Walking the Wards - the Neighbourhoods of Specularum
by Giampaolo Agosta and AllanP from Threshold Magazine issue 21Specularum stands on the west bank of the Highreach River, just over 10 miles from where the river flows into the Sea of Dread. Within the city’s defensive walls, it is a vast metropolis reflecting its importance as a trade port, filled with noise from its bustling populace. As seen in the article “History of Specularum” in this issue of Threshold Magazine, a number of distinct areas have developed within Specularum over the past centuries. While some districts remain relatively pristine, the newly arrived visitor will see many areas as dirty, full of the dust and debris arising from a multitude of activities.
Most of the city’s streets are earthen, although the major thoroughfares are made up of paved stone. Unwary visitors may fall foul (in more ways than one) of the small trenches that run down the middle of many streets - this is the city’s sanitation system that drains into haphazard and ill-maintained sewers below ground. Around the Duke’s Stronghold and running into the Hill and Bricktop districts the pathways are constructed of brick (produced locally) resulting in a major contrast to the narrower and twisting arteries in the older quarters of the city.
For the most part, the buildings that are found along the streets are built of wood and/or brick. They are generally single, two or three stories in height, Often, use is made of the roof space as additional living or working areas. Many tradesmen and shopkeepers will have their business premises on the ground floor of their property, with the upper levels used for family living. Some properties may also benefit from a cellar beneath street level. There some taller buildings, often newer ones made of stone (on the ground floor level at least) that rise above the bulk of the city’s structures. But even in the older sections of the city, over the decades enterprising individuals have found ways to overcome the lack of ground space by extending their buildings upwards.
There now follow descriptions of the city districts in more detail, exploring their histories and outlining what present day adventurers may find in their wanderings. Enjoy your visit, but be careful - you never know who (or what) you might encounter)!
An overview of the city districts in AC 1000:
There are four upper class districts:
HILL DISTRICT: The centre of the political life, home of "old guard" Traladaran nobility, plus the ambassadors and rich Thyatians.
BRICKTOP: New Karameikan upper and middle class district: and the administrative centre of government.
STRONGHOLD: The home of the old Traladaran mercantile elite, almost a separate enclave
CHURCH DISTRICT: A Thyatian upper class ward, with the obvious church influence. Here the conservative Thyatian faction is strongest.
The five middle and lower class districts:
NORTH END: the seafaring quarter and where many adventurers can be found in a mixed population of many New Karameikans and Thyatians.
SOUTH END: Primarily a labourers quarter with a mostly Traladaran population; a sleepier ward with little political activity.
OLD QUARTER: A colourful old Traladaran quarter, with almost no Thyatian presence and few New Karameikans.
THE NEST: Core of the criminal underground and Traladaran resistance.
The MERCHANT DISTRICT has a mostly middle-class population of craftsmen and small-time merchants.
And then there are the FOREIGN QUARTER and TRADER'S CORRIDOR, both well defined by their position or population.
THE HILL DISTRICT
The Hill District straddles the western slopes of “The Hill” – the tallest of the hillocks that surround Mirror Bay, the city’s natural harbour. In ancient times, a Fomorian homestead was built on the summit. When the original wooden fort was transformed into a stone fortress, slave camps and work compounds spread across the hillock. Later, during the Nithian reign, another generation of labourers built a massive tomb on the remains of the earlier fortress. Once the tomb was complete, all the surrounding structures were levelled to the ground. Rumours persist that there is at least one secret tunnel running from the depths of the tomb under the slopes to a concealed entrance beyond the old worksite.
After the departure of the Nithians, the tomb fell into disrepair, with only its top half showing above the ground. The slopes began to be used as grazing land by farmers. It is not until the first century AC, when Marilenev grew and prospered as the major trade centre of Traladara, that a new palace was built on the Hill as a seat of power for the newly created Banate of Marilenev. The ground level remains of the old Nithian tomb were demolished in the process. Various buildings were erected on the Hill during subsequent centuries.
Following the arrival of the Thyatians in AC 900, the Hill area changed significantly. A new castle to house the Provincial Governor was built on the site of the former Marilenev palace. The older buildings on the slopes were levelled and new residences erected in the style of the Thyatian upper class who sought to live in close proximity to the Governor, along with prominent Traladarans who pledged support to their new rulers. With the formation of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos in AC 970, portions of the Governor’s Palace were rebuilt to provide a stronghold for Duke Stefan.
By AC 1000, The Hill is the posh area of town - the streets are all brick and it is broken up into numerous small walled estates. These estates belong to many of the more powerful citizens. Two of the major Guilds have their headquarters here. There are the embassies of the foreign powers that Duke Stefan has initiated diplomatic relations with. The residents of the district are served by two markets that provide goods of both a higher quality and of a more exotic and wider range than might be found “down town”.
Unless they have been invited (or perhaps their visit is of a more clandestine nature), adventurers will not normally spend time on The Hill. Many adventurers may find themselves feeling awkward and out of place in the elite surroundings, others may fit in easily due to their background prior to their current career. But the Masters of the Moneychangers’ and Goldsmiths’ Guilds may have certain missions requiring the expertise of an adventurer to succeed. A wealthy noble may require a special item obtained or retrieved. A foreign embassy might find it more politic to employ an independent group to undertake a task which might ruffle another nation’s feathers.
The Torenescu clan, once a powerful faction controlling the everyday business of the city, still has a great deal of political influence and discreet control on “The Hill”. The family wants to return to its former glory and is biding its time.
The Hill District
Motto: “Over all things I stand”
Colours: Black and white
Device:
Per chevron wavy Sable and Argent, three towers countercharged. Originally, the Hill was blazoned “Sable a mount argent in base”. The towers were added after its company defended Marilenev in the Traladaran Wars.
Patron: Petra
Key to locations in the Hill District
| H1 | Moneychangers’ Guildhall |
| H2 | Goldsmiths’ Guildhall |
| H3 | Torenescu Manor & Plaza |
| H4 | Ergal’s residence |
| H5 | Akatrina the Painter |
| H6 | Old Church of Thyatis Columbarium |
| H7 | Hill Graveyard |
| H8 | Capital Armorer |
| H9 | Ebonov House |
| H10 | House of Emmet |
| H11 | House of Samasus |
| H12 | Garvil’s Manor |
| H13 | Dragos’ Manor |
| H14 | Boris’ House |
| H15 | Sergei’s House |
| H16 | Torenescu Warehouse |
| H17 | Stephano’s House |
| H18 | Nichola’s House |
| H19 | Lord Dimitrios’ House |
| H20 | Torenescu Clan houses |
| H21 | Simion’s House |
| H22 | Torenescu Guest House |
| H23 | Granary |
| H24 | Karameikan Road Lodge |
| H25 | Lodge Stables |
| H26 | Sword & Shield Tavern |
| H27 | Nobles Bath House |
| H28 | District Revenue Office |
| H29 | District Court House |
| H31 | Church of St Moira the Pure |
| H32 | Darokinian Embassy (DDC) |
| H33 | Glantrian Embassy |
| H34 | Rockhome Embassy |
| H35 | Alfheim Embassy |
| H36 | Thyatian Embassy |
| H37 | Ylari Embassy |
| H38 | Ierendi Embassy |
| H39 | Minrothad Embassy |
| H40 | Five Shires Embassy |
| H41 | Hillside Bath House |
| H42 | Torenescu Stables |
| H43 | Parkside Stables |
| H44 | The Merciful Axe Tavern |
| H45 | The Unarmed Angel Tavern |
| H46 | Hillside Tavern |
Notable Locales in the Hill District
GOLDSMITHS’ GUILDHALL (H2)
The Guildhall, a dwarven-designed palace, is found in the Hill Market district, right outside of the walls of Duke Stefan’s castle. It is rumoured that underground dungeons hold secret vaults where the gold reserves of the guild are stored.
MONEYCHANGERS’ GUILDHALL ( H1)
The Wardens’ Council of the Moneychangers’ Guild meets in its Guildhall, located in the Hill district, within Torenescu territory. It is a square building in rusticated stone with large, arched windows, built to show the power and wealth of the guild. The present building dates back to the last century, before the Thyatian conquest. At that time, the Moneychangers were at the peak of their power, holding the balance of power between the merchants and the landowners. Their original hall - a venerable building dating back to the times before the foundation of the Guild - was in the area that is now the Bricktop district.
To show their power and wealth, the Guildmaster of that time, an ancestor of Emmet Torenescu, persuaded the Wardens' Council to build a new, majestic hall, hiring a foreign architect - a Glantrian expatriate who designed a massive, square building, fully covered in rusticated stone (thought to be showy but elegant in Glantrian architecture), with large windows opening on the two upper stories to give light to the inner rooms. The original plans included four bronze-covered turrets, but the design was considered extravagant by the Wardens and the turrets were removed.
In recent times, the somewhat dwindling fortunes of the Guild - with the creation of a Thyatian-aligned competitor in the Goldsmiths’ Guild, the major heist singlehandedly accomplished by Annius Helianthus and the run-ins with the Veiled Society - have led to decreased maintenance and increased security. About 15 years ago the Warden’' Council voted the purchase of guardian constructs from Glantri, which are said to guard the lower vaults were the Moneychangers’ Guild gold reserves are held. A large contingent of private guards is also present to deter thieves and Veiled Society assassins.
The Guildhall also includes an archive, offices for the Wardens, the Guildmaster and other guild officials, and meeting rooms. There is also a renowned ballroom on the first floor, where an annual ball is held to celebrate new magnates of the guild.
The Moneychangers are still trying to recover the stolen money from Helianthus’ heist, which is thought to be near the mind boggling figure of one million royals - probably mostly in gems and Thyatian Emperors.
A guild officer, Libor Matejevic (NM, Lawful) is in charge of screening the curricula of adventurers, looking for candidates to investigate the heist. The Guild has two nonexclusive standing contracts with such adventuring parties to provide access to all the known facts regarding the heist in exchange for a large share of the treasure, should it be recovered.
KARAMEIKAN ROAD LODGE (H24)
A fairly recent addition, the Karameikan Road Lodge is actually one in a “chain” of inns under the ownership of a young entrepreneur by the name of Nikolai Caledon. The chain has developed a reputation for consistency at all of its 5 locations (also in Kelvin, Threshold, Penhaligon, & Vorloi). Accommodations are as expected: satisfactory if unremarkable. There is no food or beverage served. Vacancies are most common during winter months.
HILL GRAVEYARD (H7)
After the Thyatian Occupation of AC 900, the slopes of The Hill saw new residences erected for the newly arrived Thyatian upper-class who sought to live in close proximity to their Governor’s palace atop the hillock. Prominent Traladarans who pledged their support to their new rulers were also granted permission to establish homes in the district.
While cremation is common among the poor (and even some rich Thyatians), most Traladarans bury their deceased. Some land to the south of The Hill was acquired to provide a burial ground for the prominent Traladaran families. In a number of cases the past remains of deceased were disinterred and reburied in the new cemetery. In more recent times, some wealthy individuals had tombs and mausoleums built in the city’s cemeteries.
As might be expected, within the cemetery the memorials (crypts, tombs, and similar) to former Traladaran nobility are more ornate than the more basic style found where the lower classes are buried.
A rumour regularly circulates in the city that one of the crypts actually covers a secret entrance to long-lost tunnels (dating back to the time of the Nithian kings) that run beneath The Hill and up to what is now the Duke’s Palace. What treasures might lie in that subterranean maze? But it would be a foolhardy party of adventurers who might investigate this – the desecration of noble tombs would reap high penalties, would the risk be worth it?
TORENESCU TERRITORY
The Torenescu family owns and controls seven blocks in the southern end of the Hill District. Here is Torenescu Manor – the “House of Samuil” (H3), the hereditary residence of the leader of the clan. In AC 1000, it is home to Alexander Torenescu and his widowed mother, Melinda, with their staff. The two-storey manor has been the residence of each succeeding leader of the Torenescu clan.
The “House of Emmet” (H10) stands in the same city block as the “House of Samuil”. It currently houses relatives of Melinda (Alexander’s mother) from her family, the Azuros’. Samuil had this house constructed for his son, Emmet, in preparation for Emmet’s marriage to Sandra Bovis in Ac 915.
The Ebonov House (H9) lie south of the Torenescu family home, and is currently the residence of assorted Ebonov family members who are in the city on business from Minrothad. It was originally built by Emmet as the home of George Torenescu and his wife, Sarah Evonov, from their marriage in AC 949 until AC 962 when Samuas died and George inherited the leadership of the clan.
“The House of Samuas” (H11) lies north of Torenescu manor, across the large Torenescu Piazza that opens the way to other houses of the clan to the west of the district. Nearby is the Moneychangers’ Guildhall (H1). The house is currently under renovation and used as a guest house. Emmet Torenescu had it built for his eldest son, Samuas’ marriage to Shella Wolf in AC 935. Samuas, Shella and their daughter, Katherine, lived there until AC 950 when Emmet died and Samuas became family head and moved to the “House of Samuil”.
The Gavril and Dragos houses (H12 & H13) stand west of the “House of Samuas”, in a block that has a park-like piazza running through it from east to west. The house of Gavril stands on the northern side, while that of Dragos is on the southern side. Even though the relatives of Emmet’s twin sons keep the houses in good repair, both stand empty as they have done for 50 years since the joint suicide of the twins.
The house of Boris Torenescu (H14) stands on the next block west from that of the doomed twins. Boris is uncle to Alexander and seeks to assist and guide the young head of the clan in his activities. Nearby is the house of Sergei Torenescu (H15), the son of Dragos. While Sergei is absent, in his appointment as Karameikan Ambassador to Glantri, the building currently houses more distant relatives from the Dragos line. The tightly built block also includes two other buildings (H20) of clansmen from the Gavril/Dragos lines.
Going north from Sergei’s house you come to the block containing the opulent manor of Stephanos (H17) and the resident Draculs, the family of Stephanos’ mother, Ordana Dracul, wife of the late Pavel Torenescu. Also in this block is the house of Nichola Torenescu, younger sister to Christoph, Boris and Pavel. Nichola’s house is mostly empty, as she lives in the house of her husband, Lord Zogrev Yarol, Minister of state. There are also houses (H20) of assorted clansmen from the more distant family lines on this block.
The westernmost block of Torenescu territory has a small park with a mural that depicts the clan family tree. Around this park can be found the House of the “civilian personality” of Lord Dmitrios (H19), that of Gavril’s son, Simion Torenescu (H21), a large guesthouse (H22) for friends and visitors of the clan, and more houses of assorted members and allies of the clan (H20). On the southern edges of the territory are warehouses (H16) relating to the various Torenescu business enterprises.
[More details on events involving members of the Torenescu family can be found in the article “Tales of the Torenescus” elsewhere in this issue of Threshold Magazine]
CHURCH OF ST. MOIRA THE PURE (H31)
Moira was a priest of Petra from the Gorevitch-Woszlany family during the Vampire Wars. As her father turned into a Vampire, she became a vampire hunter. (Chronicles of the time mention Moira’s father as an adventurer who was turned into a Vampire during a foray in the Dymrak forest, though later commentators see in these events the hand of the Black Count of the Moor)
The Patriarch of Halavos gave Moira a blessed pendant, later known as the Amulet of Moira the Pure, which helped her survive the war, which ended with the destruction of Lumm, as well as Moira's family.
While the social stigma associated with her family led her to shed her surname and renounce any position of political power within the church hierarchy, Moira went on to serve in the church faithfully and was very active in the following years, helping the Traladarans pushback the humanoids from the Cruth Lowlands.
Unfortunately, Moira’s heroism was short-lived, ending with her death when she and a company of Traladaran warriors attempted to breach the siege of the dwarven mine of Kurest Hurgon in the Black Peaks. The sieging giants, however, were alerted to the Traladarans’ arrival by goblinoid scouts, ambushed them by tossing large boulder from a vantage point above Three Axe Ford along the Achelos River and crushed the Traladarans to the very last.
The noble families of Western Traladara funded the construction of a church in Specularum to honour Moira and her efforts to secure the region. In time she was recognized as a St. Moira the Pure, and a statue of her was placed in the Great Church of Traladara.
Meanwhile, the church built in her honour was renamed after her, and became the district church for the Hill neighbourhood. It is a small building - most nobles have their own private chapels - so the congregation is rather small, with few decorations. It is dominated by a large fresco that shows Petra defending Moira from a group of grotesque vampires by reflecting sunlight towards them with her round shield.
BRICKTOP
The Bricktop area has a similar history to that of The Hill district. The eastern slopes beneath the site of the early Fomorian village were also used to to house slave labour and workshops for the construction of the great Nithian tomb. In later times the area was given over to grazing land for the thriving farming community. When the Free City of Marilenev became a major trade centre for the region, a rag-tag expansion of buildings spread from the central market area to sprawl across the slopes.
The Thyatian Occupation of AC 900 began major redevelopment of this part of old Marilenev. Successive Governor-generals initiated building programmes to strengthen the city’s role, both as a defensive and commercial hub. This practice has been continued by Duke Stefan following his acquisition of the Traladaran lands. One of the early construction projects was the laying of a major thoroughfare around the Hill, providing a strong defensive position as well as ease of access to other parts of the city. This route was named the Bricktop Road, because it was made of brick (unlike the existing streets of the city) and it encircled the uppermost part of The Hill.
