Canal District
This district is squeezed between the south wall and the canal that divides it from the dock district. Run down and seedy, Canal District is actually more of a haven for criminals than the Thieves’ District. It is home to beggars, low-level alley bashers, thugs, and other riff raff. With its many small canals and old bridges, the district does have a certain charm, and is also home to many impoverished writers, artists, and musicians, who help make this one of the most culturally diverse districts in the city.
Infrastructure
Lady Garga
A crude sign depicting a cauldron and an eye stands outside this single-story hovel. Inside, Lady Garga (female half-elf) reads fortunes. Most are surprised to see that she is not a twisted crone but a striking half-elf maiden, whose beauty is in stark contrast to her divination methods. She tells the future by haruspicy. She disembowels a goat on a large table, pulling out its entrails and liver and interpreting their configuration and appearance. Garga learned this method from her mother, and it works, functioning as a divination spell that she can cast once per week. She charges 200gp for these services, and her customers include criminals, corrupt nobles, and those who are planning unsavory deeds and require guidance. In addition, the customer is required to bring his own goat.The Blazing Bones
This low-rent gambling den is frequented by the district’s more dangerous criminal elements. A wrought-iron-and-brick fence is all that separates the property from the surrounding streets. The fence itself is missing more than a few bars. It is not unusual to step over fresh bloodstains, or the bruised and unconscious form of someone who ran out of coin and luck at the craps tables. The Blazing Bones is built into the cored-out remains of a once fine three-story manor house whose owner lost the property in a game of dice with Tuvio back when he was a young punk on the mean Canal District streets. Worn down with abuse, the outside of the manor shows signs of the general dilapidation of the neighborhood and the crime rate that has come with it. The ground floor of the house’s interior has been gutted and rebuilt after a fashion. A large bar was installed in what once a greathall-style dining room. The rest of the interior walls have been largely torn out to make room for gambling. The upper stories hold pleasure rooms, private gaming, and the residences of Tuvio and his small family of gaming executives. It is dingy, dark and dirty, with various dice games played in its filthier corners. The proprietor, Tuvio (male human), also offers various proposition bets — bets on brawls, wrestling matches, dog and cockfighting, and on city events such as elections, the fortunes of various adventuring parties, and what noblewoman Helman the halfling seduces next. Tuvio is relatively honest, and pays off promptly if a customer wins. His three half-orc thugs, Brudo, Mung, and Grooder help keep losers honest and protect Tuvio’s winnings.Pipe Cleaners, Canal and Refuse Management
The sign above this simple office reads Pipe Cleaners — Westden City Canal and Refuse Management and Disposal. The building is well-organized, with a small office and storage room containing sturdy tunics, gloves, masks and tools such as hammers, prybars, skimming nets, catch poles, saws, chisels and the other items used for sewer delving. Norton McKaigh male gnome) is in charge of the city’s waste disposal, overseeing teams of gnomes and halflings, with the occasional dwarf or half-orc. Their job is to keep fountains working, fix broken pipes, and keep excessive sewage from backing up or spilling out of the City’s storm drains. It’s a filthy job, indeed, but in a city like Westden, someone has to do it. Norton and his teams are well paid, though he often grumbles about the location and wishes he had a nicer office in the keep. The Pipe Cleaners are in an interesting position, for although their job is the embodiment of filthiness, they also often happen across various treasures and lost items of considerable value. Theoretically, such items are City property, but Norton tends to turn a blind eye to his workers’ scavenging, knowing that it is one thing that keeps them on the job. The Pipe Cleaners also know that their job can be disgusting and often dangerous, for dead bodies, rotting offal and the occasional monster are a part of daily life here.Skuldudger’s Cutlery
Located on an especially dreary street, this shop is a surprise — it sells some of the finest quality rapiers, knives, daggers, short swords, and other cutlery in the city. The place is full of fine items, and is overseen by a cruel-looking woman with a black eyepatch. “Left-Eye” Lanny (female human) sells all manner of cutting and stabbing implements, and caters especially to rogues and halflings. Many of her wares are perfectly ordinary knives, but her weapons are famous among the city’s underworld. She sells cutlery for standard prices, and also makes sword canes, thieves’ tools, and mechanical traps if the customer is willing to spend enough gold. She is a tough negotiator, and gives a portion of her profits to Duloth.Loose Strand
The sign above the door portrays an axe chopping a strand of hair. This barber shop and tattoo parlor is run by Scolich (male human), who came to Westden from the Black Sail coast after betting that he could not live among the “soft city dwellers.” Though he won the bet several years ago, Scolich has still not gone home, having gone completely native and decided that he prefers life in Westden. Still, he has a good number of barbarian clients, and creates especially elaborate tattoos for them. He keeps the place spotless. A standard shave or haircut here is 5sp, while a unique or unusual style is 1gp. Scolich happily shaves your entire head for a mere 2sp, while tattoos cost 1gp per square inch, regardless of subject. He also pierces ears and noses. Bluish-green eyes gaze from the broad coppery face that is accented by a large smile. Shedding his old garb for that of the city, Scolich wears dark leather boots and breeches, while he wears no shirt, to reveal his muscular, dark-tattooed chest.The White Wasp
This tidy little shop houses an herbalist, who sells dried leaves, roots, folk remedies and the like. The interior is lined with shelves holding jars and bottles of various herbs and flowers, and many pots hang from the ceiling. The place has a pleasant scent and is frequented by many locals who have no idea about its true business. Asa (female human) manages this place.The Tick’s Nest
