A typical Northern Keelford house

Walking through the streets the Northern district of The City of Keelford at this hour is not a good idea. Lurking on each corner of the winding, labyrinthine streets and lanes of the 'bad part of town' are cutpurses, quacks, thugs, and other disreputable types, concealed in the shadows that loiter between the sultry yellow lamplight, concealed in the nooks and crannies of the twisting, lopsided houses, with broken shingle roofs and warped glass that looks covered in rain as they twinkle in the meek moonlight. The streets are rough under your feet, as shining cobbles have been covered over by decades of grime and dust, which unpleasantly blows into your eyes as the sea wind bangs shutters and plays havoc with the rags hung on lines across the streets. You turn a corner, then another, cross a shadowy street. The tension then drops, as you see your destination: Yet another crooked house, the walls gently following the contours of the twisting beams.

Architecture

The citizens of Northern Keelford, being the poorest of the city, can only afford relatively poor quality timber, such as misshapen branches of trees, as opposed to the straight beams of the rest of the city. This gives their houses a rather bent look, as the wattle walls covered in brown - red clay must follow the peculiar contours. The windows also seem crooked, and cheaper, warped glass or even just shutters are often used. The roofs are made from weathered shingles (mostly discarded ones from other buildings, therefore different shapes and sizes), piled on haphazardly. When it comes to the building arrangement, they are piled on on top of the other and squeezed into the tightest spots. At some point, the owner might have built an extension, that juts out from the main mass. This lack of proper planning leads to tiny sidestreets and backalleys forming.

Type

House