The entries are written by me as DM and therefore have the emphasis on description rather than narrative. As I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear!

Tallos

A male human fighter (played by Warren D), from the small village of Kale arrives in Sanctuary seeking fame and fortune. He buys a map of the city from Dulak, the map seller at The Gate of Gold. Tallos takes a room at Martha's Place, a cheap tavern on the Street of Smells in Westside. His overriding goal is to join the Thieves' Guild.

After several abortive attempts to establish himself in the city, Tallos realises that he needs help. He writes to his cousins Snake and Isabel in Kale, asking them to join him in Sanctuary.

Snake, Isabel and Reg

A male human fighter (played by Chris) who specialises with a spiked chain, and Isabel, a fat female monk (played by Dave), leave Kale to join Tallos in Sanctuary. On the way they bump into Reg, a male human rogue (played by Sean), who is also on his way to find his fortune in Sanctuary joins them. They are unaware that Reg has previously been in Sanctuary as he was captured as a slave. After a brave, albeit unsuccessful escape attempt, Reg's potential was recognised by Zalbar, Captain of the Hellhounds. Zalbar offered Reg his freedom in return for Reg attaching himself with some new people in Sanctuary who were trying to get into the Thieves' Guild. Zalbar wanted Reg on the inside of the Guild as an informant. Reg understandably agreed.

Sanctuary

Sanctuary has always been an important port because it is a natural harbour. For many generations it, along with most of the known world, was ruled by the Ilsig Empire. The Ilsigians were essentially a theocracy who ruled their subjects with a firm and intolerant hand. There are rumours that ritualistic cannibalism was common-place in the worship of some Ilsig gods.

About 200 years ago the city of Ranke started acquiring considerable power and posing a threat to the Ilsigian Empire. (For real life equivalents think of the Ilsigs as Persian and the Rankes as Roman). This eventually turned into a full scale war. The Ranke Empire was welcomed because it is a plutocracy (a mercantile rule) and more tolerant towards its subjects.

About 60 years ago Ranke conquered Sanctuary. It was welcomed with open arms by the city and this is when the serious money started arriving. A consequence of this, and the more generally tolerant attitudes of the Ranke Empire, was that the underworld in Sanctuary started to thrive.

About 20 years ago Ranke finally defeated the Ilsigian Empire and Sanctuary settled down to the peacetime activity of becoming seriously rich. Crime became rife. As a consequence many remain loyal to the Ilsigian Empire and there are still insurgents in Sanctuary who seek a return to the old values. However, the majority of Sanctuary's inhabitants favour the Ranke Empire because of the wealth they have been able to amass.

Many still worship the old Ilsig gods and this is tolerated, although the Ranke Empire has recently dispatched several high powered priests to Sanctuary to construct temples to the Ranke gods in the hope of phasing our worship of the Ilsig gods. All the more unpleasant forms of ritual worship attached to the Ilsig gods have been outlawed. Nevertheless there is considerable religious tolerance within the Ranke Empire.

The spiraling crime in Sanctuary has become a concern to the rulers in Ranke. Two years ago they sent the Emperor's own brother to take charge of Sanctuary and do something about the crime. He arrived with an elite force of six soldiers known as Hell Hounds. His assignment is almost impossible: clean up the city without disrupting trade. So far his impact has been minimal. He does not have enough Hell Hounds to make a significant difference. Their presence on the streets is enough to deter most people, but six men cannot be everywhere at once. He has expanded the City Watch and they are now a more common sight on the streets, but even they dare not venture into certain parts of the city.

The judicial system is more concerned with punishing rather than rehabilitating. It is fairly arbitrary in determining the guilty party and is quite corrupt. Those with money are seldom found guilty of anything. The less well-off people who are found guilty of a crime are likely to find themselves heavily fined or losing several fingers. The Ranke Empire puts very few common criminals in prison because of the cost to the state. Slavery is sanctioned throughout the Empire and the more severe crimes will result in slavery, sometimes even blinding then enslavement. In theory the death penalty can be invoked for murder but a dead man generates no revenue for the state and this tends to only be invoked for treason.