The Lands of Warlderia

The City of Brennenstadt in Detail

Barbarian Alienage

The alienage for the northern barbarians is packed with thatched houses and two main wooden houses which are home to the leader of the alienage (hetman) and the only permanent merchant from the north. The different clans tend to live together but they do mix in the taverns and in the port, there are frequent fights but the leaders for each group tend to break them up before they get too serious and the city guards are alerted. The present leader of the alienage is Rotan Bloodhammer, he was originally from the Umhverfis Folk but left them about 10 years ago, some say he was exiled. Rotan keeps the peace with his men who are drawn from all of the clans and is known to be scrupulously fair in his dealings with all of the clans. There are some elements from all the clans in the city who think that their people are getting too close to each other and the people of Brennenstadt, but they seem to be in the minority. The buildings of note in this area are the Flowing Jug (1A), the Saucy Wench (1C), Rotans Hall (5F) and the Grove of Shrines (2G).

Orc Alienage

This is one of the more unusual settlements in the area; Orcs live in peace with their close neighbours and trade freely with the city. The peace does not include their alienage however, where fights break out daily and uninvited guests must beware of getting involved in any disagreement if they hope to leave again. Rubbish fills the streets and the bodies of the losers of any fights are found the next morning thrown into the piles of rubbish. There is however some order to the alienage and they normally avoid killing outsiders, so that the city guard leave them alone. An Orc called Dakursh leads a group of Orcs and Half-Orcs, which to an extent keep any trouble spilling into the port or city proper, with brutal efficiency. The buildings of note in this area are the Splinted Fang(1D), the Closed Fist (1G), Dakushes House (5D) and two orc taverns (1E & 1F).

Dragon Square

At the centre of the city is a large square overlooked on all four sides by the abandoned towers of the dragons. The stone of the square and that surrounding it is of the finest quality and the towers themselves are decorated with exceptional worked stone. A large market is held once a month in the square with goods from all over Warlderia being bought and sold. Three of four towers still spout flame from the tops but no smoke ever seems to rise from the fires, numerous thieves and adventurers have been found at the foot of one tower or the other in the morning dead and burnt horribly. The one tower that is not on fire is guarded by ten to fifteen barbarians so that it is not disturbed by outsiders or thieves. The locals will tell travellers that the tower was looted centuries ago and nothing of value remains, the guards are allowed out of respect more than anything else.

Blue Quarter

The north east quarter of Brennenstadt is usually called the Blue Quarter of the city as it was originally the part of the city ruled by Fougreve the blue dragon. As with all of the other parts of the city it has altered a lot in the last 300 years but the architecture is still largely basic with lower buildings than in the other quarters. During the last days of the dragons a large part of the quarter was burned down by Fougreve in an attempt to keep the humans under control. The new buildings that sprang up in the place of the old are less blocky but still not the most beautiful in the city the one exception is the Temple of Myrhiss (2E), an elegant building made from white marble with Doric columns supporting the overhanging roof. The other buildings of note are The Goose Inn (1H), the Temple of Kithar(2F), the city barracks (3B) and the compound of Dragmon (5B).

Red Quarter

To the south west of the city is the Red Quarter, this area was ruled by Viffleur until the dragon left the city but has since been largely rebuilt, the erection of the Citadel (3A) levelled a large part of the area and more was rebuilt when the mages guild moved in. There are still some areas with the original buildings which are generally well made and functional with a few exceptions, but very little of the old area still remains. The quarter is now considered to be a middle class area but some of the old inhabitants still remain and added to that the influx of students the atmosphere is quite cosmopolitan. Building of note in the area are the Temples of Fuflans (2B) and Maris (2C), the Mages Guild (4A), the Seductive Virgin (1L) and the Drunken Scribe (1K).

Silver Quarter

The Silver Quarter of the city is where most of the richer inhabitants live, with wealth surrounding the Governors Palace and the Merchants Guild. Well over half of the buildings in this quarter are remnants of the rule of Dragons, these are some of the finest in the city because Argenis was more of e friend than a ruler to his humans. The dragon also liked to be surrounded by beauty, and spent hours a week teaching his people architecture and aesthetics. The main buildings in this quarter are the Governors Palace (3C), the Temple of Turms (2D), the Merchants Guild (5A) and the Foolish Merchant tavern (1J). The twice weekly city market is also based here where traveling merchants can sell their goods to the population in general.

Bronze Quarter

This quarter of the city is made up of a mix of old buildings and new, with the quality of building going down as you get further from the centre of the city. There are some very impressive buildings in the area but to the North West are the cities slums. The area around the Cup tavern (1M) is a mess of small buildings most of which have seen better days, and is unsafe for most people after dark. The buildings of note in the area are the Arena (D), the Temple of Laran (2A), the Courts of Justice (3E), the Victory Tavern (1P) and the Orcs Head (1N).

