Rayfelone
This ancient community has been around for centuries, being built upon and added too bit by bit. Just looking around this metropolis shows you the people that came before and how much has been taken over by the fae and there magic in the now.
The rich wealthy folk live very different lives to those with less fortune. Never mind the underground city that is a twisted reflection of the surface.
Government
An individual of the royal family governs the city, though they take advice from a council. About 5 percent of the population are involved in governing, and 2–8 municipal buildings/offices are required.
Defences
High walls block the outside world out, with guard towers and patrols. There are also griffin riders who watch from the skies, as well as ground troops around the city.
Industry & Trade
Most of the working class and lower class work in the mines in the mountains behind the city.
Export- A gemstone used by many arcane practitioners and magical artificers is abundant in the local mines.
Trade Goods- Furs, pelts, Copper, iron, Coal, Diamonds, emeralds
Resource Suitability:
Vital but Inaccessible. The city sits on a figurative “goldmine”—or perhaps a literal one—and is a vital source of materials or luxuries. Unfortunately, its geolocation is exceptionally difficult to access or is blocked/guarded by a daunting creature, organization, or magical effect.
Export- A gemstone used by many arcane practitioners and magical artificers is abundant in the local mines.
Trade Goods- Furs, pelts, Copper, iron, Coal, Diamonds, emeralds
Resource Suitability:
Vital but Inaccessible. The city sits on a figurative “goldmine”—or perhaps a literal one—and is a vital source of materials or luxuries. Unfortunately, its geolocation is exceptionally difficult to access or is blocked/guarded by a daunting creature, organization, or magical effect.
Districts
Government District:
A government district comprises any sections of the city containing institutions where most authoritative policies are legislated, adjudicated, and enforced. The type of institutions established by the city’s dominant political structure determines what types of architecture, features, and citizens inhabit the district. For example, individual access to the government district of a city ruled by a tyrannical monarch might be highly restricted. At the same time, an egalitarian merchant oligarchy might have an open government district with shops and homes interspersed with trade houses operated by five major trade princes, each geographically scattered in a different location within the city walls. A typical government district centres on a seat of authority surrounded by municipal buildings, businesses, and private residences. Guard District:
A guard district varies greatly depending on a city’s size, location, economics, trade goods, and citizenry’s disposition toward policing. Smaller towns likely don’t have an organized guard, though some might have a local neighbourhood watch of volunteers from the community that helps keep the peace, might favour more proactive interventions and public policy, or might hire a handful of soldiers from larger neighbouring communities to maintain the safety of the trade roads. Larger cities might have a local guard that functions at the behest of the city’s leadership or might host the royal military or a contingent of the queen’s guard. In many cases, the more professional guard organizations have a headquarters, a prison, and perhaps even a barracks to house the guard members when off duty. Market District:
A market serves a very simple but vital purpose: the purchase and trade of goods and services. Whether it is a single general store, a cluster of carts on a street corner, or a sprawling market square, the market is possibly the most universal of all districts, typically found in any city or town, regardless of size or wealth. After all, the residents all need the basics like food, clothing, and tools for their day-to-day lives, and those items must come from somewhere. Religious District:
A grand cathedral towers over the rest of the district, casting colourful shadows from stained-glass windows that seem to ward the neighbouring buildings like a shepherd over their flock. Priests mill about the gardens and graveyards, bestowing blessings. Parishioners congregate in anticipation of the next sermon. Religious districts house one or more places of worship, such as churches, temples, cathedrals, and mosques in addition to graveyards, mausoleums and catacombs, parsonage housing for clergy, and services that cater to the masses.
Artwork is common here with sculpture, painting, and musical works venerating religious leaders, messiahs, and saints, depicting scenes out of scripture, and glorying divine beings.
Priests maintain the daily routines of strengthening wards, blessing sacramental wine and water, performing rites for all sorts of ceremonies, and providing services for the sick—probably for a donation, though maybe not. Acolytes fulfil most of the other temple functions: delivering sermons to the congregation, leading community programs, keeping the grounds and chapel, and providing scribe services.
Religious services are frequent, ranging from small prayer circles and scripture meditations to sermons that fall upon hundreds of ears and appeal to core values and tenets of faith. Residential Districts:
Residential properties occupy most of any given city or town, and three factors divisively determine their distribution—income, culture, and heritage. In most populations, a dominant people determine the city’s culture, ethics, and value systems. They also maintain control over access to city resources and wealth. As a result, those individuals and communities with the most access to resources quickly gain the most power, leverage, and influence over the remainder of the city population, determining individual neighbourhoods' social and financial economics. The resulting division of a city’s communities by income and other factors, called social stratification, plays a significant role in a city’s overall layout and influences individuals, resources, shops, industries, homes, and services in various residential districts.
Closed. In this model, social structure divides the city’s various populations into specific districts based on their social class. In addition to wealth and privilege, other factors such as familial bloodlines, culture, religion, and heritage might drive these divisions. A closed model provides little (if any) possibility for social mobility. Typical social movement tends to be only horizontal in nature or downward as individuals or families lose wealth and privilege. Examples of a closed system include feudalism or a caste system.
Closed District. In this model, residential districts isolate themselves by class. Individuals of a similar social stratification occupy each district, creating upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class districts. Clear lines of demarcation call out district borders, which are often enforced by walls and city watch.
Wealth. Only individuals of a specific social status are permitted. Sewer/Underbelly District:
A labyrinthine complex of tunnels, sunken foundations, and repurposed caverns sprawls far beneath the city streets. Rusty sewer grates allow pale slivers of sunlight to cut into the gloom, illuminating murky cesspools and mould-coated masonry. The stench of waste created by the city’s ten thousand souls pervades the air, while the pitter-patter of tiny paws echoes through winding tunnels.