In AC 1000, the Bricktop district is a more or less affluent area of town, halfway between the posh residences of the Hill and the Merchant District. The population here is largely of Thyatian decent - New Karameikan upper and middle class with lots of mixed Thyatian / Traladaran families. The Church of Karameikos is dominant but there is a significant Church of Traladdara presence. The Cult of Halav is more common here than in any other upper class district.
The area is characterized by small to medium-sized homes in which many merchants, ministerial aides, and other well-paid citizens live. It is also home to retired adventurers of middling incomes. As well as residential sections, Bricktop also contains government buildings - both of a national scale (the Ministries of State, Trade, Finance and War) and of a local nature - the Town Hall where the Townmaster and Town Council (Priorate) meet to handle the day-today activities of the city on behalf of Duke Stefan. The Scriveners’, Apothecaries’ and Bricklayers’ Guilds moved their halls here during the post-Occupation redevelopment.
There are ample opportunities for active adventurers to further their career in this district. Some merchants may require suitable “protection specialists” for caravans or for their local businesses. Government Ministries may require agents to undertake covert operations. The Town Council might need to deal with certain activities in the city. Even the Scriveners’ Guild might have a need for an adventuring party to search for and obtain some important object from other places.
Although his main residence is in his own dominion on the south coast of the Grand Duchy, Baron Vorloi maintains a home in Bricktop. As a major power faction in the city, with many merchant and maritime interests, the Vorloi family are likely to need willing adventurers to help address the machinations of the Torenescu and Radu clans. Or the adventuring party may find themselves called in to bail out the foppish Grygori Vorloi, the Baron’s wayward son.
Bricktop District
Motto: “On firm ground we stand"”
Colours: Red and Blue trimmed yellow
Device:
Quarterly: 1st and 4th Gules masoned Or; 2nd and 3rd Azure a castle Or. Originally displayed: Azure a fess Gules masoned or. After the Thyatian conquest, the Bricktop military company, the Guard Phorsis, became the only armed force in Specularum beyond the Thyatian army, and after the Marilenev Rebellion the district added the castle to the arms for the key role of the Guard Phorsis in those events.
Patron: Halav
Key to locations in Bricktop District
| B1 | Scriveners’ Guildhall |
| B2 | Scrivener’' Guild Public Library |
| B3 | Apothecarise’ Guildhall |
| B4 | Town Hall |
| B5 | Ministry of State |
| B6 | Ministry of Trade |
| B7 | Ministry of Finance |
| B8 | Ministry of War |
| B9 | Bricklayers’ Guildhall |
| B10 | Ducal Karameikan Theater |
| B11 | The Golden Book, Inn & Restaurant |
| B12 | The Priest and Jug, tavern |
| B13 | Cee Salt |
| B14 | Turano’s Guesthouse |
| B15 | Vorloi House |
| B16 | Rattlebone Inn |
| B17 | Grygori Vorloi’s house |
| B18 | Bricklayers’ Arms tavern |
| B19 | Conta’s Boarding House |
| B20 | Shrine of Petra |
| B21 | Ministry Stables |
| B22 | District Court House |
| B23 | District Revenue Office |
| B24 | District Administration Office |
| B25 | City Guard Barracks |
| B26 | Mother Bertha's Bath House |
| B27 | Granary x 2 |
| B28 | School |
| B29 | Baron Vorloi House |
| B30 | Goodwife Thanatos |
| B31 | Turano's main house |
| B32 | Chapel of the Stainless Soul |
| B33 | The Crown & Castle tavern |
| B34 | The Soldier's Rest tavern |
| B35 | The Mad Juggler tavern |
| B36 | The Gentle Wife tavern |
| B37 | The Arguing Owl tavern |
| B38 | The Golden Ring tavern |
| B39 | Market Boarding House |
| B40 | Market Stables |
| B41 | House of Flowing Notes |
| B42 | Market Bath House |
| B43 | Rattlebone Stables |
| B44 | Scriveners' Stables |
| B45 | Bricktop Stables |
| B46 | Artisan Livery & Stables |
Notable Locales in the Bricktop District
APOTHECARIES’ GUILDHALL (B3)
The Apothecaries’ Guildhall stands isolated on a single city block in Bricktop, near its boundary with the Old Quarter. Some say this is due to the multitude of smells, fumes, animals and other pungent paraphernalia associated with many of the Guild’s affiliated professions. The Guildhall is a three storied building (with below ground chambers) that has “grown” over the centuries as new professions have gained association. The building includes a number of laboratories and libraries as well as a meeting hall and the office of the Guildmaster (currently Dimitri Levinik).
SCRIVENERS’ GUILDHALL (B1)
On the edge of the Great Market in the Bricktop Road, the Scriveners’ Guildhall is a four-story building, with a protruding turret on its corner. The ground floor is occupied by two rooms - the entrance hall, and the meeting hall. The meeting hall opens on a small courtyard, while the entrance hall opens on Bricktop road, and gives access to both the meeting hall, and the upper floors.
The first floor is divided into many small rooms, used by the Consuls and the Guildmaster as offices and council rooms. The second and third floors are occupied by the famed library of the Scriveners’ Guild. The library collects tomes on law (mostly on the second floor), with smaller sections on economics and political topics (third floor). Notable tomes include The Administration of Empire, written by Thyatian Emperor Alexandros II Dalessenos, the Oratory by Paphocuzitum, and the Rhetoric by Stroznner. A copy of the classical text on Traladara by Governor-General Elena Hassenberg (the third Thyatian governor of Traladara after Flavian Osteropulos and Curtius Quadratus) can also be found in the library. Texts on the history of Thyatis, Traladara and Darokin (including the Lynnell edition of the Lay of Almarand) are collected on the third floor as well.
A “secret” section is located in the third level of the turret (accessed through stairs from the upper level of the library). It is a single bookcase covering half of the curved wall of the turret, and it is protected by a trapped lock. Only the Guildmaster and Consul Igor Wolf (who is in charge of the maintenance of the library) have access to this area.
The secret library contains a number of secret documents related to Guild politics, as well as a few restricted access books (access to the library is otherwise allowed even to non-members), such as the works of Fabritius Luscinia, and a couple of tomes on alchemy and magic, collected by previous Guildmasters, including the magnum opus of one of Karameikos’ wizardly luminaries, Krollan’s Artifacta Arcanum.
THE GOLDEN BOOK (B11)
The Golden Book is a small inn and restaurant, standing next to the Scriveners’ Guildhall. The restaurant’s walls are lined with dark woods and leathers, making it appear even smaller. It features a dozen small tables on the ground floor, plus two smaller dining rooms on the first floor, while the second floor has four single rooms, often rented by visiting scholars, and the top floor houses the innkeeper’s family.
The Golden Book is a rather upscale establishment, where sombre waiters in dark uniforms serve mostly Thyatian and New Karameikan cuisine with imported wines (the innkeeper, Lucius Falernianus, is a connoisseur reputed to have one of the best collections in Specularum) and some local light beers and ciders. Lord Bartram Cordelius, the Minister of Trade, and doctor Antonius Marcianus, a prominent judge and a Consul of the Scriveners’ Guild, can be often found here at lunchtime or in the evening.
THE PRIEST AND JUG (B12)
Just opposite The Golden Book lies this much rougher establishment. “Decorated”' mostly by humorous (and often vulgar) graffiti, the Priest and Jug is the haven of the New Karameikan students. The walls are periodically re-painted white by the owner, Pyotr Caesarion, but are immediately covered with new writings.
Caesarion, a drop-out student of Law who managed to put his hand on a good amount of gold in his first (and last, as he swears) attempt at adventuring and invested it in the establishment, serves simple but nutritious dishes of meat and vegetables, together with good beer. He is helped by a single serving girl, Marina, and the cook, Vika, an aged Traladaran woman.
The generally friendly atmosphere sometimes (especially late at night, when everyone has had too many drinks) degenerates when students of “pure”' Traladaran or Thyatian descent come in to stir trouble. During the day, besides the students, Caesarion’s maternal grandfather hangs out at the Priest and Jug with a small clique of retired Traladaran scriveners. The aged gentlemen spend every afternoon playing cards and critiquing every item of news they can get.
THE RATTLEBONE INN (B16)
The Rattlebone Inn sits on Rattlebone Lane in a poorer part of Specularum. It has a small selection of ales and meals and many honest and not so honest people frequent it on a regular basis. It has a small kitchen and caters to perhaps forty people at most each evening. Of some note is the waste pit that dumps straight down into a network of tunnels that are believed to be secretly dug by criminals of all persuasions beneath this part of the city.
HOUSE OF THE FLOWING NOTES (B41)
This is a musical/bardic college and temple to Cochere, Its principal is the virtuoso Arnam “Quickfingers” Veline (NG hem P14). The temple has 15 priests and 33 followers.
THE NORTH END
During the period known as The Dark Age (BC 800 to AC 1), the integration of the Vandar tribe with the native Traldar led to the rise of agriculture in the area north of Mirror Bay. The success of the farming ventures contributed to the growth of what became a regular market trading with other local settlements. Farming remained a major industry of the area for many centuries. The importance signified by the 7th century AC construction of an irrigation channel to overcome threatened droughts. However, as the Free City of Marilenev turned to the sea for most of its trade, and isolated itself from the rest of Traladara, the growth of the Mirror Bay harbour necessitated facilities to support these new activities.
By AC 700, the eastern part of the North End area began to transform from open land to buildings that supported the maritime industries. While farming continued outside the city walls, the North End area continued to be urbanised with residential blocks appearing in the western half of the district. In AC 929, during the period of Thyatian Occupation (under the rule of Governor- General Iulius Bassus), the old irrigation channel was filled in to provide space for the Lesser Merchant District and Westron Alley. By AC 1000 the ancient farmlands have been reduced to a small area in the north western corner of North End.
In present-day Specularum, the North End’s western half is a mostly residential section of town; many people who work as servants within the city or as seasonal labourers in the surrounding Estate of Marilenev live here. Many active adventurers also settle here, due to its proximity to the Merchant District, the Foreign Quarter, the Docks, and a number of taverns and inns. The eastern half of the district includes the seafarers’ quarter, housing sailors, shipwrights and carpenters amongst others. It is also the location of the Karameikan Naval Shipbuilders. The North End has a mixed population, with many New Karameikans and Thyatians; a rough but straightforward people, epitomizing the New Karameikan spirit. The Guildhalls located in this district reflect the area’s commerce - blacksmiths, carpenters, loggers, mariners, fishmongers, and innholders. This area of town benefits through the wide range of goods and supplies that can be obtained in the Lesser Merchant District – adventurers can be sure of finding all necessary equipment somewhere here.
Adventurers are also always certain of finding a new challenge in the North End. The many inns and taverns of the district, including Desmond’s Dive, The Gored Ox, the Hart and Harrow, and the Black Heart Lily, are places where adventurers may be hired for a variety of quests, or may give the adventurers the opportunity to hire retainers to assist them. The Black Heart Lily, in particular, is one of the better, though notorious establishments, where employment for bold and willing characters may be negotiated. Such engagements may take the adventurers across the ocean to somewhere in the Sea of Dread, or perhaps across the Grand Duchy to the infamous Black Eagle Barony.
And it is not unheard of for a down on their luck individual to wake from a drunken night at the docks to find themselves part of a ship’s crew!
North End District
Motto: “Bounty of the sea, loyalty of the earth”
Colours: Blue trimmed white
Device:
Azure two chevronels between three anchors Argent. Originally, the North End arms were blazoned “Gules two chevronels Argent”. After the construction of the Naval Arsenal, three anchors were added. The change of the field to Azure came after the Marilenev rebellion, when the North End (prevalently Thyatian) population sided with Duke Stefan (contrary to the other wards).
Patron: St. Lucor
Key to locations in North End District
| NE1 | Naval Shipbuilders |
| NE2 | The Black-Heart Lily |
| NE3 | Desmond's Dive |
| NE4 | The Hand and Harrow |
| NE5 | The Gored Ox |
| NE6 | Hippogriff Inn |
| NE7 | Golden Coin Gambling House |
| NE8 | Boris Nikoli’s grocery |
| NE9 | Blacksmiths’ Guildhall |
| NE10 | Carpenters’ Guildhall |
| NE11 | Loggers’ Guildhall |
| NE12 | Mariners’ Guildhall |
| NE13 | Fishmongers’ Guildhall |
| NE14 | Innholders’ Guildhall |
| NE15 | Akarios, Shipwright |
| NE16 | Church of St. Lucor |
| NE17 | Martina Blossombath, Pastry stand |
| NE18 | Dragonfly Tavern |
| NE19 | City Well |
| NE20 | Temple/Shrine |
| NE21 | Temple/Shrine |
| NE22 | Westron Inn |
| NE23 | The Bridge of Blood Tavern |
| NE24 | The Solitary Knight Tavern |
| NE25 | Petros’ Ditch Tavern |
| NE26 | The Mermaid’s KissTavern |
| NE27 | The Anchor & Compass Tavern |
| NE28 | The Plough Tavern |
| NE29 | The Harvest Moon Tavern |
| NE30 | Giant's Slumber Tavern |
| NE31 | Lucor's Scrolls Tavern |
| NE32 | Granary x 2 |
| NE33 | District Court House |
| NE34 | District Admin Office |
| NE35 | Diostrict Revenue Office |
| NE36 | City Guard Barracks |
| NE37 | Warehouses x 7 |
| NE38 | Bath House |
| NE39 | North Gate Boarding House |
| NE40 | North End Stables |
| NE41 | Roaring Seawolf Inn (ruins) |
| NE42 | Westron Stables |
| NE43 | Farmland stables |
| NE44 | Farriers' Stables |
| NE45 | North Market Stables |
| NE46 | Stefan Fidato's Boarding House |
| NE47 | Aurica Strenescu's Boarding House |
| NE48 | Black-Heart Lily Stables |
| NE49 | Dock Stables |
| NE50 | Sea View Boarding House |
| NE51 | Dita Petescu's Boarding House |
| NE52 | Adventurers & Explorers Club |
Notable Locales in the North End District
THE BLACK HEART LILY (NE2)
This is one of the most notorious inns found in the city. It is named after the woman who broke the heart of an ancestor of the current tavernkeeper, Luthier Sforza. Luther welcomes adventurers and clients from every walk of life to eat, drink and sleep here, and is an invaluable source of gossip and rumour. He keeps his prices fair, and the sleeping rooms can suit the needs of a wide variety of clientele.
CITY WELL (NE19)
Across the Westron Alley from the Church of St Lucor, is one of Specularum’s larger public wells. Set between the Grand Market and the Lesser Merchant District, this water source sees many inhabitants regularly visiting the location. Be they servants collecting water supplies for their masters, lower class residents obtaining their own supply, or just people going about their daily business, everyone needs water.
The well can be a good source of information as well as sustenance. Stopping at the well, you can often find yourself engaging in conversation with all sorts of people and learn about what is going on in all parts of the city. A servant might let slip that their master is planning to entertain a visiting wealthy merchant (an opportunity to relieve the guest of some of his riches?). Another individual might let slip their suspicions about a neighbour’s activities (a chance of a little blackmail, maybe?). A guard stopping to refresh his steed at the adjoining water trough might boast of the cargo that he will be escorting (perhaps some of it could be “diverted”?). The well-known (and slightly enigmatic) “Lord” Dimitrios, so-called Prince of Beggars , may often be found here seeking refreshment after one of his performances in the marketplaces.
Being a public place where citizens gather, announcements or proclamations may be made in this area. Additionally, notices from those seeking to hire adventurous types may be posted on nearby walls.
CHURCH OF ST. LUCOR (NE16)
This Traladaran church is typical of its kind, a squat building with an unassuming exterior of dark, reddish brown bricks supported by thick setback buttresses.
The interior is decorated with frescoes in the Traladaran style - where figures are painted in sizes relative to their importance in the scene as well as in rather rigid postures, at least compared to the more naturalistic modern Thyatian style. The frescoes represent scenes from the life of St. Lucor, the leader of the Thyatian missionary clerics who created the first written version of the Song of Halav back in the 5th Century AC. The main scenes represent: St. Lucor’s arrival at the harbour of Marilenev in AC 400; his meeting with Ban Yuri Marilenev (a grandson of King Bogdan Ivanovich and the founder of the Marilenev dynasty) on that same day; the edification of the Thyatian Shrine in AC 402; the travels of St. Lucor to Halavos and Lugsid (AC 405-412); St. Lucor presenting the scrolls penned with the first written edition of the Song of Halav to Ban Yakov Marilenev (Yuri’s successor) in AC 414; the crowning of Yakov Marilenev as the first Duke of Marilenev in AC 417; and the return of St. Lucor to Thyatis to spread the knowledge of Halav in AC 421.
In the far end of the church, a human sized statues of St. Lucor - depicted with tonsured, curly hair and a short beard, wearing a Thyatian style toga - stands in front of the much larger statues of the Traladaran Three. The statue is lit by a continual light spell that is periodically renewed by the head priest, Ivan Svjetlov (C4, L).
The church was built in the 6th century AC, at the height of the Duchy of Marilenev, to celebrate the triumphs in the Fourth Traladaran War against the Darokin-backed northern Traladaran clans, so the links to the Marilenev family are very strong - several Dukes were buried in this church in the following years.
The church is located along the Duke’s Road, in the North End near the border with the Merchant District. It is built so that its front can be seen both by those coming from the city gates and by those coming from the Grand Market.
The Church of St. Lucor is also the starting point of the procession held during the Festival of Lucor, when the saint’s statue is floated in the bay. The procession itself is a complex affair, with the Torenescu and Radu clans vying for support from the clergy by sponsoring the festival and, in return, having one of their women chosen to lead the procession.
