Xorgarten

Xorgarten

Guild City

Population

9,000 Human 85% • Halfling 6% • Dwarf 6% • Other 3%

Government

• The Masters of the Garden: Xorgarten is ruled by a Master's Council, given that it is a Guild city. Though they are - as a group - vassals to the Imperial House of Tamous directly, they are given a great deal of free reign over the city's function and that's as it should be: no one knows Guild business so well as its Masters, and the Guild is careful to remind Tamous' nobility that on occasion.

Defense

• Lord Mæthis Ylrannin: Lord Ylrannin commands the forces that defend Xorgarten, technically. A cousin of the Tamousan emperor, old Lord Mæthis - occasionally called "Mæethis the Melancholy" by the commonfolk - is a virtual shut-in, rarely emerging from the Gartenkeep. He also keeps his young wife, Urynia, shut in with him, though it's clear to everyone she relished the infrequent chances she gets to escape the keep. His foremost representative is his first son and heir, Zenæfys, who is skilled at arms himself. • The Hammer Knights of Xorgarten: Most of Xorgarten's defenders are Hammer Knights. Their Chapterhouse is led by Knight-Marshall Toven Skelley. • The Walismaran Knights of Xorgarten: There are a handful of Hunter-Knights of Saint Walismar found in Xorgarten, who oversee the sales of tiefling slaves in the area. They do maintain a chapterhouse in Xorgarten proper - it is where the slave marketgrounds are found, out of polite sight. Their chapterhouse head is Knight-Marshall Roge Wyne, and he can most often be found at the order's two estates to the northeast of Xorgarten.

Commerce

• Trade: Furs, lumber, wine, grains, slaves (tiefling) • Training: Guild-based training only.

Organizations

• The Guilds: The Guilds are the undisputed masters of Xorgarten. The massive Market Citadel sits in the center of the city, surrounded on all sides by market place. All Guildsfolk are promised accommodations within the Citadel, and the Masters of the Garden have their permanent residences and council chambers within its walls. Instead of a courtyard as so many keeps have, the Market Citadel boasts the Master's Market, an absurdly expensive outdoor bazaar where the handiworks of only masters are sold. The Citadel also houses guildhall space for each of the Guilds, even those that do not have masters within the city's population.

City Map

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Xorgarten is a major caravan stop-off point, and a market town for much of the furs gathered in the forests south of the Imperial Road, and the wines that come up from the fields north of it. It is said that if Candorall is where the world's goods reach Tamous, then it is from Xorgarten that Tamous' goods reach the world.

Currency

Like all settlements within Tamous, Xorgarten officially uses only Imperial coinage, though members of the Guild are permitted to act as on-site money exchangers (i.e., they are permitted to accept outsider coin and give change in Tamousan currency).

Districts

The Great Market

Surrounding the great Market Citadel, the Great Market is made up of four separate markets: one for livestock, one for foodstuffs, another for raw building materials, and a fourth for finished goods. These markets surround the Citadel, which has a gate that opens to each of them. In the courtyard of the Citadel is the Masters' Market, where only the finest-wrought goods are sold. The rest of this district is made up of shops and the homes of those who work in the market and shops.

• Walismaran Chapterhouse: The chapterhouse of the Hunter-Knights is here. It is a modest tower fortification built into the walls of the city, with a fair-sized wall around its courtyard. Sales of tiefling slaves occur here at noon every Stavesday.

The Garden

At the base of the hill on which sits the Gartenkeep, this neighborhood is bisected by an immense public park. The finest homes in the city face this park - called simply "the Garden" - and behind them gather the rest of the fine houses of Xorgarten's rich and successful, and the inns that cater to those fine guests who might be visiting the city.

The Road District

The part of town that abuts the Imperial Road that passes through Xorgarten's demenses. This district is a working-class neighborhood, with the largest number of inns and taverns in the city.

• The Sorcerous Jester (Good Inn): The inn is a two-story stone-walled building, with a small walled yard and garden and a large cellar.
  • It is brightly lit by magical candles and crystal chandeliers.
  • Accommodations consist of several large rooms with beds and feather mattresses.
  • The innkeeper is a heavyset male halfling named Philas Kyne. He was once an adventurer, but retired to marry and raise a family.
  • Provender: Stewed Pork and Soft Cheese, Poached Drake and Millet Biscuits, Dried Catfish and Buckwheat Bread • Bitter, Port, Ale

Mud-Town

The portion of the city around the gates most often used by the farmers from the north of the city, who herd cattle and bring rattling carts of goods to sell in the markets. It has a reputation as a dirty place filled with simple laborers. It is also where the working poor of the city dwell, as well as the poor who have no work. Its taverns are swill-houses with lots of angry drinkers, and its inns are flop-houses at best.

• Daena's Delights (Brothel): A three-story establishment hung with the red lanterns of Iritsa denoting the work of the ladies and lads within. While its exterior is somewhat rundown, it is a vision of opulence within.