Eastfair Map

Eastfair, The Granite City

Eastfair is a walled city built from the same granite that can be found around the headwaters of the Flanmi near the huge underground aquifers and water tables. The city lies almost at the end of the Windmarch as it turns north from Orred, and the traditional Brewfest Great Fair is a week-long orgy of self-indulgence and debauchery. From Eastfair northward, a number of minor villages hold Windfair trade fairs later in the year, but these have now declined in importance as trade has dwindled.

Eastfair is not what it appears to be. The city seems hard, stark, stern in its cloak of granite walls. The city has an air of discipline (rulership level is high), and the town guard and detachments of the Rakersmen (elite troops of North Province) maintain excellent public order. While it has a reputation for urbanity, ordinary folk in the city work hard. The streets are clean, and there are no dingy Thieves' Quarters or filthy slums to offend the eye.

However, Eastfair has always attracted the most debauched and degenerate nobility and merchants of North Province. The merchants have only city-based guilds in North Province (the Royal Guild of Merchants having no license to operate or organize here), and Eastfair is the city which draws the wealthiest. Goods always have been expensive here (add 10% to all prices, additional to the provincial Cost Multiplier). Thus, Eastfair attracts wealth. These riches are either inherited, or else obtained by the best merchants—that is, the most unscrupulous, swindling, money-grabbing ones. Given this, it is not surprising that Eastfair's rich like to spend their money on depraved and immoral activities.

Nonetheless, Eastfair has a considerable number of truly exceptional craftsmen and artisans within its city walls. Their number has been swollen by people seeking refuge in the Granite City from more troubled lands and cities. Now, truly, Eastfair is a city where one can buy almost anything—if one has almost limitless supplies of gold.

Threats to Security

Despite the general atmosphere of firm control, Eastfair has its problems. One which it does not have is thieves—or, at least, not in any great number. The penal ties for thievery are very stern. Theft of goods above 500 gp value means execution here, and even for a theft above 25 gp, the minimum sentence is two years imprisonment. Thus, despite the presence of abundant rich pickings, thieves are few and far between. Only a handful of very skilled solitary operators are to be found here, not any formal thieves' guild.

One major problem arises from the presence of the Euroz "Angry Army," as they style themselves. The orcs are often drunk, chafing at their having to live behind city walls, and their own leaders cannot maintain discipline that well. The location key below details the orcs here.

The other major problem is far more unusual. The Web has two cells of spies acting independently here. One cell, of five people led by a male 9th-level mage, Cronkarn Elsoet, received as its last set of orders from Rauxes an urgent need to infiltrate and round up an anti-imperial group which specialized in "magical subversion" (control ling important townsfolk by charm, hypnotism, etc.). Magical control was said to be used to sabotage Eastfair's city defenses, such as the Great Gate and the city walls. The infiltration strategy used by this cell called for magical sabotage against precisely those city defenses, in an attempt to flush out the real subversives.

The second cell, led by a 9th-level female mage, Petrella Huisarn, received garbled instructions to flush out an anti-imperial group which was directly employing sabotage against Eastfair's city defenses. Their strategy has been to charm and hypnotize (etc.) city servants connected with the integrity of the city's defenses, in an attempt to gain inside knowledge of these subversive actions and track down those responsible.

The actual truth is that there are no anti-imperial subversives trying to sabotage Eastfair, but the two cells are committing magical crimes which convince the other cell that there are, indeed, dangerous subversives at work. To date, neither cell has managed to track down members of the other cell, so they continue their own sabotages. In addition, they occasionally use kidnap and extortion, or robbery, to maintain finances (since no monies have been forthcoming from Rauxes for a long time).

The authorities in Eastfair are mystified. What magical scrying they can bring to bear on the matter has yielded no information (since cell members are protected against magical discovery).

Location Key

Eastfair is divided into Old City and New City. The Old City was built circa 80 CY, and the city greatly expanded in size during the third century when New City began to grow outside the original walls. Old City is now mostly the province of the poorer people, save for the complex of buildings known as "The Cyst," while New City contains the homes and workplaces of the well-off.

For PCs approaching Eastfair, their first sight of the city should give them an impression of grandeur. Huge granite walls confer an air of invulnerability, and the stone spires and slate roofs of the buildings inside crowd together like a phalanx of powerful defenders. Great Gate, bearing its mighty shields of Hextor and North Province, is a forbidding entrance to this majestic city.

Eastfair

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10. The Pikeman

Frequented by senior military men, and a few mages around the city, this hostelry is the place to visit if one seeks employment by rulers and nobles within or close to Eastfair. The resident halfling chef is famed for his goat's chitterlings (intestines) in garlic and herb aspic. The Pikeman has two suites of rooms which are enchanted to be 70% resistant to all divination magics, and as such are regularly occupied by out-of-town nobility and their representatives when confidential negotiations are at a premium.

