Noble Quintan

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The richest Houses maintain homes here, up against the walls of the Accord or Empyros. Those locals who are not noble, but quite rich nonetheless, tend to build along the walls to Greytown, while merchants and others who tend to the needs of the quintan's wealthy can be found along the streets that abut the Hellward.

Gates & Other Landmarks

  • The Prince's Gate (G1): The western gate into Liminal.
  • The Laurelgate (G4): Gate into the Accord.
  • The Gate of Fifes (G9): Gate into the Fest Quintan.
  • The Gate of Crowns (G13): Gate into the Traveler's Quintan.
  • The Silvergate (G14): Gate into Greytown.
  • The Templegate (G15): Gate into Empyros.

The Citykeeps

The Noble Quintan hosts a selection of exquisite villas for those who aspire to one of the fine noble estates in this district, but can't quite afford it. These villas are grouped into "citykeeps," neighboring units around a central passageway or courtyard, which are always gated, with guards at the entrances (more for an air of exclusivity than security, since the Noble Quintan is one of the safest districts in Liminal). In many instances, these villas are massive affairs, larger even than many of the estate houses. They are universally considered the domains of those who are newly rich, however.

  • Dawnbright Citykeep (N1): Shining white stone and gold-bright polished copper make up the buildings of the Dawnbright. This citykeep is made up of the very rich, whose wealth alone provides them some measure of celebrity. Its residents are notorious for their competitive excesses.
  • Wildvine Rose Citykeep (N2): Everyone knows that the beautiful people dwell in the Wildvine Rose. Actors from the Fest Quintan, renowned bards and musicians, and fine courtesans (who naturally ply their trade elsewhere, of course) all claim the Wildvine Rose as their own.
  • Falconmark Citykeep (N3): The Falconmark is not as impressive or renowned as the other Citykeeps, and that's deliberate - its residents like their property. The secret paramours of the very rich, bastard sons with useful skills and those who make a living trading in the secrets of the world are among those who dwell in Falconmark.
  • The Basilisk's Blade Citykeep (N4): The Basilisk's Blade is known as the haven of adventurers and other powerful freelancers who have been successful enough to acquire fine homes in this Citykeep. There is no Citykeep that is safer than the Basilisk's Blade - a burglar never knows when the villa he's chosen to burgle might be the home of a former adventurer, with all the danger that entails.
  • Suncrown Citykeep (N5): The Suncrown has a small fraternity of military heroes and retired mercenary captains, all of whom have clearly done very well for themselves.

Shops

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  • Aedraumyr's Full Service Emporium (N6): Aedraumyr's services are the sort of thing that keeps the Noble Quintan running, though the shop's matrons would go hungry if they tried to offer their services in other districts. Basically, they specialize in providing anything and everything the residents of the Noble Quintan could want of them. Liminal is a massive place, and keeping abreast of the best of goods and deals in the city is a full-time endeavor - one which Aedraumyr's specializes in. Rich households often have a full-time employee of Aedraumyr's on retainer, proffering the latest and best deals, while most folk simply send their own servants down to the Emporium to discuss the household's needs with its matrons. Fully half of Aedraumyr's employees spend their time combing the shops and markets of the city, discovering what is new and interesting, and more than a few shophands and dock workers throughout the city make a tidy side income selling information about the latest of wares to the Aedraumyr matrons.
  • The Silver Carriage (N7): The Silver Carriage specializes in providing carriages, liveried footmen and fine steeds for the rich and noble. Though they also sell their goods (including providing trained footmen for the discerning client to employ), they also provide a service allowing a client to simply lease a coach, staff and steeds from them.
  • The Moon and Cup (N8): A fine wine and spirits merchant, the Moon and Cup is arranged as an art-filled, comfortable salon. Parties of nobles frequent the locale, to sit and drink and talk with one another. The cups of wine provided are free of charge, as they are samples of the Moon and Cup's finest vintages, with parties expected to order large household quantities for delivery after their time in the salons.
  • The Diamond Eye (N9): The Guild Hall and showroom of some of the finest jewelry displayed by the best the Great and Proud Guild of Gemwrights and Jewelers has to offer. In many instances, these pieces are not for sale, but simply provided as examples of a gemwright's skill, with information on contacting that craftsman provided by the staff of the Diamond Eye. They also delight in showing off the fine jewelry of other planes, including a central exhibit of rare and precious astral diamonds.
Noble Quintan Dwellings
  • Cottage: 600 gp
  • Manor: 60,000 gp
  • Palace: 260,000 gp
  • Quarters: 2000 gp
  • Stone Building: 4500 gp
  • Tower: 15,000 gp
  • Wood Building: 2250 gp

