Glasgow
City by the Spire
A city of mysteries, secrets, and dark histories, Glasgow lies forever in the shadow of a towering stone spire reaching impossibly high into the sky, itself an enigma and a reminder of times long past. In Glasgow, the supernatural is expected and treachery lies around every corner—or is it that the supernatural lies around every corner and treachery is expected? Either way, the city of Glasgow abounds with danger, magic, intrigue, and above all, adventure.Glasgow is a major city of about seventy-five thousand people. It is located near a large bay and was established as the central point of Dragonforged. More significantly, however, it lies in the shadow of an impossibly tall (almost 3,000 feet) and thin pinnacle of rock known simply as the Spire. The Spire and its surroundings seethe with mysterious legends and rumors. These tales tell of ancient battles waged and cities erected on the site, of demons and dark lords, of forgotten kings and mighty wizards. Many such stories might be at least somewhat true, for recent developments have revealed vast complexes beneath the city. Of late, Glasgow has become a city of adventurers. Treasure-seekers flock there to explore and plunder the labyrinthine structures beneath the streets, which they call the “Undermountain.”
Demographics
All races are represented here, although humans are the majority (about two-thirds).
Government
The city is ostensibly ruled by a council, at whose head is the Commissar. The other main council members are Kirian Ylestos, the Prince of the Church, and the Mother Superior of the Sisterhood of Silence. Other City Council members (with less influence) include guildmasters, the heads of the noble houses, and a few wealthy merchants. People of the town often refer to this body as the “Council of Coin,” because money is a powerful and influential force among its members.
Defences
To police the streets, the Commissar of the city commands a force of more than eight hundred troops and City Watch guards, including a few dozen elite individuals (captains, mages, clerics, and the like). While the constables in many cities are considered glorified street-sweepers with little competence or desire to actually enforce the law, this is not true of the experienced and well-equipped guards of Glasgow, particularly those known as the Commissar’s Men. Nevertheless, this well-trained and well-paid force has its hands full maintaining order in the city.
Helping to enforce the law is a special order of monks called the Sisterhood of Silence. These nonspeaking female monks patrol the streets and apprehend criminals, even though they are not—strictly speaking—sanctioned to do so officially. A male eunuch always accompanies a small unit of the Sisters of Silence to speak on their behalf.
Industry & Trade
Glasgow is primarily a trade city, serving not only as a major port but also as a link between the northern peninsula and the central portions of the continent of Dragonforged.
Districts
Glasgow lies between the Spire and the sea. The highest portion of the city, the Nobles’ Quarter, is built on the base of the Spire. From there, the level of the city drops down a sharp cliff to Oldtown, and then down again into Midtown. The final cliffs at the edge of Glasgow drop into the bay, with the only area of dry land at the bottom of those cliffs occupied by the city’s docks. Well-worn paths connect the various elevations and help make Glasgow very defensible (although the city has never been attacked).
The King’s River flows through the city, spilling into an eroded chasm in the northwest corner and flowing down to the Bay of Glasgow near the docks. The bottom of the chasm, called the King’s River Gorge, is 80 feet below the level of the ground on the north side, but more than 200 feet below on the south side. The south side still holds the old city walls and fortifications. A bridge built atop two massive pillars, themselves erected atop natural rock columns, stretches across the King’s River Gorge at a steep angle, leading into the area of the city known as Oldtown. Another bridge stretches across the chasm to join Oldtown with the Rivergate District.
As the central area of the city, Midtown is both a commercial and a residential hub. It is also where one finds many local entertainment offerings, in the form of pubs and taverns as well as theaters, dance halls, gambling dens, and more. Visitors looking for a place to stay usually find themselves directed here, as most of the temporary lodgings in the city are found in Midtown. Midtown is home to both Tavern Row and Delver’s Square, where many employers seeking to hire adventuring parties can post their announcements. Besides the Delver’s Square shops that adventurers frequent (Rastor’s Weapons, the Bull and Bear Armory, Ebbert’s Outfitters, and Myraeth’s Oddities), those in the know also appreciate Saches clothiers on Yeoman Street and, of course, the Row Bathhouse. Potions and Elixirs offers a large stock of potions for sale. The most popular adventurer hangout is the Ghostly Minstrel tavern and inn in Delver’s Square. Many folks seem leery of both the Onyx Spider (on Tavern Row) and the Black Swan (which is mainly for dwarves). Danbury’s, also in Delver’s Square, caters to spellcasters.