Spontaneous Sewer Situations. Though dark and hidden from the world above, all sorts of things can be found in the sewers—from useless trash to hidden treasure, interesting finds one might stumble across in the oft avoided bowels of a city. Roll a d20 and consult the Things Found in the Sewer table or choose an event/experience to enhance the atmosphere of a sewer trek.
A government district comprises any sections of the city containing institutions where most authoritative policies are legislated, adjudicated, and enforced. The type of institutions established by the city’s dominant political structure determines what types of architecture, features, and citizens inhabit the district. For example, individual access to the government district of a city ruled by a tyrannical monarch might be highly restricted. At the same time, an egalitarian merchant oligarchy might have an open government district with shops and homes interspersed with trade houses operated by five major trade princes, each geographically scattered in a different location within the city walls. A typical government district centres on a seat of authority surrounded by municipal buildings, businesses, and private residences. Guard District:
A guard district varies greatly depending on a city’s size, location, economics, trade goods, and citizenry’s disposition toward policing. Smaller towns likely don’t have an organized guard, though some might have a local neighbourhood watch of volunteers from the community that helps keep the peace, might favour more proactive interventions and public policy, or might hire a handful of soldiers from larger neighbouring communities to maintain the safety of the trade roads. Larger cities might have a local guard that functions at the behest of the city’s leadership or might host the royal military or a contingent of the queen’s guard. In many cases, the more professional guard organizations have a headquarters, a prison, and perhaps even a barracks to house the guard members when off duty. Market District:
A market serves a very simple but vital purpose: the purchase and trade of goods and services. Whether it is a single general store, a cluster of carts on a street corner, or a sprawling market square, the market is possibly the most universal of all districts, typically found in any city or town, regardless of size or wealth. After all, the residents all need the basics like food, clothing, and tools for their day-to-day lives, and those items must come from somewhere. Religious District:
A grand cathedral towers over the rest of the district, casting colourful shadows from stained-glass windows that seem to ward the neighbouring buildings like a shepherd over their flock. Priests mill about the gardens and graveyards, bestowing blessings. Parishioners congregate in anticipation of the next sermon. Religious districts house one or more places of worship, such as churches, temples, cathedrals, and mosques in addition to graveyards, mausoleums and catacombs, parsonage housing for clergy, and services that cater to the masses.
Artwork is common here with sculpture, painting, and musical works venerating religious leaders, messiahs, and saints, depicting scenes out of scripture, and glorying divine beings.
Priests maintain the daily routines of strengthening wards, blessing sacramental wine and water, performing rites for all sorts of ceremonies, and providing services for the sick—probably for a donation, though maybe not. Acolytes fulfil most of the other temple functions: delivering sermons to the congregation, leading community programs, keeping the grounds and chapel, and providing scribe services.
Religious services are frequent, ranging from small prayer circles and scripture meditations to sermons that fall upon hundreds of ears and appeal to core values and tenets of faith. Residential Districts:
Residential properties occupy most of any given city or town, and three factors divisively determine their distribution—income, culture, and heritage. In most populations, a dominant people determine the city’s culture, ethics, and value systems. They also maintain control over access to city resources and wealth. As a result, those individuals and communities with the most access to resources quickly gain the most power, leverage, and influence over the remainder of the city population, determining individual neighbourhoods' social and financial economics. The resulting division of a city’s communities by income and other factors, called social stratification, plays a significant role in a city’s overall layout and influences individuals, resources, shops, industries, homes, and services in various residential districts.
Closed. In this model, social structure divides the city’s various populations into specific districts based on their social class. In addition to wealth and privilege, other factors such as familial bloodlines, culture, religion, and heritage might drive these divisions. A closed model provides little (if any) possibility for social mobility. Typical social movement tends to be only horizontal in nature or downward as individuals or families lose wealth and privilege. Examples of a closed system include feudalism or a caste system.
Closed District. In this model, residential districts isolate themselves by class. Individuals of a similar social stratification occupy each district, creating upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class districts. Clear lines of demarcation call out district borders, which are often enforced by walls and city watch.
Wealth. Only individuals of a specific social status are permitted. Sewer/Underbelly District:
A labyrinthine complex of tunnels, sunken foundations, and repurposed caverns sprawls far beneath the city streets. Rusty sewer grates allow pale slivers of sunlight to cut into the gloom, illuminating murky cesspools and mould-coated masonry. The stench of waste created by the city’s ten thousand souls pervades the air, while the pitter-patter of tiny paws echoes through winding tunnels.
Spontaneous Sewer Situations. Though dark and hidden from the world above, all sorts of things can be found in the sewers—from useless trash to hidden treasure, interesting finds one might stumble across in the oft avoided bowels of a city. Roll a d20 and consult the Things Found in the Sewer table or choose an event/experience to enhance the atmosphere of a sewer trek.
Assets
Government District:
Castle. These extensively fortified compounds almost function as independent communities. Most have a throne room from where the ruler addresses the citizens, along with meeting chambers, feasting halls, and a private residence for the ruler and their families.
Businesses-
Information Broker. They sell information collected from scraps of dialogue and rumours to those who can afford it. The job isn’t legitimate and is considered illegal in some cities.
Inns. Nearly all visitors seeking the services of an inn are foreign dignitaries. Therefore, inns frequently cater to the needs of those from specific countries or cultures and can provide specialty items not typically available in the city. They can also provide locals with insight on said foreign clients.
Mendicant Guild Enclave. When merchants establish a guild within the government district, their primary intent is to negotiate trade laws and taxation. As a result, they can secure paperwork, often paying hefty taxes upfront to bend later regulations. Merchants also broker deals in advance, though they typically mark up the value in exchange for the convenience they provide. The same can be said of trading corporations.
