City of Blood

You hear the roar of the crowd before you can see any but the tallest towers. Closer, you see the city's new outer walls, still half-built and swarming with workers sweating in the swampy humidity. Humans, dwarfs, orcs, and others besides, slaves and free, clamber over scaffolding as the black stone walls rise. Another cacophonous roar splits the air as you pass through the gate, its basalt exterior decorated with reliefs and statues of men and women, gladiators, spilling each other's blood. The city is near deserted, its buildings of gloomy basalt and brilliantly painted wood and plaster facades empty except for patrolling guards and nervous would-be thieves. Everyone else, human and nonhuman, men, women, and children, are gone, gathered at the giant arena of the Crucible for the grand carnival of violence.

The distant crowd screams again. Welcome to Qif, the City of Blood.

City of Blood, the latest installment in the Land in Shadowseries, lays bare the secrets of one of the most violent city-states on the continent, offering a tour through its blood-stained streets and glimpses of the daily carnage of the fighting arenas. Whether you’re coming for a visit or an extended stay, Qif is not a place for the faint of heart.