Like most large imperial cities, Ptolus has an extensive and well-maintained sewer system, thanks to the advancements of the technological Prust and their Grailwarden dwarf allies. Most homes in Ptolus have running water and indoor plumbing, including privies that pump in water via hand pumps and drain it away into the city sewers.

The sewers are well designed and sturdily built, with carefully cut stones and arched supports to keep the tunnels from collapsing. The Empire, particularly at its height, was very proficient at such engineering and building.

The sewers come out on the Cliffs of Lost Wishes by the Bay of Ptolus, along the steep ravine walls flanking the King’s River, and in the King’s River Gorge. In these exits, a main sewer tunnel protrudes about three feet out of the rock wall and ends in an iron grate, through which the sewage flows.

More than anything, the sewers in Ptolus are used to drain rainwater from the streets, alleys, and buildings. The folk of Ptolus dump old cooking water, wash water, and garbage of all sorts into the sewers, including rotten food, spoiled ale, waste from manufactories, dyes from textile mills, alchemical waste, and dead animals. And, of course, the waste from privies and chamber pots all over the city goes into the sewers as well. The fact that the sewers dump this unholy admixture into the King’s River makes it abundantly clear why no one uses the river as a source of drinking water.