Eastrade (Ward) (Merchant's District)
The Merchant's district is adjacent to but separated from the Dockyards. It is heavily patrolled and is probably the safest of the lower wards. The buildings are stone, and typically 3-4 stories in height. A large number of the buildings have actual glass windows and fireplaces. Many have small walled gardens in back.
E1 - Lustria Order of Healing Temple Complex
The Lustria religion has two distinct (but cooperative) Orders. The Order of the Goddess of Love with their bathhouses and lusty Priestess (Temple in Hightown East), and the Order of Healing with their hospitals and nursemaids (this Temple). The Order of the Goddess of Love pays for the good work done by the Order of Healing (with much to spare) while the Order of Healing ensures the good will of the semi-puritanical populace of Pallas Regina worshipers. Any expecting mothers that arrive at the gate will find a food, shelter, and care, until a month after birth. The complex even has housing for Lepers in the Southeast Corner.
High Priestess Tonsla is nearly a hundred and beloved throughout the region. Generally Lustria Hospitals are forced to survive on the funds provided by their sister order but Tonsla has taken in a number of nobles with Lepracy and the families of such have been generous to the Temple. The Priestesses of the Hospital have a very high success rate with pregnancies and even Pallas worshipers have been known to seek their help during birth.
E2 - Pallas Regina Scriptorium
The complex includes a complex townhouses and a newly constructed Church. A fire burned down the old Church seven years ago but a new one was built quickly. The complex has a printing press to print books using carved wood blocks. They print Pallas Regina books as well as the books of other religions edited to distort their message. This has caused a lot of stress between the Church of Pallas Regina and the Old Faith. Nearly a hundred monks work in the scriptorium creating books.
Headmaster Laruan is beautiful and helps the poor as best she can. She is a strict disciplinarian obsessed with stopping Chaos but she doesn't believe all magic is bad. The Church is no longer open to the public as Laruan believes it was a false-worshiper that burned the previous Church to the ground.
E3 - Forum
The Forum is the main throughway to the Dockyards to the North so the large North and South doors are almost always open. Public notices are posted and criers call out news and folks talk and spread gossip here. The Forum is a large building where merchants and craftsmen can set up stalls. Above the stalls are offices and storerooms. On Saturday the forum overflows into the square to the north.
E4 - Merchant Townhouses
Townhouses that house smaller Merchant houses. These have all been purchased over the last few years by the Church of Pallas in preparation for eventual expansion of the scriptorium. Currently they are renting the properties to their original owners.
E5 - House of Mika
The House of Mika is the headquarters of the largest Merchant house in the city. The building has offices, meeting rooms, Chartrooms, a library, rooms for Captains. The actual members of House Mika live in Alder Rock (Ward). They own nearly a hundred ships and control nearly half the seats on the Grand Council through proxies.
E6 - House of Aarn/Chantry of Conjuration
Nice little hidden chantry pretending to be a semi-successful merchant house. They even own a dozen Carracks and have a seat at the Grand Council. It is said that the Chantry is significantly larger on the inside.
Farcraft Ward (Crafter's District)
The Crafter's district is knicknamed dulltown because nothing happens. Crafters live here but don't even sell their goods in Farcraft Ward, prefering to sell them in the Forum or by contract sell them directly to one of the Merchant Houses.
Known for their grey Roofs, most Crafters are Pallas believers. The buildings are 2-3 story buildings with the lower floor being stone, and the upper floors being waddle & daub. Many buildings have small statues of Pallas or Patron Saints in niches built above head level. Most buildings have multiple families living within and more than a few have small gardens with livestock (goats & chickens).
F1 - Smithee/Chantry of Necromancy
The Smithee is Kyle, a human with dwarfism with a bad leg and few prospects whom everyone believes is a Dwarf-Dwarf. Kyle plays along and claims they hobbled him to keep him from fleeing and forced him to make weapons. He doesn't know how to make weapons, but the Chantry supports him and he helps them sell magical weapons from time to time.- Secret Chantry of Necromancy. Few students but a lot of semi-resident scholars. The Chantry has one Scholar who doesn't teach. Three Flesh Golems provide security. They wear armor and helmets and beyond the stench are indistinguishable from very large humans. The Head Teacher has on two occasions worked with the Thieves Guildmaster to make murder victims walk around and die in front of witnesses, thus clearing their killers. The House mother of the Chantry has no magical skill, she does all the laundry, cooking, and errands. She's a mean, bitter, cuss but the house is very protective of her and have been known to let her pick victims for experimentation from those that have annoyed her around town. The Thieves Guild has a deal to turn over the occasional victim for the school to experiment upon.
F2 - The Freezer
Their was an active limestone quarry beneath Gull Rock until the South face of the rock sheared and collapsed a few decades ago. The Grand Council closed the mines. The Crafters Guild purchased the unused mines and taking advantage of the naturally low temperature below ground they fitted them out for cold storage (ice blocks placed there during the winter can survive unmelted until the following winter). The Freezer also acts as a popular public house during the hottest weeks of Summer when the Gold Scales brings Casks of wine over for consumption (and to hide their own mining tunnel connections).
F3 - The Gold Scales Tavern (Guild of Thieves)
A Tavern with a large selection of fine wines that caters to crafters. The 'scales' often has live music and satirical songs are a local favorite no matter who is the target.
