Keep Quarter

This southern section of Central Island houses the government buildings — the Keep, the brig, stockade and jail, the main Guildhall where all the guild burghers gather, the High Burgess’ Hall where business of state is done, the halls of the solicitors and barristers, barracks for the town guard, a number of storehouses, etc. This section started as one of the first portions of the city — a keep to watch over the boat traffic up the river.

Infrastructure

The Keep

On the southern shore of Central Island sits this regal-looking, walled structure known to the locals as The Keep. A large gatehouse, from which flies the standard of Westden, opens into a spacious courtyard with a large fountain portraying the city’s patron gods: Mitra, Dre’uain, Sefagreth, Yenomesh, Thyr, and Muir. Lyreguards stand watch along the walls, and a detachment of knights guards the gate at all times.
The Keep has a garrison of 100 Free Defender archers led by 5 ventenars who answer to a centenar, 20 Lyreguard, 2 Lyreguard knights, and 10 Waymark men-at-arms. They rotate the watch throughout the day and night; the changing of the guard takes place every four hours and is a popular sight for visitors.
The foundations of The Keep are the oldest of any structure in Westden. The original stones were laid as an ancient shrine to Thyr after which they were first fortified by the ill-fated Bandit King Rinos. After the bandit king’s fall, Leo and Fatima first occupied this fortification to provide a defensive retreat for their newly founded trade moot, and from there it has continued to expand its defenses and its role over the years. Once, The Keep was the city’s major defensive citadel, but today it serves the additional purpose of being the center of Westden’s civil authority. Here, the Council of Burghers holds regular meetings, and the High Burgess herself carries out the business of the city. In addition to its military garrison, The Keep also houses numerous city scribes and clerks, and contains chambers full of important documents, histories of the city, tax rolls, guild charters, and similar items. Securely guarded in the reinforced cellars of The Keep are the city’s treasury and the city mint where coins of Westden are struck and put into circulation. In addition to the garrison in The Keep above, the treasury and mint are further guarded 5 of the hand-picked Lyreguard knights known as The Gentlemen.

Hall of Justice

This two-story stone building features the Grand Courtroom on the first floor where criminal cases are tried before the City’s judges. The bailiffs maintain their headquarters in the dungeon, where they keep watch on prisoners awaiting trial. A priest assists in the trials and in seeing to the spiritual well-being of prisoners.
Petty crimes such as public drunkenness, brawling, minor theft and the like are handled by magistrates, who judge the accused’s guilt or innocence and impose sentences. More serious crimes are tried before judges, with magical assistance to discern the truth of the matter.
The second floor contains the offices of the magistrates, judges, and city barristers. Five magistrates, three judges, and six barristers normally work here, overseeing official documents, reviewing the laws of the city and hearing appeals.
Those accused of crimes are not provided with any kind of legal representation, and must pay for their own barristers. Those who cannot afford representation are on their own, but the judges of Westden are known for their fairness and impartiality.

Offices of Commerce and Trade

This tower contains the offices of tax collectors, surveyors, and officials who oversee licenses for land purchases and new businesses. It is a regular beehive of activity, though the entire first floor is devoted to a Shrine of Sefagreth, God of Trade, and is open to public worship services on Wednesdays after the markets close.
This shrine is overseen by Gester Wilvorton (male human) who is both Trademaster (high priest) of Sefagreth in Westden and burgher of the Coopers and Shipwrights Guild. Other than Trademaster Wilvorton, the employees who labor here are largely faceless and nameless, and seem to change every week, as different managers and officials are appointed, removed, or transferred. Despite this, the offices seem to run relatively smoothly.

The Grand High Symposium

This large meeting hall is used for meetings of all of Westden’s burghers when they are meeting for matters other than official city business for the Council of Burghers. This building is provided by the city free of charge for their use so they can manage their internal matters without feeling like the watchful eye of the High Burgess and the military are hovering over them.
Normally, these meetings take place on a bi-monthly basis, but smaller gatherings of related guilds, such as the Innkeepers and Tavernkeepers, take place at other times. All of the major guilds maintain offices here, as well as small private meeting and sleeping rooms for long bargaining and negotiation sessions. Duloth and his Wheelwrights Guild have been more and more active of late, seeking to expand their circle of allies and, they hope, eventually topple Cylyria as leader of Westden.

