Aertael City Key

See below for a large, highly detailed Aertael city map.  Note - you will have to scroll around quite a bit, as the map is mostly empty space at this point.  The map is about five miles across, with the part inside the walls being about two miles across.

Curtain Walls with large towers surround the city.  There are three large gates for each of the large roads into the city; there are also numerous small gates suitable only for mounted traffic or foot traffic.  These gates are seldom closed, but always guarded, although passage into and out of the city is generally unrestricted.  There is a road around the inside perimeter of the wall, to all the army easy access to all points of the wall, but as structures have grown up outside the walls, these are kept clear more as a formality than for any real defensive reason.

Palace - the palace of the king is a sprawling structure, added onto over the centuries.  It is surrounded by a large paved patio, which is in turn surrounded by a large grassy area, with a wrought iron fence, eight feet tall, around the perimeter.  There is a gate on each side, and guards who allow only those who have business on the grounds.  The entire grounds inside of the fence has a strong magical enchantment on it; those who try to fly in or leap over the fences find themselves back on the street, a bit befuddled, or in some cases, in a prison cell.  It is actually not that large of a palace, as such things go.

Esrella Aglarion Memorial Park - When the queen died in 1128, the king used family funds to buy up a large tract of land inside the city walls and have it converted to a park.  Her mausoleum is the centerpiece of the park; it is a simple grave, consisting of a marble slab, with a draped column with four swallows perched on it, also marble.  It has an epitaph engraved that reads "Nature’s loving proxy, the watchful mother".  Esrella was told by her doctors that she was risking her life by taking her fourth child to term, but she refused to save herself at her child's expense.  (In order to prevent succession issues, no magic is allowed to be used on or around royal children, so there can be no question of the legitimacy of their birth.)

The sections about each of the city's parts are not meant to imply that there is a segregation by social class; it is caused more by the businesses which sprang up in various areas in the far past, which caused certain types to live nearby, and so on. 

Southeast city - this area is where most warehouses and light industry operate from, and as a result, they are surrounded by a densely packed neighborhood of small, inexpensive houses.  Most of the city's poor live here, and work in the central area where the factories and warehouses stand.  Heavy industry, and any kind of industry that would foul the air or water, is not allowed inside the city walls, and most of that sort of thing is on the southeast side of the city, well outside the walls.  Many of these people travel to farms outside the city to work, also.

    One business of note is Janyn Stone, a company which had operated small-scale quarries in the mountains adjacent of Attellaria since about 1151; in late 1165, the company built a road out of Northton to a new small town named Aswan, where several large cliffs of quarryable stone had been found.

Northeast city - this area is where most upscale businesses are located, along with the homes of the owners, and many upper class inhabitants (though not the very rich, most of whom live in the Emerald Estates, noted below).  All of the jewelers mentioned in the city writeup are located here, as is the White Phial alchemist, and a vast array of inns and taverns (including the famous White Mane Inn and Tavern, hangout of to many a famous adventurer).

Northwest city - The business hub of the city, this area is home to most non-industrial businesses, and the homes of those who work there.  The sages mentioned in the city writeup have their homes here (out of which they all work), the Royal Wizard's School of Attellaria is here, as is the Oberlin College Conservatory (Bards' School).

Southwest city - This area is home to most of what is thought of as 'middle class' people, and a great deal of retail businesses.  This is also where the headquarters of the Black Company, a barracks and office for the officers and non-coms live.  The company itself bivouacs around the city in a variety of buildings, depending on how many are currently employed.

Temples - note that until the Judgement War, many temples served multiple duty, or would host several related deities, or an entire pantheon if the population for that group was small.  Since then, every deity publicly worshiped in the city has taken over its own site.  The size of the temple sites was set in law many years ago, and no temple may own other lands in the city; this prevents the large wealthy temples from driving the small temples out of business by buying up nearby property and blocking access. Detailed information on temples can be found on this page. 

Government Offices

G01 - Courts

G02 - City Hall - taxes, licenses, records of births and deaths, wills, etc.

G03 - Library - the Royal Attellarian Library is well stocked with books, scrolls, and even stone tablets and other records.  Only a small portion of the stacks are open to the public; most require an application, and none of the items are allowed to leave the premises.  (Since printing presses have not been invented, all books are hand written, in various degrees of ornamentation.)  All goverment historical records are also kept here, if they are considered 'not in use', generally very old records concerning birth, death, property, and so on.  The library has a 'old maps room' that is guarded by a little old lady at a desk, who has a book listing who is allowed in.

G04 - Army and Navy offices

G05 - Barracks

G06 - Stables for cavalry and knights

G07 - training/parade ground, archery range

G08 - main police department, where offices of Detective Stahna Casket are

G09 - Royal Wizard's School of Attellaria

G10 - Oberlin College Conservatory

G11 - Wizard's Council hall

G12 - Royal Mint.  Aertael produces its own coinage, and is a continuous process of taking in foreign coinage from circulation and remaking it into local coinage. This helps standardize coin size, purity, and makes monetary transactions simpler.   Attellaria was one of the first countries to introduce 'milled edge' coins, which cut down on trimming of coins' edges to lighten them a tiny bit.

