Bataluck

Jokingly named for the halfling accents slurring of the phrase “bad luck”, Bataluck is a dwarven city in the Fire Territories, created as a way to bring the Scozian Empire and the dwarvish democracies together. It is neutral ground, where officials from the two powerhouses meet to discuss politics. The city is popular among more adventurous dwarves and tieflings, and is also inhabited by some tribes of halflings, but Bataluck has fallen into disfavor due to recent strings of dragon and fiend attacks.

Bataluck was built in the year 1239 through the combined efforts of several dwarven ambassadors and nobles, as an assurance of peace between the FDD and Scozia after the Pyromancer’s Crusade. Bataluck was then widely known as Sharakhill-Dun. With the blessing of the Scozian Empire, Sharakhill-Dun was built. At first the city was successful. The city was ruled as by dwarven tradition, with the exception of Sharakhill-Dun having two leaders; Eljert Eagleseye, a dwarf, and Braza Gemlarthon, a tiefling. Sharakhill-Dun expanded and grew over another 400 years, becoming a large, powerful city. But then, the dragons, devils, and demons of the nearby Torf Mountains and Fire Territories took attention to the city, particularly its riches. A series of attacks and alliances started, climaxing in the red dragon Lishuur, a ringleader behind many of of the demonic alliances,  kidnapping and eating one of the founding nobles. A mob was formed to hunt down and kill Lishuur. It worked, but Sharakhill-Dun became known as a dangerous city, cursed with bad luck and renamed locally as “Bataluck”. Bataluck still comes under the occasional siege from devils.

Bataluck is primarily inhabited by two races: dwarves and tieflings. There is also the usual mixing of Scozian fire genasi, and the world-wide sprinkling of humans and halflings. Unlike other cities with two main races in the populace, there are no separate wards for the dwarves and the tieflings. The two races also live together in peace, despite Bataluck technically being under dwarvish rule, and despite the Pyromancer’s Crusade.