MERCHANT DISTRICT
Around BC 500, a market was frequently held in the area north of what is now the Old Quarter. This was where the people of Marilenev - farmers and others - met to trade their goods with other villages upriver and on the coast. Over time, this became a more frequent occurrence until it became practically a daily event. Early in the first century AC with the growth of Marilenev's population, the area became more formally incorporated into the expanding settlement. Trade with neighbouring populations was a significant benefit and the town became the major trade centre of Traladara. Continued growth of trade led in AC 400 to the formation of the Merchants’, Leathersellers’ and Skinners’ Guilds to regulate trade with the northern lands. By this time, what had started as an open marketplace between the early Marilenev settlement and its farmlands was now home to buildings housing a range of businesses and services.
Subsequent centuries saw the formation of more Trade Guilds as Marilenev’s mercantile industries expanded. The move to sea trade influenced the chartering of the Mariners’ Guild in the 8th century AC. The continued successful commerce of the area was undoubtedly a contributory factor to the Thyatian invasion of the area in AC 900.
The Merchant District has a mostly middleclass population of craftsmen and small-time merchants. It is organized by products sold, and the architecture tends to be very homogeneous – tall, narrow single family buildings made up of a workshop, living rooms, and sleeping rooms on different levels. The neighbourhood is the part of Specularum that never sleeps; many inns and taverns are open all night, and few shopowners - who mostly live above their place of business - will turn down a late-night sale when some frantic buyer comes hammering at their doors. All sorts of businesses and goods can be found here: mercenaries for hire, stables and liveries, blacksmiths, meatshops, sweet-shops, jewellers, smiths, goldsmiths, silversmiths, fortune-tellers, carpenters, bricklayers, engineers, hostels, scribes, sages, alchemists, magic-users, thieves, entertainers and just about anything else can be obtained here . Although in some instances, you need to know where to look.
Specularum’s docks skirt the edge of Mirror Bay and consist of the wharves and a smattering of warehouses on the banks. The natural harbour provides deep water berths for large vessels to anchor and take on or unload cargo. The Karameikan Navy has its base here (inherited from the Thyatian Occupation), and at the River Fort in the Highreach River. The entrance to Mirror Bay is protected by the oak and iron Sea Gates. This defensive structure replaced an earlier set of gates that were damaged in a failed attack by river pirates.
As well as being an area to provide accommodation, equipment and provisions, adventurers will find the Merchant District and the Docks as places where they may find offers of employment, from guarding vessels in port to joining a ship’s crew as it sails off across the Sea of Dread. They might decide to enlist in the Navy (or perhaps be press ganged into service), or charter their own vessel.
Merchant District
Motto: “Balance in all things”
Colours: Green and yellow
Device:
Quartered: 1st and 4th Vert a set of scales Or; 2nd and 3rd Or a tower Vert. Originally “Per pale Vert and Or a set of scales countercharged”. After the district’s more affluent residents financed the construction of the Hightower, they added the tower to their arms.
Patron: Asterius
Key to locations in Merchant District
| M1 | The Hightower |
| M2 | Harbor Tavern |
| M3 | Blue Water Mead Hall |
| M4 | Radu’s Wholesale Foodstuff |
| M5 | Mirror Bay Inn |
| M6 | Titus Angelicus’ grocery |
| M7 | Aristo, Wine Merchant |
| M8 | Vintners’ Guildhall |
| M9 | Cutlers’ Guildhall |
| M10 | Bakers’ Guildhall |
| M11 | Tailors’ Guildhall |
| M12 | Butchers’ Guildhall |
| M13 | Bowyers’ Guildhall |
| M14 | Skinners’ Guildhal |
| M15 | Heranthes, Cobbler |
| M16 | Imelda’s Beauties (in Cobblers' Lane) |
| M17 | Griffon’s Arms Inn |
| M18 | Tavern on the Shore |
| M19 | The Grog Shoppe |
| M20 | The Rogue’s Den |
| M21 | Harbour Master |
| M22 | DistrictAdmin Office |
| M23 | District Revenue Office |
| M24 | District Court House |
| M25 | City Guard Barracks |
| M26 | Granaries x2 |
| M27 | The Trading House Temple |
| M28 | Temple of the Golden Coin |
| M29 | Harbor Boarding House |
| M30 | Market Stall Stables |
| M31 | Warehouses x 12 |
| M32 | Bartering Bugbear Tavern |
| M33 | The Tannery Tavern |
| M34 | Grapes of Cruth Tavern |
| M35 | The Duchess OliviaTavern |
| M36 | The Grey Gnoll Tavern |
| M37 | Blade Alehouse Tavern |
| M38 | Roaring Seawolf Inn (ruins) |
| M39 | Bearthrimble’s Brogans & Boots |
| M40 | Marteescu Boarding House |
| M41 | Archer Boarding House |
| M42 | Pirate’s Treasure Boarding House |
| M43 | Nate Gilca Stables |
| M44 | Grand Market Livery & Stables |
| M45 | Harbor Stables |
Notable Locales in the Merchant District
THE BLUE WATER MEAD HALL (M3)
The Blue Water is a bright, clean building that caters to the many folk working in the Harbour as dock hands, rope makers, sailwrights, and boat builders. Although it caters to a rough working-class crowd, there are rumours that the tavern has connections to the Veiled Society, a major criminal network active in the city.
THE ROGUES’ DEN (M20)
At the docks in Specularum lies a large old vessel called “The Wind Chaser”. She used to be a proud ship that roamed the seas between Sind and the Isle of Dawn with the most vicious crew ever to sail the Sea of Dread. Their captain was the Pirate Lord Balthros Bloodeyes and the mere mentioning of his name would scare children to crawl up to their mothers and cry!
For years The Wind Chaser eluded naval patrols of all nations around the Sea of Dread - not because she was fast, but because of her captain’s devilish luck! It was whispered in taverns and the living quarters of junior naval officers that Captain Balthros was in league with a horrible monster - a creature as large as a sea dragon and capable of creating banks of fog and mists to cloak old Bloodeyes’ vessel and let him escape. Few were the captains that dared follow The Wind Chaser into such a mysterious mist.
Eventually, Bloodeyes got old and sick. Pirate tales claim that he grew paranoid and secretly buried all of his treasure on a small remote island. When he died, supposedly of poison in his food by the hand of his own ambitious lieutenant, the crew fell into bickering and arguing about how to get the treasure back. They turned on one another and many men were killed before a new captain was elected. He wasn’t any good however, and a few months later The Wind Chaser was finally ambushed by several ships from the Ierendi navy in a small cove. The crew was captured and hung in the nearest port and after a thorough search of the ship’s hull, in the year AC 989 The Wind Chaser was auctioned off to a wealthy merchant in Specularum.
The merchant wanted to start trading with foreign lands without having to pay Minrothad merchants as go-betweens but he soon fell into economic difficulties and had to abandon his ideas. The Wind Chaser fell into disrepair, her hull started to rot and leak and nobody wanted to buy her at the price the greedy merchant demanded.
Eventually, in AC 996, he did sell her - to a young elven lady named Silvariel Stormstrider from the Minrothad Guilds. She put a crew of able-bodied men aboard to restore the hull to water-tight conditions and pump the bilges so she would stay afloat. Then Silvariel arranged for a long-term lease at the docks and a permission to run a food-and-drink-serving establishment and opened the Rogues’ Den Inn aboard the proud, old ship.
The main room for dining, drinking and gambling is below deck where the crew and cargo used to be. At the front of the ship where sails, rope and supplies used to be stored. There is now a food store for the kitchen right next to it. Silvariel and a few of her employees have their living quarters above deck in the old cabins that used to belong to Balthros Bloodeyes and his lieutenants.
The inn itself serves decent food and drink at reasonable prices, but nothing exceptional. A lot of customers come here for the special atmosphere and because it is somewhat of a tourist attraction. Retired naval personnel come aboard to take in with their own eyes the ship that so often eluded them in the past. Children climb the lower parts of the rigging, pretending to be pirates or naval heroes and sailors from all over the world enjoy the slightly rolling feeling of a ship’s deck beneath their feet - even while they are in port.
BEARTHRIMBLE’S BROGANS & BOOTS
Earthew the Cordwainer is the owner and master of Bearthrimble’s Brogans & Boots, the most famous shoe- and boot-making establishment in all of Specularum. Earthew is a 4th-generation cordwainer - a person who makes fine shoes and boots (as opposed to a cobbler, who merely repairs them). He took over the shop from his father 13 years ago and just two years later disaster struck, when the entire shop and living quarters above it burned to the ground in a terrible fire that consumed large parts of a section of the city.
Once reconstruction began, Earthew decided it was too risky to have his new shop wall-to-wall with others. So he invested everything he had left and bought enough square feet to build 3 houses on and then he cleared all the rubble away and started his new shop and home with plenty of open space around it. The result was one of the most unique buildings in all of Specularum - if not the Known World; a 5-storey house and shop in the shape of an enormous boot!
In the “foot” of the boot is the shop itself. In the “shaft” of the boot are four floors of storage rooms and the private living quarters of Earthew and his family.
Today, Bearthrimble’s Brogans and Boots supplies the entire upper class and much of the upper middle class in the city with fine footwear. Earthew employs a team of no less than nine cordwainers who see to the city’s needs. He mostly runs the business himself, making sure payments and deliveries are met, but every once in a while he takes on an assignment if a client wants something particularly rare and challenging - such as footwear made from a particularly exotic type of leather or something meant for an enchantment.
Some of the old families in Specularum are beginning to envy Earthew’s financial and social success and popularity. If he is not careful and if he does not seek an influential patron, he may just lose everything in a tragic fire once again!
THE GREY GNOLL TAVERN (M36)
The Grey Gnoll Tavern is a relatively large establishment at the centre of the Merchant District in Specularum. Like many other establishments in this lively part of time, it is open practically 24 hours a day. It is a popular watering hole with citizens and visitors alike and the mouth-watering scent of boars and other large game roasting over the large firepits in the centre of the drinking hall carries into the street outside.
On any given night, as many as 150 people are inside, drinking, eating, gambling and talking. Even on a slow night there are usually 30-40 guests. Because of this, it is also a popular meeting place for secret meeting because there are so many faces always coming and going that it is easy to blend in with the crowd.
The Grey Gnoll is owned by some rich lord living on a mansion in the countryside, but is managed on a day-to-day basis by Vonandir, a portly red-haired man of 46. Vonandir employs a number of cooks and serving wenches as well as a few bouncers for the occasional troublemakers but they are rarely needed as the city watch is just down the street.
Two interesting persons operate out of the Grey Gnoll Tavern:
Lynid Steria is a small-time go-between for one of the most successful fences in Specularum. He plys his trade at the Grey Gnoll Tavern under the cover of being a recreational gambler, but his actual purpose is meeting with potential sellers with goods that need fencing. Lynid’s employer gives him a very small percentage for screening clients and setting up a rendezvous in a discreet location at a later time. So far, Lynid has been fairly successful and he knows a handful of the operating cat burglars in the city, all of whom are in one guild or another.
Dravas is mage from the Minrothad Guilds, who runs a unique assassination business in Specularum. He does not frequent the Grey Gnoll every week but when meeting clients he prefers to do it in a public places, where he feels safe and able to blend in. Actually, it is not Dravas himself who carries out the killings. A few years ago, he and a band of adventurers landed on a small, remote island in the Sea of Dread, where they quickly ran afoul of a tribe of hostile pygmy headhunters. As the sole survivor of his party, Dravas managed to escape the island with a charmed pygmy named Bha-garu.
Since then, Dravas has been travelling from port to port, operating in Ierendi, the Minrothad Guilds, Darokin, the Five Shires, Thyatis and Karameikos. Dravas has maintained the charm on Bha-garu and is using the pygmy to carry out assassinations for money. Being no larger in size than a child but as strong as a grown man, the savage little pygmy is a master infiltrator and deadly with a blowgun with poisoned darts.
Because Dravas smuggles him in and out of cities, nobody knows that Bha-garu even exists. Dravas always makes sure to have an alibi for when the killings take place and so, even though the agents of the Grand Duke suspect that he is not all he seems, they cannot make any charges stick.
Dravas’ only real fear is that someday Bha-garu might encounter an anti-magic field or a dispel magic spell during one of his missions, freeing him from Dravas' spell. In that case, the savage Bha-garu is likely to seek a terrible revenge on the mage...
THE TRADING HOUSE (M27)
This is a small temple to Asterius, Patron of Money, Trade and Communications in the Church of Darokin. It is a relatively new establishment making inroads into the heart of Specularum, rather than the Foreign Quarter. The temple is led by Master Trader Jennack Arrith (NE hm P13), who has 12 priests providing worship and guidance throughout all hours of the day and night (“It’s never too late for a bit of worship,… or business!”) Currently there are 28 followers affiliated to the church.
THE OLD QUARTER
The Traldar-Vandar fusion that began in THE 8th century BC led to the emergence of a new people, the Traladarans, by BC 500. In the 1st century AC the original Traldar settlement (on the site of the modern Church District) expanded as Marilenev’s population grew and the town became a major trade centre.
As the centuries passed, the separate walled areas of the Free City and the area south of the Merchant District became a microcosm of Traladaran heritage and culture, home to both legal and illegal activities as well as being the town’s spiritual centre. By the time the occupying Thyatian forces arrived in AC 900, the area was Marilenev’s “Old Quarter”.
In the wake of the Thyatians’ takeover of Marilenev, the colonising administration initiated the rebuilding of the Church District which resulted in an influx of impoverished Traladarans from that neighbourhood and other areas into the Old Quarter. This led to the degradation of the east side of the district into crime and slums – “a nest of thieves and undesirables” as described by a city official during this time. Its status was reinforced after the arrival of Stefan Karameikos as Traladaran rebels secreted themselves in “The Nest” and distinct boundaries developed between it and its neighbouring western blocks.
In present day Specularum, the Old Quarter is a varied district of mostly Traladaran population, featuring both relatively well to do areas (near Bricktop and the Great Church of Traladara) and more lower class parts (near the Street of Dreams and the Nest). Architecturally the district shares its look with The Nest – it has the same narrow streets and same tight-packed humanity, but crime, while frequent, is not quite as prevalent as in the Nest.
In the Old Quarter adventurers will find the greatest source of magic-related businesses, especially along the Street of Dreams that bisects the district. There are, of course, plenty of other businesses run by proud Traladaran shopkeepers and craftsmen. Grocers and leathersellers, two of the older trade guilds are well represented by long-established Traladaran family concerns. Food, drink and accommodation can be found at the many and varied inns, taverns and boarding houses. Things may be a bit more cramped than other parts of the city, but “you pays your money, you takes your choice” and if you’re lucky what’s left will still be in your keeping when you wake up.
The area has several locations that speak of its heritage, notably the Great Church of Traladara and the Statue of Ben Bogdan Ivanovich, both focal points for gatherings. There are plenty of people willing to tell stories of the “old days” (i.e. before the Thyatians arrived) and of possible treasures secreted away to prevent them falling into the hands of the occupying forces. Some objects may be hidden in the city, others may have been taken further afield. Plenty of choice for the budding adventurer – they can start their own quest, or perhaps join someone else’s. They’ll find an ample supply of willing hirelings to assist them. They might even find themselves engaged in a more political endeavour that seeks to resurrect Traladaran native power rather than remain under the rule of a foreigner.
The Old Quarter
Motto: “Light in darkness”
Colours: Yellow and black
Device:
Or three bendlets Sable between two doves Argent. Originally, the Old Quarter had “Or a bend Sable”, but was demoted to two bendlets after the Thyatian conquest. One bendlet was then added by Duke Stefan after pacifying the area in 970 AC. The doves were added after St. Kruskiev's monastery was build (which may be before or after the other events).
Patron: Kruskiev
Key to locations in the Old Quarter
| O1 | Street Dreamers Gang |
| O2 | St. Kruskiev Monastery |
| O3 | Great Church of Traladara |
| O4 | Residence of the CoT Patriarch |
| O5 | The Graceful Swan |
| O6 | Open Door |
| O7 | Grocers Guildhall |
| O8 | Leathersellers Guildhall |
| O9 | Statue of Ban Bogdan Ivanovich |
| O10 | Mages’ Pages |
| O11 | The Scarlet Wizards |
| O12 | Wizard’s Gizzard Tavern |
| O13 | The Bawd and Minister |
| O14 | Temple Chardastes inc Library |
| O15 | Rusty Wand Tavern |
| O16 | District Admin Office |
| O17 | District Revenue Office |
| O18 | District Court House |
| O19 | House of th Tossed Coin |
| O20 | The Open Spellbook |
| O21 | Elk Horn Boarding House |
| O22 | Boarding House x 4 |
| O23 | Granary x 2 |
| O24 | School |
| O25 | The Wassailing Wolf Tavern |
| O26 | Dimensions Doors Inn |
| O27 | Dainty Ogre Tavern |
| O28 | “Fishbowl” brothel |
| O29 | Warehouses x 8 |
| O30 | The Splintered Diamond Inn |
| O31 | The Duke’s League Inn |
| O32 | The Prior’s Scroll Inn |
| O33 | The Dancing Medusa Inn |
| O34 | Other Old Quarter Taverns (15) |
| O35 | Widow Beklea’s Boarding House |
| O36 | Felix Siperco’ Boarding House |
| O37 | Alicia & Okga’s Boarding House |
Notable Locales in the Old Quarter
THE BAWD AND MINISTER (O13)
Besides being a famous tavern, this building is also a ‘house of ill repute’. Well, the ill part depends on your point of view. It is located in the part of the Old Quarter that borders Specularum’s Merchant District. It takes its name from a scandal of many years ago when one of Duke Stefan’s first ministers was revealed as a regular client of the harlots working there. The local barkeep, Ising Perpalp, is the husband of the madam of the brothel, a woman named Estella.
