Bridgetown

Bridgetown is the regional capital of the Duchy of Sealance, formally independent, now part of the Enverdoon Kingdom. One of the biggest human cities of the continent, Bridgetown is located in an extremely strategic position that makes it a crossroad between the eastern and western sides of the continent, as well as the entrance gate of many exotic product entering the Western Continent via ship.

Bridgetown is a large town lying on the eastern side of the Midriver, close to where it enters the sea. Given the lack of stone deposits in the region, the city is almost entirely built with wood, mainly oak and maple, occasionally walnut, maritime pine and cedar (last two are softwoods and requiare mainenance). The deforestation of the nearby area quickly led to impoverishment of the fertility of nearby fields. Approaching the city, first to appear are the wooden city walls, 8 meters tall fortification of rough wood and earth that protect the town from north, south and east, and connect to the river to the west. Two pressed gravel roads, one north to south and one west to east, cross the city and meet in the center, relatively close to the river, in what is known as the racing square, which is both a large trapezoidal square of smooth grey stones and the surrounding district with the same name. Houses in Bridgetown are usually one or two story tall, made of rough wood in the poorer areas, higher quality wood, often of different types and color, in wealthier areas, and of high quality wooden materials in the most opulent areas, often with colonnades of spiraling columns and many painted wooden elements. Roofs have wooden frames, and are covered with materials such as hay, additional wooden panels, or terracotta or painted shingles, depending on the wealth of the owning families. Houses of the middle and upper classes often have flower-filled balconies giving away from the closest main road and towards other nearby houses, creating small rectangular courtyards where inhabitants meet neighbors and socialize. Stone is reserved for governmental and religious buildings, such as the Duke’s palace, the guards’ house and the Temple to Soverialis. The sheer amount of wood makes many areas of Bridgetown smell of sawdust and bark, while districts of the rich are often invaded by the resins smells of oils applied as maintenance elements to the buildings. The southern half of the town changes drastically, with the salty smell of the sea slowly overcoming that of wood. The dock district starts within the city walls, similar to the poorer areas of the northern half of the city, but continues outside the walls up until the water. The eastern portion of the coastal district consists of ramshackled wooden huts of fishermen and their family, with curved muddy paths and the strong smell of the fishing industry. The western side of the docks, enclosed on the north by the city walls and on the west by the river, has large brick-and-wood warehouses where traders deposit their merchandize, long piers where trading vessels anchor, and patrolling guards, both members of the city watch and mercenaries hired by the merchants. Here, the pungent smell of the ocean mixes with the perfumes of exotic spices and other trading goods.

Demographics

The majority of Bridgetown's population is made of western humans, descendants of the warrior horde that descended on the region during the human migration of 121 btT. The largest minority are by far halflings, which either come from the nearby region of Evenfarm or were part of local tribes at the time of the settling of Sealance. Other races that can sometimes be seen in Bridgetwon's streets are half-orcs, who often group together in communities, dwarves, who almost always become prominent artisans in their chosen craft, and eastern humans, sometimes travelers and sometimes residents. Genasi and Firbolgs can also be seen frequently enough for them not to be the center of attention, but are significantly less frequent than the aforementioned races (Genasi hail from the City of Elements, Firbolgs from their peaceful villages in the more forested areas of Evenfarm ). Members of the gnome, tiefling, kenku and half-elven races can occasionally be seen within the city and are rare enough to be looked at wherever they go. Elves are incredibly rare, and if found they were not part of Loraillyria , but of separate communities and villages or hermits and loners.

Industry & Trade

Bridgetown is famous almost worldwide as one of the largest trading hubs of the western continent. Goods from Evenfarm travel through Bridgetown to reach Enverdoon and vice versa, and because the Forest of Lorai extends on the north-western part of the continent, travelers going east from the western side or west from the eastern side of the Midriver have to pass through the city. Moreover, goods from the City of Elements and from southern provinces of the Khalimedi Empire reach the western continent through the large docks of the city. The importance of commerce for this large town is exemplified in the widely known Bridgetown's Trade Fair.

Apart from commerce, Bridgetown is known for its woodcarvers, who supposedly craft wooden statues more beautiful than any marble sculpture, and for its horse breeding, something that the Noble families of Bridgetown have been doing for generations, tracing back to the settling of the region itself.

