The oldest and most crowded quarter of Vedycaer, filling most of the old city inside the Old Walls. It is a warren of craftsmen, laborers, shopkeepers, taverners, and traders — and, beneath that respectable surface, of harlots, thugs, and vagabonds. Nearly all of the city’s commerce and muscle has a foothold here. See Vedycaer Districts for the other seven.
Patrician’s Gate
The resplendent gate that controls Capital Street between the Old District and the Tower and Palace Districts — a legacy of Caernathi rule, with a vine-worked bronze portcullis and cedar doors carved with pastoral scenes, flanked by white limestone gatehouses. Ancient enchantments keep the bronze gleaming and untarnished. It stands open from sunup to sundown; after dark, patricians and Imperial officials pass freely, but anyone else must give the Watch a good reason.
The Imperial Wharf
Reserved for government and military traffic, its four piers reaching into the Darkwater River. Barges, riverboats, and sailing boats berth here, worked by day by gangs of sailors, rowers, and dockhands.
The Emporium
The largest plaza in the city — six hundred feet by four — and the beating heart of its commerce. From sunup to sundown a mosaic of colorful tents, covered wagons, and cart-stands makes it the most crowded ground in Vedycaer, and you never know who will be selling. As a rule, any equipment and any common goods can be bought or sold here; precious merchandise trades next door at the Merchant Guildhouse. Vedycaer is a Class III market — one of the largest a Borderlands venturer will ever work.
The Merchant Guildhouse
At the northern edge of the Emporium, the seat of the city’s Merchant Guild — which licenses traders, administers the Emporium, brokers deals, and runs a bank. The wealthiest merchants gather in its trading hall to move precious goods and to solicit passengers and shipping contracts. Its banking branch stores wealth, lends and borrows, exchanges currency, and offers investment opportunities to approved clients (domain rulers automatically; venturers and hard bargainers find the door opens easier). The guild is run by Guildmaster Kallas Meteron.
The Mercenary Guildhouse
A white limestone hall at the southern edge of the Thieves’ Quarter, raised over what was once a temple to Dolorah, the Sovereign of Sun and Sacrifice; a bronze statue of an elfblooded knight still stands in the training hall. The Mercenary Guild is a consortium of sellswords licensed by the Empire, and functions mostly as a mutual-aid society — dues buy a bunk, a death-and-disability benefit, and access to the contract board. Anyone able-bodied can join. Guildmaster Brenius D’Neith is recruiting hard, convinced business will be good in the years ahead.
Contracts posted on the board
- The Tower of Knowledge seeks bold expeditionaries to explore the Borderlands and beyond; those who return with credible word of threats and invasion routes are richly rewarded. Speak to Regent Oureous Ambador at the Chapterhouse in the Tower District.
- Bands of orcblooded berserkers have been raiding the steppe villages. Speak to Count Ostrik Harrow of Vom.
- The viscount of Brom calls for someone to slay or drive off a three-headed beast that has already killed an Exalted adventurer — with a tax holiday on all treasure recovered from its lair. (See the Caernathi Hills.)
- The celebrated adventuring company the Imperial Vanguard seeks shieldbearers, squires, and retainers of honor and discipline. Leave word with Guildmaster D’Neith.
The City Watch Headquarters
An imposing brick-faced edifice where the Imperial Walls meet the Old Walls, seat of the City Watch and its commander, Tribune Ormethas Drakomir. The officers based here form an elite reserve — the ones sent to break up crowds, put down riots, and run down violent fugitives. Serving under the Tribune is one Captain Gundus, the watch captain most often met around the Old District, and a hard man to shake once he takes an interest in you.
The Thieves’ Quarter
Among the most dilapidated and dangerous corners of Vedycaer: rotting timber tenements, splintered walls, and labyrinthine alleys that scant daylight ever reaches. Street rumor holds it to be the turf of the Caernathi Family, and between their attentions and the Watch’s occasional violent sweeps, it is no place to loiter — strangers get a cold welcome in the alleys.
The Mink
The most storied tavern in the city, tucked among the native merchants’ homes between Dawn Street and the Emporium. Not quite luxurious, but well-appointed enough to impress most adventurers and traveling merchants: fresh beds, strong drink, rich food, lively music, and companionship for hire. It belongs to the merchant Lucius Furlan, who made his fortune in fine Caernathi antiquities — a trade prized by nobles as far away as Making. Rumor, never proven, ties the Mink and its owner to the Caernathi Family.
The Public Latrine
A cavernous concrete facility serving the crowds of the Emporium — four-and-thirty seats over the city’s largest cesspool, with sponge-sticks and running water. As anywhere, people would rather not be bothered mid-business.
Beneath the streets
Sewers run under the whole district, and beneath the sewers, older stone. Rumor whispers of a lost Nethercity somewhere down there — and of things that climb the pipes when they are hungry. Few who go looking come back with more than stories.