11. The Noble Herzog

This hostelry is frequented by the truly powerful in Eastfair; on occasion by the Herzog himself, but more often by his priest-lieutenants, members of Marshal Sasquand's retinue, or by powerful regional nobles or Eastfair such as Verminek or Finelkla the Illusionist. Non-members are admitted only on payment of 30 gp, and all weapons must be left in the care of the huge, charmed ogre bodyguards and warriors. Membership is by invitation only. Non-members are normally only admit ted if accompanied by a member, or on Blachten nights of mortal combat in the Deep Pit of the hostelry, when gladiators entertain jaded sadist voyeurs with mortal combats, against each other or—for high fees—against monsters dragged down from the Blemu Hills or even the Rakers. Fees for these fight nights may be very high, but they may have to be paid if one wants to rub shoulders with the truly eminent and powerful. Of late, orcs from the city garrison have become increasingly available for such contests, and the Noble Herzog's proprietress, Shaobhell Ishandrenn, has become a wealthy woman as a result.

On rare and special occasions, priests of Hextor offici ate at special-event nights with murderous rituals which do not bear explicit description here. Suffice it to say that innocents of tender age vanish from Eastfair's streets shortly before these events, and those who attend the events need no appetite for rich banquets for a day or two afterwards.

12. Morrkend's

This shop has a dilapidated exterior, and appears to be a humble herbalist's store. The proprietor doesn't adver tise the fact, but he is a superb enchanter. Morrkend supplies Grenell with one magical weapon each year, usually of +3 enchantment, as a tithe. The rest of the year, he works for whoever pays him best—not with gold, but with rarities such as giant sinews, dragon blood and teeth, doppleganger ichor, and the like. Morrkend knows how to enchant virtually any non-unique item, and it is even said that he crafted the singing defender sword of Elkerst of Atirr.

Morrkend trades a little in magical items, and PCs may be able to exchange these here if the DM allows this in his campaign. The enchanter also has a number of maps of the southern Rakers and Blemu Hills, even a few sites in the Corusks, where magical monsters can be found; he seeks their blood, claws, etc., as materials for his work. Morrkend is a good patron NPC the DM can use to send PCs on perilous adventures outside Aerdy.

13. Verminek's Residence

Verminek is something of a maverick among the priest hood of Hextor. He keeps to his own gloomy home, packed with undead servants he douses in sickly-sweet perfume, all the better to disguise the scent of rotting flesh. With his amulet of the planes, Verminek is an inveter ate traveler to the Nine Hells, and he definitely has friends in low places. Since he was able to raise a retinue of barbazu to strengthen Grenell's army during the wars, he is allowed to get on with his work, though Grenell is not exactly happy with his independence.

Verminek is something of a sage, with proficiencies in the military history of northern Aerdy and also in the sociology of the Nine Hells. In a great leather-bound book hidden with dust of disappearance and well-guarded, Verminek even has the true names of several baatezu recorded and some details of baatezu-crafted magical artifacts. This information would be of great value to other sages, and also to anyone wishing to find and collect or destroy the listed artifacts.

City Areas

14. The Haunts

Part of a residential area is occupied by mages, scholars, and priests for the most part. No few houses here are available for rent at low prices. The reason is simple—ghosts and spectres have been seen flitting around at night. And while they have not yet attacked anyone, few living souls wish to live here. The undead have proved difficult to turn or command (treat a priest as 6 levels lower than usual for such attempts). The superstitious say that the ghosts are those of ancient Ur-Flannae mystics seeking a long-lost artifact, but no one is certain. The Phantom's Lament, a tavern built by the dividing city wall just west of Newgate, offers such beverages as "wraithbeer" and "wight stuff" to its custom ers, who largely include mercenaries and middling officers of the town guard.

15-17. Wealthy Residences

These areas are mostly occupied by: #15, priests, mages, sages, and senior military men; #16, artisans and crafts men with their apprentices; #17, minor nobility, impor tant civil functionaries, lawyers, scribes, and senior guildsmasters and guildsmen.

18-19. Merchant Quarter

Area #18 contains the better markets of Eastfair and the homes of many ordinary merchants. Area #19 is home to an enclave of merchants who specialize in exotic goods: silks, spices, peppers, rare herbs, alchemical goods, tropi cal hardwood furnishings, Bakluni carpets, and all manner of unusual items. Their shops are poorly stocked, and they often gather at The Spice of Life, a noisy tavern run by a Bisselite-Ketite exile.