Districts

Northern District

The northern district of Bridgetown is a west-east band in the northern part of the city, from the eastern gate to the river, touching western market and merchant spike to its south. Many of the people living here work in nearby villages or in some workshops in town, or are merchants not quite as rich as those living in the merchant spike. Houses are mostly two story tall, sometimes with small fenced gardens in the back, often built with two to three different timber and roofs of red terracotta shingles. On the eastern side, especially in its southern part, the northern district roads widen, straighten and are paved, and wooden decorations appear on roofs and near the most impressive houses, which are often of prestigious artisans and woodworkers. At the very border with the merchant spike, a wide road, known as the “workshops nest” has on both sides numerous one story workshops of woodworking arts, where people from the northern district come work and people from the merchant spike come to admire and sometimes purchase. Here the smell of sawdust and resin is strong, and several wooden statues, furniture and other decorations can be admired at the opened ground floor of these workshops. During the day the area is very frequented, and the voices of passerby and clients mix with the noises from the woodcarving workshops. In the northern district close to the workshops nest there is a strong presence of dwarven and orcish inhabitants, with some houses, often clustered together, showing signs of either of these cultures. Dwarven buildings have almost flat roofs and often show colonnades with the typical humanoid-figure-columns, hooded and bearded, in small front facing porches. Orcish influenced houses have inward-curved triangle roofs that end at least a meter after the wall, and have wooden horizontal decorations coming out of the upper part of external walls and above doors and windows, often abstract themed or of mythological creatures.

Artistically tree: a workshop renown for its beautifully crafted wooden jewelry, figurines and small statues, it is located in the western side of the “workshops nest”, 5 minutes from the north-south thoroughfare. The small two story building has a completely open ground floor with sturdy stone columns and floor, and an upper floor of slightly red pine timber with arched windows. The triangular roof is covered in dark gray shingles. This workshop does commissions and directly sells their products here. Because of their very high value and craftsmanship, items from this workshop are also frequently used by locals for enchanting purposes, as high quality items make for more powerful enchantments.
Artistically tree is run by Rakisha, a female Tabaxi in her late 70s. Her calico fur (white, orange and black) is pale and tinted with gray from her old age, her long whiskers are wavy at the tips, also a sign of old age in her race, and small tufts of gray hair grows out of her ears. Small even for her race, 1.10 m, her amber, almost yellow eyes are still bright and attentive. She has brown leather boots, knee long baggy pants and a long sleeve sweater. She has very much old grandma vibes and is very kind and cordial to everyone, including people that work for her and her many apprentices, unless she is teaching someone about art or techniques, then she is implacable and stern. She only does craftsmanship on commission now, and for a hefty extra fee that only the wealthiest people can pay, but her art is unrivaled in town. Born in one of the roving hordes of the eastern continent, Rakisha and her family were employed originally by southern cities of the Khalimedi kingdom, as guards for a local merchant. Seen her ability to work small pieces of timberinto statuettes, the merchant (Nassar the Wide) paid for her tuition in a small workshop in Khal’areid, where she then worked and took over the now successful workshop. At 50 years old, famous and wealthy, she decided to travel the known world and observe, and absorb, different styles of woodworking. She visited the City of Elements, the Eastern Borders of Khalimed, and the dwarven kingdom in the Northern Crest, finally ending up in Bridgetown, where she opened a new workshop (at 60-ish yo) and started passing her knowledge to new generations. People come from all over the world to be taught by her, and she is has multiple students under her tutelage. Some students: Ralko, 42 he boar shifter from archipelago, archipelago art (primitive-designs but high level execution, incorporates many non wooden parts Balafiria, 17 she fire genasi, good woodcarver and experts woodburner, intricate decorations; Fragaldin, 31 she dwarf, wooden purist, dwarven geometrical designs but only ever uses wood, and only one; Dario, 34 he local man, maritime and natural subjects, expert on curved designs and combining different timber.

Gatehouse Inn  The Gatehouse Inn is a middle quality inn just inside the north-western gate of the city, at the beginning of the main thoroughfare. Similar to the nearby houses but at least double in width, the inn has a ground floor with the tavern hall and the common dormitory, and attached to it but accessible from the outside is a two story section with private rooms. 1 sp per night buys you a staying at the dorm, 6sp total for the triple room and double rooms. The inn is run by Francis and Sophia Piraz, but is owned by the Berithril noble family. Because of this link with the local government, this place is often frequented by local guards, who also keep it in check and ensure no fights happen.
Francis and Sophia are human siblings, him 31 and her 35, sons of John Piraz, former stable boy of the Berithrils. Both living with their own families in the northern district, they strongly resemble each other, to the point of people often wondering if they are twins. Both have small noses and brown hair, Francis’ in a bowl cut and Sophia’s often combed in a bun. Both around 1.80m and slender, with deep brown eyes, they dress in dark green and light blue middle class clothes and work at the inn, in alternating turns (she does midday to midnight, he does the opposite - the night shift exists because being so close to the city gate means they get travelers at every hour). Both friendly but reserved, they like music and often have bards performing. Sophia loves horses.