Representatives. Representatives or scribes are hired to write out legal proposals and requests, and sages to research historical documents and legal precedent.
Taverns and Public Houses. As government districts tend to shut down at the end of the day, most of the taverns in the district cater their hours to the daytime crowd. As people with shared political agendas tend to stick together, a faction might adopt a tavern over time, giving the place the reputation of being associated with the faction. This relationship often becomes reciprocal, and the staff and tavernkeeper might aid faction members, providing them with tips on things they’ve heard or seen. They might even allow some long time patrons to use a back room for covert meetings or provide them with secret escape passages.
Municipal Buildings-
Archive. An archive provides a secure space for a government or institution to store historical, political, and financial data.
College. Some governments encourage the establishment of institutions to educate the scions of the wealthy in specific fields of studies, such as astrology, history, or politics.
Foreign Embassy. If a city maintains political relations with nearby cities or nations, it might establish buildings of political neutrality within its districts. Occasionally, the city’s ruler considers a foreign embassy as part of his jurisdiction, but typically, an embassy falls under the city or country’s judiciary law. Embassies can therefore offer individuals political asylum within their walls.
Gallows. Cities where certain crimes are punishable by death erect gallows. The gallows are located near a square or other prominent location, enabling citizens to witness the consequences of breaking city law. Gallows consist of an elevated wooden or stone platform topped with the device(s) used to perform the execution, such as a chopping block, gibbet pole, or guillotine.
Jail. Most government districts have a small jail used to hold prisoners before and after sentencing. Officials only use it to detain petty criminals or those without prior convictions.
Meeting Houses. Community-based congregations use these buildings to gather and share concerns and propose solutions for common issues concerning property resources and rights. Most meetings are small affairs open only to community members. After discussing their concerns and voting for proposals, they appoint representatives to present the issues to the seat of authority. Municipal Offices-
Court Offices. Court offices hold court records, wills, treatises, legal documents, and references on law and adjudication.
Currency Exchange. Exchanges swap out foreign coins for local currency. They typically weigh the coins to make sure the currency is worth its weight in gold.
Notary Public. An official court representative seals letters or notarizes documents such as deeds and trade agreements for a fee.
Pardon Seller. Individuals can pay steep fees to purchase official pardons for lesser, non-violent crimes such as tax delinquency, breaking curfew, or lying under oath in some cities. Certain officials might also sell pardons to license activities such as trespassing, breaking-and-entering, search and seizure, assault, and manslaughter that might occur due to a private investigation, debt collection, mercenary work, or bounty hunting.
Property Offices. Property offices are responsible for licensing and selling property and for holding deeds, records of land sales, and taxation of property.
Tax Office. The office runs the city’s tax collection services and processes all paperwork or bookkeeping associated with taxation. They also issue warrants and fines for any unpaid taxes, tax fraud, or evasion.
Residential Homes. Typically, citizens with government jobs reside within the district. Individuals such as nobles or politicians generally live in grand manses. In contrast, service providers such as scullery maids, coachmen, and tavernkeepers reside in smaller homes, tenements, or rooms at their place of employment. Guard District:
Family Housing. An alternative to barracks, the city might supply guard members with housing nearby, allowing them to live with their family in government-funded lodgings. This might consist of apartments, rowhouses, or even large manors for those who have spent many years in service and have worked their way into high-level positions. Some guards might have the opportunity to work off the cost of the housing and eventually own the residence outright, granting them the ability to sell it when they retire or pass it down to their heirs as part of their inheritance.
Guard Barracks. In a city with a particularly large guard population (or a particularly well-funded guard), a guard barracks might be part of the headquarters complex. A building or set of buildings kept for housing the members of the guard, the barracks might include bunk rooms or bunk houses, a mess hall, and a training yard. Guards can be found in the barracks at any time, day or night, either on shift or off. The barracks might be closed to outside visitors, or they might have an open-door policy, allowing escorted guests access to the buildings.
Guard Stations. Like sentry boxes, guard stations can be found anywhere in a city, set at high-traffic areas to monitor the populace and discourage ne’er-do-wells. Holding anywhere from one to six guards at a time, a guard station might have a small holding cell for particularly disruptive or violent criminals and magical means of contacting headquarters to call for backup whenever necessary. Citizens can approach a guard station for aid or to report crimes. Guard stations might have overlapping, rotating shifts or, in the case of stations positioned in distant parts of the city, might have a cot and only a few guards that take longer shifts but remain at the station while resting.
Headquarters. The main offices for the city guard, the headquarters might consist of a single large building or a cluster of smaller structures, each designated for a different purpose. Typically, the headquarters holds the offices of the high-ranking guards and any administrative members of the organization. Guards might report to headquarters before and after shifts to check in with their superiors or to retrieve or return issued equipment. Any records, such as arrest records, guard rosters, shift rotations, and incident reports are kept at the guard headquarters, and any evidence collected over the course of an investigation can also be found here, likely under lock and key. The headquarters is typically teeming with guards, both on and off duty. Attempting any sort of criminal activity or disruptive shenanigans within or near the headquarters likely results in a quick response from the guard.
Kennels. A well-rounded guard keeps trained animals to track down missing persons, culprits, illicit substances, and even illegal magics. Canines are frequently trained for such work, but other creatures might be better suited for any given city and job. The kennels are likely near the headquarters and might even house one or more trainers and handlers on the property. Guards might have specific animals they have trained and bonded with, or they might use whatever creature is available to them when needed.