20. The Streets of Delight

This notorious district offers every self-indulgence one might care to contemplate. The town guard patrols here frequently so there is little in the way of street crimes such as robbery and mugging, but most nobles bring a bodyguard or two with them when visiting. Gambling houses, drinking dens, bordellos, gladiatorial emporiums, and much worse are packed together tightly here, the streets alive with the sounds of shouting and laughter and the scents of perfume, heady drink, and dubious substances. A current craze among nobles is employing various snake venoms as a drug; a sub-lethal dose induces hallucinations, palpitations, and near-paralysis, and of course this absurdly dangerous habit has claimed no few lives of late.

There are tales of vampire-seductresses in secret estab lishments, and the names of many places are a warning in themselves—the Grellpit, the Dismembered Dryad, and Flayed Parade being some of the least objectionable. However, such places may be the most likely bet for encountering or overhearing nobles, priests, and other important folk revealing indiscretions and important information.

21-22. Old City

The houses here are those of laborers, serfs (including church serfs), and unskilled workers. Area #22 is as close as Eastfair comes to having slums; the houses here are dilapidated, and people live in very overcrowded homes, with a fair amount of violence and drunkenness. However, this is the best place for anyone wishing to lie low in Eastfair. Racketeer landlords will rent a bare room for a copper or two a day per person, and the town guard patrols the streets rarely unless there has been a recent bout of worse-than-usual street fighting.

23. Orc Quarter

Part of the reason for the overcrowding in the rest of Old City is this district, which is in the process of being walled off from the rest of the town. The 3,000 troops of the Euroz Angry Army have had barracks hastily constructed here. At the present, the town guard tries only to patrol the outskirts of this zone, but the orcs have taken to kidnapping ordinary people in Old City and taking them back to their barracks for supper (as it were) or just to torture and kill them out of boredom. The orcs also act as jailers in the city prison directly opposite Spider's Gate, which allows them some opportunity for indulging their sadism and brutishness.

The orc warlord, Snaggrip Grekk, swaggers about Eastfair as if he owned the place, and there are many humans in Eastfair who would like to have the general population rise up and slaughter him and his men—no matter how many casualties might be suffered. The situa tion is very tense, and Grenell knows that while the orc leaders want to be in Eastfair to have a very definite presence in Grenell's capital city, their soldiers grow rebellious and irritable, needing the fresh stimulus of battle. Grenell's problem is deciding where to send them, and constructing a good cover story for it.

1. Great Gate

Great Gate is powerfully defended, with ballista platforms flanking the 30' high granite walls and a pair of huge (22' high) stone statues of Aerdi warriors standing one each side of them. These statues can be animated as massive stone golems (200 hp each) by a priest of Hextor of 9th or higher level to fight in defense of the city. They also can be commanded to meld into stone into the city walls, and if this is done all defenders on the battlements gain a -1 bonus to AC for as long as one or both of the statues remain so melded.

An entry toll is charged of 1 sp a person (1 gp a merchant or freesword, with extra charges of 1 sp to 1 gp for each horse, wagon, etc.). The main gates are opened for wagons and horse, with men on foot using smaller side-doors at the base of the ballista towers. Within Great Gate, the broad boulevard known as The Full Path stretches into the heart of the city and on to Newgate and Spider's Gate. Just beyond Great Gate, the extraordinary sight simply named "Waterfall" greets the visitor; 20' high, 10' long standing waves of water lie either side of The Full Path, a permanent magical reminder that Eastfair lies just north of the headwaters of the Flanmi.

2. Fisherman's Gate

The north gate of the city is much smaller than Great Gate, and receives only visitors on foot or on horse in small numbers. Originally, this was the gate used by humbler tradesmen, hence its name, but in a reversal of history this gate now opens into the richer areas of the city and merchants are sent to Great Gate if they seek entry.

Though this gate has not the powerful defenses of Great Gate, the gatehouse here contains a minor magical artifact which, if the right command word is activated, can shield the gate in a wall of stone which is 90% resistant to any attempts to dispel it, save by use of the same artifact used to create it.

3. The Cyst

The Cyst comprises three sets of buildings located behind iron railings protected by priests of Hextor and squads of Rakersmen. None can enter without an invita tion or the summons or granted pass of the Herzog himself.

The central building here, the Herzog's Palace, houses Grace Grenell and the hierarchy of the priesthood of Hextor, together with the most senior city officials (Chancellor, city architect, Commander-General of the Watch, etc.). To the right of the Palace are the barracks of the Rakersmen, with some 600 troops and a dozen of their most senior commanding officers.