Western Market

The western market district encompasses pretty much the whole north-west of the city. Bordering with the racing square on the east and mixing with the northern district in the north, the western market is a place with mid-to-poor houses, and holds every morning a street market where goods from local villages and smaller business are sold to the city's population. Houses here vary considerably, with the closest to the river having hay roofs and roughly cut hardwood for walls, and buildings closer to the city center showing processed wooden planks, softwoods and sometimes even colored decorations in the upper parts of walls (like fake ivy or simple hunt or battle scenes). The courtyards typical of Bridgetown abound here, with seasonal flowers in pots on the balconies and climbing plants growing on walls from these courtyards. Closer to the river, houses and roads are less organized, curving around to avoid buildings rather than the other way around. Right on the riverside, which runs at just a couple meters below the city level, and pretty close to the west-east thoroughfare, a wide rectangular opening breaks from nearby buildings. Every day, locals gather for the street market, with goods from the area and from local merchants. Wooden wheeled stalls are brought in the area and arranged kind of randomly, tables are brought out and covered with goods to be sold, while city guards stand post next to the entrance to the square to check that everything runs smoothly. These stalls are covered in the summer by hanging cloths and in the winter by covers of wooden planks. The summer cloths have with time become a way of attracting customers and of showing wealth to the other traders, to the point that many of the fanciest and biggest stalls now show vividly colored covers, sometimes even decorated with abstract designs or, in the richest merchants of the market, with depictions related to the merchant itself or to what the stall sells. Because of this tradition, the market square is known to some locals as the Color Caravan.

Kinders Feepers: a cheaper-than-usual general store, only has the very basic equipment and, occasionally, potions or random items. They buy as well, except weapons. One of the biggest stalls of the place, three large tables are arranged in a rectangle closed by a large wagon. Two tall orcs, employed by Ughilach, stand menacingly next to the merchandise. The cloth repairing the stall from the sun, which hangs a good three meters from the ground, is a deep green, with a bright yellow square in the middle with dozens of small silver coins depicted inside it.
The owner of Kinders Feepers is Ughilach, a 1.25m goblin (relat. tall) in late 30s with pale green skin, a slight underbite and two orc-like, protruding lower canines. His bright yellow eyes rest under bushy graying eyebrows and he has short bowl cut gray hair. He dresses simple, with comfortable clothing and tame colors, but likes long sleeves puffy at the wrist. He likes bargaining (+6) and often tries to buy from whoever he encounters, especially if he sees something he could resell easily and pimp the price up a bit. A forest goblin, Ugilach was raised by the orc community of Bridgetown and has established himself as a purveyor of cheap general goods. When asked, he will not say exactly where it gets his stuff, the truth being he scavenges it from dead and missing people, often breaking into their house as soon as he gets note that they died.

Wartaway: cheap potion seller, only has the most basic potions (healing potions, basic poisons) and the most basic spell components. The stall is rather small with one table and the small wheeled cart, and the cloth covering it is a simple woven light gray and white woolen threads.
A small 90cm halfling in their early 50s keeps the little shop. They have a dirty blonde buzz cut and dark brown eyes, with few freckles scattered on their cheeks. They often wear clothes in beige and other plain colors, with a simple shirt and 50% chance to wear a long skirt, 50% to wear long trousers. They like scarves and always have brightly colored ones, usually matching the weather, of wool during the winter, of light linen in summer. They are quiet and keep for themselves, unless asked about how they prepare their potions.

Viskar & Sera: armorer and blacksmith, they sell cheap but sturdy unadorned weapons and armors. Nothing magical. They buy as well. They have a forge in the area next to the Temple of Soverialis, in the better side of the Docks Districts, but come here to sell. They have a large wagon and open its back during the market, all covered by a tent gazebo. Their three children help at the market, taking orders and checking that nobody tries to steal stuff. The gazebo is not colored, but on the tip of it has a large orange triangular flag, with a black hammer and a silver sword.
Viskar, a tiefling and Sera, a half-elf, are a local couple in their late 40s. Viskar, the armorer, is 1.85, generally fair skinned, but turns to light blue in a gradient next to his two small antelope horns and on his fingertips, as well as in his iris. He has pitch black slicked hair and a black stubble on his chin, and has two large but thin golden earrings. Sera, the 1.80 blacksmith, has somewhere between olive and fair skin, wavy dark brown hair cascading on her back and the elven combination of high cheekbones and pointy ears. Both are pretty muscular, given their work, and sometimes show signs of working in the early hours of the day, with some traces of black forge soot on their upper arms. Both wear dark clothes and, if coming from the forge, have smithing aprons on. They have three sons, Viskaria, 26, Marc, 24, and Oshar, 17, the first similar to the dad, the others a good mix. Viskaria and Marc have pointy ears, Viskaria and Oshar have antelope horns. They all help at the forge and at the market. Viskar&Sera like their work and are good at it, but given the scarcity of raw materials they cannot do much more than the basic equipment. However, they like challenges and have the talent to do better weapons and armors, if provided with the right materials. They do not do enchanting, but their weapons could be enchanted afterwards. They are generally nice people, but Sera can sometimes be a bit grumpy in the early morning, and she does not like bargaining, to the point that she will make Viskaria do it (+4).

