A few thoughts about New Pavis and the Big Rubble when we think about them within the context of an RQ game or campaign.
The Big Rubble is where we go to explore, adventure, and discover. There are some strongholds/markets where we can find safety – Flintnail Temple, the Real City, and Zebra Fort, plus a few others we may find/make during play – but most of the Big Rubble is potentially dangerous. This is our wilderness, our “megadungeon”, our “otherworld”.
New Pavis is the reverse – here we go to reside, recover, trade, train, and participate in cult activities. This is our civilization, our community. We have temples, markets, crafters, inns, and the rulers and the wealthy. There are also the poor, thieves and other criminals, and the like.
So we end up with a symbiotic relationship between the two locations in our games. We go from New Pavis into the Big Rubble, explore and hopefully get some wealth, which we then spend in New Pavis. Rinse and repeat. At its most basic, this is the same relationship between Castle Greyhawk and the Free City of Greyhawk in classic D&D.
But of course we can have twists on this – New Pavis can be a place of adventure with crime, intrigue, and assassinations in the dark and narrow alleyways. The Ingilli, Hole Lords and other Lanbril “families”, Black Fang, and remnants of the Moon Masks all make good foundations for a “noire crime” campaign that might lead the adventurers into the Big Rubble. Political intrigue and conflict among Argrath’s companions might be both lucrative for adventurers and deadly.
And of course there are the cults there. Temples might need the adventurers for various reasons – remember that the Orlanth, Humakt, and Storm Bull temples are now closely tied to Argrath, and there might be heroquesting goals behind some of these requests. This being RQ, there are spirits, gods, and the dynamic of the Hero Wars that find their way even to Prax. The Lightbringer temples might hire adventurers to reclaim or sanctify long-quiet shrines on Temple Hill, leaving it up to the adventurers on how to deal with the swarms of trolls and trollkin that live there. And of course, that may tie back into the politics and intrigue of New Pavis.
Remember that this is all dynamic. Argrath and his army just recently liberated the city and remain in New Pavis until late 1626 – after that they leave for Dragon Pass. Your players can play a key role, even THE key role, in what the city looks like after Argrath is gone. The Big Rubble is also dynamic. Break the power of the Kaggroka Clan and the Big Rubble is changed. Perhaps you resettle the Old Flintnail Fort or reclaim the villa of the Champion of Pavis from the Darkdemons?