Neighborhoods

1. Neighborhoods

   #1

   Every city of any size is comprised of a number of neighborhoods/ districts/ wards/ quarters. Each of these areas has its own purpose, and sometimes its own personality and look.
   
   So we are looking for distinct parts of towns, ready to be pushed in a not-yet-complete town, possibly.
   
   We are looking for things along the lines of
   Ethnic/ Racial Neighborhoods
   Areas dedicated to a craft or trade.
   Parks
   Harbors
   Undertowns (catacombs, subterrainian buildings)
   Travel Paths: Is the area filled with canals, lots of bridges, etc.
   Specific Streets (which serve as a mini neighborhood).
   
   Remember: It is easy to throw up an idea (even a good one) without thinking it through. Writing it up gives people something substantial to go on. Once you do that, even a merely adequite idea becomes something usable (if nothing else as inspiration).

2. Sky Street

   #2

   Sky street (and the blocks around it) are odd.
   
   From down the block, it appears to be yet another street, with the same kinds of building as those around it. Yet it feels perpetually gloomy. Some say the street is cursed, but no mage nor priest has ever detected it. But those of a dark disposition find themselves drawn to it. Those that live here always have a feeling of dispar or depression. The street (and environs) have become a slum of sort, an island inside the properous guild neighborhood it resides. It is the place where the lost dreamers go, and those with broken hearts. They drink and comiserate in the taverns that now fill the street. There are many a cheap room to rent, as there always seems to be vacancies.
   
   Of course there are ghosts to be seen. They appear in the corner of your eye, or late at night, or sometimes in the shaows. The shades are those who have killed themselves in the area. Some say they cause the depression, others say they are there to stop others from doing the same. Either way, the street touches the otherside in a way that is not healthy.

3. Wall Line - Antioch Neighborhood

   #3

   No building is allowed to be within a weapon's throw of the city wall, that is the law. When the city was properly rebuilt, after being sacked, there was a paved area 12 Imperial strides (1 meter each) between the wall and the buildings. In fact, most buildings along that line have their "back" to the wall. The Good People were once again safe.
   
   A century or so has passed since then. The undesirable peoples (be they merely poor or of the wrong species/ ethnic group) have found their way into the wall line. They have found that the "good people" turn a blind eye to them being there. They make the Guard run them out of their neighborhoods. The "sad people" have made the Wall Line their home.
   
   All along the edge of the city (except for the area around the city gate and the docks) there is a pleathora of temporary places. They are tents mostly, but some others are crates and merely bits of cloth stretched to protect from rain. The sad people have their own community there; resting between their menial or scavanging jobs, cooking the captured ratlins, larger grubs, weed greens, and scavanged left overs from the good folks, and looking for a way away from the wall.
   
   As long as all the buildings are temporary, and there is an easy to navagate passage along the wall (the wall road is a corridor between the tents), the guards leave them alone.

4. Sweet Water District

   #4

   The Sweet Water district is where everyone wants to live. Everything is so peaceful, green, and calm. Children frolic in the streets and greens of the homes. The Blues, the district's special watch, make sures everyone is safe and happy.
   
   The city draws upon several wells dispersed across it. Each district has one. There is either a fountain or a well draw near the center of the district. One of these fountains is attached to a spring. It draws up "sweet water" (water which tastes really good and clean). It is a newer well, as these things go. This neighborhood is a good distance from the center of power (ruling nobles home, city center, etc) and established economic areas. It has become the home of new nobles (usually of a lesser status), richer merchants, and a few crafters who were lucky enough to get into the area before all the nobles and merchants.
   
   The homes in this area are large and nice. They are simple in their design, not excessive and gaudy as was the fashion in decades/ centuries past. The area between the homes is almost park like, with discrete walls hidden by ivy and plants.
   
   The area gives off a peaceful, country atmosphere, seperate from the hub and the bub of the city beyond its walls. Children of all types play freely here. (In fact several small poor children use slings to "remove" pigeons who might foul the Sweet Water fountain, and receive a bounty for each one).
   
   The neighborhood is patrolled by Blue Guards, private city watch, hired by the people who live here. They keep this little piece of paradise safe. They maintain Order here. Everyone knows their place and what they should do. No one steps outside those carefully defined boundries. Woe be it to those who might cause trouble here. If the Blues even think you might be a problem, they deal with you severely. The Blues are also used to keep the servants in line, as they investigate "missing things" at the homes here. Some who steal are never seen again. Occasionally, they will even check the downstairs folks places, just to make sure and keep everyone honest. The Blues will also report any less reputable liasons to the neighborhood council, so this keeps affairs here to an absolute minimum. And the Blues are self policing. They caught one of their own "exceeding his mandate" and he was beaten and dragged quickly throught he area for all to see.

5. small people big city

   #5

   When society keeps getting more cosmopolitan, cities of mixed racial makeup start to appear.
   An interesting city district could be one where halflings, dwarves and gnomes dwell - all the doors are four feet high, streets busy with merchandise as dwarves pound away in their workshops, halflings sew, cook and do carpentry jobs and gnomes tinker with magic and machinery. From the various dwellings, work-songs in foreign languages sound, tiny children run around frolicking and playing withj papa's anvil, while a hundred inns offering specialities 'just like home' dot the place. The bridges are low too, and passages narrow, so all those agoraphobic dwarves feel comfortable. The dwarves build all walls sturdy of precisely hewn stone, while the halflings plant parks and paint the houses nicely.
   This setting is unique in many ways - in an ordinary city, you turn a corner and seem to have grown, for all is diminutive. In all shops, there will be two sorts of wares - one for the small folks, one for the big 'uns. Rowdy dwarvish inns might provide a place to brawl, or to get into lots of trouble by calling someone a lawn ornament, You can run afoul of a gnomish experiment gone awry, or try to chace a criminal ... on knees, as the low ceiling will not allow it otherwise. Of course, swinging a halberd, a greatsword or maul might b quite difficult in there! Not to mention the logistic difficulties of carrying a longbow!

6. Biblos (Book) Quarter

   #6

   The Great Library's name is still officially "The Cathedral of Knowledge" even after the Reformation. This huge, multilevel structure is now run by a secular priesthood of scholars, many of whom live in the old priest quarters (in fact, until recently one or two of them were priests of the old temple). It is the cornerstone of the Colleges that are found in the quarter. The Colleges have sprung up since the Reformation, as the inadvertant monopoly the Temples of Knowledge had over education ended. Education is no longer ritualized and centered upon classics. Now free exchange and exploration are the central ideas of these new colleges. Magic is now, tennitively, being taught in public.
   
   The area around the Great Library has become specialized in supporting the Great Library and the new colleges. Papermakers and Stationaries are found in this quarter, as well as BookBinders. Inkmen actually make a fine ink in the area. The Ink of this city is well known across the land.
   
   The quarter is filled with book sellers and scroll mongers. In fact, this is the majority of businesses here. If the library was not enough, you can get newer books than those found in the library. And since the Library is no longer allowed to have religious works, bookstores and small libraries containing these works are more prevolent than you would expect
   
   There are a dozen shops of Scribes and researchers, who will find and make copies of things from the Great Library for a modest fee. The will also do other scribely duties, including reading to illiterate folks. Translators have set up shop here, so you can get papers in any language here. (With the presence of translators and foreigners here, as well as free thinkers/ radical, some say the spys hang out here as well.
   
   A few scholars who make a living teaching nobles or at a College, or have retired from said profession, seem to congregate in this area. The few streetside bistros in the quarter, are filled with lively and scholarly debate as well as excellent pastries and tea.
   
   It is strange that the most athletic of professions, the courrier is also centered in this quarter. These young madmen are suited to the urban environment, as they have been known to "bounce" around walls, terraces, bridges, dodge traffic, as well as run the city streets. There are dozens of "stables" here where human runners wait for assignments. These speedy runners (or riders for longer deliveries) deliver things of all sorts in the city and the surrounding areas.
   
   
   Thank you SE. While Ideas are great, full write ups are better.

7. Azure District

   #7

   Magic can only legally be practiced within one area of the city, with the caveat that no spell effect can exceed the boundries of the area. To do so invites either death OR stripping of one's powers.
   
   Some people are considered innately magical so they can not leave the district without the magistrate's permission and a witchhunter guard.
   
   The district gets its name by the good sized walls that are painted a bright blue that mark the magic district. There are blue lines painted parallel to the wall at each of the three district gates. Taking the Azure boundry to heart, many of the people who live in the area have taken to painting their roofs cobalt blue as well.
   
   Inside the district, there are three areas.
   
   Along the main roads, shops and shop fronts of a bizzare variety can be found. There are alchemists, spell sniffers, book sellers (mundane and otherwise), scolliers, fortune tellers, curse mongers, healers, pyrotechnics experts, professional spell casters, candlemakers, mirror crafters, magic tinkers (using little spells to fix/ clean/ tweak things), talismongers, shops filled with strange and unusual (catering to the needs of the area) and a purvayer of exotic/ magical animal parts. There is also a shop that re-sells things from the main market, for those that will not leave the district. Several of the braver food carters make a daily journey to the district fountain plaza, to sell their wares quickly to the natives here.
   
   In all the but the eastern section of the district are the homes of the magic folk. These homes all have an antique charm of an older district, but they have interesting elements that sometimes scare mundane neighbors. Magelight lamp posts, illusions in the windows, glyphs of power and alchemical symbols upon the walls, and odd paint colors are some of the more tame additions to the homes.
   
   The eastern section , where there the gate has been blocked, is the less desirable section of the district. The homes are more rundown, and usually broken down to apartments. Some of the creatures live here and in the undertunnels (but within the azure district). Some are homeless, others haunt the few green areas there. There are a few pubs here, where brew and others entertainments can be found. While most blue folk won't mention it, but this is the area where you can "know a guy, who knows a guy" who can get you dark and black magic spells, components, and items.