Military Garrison. If the city is home to the royal family or is the capital city of the realm, housing its seat of the government, the city guard might be a dedicated branch of the military tasked with overseeing the safety of the city and its citizens. In this case, the guard district might take up a much larger portion of the city or might even consist of a fort or other heavily fortified complex. The headquarters, prison, barracks, and stables are all part of the military garrison, all kept within (or in proximity to) any protective walls. Hundreds of guards might be found in such a garrison at any given time, so infiltrating such a stronghold would prove challenging.
Prison. The prison might be found in the same complex as the guard headquarters, or it might be stationed in another part of the city altogether. The prison houses both convicted criminals and those accused of a crime but awaiting judgement. Depending on the size of the city, the prison can be as small as a handful of cells with minimal guard presence or as large as a massive, sprawling high-security complex with magical wards, guard animals, and a constant patrol. The treatment of the prisoners within can vary to extremes, depending on the level of corruption within the guard and whether the society values punishment or rehabilitation.
Sentry Box. A sentry box is a small structure with a roof and an open side, typically meant for one guard to take shelter from the elements. Sentry boxes can be found in front of important buildings or at the corners of busy intersections. While they do not themselves make up an entire district, they can be places where guards congregate as they change shifts. Sentry boxes are likely simple and mundane, but high-magic settings or wealthy cities might have sentry boxes equipped with magical communication, scrying magic, or even teleportation circles for speedy travel to and from the guard headquarters or prison.
Stables. The stables are used to house the guard’s mounts (if used). The type of stables varies, depending on the mount: horses and similar creatures are kept in stalls that measure 12–14 feet square. Larger mounts, flying mounts, or mounts with specialized needs require more customized lodgings. The stables can also include a yard for the exercise and training of the mounts, and one or more handlers who are proficient in the care of the mounts might stay on the premises.
Sample Shops and Establishments:
Blacksmith-
Magic Shop-
Tavern-
Social club and part gambling den-
Market District:
General Goods Store. A small village might have a simple general goods store. This could be a standalone building or might even occupy the ground floor of a row house. The store carries the basics and is often stocked with things like dry goods, salted meats, seeds, animal feed, ink and paper, simple clothing, and tools for crafts like sewing and carpentry. The store might occasionally carry fresh produce, candies, books, and other luxuries, depending on when the last shipment arrived and from where. The store often serves as a communication hub, delivering and receiving letters to and from outside the community. Depending on the nature of the town, the store might function on the barter system, might accept coin, or both. Locals might also have a line of credit, due to the seasonal nature of farming communities.
Permanent Shops and Storefronts. Most cities or towns of any notable size have a permanent market district made up of shops and storefronts near one another. While there still might be general stores and shops for common goods, these storefronts allow for a much more specialized approach, with shops dedicated to specific, niche markets supporting a much more discerning clientele. These shops might be found clustered around the town square or along the most well-travelled street, and a larger city might have several market districts that cater to different economic brackets. This market district might also include housing, either as flats above the shops themselves (rented out or lived in by the shopkeeper) or interspersed between or behind the shops.
Temporary Market. The temporary market serves multiple purposes and can be found in any city or town, from the smallest hamlet to the largest metropolis. Whether it’s weekly, monthly, or just once a year, the temporary market might only last for a day or two, but it offers products not found regularly in the established local market. In a smaller town, that could simply mean fresh produce, new livestock, flowers, and other seasonal goods from the local farms or from outside the immediate area. In a larger city, a temporary market might be a week-long affair with vendors and craftsmen from far and wide with uncommon goods both mundane and magical.
Hat shop-
Magic shop-
Fruit stall-
Herbalist shop-
Candy shop-
Religious District:
Structures in a religious district typically have purpose couched in symbolism. The buildings and sculptures are designed to extol virtues important to the local faith, the saints and heroes, and the glories of the locally worshipped gods. When populating this district with monument features, consider the story behind each of them. Are they designed by the same person or organization? What is their purpose and how is the theme of the district reflected in the art of the monuments? Residential Districts:
City Watch Station. Some districts build guardhouses. Larger cities might offer guards a communal place of residence within a district they service. Others might build smaller huts as check-in stations or offices. Courier’s Offices. Couriers provide citizens the ability to send messages. Some services use trained birds or send magical messages, but most send runners to deliver letters on foot. A courier’s office might also have a scribe to whom the illiterate can dictate notes.
Hospitals. A hospital provides a variety of medical procedures such as minor surgeries, lobotomies, amputations, leech treatments, cauterizations, acupuncture, and shock treatments.
Sanatorium. A sanatorium houses individuals suffering from long-term chronic illnesses. Officials often place sanatoriums in remote districts to limit the spread of contagions.
Upper-Class:
Bathhouse. A large building run by a staff of servants, debtors, or eunuchs. Various rooms have tiled pools filled with different temperature baths, saunas, massage tables, oak leaves and oils, and more. Politicians and powerful criminals often use them to hold secret meetings.
Coach House. A facility found in wealthy neighbourhoods where the aristocracy can rent fancy horse-drawn coaches. The coach house also provides drivers and has connections to respectable bodyguards to protect wealthy or famous clientele.
Manse. Upper aristocracy frequently built grandiose, ostentatiously decorated homes with multiple rooms. In addition to family members, a manse requires a bailiff and other house staff to maintain. Most rest on equally impressive grounds with elements such as bathing pools and topiary guards.
Middle-Class:
Cottages. Slightly larger than a shack, perhaps with a separate room for sleeping, cottages sit on small plots of land and are often leased from the owner. In more upscale communities, a wealthy landowner might have a cottage or two used to house servants. Those from the working class that serve wealthier individuals might have managed to scrape enough together to buy a small cottage in or near a wealthier district.
House. In wealthy communities, individuals own homes with properties that accommodate families.