The great Cathedral of Hextor completes the set of constructions. This imposing church contains statues of great Aerdy warriors, superb stained-glass windows showing battle scenes, commemorative friezes and murals depicting victories of Oeridians over humanoids, Flan, and others. Access is restricted to the Herzog, his senior assistants, and those powerful folk within Eastfair known to be active worshipers of Hextor. Undead guardi ans throng the temple, and leaders of the orcs in the city are admitted—but only rarely, and at such times the murals depicting their kin being slain are carefully covered up with wall hangings. Sacrificial rituals are practiced here but rarely, and then only in the basements which are whispered to hold a handful of prisoners whom Grace Grenell values too highly to leave rotting in the city jail.

4. Newgate

This city gate restricts access to New City. Save for priests and senior military men, few of the people of Old City are allowed to enter here, though passage in the reverse direction is free-flowing. Dwellers in New City are given passes to show their place of residence and are allowed to return there freely after visiting Old City.

5. Spider's Gate

This is so named because the buildings immediately beyond it, in New City, have traditionally belonged to merchants dealing in specialty goods—principally silks from the far south, spun by pupae and silk spiders. Now, passage is restricted to Old City folk unless they work for merchants in the area immediately beyond, in which case they bear badges showing their trade and passes allowing them entrance.

6. The Glorious Griffin

This tavern is know to be frequented by the handful of thieves in Eastfair. The most notable of their number is Sheleern Valander. The thieves always drink and sup in the private rooms of the tavern's cellars, which are also favored by New City men and women making adulter ous liasons. The Glorious Griffin appears down-at-heel, and its first floor bars and serveries providing humble fare fit this appearance. However, patrons who know the proprietress, Kristern Delglanden, well know to flip her a couple of gold for admittance to such secret trysts. Her huge half-orc bodyguards, Gordreth and Enkrist, protect the entrance to the basements, and also operate carefully concealed levers to open secret doors releasing the subter ranean intriguers into the streets of Old City should the need arise.

7. Gloria's

Owned by a feisty, sociable, funny woman from Atirr, Gloria's is a hostelry which is a haunt of mercenaries seeking employment throughout North Province. Gloria is on good terms with many of the nobles of North Province, and she is often visited by them if they have to come to Eastfair for any reason. Certainly, their Captains- General or equivalent troop leaders come here fairly often looking for freeswords or mages available for hire. Gloria's home-brewed blastenbeer is famed throughout the city. Herbal preparations made from flora of the Adri Forest produce and prepared in a recipe only she knows make this a murderously potent brew. Eastfair's handful of dwarves (mostly exiles from the Blemu Hills) frequent this establishment and favor this brew greatly. Among their number are hill and mountain dwarves who know the Blemu Hills and the southern Rakers like the backs of their work-calloused hands. Anyone seeking a guide to those dangerous terrains should make this hostelry a first port of call.

8. The Square of Sun by Moon

This paved town square sees its fair share of drunken brawls in the early hours when the taverns have emptied, but on the fourth day of Richfest—when Luna and Celene the Handmaiden are both full in the sky—the people of Eastfair come out at night with blazing torches in an ages old ritual in which a full-scale model of a barbarian sailing ship is burned here, with a full crew of effigy seamen. Much ale is drunk, and pork and goat's-meat sausages dripping with fat are bought from street vendors and wolfed down. The ritual is one celebrating death and rebirth, an invocation to the powers that be to allow safe passage to the souls of those who die in the coming year, and to bestow their blessings on those babes born during the same time.

Those setting light to the ship wear furs and regalia typical of barbarians, emphasizing the kinship of many people with the Flan people of the north lands.

9. The Whirling Dervish

Nested in the Streets of Delight, the Whirling Dervish is a hostelry offering entertainments marginally less depraved, and more varied, than most establishments around it. The proprietor, Clinorus Kradner, dresses in Bakluni robes and a turban, even though he's never been west of Edge Field in his life. But he plays the part well, and has a range of "mystical conjuring tricks of the exotic west" aided by the small-time magic his talent as a 3rd-level mage gives him (hypnotism, phantasmal force, etc.). His dancing girls are the best trained in Eastfair, and his other attractions include "Kumbli, the strongest man living outside Ekbir" (a shaven-headed tanned Pontyler exile with 18/95 Strength), boas from Hepmonaland trained to curl lazily out of their wicker baskets when Clinorus plays his out-of-tune conch-pipe, vividly colored liqueurs of brain-numbing potency, dice-game tables, and far more besides.

Climorus is, in fact, a priest of Olidammara, with a strong tendency to good alignment. He is always inter ested in new visitors among his clientele, and if he spots good-aligned people he will often go out of his way to give them some tips on who, what, and where to avoid within Eastfair. He overhears indiscretions mumbled by drunken nobles and others at his gaming tables, and might pass on something of what he has heard—for the right price—if he trusts the individual he is dealing with. This is a good location to steer PCs to, if the DM wishes to tip them off about something they may not know, or if they are missing some important piece of information.