8. The Calm Alleys

   #8

   The Calm Alley, and a few small insignificant streets nearby have always been calm, some would say boring. There are few people in those narrow passages, and no one looks into your eyes as you pass them...
   
   The Alley is one of those shadier areas of town; not that there were any thieves or swindlers (visible), it is quite safe here, and if you mind only your business, nobody will mind yours.
   
   If you are an artist that likes to paint the human body (naked of course), you will be at home here. If opium or some subsitute is your passion, you will come here. If you are from a well-to-do family, and have a secret lover, there is an appartment waiting for you. If spies want to meet in privacy, this is the place.
   
   No one has seen anything, no one remembers. Because if you would remember, someone could start to ask, why were you there at all? Whoever comes here, has something not for the public eyes.
   
   
   The Calm Alleys hide many vices and many secrets. There are no laws here, except for one principle: Stay out of the attention of guards, and you won't have any problem. Some of the silent residents are surely thieves or killers, but take no work home; the local criminals understand a need for this quiet place. And as long nothing (visible) happens here, the guards leave it in peace.

9. Old City

   #9

   This section of the city shows the city's roots as a medival/ primative town. Surrounded by the original city walls, Old City is filled with heavy stone buildings. The buildings here are different from the rest of the city. They look like they were part of an ancient castle or fort, or built in the age when the city was on the frontier of civilization.
   
   There are no wood buildings in Old City as fire after fire after other disaster has destroyed everything that was not permanent stone. The buildings are solid, secure, and tend towards a gothic look. There are towers, spires, heavy walls with arrow breaks, and supporting buttress. There are gargoyles and other grotesques on top of every building.
   
   Old City is practically a town unto itself. It has its own little market area, its own water, and its own marshal. The families that live there have lived there for several lifetimes, if not centuries.
   
   There are two important buildings in Old City: The Main Temple and the Mayor's Office.
   
   The Mayor is the administrator in charge of the town, as appointed by the King and the Town Council. He runs the day to day affairs here, doing what is best for the city, despite what the Town Council might think. The Mayor's office is somewhat cramped for the modern mayor and is difficult to get to, but tradition (and the budget) dictates that this is where the Mayor works. (It also has the advantage of keeping the Mayor in an inconvient place so he can not interfere with the council).
   
   The Cathedral (or main temple) is the oldest single structure in not only the city, but the entire region. It could house a good portion of the city's populace within its walls. It has been built up and improved upon over the centuries, until it has become the central location of faith for the region. Splendid is not the word for this giant monstrosity of gothic archetecture. Massive is. One of the reasons why it is the center of faith is the fact that it is soooo large and has supporting outbuildings for administers that work for the church. Other cities are trying to build main temples as impressive as The Cathedral, but to date, none of the projects have yet to succeed (though some are not near complete).
   
   One would expect the narrow dark streets of Old City to be haven for the criminal or violent elements. The streets of Old City are actually the safest of any in the city. The Cathedral has a troupe of Gargoyles living on its roof. Real, mythical Gargoyles.
   
   These near immortal creatures of living stone are territorial and nocturnal. Due to some ancient agreement, the Gargoyles are allowed to live here AND allow fleshlings to live here. They sleep during the day mostly. They seldom stir from their perches during the night. They have the patience of a stone, and a point of view that years are but minutes of life. They do not move, fly, or speak without a true need. Their senses are so inhumanly powerful that little goes on in the Old City (or even in the New City) that they are not at least peripherally aware of. Many crimes in the Old City (and occasionally some in other quarters) are stopped by a swooping Gargoyle, usually with the guilty criminal never to be seen again.
   
   If anything threatened the Main Temple/Cathedral or the Old City, even in the daytime, the Gargoyles would defend their home area. Since not even an elder dragon can withstand a troupe of gargoyles (according to the legends), no normal army should stand up to them.
   
   Very few people know of the existance of the Gargoyle protectors. People have heard the legends, but monsters don't exist any more. The local guardsmen wear Gargoylish helmets while on duty, though few believe why. The Mayor is often advised by a Gargoyle in times of trouble. Some times directly, but most of the time by the Grey Priest. Since the first church here, there has always been a priest, or young alterboy who will grow up to be a priest, who will often go up and talk to the Gargoyles and occasionally hear them talk back. The Grey priest is their mouthpiece to the world and their encyclopedia of fleshling ways they don't understand.

10. Sunset District

    #10

    This is the west most area of the city proper, all of it new growth beyond the existing city walls.
    
    It began with buildings along the sunset road, the road to the west. As the paving of the road extended, so did the buildings and the new roads parallel to it and avenues perpendicular. Since the roadwork has been periodic and there have been numerous plans to create a new city wall to encompass the new buildings, westward progress has been slow. The creation of an Eastern gate has been the only city wall work done in some time. The district is now nearly as wide as the city. The sunset district is sometimes called the DawnShadow by the poetic, romantic, and the highly political, as the city's long shadow at dawn is cast over the district.
    
    Filling those blocks has been town homes, tall, narrow, and long two story affairs. There is practically no space between them. Every bit of space has been used, since they expected to be stopped by a new city wall anyday now. There have been a few businesses built along the way, most having to do with horses, wagons, carriages, and metalwork (business practically prohibited to be inside the city because of taxes related to them). Multilevel horse barns/ carriage garages used to be the most common business squeezed between the town homes. As time has gone on, and the population has grown, there are others (washers, cobblers, tailors, tea shops, furniture makers), but most of the district is residential. The district allows people who would of been merely taking a room to actually own a home, if they don't mind living outside the city wall AND travelling into city for work. (Some enterprising carters are creating "buses", bringing workers into the city and taking them home again.)
    
    The bakers, also escaping old tax laws, have moved into the Sunset district en mass. If you want a lovely loaf, buttery croisants, or any variety of bread (from any ethnic/ racial group), you have to visit one of the excellent bakeries in the Sunset District. In fact, many of these bakeries deliver to shops inside the city (a marriage between a horsetrainer and a baker's wife was said to be the origin of this shipping arrangement).
    
    The district has only one distinctive feature in their mind- The Reading Market. The Readings had one large carriage garrage not too far from the city gate. They lent (later renting) some of their land a few days a week during good weather to some farmers and merchants, so they could have a small market. Fearful of serious talks to extend the wall (which would increase their tax burden), The Readings practically abandoned it, and created a huge facility outside the district boundries of the day. (Decades later, the city has caught up with it). Now, the market people eyed the building now abandoned. They first asked, "could we store our things inside". The Readings said yes. Unexpected rain looked to cancel the market, but the merchants simply set up inside. While business was not brisk, it did continue. The Readings, seeing a new source of income, sectioned off the building into "streets" (e/w) and avenues (n/s) like the district and rented out "blocks" to merchants, fishermen, and farmer groups. The top floor is mostly merchants, the first floor mostly food stuffs, and the basement a mixmash of food and odd merchants, mostly catering to odd ethnic and racial groups. This indoor space allows them to have a market nearly all year, increasing the revenue from space rentals. For decades now, the market has been one of the Readings' main sources of revenue (and a major source of tax and guild revenue for the city).
    
    Note: The Readings are looking into building a similar building (and market) on the Corneth Road, the road out of the city towards Corneth. They think a district will build up around it, increasing customers.
    
    And though people have been talking about it for centuries, there seems to be no real thrust to build new cities wall. The lands about the city have been fairly safe for nearly century, with new cities being frontiers. Besides, the District people could crowd into the City proper if danger loomed.

11. Lake Streets

    #11

    The Lake Streets are the harbor district of the city, which lies on a great lake that is used often for shipping and water travel.
    The Lake Streets are unremarkable for the first two blocks. That's where the shore ends, though the Lake Street continues, first on raised piers, and then on floating platforms.
    The district is mostly unremarkable, save the floating platforms and the great profusance of Saporans and half-Saporans who dwell here. Since the Saporans live mostly on the shores and in rafts on the lake, they and their city-born children have taken a liking to the Lake Streets. The piers echo with their trilling, nasal language, and Saporan food and crafts are sold by the hawkers.
    
    (OOC: Rather uninteresting, I know, but its my first attempt.)

12. Neighborhoods

    #12

    The Blackwater Tunnels: For all the aquaducts coming into the city, there munt be a place for the water to leave. Thus, many years ago, the Blackwater Tunnels were commissioned to carry sewage away from the city buildings. Consisting of a great hive of brick-lined tunnels great sloping away from the city, the Blackwater tunnels serve as an excellent path in and out for less desireable elements, and though the Guard does their best to hold choke points, the maze is simply too great for them to control in entiretly. Theives and assassins, however, are not the worst of their trouble, nor is plugged sewage.
    
    Of late, a black cult has found a home amoung the sewers, worshipping a horrible lord of death, disease, and terror. They have rebuilt several areas of the Blackwater, creating a well hidden, easily defended fortress beneath the city proper. Worse, with the comfort the security of this installation gives them, they have redoubled their efforts to spread plague and fear amoung the city above.
    
    More, strange things that no one, not ever the cultists, have previously imagined have often appeared within the Blackwater. Strange beings akin to water elementals, yet made of human wastes roam the tunnels freely, feeding upon the refuse of the city above. Roaches and other scavenging insects grow to abnormal size here, to say nothing of the rats.
    
    (Yeah, I know-cliche. But every big city needs underground evil, and it hadn't been mentioned yet.)

13. stink

    #13

    It would actually be difficult for them to walk amongst the normal society, as all the cultist would STINK. (yes, that was capitalized on intent, as to differenciate from the normal, run-of-the-mill medieval stink)

14. wELLLLLLL...

    #14

    One clerical type cantrip later, and there would be no stink. Heck, if there was a spell, all traces of "Evil" would be erased (including the stink), so the minions could walk among the "good people" and not be detected. Similar spells would make the hidden enclaves difficult to spot via magic (this is not the sewer you are looking for).
    