Library. A public or privately owned building that holds a shared collection of books overseen by a sage or lore master and a small collective of apprentices.
Museum. Some communities might have public or privately funded buildings that display cultural, historical, or political artifacts.
Lower-Class:
Asylum. These facilities provide long-term care for individuals suffering from mental illness.
Flophouse. Established by a church or other source of welfare, a flophouse provides shelter for the downtrodden. Some supplement their meagre funds by renting rooms. Rooms are shared, and they might have one or more common rooms. The house asks no more than a paltry copper or two to enter and provides shared meals of watery soup or gruel. The open-door policy makes it difficult to track individuals coming and going, so some flophouses serve as cover for criminal activity.
Nursing Home. Funded by churches or welfare provided by donations, nursing homes provide care for elderly folk without sufficient means for caring for themselves.
Orphanage. Established to provide long-term care for orphaned children, these facilities are usually funded through welfare provided by a church.
Row Houses. These homes share external walls, though they have separate facades and private entrances. A row of homes runs the length of the block. They are common in many wards in large or overcrowded cities.
Shacks. These buildings have a single multifunction room and are situated on a communal property owned by a wealthy landowner. Residents pay the landowner by providing a service or tribute for the plot on the shared property.
Tenements. Tenements consist of large stone or brick multifamily dwellings too-often owned by greedy aristocrats whose residents pay their leases with indentured labour or garnished wages and commodities. The civic structure sets the standards for lease agreements and regulates them with law enforcement. Sewer/Underbelly District:
Black Market. The community acquires its wealth by buying and selling stolen goods, shaving coins, or melting down silverware.
A Rogue’s Favourite Hangout. A dive bar is often the preferred spot for criminals and ne’er-do-wells to gather: a place where they can conduct business, hatch nefarious plots, drink away their woes, and engage in leisurely, if sometimes cruel, activities. A bar in a sewer or underbelly might be a repurposed cistern, a well-hidden speakeasy guarded by monstrous bouncers, or even a topside tavern’s boarded-up basement. All manner of vices can be found there if one’s prepared to pay and doubly prepared for the risks. Even if not prepared, fly-by-night crooks usually won’t mind, offering their services with honeyed words and wild-eyed cheer.
For under-the-table services and risky propositions to give an establishment an unscrupulous veneer, roll a d6 and consult the Underworld Meetups table or choose an option.
Castle. These extensively fortified compounds almost function as independent communities. Most have a throne room from where the ruler addresses the citizens, along with meeting chambers, feasting halls, and a private residence for the ruler and their families.
Businesses-
Information Broker. They sell information collected from scraps of dialogue and rumours to those who can afford it. The job isn’t legitimate and is considered illegal in some cities.
Inns. Nearly all visitors seeking the services of an inn are foreign dignitaries. Therefore, inns frequently cater to the needs of those from specific countries or cultures and can provide specialty items not typically available in the city. They can also provide locals with insight on said foreign clients.
Mendicant Guild Enclave. When merchants establish a guild within the government district, their primary intent is to negotiate trade laws and taxation. As a result, they can secure paperwork, often paying hefty taxes upfront to bend later regulations. Merchants also broker deals in advance, though they typically mark up the value in exchange for the convenience they provide. The same can be said of trading corporations.
Representatives. Representatives or scribes are hired to write out legal proposals and requests, and sages to research historical documents and legal precedent.
Taverns and Public Houses. As government districts tend to shut down at the end of the day, most of the taverns in the district cater their hours to the daytime crowd. As people with shared political agendas tend to stick together, a faction might adopt a tavern over time, giving the place the reputation of being associated with the faction. This relationship often becomes reciprocal, and the staff and tavernkeeper might aid faction members, providing them with tips on things they’ve heard or seen. They might even allow some long time patrons to use a back room for covert meetings or provide them with secret escape passages.
Municipal Buildings-
Archive. An archive provides a secure space for a government or institution to store historical, political, and financial data.
College. Some governments encourage the establishment of institutions to educate the scions of the wealthy in specific fields of studies, such as astrology, history, or politics.
Foreign Embassy. If a city maintains political relations with nearby cities or nations, it might establish buildings of political neutrality within its districts. Occasionally, the city’s ruler considers a foreign embassy as part of his jurisdiction, but typically, an embassy falls under the city or country’s judiciary law. Embassies can therefore offer individuals political asylum within their walls.
Gallows. Cities where certain crimes are punishable by death erect gallows. The gallows are located near a square or other prominent location, enabling citizens to witness the consequences of breaking city law. Gallows consist of an elevated wooden or stone platform topped with the device(s) used to perform the execution, such as a chopping block, gibbet pole, or guillotine.
Jail. Most government districts have a small jail used to hold prisoners before and after sentencing. Officials only use it to detain petty criminals or those without prior convictions.
Meeting Houses. Community-based congregations use these buildings to gather and share concerns and propose solutions for common issues concerning property resources and rights. Most meetings are small affairs open only to community members. After discussing their concerns and voting for proposals, they appoint representatives to present the issues to the seat of authority. Municipal Offices-
Court Offices. Court offices hold court records, wills, treatises, legal documents, and references on law and adjudication.
Currency Exchange. Exchanges swap out foreign coins for local currency. They typically weigh the coins to make sure the currency is worth its weight in gold.
Notary Public. An official court representative seals letters or notarizes documents such as deeds and trade agreements for a fee.
Pardon Seller. Individuals can pay steep fees to purchase official pardons for lesser, non-violent crimes such as tax delinquency, breaking curfew, or lying under oath in some cities. Certain officials might also sell pardons to license activities such as trespassing, breaking-and-entering, search and seizure, assault, and manslaughter that might occur due to a private investigation, debt collection, mercenary work, or bounty hunting.