THE BESIEGED DUNGEON (O34)
This tavern looks exactly like its name suggests; torches on sconces give a low, flickering light, long corridors and passages, and several drinking rooms set up like lairs of orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins complete with masked servers playing the roles. Needless to say, this place is extremely popular with adventurers and those who want a taste of the adventuring life.
THE RUSTY WAND (O15)
The Rusty Wand is a small tavern located about half way down the Street of Dreams. The Hin barkeep, Bollo, is said to be an agent of the Duchess and possibly a useful contact.
THE SCARLET WIZARDS (O11)
Located in a six storey octagonal tower, the Scarlet Wizards is an informal social club. There are no internal stairways; just a hole in the centre of each level, thus members must use levitation to access upper levels. The top level is guarded by a wall of flames. The Scarlet Wizards have another branch in Kelvin, where they lobby to have the ban on wizards casting spells repealed.
DISTRICT COURTHOUSE (O18)
There is a local Courthouse in most of the city districts from which the city’s laws are administered. The Courthouse in the Old Quarter is one of the oldest, it’s once grand frontage now deteriorating and in need of attention in places. It stands on the east side of Ivanovich Square, near the Church of Traladara.
Steps lead up to the entrance doors, beyond which lies an entrance hall leading to the main courtroom. In the centre of the courtroom is the criminal dock, facing the magistrate’s desk that stands on a raised platform facing it in front of the far wall. Rudimentary seating is on either side of the dock for the use of the public wishing to view the proceedings. Public attendance varies at court sessions, depending on who the defendant is, or what the weather is like outside!
The magistrates have offices on the floor above, which is also the province of 6 clerks who administer the proceedings. Off the entrance hall are rooms used by the guards who police the building. Other guards can be found on the building’s lower level (most of it below ground) where the detention cells and punishment block are located. High up on a wall of each cell is a grille, set just above ground level through which the prisoner can get a restricted view of the outside world, or through which locals can abuse the inmates, shower them with filth, or perhaps communicate plans for (unlikely) escape.
Whilst the Duke’s Law dictates the punishments to be levied on criminals, both magistrates and guards may be susceptible to influence of varying kinds that may adjust a defendant’s sentence – favourably or unfavourably.
STATUE OF BAN BOGDAN IVANOVICH (O9)
Bogdan Ivanovich was the ancestor of the Marilenev clan, the descendent of Vandar chiefs fully integrated in the new Traladaran culture. He brought Marilenev from a minor settlement in the shadow of Krakatos to the status of regional power.
The statue itself is also very old and shows some signs of age, probably dating to the time of the Traladaran League, when Marilenev was the centre of the anti- Darokinian alliance and the local Bans needed to foster nationalist sentiments. The Ban is portrayed standing, crowned, with the right hand on a large sword and the left arm held horizontally across the chest, dressed in a knee-length tunic. The statue is somewhat larger than life size, and mounted on a square base about 3 feet high.
The statue has been a rallying point at various times since its erection, including during the Marilenev conspiracy and for Traladaran nationalists under the Thyatian government In modern Specularum, the statue is mostly a landmark that can be used to give directions, since it is well known, and well loved by the Traladarans.
GREAT CHURCH OF TRALADARA (O3)
The Great Church of Traladara has been the religious center of Traladara since the last Traladaran War centuries ago.
While the Church of Traladara is no longer especially focused on religious conformity as it was during the Traladaran Wars era – that was more a side effect of the political disagreements among the Darokin-backed northern Traladaran princes and the southern city states and clans backed by the Harbortown merchants – it is the only remaining centre of power for the Church, as many patriarchates were destroyed either in the Vampire Wars, in the Thyatian conquest, or in Stefan’s takeover thirty years ago.
The Great Church is a massive, squat building, with low, dark glass windows, and a single large rose window on the front. The exterior, like in most Traladaran churches, is rather simple, showing bricks and other construction elements instead of the marble coverings of Thyatian temples. The interior, on the other side, is much richer, covered in old Traladaran style frescoes showing scenes from the life of the Traladaran Three, and culminating with the duel between Halav and the Beast King.
While there is no formal residence of the Patriarch, as for the Church of Karameikos – Traladaran priests are expected to live with their family, Patriarch Aleksyev Nikelnevich and most of the other priests who tend to the Great Church live in the immediate surroundings.
ST. KRUSKIEV MONASTERY (O2)
The monastery of St. Kruskiev is an austere building in the heart of the Old Quarter. A small, older church is located on the side of the larger main building, from which newer but smaller wings depart, forming a courtyard. The monastery houses the Order of the Monks of St. Kruskiev, one of the few associated orders of the Church of Traladara. The order itself is composed of three dozen monks, all of whom reside within the monastery. Upkeep for the monks is partially based on funds from the Church, but most of it comes from the tuition fees of the school that the monks maintain for the Old Quarter children, and from their candlemaking, copying and illumination activities.
The monastic order of St. Kruskiev originates in the Traladaran bard-clerics who kept up the oral traditions of the Song of Halav – St. Kruskiev being one of the legendary bards to whom the Song was attributed. A large part of this tradition would have been lost during the Traladaran Wars if not for the Kruskievite order. In those times, the Church hierarchies of Marilenev, Selenica, Halavos and Svoga fought each other for political and religious supremacy, until the Thyatian translation was established as the official text, and all the variety of the oral tradition was suppressed to avoid heresies such as those of the Monastery on the Hill near Vaion.
The Kruskievite monks gathered for ages in secret to pass on the old songs, believing that committing them to writing weakened the original truths - and in fact, Thyatian and other influences surely changed many things in the Traladaran lore. The Kruskievite order managed to stay alive during the centuries of schism within the church, as all the sects drew from their teachings. Heresy was never so much an issue of dogma in Traladaran religious life, rather it was part of political alliances and conflicts. As the Kruskievite order never aspired to temporal power, they escaped the sect conflicts. The candle-making that is integral to the Kruskievite lifestyle was originally developed to symbolize both the renouncing of temporal power and the focus on enlightenment and preservation of ancient lore.
It was only in the last two centuries that the order began to commit the oral tradition to writing. One of their leaders devised a new form of writing that combined the musical and emotional elements of the songs, so as not to empty them of their true value. It relies partly on sense of touch, as patterns are woven into the scrolls by thread. The meditations of the monks are actually silent recitations of the songs by running their hands over the writings. One of their sacred duties is to make special candles that allow the reader to appreciate the living shadows that form upon the song-writing.
It is said that Patriarch Sergeyev studied Kruskievite scrolls intensely in the years before slipping into madness and heresy.
HOUSE OF THE TOSSED COIN (O19)
A large temple building dedicated to Raven1, God of Luck. Like most others of his temples, it has a thriving gaming hall attached, which
is open to the public at all hours of the day and night. The temple is presided over by the Most Fortunate High Priest Camille Ilsarne (N hf P14), assisted by 9 priests, and 28 followers.
THE OPEN SPELLBOOK (O20)
A temple to Kersy2 (Patroness of magic, witchcraft and charms). The High Magistress Carinne Saedryil (NG hf P17) is assisted by 12 priests and 33 followers.
THE NEST
The area that is now known as “The Nest” was the first expansion from the Nithian-led Traldar fortified village of Os-Khimn between BC 1500 and BC 1100. It was always outside the original settlement, but did not have the cultural characteristics of the modern Nest. As the Banate of Marilenev formed and grew in the first 3 centuries AC, the fortifications were extended, but this included a wall around the modern Church District, separating it from other parts of Marilenev. This was the first step in the segregation of what would become the Old Quarter from which the Nest would split.
While the combined Old Quarter and Nest neighbourhoods developed as the heart of Traladaran Marilenev, the eastern part of the area gained notoriety as various illegal activities became centred there. It was also a focus for political rabble-rousers and acted as the headquarters of Traladaran rebels during the Thyatian invasion of AC 900. After the rebellion was quelled, the more hostile of the old Traladaran community established itself in the eastern side of the district.
Following Duke Stefan’s arrival in AC 970, a greater split developed in the city’s Traladaran populace and the hard core resistance gave the Nest its own identity, increasing its lawlessness. As such the Nest does not have the same municipal facilities as other neighbourhoods – no court house, no revenue office, no administrative office; the City Guard and Night Watch do not venture too far into the Nest. There are many block level self-governing arrangements within the Nest. A new Thieves’ Guild, “The Kingdom of Thieves” was formed around AC 990.
In present-day Specularum, the Nest is the oldest, narrowest, dirtiest and poorest section of town; the population is mostly Traladaran. There is a wild mixture of residences, businesses and shops. It is home to the city’s criminal underground and to Traladaran resistance. The Veiled Society, the Kingdom of Thieves and other gangs are the dominant factions. The guardsmen do not venture here when they can avoid it; crime is king. Strangers venturing here will be beset by thieves and robbers, trapped in a labyrinth maze of indistinguishable streets. The Street of Dreams is the prophetic and magical centre of Specularum; it has the highest concentration of fortune-tellers and freelance magicians.
If adventurers need assistance with magical artefacts or require information on spellbooks and the like, they’ll probably find their answer in the Nest. Similarly, the Nest will provide opportunities to exchange some of their more dubious treasures for more usable funds. The district’s residents will often find uses for willing adventurers who can help them with their own schemes, whether they are purely criminal, or are political machinations. The Nest’s taverns, gambling halls, boarding houses and back alleys are rich sources of information for an adventuring party with rumours and clues to all manner of activities in the whole city. Adventurers of the Thief class may find themselves making a mark with one or more local gang. In some cases that relationship may not turn out to be a friendly one. Specularum’s Nest will provide plenty of adventuring paths to follow should an individual or party desire.
“The Nest”
With the Nest being largely a product of the era following the Thyatian arrival in AC 900, this breakaway area does not have a formal unified identity like most of the other city districts. While it shares its history with that of the Old Quarter, it has abandoned the use of the motto and heraldic device used there. (In truth, it would be difficult to get the various factions within the Nest to agree on something to symbolize their aims and ideal.)
If you asked anyone in the Nest who they considered as the area’s patron, they would most likely say Halav. This does not mean they are followers of the Cult of Halav.
Key to locations in "The Nest"
| N1 | House of Alya |
| N2 | House of Many Smokes |
| N3 | The Eagle's Vision tavern |
| N4 | The Flying Hammock tavern |
| N5 | The Laughing Dog tavern |
| N6 | The Quill and Counter Tavern |
| N7 | The “Palace” |
| N8 | Lumber Warehouse |
| N9 | The Golden Orda tavern |
| N10 | Granary x 2 |
| N11 | Crimson Antlers Inn |
| N12 | Jagged Blade Inn |
| N13 | The Blue Ferret Inn |
| N14 | Ruined shrine of Saint Oirtulev |
| N15 | Cult of Halav shrine |
| N16 | Boarding House x 7 |
| N17 | Warehouse x 6 |
| N18 | Golden Horseshoe Gaming House |
| N19 | The Pavillion of Delights |
| N20 | Madam Gloria’s |
| N21 | Seldani & McGhe’s Magic Shop |
| N22 | Ali Bongo’s Emporium |
| N23 | The Wizard Blackstone |
| N24 | Weiss & Co Locksmiths |
| N25 | Harbin’s Hocus-Pocus |
| N26 | The Drunken Dragon Tavern |
| N27 | The Ban's Pride Tavern |
| N28 | The Lucky Hammer Tavern |
| N29 | The Pegasus’ Wings Tavern |
| N30 | The House of Cards Tavern |
| N31 | Tavern x several |
Notable Locales in the Nest
THE WIZARD BLACKSTONE’S TOWER (N23)
On the boundary between The Old Quarter and The Nest, down a side turning off the Street of Dreams, an alley leads into a yard where a stone tower rises three or four stories high so that it stands above neighbouring buildings. The tower is topped by a conical-roofed turret and a small parapet. There are windows on the upper levels, but the material they are filled with obscures any view of the interior. At ground level, there are no windows and no doors. The only feature is the word “Blackstone” neatly carved into a small stone block in the tower’s wall.
There are stories told of seeing individuals walking into or out of the tower through its wall – but these tales are usually dismissed as the imaginations of those who have imbibed too much at a local tavern. Others tell of seeing a shadowy figure walking round the tower’s parapet. There are also accounts of light beams occasionally seen shooting between this tower and the Magicians’ Guildhall in South End.
Talk to a retired adventurer or two at their local tavern and sooner or later they will mention encountering the Wizard Blackstone on one of their quests. Little is known of him – he appears to be an exiled Glantrian mage dissatisfied with the way his countrymen act and took off for a life of adventure across the Known World. They say he still undertakes missions but you have to be invited to meet him – only then can you enter his tower.
WEISS & CO., LOCKSMITHS (N24)
On a side street off The Street of Dreams in The Nest, near the Quill and Counter Tavern, stands the workshop and residence of Erik and Theo Weiss, expert locksmiths. They are assisted in their enterprise by Erik’s wife, Wilhelmona. The brothers have quite a reputation for being able to construct all manner of locks and security devices as well as the skills to open or by-pass such mechanisms. As a result, they find themselves engaged by many wealthy citizens to install means of securing valuables, whilst also undertaking commissions to open heavily-locked (and probably trapped) chests and other items.
Naturally, their building has very secure doors and windows, and any customer or other visitor will find themselves waiting as the various locks are opened and closed to allow entrance (and exit).Inside the workshop there are all manner of elaborate devices on shelves and work benches with numerous delicate and complex instruments scattered about that the brothers use to investigate the inner workings of the devices.
Wilhelmona manages the business and keeps a rein on Erik’s tendency to show off. (To demonstrate his prowess at extricating himself from manacles and shackles, he once arranged for himself to be chained and padlocked, stuffed in a sack and then thrown into Mirror Bay – he survived.) It has been known for adventurers of all nationalities to arrive at the workshop seeking assistance in liberating a recently acquired treasure from its secure case – a service the brothers provide at a not unreasonable fee.
There have been rumours that the brothers occasionally sell the secret to by-passing the locks they have installed for a customer, but this has never been proven. Although, if a customer’s locks have been opened, Weiss & Co. are more than willing to develop some new mechanism for the victim.
HOUSE OF ALYA (N1), THE “PALACE” (7)
These two locations are described in GAZ1: “The Grand Duchy of Karameikos” and “Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure”.
THE FLYING HAMMOCK TAVERN (N4), THE LAUGHING DOG TAVERN (N5)
These two taverns appear in the adventure “Of Nests and Nations”, published in DUNGEON Magazine issue #13.
THE SOUTH END
In AC 681, as the Vampire Wars raged across Traladara, Marilenev’s town government invested in a programme of city fortifications. This included a major defensive wall circling the settlement.
By the middle of the 8th century AC, a large part of the rural population, encouraged by the Town Council and in fear of war and other threats, had settled within the city walls. The area to the west of the Old Quarter became the South End which grew to provide residences for Marilenev’s labourers. In the late 8th century AC, the newly formed Dyers’ Guild established its Guild house in the South End, and later the Brewers’ Guild moved its headquarters there, leaving its original 6th century location in the Old Quarter. Duke Stefan granted the establishment of a Magicians Guild in AC 970, and its tower and adjacent library is a South End landmark. More recently (AC 996) the United Criers Guild has established a Specularum office in this district.
The majority of the South End district is residential, but there is also an active business community, primarily along the Westroon Alley, and a market in the area near the south gate. Some local shops are found across the district, and there are small taverns serving as local meeting points throughout the neighbourhood.
After the building of the outer city wall by Duke Stefan (post-AC 970), a largely “New Karameikan” area developed between the inner and outer fortifications. This South End “extension” was the agreed approach rather than expand the district west towards the Hill – a proposal opposed by the Torenescu clan and the Thyatian aristocracy that resided in that district. As such the outer extension has a more agreeable and friendly atmosphere to it. Some say it is more congenial than the original South End that has influences from the Old Quarter and Bricktop.
Without the presence of active adventurers and businesses related to their activities (save perhaps for the Magicians’ Guild), the South End is a little quieter than other parts of town. Long-time adventurers, now retired, sometimes taking up residence in South End. Accordingly, the district may be a source of information for current adventuring groups when the tales of old campaigners lead to new quests. A generous meal accompanied by fine alcoholic refreshment has been known to wrest stories and secrets of past endeavours from an inactive adventurer. Although, sometimes the memories many be muddled or just flights of fancy.
Some of the labouring population may decide it is time to seek adventure by putting themselves forward to be hired as retainers. Or perhaps they have valuable information acquired in the course of their jobs which might be useful to someone seeking a particular treasure.
And there is the Magicians’ Guild tower and library - sources of much arcane lore and equipment. Mages and mystics have a reputation for inventiveness and inquisitiveness - maybe they might need the help of an adventurer or two?
South End District
Motto: “Fear the wrath of the meek”
Colours: White and green, trimmed blue
Device:
Quarters: 1st and 4th Vert an ox charging Argent; 2nd and 3rd Vair a bezant. Originally, the South End has a "Vert an ox statant Argent" hinting at the rural nature of the ward. A chief Vair was added and the ox changed its position to charging after the South End regiment led the Marilenev army in the battle of Stolos River against Halag. Finally, the device was restructured to the current form and the bezants were added after the foundation of the Magician’s Guild (the first major guild to be quartered in this ward).