Sheriff’s Bailey

This structure has several functions, but is best-known as the headquarters of the Westden sheriffs. Here officers stay while on duty, train, or discuss strategies and share information on various criminals and criminal activities throughout the city. In addition, the lowest level of the building — partially subterranean, but with half-windows to admit natural light — houses the City Brig, a small, well-kept prison where members of Westden’s official city guards — sheriffs, constables, Wall Watchers, Gate Guards, or Lyreguard — who are accused of crimes or failing to do their duty are held. Given the city guard’s overall reputation for honesty, there usually aren’t too many residents here, but there are always a few who turned up drunk on duty, went AWOL, accepted bribes or — worst of all — used their offices to aid in criminal activities.
High Sheriff Topfer Brighteye (male gnome) and his senior sheriff, Undersheriff Kotchko (male human) manage the place and try to keep rivalries from their group and the nearby constables from growing too severe. Sheriff Brighteye’s main tasks involve issuance of warrants and collection of fugitives within the domain of the Trailhead City, and maintaining an orderly and safe prison within. Topfer has held the position for eight years, facing two public elections despite the opposition of Duloth.
Topfer replaced the aged Lord James, Warden of Westden, upon the elder Sheriff’s retirement. Sheriff Brighteye is a gnome and the fact the populace has felt safe enough to vote him into the position has not been lost on him. Topfer is pragmatic and fair, attempting to apply the law evenly. He leans more towards forgiveness than punishment, though he signs an execution order if warranted by the severity of the crime.

The Assembly of the Spoken Word

While the accused are not guaranteed representation in Westden, barristers tend to be dedicated and learned individuals who often work for minimal fees. This imposing granite structure houses the offices of the Fraternal Brotherhood of Barristers and Solicitors, where accused criminals or those who need legal advice or representation can come to seek aid. The massive bronze doors are opened and closed with an intricate series of gears, and inside, fine marble halls lead to individual offices, large meeting chambers, and libraries filled with legal tomes, histories, and the writings of countless generations of legal sages.
The Barristers and Solicitors burgher is known internally as the Great Speaker. Burghers of the guild have almost always ended up as magistrates in the Free City and abroad, sometimes becoming highly powerful and influential. This select group (referred to as “The Judge’s Guild” by non-affiliated barristers) often meet privately offsite to discuss current legal theory, arguing case law, and producing interesting, if sometimes incomplete, dissertations.
The current Great Speaker is named Chu’aine (male half-elf) and has so far refused judicial appointment on three occasions. He appears to enjoy the life of a barrister far too much, and doesn’t seem to relish the thought of sitting on the other side of the bench. Chu’aine’s assistant and legal clerk Clark (male human) is charismatic and possesses an impressive legal mind as a solicitor advocate and is well on his way to becoming a barrister in his own right.

Grand Constabulary

This old fortress-like building houses the headquarters of the Westden constables. The building contains living quarters for constables on duty, an armory, mess hall, kitchens, and offices for the constables and their commanders. The constabulary is led by Chief of Constables Garrid Garzag (male dwarf), who has held this office for over a decade. Trusted and admired by the majority of law abiding citizens, he is also ruthless with even the most petty of criminals.
Garrid’s second-in-command is the young and energetic Captain Pthan Traklos (male human), a very serious and dedicated officer who relishes serving warrants and busting criminals. While a good officer of the law, Pthan is a bit overly-enthusiastic about law enforcement. To make matters harder for Pthan, he speaks with a lisp and tends to spit when he talks. It is said that more than one thug has misjudged the man during interrogation, and found themselves lacking when he decided to let his sword speak for him instead. Pthan desperately seeks to become a member of the Lyreguard someday, has applied several times, and cannot understand why he has not been selected for their elite training. Rather than becoming discouraged, Pthan has redoubled his efforts to control crime in the city, and channeled his frustration into becoming a better captain. For their part, the constables whom he supervises find Pthan a bit much and are beginning to grumble about his overbearing leadership style.

Merthan’s Watchtower

Built on small Merthan Island in the Short Channel at the same time as The Keep, this 80ft tall, featureless granite tower acted as the city’s early-warning system for many years, allowing sentries to spot the approach of hostile forces. It still serves as a garrison, housing 12 constables and a Wall Watcher officer.