Buildings of Note

3A- Citadel: The Citadel is the home of the city guards and is an imposing fortification with a moat cut between the walls of the city. The city’s cavalry are based here along with the all of the regimental commanders of the units in the guard. The building is fairly new having been built in the last 50 years and constructed from smaller stones than the walls and obviously from a different source. The bridge over the moat is made from wood and guarded at both ends day and night, the Commander of the watch lives here in the central hall.

3B- Barracks: The barracks are set in the north east corner of the city and house most of the guards when they are not on duty. There are beds for about 800 men with mess facilities and a small tavern in the grounds; at the centre of the complex is a drill square which is busy all day and into the night. The city guards actually number close to 1,600 men including the cavalry housed in the citadel but elements are always posted to Slauberg and Viffleurs End along with those on patrols and on leave.

3C- Governor's Palace: The Governors Palace is a beautiful marble building set in its own grounds in the south eastern corner of the city. The palace has rooms for banquets, meetings and the cities civil service as well as rooms for the family of the governor. There is always a detachment of guards on duty making sure of the safety and tranquillity of the palace.

3D- Arena: No one remembers the original use of the arena but there are 4 platforms on the sides of the arena obviously for the dragons, now used for the councillor’s families. The arena holds horse races, chariot races and gladiator combats two or three times a week, making the area around the arena lively in the evenings. The horse races are the most popular amongst the citizens with five teams competing against each other for the prizes. The racing factions associated with these teams are fanatical in their support of their team and fights sometime break out between factions. The gladiatorial combats are usually to first blood but sometimes condemned criminals are allowed to compete for the chance of a reprieve.

3E- Courts of Justice: The Courts of Justice is an imposing building make from a dark grey stone with pillars supporting a dome over the centre of the building. It is here that the cities judges hear cases and sentence the guilty to labour, exile or death as there is no prison in the city. Any minor criminals or those awaiting trial are held in the dungeon of the citadel until they are either freed or sentenced.

4A- Mages Guild: The Guild of Mages maintains a library and school in this building as well as having rooms set aside for study. Any mages visiting the city can stay here for up to a week until they can find suitable accommodation in one of the cities taverns or boarding houses. The Guild is not very large but has some rare texts, especially those left by the dragons, in the library, which attracts mages from most of the successor states and further afield. The guild house itself is constructed around a central tower with two lower wings running north and south. The ground floor of the tower houses the guilds school with the next floor acting as the library; the top floors of the tower are where the senior mages of the city reside along with any close family.

5C- Harbour Masters Office: This building is home to the harbour master and the port guards who collect duties and handle any trouble in the port area. The guards are separate from the main body of the guards but have the duty of watching the port for raiders as well as stopping smuggling into the city and making sure that any merchant ship registers with the harbour master.

5D- Dakush’s Home: This ramshackle building was originally the home to a fisherman’s family but when the orcs started to move in the family moved away. The building has seen better days but is solid and defensible, giving Dakush and his guards somewhere to operate from.

5E- Selkurash’s Warehouse: Selkurash has his home and warehouse here, it is a rich looking building with direct access to the wharves. Selkurash does most of his business in the port, importing and exporting goods especially higher value items.

5F- Hall of Rotan: At the eastern end of the barbarian alienage is a large wooden hall built in the fashion of the Volscii, a mead hall with attached family space. The building is relatively new but its size shows the power and respect that Rotan has gained in the last few years. During the day it is bustling with family and friends and at night there always seems to be a celebration or some visitors to entertain. It is to Rotan that most of the Volscii look and where most Volscii visit first in the city, especially those who want to sell goods in the city.

6A- Blechanz’s Tower: All four of the towers are 6 stories high made from finely worked sandstone with coloured tiles set around the entrance, each of the colour of the dragon which used to inhabit the tower. There is only one door into each of the towers but each has a large open top to the tower with a dragon sized ramp leading down into the tower. The insides of the towers are a bit of a mystery but if you listen to the rumours round the city they say that the ground floor is one large hall with seats around a central dais. There is a ramp leading to this dais from the upper floors, where the dragons used to live, this ramp is thought to lead all the way to the top of the tower. The flames in these towers seem to reach down to the first floor but the ground floor is so hot that prolonged exposure to the heat has been known to burn people who are stupid enough to enter the towers. It is obvious that the flames are magical because no real fire could have lasted anywhere this long over 300 years.

6B- Viffleur’s Tower: This tower is the same as the others but is not aflame, it is however guarded by a squad of barbarians from the Volscii so that no thieves enter the tower without permission.

6C- Fougreve’s Tower

6D- Argenises Tower