Patron: St. Chardastes
Key to locations in the South End District
| SE1 | Magicians’ Guildhall and Library |
| SE2 | Brewers’ Guildhall |
| SE3 | Dyers’ Guildhall |
| SE4 | South End Traladaran Graveyard |
| SE5 | Borsch Traladaran restaurant |
| SE6 | Davidov Veterinary Clinic and Herbalist |
| SE7 | South End Captaincy |
| SE8 | Universal Criers Union Office |
| SE9 | Hawk’s Nest Inn |
| SE10 | The Bountiful Basket Inn |
| SE11 | The Lovers Retreat Inn |
| SE12 | The Golden Crossbow Inn |
| SE13 | The Crooked Farrow Inn |
| SE14 | The Adventurers Rest Inn |
| SE15 | Th Dyers Arms Tavern |
| SE16 | Boarding House x 5 |
| SE17 | Church of St. Bronev the Martyr |
| SE18 | Chapel of St. Chardastes |
| SE19 | Shrine of Asterius |
| SE20 | District Admin Office |
| SE21 | District Revenue Office |
| SE22 | District Court House |
| SE23 | Granary x 4 |
| SE24 | The Shackled Beastman Tavern |
| SE25 | Witches Cauldron Tavern |
| SE26 | The Bottomless Keg Tavern |
| SE27 | The Workers Lament Tavern |
| SE28 | Fruit of the Vine Tavern |
| SE29 | Past Treasures Tavern |
| SE30 | Wanderes Retuen Tavern |
| SE31 | Taverns x 18 |
| SE32 | Stables |
Notable Locales in South End
THE GORGEOUS GIANT (SE31)
This small inn and tavern is run by Morrus Vasiyev (N hm F6), a retired adventurer who named his inn after an encounter with a beautiful cloud giantess and her jealous husband. His inn is fairly new, but is doing well.
MAGICIANS’ GUILDHALL (SE1)
The formal office of the Magicians’ Guild of Specularum is a simply decorated tower with an attached barn-sized building. The tower is the residence of Teldon, the Guildmaster. The attached building acts as a school, research library and general laboratory for the Guild. The Guild is more of a quiet gentlemen’s club than a dynamic training area. The library is a major source of information on magic and is administered by its acid-tongued receptionist, Tullia Frinius. In addition to its magical services, the guild offers also public access to the non-magical section of its library.
TRALADARAN GRAVEYARD (SE4)
Traladarans bury their dead. In past centuries there were small family/community graveyards. These were primarily in the poorer districts, where the families were unable to afford to buy a specific “family plot” outside the city gates. A number of these still exist – some cared for, some decrepit and run down. A noted graveyard stood within the block east of the Church of Traladara, it is now part of The Nest.
A graveyard dating back to Traldar times, and more recent ones for some of those fallen during the Traldar Wars and Vampire Wars existed in what is the modern Church District. Collectively known as the Marilenev Graveyard, these burial grounds were damaged during the Thyatian Occupation like the rest of that area. Part of the rebuilding of the district led to what remains that could be salvaged being moved to a new site, then outside the city’s southern wall. This site had previously been established to provide “family plots” for wealthier Traladarans. Since then the new graveyard has become the major resting place for the Traladaran lower classes. Following Duke Stefan’s construction of a new outer city wall, the South End Graveyard now lies within the city perimeter.
UNIVERSAL CRIERS UNION OFFICE (SE8)
A strange building just off the Westron Alley known for the emerald glow that regularly emanates from within, the acrid smell that permeates the area in which it stands and the wispy strands of who knows what that hang from parts of the structure and that tingle should you touch them. It is the Specularum office of what its proprietors had hoped would be a great benefit to the Known World, but sadly they have not had the acumen or finance to properly support it. [see sidebar for more information]
The Universal Criers Union
or the dream of fast long-distance communication in the Known World
How do you communicate across large distances in the Known World? Many powerful governments and rulers have the luxury of exotic means provided by magical lore or beats (like the fabled Ravens of Starkvale), but those with less wealth or influence have to rely on other means. Of course, messages and other information can be sent along with trade caravans or on vessels heading overseas; the drawback is that these means of transport take days at minimum, and usually weeks to complete.
There have been attempts to establish a chain of stables across part of the continent and employing horsemen to pick up a sack of messages at one end of the chain then ride at full speed to the next stable along the route where a fresh horse will be waiting for them to transfer to and continue their ride. This "Express Horse" venture has had limited success as it has proven difficult to establish adequate way stations in the wilderlands that can maintain a supply of steeds and remain secure from roaming monsters. This, coupled with the range of terrain that must be covered has prevented any significant achievements with this method.
Enter the Universal Criers Union - a business that offers a faster and generally more reliable method of long distance communication, but at a high fee. The Union was created by a pair of adventurers from Darokin who recognised that while in, for example, Selenica they could hear of prospects for a quest in Ylaruam, by the time they got there the nature and circumstances surrounding the quest had changed. One night in a bar in Kerendas they fell into conversation with the local Town Crier who shared their frustration with the problems of long distance communication. He had found himself blamed for proclaiming out of date news. He told them that he had heard a tale of a Glantrian wizard who had the means to provide speedier message transfer, and that if this could be "acquired", ambitious entrepreneurs could set up a business providing such a service to those who could afford it.
To cut a long story short, the adventurers with the now former Town Crier (he had decided it was time for a change!) set off to prove the existence of wizard's construct - and they found an obtained it after several years of following clues. Having gained their treasure, they set up business as the "Universal Criers Union" - intending to provide a means of supplying up to date news to Town Criers for them to announce.
The techno-magic they now owned involved the creation of an emerald orb connected to a special glass lens. Inside the orb resides a trans-dimensional spider. A message is passed across the lens and its contents are transferred to the enclosed spider which in turn delivers the message into the invisible transdimensional web that the spider is connected to. Once in the transdimensional spider web, the message can be retrieved by a similar orb encased magical arachnid at another location where its lens can be used to transcribe the message. The time taken for tis transfer from one orb to another is not instantaneous, but it is usually completed within one day. [Naturally, this is a very simplified description of the process - it involves very complex spells and procedures to acquire the spiders, create the orbs and lens and connect the parts of one station.]
Having thought they had a stunning way to provide a service that would make them money, the trio found that making it pay and thus earn their fortunes was not as easy as they had hoped. The components required to construct an orb were expensive (obtaining a transdimensional spider is itself costly and fraught with peril); an orb needs to be constantly fuelled and maintenance; and of course, you need a minimum of two orbs in order to communicate from point A to point B. Thus, to make a profit from this endeavour, the trio had to charge potential customers significant amounts to recoup their expenses. Having additional orbs, they then needed to transport them to suitable locations they needed to recruit staff to maintain these outposts and use them. So, the aim of providing up to date news for Town Criers was impractical as their anticipated clients could not afford the charges. As a result, the Union exists barely by providing a message transfer service to wealthy clients (some law-abiding and some not) The Specularum office was one of the first to be installed four years ago but has yet to become a significant operation
Author’s note:
The concept of the Universal Criers Union is inspired by and derived from two articles at the Vaults of Pandius: "United Criers Guild" by Jerry Hovenanian and "The Postwizards Service Net" by Pol Ginés. I acknowledge both these authors for sowing seeds in my mind.
CHURCH DISTRICT
Around BC 1500, the present-day Church District was the site of a fortified village named Os-Khmin (Throne of Khmin) built by the Traldar people under the rule of Nithians. A century later, following the demise of their Nithian lords, the Traldar settlement was taken over by Hutaakans, and one of their priests settled in the abandoned fortification.
Over the next three centuries, the village (now named Marilenev) was firmly established as a walled town with an expanding population just to the south-west of the earlier Nithian settlement. Various Traldar-centric temples arose on the hillock to the south of Mirror Bay. In BC 1000, the Hutaakan priests sealed their temple of Pflarr and left Marilenev, fearing destruction would be brought by a Beastman invasion. King Milen choose to flee rather than fight. Marilenev lost three quarters of its population in this migration. The Beastman army never reached Marilenev, being defeated in BC 992 on the Volaga River.
Around BC 800, Vandar tribesmen arrived in the area and worked with the Traldar to build a new community that became a noted trading centre welcoming travellers from beyond the region. The fusion of the Vandar and Traldar resulted in a new people – the Traladara. As well as welcoming traders, Marilenev embraced other religions and the original fortified village area saw a variety of shrines and temples located there. In AC 400 missionary clerics from Thyatis, led by Lucor, reached Marilenev. A first Thyatian shrine was established in what would become the modern Church District. A few years later the Grand Church of Traladara was built in what is now the Old Quarter, lack of space being one reasons precluding it being located in the original Church District.
The Thyatian Occupation of the region in AC 900, saw the levelling of most of the buildings in the Church District by naval bombardments. As a result, the majority of the Traladaran residents were forced to relocate to the Old Quarter, South End and other parts of the town. After the invasion, the great building campaigns of General- Governor Flavian Osteropulos first, and Patriarch Olliver Jowett later, resulted in new structures rising in the Church District, including the new Church of Thyatis.
Following Stefan Karameikos’ acquisition of the Traladaran lands from the Emperor in AC 970, another major building programme commenced that included the design and construction of the Great Church of Karameikos – its location being that of the earlier Thyatian shrine of 500 years earlier.
Today the Church District is a Thyatian upper class neighbourhood, with the obvious church influences. It is a place where the conservative Thyatian faction is strongest. There is also a strong chivalric feel. The architecture is a mix of classical Thyatian and Karameikan renaissance-like styles. Most businesses (shops and workplaces) are located in the northern third of the District. The lower section is residential.
The range of businesses located here, not only providing supplies for the residential blocks, but also support for the religious buildings, such as goldsmiths, silversmiths, vestment makers, candle makers; as well as catering for “pilgrims” visiting this spiritual area.
Church District
Motto: “By the will of the Five”
Colours: Blue trimmed white and black
Device:
Azure a moon Argent between two eagle's claws Or winged Sable affrontee. Originally displayed Azure a sun Or, which was changed to a moon Argent after the Thyatian conquest. The eagle claws were added after the Hall of the Griffon was built, by permission of the Order.
Patron: Vanya
Key to locations in the Church District
| C1 | Great Church of Karameikos |
| C2 | Residence of the Patriarch of the Great Church of Karameikos |
| C3 | New Church of Karameikos Columbarium |
| C4 | Stables |
| C5 | Pax Bellanicae Studium (School) |
| C6 | The Black Axe tavern |
| C7 | Granary |
| C8 | Ruined Temple of St Rybich |
| C9 | Silver Trident tavern |
| C10 | Rose & Thorns |
| C11 | Wheel of Flames tavern |
| C12 | District Revenue Office |
| C13 | Immortals' Rest Inn |
| C14 | District Captaincy |
| C15 | The Crossed Swords tavern |
| C16 | District Court house |
| C17 | Column of Flavian Osteroplulos |
| C18 | Well |
| C19 | The Traveller's Moon tavern |
| C20 | Bath house |
| C20 | Aquae Flavianae (Bath House) |
| C21 | Order of the Griffon Hall |
| C22 | Shrine of Vanya |
| C23 | Church of Thyatis |
| C24 | Residence of the Patriarch of the Church of Thyatis |
Notable Locales in the Church District
THE COLUMN OF FLAVIAN OSTEROPULOS (C17)
Resting on top of the Church Hill, the 100 foot tall column of Flavian Osteropulos towers over the city. Built in 902 AC by Governor-General Flavian Osteropulos to celebrate the conquest of Traladara, the column is composed of massive blocks of Thyatian marble. A long frieze spirals along the length of the column, telling the story of the war from Gabrionus IV speech to the Senate where the Emperor announced the declaration of war to Flavian's departure from Thyatis, to the landing of the fleet and the conquest of Specularum. The trained historian can recognize, among the multitude of characters depicted in the frieze, historical characters like Jan Vandevic, Colonel Rosentos, Duke Stefan the Hermit, and Guildmaster Antonio Radu.
The column is topped by a small dome surrounded by a platform, from which one has an excellent view of the city and the river. The platform can be reached through an internal spiral staircase. Originally, a statue of Emperor Gabrionus IV was located on top of the column, but it was toppled by Traladaran insurgents during the first days of the Grand Duchy, and never replaced.
CHURCH OF THYATIS (C23)
While most Thyatians in Karameikos follow the teachings of the Church of Karameikos, the Church of Thyatis still maintains a patriarchal see in Specularum, both for political reasons and to provide services to the Thyatian nationals travelling or living abroad - as well as to try to bring the Thyatians of Karameikos back to the fold.
The central Church of Thyatis in Specularum is located in the Church District. The building, a massive rectangular temple consisting of a single wide, open space dominated by the statues of the six primary Immortals: Ixion, Vanya, Valerias, Tarastia, Protius and Asterius. The six bronze statues as masterworks of Thyatian sculpture, representing the Immortals with powerful, dynamic figures 10' tall. The clergy is headed by Patriarch Domitius Messalla (C9, L), a priest of Tarastia. A dozen of lesser priests of various Immortals help the Patriarch with clerical tasks, diplomatic work, and religious rituals. The church does not include residence areas for the clergy, and most priests live (with their families) in rented houses in the Church District - though a few lesser priests prefer the less expensive South End.
GREAT CHURCH OF KARAMEIKOS (C1)
The Great Church of Karameikos is the political and religious center of the Church of Karameikos. It is a new, large construction in a much more modern style than the typical Traladaran church, featuring tall windows and a highly decorated exterior, covered with statues of various Immortals, gargoyles, and other figures. The interior is equally rich, showing off the power of the Thyatian families that funded its construction.
An associated palace, the residence of the Patriarch, houses not only the Patriarch of Specularum, Lord Olliver Jowett, but also a host of attendants, secretaries, and church officers, including Patriarch Alfrich Oderbry and Magdel, Jowett’s personal assistant.
Clerical members of the Order of the Griffon are in charge of the security of the compound, and are a very visible presence here, with their heavy armour, shields and tabards showing the coat of arms of the Order.
ORDER OF THE GRIFFON HALL (C21)
The military order of the Church of Karameikos has its headquarters in the Church District, occupying the entire block between Empire Street and Griffon Street. The Hall itself is connected with the Shrine of Vanya, and houses the Council Hall, where the knights meet to discuss the policies of the Order; the Treasury, that is the administrative office of the Order; and the training hall. Lodgings for the officers of the Order and barracks for the knights and squires that serve guard duty are located on the second floor.
A second, smaller building, houses the stables and workshops employed for small time armour and weapon repairs and horseshoeing. The whole complex is walled around, allowing the courtyard to be used as a training ground for the knights.
The Marshal Commander, the second in command after the Patriarch of Specularum, who is Master of the Order, resides in the Hall. The current Marshall Commander is Sir Marcus Montanus (F9, L), a former Lieutenant under Desmond Kelvin I’s command during the first years of Duke Stefan’s rule.
Sir Corbula Vespasian, former Marshal Commander and founding member of the Order, still acts as the Master-at-Arms, or chief trainer. He is still the foremost authority on two-handed swordplay in Karameikos, though he rarely leaves the Order compound anymore.
RUINED TEMPLE OF ST. RYBICH (C8)
Standing on the northernmost tip of the Church District, in an area now mostly occupied by granaries and warehouses, is a ruined Traladaran temple, the new Church of St. Rybich of the Bay. Since before the time of the Traladaran Wars there had been an old Church of St. Rybich of the Bay, which was built on the northernmost point of the coast, where now the outer tower of the River Gate stands.
The old church served the fishermen that, at the time, populated three-quarters of what is now the Church District. For defensive purposes, the old building was converted to military use and integrated into the town walls - part of it can still be accessed, though it is now underground, and is used as a military depot.
A new temple was built within the protection of the city walls, but was later heavily damaged during the Thyatian invasion of Marilenev, as the Thyatian navy bombarded the district with incendiary missiles. As one of the few stone buildings, the church was not completely destroyed. However, given the lack of Traladaran population and the vast tracts of unoccupied estate produced by the devastation of the rest of the district, the Church of St. Rybich was not repaired, and the area remained mostly untouched by the great building campaigns of General- Governor Flavian Osteropulos first, and then of Patriarch Olliver Jowett later.
Nowadays, the temple lays in complete disrepair, and only recently have there been any talk of cleaning up the area and re-using the land for a new block of townhouses. Surprisingly, the Church never seems to have attracted criminals or even vagrants, even though it is known to have a large crypt that could serve as a refuge. Actually, even though the area is much less patrolled than the rest of the Church District, it was never targeted by any of the known gangs, and there is an absence of local gangs. The only concerns came after the construction of the new granaries near the ruins, when some abnormally damaging rat infestations were suspected to have originated from the ruins. However, no proof was found, and the cost of cleaning up the ruins was considered too high to be worth the effort - especially since the rat infestations decreased in time to more usual rates.
The truth is, the old church is connected to the district sewers via its crypt, and the sewers serve as the headquarters of a small and very secretive gang of wererat smugglers from Thyatis, led by one Publius Musculus (Thief 7/Greater Wererat 7, Neutral). These wererats are not part of the larger wererat clan led by Decius Andronicus, whose territory lies under the Hill and Market Districts.