Nobles' Quarter
Glasgow has no shortage of wealth or wealthy people. Technically outside the city’s walls, the Nobles’ Quarter, with its row upon row of manors and estates, climbs the city’s western cliffs abutting the Spire itself. Travelers can enter the area only via a single avenue up from Oldtown that runs through the fortress of Dalenguard before reaching the Nobles’ Quarter. The heights where this district now sits were easily defensible in the city’s younger days; originally, all Glasgow residents could gather here in times of emergency, secure behind Dalenguard’s stout gates. However, as time passed and the city grew, members of the elite class claimed these enviable heights for their residences, leaving the less wealthy to expand into the lower quarters. In addition to the homes of the wealthy and the services that cater to them, this district houses the Holy Palace, where the Prince of the Church lives. The Nobles’ Quarter holds the Crown Theater opera house, the Imperial Academy of Music, fabulous eating establishments, and other luxuries and sites of interest.Midtown
The Undercity Market
Although not a district of Glasgow, the Undercity Market, accessed by a wide staircase in the middle of Delver’s Square, is the place to go for most adventuring gear (although Ebbert’s Outfitters in Delver’s Square is a handy one-stop shop with good prices). Looking for potions? Try Urnst, Alchemist. For scrolls, try the gnome wizard Neridoc Bittersong, who runs a booth in the market under the sign “Arcane Scribe.” Also located here is the Explorer's Guild, an association that provides assistance in the form of maps, reference material, and equipment to explorers of the ancient areas below the streets of Glasgow. One can access the profoundly mysterious and magical Mirror Maze from the market as well. As the city grows, more people have begun to live in and around the Undercity Market and throughout the underground levels. This is particularly true of species not always welcome elsewhere—minotaurs, lizardfolk, orcs, and so on. Other districts include the Docks, Guildsman District, The Necropolis, North Market, Oldtown, Rivergate District, South Market, Temple District, and The Warrens.Guilds and Factions
Glasgow teems with various factions that all have their own agendas and secret goals. In brief, these include (but are not limited to) the following groups...
The Explorer's Guild
For the last five years, the Explorer's Guild has grown in influence, becoming both popular to join and wealthy. The guild offers its members information about job opportunities and events pertaining to the exploration of regions below Glasgow. It also maintains the city’s most extensive collection of maps of the underground realm and an impressive library for research. Headquartered in Baramunz, the guild has offices in cities across Dragonforged.Dreaming Apothecary
The Dreaming Apothecary may be more legend than fact. Those in the know claim that a secretive group of spellcasters crafts magic items for people, making transactions with them magically in their dreams. Darker rumors accuse these powerful mages of keeping others in the city from making magic items for profit by coercion, backed up by their formidable magical might. Potential customers can reach the group at Danbury’s in Delver’s Square.Healers of the Sacred Heat
Healers, physickers, and surgeons who use a magical process involving heat to heal wounds, the Healers of the Sacred Heat base themselves in the Temple District and offer inexpensive healing. It’s said to be painful, however. Theirs is not a place known to appeal to adventurers (who look for instantaneous and painless healing and have the gold to pay for it), but rather to locals for treating various chronic ailments.House of Artifice
A guild of artificers, tinkerers, builders, inventors, and architects - the House of Artifice is always pushing the limits of thing thought possible in the magic and technologyKeepers of the Veil
The Keepers of the Veil is an order of holy knights dedicated to the destruction of undead, specifically free-willed spirits that should have remained on their own side of the great veil of death. Occasionally they ally with a smaller group called the Knights of the Pale. The Keepers of the Veil has a fortress, the Siege Tower, on the edge of the Necropolis. They strive to eradicate the curse of the undead from the world forever. Their co-leaders are Sir Beck Von Tibbitz and a priestess named Phadian Gess.Shadow Hand
This thieves’ guild has enjoyed a long tradition in Glasgow, but many say its day has passed in light of the growing power of other, broader criminal organizations. Its headquarters is said to lie deep below the city.Sisterhood of Silence
Founded in Glasgow more than two hundred years ago, an all-female order calling itself the Sisterhood of Silence established itself as a major force for law and defense. While the order has since spread to other cities, the Priory of Introspection in Glasgow remains the central headquarters of the Sisterhood. As their name suggests, the Sisters of Silence do not speak. Instead, they employ a cadre of devout eunuchs to speak for them. Among themselves, they use a complex set of signs, postures, and expressions to convey vast amounts of information quickly.History
In the aftermath of the War of the Four Races, Glasgow was rebuilt to once again serve as a symbol of unity. Leading the efforts was Frederick Bauer , a simple commoner supposedly given divine guidance by the Watcher and who eventually became the first ruler of the city. Eventually, his son Titus murdered his father and usurped the throne. The city itself is rumored to have a history stretching back to the beginning of time and the ruins of eras past can be found deep beneath its streets.
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