Government & Nobility

  • Chieftain's Hall (N10): House Naiall Estate The primary Liminal estate of House Naiall, the Chieftain's Hall is made up of finely-carved wooden pillars and paneling. The estate house itself is a sprawling, chaotic construction done in a style reminiscent of the clan longhalls of the Badlands nomads.
  • Eclipse Towers (N11): House Redmoon Estate A heavily treed grounds, with a few of the wooden towers so preferred by the elves of the Delannwood, Eclipse Towers is the Liminal estate of House Redmoon. Its grounds often seem mostly abandoned, but myriad elven archer guardians remain hidden, prepared to defend it.
  • Old Dayritch Estate (N12): House Dumnei Estate The grand Old Dayritch has passed through many hands over the years. Indeed, rumors say that it is haunted. Nonetheless, its current owners, House Dumnei seems quite exuberant about their estate, a sure sign of advancement in Liminal's noble circles.
  • Filan's Door (N13): House Ibunnon Estate Filan's Door is the Liminal estate of House Ibunnon. It is always busy, entertaining visitors during the day and throwing lavish parties on some nights. The Ibunnon have their fingers in many pies throughout the Imbricate Cities, and their visitors often reflect their myriad connections: a single day might see janissaries representing their ifriti masters, genasi from Rivermouth, deva from Empyros and shadar-kai from the Blackstreets.
  • Stalliongard (N14):
  • The First House (N15): House Desiram Estate The name of the Desiram estate reminds its visitors who they are: the first of Liminal's nobility. Though their estate is smaller than some, it is nonetheless grand, showing its ancient lineage with tall pillars, archaic but beautiful architecture and climbing ivy everywhere.
  • Elmbough Estate (N16): House Elohash Estate A simple and fine home, the Elohash take a great deal of pride in Elmbough's spartan appointment. Large holy symbols and small shrines to the gods of Almanni are all over the estate, filling spaces on walls and in niches almost without exception.
  • Pentacle House (N17):
  • Sundermore Hall (N18): House Breladan Estate
  • Hawkhold (N19): House Ylrannin Estate Hawkhold, so-called for the raptor heraldry of House Ylrannin, is constructed in the architectural style of Tamousan citadels: thick stone, small windows, front doors on the second floor and secret passages. The majority of the House dwells in the central keep, several stories in height. Its two wings are of reserved function: one is the House Chapel, while the other is the Royal Wing, those apartments for the King of Tamous himself (though it has been a number of years since they've been occupied).
  • Wildcrown Estate (N20):
  • Somerdel Gardens (N21): House Viralind Estate
  • Ivywall (N22):
  • Baeldonn House (N23): House Ycauloth Estate
  • Kromarg's Fate (N24):
  • Silkenhome (N25): House Keviam Estate Though small, the Keviam estate is extremely lavish in its appointments. Unlike most of the Houses in Liminal, the Keviam seem to prefer their Noble Quintan domicile as a party house, reserving their Market Quintan estate as their main living space.
  • Ioqaris Hall (N26): House Bloodwing Estate Built so simply as to be positively Spartan, Ioqaris Hall is the Liminal estate of House Bloodwing, the dragonborn dynasty. It is said that the tall outer stone walls and plain facade hide riches appropriate to those who are the nobility of dragons themselves. It is also said that their estate boasts extensive underground construction.
  • Knightsrose (N27): The only unoccupied noble estate in Liminal, Knightsrose's possession is tied up in layers of odd inheritance and legal concerns. Most of this is for a good reason: everyone who has claimed it has died within a year, and it is widely assumed to be haunted. The gatehouse and front of the manor house are half overgrown with the very thorny vines of a type of steel-blue rose called the knightsrose.
  • Glausdonhall (N28):
  • Sweet Haven (N29): House Caelmont Estate The house that served the Caelmonts as their first refuge in Liminal from their native land of Almanni, Sweet Haven may have seen more assassination plots and murder attempts than any other noble estate in Liminal, thanks to the fervor of the Almanni spirit and the brand of traitor on House Caelmont to their original homelands.
  • Braecon Gate (N30): House Crendawin Estate
  • Silversley House (N31): Astrapola Estate An estate held by the city-state of Astrapola, for the use of any of its nobles or seers who may have cause to venture into Liminal.
  • Firmer's Court (N32): House Ethalisa Estate
  • Dunleavy Hall (N33): House Gwiseth Estate
  • The Lonely Tower (N34): House Taldiress Estate Towering almost absurdly above the rest of the Quintan's buildings, the Lonely Tower was constructed by Taldiress sorcerous engineering, and it shows. Fluted and baroque, in the style preferred by the sorcerer-nobility of the Empire of the Nine, the Lonely Tower is home to the scions of House Taldiress in Liminal. Its gates are always sealed, and the upper portions of its walls positively shimmer with untriggered but deadly magic.