    Without such disguise spells, magically active (aka DnD and the like) worlds could spot and destroy almost every Evil cult. A simple patrol periodically walking among the masses and places "good people" don't go, with a detection of Evil. While they might only do this if they are aware that an Evil cult is near by, some places/ good cults might do this as matter of course... just because it is their duty to root out Evil and destroy it.

15. True

    #15

    Yes. Forgot about that, actually. Most often, the simple matters are overlooked.

16. Gateway Plaza - Antioch Neighborhood

    #16

    There are two ways into The City, The main gate and the six minor gates accessible only at the docks. Surrounding the City is a massive wall, 10 Imperial Strides (1 meter) tall, four wide at the base, and two wide at the top where the Guard patrols, with protective braces spread along it.
    
    The main gate is accessible by the main road, a somewhat windy road that climbs up to the city gate.
    
    The main gate is a massive affair. It is seven strides long. The two drop gates (at the begining and end of the gate tunnel) are the most visible. The main gate door is actually a massive stone wall that slides inbetween the two drop gates on rollers. It is one stride thick. On either side of the inside of the gate is the entrances to the gate house, where the Guards on alert stay.
    
    The Guard at the gate ask the basic questions of everyone who enters, and record the answers in the Census Book. Who are you? Where do you hail from? What is your Guild? (usually requires you to produce you guild shield) Do you have magic? (checking to see if you need a magic license, and any special items the guild might have to contend with), Do you have money or wealth? (checking to see if you can afford to stay in the city for at least a week- 40sp). You get an entry token (with the date on it).
    
    On your way out, the guards take your token and check you out of the census book.
    
    Lying to the Guard at entry or exit, if caught, can be punished by what ever punishment the Guard deems worthy of the offense, from a slap on the wrist to death. There are some specific laws that also are in effect at the gate. All bows and crossbows, and some pole weapons and chains, must be checked at the gate (you get a redemtion shield). Heartbound weapons do not have to be checked (as it could result in the death of either the weapon or the warrior). Magic wielders must wear either a blank mage guild badge, or appropriate guild badge, visibly upon their person from once they enter the gate until they become accepted locally. If you fail to have a guild or money, you are usually turned away. If you are either a stranger or say you are looking for a guild membership, you are given a week plus one day to either gain membership, another job, or to be out of town. Being caught in town after that point, without guild membership or a job, can have some serious consequences.
    
    After getting by the guards and through the main gate, you exit to the Gateway Plaza. It is lined with halved and polished river stones. The pattern similar to that found on an Imperial Roadway. It is however, not as smooth, nor is the traction as good.
    
    There are always a few gamblers or people looking for luck hanging around the Gate. They are waiting for Strangers. They are here to test the addage "Always teach or do something nice for a stranger, it will bring you luck."
    
    The Plaza is always busy when the gates are open. There are people coming in and out of the city all the time. Sometimes there is quite a line up to get in. For those not used to such a cosmopolitan place, the variety of peoples can be dazzling. There are Humanti from all the Lands and most of the biomes of ThirdLand in their native garbs. There are Elventi, mostly of Air Elventi stock (seldom High Elves). In The City, most are natives, rather than visitors. On any given day, there might be a Nihkon Orcenti bodyguards, Dwarventi aboveground, A Gianenti from the plains, Podlings, and furry folk of all descriptions pulling the ever present rickshaw taxis of The City. There will be food carters selling drinks of all types and the occasional snack. The flow of people is mostly to and from the main entrance arch that stands above the ArchStreet/ main st of The City.
    
    Along the wall to the right or left, are two double gates that lead to the wall line. There is a breakwall behind the gates, to prevent both the rush of incoming Goblins along it and for people to see the squaller in the Wall Line.
    
    The Plaza is lined mostly with business having to deal with trade and money. These are the offices of caravan houses and trade exchanges. They are of the standard Antioch design, two to three story townhomes (long and narrow) with exposed beams and shale roofs. While these locations are technically "unsafe", they are the cheapest prestigous offices/ locations in The City, as they are "first in the city". The alleys between the buildings only lead to the next street in. Buildings on that street, face the neighborhood wall. (Yes, this neighborhood is only one block deep and is an half eliptical area). This wall is not a simple divider, but a scaled down version of the city wall, with the occasional Guardsman patrolling it. It encompasses the entire plaza neighborhood from Wall Line wall to Wall Line wall. It's only break is the entry archway to ArchStreet/ main street.
    
    One notable Gateway Plaza business is Kereg the money changer. For a minor fee, he will convert transportable wealth into coin and visaversa. Notes of promise, bank drafts, local paper money, and imperial gems, can be converted into Imperial Coinage and Antioch Paper Money (scripts). What make's Kereg's office more impressive is the walls of his work area (which are behind some nice thick bars) are lined with thousands of different currencies from many far away places. There are dollars, dutchmarks, euros, yen, credits, Imperium credits, gold tallons, gold pressed latium, cred sticks, bank cards, and bottle caps. As one can sumise from his name, Kereg is not a local, but a Stranger. In memory of his own early issues with money, he will exchange worthless money that Strangers have for a week's wage (more if he has never seen the money before). He will convert any gold and gems into money as well, at a better than fair market value. Thus he gives each stranger a better chance to survive in the city. Some MoneyCrafters call him mad, yet his business thirves, reinforcing the folk wisdom that helping strangers generates luck.

17. Stockman Area

    #17

    The Stockman area started out a ways outside the city, a quarter days ride. It is to the east of The City, down the prevailing winds from the coast. The main way of the Stockman areas comes from the King's Pass (RegalioVexia). The King's Pass leads to Great Plains, a sea of amber grass with mild rolling hills and the occasional oak tree. Since the Plainsmen (Golbins and such) have been pascified and converted, the plains are open to greater usage by civilized people. This has been a boon to the Stockman area, and The City attached. While the Stockman area has grown, The City has grown out faster to meet it.
    
    The Stockman area is where Rancher's stock is processed. Most ranchers are bringing in the furry and broad steer native to the plains, but some bring conventional steer in. A team of ryders herd the stock to one of five paddocks. From there, they are sorted. Some are saved as auction stock, the rest are mere commodities unless a buyer has been arranged before they herd was brought in. The animals are killed in the slaughter areas adjacent to the paddocks. Meat is taken and dried for transport. Hides are either tanned for leather or streched to maintain the fur. Tallow is taken for candles. Jell (collogen) is taken for food purposes. Bones are ground to enhance flours or used in other processes. What little is left is chopped and used for either pig feed or fishermen's chum. These items are then shipped via ship to the old country.
    
    (Dung from the paddocks is sold and caked for use as fertilizer.)
    
    There are five paddocks in The Stockmen area. There used to be five important men in the Stockman trade, but now there are only two. Elgenius and Gordonus have forced the rest to sign over their paddocks to them, with Gordonus owning the extra one. These two men will not stoop to open war or obvious sabotage, but underhanded business dealings is their bread and butter. The hatred between these two men is good for the Ranchers, as it makes sure that good money is paid for each head. These two men own all of or part of the businesses in the Stockmen area. They may be the wealthiest men in The City.
    
    The Stockman area has always provided services for the Ranchers and their riders. There have been corrals, Horse tenders, blacksmiths, taverns, inns, bathhouses, red lamp houses, and a healers area. Homes to support the workers were built near by. Services to support those people (stores and such) and the occasional needs of Ranchers and Riders followed. The Stockman area would of become its own little town, except for the wealth that has flowed throught the City.
    
    Since the Soldiers and Knights who waged war against the Plainsmen needed fresh horses and supplies. They tended to buy their supplies and horses in the Stockman's district, rather than ride/ walk further to the City. The creation of the Kingsmen Fortress at the far end of King's Way, has eliminated most of the personal purchasing in favor for bulk purchasing by the Army. The flow of government monies enriched The City.
    
    Since the clearing of the Great Plains ten years ago, more and more livestock has flowed throught the area. The pacified area has allowed more colonists to travel here. The farming, mining, and lumbar harvesting has made a great deal of wealth for the merchants involved, and a little bit for the people involved. The City has grown by leaps and bounds. It eventually has reached the Stockman area.

18. ArchStreet - Antioch Neighborhood

    #18

    The ArchStreet neighborhood is all the area between the GateWay Plaza and The DiPlaza (Central Plaza), a somewhat triangular wedge of city. It is the most pretigious neighborhood in all of the city, because it is the first. (This is only slightly true, but nobody publically makes a stink about this claim).
    
    The central feature of this area is ArchStreet. It is a large street that streches the entire way from the Gateway to the DiPlaza. ArchStreet is technically a divided avenue, with each side of the road (suitable for two carts to be driven side by side) is seperated by a thin stretch of flowered garden. There are broad sidewalks that are better maintained than some Imperial Roads.
    
    It begins with a grand arch at the Gateway Plaza (two buildings in at the lesser wall). It crosses the entire street. ArchStreet ends with a grand arch as well as the DiPlaza, the twin of the one a the Gateway Plaza. Between every long block, there is another set of arches. Unknown by most, hidden under the plaster of these arches are sliding door gates (on one each side). Even the garden divide is broken at these points. In times of trouble, someone with a hammer will chip off the thin plaster, and slide these gates across the arches. They are of the same design as the main city door. They will seal the street off, making progress for the invading forces (or rioting people) difficult.
    
    Along ArchStreet are fine shops, a few cafes, taverns (Antioch traditional ones, whcih are part inn as well) and important businesses and guild halls. The ArchGuildMaster, the head of the guild council, makes sure that only "appropriately Antioch establishments" are along this street. (The only exception to this is the Impressors guild, but they are waiting for an opening). There are strict standards for appearances and quality along the street, but adhering to the standards gives huge tax credits to the business, so it all balances out.
    
    The Magic, Warrior, ClothSmiths, and MetalCrafters (the various kinds of smiths that work metal), all have large union halls there.
    
    One of the most interesting ones is a "StarBuck's Cafe", with an odd hand carved green sign. Some Stranger made a Klah shop, rather than cart. This shop serves variations on Klah, some of which are quite good.
    