Merchant Spike

Similar to a wealthier version of the northern district, the merchant spike houses most of the merchants of Bridgetown, especially the wealthier. Roads are paved with light gray and white flat stones, small squares can sometimes be seen here and there, with small fountains, benches and cypress trees. Guards patrol here more often than they do in any other district but the western docks and the Road of Stallions. Houses are two to three story tall but also bigger than those in the northern district, and are built with several different timbers, often shiny with resin and maintenance oils. Most houses have colorful wooden ornaments and signs on the main road which show what kind of goods are sold at the ground floor. Some of the bigger houses do not have shops at ground floor, since the merchants living there trade goods in bulk from one place to another. Commonly found stores sell products of local artisans, especially woodworkers, all kinds of clothes, jewelry from Sidewind, and other products for the rich elite. Imported goods can also be found, like carpets and garments of eastern production, blown glass from the city of elements, Khalimedi bonsais, etc. At the southern end of the district, an triangle-shaped protrusion towards the square which gives the district its name, four important building can be found: the fanciest tavern in town, Merchant’s Rest, and the houses of the three major guilds of Bridgetown: merchants, woodcarvers, cavaliers.

The Magpie: a rather large magic store, with spellcasting components, wands, staves, as well as enchanted jewelry and necklaces. They do not do commissions but accept specific requests that they might find already done somewhere, as they are not magicians but purveyors of magical artifacts. The three story tall store is situated in the middle of the merchant spike, in the area with the most shops, isolated from other buildings by a small circular square of small gray stones, with a white and red stone fountain on the opposite side of the shop. The building, 3 story tall, is of a very lightly colored wood, shining with oils and resin, and golden trims and decorations. Colored windows line the upper floors, and the roof is almost completely covered in various small painted magpies, as if a hundred of them were perched on the bright red shingles. Inside, it is all one large room, lit by several small light globes hovering over stone disks, with various magical items on wooden shelves closed by thick glass panels, seemingly without any opening mechanism. The place smells of closed and dust mixed with the sweet scents of wood maintenance oils. A faint buzzing can be heard, especially close to the light disks.
The store is kept by Jay, a female Aarakockra in her early 50s with light gray feathers and a large white patch on her neck and upper chest. She has long and thin hands and longer, hair like black feathers on the back of her head. Her beak is also black. She often dresses with long, almost regal dresses, often in red/purple/violet colors and with silver threaded decorations, and when going out has a very tiny black and white hat that she balances on her head. She has tiny round glasses she puts on her beak when reading. She is polite and helpful, likes to discuss the origin of items more than she does the actual magic behind them, as she is not herself a spellcaster and simply buys these items from those that make it, some imported from Khalimed, some from the Monastery and some from Enverdoon. A door behind the three sided counter leads to her rooms, both floors above, as well as her office, where she has a small leather notebook with the complete list of the items in the shop. She has 2 white gloves in a drawer in the counter, when wearing them she can put her hand through the glass panels (these are Glass Bypass gloves, enchanted to be able to pass through glass without issue). She comes from an Aarakockra family of merchants in Enverdoon, and she moved to Bridgetown because her older siblings, Kay and Emm, now run the family activity.