Property Offices. Property offices are responsible for licensing and selling property and for holding deeds, records of land sales, and taxation of property.
Tax Office. The office runs the city’s tax collection services and processes all paperwork or bookkeeping associated with taxation. They also issue warrants and fines for any unpaid taxes, tax fraud, or evasion.
Residential Homes. Typically, citizens with government jobs reside within the district. Individuals such as nobles or politicians generally live in grand manses. In contrast, service providers such as scullery maids, coachmen, and tavernkeepers reside in smaller homes, tenements, or rooms at their place of employment. Guard District:
Family Housing. An alternative to barracks, the city might supply guard members with housing nearby, allowing them to live with their family in government-funded lodgings. This might consist of apartments, rowhouses, or even large manors for those who have spent many years in service and have worked their way into high-level positions. Some guards might have the opportunity to work off the cost of the housing and eventually own the residence outright, granting them the ability to sell it when they retire or pass it down to their heirs as part of their inheritance.
Guard Barracks. In a city with a particularly large guard population (or a particularly well-funded guard), a guard barracks might be part of the headquarters complex. A building or set of buildings kept for housing the members of the guard, the barracks might include bunk rooms or bunk houses, a mess hall, and a training yard. Guards can be found in the barracks at any time, day or night, either on shift or off. The barracks might be closed to outside visitors, or they might have an open-door policy, allowing escorted guests access to the buildings.
Guard Stations. Like sentry boxes, guard stations can be found anywhere in a city, set at high-traffic areas to monitor the populace and discourage ne’er-do-wells. Holding anywhere from one to six guards at a time, a guard station might have a small holding cell for particularly disruptive or violent criminals and magical means of contacting headquarters to call for backup whenever necessary. Citizens can approach a guard station for aid or to report crimes. Guard stations might have overlapping, rotating shifts or, in the case of stations positioned in distant parts of the city, might have a cot and only a few guards that take longer shifts but remain at the station while resting.
Headquarters. The main offices for the city guard, the headquarters might consist of a single large building or a cluster of smaller structures, each designated for a different purpose. Typically, the headquarters holds the offices of the high-ranking guards and any administrative members of the organization. Guards might report to headquarters before and after shifts to check in with their superiors or to retrieve or return issued equipment. Any records, such as arrest records, guard rosters, shift rotations, and incident reports are kept at the guard headquarters, and any evidence collected over the course of an investigation can also be found here, likely under lock and key. The headquarters is typically teeming with guards, both on and off duty. Attempting any sort of criminal activity or disruptive shenanigans within or near the headquarters likely results in a quick response from the guard.
Kennels. A well-rounded guard keeps trained animals to track down missing persons, culprits, illicit substances, and even illegal magics. Canines are frequently trained for such work, but other creatures might be better suited for any given city and job. The kennels are likely near the headquarters and might even house one or more trainers and handlers on the property. Guards might have specific animals they have trained and bonded with, or they might use whatever creature is available to them when needed.
Military Garrison. If the city is home to the royal family or is the capital city of the realm, housing its seat of the government, the city guard might be a dedicated branch of the military tasked with overseeing the safety of the city and its citizens. In this case, the guard district might take up a much larger portion of the city or might even consist of a fort or other heavily fortified complex. The headquarters, prison, barracks, and stables are all part of the military garrison, all kept within (or in proximity to) any protective walls. Hundreds of guards might be found in such a garrison at any given time, so infiltrating such a stronghold would prove challenging.
Prison. The prison might be found in the same complex as the guard headquarters, or it might be stationed in another part of the city altogether. The prison houses both convicted criminals and those accused of a crime but awaiting judgement. Depending on the size of the city, the prison can be as small as a handful of cells with minimal guard presence or as large as a massive, sprawling high-security complex with magical wards, guard animals, and a constant patrol. The treatment of the prisoners within can vary to extremes, depending on the level of corruption within the guard and whether the society values punishment or rehabilitation.
Sentry Box. A sentry box is a small structure with a roof and an open side, typically meant for one guard to take shelter from the elements. Sentry boxes can be found in front of important buildings or at the corners of busy intersections. While they do not themselves make up an entire district, they can be places where guards congregate as they change shifts. Sentry boxes are likely simple and mundane, but high-magic settings or wealthy cities might have sentry boxes equipped with magical communication, scrying magic, or even teleportation circles for speedy travel to and from the guard headquarters or prison.
Stables. The stables are used to house the guard’s mounts (if used). The type of stables varies, depending on the mount: horses and similar creatures are kept in stalls that measure 12–14 feet square. Larger mounts, flying mounts, or mounts with specialized needs require more customized lodgings. The stables can also include a yard for the exercise and training of the mounts, and one or more handlers who are proficient in the care of the mounts might stay on the premises.
Sample Shops and Establishments:
Blacksmith-
Magic Shop-
Tavern-
Social club and part gambling den-
Market District:
General Goods Store. A small village might have a simple general goods store. This could be a standalone building or might even occupy the ground floor of a row house. The store carries the basics and is often stocked with things like dry goods, salted meats, seeds, animal feed, ink and paper, simple clothing, and tools for crafts like sewing and carpentry. The store might occasionally carry fresh produce, candies, books, and other luxuries, depending on when the last shipment arrived and from where. The store often serves as a communication hub, delivering and receiving letters to and from outside the community. Depending on the nature of the town, the store might function on the barter system, might accept coin, or both. Locals might also have a line of credit, due to the seasonal nature of farming communities.