Admiralty Compound

This stone-walled compound has an arched entryway guarded by 2 guardsmen wearing the formal livery of the Westden Navy. The archway is large enough to admit a heavily-laden wagon, and can be closed off with both a study wooden gate and an iron portcullis. There are only two buildings in the compound itself, one of which is a large warehouse, and the other of which is an unassuming two-story building with a wooden sign reading, “Offices of the Admiralty.”
Westden’s deep-water navy is located in Telar Brindel, far to the east of the city at the mouth of the Amrin Estuary. Ships actually stationed in the city are shallow-drafted keelboats and galleys manned by the River Watch, suitable for protecting the river traffic that moves up and down the river to and from the city of Eastgate.
The city’s deep-water ships are built and maintained at Telar Brindel, while the keels of riverboats destined for the River Watch or commercial purposes are laid by the Coopers and Shipwrights Guild at the City Naval Yard. As a result, the city’s actual naval base is quite small — more of a supplies warehouse combined with the bureaucratic offices needed to organize the combined waterborne operations of Westden, Freegate, Cantyn Light, Eastgate, and Telar Brindel. The admiralty is considered to responsible for defending the Great Amrin River, the Amrin Estuary, the vassal ports and maritime holdings of Westden, and to a lesser extent the seas between them, though in each of these cases the term “defending” can have a wildly different definition. Given the distances involved this would be a daunting task, but the admiralty has essentially divided the administration of the navy between the River Watch fleet in Westden itself, and the deep-water navy at Telar Brindel. The Admiral of Telar Brindel technically reports to the city’s admiralty offices, but in practice the city’s distant deep-water navy is virtually independent of any direct control.
The two buildings in the compound are the Naval Offices and the Chandlery. The Naval Offices keep track of ship movements, handle the accounts, and organize responses to any threats they hear of through the city’s network of merchants and spies. The Chandlery is merely a supply depot for the ships of the navy and the River Watch, and operates as any normal warehouse — albeit a very well-guarded one.
The ground floor of the Offices of the Admiralty is an open area occupied by the desks of 15 clerks and copyists, and by the smaller office of the Admiralty Guard. There are usually 4 guardsmen on duty, with one stationed here and the other three patrolling the complex. The upper floor contains the office of the High Admiral, the office of the Fleet Admiral, a map room, the archives, and the naval treasury.
The High Admiral commands the joint fleets of Westden, commanding the Admiral of Telar Brindel (who oversees the main naval station of deep-water ships as well as maintaining control of Amrin Estuary), the Admiral of the Fleet (responsible for coordinating the manning and defense of the various naval posts at Freegate, Cantyn Light, and the northern trade lanes), and the River Commander of the Amrin Fleet (overseeing the River Watch and maintaining the safety and security of the Great Amrin River). The High Admiral is usually a political appointment, for he actually does very little. The current High Admiral is Dormeris Belmin (male human), a fat and pompous individual with excellent connections in the Council of Burghers and among the city’s military forces.
The Admiral of the Fleet is directly responsible for the city’s actual deep water naval operations outside the sphere of Telar Brindel’s influence and is usually advanced on merit and skill rather than political considerations because of the extreme difficulty in coordinating ships abroad from such a remote inland location. The current appointment to this office is Admiral Morrus (male human), an old-school sailor with piercing eyes and a reputation as one of the more foul-mouthed individuals in the entire navy. His man-o-war, The World, is kept anchored at Freegate and is one of the fastest craft on the Boreal Ocean. His boon companion, First Mate Ventura (male human), is sure to take Morrus’ position should he ever decide to retire.
The Admiral of Telar Brindel is Sir Gowan Maulwin (male human) and presides over his duties in that fortified port at the mouth of the Amrin Estuary, and the current River Commander is Alloysius Vermeer who is headquartered at the City Naval Yard.

Character

This area of town serves as military and judiciary headquarters of the city.

Businesses

The Keep Quarter is a military and governmental district; a few vendors sell wine or food outside the gates to the Keep, and some solicitors maintain offices near the Keep. The walls are thick and tall, with battlements and anti-siege devices to guard against attacks from the river.

District Modifier

–2

Prices

Standard except where noted.

Gold Piece Limit

100gp.

Building Type

Military and government buildings, mostly quite old and built from locally-quarried stone.

Guard Details

The keep is heavily guarded by the constables, sheriffs and the Lyreguard.

Location under

Westden