A filthy flophouse with a bare dirt floor and cluttered sleeping rooms, the Nest is the only home and shelter for many beggars and impoverished district residents. Owner Rhora (female half-elf) despises her job and her tenants, but knows that she’s only a few steps away from being in the same predicament. She has recently been approached by the Beggar’s Guild, who want to extend their protection to her charges, and by the Shadow Masks, who see the indigents in the Nest as a valuable source of information. So far, she’s torn between the two and isn’t sure who to help. Lately, Granny Engdrom (female human) has been staying here. She has her own reasons for wanting Rhora to throw in her lot with the Beggar’s Guild. Mostly, she just wants the residents of this filthy place to have access to something better. She believes that guild membership is their ticket to just that, as it forces Rhora to clean the place up a bit, and provides her the income to do so. Simple floor space can be had for 1cp per night. A sleeping room (shared by eight occupants) costs 2cp per person per night, 8cp for the week and 2sp for the month. Those who stay here usually sleep with their possessions close at hand, and most have knives or other weapons, either for defense or to aid in robbing fellow residents. Granny Engdrom was once a great beauty and an apprentice courtesan in the city of Kintalla. Her first client was a clumsy and cruel brute who drunkenly set fire to her room in a fit of rage. The horrible scars ended her career before it had begun, and she fled to Westden to avoid the pity of her friends. She has made a living, such as it is, begging for alms and secretly tending to the wounds and ailments of many of the city’s beggars. Her popularity among the rank and file of the Beggars Guild is legendary, though none say to outsiders just why they feel such loyalty to her. Lucius Gromp would gladly see her gone, as he sees her as a threat, but were anything to happen to her he knows the blame would fall on him whether it was his fault or not. Thus, he actually has some of his people quietly see to her well-being, counting on her great age to ultimately solve his problem. Of course, if someone were to take care of this problem for him in such a way that it didn’t lead back to him, he would be suitably grateful until he could have them permanently silenced. Granny selflessly makes the rounds of the city each day, and is surprisingly spry and hale despite the cane she uses to walk.The Glass Flower
Valaquinn (male elf) runs this pleasant flower shop, where blooms of all kinds can be found. He makes bright flower arrangements, and also sells individual blossoms in blown glass vases.Brin Zwiescher Brewery
The smell of brewing and fermenting barley and hops fills the air around this unassuming brick and wood building. There is a large ale mug carved into the front door of the place and a sign hangs overhead reading Brin Zwiescher Brewery. Inside the building, huge copper vats bubble over wood fires that are vented to brick chimneys. The resulting brew is stored in wooden casks, which are loaded on to wagons and shipped to various customer’s establishments throughout the city. The brewery is always busy, day and night. This brewery is run by the devious Brin Zwiescher (male human). This large and gruff-looking man is a member of the Brewer’s and Distiller’s Guild and is a take-no-prisoners businessman. In confidence, most tavernkeepers believe Brin’s brews to be poor to average at best. Brin is quite influential with the upper classes, however, and has also been known to send Brewer’s Guild legbreakers in to persuade reluctant customers to carry his beer. Brin’s brew is also much cheaper than others, and most customers are not too particular about what they drink. Despite his professed contempt for the dwarves and their “girly” brews (as he calls them), Brin has begun to experiment with lagers, light ales, stouts and other variant beverages, but these have proved more expensive and haven’t caught on with the drinking public. Brin is a tall, gruff-looking barbarian with a reddish beard and balding head. He is quick to shove his fist in the face of an innkeeper or adventurer he observes not drinking his trademarked beverage, which is, of course, named after him.Riverside Rooming House
Some of the worst living quarters in all of Westden can be found in this destitute tenement. Living here is considered only a step or two above life on the streets, and at some times of the year, the streets might actually be preferable. The building is an ancient brick and fieldstone building, with a leaky roof and several sections in imminent danger of collapse. A haven for lotus addicts and alcoholics, the Riverside’s rooms are filthy and quite insecure, though the pathetic individuals who “live” here have few valuables worth stealing.Manky Mary’s Alehouse
This wooden shack on the edge of the pier smells of tar and stale beer. Inside, its stools are made of old barrels sawn in half, while the tables are made from larger barrels. The bar is a long plank across two barrels. Behind the bar is a shelf consisting of another plank resting atop two worm-eaten ship’s figureheads, set with bottles of wine and spirits. There is usually an open cask or two behind the bar — brew is served by the simple expedient of dipping a tankard into the cask. Manky Mary (female half-orc) is a grotesquely fat creature who lords it over her various hirelings while spending most of her time drunk or, in extreme cases, unconscious in a crushed wicker chair in the back room. If she is alert enough, Mary can pull a concealed lever and drop intruders through a trapdoor into the river below. Wares vary considerably, depending on what is on the shelves and what cheap spirits Mary and her crew (mostly male humans) can steal or purchase from the Shadow Masks. Usually a tankard full of ale (known as a “Mug o’ Mank”) costs 1 cp, while the various whiskeys cost 2sp per cup. On occasion, contaminated spirits require a Constitution save at DC (10 plus the number of cups consumed in the last hour) to prevent the victim from going temporarily blind for 1d4 hours. Other negative effects from Mary’s wares are up to the GM.The Bar with No Name
This establishment’s common name is apt — it has a sign over the door, but it is so old and worn as to be unreadable. Inside, the place is relatively pleasant, given the nature of the neighborhood, with a polished wooden bar, small tables and booths. Various spirits are served here, and the shelf behind the bar bears several bottles of “private stock,” each labeled with unusual nicknames such as Jack the Axe or Lady Penelope. Customers periodically come in and ask to drink from these bottles, handing over large sums of cash for the privilege. Outsiders not known to barkeep Oswold (male human) who ask to drink from the private stock are bluntly told that they “can’t afford it.”
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