Permanent Shops and Storefronts. Most cities or towns of any notable size have a permanent market district made up of shops and storefronts near one another. While there still might be general stores and shops for common goods, these storefronts allow for a much more specialized approach, with shops dedicated to specific, niche markets supporting a much more discerning clientele. These shops might be found clustered around the town square or along the most well-travelled street, and a larger city might have several market districts that cater to different economic brackets. This market district might also include housing, either as flats above the shops themselves (rented out or lived in by the shopkeeper) or interspersed between or behind the shops.
Temporary Market. The temporary market serves multiple purposes and can be found in any city or town, from the smallest hamlet to the largest metropolis. Whether it’s weekly, monthly, or just once a year, the temporary market might only last for a day or two, but it offers products not found regularly in the established local market. In a smaller town, that could simply mean fresh produce, new livestock, flowers, and other seasonal goods from the local farms or from outside the immediate area. In a larger city, a temporary market might be a week-long affair with vendors and craftsmen from far and wide with uncommon goods both mundane and magical.
Hat shop-
Magic shop-
Fruit stall-
Herbalist shop-
Candy shop-
Religious District:
Structures in a religious district typically have purpose couched in symbolism. The buildings and sculptures are designed to extol virtues important to the local faith, the saints and heroes, and the glories of the locally worshipped gods. When populating this district with monument features, consider the story behind each of them. Are they designed by the same person or organization? What is their purpose and how is the theme of the district reflected in the art of the monuments? Residential Districts:
City Watch Station. Some districts build guardhouses. Larger cities might offer guards a communal place of residence within a district they service. Others might build smaller huts as check-in stations or offices. Courier’s Offices. Couriers provide citizens the ability to send messages. Some services use trained birds or send magical messages, but most send runners to deliver letters on foot. A courier’s office might also have a scribe to whom the illiterate can dictate notes.
Hospitals. A hospital provides a variety of medical procedures such as minor surgeries, lobotomies, amputations, leech treatments, cauterizations, acupuncture, and shock treatments.
Sanatorium. A sanatorium houses individuals suffering from long-term chronic illnesses. Officials often place sanatoriums in remote districts to limit the spread of contagions.
Upper-Class:
Bathhouse. A large building run by a staff of servants, debtors, or eunuchs. Various rooms have tiled pools filled with different temperature baths, saunas, massage tables, oak leaves and oils, and more. Politicians and powerful criminals often use them to hold secret meetings.
Coach House. A facility found in wealthy neighbourhoods where the aristocracy can rent fancy horse-drawn coaches. The coach house also provides drivers and has connections to respectable bodyguards to protect wealthy or famous clientele.
Manse. Upper aristocracy frequently built grandiose, ostentatiously decorated homes with multiple rooms. In addition to family members, a manse requires a bailiff and other house staff to maintain. Most rest on equally impressive grounds with elements such as bathing pools and topiary guards.
Middle-Class:
Cottages. Slightly larger than a shack, perhaps with a separate room for sleeping, cottages sit on small plots of land and are often leased from the owner. In more upscale communities, a wealthy landowner might have a cottage or two used to house servants. Those from the working class that serve wealthier individuals might have managed to scrape enough together to buy a small cottage in or near a wealthier district.
House. In wealthy communities, individuals own homes with properties that accommodate families.
Library. A public or privately owned building that holds a shared collection of books overseen by a sage or lore master and a small collective of apprentices.
Museum. Some communities might have public or privately funded buildings that display cultural, historical, or political artifacts.
Lower-Class:
Asylum. These facilities provide long-term care for individuals suffering from mental illness.
Flophouse. Established by a church or other source of welfare, a flophouse provides shelter for the downtrodden. Some supplement their meagre funds by renting rooms. Rooms are shared, and they might have one or more common rooms. The house asks no more than a paltry copper or two to enter and provides shared meals of watery soup or gruel. The open-door policy makes it difficult to track individuals coming and going, so some flophouses serve as cover for criminal activity.
Nursing Home. Funded by churches or welfare provided by donations, nursing homes provide care for elderly folk without sufficient means for caring for themselves.
Orphanage. Established to provide long-term care for orphaned children, these facilities are usually funded through welfare provided by a church.
Row Houses. These homes share external walls, though they have separate facades and private entrances. A row of homes runs the length of the block. They are common in many wards in large or overcrowded cities.
Shacks. These buildings have a single multifunction room and are situated on a communal property owned by a wealthy landowner. Residents pay the landowner by providing a service or tribute for the plot on the shared property.
Tenements. Tenements consist of large stone or brick multifamily dwellings too-often owned by greedy aristocrats whose residents pay their leases with indentured labour or garnished wages and commodities. The civic structure sets the standards for lease agreements and regulates them with law enforcement. Sewer/Underbelly District:
Black Market. The community acquires its wealth by buying and selling stolen goods, shaving coins, or melting down silverware.
A Rogue’s Favourite Hangout. A dive bar is often the preferred spot for criminals and ne’er-do-wells to gather: a place where they can conduct business, hatch nefarious plots, drink away their woes, and engage in leisurely, if sometimes cruel, activities. A bar in a sewer or underbelly might be a repurposed cistern, a well-hidden speakeasy guarded by monstrous bouncers, or even a topside tavern’s boarded-up basement. All manner of vices can be found there if one’s prepared to pay and doubly prepared for the risks. Even if not prepared, fly-by-night crooks usually won’t mind, offering their services with honeyed words and wild-eyed cheer.
For under-the-table services and risky propositions to give an establishment an unscrupulous veneer, roll a d6 and consult the Underworld Meetups table or choose an option.