Merchant’s Rest: merchant’s rest is the most expensive inn in the whole of Bridgetown, often housing the wealthiest merchants coming in town and other people with deep pockets. Situated at the very tip of the merchant spike, the entrance is to the north, in a short but very wide paved road that connects the thoroughfares coming from north-west and north-eastern gates. In the same road, opposite to the entrance of the inn, the houses of the three guilds are situated. The inn is a three story building of polished oak wood, with several rectangular windows on all three floors and painted wooden decorations above each window, depicting scenes of merchant life (weighting, paying, buying, travelling etc.). A horizontal band of spiraling pink rosewood runs on the external wall approximately in between every floor, and at the corners of the building, which coincide with the end of the paved road, branch out into fake wooden leaves painted in gold and silver. Above the third floor several wooden columns support the roof, creating an open space that basically counts as an additional floor. The sweet scented perfume of oils and resing can be smelled when approaching the inn. The double door entrance leads to the main tavern room of the inn, a large rectangular hall with several oval tables of polished wood and red cushioned comfortable chairs with thin and tall backs. Large bronze chandeliers light the room, together with windows opening on the alleyway and on the racing square, which can be closed with heavy wine-colored curtains. Right from the entrance runs the bar, a long elegant furniture of polished dark wood, connected to the ceiling by thin gray granite columns that keep it in place at both ends of it. Behind the bar, a door leads to the kitchen and, from there, down into the cellar and storage room. The sweet and sour smell of wine lingers in the main hall without being overpowering, together with the perfumes of roasted meat and freshly baked bread (depending on what food there is). Often without a bard, the speaking voices and clattering of cutlery are the only noises in the hall. On the left side from the entrance, opposite to the bar, a staircase leads upstairs, to a common room. The first floor holds 10 rooms of 2 to 4 people, accessible from corridors stemming from a common room with rosewood floor, a bronze sort-of coffee table and two symmetric L-shaped purple couches. A 2m painting on the wall next to the lounge area depicts Bridgetown from above and is dated 100 years ago, and does not show much difference from now. From this common room the staircase continues upward to the second floor, to an almost identical room with wooden sculptures of racing horses as centerpiece and no painting. Here, only 2 rooms can be accessed, two huge 2-4 people suites. First floor rooms cost 4 gp a night, suites go for 8 gp a night - both include breakfast. The first floor rooms are very comfortable and fancy, with soft mattresses and pillows, couches, armchairs, tables and chairs, with windows and balconies giving on the paved road or on the square, depending on which side of the building the room is in. Heavy curtains can be used to shut the light off completely, and flowers grow in terracotta pots on the balconies or affixed with ironworks to the window silts. They have one double bed and 0-2 smaller beds, all in the same room. Medium to small sculptures of local artisans adorn the rooms, always made of exquisite wood, sometimes painted and sometimes decorated with additional materials. Subjects go from horses to religious/mythological. All rooms also have nice warm colored carpets and lightly painted walls, as well as separate chambers with chamber pots and an additional chamber with metal buckets and option to start a fire to warm up the water they contain. Rooms at the last floor resemble those at the first floor, but are way bigger in comparison. The lounge area is expanded and decorated with paintings of historical significance to Bridgetown or Sealance, and has a brick fireplace with a small supply of wood. From the lounge area, doors lead to the chamber pot room, to a warm water room, expanded and covered in painted glazed terracotta tiles, and to two large bedrooms with a curtained double room each, with two pillows per person. End tables line the beds, and both rooms have a person-sized mirror. From the lounge area a huge window/door leads to the balcony, still small and with pots of different sizes and shapes, and a slim spiral staircase from next to the entrance leads to the roof, which is privy of the suites. Here, woven armchairs and wooden tables are placed. The view from the top of the roof reaches easily to the city walls, and the tallest buildings can be easily identified. The Merchant’s Rest is kept by Mary, a local woman of 46, and ten other servants working under her, humans, halflings, gnomes, and one firbolg - it is however owned by the guild of merchants. Mary walks in between customers and makes sure everyone is satisfied with their needs, and sometimes keeps the bar, but does not otherwise do anything herself - she instead calls for one of the servants (Johanna, Caleb, Ferdinand, Arista).
Mary Kunstor, the hostess of the inn, is a 46 years old woman with light brown hair, with one white strand, often combed in either an elegant bun or in one braid over her left shoulder. She is 1.60m, with fair skin and red-tinted high cheekbones, and wears dresses with large unpractical skirts of deep purple, red, green and blue. She speaks in a sweet and controlled voice, and she is friendly but immediately get distanced and cold if someone behaves impolitely or not coherently with the level she expects from guests of her establishment. She has one of the most comfortable lives people could dream of, but she sees herself as a martyr that has so much to do and is super busy and under pressure. She resents her family, the Kunstor, for what she considers being secluded in a prison.

Racing Square

A large trapezoidal square of around 160x100 meters of large polished gray stones with darker spots, imported through the river from northern regions. During the Bridgetown’s trade fair, the external limits of this square are covered in sand, woodchips and other materials to make it easy for the racing horses to have grip on it.

Road of Stallions

The so-called road of stallions is a branching of the main eastern road that houses the manors of the noble families as well as the “oasis”, the small park/garden privy to nobles and high status merchants of the town, as well as esteemed guests of the city. This area is characterized by a refined wooden colonnade on the right (coming from center) side of the road, with painted capitals and foundations. On the ceiling of this wooden colonnade are depicted in painting scenes of horse races and of the early colonization of the region. On the right of this colonnade (positioned basically as the equivalent of a sidewalk nowadays) are located the manors of the noble families.