    Another one of note is The MapSmiths shop. This store, using impressor machines, is the place for functional maps of ALL the Known World. In fact, this is an Imperially graced shop, as the Emperor's son is known to purchase things here. Most large area maps are books with flip pages, using a page and grid system that attempts to handle some of the odd functions of the Biomes. They have hired an Elventi scribe to create a proper Imperial Edition. It should be finished in a few years.
    
    The streets that branch off ArchStreet (DiStreets), and those that branch off those streets (mere streets) fill out the rest of the neighborhood. There are guild halls and standard Antioch shop/ town homes (where the shop is the bottom floor, and the owners/staff live upstairs). This is a prestigous area, so prices and competition are stiff.
    
    Many people would assume that it is called ArchStreet because of the arches across it. In the local language ( http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=18612#18612 ) Arch is a prefix of importance. More than main street, ArchStreet is the Street of all Streets... an egotistical naming of the street, proclaiming that all the streets in the world are a shallow copy of ArchStreet. It is a name of hubris and pride for the locals. It is a bone of contention in certain circles of the Imperial court and the other city states of ThirdLand. Given Antioch's pivotal and growing role in the Imperial in recent centuries, it may be well named after all.
    
    The other two exits (besides Diplaza and Gateway) are the two side gates, clockwise/ widdershins is the Quiet Ward and counterclockwise/ desol is Alley Ward. These gates are heavily fortified, but seldom manned. In times of trouble they will be slammed shut limited access in and out of the district.

19. Dock Ward - Antioch Neighborhood

    #19

    There are two ways into The City, The main gate and the six minor gates accessible only at the docks. Surrounding the City is a massive wall, 10 Imperial Strides (1 meter) tall, four wide at the base, and two wide at the top where the Guard patrols, with protective braces spread along it.
    
    The Antioch River runs right by the City. It is a broad and slow river, allowing for travel to the Villages, The Northern Plains, and the eastern part of the Great Ridge. It brings most of the goods produced in ThirdLand though Antioch and out to the ocean.
    
    The great city wall slides down into the water of the river, creating a giant retaining wall to protect the land under the city from erosion. There is a stone lip jetting out from this wall. Attached to it are a dozen small piers.
    From these piers goods are loaded and unloaded, ships are moored, and a few fishing vessels eek out a living off the river.
    
    The six river gates can only be reached from the piers/ water. They are small affairs, three strides tall and three strided wide. Each has a grill gate that slides down over it. There are also stone slab gates that slides across the gates, three at a time. These six gates are manned by a handful of guards each. They assist the assessors to make sure everything has a custom (tax) stamp, but they are there to mostly keep the sailors and long shoremen from making trouble. The gates are open at sky's lightening, closing at full dark.
    
    Inside the wall, the wall line creates a plaza of sorts. During the day, the docks and the dock's wall line are bustling with people moving carts full of bundles, boxes, and goods. While the furry folk are known for moving taxi's in Antioch, none are found here. The Docksmen Guild (the Rat Clan) has only real people as members.
    
    Everyone is in either a guild or a clan. Not being in one is akin to being an outcast. It confuses people, as they are not sure of your status. Rat Clan is a clan that functions as a guild. The Rats ply the rivers and marshes of Secondland and Thirdland, as well as do longshoreman work. The seaclans hold the self proclaimed "rat clan" in contempt. Most officials see them as just a Guild of River saliors and longshoremen with a funny name. The Rats hold their title with pride and will take it out on anyone who gives them grief avout it.
    
    One of the reason there are so many guards in the Dock Ward, is that the occasional ocean going vessel docks in Antioch. This brings Sea Clanners to Antioch. Sea Clanners and Rat Clanners can work well together, but they do not socialize well together.
    
    Goods are moved to and from warehouses in the dock ward. Most of the warehouses are two story affairs, the bottom store being storage, the upper level being offices and apartments.
    
    In addition to warehouses, there are bars, taverns, and Antioch styled inns. There is only one cafe here, serving to the visiting owners and upper crust lunch and klah, which quickly closes up at dark to avoid problems. The courtisan guild has a number of guild homes here. While there are a few guild homes discreetly hidden around the city, there are eleven in the Dock Ward. The Courtisan's guild is the only one that allows Putti and Kern members, though they would only be found in less polite areas (such as the dock ward).
    
    The Dock Ward is surrounded by a strong wall, reminicent of the Ward Wall of the Gateway Plaza. A Barracks for the Guard is built into a bumped out section of this wall. By climbing down ladders, Guards can spill into the ward. There are two gates in those wall that lead into the city. Those gates are manned every hour of the day, just in case of trouble or people try to move goods without custom marks. The Wall line of the Dock Ward is bracketed by gate arches, that lead into the Wall lines of other area (one of which is the Gate Plaza).

20. Taymour District

    #20

    The Taymour district is tucked between two other distinct districts in the city. The districts house the government, the nobility, and those of power (church and rich merchants). Those two districts should of absorbed Taymour over time, but it has kept is charm and independence over the years.
    
    The Taymour district is a transitional district. It is where the newly rich or noble (or the formerly rich and tarnished noble) tend to live. It is upscale for most people, yet just poor enough that rich/ important people would not live there. So here are where the noble children live while attending academies, where poor or politcally weak nobles go to drink themselves away or grasp at straws trying to curry favor, where merchants live before they buy themselves into the local power base, and so on. The homes are very nice, but not proper for one of station. It is adjacent to where the poor servant and shop types live, another district between the two important ones.
    
    There are shops, cafes, and other services which cater to the almost rich and powerful. It is a nice area of town, if you can afford to be there.
    
    As you walk this district you will notice that some of the cobblestones are oddly colored. Looking around more, you will see green copper stars on some of the sidewalks and even some of the house walls. One of the bridges is practically a different color due to the number of them. If you don't know what they are, you must be from somewhere else. They are markers showing where noble (in terms of deed rather than title) dead were found.
    
    Over the years, many a revolt or reform (if successful) or riot/ uprising (if not), have emerged from this district. Between idealism and pragmatism, rich and poor, the people of the Taymour district are in an ideal nitch to both notice and do something about social and political issues. Thus many an event has begun in the district.
    
    The stars (and colored stones) mark the people who died trying to make a difference. Sometimes the winners mark their fallen compatriots, othertimes families or friends mark where their dead fell as a memorial (since as rebels they could not get a real burial or memorial stone). These stones normally have an emblem denoting the political movement, but some rare ones will have a name and date). Even the soliders have begun to mark their own dead with copper coins (one days pay) embedded into the stones. A careful understanding of politics and history will help you unravel the markers spread through out the district (and occasionally in other areas of the city).

21. Temple district

    #21

    In the Bizzannite city of Gnopolis (formerly Charitynaeya) in the Darkmouth Emirate, The work is being done on the largest temple of Stryfe ever constructed. So massive is this project, that it could not have been placed within the city's walls without displacing a large portion of Gnopolis's inhabitants. Instead, an extension to the walls was made, at city expense provided the church assists with keeping the peace within and guarding the new gate. This extension increased the size of Gnopolis--already a major city and capital of the Emirate--by an additional 40%. It was assumed by many that the now-superfluous wall between the temple district & the rest of the city would be stricken when the new external wall was built, but thus far the church has made no effort to do so, and the city has not earmarked funds for the demolition, although that section of the wall is no longer manned.
    
    Already the framework for the massive spires is the first view over the horizon for visitors approaching by sea, despite the temple district being on the opposite side of the city. The influx of workers--highly skilled and otherwise--have increased the city's business, and its crime. Opportunistic folk, both legitimate merchants and less savoury characters (such as pc's), have also immigrated to take advantage of this large project. Most of the workers, as well as those hoping to hire-on, live in tents--often large and communal--and temporary shacks. As the large increase of visitors due to the construction drove rent prices up--especially for inns or apartments--no common labourer can afford to stay outside of the temple district. The few rooms that remain are nearly all nightly-rent only, rather than longer-term, and a manual worker certainly cannot afford a hotel room every night.
    
    Walking through the temple district, one weaves through piles of building materials and rubble, under a buttress still unafixed and over a small cookfire of workers huddled together. The smell of sawdust, freshly quarried granite, coffee, and sweat, all mingle into a pervasive odour unique to this part of town. Well-off architects going bald from worry scurry about, notes in hand, stepping over obstacles that you were sure they had not seen. Carpenters hammer away overhead, while those hoping for work laze the day away in the shade of a tarp. Small knots of church officials may be seen on most days: the jovial Abbots, the violent-looking Bishops, and the completely robed-and-veiled scarily silent White Priests.
    
    Many more ideas to come...

22. Temple Ward - an Antioch Neighborhood

    #22

    Honest, this was the next one to do... it is not a theme thing
    
    When Antioch was rebuilt, it was designed by the MagicCrafters. The city was divided into six triangular areas, each one reflecting one of the six mystical elements. Thus an entire triangle (1/6th the city) was dedicated to Faith/Luminance. The mages handed the plans over to the GodSmiths (the word is translated as priests from now on), and they handed it over to one Peterus.
    
    Peterus was both a pious and practical man, he knew that all the priests in the world did not need 1/6th the city. So he designed a wonderous set of plans to express the glory of the higher tiers, that took up only a third of the alloted area. It was extravagent by any stretch of the imagination which mullified the mages somewhat, and left area for regular people to live in that section.
    
    The Temple Ward is entered only from the DiPlaza, the central plaza of the city, through the Arch of Faith. There is only one street here, Faith Street runs from Arch to the far end of the ward, the temple of GM. Every building here is a temple. Temples hold appropriate ceremonial places and rooms/ dorms for the priests who focus upon a given diety.
    
    The observant will notice that the Arch of faith has animal reliefs and details on the plaza side, and humanti/elventi et all details on the temple side. This represents the sixth and fifth tier of spirits.
    
