-hued stone foundation and is harder than steel. It shows no sign of its age, and its smooth surface is unmarred by carvings or design.

The Shining Obelisk: The memorial to General Arnisant (area 6) stands nearly 100 feet tall and is coated in a thin sheen of brass. The name ARNISANT is carved in big block letters across its base, and it shines brightly in the mid-day sun.

Statue Garden of Porthmos: Taldor’s famed General of the 1st Army of Exploration is celebrated in this one-block-diameter statuary garden (area 5). Every statue represents one of Porthmos’ famed victories in the Verduran Forest and along the length of the Sellen River to Severarches. Since the garden was constructed nearly 1,500 years after General Porthmos’ death, there are many scholars who question the accuracy of some of the depictions.

White Hall: The headquarters of Oppara’s constabulary, White Hall (area 9) is a four-story marble structure in Grandbridge. Oppara’s constables have a long and proud tradition and prowl most of Oppara day and night. Several smaller stations are scattered throughout the city so a citizen, in most cases, won’t have to travel far to get help. White Hall houses two schools to train constables: the Lion Academy for mundane students and the Crown Circle for those bent toward arcane pursuits. The locals call White Hall the Screaming Pillars for what happens to an Unbearded when he’s dragged there, on charges real or imagined.

Citizens of Oppara


Some of Oppara’s most famous, infamous, and important denizens are detailed below.

Dominicus Rell: This man is the head of the secretive Shadow Schools of the mysterious Lion Blades. An imposing man of Azlanti ancestry, his multi-colored eyes stare blankly at any who speak to him, causing most people to feel incredibly uncomfortable in his presence. He is said to have the ear of the Grand Prince himself, and many believe that it is Rell who trains the Ulfen Guard to protect their sovereign.

Father Basri: Maybe the last Archbishop of Aroden left on Golarion, the incredibly old half-elf Father Basri can still remember a time when Aroden personally spoke to him through a prayer. The sadness of his patron’s death and the years since have weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he walks with a stooped back, leaning heavily on a cane. Father Basri is responsible for maintaining the Basilica of the Last Man and its Arodenite artifacts and holy relics, and it was his ingenious idea to transform the holy site into a tourist destination that kept the Basilica from being turned into something more reserved, such as the House of the Immortal Son. Lately, Father Basri has told his small flock that he believes Aroden will return in their lifetimes, but many see this as the ramblings of a very old and broken man.

Harbormaster Hallador: The Boss of Westport, as he’s known, may be an unbearded, but he holds almost as much power as any member of the senatorial class. He controls arguably one of the busiest ports on the Inner Sea, and his impatience with the government is legendary. When the constabulary said they couldn’t do enough to stop the crime waves in nighttime Westport, Boss Hallador formed his own militia. When the Imperial Palace ruled that all ships from Qadira be turned away, Boss Hallador gave them crown-and-lion flags to fly as they approached the River Porthmos. He walks a thin line, and there are grumblings that he may soon be replaced – a choice that could send Westport into strikes, riots, or worse.

Senator Karthis: The leader of the opposition party in Oppara, Karthis hails from Zimar Prefecture and is the Senate’s largest supporter of heating up the cold war with Qadira. Many times he’s stood on the steps of the Senate and described the horrors visited upon his ancestors during the Grand Campaign, rallying the people to demand that the Phalanx march south and burn Katheer to the ground.

The Masked Marquis: The head of the Brotherhood of Silence is one of Golarion’s best-kept secrets. Though he is seen frequently in and around the chapterhouse in Crownsgate, many believe he is in fact several different people, and cite the fact that he’s sometimes fat, other times tall, and occasionally female.


Princess Eutropia: The daughter and only living child of Grand Prince Stavian III calls Seven Towers her home. Taldor has long been ruled under the tradition of the primogeniture, but the princess opposes its continuation and is currently building support among the Senate for her usurpation of the throne upon her father’s death. Many believe this will send Taldor into a long civil war it can ill afford, but the Princess believes otherwise and sees her ascension as just the sort of change Taldor needs to be great again.

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