Dock District

The docks district encompasses most houses in the southern side of the city, both inside and outside the city walls. While the part included in the city limits shows small wooden houses and huts, clearly of the poorer social classes but orderly maintained, the areas of the dock district closer to the actual docks, which are located south of the city on the seashore, are often dilapidated and not uncommonly abandoned. Crime is more prevalent in areas closest to the docks, where the condition of the small gravel streets navigating between the small ramshackle buildings almost impedes walking. The area of the docks district next to the water, where the actual docks are, is divided in two. The eastern docks are dedicated to fishing and are characterized by small ships and small piers, fishing nets and equipment as well as small sea-facing huts where fishermen live. The smell of fish overpowers every other smell, even that of the sea breeze that often blows in this area. The western dock area is dedicated to trading, the most prevalent activity in Bridgetown. Many warehouses face the water, ready to hold the goods unloaded from the many trader ships harbored at the docks. This area of the district, while still not looking as nice and refined as other areas in town, looks significantly more maintained than its eastern neighbor, with larger roads of pressed gravel that allow passage of multiple carriages. The smell of sea breeze here is strong, sometimes mixed with that of some of the imported goods.

Saltaste: inn in the eastern part of the seaside dock district. Saltaste is a two story building with a tall roof, overall double the size of the nearby houses. Completely nestled between two ramshackled wooden houses with hay roofs. Situated in the eastern part of the dock district, the inn was built contiguous to the city wall, some 5 minutes from the shore and 10 minutes from the main road that leads outside the city. Reaching the inn means walking through intricate alleyways of mud and gravel, curving between houses built very close to each other and to the path itself. The road in front of the inn widens and curves slightly, and a once colorful now faded and hard to read sign signals the presence of the inn: “Saltaste, house of the Fishermen’s Puke”. The upper floors have very small rounded windows crossed + by wooden stakes, and the whole building is made of a sturdy but clearly poorly maintained wood, with some nails coming out of the panels and small cracks in the wood itself. Inside, a large main room occupies literally all of the ground floor. A L shaped counter covers one angle left of the entrance on the opposite wall, and next to it along that same wall dozens of crates and barrels can be seen. The room is surprisingly well lit, with several torches in blackened iron sconces on the walls. On the rough wooden floor stand several “tables” consisting of piles of empty crates, with wooden barrels as stools. Next to the right wall, roughly in the center of the room, stands a broken rowboat, with the stern (poppa) missing, which acts as the platform on which bards entertain the crowd, mostly fishermen and rough looking people. There are rooms for rent in the upper floor of the room and a dorm in a separate room out the back, pressed along the city walls. The dorm, 2 cp a night without any food, consists of a series of ramshackled wooden bunk beds, some with a block of wood or crate bedside. There is no light, as everything is made of wood and the roof is just a frame covered with hay, and the heating comes from the many bodies pressed in the small space. The rooms are more spacious but not that much more comfortable: the roof is of wooden planks and helps against the cold, with small torches in iron sconces for light. The beds are still hay filled and wooden framed, and there are more barrels and crates posing as table and chairs. Each 4 people room costs 1 sp a night. Saltaste has been kept since 10 years by an old local man called Barnacle, and has since 6 months a resident bard, expert in playing the fiddle, called Paganio.
Barnacle is a human man in his late 30s, who looks like he was in his 60s. Face covered in wrinkles, his hairline completely receded to the point that his oily gray hair only grows from the back of his head, ear-height. His left eye is glass and badly painted, his right eye has amber-colored iris and is attentive and curious. Rather tall at 1.85m, Barnacle moves hunched most of the time, and has like three to four teeth left. He wears simple brown trousers and a long sleeved shirt wider and decorated at the wrists, and when cold a very old formerly red coat with large buttons on the front, sea captain style. Barnacle is friendly and helpful, unless it is raining, in which case he is grumpy and hardly answers anyone because his bones hurt from the humidity. He likes to tell stories about his past as a fisherman, and these are 19/20 made up. He also lies about his eye and constantly forgets who he told what (D6 - 1: lost to a terrible disease that took away all the other men in the crew and left him standing alone on the ship, 2: shifter pirates attacked the trade cog he was working in, and he lost his eye to one of their claws while fighting to protect his captain, 3: a terrible sea monster, an enormous hedgehog with fins for legs and large gills attacked the ship he was commanding, shooting his spines at the crew, and glancing him in the face costing him the eye, 4: a terrible hurricane was ravaging the sea but he and his crew and to reach port, a thunder hit the deck and splinters stuck in his eye. 5: a terrible drought had hit the convoy he was working in, and in the delirium caused by the absence of water he gouged out his eye and popped it in his mouth like a ripe tomato, 6: a mutiny happened on the warship he was working in, against a terrible captain, and in the 1vs1 duel he had with the captain, he lost his eye, but he caused the captain to lose more than that) - the true story about his eye is that he lost it while fishing because of a storm that snapped one of the ropes anchoring the mast to the ship, which whipped him in the eye. He is Bridgetown born and bred, a fisherman since he was old enough to walk, just like his mother, doesn’t know his father. His mother disappeared two years ago, together with the crew she was working with, he presumes she is dead from a storm or pirates. He took over the inn after the death from poisoning of the previous owner (executed by the town for his links with the organized crime of the region). He is lawful and respectful and is not afraid of much, except going out on the sea again.
Paganio: resident bard of the tavern, possible element of side-quests related to players’ characters. Description to be found in document for players; bgs.