- The tavern acts as a base for the Ward's Thieves Guild. The Guild concentrates on protection money and keeping other gangs out of the area. The Gold scales is built over the entrance to an old Limestone mine, the mines are often used as a way to train members. Tunnels that were once used to smuggle things past the guards connect to the Broken Glaive Tavern in Jembgate Ward but now that Jembgate Ward is within the larger town the tunnel is rarely used. Farcraft Ward is considered neutral territory between the various thieves gangs in the city. Guild acts as a safehouse for Thieves from other areas (for a price) and has a deal with the Chantry of Necromancy to provide live victims for experimentation in exchange for the occasional favor.
F4 - Pallas House
Pallas House is a manor belonging to the Church of Pallas. It is used to store woodblocks and paints used by the scriptorium.
F5 - Crafter's Guildhouse
The Guildhouse is a bit run-down and serves as faction headquarters. Geoffrey the Craft Guildmaster is also the alderman for the ward. The Craft Guild is concerned primarily with regulating prices and keeping them high rather than quality which is left up to the individual crafter. The Guild primarily fights to keep the Merchants from hiring un-guild Crafters in the shipyards. The Crafters have united to buy a seat on the Grand Council.
F6 - Parish Church of Pallas (St Dagiel Patron of Hardwork)
The Parish church that serves the crafters is humble on the exterior but inside it has some of the finest woodwork and art in the city (time donated by crafters). The Clerics have a good relationship with the Crafters of the Ward.
F7 - Insula of Jack Sand
Jack Sand is a type of quicksand or partially buried sinkhole that the owner claims to have nearly fallen victim too while in Ophiri. The bottom story is dominated by the cities leatherworkers who are known for their quality leather.
- Leatherworker - Stephen spends most of his time making or repairing saddles, saddlebags, straps and similar items. He has a dozen journeymen and they are all constantly busy. He has been slow to promote his Journeyman and Apprentices and that has caused one, Peter, to leave and set up a non-guild leatherworker shop. Stephan has also accumulated a nice pile of money he's not had the time to spend.
- Leatherworker - Peter the leatherworker was made a Master Leatherworker. He has one apprentice and spends most of his time tanning and preparing leather to sell to the cobbler.
- Tanner - Paul the leatherworker was a Journeyman for Master Stephen but left when it seemed he would never be made a Master himself. He has operated a low-key leather tanning business since, providing inexpensive repairs and patches to leather goods and barely making a living. Master Stephen is aware of his activity but hasn't done anything against him as nobody likes Tanning.
- Cobbler - Brian the cobbler makes and repairs shoes and boots. Mostly repairs. As the only cobbler in town and without any apprentices he is super busy. So busy he has allied himself with the General Store so he doesn't have to work the sales side of the business.
Greatcraft Ward (Crafters East)
Crafter make the products that Hembek sells. There are a lot of crafters. Greatcraft Ward is even duller than Farcraft Ward and most people simply pass through the place.
Most Crafters are Pallas believers. The buildings are 2-3 story buildings with the lower floor being stone, and the upper floors being waddle & daub. Many buildings have small statues of Pallas or Patron Saints in niches built above head level. Most of these buildings have kitchen gardens dividing up the center of the block complete with chickens, goats and the occasional pig.
G1 - Marsh Gate
Once the southwestern entrance to the city, the Marsh is long gone. Marsh gate acts as one of a dozen barracks for the city guard. The tower has a gatehouse as well as well as bottle-neck dungeon to house troublemakers.
G2 - Parish Church of Pallas (St Ballaton Patron of Fate)
The Parish Church is the same as Parish Churches of Pallas throughout the region. It is constructed in brick covered over in plaster. It is shaped like a T, with a large statue of Pallas sitting cross-legged with a brazier in her lap. The brazier always contains burning charcoals or (during ceremonies) a fire. The Church is famous for the ale brewed by the Clerics. The Church brews enough ale for all of the Pallas Churches in the city with some left over.
G3 - General Store
This creatively named store sells nearly everything. The owner has deals with a number of suppliers (pottery, baskets, candles, leather goods, pots, pans and clothing). If he doesn't have it he can probably get it. He doesn't deal in arms or armor or food though. He has a tailor on staff. The owner Edmund de Trenby has three sons who act as clerks or take product to the Forum for sale. They also have two guards on staff. They all live above the shop so it is never truly empty.
G4 - Titan Square
The square is where crafts booth sold product long ago, now most is pre-sold to Merchant Houses destined to be shipped far away. The square is famous for the Mighty Titan Fountain which shows a giant Titan and his troubadours from the famous ballads. Because of this the fountain is used as the starting point during the Titan's festival.
G5 - Master James House
Master James is a Master Builder. He supervised the construction of the town walls, the Kanaris and Lustria temples in Hightown East, and most recently the reconstruction of the Temple of Pallas in Wesinna. He has an army of journeyman and apprentices that do the bulk of the work while he plans and supervises and spends time with the wealthy hoping to drum up more business. Master James father is friends of the Grand Duke and he has used his authority to put the non-Guild builders out of business in town. He allows Master Robert to stay because Master Robert provides bricks and ideas for future projects to the Grand Duke, and handles a few unimportant jobs. Master James is an arrogant prick who has used his association with the Kanaris Templars to have more than one person killed.
G6 - Lonely Baker
The only bakery in the city since their competition burned down in a fire a few years ago. The bakery has a mill outside the city run by the bakers brother who didn't have the temperament to apprentice with the bakers guild but had a good head for business. The baker and his son bake bread all day and all night. They sell their bread to the inns and temples and have little left over for regular sales.
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