Taverns & Inns

  • The Sign of the Roaring Oak (Tavern) (N35): Its sign carved from the still-roaring face of a dead treant, the Roaring Oak is the closest thing the Quintan has to a dive bar. It's where the young, foolish nobles like to congregate to flirt and drink heavily. Duels on the building's side portico, with large open windows where everyone in the tavern can watch, are common, and a few times a week a good old-fashioned bar brawl breaks out.
  • The Seal and Crusader (Tavern) (N36): The Seal and Crusader, with their sign depicting gryphon-and-sword heraldry, is a favorite place of the gently born uninterested in loud, raucous evenings. Music plays quietly in the background, and the tavern is built around a central courtyard with a beautiful fountain. It is a place where nobles simply go to relax among their own kind, for the most part, and where more than a few back-house deals have been made between the Houses.
  • The Cask and Lass (Tavern) (N37): With a sign depicting a naked lass dancing atop a massive wine barrel, her modesty preserved only by the dancing fans in her hands, this is the Noble Quintan's favorite bawdy-house. The Cask and Lass doesn't actually employ any of the "ladies of the night", however. Instead, the finest Fest Quintan brothels pay a per-head fee to be allowed to have their prettiest and most intriguing ladies remain on premises during the evening, where they hope to make expensive assignations with some of the district's residents.
  • The Marble Gypsy (Inn) (N38): One of the few inns in the Quintan, and by far the best-appointed (and most expensive), the Marble Gypsy is a favorite inn of those nobles visiting Liminal who do not have household estates in the city...or who choose not to stay in their House's seat. Two marble statues of Roamer women stand outside the front door.

Mages & the Arcane

  • Broludan's Library (N39): Located near the Lonely Tower (N34), this impressive building was constructed by one Broludan Taldiress, a scion of House Taldriess. Suspicious and reclusive by nature, he moved his massive arcane library, laboratories and workshops into this three-story marble edifice, with only a small allotment of domestic quarters for himself and his apprentices. With his death a hundred years ago, House Taldiress decided to maintain it as retreat and workspace for the magicians of their House, rather than move it all back into the Lonely Tower. To this day, it is still a place where other magicians occasionally beg, barter or buy research time.
  • Cyrithia's Guards and Wards (N40): A Spellwright with an extremely exclusive clientele, Cyrithia is a deva arcanist who specializes in defensive magics, particularly those that can be used to protect domiciles and belongings. She is known as the best in providing magical defenses in Liminal, though her prices reflect that fact.

Temples & Monasteries

  • The Sanctified Court (N41): Jokingly referred to as the "Half-Believer's Temple," the Sanctified Court is a beautiful, expansive temple that is only open to the very wealthy and noble. The temples of Empyros all send priests to the Sanctified Court to perform rites for those who attend this temple, which features a massive, beautiful altar for each of the Empyrean Gods. It has a reputation for being attended by the wealthy who aren't devout enough to make the trips to the temples of Empyros, but who still wish to be seen by their neighbors as attendant to the gods.

Military & Mercenaries

  • Noble Quintan Watch Barracks (N42): The Liminal Watch maintains a barracks in the Noble Quintan, centrally located and near the estates in order to provide close protection for them. Patrols depart from here with tremendous frequency, especially at night, and the Watch here is always ready to answer a cry for help from any of the estates.
  • The Goshawks (N43): A mercenary company known for its light horse archers, the Goshawks find a great deal of employment with those Houses that need guards for their estates, but prefer not to field household guards themselves. They are well-known for the pale silver-grey feathers in their arrows, and their bows of a very light pine.
  • Aerydmon's Tigers (N44): The Tigers have a reputation as the finest caravan or entourage guards. More than their fighting skills, however, they are known for their immaculate manners. Part of their training includes exhaustive drilling in proper etiquette in dealing with nobility (and those who fancy themselves as such). The Tigers, then, have a reputation as strong, handsome, charming soldiers - the perfect defender any noble lady might imagine, particularly in a world of ill-mannered cutthroats and louts with poor hygeine. Aerydmon is known as quite the charmer himself, even being connected to several nearly-scandalous rumors about those noble ladies who look for the proverbial "tiger in the bedclothes."
The Crossroads City
Quintains
Districts
Imbricate Cities