High City
Temple District
The temples in the Temple District are devoted to various gods, faiths, and pantheons. The priests here are willing to cast helpful spells in exchange for a donation in coins, gems, or art objects of a certain value,
Palace District
Middle City
Dwarven District
Market District
Entertainment District
Lower City
Docks District
Referred to as the drydock, the shipyards, or simply the yards, this large, flat area along the leading edge is where ships are built and repaired.
Living District
Steep District (in between Lower and Middle City)
Undercity
Fields District
Military District
High City
Starhaven (HQ)
Standing at the highest point topside, Andru’s palace of Starhaven crowns the Rock. Enclosed behind a wall, the seat of the ruling prince is a sprawling structure of gleaming domes and climbing vines.
The palace has many windows, all rendered shatterproof by magic. Attendants in impeccable livery see to the needs of the palace’s occupants, while armored guards stand vigilant around the grounds.
Library of the Spheres (Shop)
The Library of the Spheres boasts a vast collection of tomes, scrolls, and other manuscripts. The library doesn’t contain any books or scrolls of a magical nature, and none of its contents can be taken off the premises.
The Man-o’-War (Inn)
For those feeling fancy or for whom fanciness is a way of life, the Man-o’-War, with its view overlooking Lake Bral, is the finest restaurant and inn in the city. The establishment has a strict dress code, and guests are not permitted to carry weapons.
Shrii Hallek, a respectful female hadozee, manages the Man-o’-War for its mysterious owners, who are rumored to be adventurers.
Royal Theater Company
The Royal Theater has been in operation for over sixty years. The company’s lavish stage productions often feature magical illusions and pyrotechnical special effects.
Middle City
The Donjon (Military)
The Donjon is a walled fortification near the shore of Lake Bral where some offenders and malefactors against the crown are held. In addition to its role as an auxiliary barracks for the Royal Guard, the Donjon is where those judged too dangerous to serve sentences working the fields on the underside are imprisoned. The Warden of the Donjon is a plasmoid boss (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) named Ux.
The Edge (Tavern)
One of the largest and busiest taverns in Bral is the Edge, an establishment that’s popular among space travelers visiting the Rock. A chatty, philosophical thri-kreen mystic (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) named Vikka tends bar.
Elmandar’s Star Charts (Shop)
Elmandar, a retired elf adventurer, is Bral’s most accomplished astronomer. The star charts that he and his staff of cartographers create are highly sought after by navigators. These maps don’t come cheap, each one priced between 300 and 800 gold pieces, but the owner of an Elmandar map can bring it back to the shop at any time for an update at no charge.
Gaspar’s Reclamations (Shop)
Gaspar’s Reclamations specializes in recovering magic items, gems, and works of art on behalf of its clients. The firm makes a living by charging a modest “finder’s fee” for returning a lost item to its rightful owner. More important in the short term is the boost to its reputation that the business receives with every successful recovery.
Great Market (Market)
A chaotic expanse of small vendors, street performers, beggars, orators, merchants, and customers of all descriptions, the Great Market is the hub of the Middle City. During business hours, throngs of people swarm the area, and pickpockets dart among them to ply their own trade.
Juggler’s Folk Guildhouse (HQ)
Operating behind the facade of a small backstreet playhouse, the guild of thieves known as the Juggler’s Folk doubles as an acting company that puts on bawdy and crass comedies to maintain their ruse. The underbaron known as the Juggler operates out of the theater, occasionally performing before audiences unaware of her identity.
Red Masks Guildhouse (HQ)
The Red Masks are a group of violent youngsters fighting for influence on the Rock. They frequently come into conflict with members of the Juggler’s Folk. Fronted by a modest tavern, the Red Masks Guildhouse is located within a series of linked cellars beneath the streets. The tavern has no sign that bears its name, though a placard hanging over the door depicts a thrashing bull rendered crudely in red paint.
Most of the tavern’s patrons don’t suspect the establishment’s true purpose. Those who are here on guild business need to be admitted to the Red Masks’ secret sanctum before they are permitted to speak freely with the group’s leaders.
Mages’ Guildhall (HQ)
A sturdy three-story tower, the Mages’ Guildhall is the headquarters and meeting place of the Mages’ Guild of Bral. All arcane spellcasters in the city are entitled to join this loose federation, either as short-term guests or permanent, dues-paying members. The benefits of membership include access to hard-to-find spell components, the use of the guild’s research facilities, and the prospect of professional discourse with others of a similar mind.