Guilds and Factions
Craft guilds (who skilfully make and sell goods):
Apothecaries-
Armorers and Weaponcrafters-
Bakers and Cooks-
Bookbinders, Calligraphers, and Scribes-
Brewers, Distillers, and Vintners-
Carpenters and Roofers-
Cartographers and Surveyors-
Chandlers and Lampmakers-
Cordwainers and Cobblers-
Glassworkers-
Jewellers and Gemcutters-
Leatherworkers-
Locksmiths and Artificers-
Masons-
Metalsmiths-
Painters-
Perfumers-
Potters and Tilemakers-
Shipwrights-
Tailors and Clothiers-
Tinkers-
Toymakers-
Wagonmakers and Wheelwrights-
Weavers and Dyers-
Woodcrafters and Coopers-
Merchant guilds (who sell goods and services but don’t make them):
Adventuring gear-
Antiques and curios-
Books and scrolls-
Cheese-
Fine clothes-
Furs-
Gems-
Gold or silver-
Horses-
Livestock-
Meat or fish-
Rugs and carpets-
Salt-
Silk-
Spices-
Timber-
Weapons or armour-
Wine-
Wool-
Magic items-
Illicit guilds (who are up to no good):
Assassins/cutthroats-
Beggars-
Blackmailers-
Brothel keepers/pimps-
Cat burglars-
Con artists/grifters-
Corrupt officials/bent coppers-
Counterfeiters/forgers-
Enforcers/street toughs-
Fences/black-market merchants-
Footpads/street robbers-
Highway robbers-
Loan sharks-
Lookouts-
Pickpockets/cutpurses-
Pit bosses-
Racketeers-
Safecrackers-
Slavers-
Smugglers-
Mage guild-
Entertainers:
Bard guild-
Actors guild-
Laborers’ guilds:
Gravediggers’-
Launderers’-
Ratcatchers’-
Sewer Workers’-
Teamsters’-
Professions and Services:
Advocates and Litigators-
Barbers and Barber Surgeons-
Courtesans-
Innkeepers and Taverners-
Money Changers and Pawnbrokers-
Pilots-
Sages and Scholars-
Points of interest
Politics. The capital city of the realm, this city houses the ruler(s) and hundreds of other politicians.
Tourism. Clear water said to cure any illness or affliction pours from a crack in the cliffs just outside of town. Magical Features in a City:
For Everyone-
Tourism. Clear water said to cure any illness or affliction pours from a crack in the cliffs just outside of town. Magical Features in a City:
For Everyone-
- Incinerator golems patrol the streets in tight circuits, collecting and consuming the city’s trash.
- Streetlights are powered by continual flame spells.
- Homes are equipped with magical devices that allow the residents to communicate with one another over long distances, even from one side of the city to the other.
- Healing for any ailment can be obtained at the neighbourhood clinic or temple with little to no waiting.
- Members of the city watch are accompanied by two summoned guardians (similar to conjure elementals, spirit guardians, or faithful hound, and other such spells) at all times.
- Nourishment stations are located throughout the city. These market stalls provide magically conjured food for little to no cost.
- A shop in the wealthier district of town sells magical pets, including creatures from various planes of existence.
- The local cisterns are inscribed with magical runes to clean and purify the city’s water.
- Magical statuary (like animated armour or stone golems) stand guard in front of homes and government buildings.
- Carriages with open tops (allowing the passenger to see and be seen) are common. The carriages are magically warded from the elements, as if encircled by a moveable tiny hut (as the spell), and drive when commanded by the driver without the need for a horse or engine.
- Homes feature arcane locks that are difficult to pick with mundane thieves’ tools.
- A local haberdashery sells hats enchanted with illusion magic that covers blemishes and enhances (or diminishes) certain facial features.
Architecture
The buildings are mainly made out of stone, with small bits of wood woven throughout. There are small carvings in the stones, maybe they tell a story!
Geography
The terrain is snowy mountains with natural water source coming from them.
Climate
Polar Climate:
Cities in polar climates are adapted to the frigid temperatures they experience year-round. Water abounds in these regions, typically frozen but readily available for hardworking and resourceful societies. Magicians and architects use the snow and ice to their advantage, incorporating the elements into their architecture and fortifications. Blizzards and snowstorms reach devastating levels of ferocity. Sunlight during the day can be blinding when reflected off the snow, but for some of the year, the sun never rises, leaving the region in perpetual night.
City Planning. With rare exceptions, crops fail to grow reliably in polar climates, making hunting and fishing the preferred means of sourcing food and warmth as well as driving trade. Buildings are often packed close together or connected via enclosed passages.
Culture. Furred animal hides coated in fat are preferred over moisture-absorbing fabrics or frigid metals. Survival is so much more vital in these regions than in other climates and drives community togetherness, eschewing personal boundaries in favour of communal warmth.
Cities in polar climates are adapted to the frigid temperatures they experience year-round. Water abounds in these regions, typically frozen but readily available for hardworking and resourceful societies. Magicians and architects use the snow and ice to their advantage, incorporating the elements into their architecture and fortifications. Blizzards and snowstorms reach devastating levels of ferocity. Sunlight during the day can be blinding when reflected off the snow, but for some of the year, the sun never rises, leaving the region in perpetual night.
City Planning. With rare exceptions, crops fail to grow reliably in polar climates, making hunting and fishing the preferred means of sourcing food and warmth as well as driving trade. Buildings are often packed close together or connected via enclosed passages.
Culture. Furred animal hides coated in fat are preferred over moisture-absorbing fabrics or frigid metals. Survival is so much more vital in these regions than in other climates and drives community togetherness, eschewing personal boundaries in favour of communal warmth.
Maps
-
Rayfelone
The capital of Brawall
Founding Date
11th of Fladukius, -499 BF
Alternative Name(s)
Capital of Brawall
Type
Metropolis
Population
34,732
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Additional Rulers/Owners
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
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