    Note: The people of Antioch believe in One Pantheon and priests serve the pantheon first and an individual diety second. So why a priest might have a room in one temple, his duties (that week) might be in another.
    
    Immediately inside the gate, on both sides, is the Temple of Masters. It is one building, with a second story that spans Faith Street (thought his is somewhat obscured by the Arch of Faith. Here dozens of subpriests (acolytes) help those who are searching for a Master's help to find the right room. If there isn't a room ready, the subpriests might find the appropriate props and prepare a kretch for the supplicant.
    
    The roadway is made of seemingly random shapes that form together. After you pass the Temple of masters, it becomes a triangular pattern.
    
    Next are the Third Tier Dieties. These are four smallish temples, about the size of four townhomes put together each.
    
    One the right is Deth. This God of Death takes things that GM is done with and keeps them until they are recycled, reincarnated. This temple is minimalist in nature in the facade and public areas, but the rear is a regular rummage sale of things that need keeping.
    
    One of the left is Chro-No. The diety of time. The public areas for worship is quite small. Most of the priests of Chro-No are scribes who record events, so there is a scribery in the building.
    
    On the right and left, linked by an arch that can be walked across (which technically a bridge), is the temple of luminance. This thin and narrow temples mostly serve as a theological point of balance for the next two temples.
    
    Also note that the road stones on the streets change to hexagons from this arch on.
    
    These are the notable temples of the second tier. They are larger and more elaborate than most of the temples here. They house a large number of priests being three and four stories tall. All but the temple of darkness (which is completely enclosed and has several basement levels) have internal courtyards which are used for some worship, practice of religous knights/ Sirs, and other social events.
    
    On the right hand side there is the temple of Light, the temple of Water, and the temple of Earth.
    
    On the left hand side there is the temple of Darkness, the temple of Fire, and the temple of Air.
    
    Each temples outer facade is kindred to a Roman Temple, with columns and tiered roofs. Each has a roof dome of the appropriate colors and material.
    
    (Note the temple of Darkness is currently closed due to some unfortunate incidents that occured. If you need a priest of Darkness, come to the temple steps at night (always a risky proposition in Antioch) and the priests will assist you.) Some can be found at the MagicCrafter's guild house.
    
    From this point on, the road takes on a cobblestones take on a riot of color. The careful eye will see the colors collese into a red and blue path to the left, a brown and green path to the right, and a white and black path to the front. This is the area of the first tier.
    
    The three remaining temple areas are wide rather than deep, as they against the ward wall, which is quite long since the ward is trianglar in shape.
    
    To the right is the area dedicated to Mother Arth (Arth-a in the archaic). This is a well maintained park area with tame deer and birds. There are two small buildings here, a shed for maintance materials and animal food and a circular stone gazebo. This white temple structure has a dome top. There is a good sized orchard for golden green apples. The local children climb the ward wall and try to sneak past the guardians (Mother Arth devotes) to get them. Knowing many of the children in the area, good ones are allowed to slip by, and naughty children are caught and punished by cleaning up after the deer.
    
    To the left is the temple structure dedicated to Yi-Ang. The dome atop this structure is red and blue and slowly rotates due to some elaborate Dwarventi mechanism. This hall is quite large and very empty. Priests who focus on Yi-Ang will sleep on pallets in this vast area. They frequently request duties at other temples, to maintain their balance and promote change.
    
    To the center, at the end of the street, is the temple to Ge-Em. The temple is not as grand as it once was. The people of Antioch focus on the dieties of the second tier. It is the place of beginings and endings, so its only common use is birth ceremonies, confirmations (dedicating yourself to either a diety or a guild), and funerals. Inside the temple, the local MaskLanders have create a large chapel/ room sized Kretch to Danu, Master of Masques. The Priests of Ge-Em understand and appreciate this odd dieties place, though it is hard for them to explain to others. (Also the influx of MaskLander merchant cash has not hurt matters).
    
    On the second and third floor are classrooms where religious and semi-religious studies are taught. This use to be dormatories for the priests of Ge-Em, but there are so few that the space was well used for this purpose.
    
    Note: Parts of this temple are still under repair as some Amazonti went mad and blamed Ge-Em for all their trials and tribulations since coming to Arth.
    
    Arth's main thread has a section on religion and religious ideas. There is a dedicated thread forthcomming.

23. Artisan District

    #23

    The Artisans District is home to the large, half shell theatre the Lorantos Theatre. The theatre is named after Lorantos Trugeone, a famous bard who was invited to the city and never got around to leaving. The theatre was built on a commission from the royalty when a trend in supporting the fine arts was prevalent. Although the arts aren't coveted as they once where, the rich and noble make a show out of going to the at least one of the many shows that are held throughout the summer. It was made from plans he himself drew out and was completed in time for him to give the very first performance. It was a memorable recital of the Three Kings of Antolog which is a favorite in these parts. He died soon after.
    
    Because of the theatre, many aspiring actors and bards are found throughout the streets, practicing and entertaining as street performers trying to get a noble to sponsor them. Very often there are travelers from other cities on behalf of their nobles in search of fresh entertainment.
    
    The Artisan District is also a popular place to visit for a lunch or dinner due to the fact that there are few pestablishments that do not have live entertainment available. The class of patrons is usually upper with a dignified stint to it all but there is also plenty of backroom entertainment if you know where to find it.
    
    The district slows down in the winter months when most of the lucky entertainers move on to reside with the nobles and rich that have sponsored them, but in the spring time it always picks up once again.
    
    At the end of the summer, one of the most talked about events is the Parade of Silk. It was a tradition started by The silk trader, Aston, who hired a group of entertainers to parade down the main road swirling silk that the he provided. The parade ended at the doorstep of Aston's Silk Shop where he had ready large displays of his imported silk. It was such a success and Aston did so well from it that he started sponsoring it every year. After awhile it took on a life of its own. The traditional route is still followed and Aston's offspring are still selling their silks, but it has grown to a large gawdy affair with anybody who has a silk joining in creating a wonderous kaleidoscope of colored silk along the entire parade route.

24. Gardens of Ardales

    #24

    Centuries past, in the Bizzannite city of Ardales (Ar'-do"-lez) nestled in the Jabal desert valley, a massive tower was built. It was hailed at the time as being both a magnificent piece of art, and a triumph of Human engineering. As the wealth level of the inhabitants increased, the Emir declared that nothing within two miles of Ardales Tower could exceed two storeys tall. Or course, since that measurement was ill-defined, the wealthier citizens began building homes and businesses with as tall a roof as possible. This lead to a further refinement of the maximum height law, punishable by having the building in question demolished, as well as additional fines paid. While the aristocrats could no longer compete in height with one another, they did not want to be seen as having the smaller building. As a result, nearly every large structure was built to nearly the exact same height.
    
    Alas, time affects all things. Though the air in the Jabal valley was quite dry, the wooden beams of the Ardales Tower eventually decayed nearly to the point of collapse. Scaling the Tower was now forbidden due to safety concerns, and visitors were not even allowed at its base. Time finally took the Tower in the form of a fire 120 years ago. As the original artist/architect's plans were lost in the intervening years, and most realised that a new tower would be merely a copy, the Tower was never rebuilt. However, the old edict limiting the height of buildings within that two-mile area was never repealed.
    
    Improved irrigation was brought into Jubal Valley, in large part because of increased fears over more fires. This new water allowed the wealthy landowners of Ardales to grow personal gardens on their flat rooftops. The shade helped cool the buildings, and competition renewed among the aristocracy for the lushest garden. Over time, the increased population caused an increase in building density, especially in the city's heart, where the Ardales Tower once stood. New aqueducts were constructed, leading straight from the nearby mountains, across tall pillars, and into the gardens of these wealthy citizens.
    
    Today, a traveller approaching Ardales can stand at a mountain pass and gaze down onto a solid sea of green in the heart of the city. The gardens seem to mix and flow into one another. As it is relatively simple to step from one building to another--and across wide and short bridges spanning the streets--to the traveller's vantage, it seems as though it is a large park, rather than the roofs of many buildings. It is only when one looks further, to edge of the garden area, does the illusion vanish. Walking through the downtown streets of Ardales, one is cast perpetually in shadow. The harsh sun is filtered through leaves, vines, trellises, and arching bridges. The gardens (althought it may now be more accurate to not use the plural) are far above--40 feet of open space separates the streets from the plantlife. The buildings themselves are striking, made from the native white stone, and built with tall pointed arches and collumns. 2nd storey balconies stare down from some homes, even these are 20 feet above. The air is cool, dark, and damp; a welcome respite from the sun bearing down on the surrounding city.

25. Fog of Mills Park

    #25

    While travelling through an unfamiliar area of the city at night, it it easy for one to become quite lost. Though this is an upper-class residential neighbourhood just east of downtown, the streets wind, twist, and turn in upon themselves in a rather chaotic fashion. Mills Park was built in an area of the city where the level of the ground was quite close to the level of the water table. This means that there are many small lakes and ponds. Couple the water features with the age of some of the older houses, and you have a neighbourhood where there are no straight roads.
    
    Though these homes are quite nice, and very lovely to cruise by during the day and gaze upon, there is a sense of forboding and sameness when the fog crawls up at night. Most of the roads have no street sign, and those that do are typically either hidden by trees & shadows, or list only one of the pair of roads at an intersection. There is no naming scheme to the streets in the Mills Park area: no numbers, no themes (such as all names of trees), or even any control over duplication of names. It is rather chaotic. Thus, Thornton Avenue dead-ends in a cull-de-sac, but begins again on the other side of the large yellow home at that end. Gabrial Street is well-lit, and looks to the weary eye like an escape from the hours of wandering about Mills Park, but it is another trick: Gabrial Street turns upon itself in a large "P" shape. Mills Avenue itself is especially tricky--there are three of them--in addition, there is a Mills Street, Mills Parkway, Mills Court, and yes, there are two different (yet perpendicular) streets named Mills Lane.
    
