A Specularum city map
by LoZompatore.I know that AllanP is preparing a detailed description of Specularum, so I post here an old edited city map of mine where I added some official locations from various modules.
I used it for my players, some locations are somewhat arbitrary, and the source list is not comprehensive. I just added some locations from a few modules where - to my knowledge - the city of Specularum is described, but I think I missed many more places. About half of the new locations come from Dungeon Magazine #13 adventure "Of Nests and Nations".
Anyway, see if it could be useful to you: when I made it I was quite surprised to see how many taverns and inns Specularum has (I suppose each developer never checked previous works about the city and added its own tavern/inn as a starting place for its adventure).
Here is the revised map:
Locations with an asterisk, though official, are not exactly placed. As a general rule the city district where they are located is correct, but the precise building is just an assumption of mine. Locations from Lathan's Gold module, especially, are quite arbitrary: I just tried to stay close to the relative position of the various landmarks as they are described in the adventure (e.g the Golden Coin Gambling House is SE with respect to the Hippogriff Inn).
The short list below collects my comments about some places:
17 - 18: The Dimension Door Inn and the Wizard's Gizzard Tavern are meeting places for young mages and other people connected with the Magician's Guild. There is an hint about such places also in Dragon Magazine #207 "The Magic of Karameikos", even if their names are not explicitly cited: according to the article these taverns were used also as magic showdown places before the School of Magic was built in Krakatos. A tragic incident with a mechanical beholder created by a gifted student levelled most of South End district - and possibly caused the death of Teldon - just before the opening of the School of Magic: since then, magic showdowns in the city are prohibited.
19: Radu's Wholesale Foodstuff: People from locations #15, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 buy wholesale food in this large shop. It could be a useful hub for investigation/intrigue adventures.
23 and 39: The Laughing Dog Tavern and The Tavern on the Shore are ill reputed places. The latter is a meeting and resting place for many ships' officers.
31: The Street Dreamers are a small group of thugs who live in the Street of Dreams and would do almost everything for money. I placed their hideout in the Old Quarter instead of the Nest (which is maybe a better place) because I wanted to keep it separated from "the Palace".
32: St. Kruskiev Monastery is located in the Old Quarter and it is cited twice in the novel Dark Knight of Karameikos. It is never explained who St. Kruskiev was; anyway, the monks belong to a lawful order, their symbol is a dove and a sword and they are quite appreciated as candlesmiths.
33: Baron Yuschiev mansion is a walled estate with a garden and a palace just west of the Lesser Merchant District. It is described in Dark Knight of Karameikos novel. Baron Yuschiev, though a Traladaran, is quite wealthy and seems very skilful in avoiding troubles with the Thyatians. He is one of the most charismatic leaders of the Traladaran faction, so possibly he could be allied with the Torenescu family.
34: Akatrina is the painter who enables the PCs to trace again Kelter Zerben at the end of Part 2 of WotI. She is Traladaran, she travelled a lot in the past few years and the exact place of her meeting with the PCs is not specified. Anyway, considering that the meeting should happen sometime in AC 1006-1007 and that the next stop of PCs voyage is in Selenica, I placed her in Specularum: I supposed she fled the wars in the neighbouring countries and she retired back home. She seems to be quite wealthy (she sold a picture to the PCs for 300gp) so I placed her house on the Hill district, not far from the Torenescu territory and close to the Hill Market, which is renowned for its strange and rare merchandise.
36: City Jail; while I suppose the "true" prisons are located inside the Duke's castle or in the military district, Lathan's Gold module cited a jail NW with respect to the Hippogriff Inn (which in turn it is located near to the NE gate of the city); the PC may be imprisoned if he offends the guards. Considering that the Foreign Quarter is not well reputed and it is surrounded by walls I placed the jail here: possibly it is a small prison where drunken people and hotheads are kept for some days just for minor crimes.
42: Ceesalt the Sage gives to the Lathan's Gold PC much advice about crossing the Sea of Dread. He has some info about most of the islands until the Thanegioth Archipelago. Possibly he could be used also as a "generic" sage, providing advice to the PCs about many subjects.