The Traladaran wererats of Anastasia Rodinos also do not know of Musculus’ gang, as they mostly avoid the Church District. Musculus’ wererats live in a symbiotic relationship with the people of the district: they keep the district clear of other thieves (especially the Veiled Society), and in return, use the district as their base and market for smuggling, as well as supplementing their income with some burglary.
(See the accompanying sidebar for using the Ruined Church in a campaign)
Using the Ruined Church in your campaign
The Ruined Church of St. Rybich is designed as a dungeon for a short adventure for characters of low Expert level, but can be adjusted for adventurers ranging from Basic to Companion levels.
The dungeon is composed of four levels: the church itself, the crypt, the sewers, and the Nithian fortress. The church is basically empty. Only the outer walls are standing, and the side entrances have been gutted by artillery shots. The wooden roof was burnt off, leaving the interior exposed and the floor is littered with broken pieces of the columns and statues that once adorned the church. A pair of steep stairs lead to the crypt.
The crypt has a central room, with a fine marble floor and well preserved statues and altars. A wide corridor gives access to various burial chambers and treasure halls. A few doors have evidently been closed with brick and mortar walls, shutting off two empty rooms. Breaking down these walls is easy, but will alert the wererats who guard the sewer entrance. Most other chambers contain the tombs of ancient Traladaran patriarchs - plundered decades ago. A set of secret doors blocks access to the treasure room in the north-west corner of the crypt complex. The church treasures still lie in a pair of coffers, guarded by a Gargoyle (replace it with a living statue, or golem if appropriate to the level of the characters). A hidden trapdoor forms the final layer of defence.
The sewers level is composed of the sewers and an adjoining cave complex that leads both out of the city and into the lowest level of the dungeon. The wererat lair is also part of the cave complex. A half dozen wererats, Musculus’ gang, live in the area (these are lesser wererats of NM level; adjust as appropriate to the level of the adventurers). The sewers are not the most healthy place to stay for non-wererats, though. After a number of hours equal to 1/3 their Constitution score, the heroes will have to pass a ST vs Poison to avoid being infected with a disease of the DM’s choice. The saving throw must be repeated every Constitution/3 hours thereafter.
In the lowest level of the dungeon are the remains of the ancient fortress built by the first Traldar who settled the region. The fortress was later claimed by a Hutaakan priest-king, whose body was laid in a Nithian-style sarcophagus. The Hutaakan priest-king is now a Mummy (change to a Wight for Basic levels, or to a Lich Cleric for Companion levels). The priest-king will generally be hostile to invaders of thi s level - he expects them to be tomb raiders - but he is of Neutral alignment and can be reasoned with. However, realistically there is little that adventurers could offer him besides leaving in peace, unless they know of the Lost Valley of Hutaaka. Information about the history of Hutaaka is, indeed, one of the few things the priest-king may be interested in.
SHRINE OF VANYA (C22)
This pentagonal structure serves as the main chapel for the Order of the Griffon. It opens on both the Hall of the Order and on Griffon Street through two tall portals. The external walls are covered in stripes of black and white marble, while the roof is covered with bright red brick tiles. Tall statues of knights guard the portal on Griffon Street. Five squires of the Order traditionally keep guard inside the shrine at all times, so the outer portal is always open. The portal opening on the Hall of the Order is usually closed, though, and opened only for formal occasions, like the knighting ceremonies.
The interior is richly decorated, thanks to donations from many military officers as ex-voto for their success in putting down the Marilenev rebellion. The walls are covered in marble, sculpted with bas-relief showing the life of Vanya as a warrior princess and her ascension among the Immortals, while the wooden ceiling is carved and gilded with scenes describing the philosophy of the “unstained spirit” – the cleansing of sin, the judgement of souls by the Immortals, and so on.
The shrine, like the Hall of the Order, is a recent construction, and was first opened to the public on the tenth anniversary of the foundation of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos.
STRONGHOLD DISTRICT
The Stronghold District covers the hillock on the northern side of Mirror Bay. At the beginning of Traldar’s Dark Age (c. BC 800), Vandar tribesmen from the Hin lands reached Marilenev, and settled the site. The Traldar kings welcomed them to help repopulate the town after its losses arising from King Milen’s misguided migration. Within three centuries, the fusion of Vandars and Traldars resulted in a new race - the Traladarans.
Over the next several centuries, Marilenev’s trading enterprises expanded as its commerce reached Minroth, The Five Shires, Darokin, Ylaruam, Rockhome, the Gnome Caravan, and Thyatis. The growth of sea-borne trade saw the immediate area around Mirror Bay developed to provide berthing and cargo facilities for vessels from overseas. Success in trade operations saw a number of family clans gaining prominence and the chartering of the first trade guilds to manage commerce.
At the start of the 7th century AC, the Duchy of Marilenev lost much political power following the dissolution of the Traladaran League. A powerful merchant group, the Radu family, led the trade guilds in ousting Duke Alexandr Marilenev and created an oligarchic republic, the City-State of Marilenev, initially controlled from the Stronghold district. The Radu clan solidified its hold on the Merchants Guild and gained popularity among the people through acts of charity, like digging the great irrigation channel during the Great Drought (AC 613). It was a Radu who fortified the Stronghold district in AC 675 and started a political campaign to extend the fortifications to whole town.
There has always been an unspoken question about why the district did not suffer the amount of damage that the nearby Church district experienced during the Thyatian invasion of AC 900. Were magical defences involved, or was there something more political and unrevealed? During the next 70 years, the Radu clan seems to have maintained a level of power, perhaps in return for information? Following the acquisition of the Traladaran colony by Stefan Karameikos, the Radu, Torenescu and Marilenev clans rose against the new government, but failed in the short-lived rebellion. Yet since then, the Radus have remained a major influence on the city.
The power of the Radu family can be seen in its control of the Merchants’ Guild, of the Stronghold district and of other activities. They continued to exert control over the waterfront and wall areas of the city, influencing shipbuilding and import/export businesses. The family owns several blocks of residences and businesses in the district. The palatial home of the clan is situated here, and everyone in the neighbourhood is either employed by the family or bound to it by debt or blood ties.
Occupying a prominent site overlooking Mirror Bay, the river, the Duke’s Road, Traders Corridor, and the rest of the city, the Stronghold district is seen by many as a microcosm of Specularum in many aspects. It has its elite in the Radu clan and its followers, its commercial streets, its own granaries, and its own underclass. Some say the Veiled Society has links in the district. Others wonder what lies beneath the Stronghold district. How far down does Radu Manor extend?
Adventurers arriving here in the city and finding accommodation at an inn or boarding house in the Stronghold district will be subjected to inspection by the locals (largely on behalf of the Radu clan). Newcomers will feel they are being watched until they prove themselves, and even then trust may only be extended so far.
Factions outside the district (and outside the city) may have uses for willing adventurers who can be persuade to investigate what does go on behind the scenes - perhaps to learn information that may benefit other merchants, like the Torenescu or Vorloi factions? Or perhaps to uncover secrets concealed by the Radus, and their political or criminal connections? The skeletons in the Radu closets might be implicate the Radu family, or they might be something that he Radus use to control others?
The Stronghold District
Motto: “With the Hunter's strength”
Colours: Red and black trimmed yellow
Device:
Per fess Gules a dexter arm holding a sceptre Or in pale; Sable a Centaur proper. The Centaur in the Stronghold arms represents Zirchev's protection. Originally the Stronghold arms were simply Sable a Centaur proper. The arm holding the sceptre was added after Petros Radu move the center of political power from the Hill to the Stronghold district by deposing Duke Alexandr Marilenev.
Patron: Zirchev
Key to locations in the Stronghold District
| S1 | The Beastman's Axe Tavern |
| S2 | The Golden Sceptre Tavern |
| S3 | Stronghold Stables |
| S4 | Stronghold District Court House |
| S5 | The Huntsman Tavern |
| S6 | The Stronghold Inn |
| S7 | Stronghold District Captaincy |
| S8 | Armourers Guildhall |
| S9 | School |
| S10 | District Revenue Office |
| S11 | Shrine of Zirchev |
| S12 | City Well |
| S13 | Merchants' Guildhall |
| S14 | Bust of Petros Radu |
| S15 | Radu Manor |
| S16 | Radu Warehouses |
| S17 | Granaries |
Notable Locales in the Stronghold District
MERCHANTS’ GUILDHALL (S13)
The Guildhall is a broad, stout palace in the Stronghold district of Specularum. A statue of Zirchev, patron of the Guild, is located in the courtyard. Armed guards bar the access to the Guildhall.
BUST OF PETROS RADU (S14)
In the formal garden below Radu Manor’s east wing, a bust of Petros Radu sits atop a small column. The eyes of the bust gaze straight towards the city gate that allows entrance from the Duke’s Road. Some say this signifies the Radu faction watching trade into and out of the city.
It was Petros Radu, Prior of the Merchants’ Guild, who led the rebellion against Duke Alexandr Marilenev in AC 612. His success resulted in the founding of the oligarchic republic known as the City-state of Marilenev which lasted almost three centuries until the Thyatian Occupation. It was Petros who had an irrigation channel dug to provide a steady supply of water to the then farmlands North End district. Succeeding Radus fortified the Stronghold District and campaigned for the building of a city wall, as well as pioneering other building projects to benefit the city-state.
Whilst memorials to other Radus are found in the Manor grounds, it is the bust of Petros that dominates the area.
SHRINE OF ZIRCHEV (S11)
This Traladaran temple is rather unusual, being built in old Thyatian style, with a small main building surrounded by a peristasis (a four sided porch supported by a single row of columns).
The interior of the main building is covered with mosaics showing hunting scenes, and is dominated by a large statue of Zirchev, represented as a powerful male human figure covered in a long robe, with his head masked by a wolf-skin headgear.
Many of the human figures represented in the hunting scenes bear a resemblance to Anton Radu and his relatives and are portrayed dressed in red and black.
Konstantin Radu, the ancestor who funded the construction of this temple, requested that the artists inserted him and his family in the various scenes.
The shrine is manned by priests from various merchant families of the Stronghold District, led by Libor Inexdio (C2, N). The Merchants’ Guild covers all the expenses for the upkeep of the shrine, including a full complement of servants to keep the shrine tidy, clean and polished, marking this as the richest Traladaran temple in the whole nation.
TRADERS’ CORRIDOR & THE FOREIGN QUARTER
Around BC 700, as the Nithian Empire fell into slow decline, trader-colonists from Trader’s Isle began their ascent. Calling themselves Minroth traders after the cult that had spring up to honour their founder, they carried rare woods and handicrafts to peoples who lived on the shores of the Sea of Dread. In BC 650, these traders visited a small fishing community that had been set up outside the core of Marilenev on the river’s edge near the Vandar settlement in the previous century. The Traladarans welcomed these visitors and established an early relationship with them.
Marilenev began to operate as a trading hub for Traladara and its neighbours. With the encouragement of the returning Minroth traders, water-based trade developed. Initially up and down the Volaga River, it extended along the coast. Within the next several centuries Marilenev was trading with Minroth, The Five Shires, Darokin, Ylaruam, Rockhome, the Gnome Caravan, and Thyatis. The stretch of river outside Marilenev that was frequented by the Minroth traders acquired the name Traders’ Corridor; some say this was a reference to Trader’s Isle, but its derivation is unclear. A Minrothist shrine was established nearby for Minrothad mariners and traders. The growth of seaborne trade saw the immediate area around Mirror Bay developed to provide berthing and cargo facilities for large vessels from overseas.
Marilenev’s status as a trading port stemmed from the growing regular market that operated from around BC 500 outside the walled town which attracted many foreign traders. An outgrowth of this trade market was the appearance of temporary camps set up north of the farmlands by and for visiting merchants. This, often chaotic, arrangement of bivouacs, animal pens and tracks was the precursor of the present-day Foreign Quarter.
It was not until AC 802 that Dwarves built the first permanent blocks of the Foreign Quarter in the area north of the city wall. The Dwarven section was soon joined by areas populated by Darokinians and Hin as well as Ylari tribes. Minroth traders and seamen took up residence closer to Traders Corridor. The new permanent Foreign Quarter became a vibrant centre for merchants and traders from other lands. In AC 860, the House of Hallonica built its office in what has become the Darokin neighbourhood of the district.
In AC 890 the ruling guild master of Minrothad passed the Isolation Act prohibiting immigration and most visitors to Minrothad. As a result, the Minrothad area near Traders Corridor maintained a distance from the other non-Traladaran districts of the Foreign Quarter.
In the wake of AC 900’s Thyatian Occupation, the Hallonica Building was sold to the Torenescu family as the Foreign Quarter’s Darokinian neighbourhood saw an influx of Thyatian and Minrothaddan settlers. The arrival of the Thyatians led to a partial retreat of the Darokin merchants - given the instability of the area in the first post- Occupation year, many of them chose to minimize their losses by withdrawing at least part of their operations from Traladara. Buildings were consequently sold or rented to get some return on the investments. One sale resulted in the acquisition of a site where a team of Augrist workaholic dwarves built the Augrist Temple in the Foreign Quarter, initially for the benefit of the Minrothaddans who had migrated to that neighbourhood. To this day, the temple has a permanent work-in-progress look.
During the early years of the Occupation, many Thyatian nationals moved in to assist the provincial governors by working as their civilian administration, as well as part of the Thyatian military machine. These immigrants settled initially in the Darokinian district. However, during the following years the Thyatians built new residences in the city (especially after the major works in the Church district and Bricktop), within the protection of the city walls, and the Darokinians returned as soon as it was clear that the Traladaran province was going to stay. This district while still largely Darokinian has a slightly more cosmopolitan air, given that it houses the Augrist Temple, some Hin businesses, as well as some Thyatians who remained there.
After Duke Stefan’s acquisition of Traladara in AC 970, his construction plans for his capital, newly-named Specularum, included the building of an outer defensive city wall that provided not only a secure Duke’s Park area and extended development for the South End, but also increased the old city’s links with the Foreign Quarter. However, the Minrothaddan isolationist stance at that time resulted in their enclave near Traders Corridor remaining outside the new city fortifications.
The Duke opened up trade with the Kingdom of Ierendi and the year AC 973 saw many Ierendian immigrants settling in the Foreign Quarter. The revitalised Darokinian presence in the district led the House Hallonica to buy back the Hallonica Building from the Torenescu clan, and an official branch of the Hallonica trading operation was opened in Specularum. Stefan’s international policies have assisted the influx of more foreigners through Specularum’s trading opportunities with other nations. It is said, but has not been substantiated publicly, that Stefan’s trade negotiations encouraged the rescinding of Minrothad’s Isolationist Act in AC 991.
In AC 1000, most of the people from other nations, as well as the majority of demihumans who reside in the city, live in the Foreign Quarter and Traders’ Corridor; Thyatians are the exception, they prefer to reside in more “acceptable” neighbourhoods. In the Foreign Quarter adventurers can encounter a dwarven merchant from Rockhome, a shadow-elf diplomat, an Ethengar barbarian, a Ylari desert rider, or a Glantrian mage on the run from his own country. The largest and most visible population group is made up of Hin immigrants from the Five Shires who have swelled the district in the past few years.
Traladarans, Thyatians and New Karameikans tend to view the Foreign Quarter with disdain and a little fear, as there are often brawls and battles in the streets between rival nationalities. The street gangs tend to belong to one ethnic group or another and have heated clashes.
The architecture of the Foreign Quarter and Traders’ Corridor is a mixture of styles. Wandering through the district, one will find the heavy, solid dwarven constructs as well as the more basic and temporary tent encampments of visiting Ylari; the rural enclaves of Hin and elves are not far from the more traditional constructs of Darokinian merchants. And with the wide variety of cultures and beliefs present, there are always opportunities for adventurers to find employment. Foreign visitors may be seeking assistance to help them recover lost or stolen treasures; merchants may require tough adventurers to act as security forces for their overland caravan or sea-going vessels; others may require a skilled team to undertake a special mission on their behalf; or foreign adventurers may be seeking new partners to join them in their quests.
Traders Corridor
As essentially an independent part of the Foreign Quarter, being relatively new and mostly populated by foreigners, the district doesn't have a representation in the town political life.
Key to locations in Traders' Corridor
| T1 | Minrothist Shrine |
| T2 | Crimson Noblius’ grocery |
| T3 | Boris’ Hunters' Lodge |
| T4 | Hunters’ Guildhall |
| T5 | Minrothaddan Port Agent |
| T6 | The Dragon’s Wind Inn |
| T7 | Highreach Tavern |
| T8 | Long Shadow Tavern |
| T9 | Jolly Buccaneer Tavern |
| T10 | Shrine of Asterius |
| T11 | District Administration Office |
| T12 | Boarding House |
| T13 | Warehouse |
The Foreign Quarter
The Foreign Quarter, being relatively new and mostly populated by foreigners, does not have a representation in the city’s political life, and does not possess the heraldic devices signifying its heritage like most of the other wards and neighbourhoods.
Also, here is no single patron, since the inhabitants are members of one of several foreign cults, especially the highly polytheistic Church of Darokin, as well as the cults of the High Heroes, Kagyar, Augrism, and the Eternal Truth.