    The streets are narrow and winding, buckled in places where ancient oak and cedar trees have spread large roots under the roadway. The endless clack-clack-clacking of your tires across the red bricks, the fog clouding mind as well as vision, and the ever increasing sense that you would not make it out of there again--much less find your destination--dulls your senses and very will to live.
    
    This chaos among the large homes and tall trees can be quite disorienting. When you cross the intersection of Mills Lane and Mills Lane--yet the last sign you passed said you were on Hopp Court--and when you are certain that you have passed the same area several times--although you have travelled as straight a line as possible--you become quite certain that you have either stepped out of your normal reality, or are becoming quite mad...

26. Shields District

    #26

    Some time back, Orcen mercenaries were used to against the people of the city (and accompanying country). The Orcen are a semi-nomadic people, who would be considered barely civilized by most. In a coup, the Leader of the time, hired many of said Orcen mercenaries away from the enemy army. Using the Orcen, they defeated the enemy and eventually drove them out of the region... recapturing their own lands and some additional lands the enemy had conquered.
    
    Between campaigns they were quartered in small districts in various cities. The city people and the Orcen basically kept to themselves. Tensions occasionally built up. There was about to be a civil war over the keeping of Orcen forces.
    
    Then the Orcens in one city had a party. It was more than a mere party, it was more like a festival. The festival was like one they had every year in their homelands, so they had an abbreviated version here. The main stay, besides the drinking of fermented blood and yogurt like products, was meat. Huge mountains of it, cooked on large metal shields over stoked fires. The meat is cooked with flavored oils and some vegetables, in a style unknown to the civilized lands. At first the Orcen kept to themselves, but a few poor and crippled city dwellers cautiously asked if they could have some. Orcen honor could not let them turn away someone without showing them hospitality. Eventually others of the city joined in, some brought what little food they could share. Some one brought vast quantities of beer and things became more friendly. The Evil Orcens became people in the eyes of the city folk, and the Idiots of the lowlands became wimpy people in the of eyes of the Orcen. The tensions were resolved for the most part.
    
    The Army leader dispatched fast riders to various other cities, telling the leaders to tell their Orcen to have fun (and to discreetly ensure that people might goto the festival). Thus, another civil war was narrowly averted by simply throwing a party.
    
    
    As the campaigns to drive the Enemy away wound down, more and more Orcens were released from contract. Most waundered back to their ancestral lands. A few found urban, civilized living to their liking. They opted to stay, just in case the government might need to hire them again.
    Most took local wives and settled down, learning city crafts or working for the Guard. Most could do metal and leather work anyways. Some even made traditional shields and cooking shields. They would have neighborhood festivals to help keep the peace as time moved on.
    
    So the Shield District is an old Orcen Mercenary Quarter. It is called the Shield District because Orcen always carried their shields. In terms of buildings, it looks the same as the rest of the town, perhaps a bit more run down. The signs are both in Orcen and the Local tongue. The only differences are the Pits.
    
    Pits are open areas where local Orcen have created "restaurants" where meat is properly cooked and fermented yogurt can be had. Pits are usually one cubit (2 feet) deep areas of good size. Most have steps down into the pit, while a very traditional one requires you to jump or slide. While there might be a closed shed for storing food stuffs, they are mostly open air. Some Pits are accomidating the civilized folk and have roofs on poles covering over the seating (for shade or some protection) and even some of the cooking areas. Each pit is centered around the large cooking shields. The seating consists of low wood benches and even lower tables. Sharing tables, drinking with strangers, and singing badly all add to the experience.
    
    The Pits were once frequently only by Orcen and those of Orcenblood, but since they are so economical (good value for cost), many of the locals travel to the district to eat in them. A few Orcen still have festivals for their building or street, but mostly there is one big city sponsored festival every year.
    
    As time has passed, the cities along the old border now have a strong regional cuisine based upon Orcen Shield Cooking.
    
    Note: Orcen can be a distinctive ethnic group, or could be a species division.
    Additional Orcen Info
    http://www.rpgcitadel.com/guild/index.php?topic=2330.0

27. Undertown - Antioch Neighborhood

    #27

    Antioch was once the site of a star stone mine. As such mines get deeper, they get much more dangerous... given the increase in spontaneous magical effects. The Humanti mined the stones for the Elventi, who brought them there by gate. They left by gate soon after the mine was played out. A hundred or so years later (Elventi are terribly lax about measuring such things), it became time to retun Humanti population from FirstLand back to SecondLand and let them colonize other places in the Imperium. The biome of Antioch was somewhat pleasant and they knew the vibration for the pylon, so gates were once again opened to Antioch. It became an debarkation point for Humanti's expansion into the northern part of ThirdLand. Most of the mine shafts had long collapsed by the return, but a few sections remained sound. The town, then city of Antioch were built upon those strong supports.
    
    As Dwarventi came to investigate this intrusion of ThirdLand. They were annoyed when they found Elventi and their pets. Since they were not doing anything with this flat area, they thought it might be nice to have non Elventi neighbors who would trade for their goods. They relented any passing claims they had to the flatlands. As they surveyed the area, they did see work for stone and metal smiths. So they worked. Over the centuries, a few Dwarventi have trickled here, working in the city for a short time and returned home.
    
    When they first decided to stay, there was no holding. Yet, they soon found the substandard Humanti tunnels the city was built on. The first ones created a hold of sorts, just occupying some tunnels that were sturdy enough and kept one from the sky. The Undertown they created became a home of sort, supporting subterranian peoples, Dwarventi, Humanti, Molefolk (furries), and others.
    
    There are three entrances to Undertown, all of which are found in the Crafter's ward. These well crafted Dwarventi stairs lead down into one of the three main passages of Undertown. The underfolk have cleverly made it look like a short surface streets. Some of the branching passages look like streets as well, but it is all just a facade, soon they become more mine or hall like. The streets are "lit" (dimly by any topsider's opinion) by mage lights and a few ancient amber Dwarventi Lights.
    
    Here, the small community of underfolks live a fairly normal existance. The second story of their homes are simply below their first or prime level. The Dwarventi and most of the underfolk won't dig down much lower, to avoid disturbing the magic energy pooled under them. While there is a shop, three taverns, (three guardsmen) and one fungi farm, most people only sleep here. They work, study, and shop topside.
    
    
    There are some rumors, that the Thieve's Guild might use the abandoned tunnels under the city for spying or crime. If they do, they do not include the tight knit undertown community in their plans.

28. DiPlaza - Antioch Neighborhood

    #28

    The ArchStreet, leading from the main gate, spills out into the DiPlaza - The center of Antioch. Each of the five other districts of Antioch have a gateway at the plaza. Each of the triangular districts has one cornor nipped off, creating the hexagonal shape of the central DiPlaza. A fitting plaza for a (nearly) hexagonal shaped city.
    
    The Diplaza has three areas: Wall, Open, and The Hall.
    
    The Wall surrounds the entire plaza, except where there are gateways of course. It is general Antioch design, two to three stories, with the bottom story being a business or office. The Wall supports a number of cafes/ inns, some guild shops (where various guildsmen sell things they normally do not sell in their own shops), and a large number of offices. The Carter's guild (those who sell goods they do not make from pushcarts) has its hall here. Most of these offices are for translators, contractsmiths, and certain crafts that pertain to government. The houses above most of these businesses are normally broken down into apartments, which is rare for Antioch. Some of the Cafes are said to be the best in the city. All have seating areas that spill out into the plaza. Some of the most notable is The Elemental and Cashmirius's (Cashmirius has been dead for nearly 150 years, but her name and recipies live on).
    
    The Open is the vast open area of the DiPlaza. Except for the continuation of the cut river stones from ArchStreet, it is paved in hexagonal shaped carved stone tiles. The entire city was to be paved in them, but they proved both expensive and unweildy. The cut river stones mimic the imperial road look and design, but are neither as indestructable nor tractionable.
    
    In the open area there is always traffic. Furry folk pulling taxi's, carters hawking their wares, people travelling through the plaza, others travelling to and from the Hall. The carters are so thick some days (the weekend mostly), those new to the city might think it is a market place. (Most of the carts are food and drink. The people of Antioch love food on the go and to buy food for later). Most of the time, carters go through the other districts, but all of them spend part of their "circuit" here.
    
    Note: Directly between The Hall (the pylon actually) and the ArchStreet diarch, along the riverstone path, is a set of standing stones. These stone are the Imperial Gateway for Antioch. Everyone understands to stay somewhat clear of them, should they become active and the person find part of themselves somewhere else.
    
    The Hall is a hexagonal building in the center of the DiPlaza. It is three stories tall, with a white stone done on the very top. That dome appears to be supported by six very tall doric columns. Each plaster colum has a different colorful elemental pattern on it. There appears to be an arched doorway on each of the six walls, but only one (the one that faces ArchStreet) is actually a functional door. (There are a large number of arrow slit windows on each wall that are almost invisiable among the textured stones of the walls unless you look carefully.
    
    The first floor is a large rotunda. The ceiling appears to be a stained glass murral lit by the sun (but actually by magical Lightstones). The mural shows the history of Antioch (and a bit of the known world) upto the time of the rebuilding. The floor is marble inset with mystical symbols (arcane langauge Elventi). The center of the Rotunda has the Biome's Plyon. Inset in the Plylon are give KeyOrbs. Discretely off to the side, is a doorway that leads to the narrow stairs that lead to the second and third floor.
    
    The second floor is taken up with the Guild Council Chambers. Here each ArchGuildsman (GuildMaster) sits in the ampitheater like room so they can discuss things before putting them to a vote. All rulings take two votes. In the first one, each guild gets one vote stone; in the second, the guild gets a number of votes stones based upon its membership. For each vote, the stones are openly counted and the results determined A locked area under the ampitheater seating hold the city's copies of the guild records.
    
    The thirdfloor is taken up by two areas. The first is the Govenor's office, should the Imperial Govenor come to Antioch. The other area is the ArchGuildMaster's office. From here, he runs the city.