The girl and the Jellyfish: relatively unknown alchemy shop, specializes in potions for seafarers and explorers, and has an unnervingly large repertoire of poisons, most of them from underwater creatures and plants. The shop/laboratory can be found right on the shore on the very end of the eastern dock district, 20 minutes from the road leading out the southern gate. The ramshackled wooden hut stands slightly separated from the nearby fishermen's houses, with a small wooden gated fence between the muddy path and the entrance door, partly ajar. The walls, the wooden planks forming the roof, and the fence itself are in many points rotting and covered in colorful molds. While the hut is build on the shore, a rope bridge leads from the back of the house to a square structure built on long wooden poles in the water, some 10 meters from the shore. Inside, the hut is all one room, with a browning hay bed, a central rough stone fireplace leading to a hole in the roof, a round table with a couple of chairs and a few improvised shelves of wooden planks either nailed to the wall or balanced on barrels and crates. Scattered on the floor and on the shelves are glass vials and small bottles, some filled, some empty, corks, dried or rotting pieces of alchemical components of dubious quality, and sometimes rests of food or strands of cloth. The air inside is damp and the sea smell is just an undertone to the myriad of other smells of mold, various herbs almost irritating to the nose, and sweat. On the side opposite to the entrance, a poorly closing door leads to a rope bridge, some 5 meters of sailor’s rope and wood planks, and after that, a cubical structure standing on long wide wooden poles. Inside it, even more shelves, this time better organized with biological alchemical components, with hanging drying strands of algae and water plants, empty potion bottles, animal parts. A woven carpet stands in the center of the room, and on the side opposite to the entrance is a large working bench, with glass tools for extraction, purification and concentration of compounds, and other common tools (e.g. mortar and pestle). To the right of the entrance and next to the working bench, a sturdy wooden shelf extends all the way to the ceiling, better built than anything else in the shop, and carries several glass bowls and tanks populated by colorful fishes, spider-looking creepers, small crabs, tadpoles, worms, etc. (these are used as ingredients in the potions). Under the carpet, a large hatch hides a rope ladder that can be used to descend in the sea, where, three meters underwater, a small greenhouse-tunnel like structure holds rows of cultivated algae, coral-looking plants and underwater fungi. A safety rope can be tied around the waist when descending to make the way up easier.
Owner of the shop is Yorua (known as Yorua the Sea-Touched), a half-elf woman in her late 40s with shoulder-height but messy dark hair and very pale, almost white skin. She has typical elven features, high cheekbones, small nose, slightly slanted eyes, pointy ears, sharp chin, but also eerily completely dark eyes, with no white, and a translucent membrane in between fingers, that end in slightly rounded fingertips. She dresses with long robes that cover her head to toes, in simple and light materials and of dark tones. She goes in the water with the same attire. Yorua is a soft spoken, quiet person. She moves slowly in her house and her bare feet shuffle on the ground without leaving it. Her robe has several internal pockets containing alchemical ingredients she picked underwater or on her night visits to the city and the countryside. She sleeps during the day and moves in from dawn to dusk.

Guilds and Factions

Guilds are often present in towns big enough to support several artisans of the same profession, and Bridgetown is not an exception to this. As it is in the rest of the world, only crafts that particularly flourish in the city give rise to a guild, i.e. crafts that for example have particularly good raw materials from the area, that have abundance of request or that originally developed in the area. Artisans working on other crafts can also be found, but if their profession doesn't meet the aforementioned requirements, usually there is no guild. E.g, in a city with poor access to wood there might still be woodcarving artisans, but there will be no woodcarvers guild.

Bridgetown guilds

• Merchant guild: the most prominent guild, the merchants guild groups together both merchants that export and import goods as well as artisans that do not have a guild of their specific craft but still want to be part of a guild. The head of the merchant guild is also the Guild Bearer, the member of the Duchy of Sealance council that brings the interests of the guilds to the attention of the regional government, and is elected between members of the guild every five years, with no consecutive mandate allowed.
• Woodworkers guild: originally three separate guilds, the woodworkers guild groups together carpenters, shipwrights and woodcarvers. After the merging of the three smaller guilds, woodworkers are now the second most important guild of the region.
• Cavalier guild: this fancily-named guild represents the few horse breeders that work independently from the Noble families of Bridgetown, who actually have the majority of the experts of this craft working for them. The power of this guild is rather small.