The Smith’s Coster (Shop)
The largest and most successful merchant company based on the Rock is the Smith’s Coster, which maintains a fleet of trading vessels and several warship escorts. The company specializes in trafficking weapons—for instance, providing iron blades to a community that lacks smithing in exchange for furs and other valuable merchandise, or making firearms available to a culture in which they were previously unknown.
Valkan’s Legion (Military)
The largest group of soldiers on the Rock, aside from the forces commanded by the prince, belongs to the mercenary company called Valkan’s Legion. The organization maintains a building in the Middle City as a meeting place and mustering point for its members, who reside in their own homes when they’re not on active duty.
Led by the renowned Valkan Riogan, who heads up many of the legion’s larger operations personally, the company takes on missions on behalf of the crown as well as hiring out squads of soldiers to rich individuals who need protection or security on a temporary basis.
Lower City
The Happy Beholder (Tavern)
This prosperous tavern is owned and run by Large Luigi, a locally famous, lawful neutral beholder. Luigi has encyclopedic knowledge of all sorts of topics, and he’s more than happy to share information with just about anybody. He is a civic-minded, well-liked citizen who has no political ambitions. His tavern is rarely troubled by bullies or thieves.
Lesser Market (Market)
The Low City’s marketplace is much smaller and shabbier than the Great Market of the Middle City. Most of its structures are rickety stalls where small merchants peddle their wares. Though it draws its clientele mostly from the surrounding neighborhoods, the Lesser Market also attracts new arrivals, fresh from the docks, who are looking for a bargain or perhaps for something more sinister.
Mercane Agency (HQ)
Mercanes (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie) recently established a presence on the Rock by taking over an unmarked, inconspicuous building near the Lesser Market. The place is occupied by a small staff of agents who act as an intermediary between the mercanes and those who want to do business with them. Such business typically involves the purchase of spelljamming helms and other magic items.
The mercanes don’t advertise their involvement with the facility, nor do they visit the agency very often. When they do, it’s usually to conduct business with a particularly wealthy or influential client.
The Rockrat (Tavern)
Of all the taverns on Bral, the Rockrat has the reputation of being the most dilapidated and filthy. Its only concession to decoration is a few hanging pieces of damaged nautical gear. Its owner and proprietor is a friendly, foul-mouthed wererat named Maya.
Xenotermination, Ltd. (HQ)
This small group of highly capable combat specialists and spellcasters makes a living by hiring themselves out to capture or kill formidable Wildspace creatures. Typically, they are hired by an individual or a business whose welfare (financial or otherwise) is threatened by a monster that has defied less potent attempts to remove or subdue it.
From time to time, Xenotermination takes on temporary members, who are sought out because they have a particular talent. Anyone who wants to offer their services, on either a permanent or occasional basis, is welcome to visit the building where the present members of the group house themselves.
Undercity
The Citadel
The well-defended fortress at the center of the underside is the command center and barracks for Bral’s army. The Port Tower and the Starboard Tower are connected to the Citadel by narrow, covered walkways. Three passages branch off from each tower and end at smaller towers dispersed along the edges of the Rock. All these locations enable soldiers to maintain surveillance of the asteroid’s immediate environs, and they are equipped with ballistae and mangonels to defend against an invasion.
Fields
The fruits, vegetables, and grains harvested from the fields on the underside keep the Rock’s occupants well fed without the need for imported foodstuffs. The planting, cultivating, and harvesting of the produce are performed by farmers and a handful of convicts working off their sentences.
The work of the prisoners is loosely supervised by bands of army regulars.
Naval Base
Along the leading edge of the underside is an array of docks where ships of the royal navy are berthed. At any time, at least two or three ships are actively stationed at the docks, prepared to depart at a moment’s notice.
Just inland from the docks is a sprawling complex, the base proper, that includes a drydock area where most of the fleet is moored. The facility also contains barracks and mustering areas for captains and crews.
Prisoner Barracks
Convicts who have been sentenced to hard labor on the underside are housed in two rectangular, windowless buildings connected to the Citadel by narrow walkways. When they’re not out working the fields, prisoners are kept behind locked doors in the barracks and left to their own devices.
The Vanes
The vanes, extending out from four towers on the trailing side of the asteroid, are enormous sails that can be moved to generate a disturbance in the Rock’s air envelope, causing the Rock to rotate or turn in a certain direction if the need presents itself. If no other reason arises, the vanes are adjusted once every few months to ensure they’re in good operating condition.
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