29. Neighborhoods

    #29

    Tannhauser Street
    
    Tannhauser is a working class neighboorhood. No nobles will be found perusing it's small market square, or the few shops there. The wealthy and powerful have holdings and investments in Tannhauser, but few would be willing to be seen on those dank streets.
    
    In one word, it the smell. The neighborhood's wealth is built on butcher shops, and tanneries. Bovines by the hundreds are slaughtered every week. The meat is hung in thick walled rooms to drain while the hide is carried across the main boulevard to the tanneries. While the meat is being sectioned and cut, packaged and sold, the hide is scraped and dried and treated.
    
    The finished leather is then sold to the leatherworkers, cobblers, tailors, saddlemakers, and the whole plethora of trades who do brisk business in leather. The Butchers Guild, the Tanners Guild, and the Leatherworkers Guild all have heavy sway in the area, likely more than any city official, or would be ruling noble.
    
    The youth gather in street gangs, most for protection from the gangs of other youths, the Fish-Wharf boys or the SootHammer gang, or the clusters of rapier wielding dandies who come slumming in the dirty taverns and brothels. Of course, there will also be the resident thieves guild and the guildmaster.
    
    The street urchins and most of the neighborhood gangs pay him lip service, and the nobles and officials know that as long as they work with the boss, and the boss makes the appearance of being an upstanding citizen life will be much more bearable.
    
    To get a better feel of Tannhauser Street watch The Gangs of New York I know it's a Leonardo DiCrapio movie, but it pretty darn good. Just my two cents.

30. Alley District - An Antioch Neighborhood

    #30

    The Alley District is sandwiched between the Temple district and the Docks district. It has four ways in and out: one goes to the ArchStreet District, the other goes to Makers district, two go to the Docks district. There are always people moving through this district, along its three main streets.
    
    It is a neighborhood that average people live in. There are businesses here, but except for the taverns/ inns, they do not cater to the people here. The main business of the Alley district is moving of things in the city. It is here that the taxi and wagon companies stable their wheels. Many carter companies and a few messanger companies are in the district as well. Since there are carts, wagons, and taxi's here, there are a three metal-smiths and wheel-smiths. Thus there is an odd mix of carts, smoke, furry folk, and a rush of humanti here.
    
    The Main Sail Smiths covers several buildings along the road between the Makers and the Dock districts. The shop is currently run Marcus Excellius the fifth known as Marcus Sail-Smith, the fifth generation in his family to run this shop. His shop is the premire sail maker for the Northern part of ThirdLand. The trademarked weave of these sails is difficult to do, but makes for intensly strong fabric. Others try to duplicate it, but no one completely succeeds at it. Thus you will find Main Sails across the Known World.
    
    It should be noted that the Guards have a strong presence here, becaue of the barracks that are part of the Dock district wall.
    
    There is no gate to enter the Temple District, but many of the children here will climb the district wall to get at fruits in the Artha orchard.

31. Maker's Ward - An Antioch Neighborhood

    #31

    The name Maker's Ward was not in the Grand ReDesign for Antioch. The name is was originally from the laborer's area in Antioch before the rebuilding. While the Official name is the SmithCraft Ward, everyone now calls it The Maker's area.
    
    This is where guild buildings without shops are found, where large scale production of metalsmithing, clothsmithing (weaving), Dyesmithing (dyeing), woodsmith and crafting (making of basic wood products and artistic ones), claysmithing (ceramics), and others smiths and craftings are performed.
    
    Connected to the "Alley" Ward and the DockWard, The Maker's Ward is where all the large scale production is done. Raw Goods come to it through the Alley and the Docks. There are no shops here, only work areas. Two and three standard Antioch Buildings are connected and their production is combined. Most of the goods here are for trade to other places.
    
    Most of the buildings here are craft and smith locations. There are Inns/ Taverns and Cafes here, but they are few and far between. Few people live in this ward. The upper levels in these areas are the cheapest housing in Antioch. And some of the least desirable due to smells, chemicals, fires, and smoke. However, there are three areas in the district that seem like a normal Antioch area. They are the areas around three good sized streets: MotherCraft, Blossom, and Archerius. These three streets have businesses and goods that people need to live around.

32. Greenway District- An Antioch Neighborhood

    #32

    Like so many things after the Grand ReDesign, this section of the city did not redevelop as planned. It was originally set aside as a natural area, with the idea that an Elventi community would thrive here. This proximity to Elventi made it prestigeous. Alas the Elventi community never materialized. While there are a few Elventi living in their way here, it has been taken over by the well to do in the city.
    
    This district has three parts, dividing the roughly triangular shapped area into three paralellagrams. The three areas from smallest to largest are called Plazaside, Greenpath, and Goldpath.
    
    Plazaside is just that, the side of the district adjacent to the Central DiPlaza. This area's main entrance is the DiPlaza gate. It's other gate leads to the Greenpath, centered upon that dividing wall. The gates are always manned by guardsmen, keeping people who do not belong out. The homes in Plazaside are larger than most in Antioch, more detached, and do not have shop fronts/ work spaces in their lower floors (though certain professional do conduct business in their lower levels). Gardens decorate their back and side yards. Some homes are far enough back from the street that they may have small gardens there as well. Some say it is the nicest area in Antioch to live in.
    
    GreenPath is the only area that is truly as the original designers envisioned the area. This longer and narrower area is green and landscaped. It has two areas, deSol and Widdershins. The division between these two areas is the paved roadway that leads from the Plazaside gate directly across to the GoldPath gate. DeSol area is the closest thing to a grand park that this city has. The counterclockwise wall has a small gate to one of the common areas. You have the occasional picnic and lovers walking together here. But you also have to pay to enter it. In the clockwise area, widdershins, is a small guided area with three Elventi HomeTrees. Here, BeautifulCloudsDeepintheAmberSunset and some Elventi children and grandchildren live. He has interests in the mechantile businesses of the docks. He also hosts any visiting High Elventi who are not living in Humantime OR don't want to adopt the local way stay. The Imperial Govenor, who is a close cousin, is a frequent guest. Casual visitors are discouraged by the paths being blocked by formitable and thorned bushes, more focused visitors by the few guardsmen that patrol along the hedge. Those that do get through, without an inventation are met with spear and bow or sometimes never heard from again.
    
    GoldPath has only one entrance and exit, the gate that is always manned that leads to GreenPath. Inside this area is rolling country appearing roads and green. Nestled between are several dozen or so mansions, of the very rich. These people have horses here, something you seldom see in the city proper. There is their own private force to maintain things; Foresters serve as the Guardsmen here, keeping those without any business here out of the area. They will even escort visitors to the correct homes. Most of those that live here are of HighClans of SecondLand who have business connections here. The three exceptions are WatcheroftheRollingBlue or Watcherus Trader (a successful Elventi Merchant and his family of six), Delena (a stranger who has adopted MaskLander ways -there is always a constant flow of these strange people to and from her mansion. She literally runs the ClothingSmiths guild bringing the innovations of using MaskLand Silks in cuffs and belts, hair scrunchies, and new and exceptional fasteners), and Sheldonus BeCarry (An Amarian Merchant who watches his good flow from Northern ThirdLand very carefully).
    
    It should be noted that BeautifulClounds is negociating to put a HomeTree next to some of his others on the otherside of the GreenPath/GoldPath wall. The people of GoldPath are wary of this Elventification of their area. Many of the people here dally in the Humanti Independence movement (social and cultural independence, not political independence).

33. Neighborhoods

    #33

    The Circus Neighborhood
    
    Oh yes indeed, there was a circus here! Some hundred years ago, a noble hired it, and the show worked for a while. But the noble was killed by his own children, and the family broke apart. The circus went bankrupt in turn, executions taking the most draft animals. As the lands were not claimed back by the family, all became squatters, then moved into the buildings near by, or built their own.
    
    The oldest homes were actually built from wagons, reinforced with boards, and stones on the ground. Many attach even now wheels on their houses. Speaking of traditions, most houses are a bit weird, and use colours not imaginable otherwise.
    
    And locals wear too strange colours, not to speak of their strange ways. People are friendlier here, and happily invite anybody to their contests. Watch out for con artists though, the second story men and slight of hand performers in this area are truly impressive. All the skills of the original performers are still around. Some peasants happen to throw knives at each other, and catch them!
    
    The city has now a tradition of street performers in clown like make up, and nobody hurts those clowns/mimes, because the rest of the folks will come to their aid. People are proud of their oddness, even the little criminals (unlesss they do too much damage). This neighborhood alone is the largest source of comedians and street-performers, and many flashy shows.
    
    The authorities overlooked them at first. A few years after their settling, a fire has accidentaly broken out (or maybe not...). Many wagons were destroyed, but the circus people have saved a nearby temple, and possibly the whole city from burning. This act is not yet forgotten, and helped both sides to mutual respect.
    
    (Note that with the odd skills many have, spies for the country are likely to be recruited from the circus lands.)
    
    
    Anything else worth noting?
    
    Occult knowledge of various sorts. Fire Walking shows are regularly performed before the winter. Swordplays. Knowledge of exotic animals and cultures could stay behind. Quality tattooing is done here. Levitating mystics can be seen on the street. And art wasn't even mentioned until now...
    
    Sadly, many exotic animals died early on, not having enough breeding pairs. The city has monkeys and parrots in it now, the way most cities have rats and pigeons. Somehow, they learned to survive even those harsh winters. The Wargs died early on, but left a legacy of the largest city dogs in the area.
    
    Many have quite exotic genetics, so special abilities are more probable here. There is the gypsy future-teller. The family of the Wolf-man. "Robert the Great", a very strong and large man ("borrowed" by the militia occasionally, renting his services otherwise). There are human dwarves, that can pass as children. If a family practiced magics (even little magics) for a few centuries, they might be also odd. Dowsing is a common talent here, and Astrologers earn nicely.
    