Key to locations in the Foreign Quarter
| F1 | City Jail |
| F2 | Foreigners' Graveyard |
| F3 | Jockle Rumbottom’s Pipe Shop |
| F4 | Cozy Burrow Inn |
| F5 | Jerzy's Pawnshop |
| F6 | Foreign Quarter Administration |
| F7 | Foreign Quarter Revenue Office |
| F8 | The Golden Pumpkin Inn |
| F9 | Westron Market |
| F10 | Granary |
| F11 | Dagger's Fencing School |
| F12 | Augrist Temple |
| F13 | Church of Darokin |
| F14 | Shrine of the Eternal Truth |
| F15 | House Hallonica |
| F16 | The Breakwater gang |
| F17 | The Swords of Kalim gang |
| F18 | Myrrh of the Night brothel |
| F19 | Kartak’s dwarven gang |
| F20 | Tegell House |
| F21 | Ylari Campground |
| F22 | Souq |
| F23 | North Gate Inn |
| F24 | Tavern x several |
| F25 | Long Bar tavern |
| F26 | Fire Ship Inn |
| F27 | Boarding House x 6 |
| F28 | Warehouse x several |
Notable Locales in Traders Corridor and the Foreign Quarter
LONG BAR TAVERN (F25)
The Long Bar Tavern is located in the east end of the Foreign Quarter (“the dwarf sector”). It is a popular watering hole for dwarves visiting the city and wanting to spend some time among their own kin. The owner of the tavern, Thrumbar Shieldkroten, is a prominent tavernkeeper in Specularum, so his place sees much business. If you are a dwarf, the Long Bar can almost be a home away from home (although they offer no rooms). Thrumbar and his staff can advise on the best places to get your weapons and armour repaired (by quality dwarf craftsmen of course!) and shops to get new gear for ventures into the wilderness.
At night, the common room of the Long Bar resonates with melancholic dwarven folk songs about mighty battles, gold treasure, glory and honour. The menu is typically dwarven with lots of meat and beer and there is plenty on the plate.
The Ambassador from Rockhome, Bolto Nordenshield, is a frequent guest here. He enjoys the company of other dwarves and eagerly listens to news of home (he also gets official reports of course).
Thrumbar Shieldkroten is the cousin of Dia, daughter of Fara and leader of the Syrklist Clan in Rockhome. Like his cousin, Thrumbar he has never forgotten that Fara’s husband (Dia’s father) was Thruic Shieldkroten - one of the leaders of the dwarven gold-seeking expedition to Glantri in the fateful year 802 AC. Thruic experienced firsthand the hostility of the Glantrian wizards when the dwarves were blamed for the tragic plague, and later on the cruelty exhibited by the Glantrian wizards, when they discovered how the captured dwarves were highly resistant to magic and started to conduct horrible experiments on them.
Like Dia, Thrumbar hates all things Glantrian and spends much time at the bar badmouthing the nation and its vile inhabitants to anyone who is willing to listen. He does not have Dia's resources to fund direct action against the Glantrians in the city - such as the Glantrian ambassador, Doña Marianita, and her staff. A group of sour dwarves frequenting the Long Bar Tavern will eagerly sign up to anything involving Glantrians, including beatings or vandalism.
So far, it has not come to blows and if ambassador Nordenshield gets wind of any such plans, he will be hard pressed between loyalty to his fellow dwarves and his obligation to keep good diplomatic relations with Duke Stefan and respecting the peace in the Duke’s city. Nordenshield might hire outsiders to get between the dwarves and the Glantrians.
Ylari tribesmen from the nearby Ylari enclave in the Foreign Quarter also frequent the Long Bar Tavern. They like the dwarves, who are honest fighters and detest magic as much as the Ylari do. If at some point the Ylari ambassador, ibn Hamid. decides to carry out his crazy plan to kidnap Doña Marianita back to his harem in Ylaruam, his chief henchman might attempt to hire dwarves at the Long Bar Tavern as additional muscle. This, in turn, could end tragically with the act of kidnapping becoming assault or worse...
CITY JAIL (F1)
The jail is a massive, squat sandstone building of the Thyatian period, though built mostly by dwarven masons on a dwarven engineer’s plan. The designer, one Bohrur Stonecleaver of Highforge, tried to mix a classical Thyatian architectural style with the typical dwarven construction, resulting in a low, rectangular building topped by an incongruous pediment. Hexagonal turrets flank the front of the building, providing a degree of defence to the entrance gate - the only weak spot in the otherwise massive outer wall. A small courtyard opens beyond the entrance gate, and gives access to the guard rooms, the kitchens, and the offices. The cells are located on the first storey.
The dwarves had been commissioned for this work by Duke Stefan, when it became clear that the Hightower could not serve as the only prison in the city. Since the Foreign Quarter was experiencing a significant increase in petty crimes - brawls, pickpocketing, and muggings - but was not as out of control as the Nest, the Karameikan government chose to locate the new city jail there. Nowadays, the Hightower is only used for temporary detention and for imprisoned nobles or political prisoners that should not come in contact with other inmates.
Escaping the City Jail is not impossible, but is very difficult, since the dwarven construction gave the wall extra thickness. It is rumoured that the dwarves built a secret exit passage, to prevent the humans from using it to imprison their own. However, only Bohrur is likely to know the truth on the matter, and the old dwarf does not leave Highforge anymore.
FOREIGNERS’ GRAVEYARD (F2)
This plot of open ground has been used as graveyard for more than a century. Its use dates back to the time before the Thyatian invasion, when a Minrothad merchantman was destroyed by a fire. The bodies of thirteen sailors were recovered, but could not be buried at sea, for the season was late and no more Minrothaddan ships were expected. Thus, the dead sailors were interred in a common grave just out of the city walls.
Since that time, foreigners who die in Specularum and are not cremated (in that case the urns can be sent back to their homeland) are laid to rest in this area, which is now dotted with small tombstones.
A few crypts were also built to hold the most notable residents of the Foreign Quarter, including the senior agents of House Hallonica and the Augrist priests (none of them has yet died on Karameikan grounds, but the dwarves like to be prepared).
Rumours of undead haunting abound, but the most immediate threat in the area comes for much more mundane villains: Minrothaddan and Hin gangs both claim the graveyard as part of their territory, and brawls and small scale battles often take place during the night.
AUGRIST TEMPLE (F12)
There have been Minrothaddan visitors and residents in Specularum for centuries as a result of the historical trading alliance between Harbortown and Marilenev. As well as supporting the constant flux of trade between Specularum and the Minrothad Guilds, the Minrothaddan merchant princes also supported the Marilenev in the Traladaran wars. Several major Traladaran families are also related to Minrothaddan merchant clans. Thus, temples of two of the Minrothaddan religions have been erected outside the old city walls, in the areas frequented by foreign merchants.
The second Minrothaddan temple in Specularum, the Augrist temple, is a much newer and larger structure than the Minrothist shrine. A team of Augrist workaholic dwarves built this octagonal, three story building in a single week - so they could worship at the new temple during the next off-work afternoon.
The priests continue the work, always adding new gargoyles, bell towers, statues of Wildeye Auger or of the Twelve Watchers, or sculpting the stone surface of the temple with religious symbols, representations of holy parables from the life of Auger and other decorations.
Thus, the Augrist temple has a permanent work-in-progress look. The interior of the temple is dominated by the vast Hall of the Twelve Watchers on the first floor. This large room is accessed through two side stairways from the foyer on ground level. The second floor is still empty, but the two lower floors are full of small rooms, workshops, monastic cells, kitchens, and so on, with almost no corridors - each room opens directly on the adjacent ones (the Augrist priests concentrate so much on their tasks that they do not notice others passing through their rooms anyway). It is also said that extensive underground works exist under the temple, perhaps even connecting with the sewer system below the northern wards of the city.
The current Elder of the temple, Mason Auger (Dwarf Cleric 7), is a direct descendant of Auger’s first cousin. Not surprisingly, he holds a great reverence for the Stonemason (one of the Twelve Watchers). Six other dwarf and human Clerics help him. The clergy also hire out as architects and sculptors, which allows them to support the temple expenses.
The Augrist clergy is usually quite busy with its construction projects, but on their off-work afternoon, they become eager proselitizers, so that long time residents of the neighbourhood avoid the streets around the temple block during the Augrist holiday.
CHURCH OF DAROKIN (F13)
The so-called Church of Darokin is actually a multi-confessional hall funded by the five largest Lawful Darokinian sects. It consists of a large rectangular hall that gives access to a six smaller chapels on each of the longer sides. Five chapels are reserved for the funding sects, while the other chapels are open to all Darokinian cults (except those openly Entropic). Priests or other representatives of each cult can rent these chapels for a cheap fare (which helps cover maintenance expenses as well as the upkeep of the resident staff).
The Church of Darokin is appropriately located in the market section of the Foreign Quarter, right on the North Road.
The resident priests are a mixed lot, since they come from five different cults. Each cult sends one to three priests, for a current total of 11 priests. A half dozen of other Darokinian priests regularly use the building on a rental base as well.
MINROTHIST SHRINE (T1)
The Minrothist clergy maintains a single shrine in Trader’s Corridor, outside the city walls. The shrine is usually quite busy during the good season, when Minrothad mariners and merchants are common in Specularum. During winter, though, the shrine is mostly empty, since resident Minrothaddans are few - basically only the Embassy staff.
Due to the strictures of the Minrothist cult, only a single priest mans the shrine, and the priests change almost yearly. Since communications with Minrothad are blocked during the winter season, the priest must survive on preserved food only, except for a monthly shipping of fresh food and water via teleportation spells.
The need to teleport some food to the shrine’s cellar is the reason why the shrine was built outside the city walls, since Specularum, like most cities in the Known World is screened against incoming teleportation magics. The shrine itself is a very old building, dating from before the Thyatian invasion.
The current priest, Alon Carver (C3, L), has been in the city only since last Ambyrmont. He speaks only patois and some Thyatian, and is quite reclusive. He is assisted by a pair of laymen who, not being constrained to eat and drink only foods and drinks produced in Minrothad, live outside the shrine, in the Foreign Quarter.
SHRINE OF ASTERIUS (T10)
Well out of view of the common Specularum resident, yet fully immersed in the hustle and bustle of Trader’s Corridor is a small shrine, covered in white marble and blood-red tiles. Four statues of mermaids and mermen holding cornucopia, painted in bright colours, support a small portico in front of the shrine, while a frieze depicting scenes of trade, sea travel, and other mercantile activities encircles the building. Inside, a small cell holds an altar, set in front of the statue of a young man in old-fashioned Thyatian clothes holding scales and a purse of coins, easily recognized as the patron Immortal of the Church of Karameikos, Asterius. To the sides, small niches hold statues of the other Immortals worshipped by the Church, as well as a couple of other Immortals, Ixion and Protius, popular with the foreigners, merchants and sailors, who frequent the shrine.
A thin, middle-aged priest (C3, N) tends to the temple. This man, a Traladaran convert to the Church of Karameikos, has adopted the Thyatian name Gregorius Philargos in place of his original Traladaran name, Semion Antonov. Gregorius appears a friendly, active sort, always busy preaching the doctrine of the spotless soul to the travellers and merchants, but is actually a greedy priest who will eagerly offer to clean any sin in return for a sizable donation. Gregorius lives in a richly appointed house next to the shrine, but can be found at the shrine during the nights of a new moon, when he serves the thieving aspect of Asterius by acting as a fence and smuggler. A crypt under the shrine, well hidden by a secret trap door, holds the profits of these activities.
SHRINE OF THE ETERNAL TRUTH (F14)
The Shrine of the Eternal Truth is a single story whitewashed building with a flat roof. A gilded dome was part of the original project, but funds ran short and the dome was never completed. A slender tower rises in the garden a few yards from the main building.
A small group of scholars and preachers lives on the temple ground. These four departed from Ylaruam as learned sages and profound thinkers, but aging and the lack of interaction with other scholars in the last twenty years have turned them into four bickering old coots, who spend half their time dozing in sunny corners of the garden, and the rest arguing among themselves over not-so-profound issues (like who should cook a meal or wash dishes). Thus, it is not surprising that the Eternal Truth is not gaining much ground in the Grand Duchy.
The four scholars are Ahmed ibn Sabir (C3, L), Yousef ibn Hamid min Sulba (C4, L), Nasir ben Said (MU 3, L) and Waleed ibn Djbril al Jaboori (Rake 2, L).
Authors’ Note:
While our names appear at the top of this article, we must acknowledge a veritable horde of contributors who either added to the various subject discussions in the Piazza Mystara forum, or whose earlier works (retrieved from the Vaults of Pandius) helped add detail and colour to our thoughts and ideas. The list is long, and we’re likely to miss at least one, but we thank everyone for their assistance!
See following pages for an attempt to document the various sources.
Also note an earlier work, "A Specularum City Map", by LoZompatore which provided some inspiration.
APPENDIX
The accompanying tables attempts to list the sources for the identified locations that appear on the Specularum district maps. The sources are:
[BC] "Specularum" by Brian Caraway
[B6] “The Veiled Society” (Basic module)
[CGNK] "The Corliss Guide to Northern Karameikos" by Damon Brown
[DKoK] “Dark Knight of Karameikos” (novel)
[DMR1] Dungeon Master’s Screen (D&D accessory)
[DMSK] “Dugeon Master’s Survival Kit” (AD&D Mystara accessory)
[D13] “Of Nests and Nations” (DUNGEON Magazine issue #13 adventure)
[FC1] A long-running topic in the Mystara forum at The Piazza developed the concept of “FC1 – Fantasy City: Specularum”, a city book describing the Karameikan capital using both canon and fanon sources, as well as new material by many people to support it.