Merchant Guild

The house of the guild of merchants faces opposite to the merchant’s rest inn, and is surrounded by the house of the woodworkers guild and the palace of the cavaliers. The house is an impressive two story building with tall floors and large windows, topped by a tall mansard roof with colored round windows and a front facing balcony. The building is a meter higher than the ground, with both foundation and first floor built with large well cut light gray rectangular stones, transitioning to sturdy dark wood on the first floor. A bas relief of a sloped pouch with golden coins, the symbol of the merchant guild, stands on top of the large entrance, a heavy large bronze door that stands after a short set of stairs from the road. Hundreds of coins have been carved in the bronze door, which also carries a heavy fake knocker. The front door leads to a large antechamber, guarded by four bulky city guards. Lined with elegantly carved wooden benches, the floor is of gray marble blocks veined in darker colors and the walls are covered by a white painted clay plaster. On the opposite side of the entrance is a heavy wooden desk, with a marble fence-like structure separating the space behind the desk, and the two doors there, to the rest of the entrance hall. A bronze chandelier lights the room hanging from the tall ceiling. At the desk, sitting on a carved chair with incredibly long back, is Wovered, the clerk of the merchant guild, a fire genasi with orange skin turning to yellow from his neck upward, bald and with delicate traits and slanted eyes. When going to see someone, people have to ask Wovered first and they will first ask confirmation to the person in the office before allowing people in, and giving them directions. The guild uses a semi-magical contraption for internal messages: a system of thin brass pipes that connect all rooms of the building that allows the travel of small polished opals. These opals are whispered a message in, then deposited in the pipe system, which is connected to a funnel that leads into it from desks and tables. At the end of the whispered message, the name of the person is whispered, and the opal will then travel to the office assigned to that person. Every funnel has an internal hatch normally closed that the opal opens and then rests on. Offices are elegantly furnished and often decorated with paintings, in the most common, and sculptures and frescos, in those of more influential members of the guid, often depicting historical moments of the guild. Large windows give light to the offices, which always have a desk and at least a couple libraries or drawers for documents. The second floor and mansard office are connected with large stone staircases, and the corridors between offices are of lacquered softwood. The sweet smell of resin is faint in the building, and pleasant gusts of wind can often be felt when windows are opened from one side to the other. The temperature is relatively chill, partially thanks to the stone floor and tall rooms, and in entrance hall and staircases noises echo due to the large empty space. The mansard, which due to the size of the roof is as big as a normal floor, houses the office of the XXXXX, the XXXXX of Bridgetown (as of the start of the campaign). Wovered, the clerk of the merchant guild, is a fire genasi with orange skin turning to yellow from his neck upward, bald and with delicate traits and dark brown slanted eyes. They have a sharp chin lined with a thinly trimmed amber line-beard and occasionally have wisps of smoke from their ears, which carry two large gold earrings. They wear comfortable clothes in green and gray tones, usually pants and long sleeved shirts, they also sometimes carry a merchant hat. When they get jealous or angered, they inadvertently emit a faint smoke smell. They are very monotone and neutral, can’t really be phased and have to ask for all but the most straightforward requests. They know the layout of the guild house and, after receiving confirmation, will send people to the office of whoever they need. Wovered came to Bridgetown seeking fortune, and found it selling blown glass from the City of Elements, which they made themselves. More inclined to the trading part than the making, they eventually became a merchant of goods from their home country and abandoned the crafting part of their career. After a convoy of theirs was raided on its way to Bridgetown, they used their connections to the guild to become their clerk, and now work here. They are grateful for not becoming one of the many failed merchants of the city, but can be jealous of the success of others when it comes without impediments.

History

Founded around 10 btT by human tribes that knew little about building a city, Bridgetwon was built near the Midriver and on the coast in Sealance. This position gave the city access to both fishing and relatively fertile lands, which provided plenty of food to its inhabitants, while also inadvertently making Bridgetown a crossroad between western and eastern halves of the continent as well as a good landing spot for exotic goods coming from the southern half of the Eastern Continent.
However, the relatively fertile plane and sandy coastline where the city was built had no stone available with which to build a city, and because of this the original population of Bridgetown had to cut down nearby trees as well as the edges of the Forest of Lorai to have enough building material to build with. In fact, the docks area is known to need constant maintenance, as the wood used in its buildings suffers greatly the sea air and salt water.

Founding Date

10 btT

Type

Large town

Inhabitant Demonym

Bridgians

Location under

Sealance

Included Locations

• Gatehouse Inn
• Luciera's Temple in Bridgetown

Owning Organization

Duchy of Sealance

Characters in Location

• Derek Strahm
• Laerio Berithril