    There is also the "Ten-wheeled house", an exotic brothel very frequented in the past, still favoured these days. The name comes from its simple beginnings, of three connected wagons only.

34. NorthWard - An Antioch Neighborhood

    #34

    If you travel through the city's main gate, travel down the grand ArchStreet, travel across the DiPlaza (walking around The Hall). and travel in approximately a straight line, you will reach the gate leading to NorthWard.
    
    You will have traveled some of the great and grandest elements of Antioch. Then you will enter the most common and humble. The NorthWard is classic Antioch. It serves as the "average" that all other quarters are measured by.
    
    It defines the "Way" of Antioch. The buildings are Neo-Tudor town homes; white stucco with some half-timbering, high-pitched slate roofs, asymmetrical configurations, enclosed entryways, an ornamented chimneys. They are all two stories tall, with shops and workshops selling goods on the lower level, families with apprentices and journeymen living above. A few lots are green and have common wells (not that Antioch water is fit to drink). The roads are a smoothed cobblestone, similar in appearance to the Imperial roads. There are normally sidewalks made of a weak local concrete. Their size and condition often explains the commonness of taxis in the city.
    
    The exception to the Shop/Home configuration is the Antioch Inns, which seem to be everywhere in the ward. There the owners often live in the house next door. Every business and home has a place for accidental guests to stay. The Streets of Antioch are magical at night, and not in a good way. The StarStone that originally borough people to the Antioch Biome still impregnates the soil here. Tiny crystals of magic are part of life here. At night, upon occasion, an elemental, a spirit of magic, appears. They wander the streets. Normally they just pass through and fade away one bell later. Occasionally damage things in their passing; even more rarely someone is directly harmed. To listen to the natives, it happens every night on every street where walking home from the Inn on the corner can be a harrowing experience. But in reality, it is a uncommon occurence. But the natives consider it an unlucky sign, so they avoid travelling the streets at night when they can.
    
    There is only two other ways in and out of NorthWard. One leads to the Crafter Ward. The other leads to the DiPlaza.

35. Dame Ellenius's Park

    #35

    Dame Ellenius's family has quite a long and prestigious pedigree, links to reigns of power, and a great deal of land spread around the Country. They are also tied to the Elven Nobility as well, as Ellenius's mother married an Elven Lord's son. Many of the household thoughout the Country are in positions of importance and have an adventerous aire about them.
    
    Such is not the way for Ellenius. Dame Ellenius has lived in this house for decades now. The story as for why varies, having passed into local legend, but all of the stories agree that it has something to do with a broken heart (lost love to duty, a bitter break up, a love lost to war/ trouble/ his wife). Given her genetic make up, she will be living in that home for a century or more. The house is a good sized affair, with a huge amount of grounds surrounding it. (The family wealth will support her in a modest way indefinitely.) In fact, the home has two sets of walls, one out side all the grounds, bording the city around it, and inner walls setting off the personal gardens and house from the large estate. The walls are quite formitable, so only those skilled can actually climb them.
    
    The inner gardens are well tended and quite formal. Few see it, except by stealing a look between cracks in the gate.
    
    The outer gardens/ grounds are also maintained by an army of short foreigners (inset odd race if needed). While not a formal garden, there is little open space. The grounds are private noble property and no one of a lesser rank should be there, yet no one that has not harmed the gardens or anyone else physically is turned out. Given the lovely and romantic nature of the gardens, its lovely seculuded benches and nitches, it is commonly used by lovers and couples.
    
    Those who would use it for clandestine meetings of a non romantic nature often find themselves being watched by one of the short foreigners.

36. MaCaferi SkyDock

    #36

    Given the Calderonians (The Griffon riders of the floating city), the Lyran skyskips, and the Dragon Confederation representives, there is a great deal of flying around the region.
    
    The skydock began when the Lyrans had to put down in a storm in the MaCaferi clan's field (which was just outside the city then). Given the less clement weather of the lands, they could not hover above the city. Befriending these exotic people and seeing an eye for profit, the senior MaCaferi began building the SkyDock.
    
    The Skydock is an enclosed tower 8 stories tall. On top of the tower is a strong blue lamp, that reminds many of a lighthouse's lamp. Skyships moor themselves to the dock and passangers can either walk down the internal stair or pay for being ferried down by a sky skiff.
    
    The enterprising MaCaferi clan has put together a small inn, a cafe (selling Lyran food), some warehousing, and a taxi service about the dock. The city has rented a building there, where port inspectors can be stationed. There is now a short wall around the field, keeping people who have no business there out of their (MaCafri) business.
    
    The griffons that the Calderonians ride presented special challanges to the city. Where do you stable a griffon? After a few "incidents" when they were left on a rooftop, housed in a corral with horses, or left in a barn, something needed to be done. The MaCaferi clan started to build a Covey, the griffon equivalent of a barn. The Covey here is has thirty stalls. Each level is 10 stalls wide, with the next level built on top of it and back a bit (kind of like a sports field stand). The Dragon Confederates have taken to staying in the stalls (though they are a tight fits).
    
    The clan is expanding one of the covey stalls, one Confederate is spending more and more time in the city. Goralllllll is becoming a fixture at the skydock. He likes watching the flying things, the flow of people, and the occasional chats he has with the travellers. He is thinking about moving in some of this stuff here.
    
    The SkyDock has been a fixture in the city for two decades now. In fact, the city has grown up and around the skydock field (what was once a few minute ride is now a simple walk from the gate). Alan, the current head of the clan, is planning on putting up two more docks. He has a deal (on the sly) with the city council to keep his monopoly over sky travel services. The MaCafri are practically a new guild.

37. Merhood

    #37

    Merhood is a river side neighborhood, just behind the docks. It is one of the city's original neighborhoods, so all the buildings have a patina of age and signs of rebuilding.
    
    It seems like every street is slightly uphill. The streets are cobblestone and morter, with a mix of heavy moss that has only been partially scrubbed off by dilligent homeowners. The streets are not overly narrow, just a bit dark. All the buildings are heavily plastered multistory affairs. Some of the lower levels have cobblestones and morter waist height. Almost all the doorways are several feet up from ground with broad stairs introducing them. Ground level windows do not open. The neighborhood has many balconies, some of which lead into elaborate foyers. Neighboring houses often have arched walkways between then on the second or third level. Many of the large homes have large patios on their roofs.
    
    The oddness of the neighborhood is the result of the river's water level raising and lowering over the years. The ebb and flow takes about seven years, from slight puddles at the floating docks to the submersion of the first floors in the neighborhood. During wet times, sleek and small canoes ply the "streets", with the occasional water carriage of a full sized boat being found. During the dry times, carters pull carriages along the narrow streets for the dainty or rich.
    
    If it was not for the city's stance on tradition (and prohibitively heavy taxes on the buying or selling of property outside one's family) these homes would of been abandoned or been a slum. However the founding trading families built homes here decades ago and have adapted in a fine fashion since then.

38. Stones District

    #38

    The Stones District was once outside of town. Though the town gave it a wide berth, it eventually surrounded it.
    
    All the path markers and various walls that face the district are covered with appropriate symbols of power to keep "Those of the Stones" in. There are a few chapels in the district, all to make worship, dedication, and interment easier. A few family final homes as well.
    
    The Stones are all marker stones for the Death and somewhat Dead of the area. Given the local traditions, they are quite artistic in execution... more than a mere name, date, and diety dedicated too. There are statues and carved reliefs of dieties, loved ones, totem animals, heraldic devices, and more. The local laws limit the size of each marker (based on social class). However, the local craftsmen can make the most of the restrictions. The mausoleum and crypts are similarly limited. However, it only pertains to their upper dimensions. The underground dimensions are unlimited, as long as they stay within the district and put no other final resting at risk.
    
    While the district has a park like appearance in the day, it is decieving. Anyone with even a touch of the gift feels the "detached" feeling, an odd coldness here. Durring the night, the parklike appearance evaporates leaving a maccabe festival of shadows, spirits, and cold.
    
    While a spirit or restless dead is seldom seen here, everyone knows the stones are not right. Rumor has that there are mausoleum that connect to other places... places that the living should no go... to the necropolis.

39. Neighborhoods

    #39

    Farming Neighbourhood
    
    The siege was bad, and with fire decimated a large part of a town. As life returned, the abandoned ruins were teared down, new laws against fire raised the taxes for most houses, depending on the number of their storeys. A few Hobbits have returned to their roots (so to speak), and built their holes as in old times. Naturally good in agriculture, and close to a needy market, the business proved lucrative, and soon other farmers followed their example.
    
    The neighbourhood is a sort of village inside of a town; however, due to many thieves and poor people nearby, fences are everywhere, and to have several guarding dogs is a must. The neighbours have seen little movement in the last few decades, so everybody knows everyone else. While generally friendly, 'outsiders' are instantly suspicious, and many tend to ask of one's intents while here. In these parts, trespassing can't be a mistake, so watch out where you tread.

40. The Pit

    #40

    The town had a long history. There had been a number of previous Imperial cities here, with their catacombs. There had been a mine here, digging out special stones. And the wells. There has been wells here for centuries, some with pumps.
    
    One hundred and twenty five years ago the Earth shook. A good quarter of the then current city fell into sink hole that resulted. Most of it one piece. People, being a resiliant lot, simple salvaged what they could, rescued those in the hole, and went on to rebuild their city. It has prospered since then.
    
    That has left The Pit to its own.
    
    So eventually squatters moved in to surviving buildings. Then the predators (vampires and such), but the locals, called Pitters, eventually suppressed those. The Pitters numbers grew over time. Eventually, everyone who was down and out found their way into The Pit. It was a rough life, but eventually some moved back into the city. New building did occur, as the cheap land was eventually annexed. The Pit was once again considered part of the city. So from a lawless no man's land has come the slum of slums. The Guard is afraid to enter the Pit, except is massive numbers. But that is okay, the Pitters take care of their own and their justice is fairly swift AND even handed.

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