[GAZ1] “The Grand Duchy of Karameikos” (Gazetteer supplement)
[Guilds] "Guilds, Orders and Secret Societies in Karameikos" by Giampaolo Agosta
[HtH] “Hail the Heroes” (AD&D Mystara adventure)
[ITM] "Inns and taverns in Mystara" by Jesper Andersen
[JA] “Joshuan’s Almanac” (AD&D Mystara supplement
[K:KoA] “Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure”(AD&D Mystra boxed set)
[PWA III] “Poor Wizard’s Almanac III” (D&D supplement)
[SS] Specularum Scenario adventures by Ville Lähde
[Sturm] “The Adventurers & Explorers Club of Specularum” by Francesco Defferrari (THRESHOLD Magazine issue #21)
[TT] "The Torenescu area" by Ville Lähde
[WotI] “Wrath of the Immortals” (boxed campaign set)
[XSOLO] “Latahn’s Gold” (Expert module)
Sources of Locations identified on Specularum district maps
The Hill District
| H1 | Moneychangers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| H2 | Goldsmiths’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| H3 | Torenescu Manor & Plaza | [GAZ1] |
| H4 | Ergal’s residence | [FC1] |
| H5 | Akatrina the Painter | [WotI] |
| H6 | Old Church of Thyatis Columbarium | [FC1] |
| H7 | Hill Graveyard | [FC1] |
| H8 | Capital Armorer | [XSOLO] |
| H9 | Ebonov House | [FC1] |
| H10 | House of Emmet | [TT] |
| H11 | House of Samasus | [TT] |
| H12 | Garvil’s Manor | [TT] |
| H13 | Dragos’ Manor | [TT] |
| H14 | Boris’ House | [TT] |
| H15 | Sergei’s House | [TT] |
| H16 | Torenescu Warehouse | [TT] |
| H17 | Stephano’s House | [TT] |
| H18 | Nichola’s House | [TT] |
| H19 | Lord Dimitrios’ House | [TT] |
| H20 | Torenescu Clan houses | [TT] |
| H21 | Simion’s House | [TT] |
| H22 | Torenescu Guest House | [TT] |
| H23 | Granary | [FC1] |
| H24 | Karameikan Road Lodge | [CGNK] |
| H25 | Lodge Stables | [FC1] |
| H26 | Sword & Shield Tavern | [FC1] |
| H27 | Nobles Bath House | [FC1] |
| H28 | District Revenue Office | [FC1] |
| H29 | District Court House | [FC1] |
| H31 | Church of St Moira the Pure | [DMR1] |
| H32 | Darokinian Embassy (DDC) | [GAZ1] |
| H33 | Glantrian Embassy | [GAZ1] |
| H34 | Rockhome Embassy | [GAZ1] |
| H35 | Alfheim Embassy | [GAZ1] |
| H36 | Thyatian Embassy | [GAZ1] |
| H37 | Ylari Embassy | [GAZ1] |
| H38 | Ierendi Embassy | [GAZ1] |
| H39 | Minrothad Embassy | [GAZ1] |
| H40 | Five Shires Embassy | [GAZ1] |
| H41 | Hillside Bath House | [FC1] |
| H42 | Torenescu Stables | [FC1] |
| H43 | Parkside Stables | [FC1] |
| H44 | The Merciful Axe Tavern | [FC1] |
| H45 | The Unarmed Angel Tavern | [FC1] |
| H46 | Hillside Tavern | [FC1] |
Bricktop District
| B1 | Scriveners’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| B2 | Scrivener’' Guild Public Library | [Guilds] |
| B3 | Apothecaries’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| B4 | Town Hall | [FC1] |
| B5 | Ministry of State | [K:KoA] |
| B6 | Ministry of Trade | [K:KoA] |
| B7 | Ministry of Finance | [K:KoA] |
| B8 | Ministry of War | [K:KoA] |
| B9 | Bricklayers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| B10 | Ducal Karameikan Theater | [JA] |
| B11 | The Golden Book, Inn & Restaurant | [FC1] |
| B12 | The Priest and Jug, tavern | [FC1] |
| B13 | Cee Salt | [XSOLO] |
| B14 | Turano’s Guesthouse | [B6] |
| B15 | Vorloi House | [B6] |
| B16 | Rattlebone Inn | [B6] |
| B17 | Grygori Vorloi’s house | [B6] |
| B18 | Bricklayers’ Arms tavern | [FC1] |
| B19 | Conta’s Boarding House | [FC1] |
| B20 | Shrine of Petra | [FC1] |
| B21 | Ministry Stables | [FC1] |
| B22 | District Court House | [FC1] |
| B23 | District Revenue Office | [FC1] |
| B24 | District Administration Office | [FC1] |
| B25 | City Guard Barracks | [FC1] |
| B26 | Mother Bertha's Bath House | [FC1] |
| B27 | Granary x 2 | [FC1] |
| B28 | School | [FC1] |
| B29 | Baron Vorloi House | [B6] |
| B30 | Goodwife Thanatos | [B6] |
| B31 | Turano's main house | [B6] |
| B32 | Chapel of the Stainless Soul | [FC1] |
| B33 | The Crown & Castle tavern | [FC1] |
| B34 | The Soldier's Rest tavern | [FC1] |
| B35 | The Mad Juggler tavern | [FC1] |
| B36 | The Gentle Wife tavern | [FC1] |
| B37 | The Arguing Owl tavern | [FC1] |
| B38 | The Golden Ring tavern | [FC1] |
| B39 | Market Boarding House | [FC1] |
| B40 | Market Stables | [FC1] |
| B41 | House of Flowing Notes | [FC1] |
| B42 | Market Bath House | [FC1] |
| B43 | Rattlebone Stables | [FC1] |
| B44 | Scriveners' Stables | [FC1] |
| B45 | Bricktop Stables | [FC1] |
| B46 | Artisan Livery & Stables | [FC1] |
North End District
| NE1 | Naval Shipbuilders | [GAZ1] |
| NE2 | The Black-Heart Lily | [GAZ1] |
| NE3 | Desmond's Dive | [K:KpA] |
| NE4 | The Hand and Harrow | [K:KpA] |
| NE5 | The Gored Ox | [K:KpA] |
| NE6 | Hippogriff Inn | [XSOLO] |
| NE7 | Golden Coin Gambling House | [XSOLO] |
| NE8 | Boris Nikoli’s grocery | [D13] |
| NE9 | Blacksmiths’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| NE10 | Carpenters’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| NE11 | Loggers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| NE12 | Mariners’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| NE13 | Fishmongers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| NE14 | Innholders’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| NE15 | Akarios, Shipwright | [B6] |
| NE16 | Church of St. Lucor | [FC1] |
| NE17 | Martina Blossombath, Pastrystand | [JA] |
| NE18 | Dragonfly Tavern | [D13] |
| NE19 | City Well | [Xsolo] |
| NE20 | Temple/Shrine | [FC1] |
| NE21 | Temple/Shrine | [FC1] |
| NE22 | Westron Inn | [FC1] |
| NE23 | The Bridge of Blood Tavern | [FC1] |
| NE24 | The Solitary Knight Tavern | [FC1] |
| NE25 | Petros’ Ditch Tavern | [FC1] |
| NE26 | The Mermaid’s Kiss Tavern | [FC1] |
| NE27 | The Anchor & Compass Tavern | [FC1] |
| NE28 | The Plough Tavern | [FC1] |
| NE29 | The Harvest Moon Tavern | [FC1] |
| NE30 | Giant's Slumber Tavern | [FC1] |
| NE31 | Lucor's Scrolls Tavern | [FC1] |
| NE32 | Granary x 2 | [FC1] |
| NE33 | District Court House | [FC1] |
| NE34 | District Admin Office | [FC1] |
| NE35 | Diostrict Revenue Office | [FC1] |
| NE36 | City Guard Barracks | [FC1] |
| NE37 | Warehouses x 7 | [FC1] |
| NE38 | Bath House | [FC1] |
| NE39 | North Gate Boarding House | [FC1] |
| NE40 | North End Stables | [FC1] |
| NE41 | Roaring Seawolf Inn (ruins) | [K:KoA] |
| NE42 | Westron Stables | [FC1] |
| NE43 | Farmland stables | [FC1] |
| NE44 | Farriers' Stables | [FC1] |
| NE45 | North Market Stables | [FC1] |
| NE46 | Stefan Fidato's Boarding House | [FC1] |
| NE47 | Aurica Strenescu's Boarding House | [FC1] |
| NE48 | Black-Heart Lily Stables | [FC1] |
| NE49 | Dock Stables | [FC1] |
| NE50 | Sea View Boarding House | [FC1] |
| NE51 | Dita Petescu's Boarding House | [FC1] |
| NE52 | Adventurers & Explorers Club | [Sturm] |
Merchants District
| M1 | The Hightower | [GAZ1] |
| M2 | Harbor Tavern | [XSOLO] |
| M3 | Blue Water Mead Hall | [B6] |
| M4 | Radu’s Wholesale Foodstuff | [D13] |
| M5 | Mirror Bay Inn | [D13] |
| M6 | Titus Angelicus’ grocery | [D13] |
| M7 | Aristo, Wine Merchant | [B6] |
| M8 | Vintners’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| M9 | Cutlers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| M10 | Bakers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| M11 | Tailors’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| M12 | Butchers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| M13 | Bowyers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| M14 | Skinners’ Guildhal | [Guilds] |
| M15 | Heranthes, Cobbler | [D13] |
| M16 | Imelda’s Beauties (in Cobblers' Lane) | [JA] |
| M17 | Griffon’s Arms Inn | [PWA III] |
| M18 | Tavern on the Shore | [XSOLO] |
| M19 | The Grog Shoppe | [XSOLO] |
| M20 | The Rogue’s Den | [ITS] |
| M21 | Harbour Master | [FC1] |
| M22 | DistrictAdmin Office | [FC1] |
| M23 | District Revenue Office | [FC1] |
| M24 | District Court House | [FC1] |
| M25 | City Guard Barracks | [FC1] |
| M26 | Granaries x2 | [FC1] |
| M27 | The Trading House Temple | [BC] |
| M28 | Temple of the Golden Coin | [FC1] |
| M29 | Harbor Boarding House | [FC1] |
| M30 | Market Stall Stables | [FC1] |
| M31 | Warehouses x 12 | [FC1] |
| M32 | Bartering Bugbear Tavern | [ITM] |
| M33 | The Tannery Tavern | [FC1] |
| M34 | Grapes of Cruth Tavern | [FC1] |
| M35 | The Duchess OliviaTavern | [FC1] |
| M36 | The Grey Gnoll Tavern | [FC1] |
| M37 | Blade Alehouse Tavern | [FC1] |
| M38 | Roaring Seawolf Inn (ruins) | [K:KoA] |
| M39 | Bearthrimble’s Brogans & Boots | [FC1] |
| M40 | Marteescu Boarding House | [FC1] |
| M41 | Archer Boarding House | [FC1] |
| M42 | Pirate’s Treasure Boarding House | [FC1] |
| M43 | Nate Gilca Stables | [FC1] |
| M44 | Grand Market Livery & Stables | [FC1] |
| M45 | Harbor Stables | [FC1] |
Old Quarter
| O1 | Street Dreamers Gang | [D13] |
| O2 | St. Kruskiev Monastery | [DKoK] |
| O3 | Great Church of Traladara | [GAZ1] |
| O4 | Residence of the CoT Patriarch | [GAZ1] |
| O5 | The Graceful Swan | [D13] |
| O6 | Open Door | [D13] |
| O7 | Grocers Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| O8 | Leathersellers Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| O9 | Statue of Ban Bogdan Ivanovich | [FC1] |
| O10 | Mages’ Pages | [FC1] |
| O11 | The Scarlet Wizards | [FC1] |
| O12 | Wizard’s Gizzard Tavern | [D13] |
| O13 | The Bawd and Minister | [ITM] |
| O14 | Temple Chardastes inc Library | [HtH] |
| O15 | Rusty Wand Tavern | [FC1] |
| O16 | District Admin Office | [FC1] |
| O17 | District Revenue Office | [FC1] |
| O18 | District Court House | [FC1] |
| O19 | House of the Tossed Coin | [BC] |
| O20 | The Open Spellbook | [BC] |
| O21 | Elk Horn Boarding House | [D13] |
| O22 | Boarding House x 4 | [FC1] |
| O23 | Granary x 2 | [FC1] |
| O24 | School | [FC1] |
| O25 | The Wassailing Wolf Tavern | [FC1] |
| O26 | Dimensions Doors Inn | [D13] |
| O27 | Dainty Ogre Tavern | [FC1] |
| O28 | “Fishbowl” brothel | [FC1] |
| O29 | Warehouses x 8 | [FC1] |
| O30 | The Splintered Diamond Inn | [FC1] |
| O31 | The Duke’s League Inn | [FC1] |
| O32 | The Prior’s Scroll Inn | [FC1] |
| O33 | The Dancing Medusa Inn | [FC1] |
| O34 | Other Old Quarter Taverns (15) | [FC1] |
| O35 | Widow Beklea’s Boarding House | [FC1] |
| O36 | Felix Siperco’ Boarding House | [FC1] |
| O37 | Alicia & Okga’s Boarding House | [FC1] |
The Nest
| N1 | House of Alya | [GAZ1] |
| N2 | House of Many Smokes | [K:KoA] |
| N3 | The Eagle's Vision tavern | [K:KoA] |
| N4 | The Flying Hammock tavern | [D13] |
| N5 | The Laughing Dog tavern | [D13] |
| N6 | The Quill and Counter Tavern | [FC1] |
| N7 | The “Palace” | [GAZ1] |
| N8 | Lumber Warehouse | [D13] |
| N9 | The Golden Orda tavern | [SS] |
| N10 | Granary x 2 | [FC1] |
| N11 | Crimson Antlers Inn | [FC1] |
| N12 | Jagged Blade Inn | [FC1] |
| N13 | The Blue Ferret Inn | [FC1] |
| N14 | Ruined shrine of Saint Oirtulev | [DMSK] |
| N15 | Cult of Halav shrine | [FC1] |
| N16 | Boarding House x 7 | [FC1] |
| N17 | Warehouse x 6 | [FC1] |
| N18 | Golden Horseshoe Gaming House | [FC1] |
| N19 | The Pavillion of Delights | [FC1] |
| N20 | Madam Gloria’s | [FC1] |
| N21 | Seldani & McGhe’s Magic Shop | [FC1] |
| N22 | Ali Bongo’s Emporium | [FC1] |
| N23 | The Wizard Blackstone | [FC1] |
| N24 | Weiss & Co Locksmiths | [FC1] |
| N25 | Harbin’s Hocus-Pocus | [FC1] |
| N26 | The Drunken Dragon Tavern | [FC1] |
| N27 | The Ban's Pride Tavern | [FC1] |
| N28 | The Lucky Hammer Tavern | [FC1] |
| N29 | The Pegasus’ Wings Tavern | [FC1] |
| N30 | The House of Cards Tavern | [FC1] |
| N31 | Tavern x several | [FC1] |
South End District
| SE1 | Magicians’ Guildhall and Library | [GAZ1] |
| SE2 | Brewers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| SE3 | Dyers’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| SE4 | South End Traladaran Graveyard | [FC1] |
| SE5 | Borsch Traladaran restaurant | [SS] |
| SE6 | Davidov Veterinary Clinic and Herbalist | [SS] |
| SE7 | South End Captaincy | [SS] |
| SE8 | Universal Criers Union Office | [FC1] |
| SE9 | Hawk’s Nest Inn | [FC1] |
| SE10 | The Bountiful Basket Inn | [FC1] |
| SE11 | The Lovers Retreat Inn | [FC1] |
| SE12 | The Golden Crossbow Inn | [FC1] |
| SE13 | The Crooked Farrow Inn | [FC1] |
| SE14 | The Adventurers Rest Inn | [FC1] |
| SE15 | Th Dyers Arms Tavern | [FC1] |
| SE16 | Boarding House x 5 | [FC1] |
| SE17 | Church of St. Bronev the Martyr | [FC1] |
| SE18 | Chapel of St. Chardastes | [FC1] |
| SE19 | Shrine of Asterius | [FC1] |
| SE20 | District Admin Office | [FC1] |
| SE21 | District Revenue Office | [FC1] |
| SE22 | District Court House | [FC1] |
| SE23 | Granary x 4 | [FC1] |
| SE24 | The Shackled Beastman Tavern | [FC1] |
| SE25 | Witches Cauldron Tavern | [FC1] |
| SE26 | The Bottomless Keg Tavern | [FC1] |
| SE27 | The Workers Lament Tavern | [FC1] |
| SE28 | Fruit of the Vine Tavern | [FC1] |
| SE29 | Past Treasures Tavern | [FC1] |
| SE30 | Wanderes Retuen Tavern | [FC1] |
| SE31 | Taverns x 18 | [FC1] |
| SE32 | Stables | [FC1] |
Church District
| C1 | Great Church of Karameikos | [GAZ1] |
| C2 | Residence of the Patriarch of the Great Church of Karameikos | [GAZ1] |
| C3 | New Church of Karameikos Columbarium | [GAZ1] |
| C4 | Stables | [FC1] |
| C5 | Pax Bellanicae Studium (School) | [FC1] |
| C6 | The Black Axe tavern | [FC1] |
| C7 | Granary | [FC1] |
| C8 | Ruined Temple of St Rybich | [FC1] |
| C9 | Silver Trident tavern | [FC1] |
| C10 | Rose & Thorns | [FC1] |
| C11 | Wheel of Flames tavern | [FC1] |
| C12 | District Revenue Office | [FC1] |
| C13 | Immortals' Rest Inn | [FC1] |
| C14 | District Captaincy | [FC1] |
| C15 | The Crossed Swords tavern | [FC1] |
| C16 | District Court house | [FC1] |
| C17 | Column of Flavian Osteroplulos | [FC1] |
| C18 | Well | [FC1] |
| C19 | The Traveller's Moon tavern | [FC1] |
| C20 | Bath house | [FC1] |
| C20 | Aquae Flavianae (Bath House) | [FC1] |
| C21 | Order of the Griffon Hall | [GAZ1] |
| C22 | Shrine of Vanya | [FC1] |
| C23 | Church of Thyatis | [FC1] |
| C24 | Residence of the Patriarch of the Church of Thyatis | [FC1] |
Stronghold District
| S1 | The Beastman's Axe Tavern | [FC1] |
| S2 | The Golden Sceptre Tavern | [FC1] |
| S3 | Stronghold Stables | [FC1] |
| S4 | Stronghold District Court House | [FC1] |
| S5 | The Huntsman Tavern | [FC1] |
| S6 | The Stronghold Inn | [FC1] |
| S7 | Stronghold District Captaincy | [FC1] |
| S8 | Armourers Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| S9 | School | [FC1] |
| S10 | District Revenue Office | [FC1] |
| S11 | Shrine of Zirchev | [FC1] |
| S12 | City Well | [FC1] |
| S13 | Merchants' Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| S14 | Bust of Petros Radu | [FC1] |
| S15 | Radu Manor | [GAZ1] |
| S16 | Radu Warehouses | [GAZ1] |
| S17 | Granaries | [FC1] |
Traders Corridor District
| T1 | Minrothist Shrine | [FC1] |
| T2 | Crimson Noblius’ grocery | [D13] |
| T3 | Boris’ Hunters' Lodge | [SS] |
| T4 | Hunters’ Guildhall | [Guilds] |
| T5 | Minrothaddan Port Agent | [FC1] |
| T6 | The Dragon’s Wind Inn | [FC1] |
| T7 | Highreach Tavern | [FC1] |
| T8 | Long Shadow Tavern | [FC1] |
| T9 | Jolly Buccaneer Tavern | [FC1] |
| T10 | Shrine of Asterius | [FC1] |
| T11 | District Administration Office | [FC1] |
| T12 | Boarding House | [FC1] |
| T13 | Warehouse | [FC1] |
The Foreign Quarter
| F1 | City Jail | [XSOLO] |
| F2 | Foreigners' Graveyard | [FC1] |
| F3 | Jockle Rumbottom’s Pipe Shop | [JA] |
| F4 | Cozy Burrow Inn | [JA] |
| F5 | Jerzy's Pawnshop | [SS] |
| F6 | Foreign Quarter Administration | [FC1] |
| F7 | Foreign Quarter Revenue Office | [FC1] |
| F8 | The Golden Pumpkin Inn | [FC1] |
| F9 | Westron Market | [GAZ1] |
| F10 | Granary | [FC1] |
| F11 | Dagger's Fencing School | [FC1] |
| F12 | Augrist Temple | [FC1] |
| F13 | Church of Darokin | [FC1] |
| F14 | Shrine of the Eternal Truth | [FC1] |
| F15 | House Hallonica | [FC1] |
| F16 | The Breakwater gang | [SS] |
| F17 | The Swords of Kalim gang | [SS] |
| F18 | Myrrh of the Night brothel | [SS] |
| F19 | Kartak’s dwarven gang | [SS] |
| F20 | Tegell House | [SS] |
| F21 | Ylari Campground | [FC1] |
| F22 | Souq | [FC1] |
| F23 | North Gate Inn | [FC1] |
| F24 | Tavern x several | [FC1] |
| F25 | Long Bar tavern | [FC1] |
| F26 | Fire Ship Inn | [FC1] |
| F27 | Boarding House x 6 | [FC1] |
| F28 | Warehouse x several | [FC1] |
1 Originally identified as Belinar in "Specularum" by Brian Carraway (redclaw)
2 Originally identified as Talimyra in "Specularum" by Brian Carraway (redclaw)