Gartcha City Prison
Situated in the center of the city, beneath the southwest corner of the Prince's Palace, Gartcha's prison extends three levels below the surface. The first level - an inn by the standards of most prisons - holds those awaiting trial. Its rooms are dark and small but many offer beds to those criminals that can afford them. Others must be content with piles of hay or - for those accused of the worst crimes - manacles attached to the limestone walls. A number of small tables offer space for visitors to meet with prisoners though only close family and retainers are offered that privilege and those only for a price. Given then orderly nature of crime in the city, thanks to Francis the Fair's management, this level is often sparsely populated.
The second level below the city contains those serving out sentences for debt, petty thievery, and other non-violent crimes. Prisoners are organized into pens of as many as a dozen prisoners, each given space only for a small pallet when cells are full. Visitors are not permitted on this level, though with a few well placed bribes prisoners can be brought up to the first level for them. While rights are few and far between, most of these criminals remain placid, either by their nature or by the beatings they received while awaiting trial. Stays here range from a year for petty crimes to a lifetime for those who cannot clear their debts. Mortality rates are around thirty percent as nutrition is poor and sanitation worse.
The third level contains three dozen tiny, individual cells that house the city's most violent offenders. Doors to these cells are rarely opened as food and chamber pots are exchanged through small slats. While beatings here are rare the isolation and darkness may be worse, driving many insane, the cries and ravings of the prisoners often echoing through the narrow halls. Each of these hardened criminals is serving a decade or more in the prisons and for most, it turns into a death sentence. Indeed, like many prisons, execution is far more merciful.
Maps
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Gartcha City Prison (Level One)