Wharves

The docks of the Free City lie outside the city wall, below the noble mansions of the High Quarter.

Access to the city is provided, for pedestrians only, through the Wharfgate into the High Quarter. Access for freight and livestock, as well as some of the foot traffic, is through the Cargo Gate into the River Quarter.

The wharves are primarily rickety wooden docks extending into the muddy waters of the Selintan River. The river sweeps through a gentle curve here, and this has deepened the channel right up to the sides of the large docks, enabling the seafaring vessels from Woolly Bay to embark and debark goods and passengers. Countless smaller docks accommodate the shallow-draft river boats that ply their way between the Nyr Dyv and Woolly Bay, as well as the barges of the Rhennee and the numerous pleasure boats of the well-to-do.

The wharf is a relatively narrow strip, bounded by the water and the city wall. The High Quarter of Greyhawk rests on land more than 100 feet above the river, so for much of its length the wharf runs at the foot of the sheer bluff. The face of the bluff is precipitous, requiring a thiefs climbing ability, a rope from above, or a tall ladder to scale. Small patches of brush cling to its ledges and chimneys. The city wall runs at the top of the bluff, at the very lip of the precipice.

The wharf offers a couple of filthy taverns and some roach-infested eateries, but no other amenities. Space here is constricted, and hence too valuable for such frivolities. Instead, most of the landward side of the wharf is a continuous line of storage buildings, mingled with a few residences.

In addition, an Office of the Cargo Inspectorate is placed every 250 feet along the wharf. These are easily identified at night, because they are lighted and active while the rest of the wharf sleeps. Each is staffed by four City Watch members (see Ch2 FFF) and two Cargo Inspectors.

Cargo Inspectors: AC 4; MV 12; FS; THAC0 14; #AT l; dmg ld8 + 1 (long swords + 1)

These warehouses hold cargo on its way into or out of the city, as well as cargoes merely undergoing transfer from one vessel to another. The Cargo Inspectors must appraise each lot of items, collecting the cargo tax that adds such a significant amount to the city treasury. Every cargo of greater than 50 gp value must receive an entry stamp before being passed through the Cargo Gate and into the city. Obtaining this stamp can take 1d8 x 1 days, though the only actual cost is the payment of the Cargo Tax. It just seems to take the inspectors a long time to get around to the stamp.

Of course, a few gp in the right place - the palm of the cargo inspector, for those who still do not get the picture-can dramatically hasten stamping of the cargo approval. Such inspectors become virtual whirlwinds of efficiency when the bribe exceeds 1% of the cargo value. Otherwise, the bribe simply hastens the approval by a day or two.

In addition, the inspectors serve as the unofficial bouncers of the wharf district. Regular patrols of the watch are rarely summoned here. The inspectors reign as virtual dictators, and they are brutally effective in maintaining order.

DM's Notes: The caves west of Far Bank were described in WGA3 Flames of the Falcon, but they can be developed and expanded as the DM desires. They might connect to the dungeons under Castle Greyhawk. The castle ruins themselves are the major attraction for adventurers here, but this underground area has killed many explorers. The DM can create the ruined estate of Lord Robilar for exploration, but the area was sealed off and trapped by the Circle of Five and the Guild of Wizardry, making it extremely dangerous to investigate. Warning signs are posted all around the burned manor. Possibly, a secret route exists into the manor dungeons.

Optional links to the PLANESCAPE® and SPELLJAMMER® campaigns can be added to the Near Domain, placing the City of Greyhawk within a much broader setting. The following are some suggestions based in part on earlier material on the City of Greyhawk.

SPELLJAMMER options: The local clergy of Celestian keeps records of its voyages into the cosmos in a secret room below the Grey College Observatory. Few people know that some followers of Celestian actually voyage into wildspace (locally called Greyspace most people have the idea that Celestian’s congregation is supposed to travel to the stars, but this is not taken seriously. The clerics of Celestian keep news of their travels secret from outsiders. Details on Greyspace can be found in the SPELLJAMMER accessory SJR6 Greyspace and in the War Captain’s Companion boxed set, Book 1.

Snagtooth Shipbuilding (W4) does a low-key business with some spelljamming ships that strongly resemble normal sailing ships. These craft touch down in the Nyr Dyv or Woolly Bay, then sail along the Selintan to Greyhawk to quietly off-load cargo and take on new shipments. Nonhuman crew stay below decks in port. Fionor Clawhand knows all about wildspace, but he pretends to know nothing on the topic. He has some enemies in the __spelljamming trade and looks forward to taking revenge on them. Brack Snagtooth genuinely knows nothing about spelljammers and doesn’t care about it.

W1: Shack Town Pier. This large and unusually sturdy dock is used by locals for their boats or for fishing. Folklore has it that this is the same pier once used by the earliest rulers of Greyhawk, and that Shack Town grew from a few houses inhabited by servants of those rulers.

W2: Shrine of St. Cuthbert. This is the only “official” religious building here, though shrines to gods of luck and evil are rumored to exist in hidden places underground or in the woods nearby. A priest named Nicholi Nottoi [LG hm C3 — St. Cuthbert; hp 13; Int 16, Wis 18] works here among the poor, as he has for over two decades.

W3: Dockers’ and Wharfmen’s Union Hall. A two-story building at the east end of the Dockway, this spot is considered politically dangerous, as the union is lately tied to smuggling and other criminal activity though it stays clear of involvement with the Thieves’ Guild. The guildmaster is Screel Dorfman [NE hm F3; hp 14; Int 17], eldest son of the previous master (murdered in 588 Cy).

W4: Snagtooth Shipbuilding, This large building holds the best shipbuilding and ship repairs company in the area, The business is owned by the grumpy Brack Snagtooth [NG dm F12; hp 72; Str 17, ring of protection +4, battle axe +3], a dwarf who also runs the Barge Inn in the River Quarter. The shipbuilding company is managed by Fionor Clawhand [LN hm F6; hp 48; Str 18/00, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 16, ring of protection +3, battle axe +2], a shipbuilder formerly from Ratik. Over 40 people are employed here, making it the largest local business outside Greyhawk’s walls. Brack is the only dwarf in Greyhawk known to actually be divorced, a situation he never discusses. He is well regarded by other dwarves, but he loves telling jokes making fun of humans and elves. He is less stupid than he seems, Fionor is a superb manager and a skilled carpenter and shipwright.

W5: Alliance of Tenha Workers. This one-story building holds a labor union formed after a Shack Town riot turned into a massacre in Needfest 585 Cy, leaving 32 Tenha refugees dead. The Alliance oversees the needs of local Tenha workers and puts bite into their demands for better pay and working conditions. The ATW is very unpopular even with other guilds, who think the ATW is unnecessary and pushy. The ATW is managed by Archael Hamalen [CG hm 0-level; Cha 18], a long-time Tenha rabble-rouser and a superb speaker.