G13 - Royal Hospital.  This building offers health care for all who need, paid for by city taxes.  Many prefer to go to the daily sessions at the Itzamna temple, to be healed by Woundhealer, but the line for that is often too long; others are not willing to trust themselves to magic or strange foreign gods.  There are also numerous private medical offices, some magical, some mundane.

G14 -Attellarian Royal Bank.  While private banks are quite legal, and often owned by wealthy merchants or nobles, the most trusted bank is the Attellarian Royal Bank.  Money can be deposited and held in either simple savings, long term accounts for higher interest, or in safe deposit.  Loans are also available, generally with collateral - it's too easy to disappear in a magic-rich world for loans on trust.  There are numerous small banks, loan offices, pawn shops, and so on, scattered throughout the city.

G15 - Royal Society of the Knights of the Ebon Blade, the headquarters of the knights of Attellaria, where senior offices have quarters (although most, if not all, of them have private homes, they quarter here when needed), where various ceremonies (investiture and such) are held, and where those wishing to apply to knighthood apply.

Homes of notable Aertael residents

Emerald Estates - Located in the already upscale northwest part of Aeratel, Emerald Estates caters to the wealthy.  The entire neighborhood is surrounded by a twelve foot high wall, and there is a twenty foot wide growth of dense trees and brush just inside of it, providing additional privacy and noise muffling.  The Estates has its own private security force; the small building just inside the one gate is a security office.  Most of the homes listed below are inside the Estates.

H01 - Trask estate

H02 - Banning estate

H03 - Portet home #1

H04 - Portet home #2

H05 - Pickering estate

H06 - Lowell estate

H07 - Sage estate

H08 - Parker estate

H09 - Bellmon home

H10 - Craig estate

H11 - McCoy home

H12 - Lannister estate

H13 - Stark home

H14 - Tarth home

H15 - Rook home

H16 - Home of Kibbles and Shadow, adjacent is Siobhan's Country Cottage

Notable Businesses

B01 - The Cauldron's Cupboard alchemist.  

        - Next door is Absolute Animals, Aertael's first pet shop.

B04- The Lyceum, a theater that presents all manner of entertainment, from opera (sung in old Attellarian, which few understand), to popular musicals, to comedy shows; during the day, there are often free shows such as illusionists and children's shows.

B05 - Bartholomew's Fair - This large fairground is open the fourth week of every month.  It features all sorts of games and shows, exhibitions, animal performances (often including a few 'monsters'), jousting, plays, and much more.

B06 - These are market squares; each is covered with booths, stalls, or just open spots with a wagon, all selling everything from food staples and bolts of cloth to cheap jewelry and supposedly magical charms of every sort.  Beggars abound, as do pickpockets, but all sorts of interesting handcrafted items, second-hand goods, rumors and cheap goods (that probably "fell off a cart") can be found here.

B07 - Bunyan Lumberyard.  A number of logging operations operate out of the forest to the north, with an almost continuous stream of cut lumber hauled in daily from the lumber mill north at the Yasuette River.  Most is common pine, but harder and better woods (such as for fine furniture) can be bought here also, though not generally any sort of rare woods, or those suitable for magic item construction.

B08 - Calumet Farms, the premier horse ranch in central Attellaria.  One can buy any sort of horse here, from common draft horses, riding horses, ponies, light to heavy war horses, show horses, race horses, and even sometimes miniature horses.  The brown area is the stable, smithy, training circle, barn, barracks, and the owner's home and so on; the green area is pasture.

B09 - Laredo Cattle Ranch - the main source for beef, leather, and beef by products for the city, the Laredo Cattle Ranch has several miles of fenced pastureland, with a much larger open range area that is constantly patrolled by ranchers.  The brown area is the stable, smithy, training circle, barn, barracks, and the owner's home and so on; the green area is pasture.

B10 - Pahrump Chicken Ranch, where vast flocks of chickens are raised.  The brown area is the stable, smithy, training circle, barn, barracks, and the owner's home and so on; the green area is pasture.

B11 - Atkins sheep ranch, where sheep are raised for meat and wool.  Not a terribly popular food, it is a fairly small operation.  The brown area is the stable, smithy, training circle, barn, barracks, and the owner's home and so on; the green area is pasture.

B12 - Tejon pig farm, where pigs are raised for meat and skins.  The brown area is the stable, smithy, training circle, barn, barracks, and the owner's home and so on; the green area is pasture.

B13 - Horse market, where horses are for sale retail every day, and there is an auction on the fourteenth every month for the most prime beasts.

B14 - Baird Wessin Arms - This large shop sells all sorts of normal weapons, and also trades in magical weapons.  Most types of weapons up to +3 can be bought here, although the quantities available are not large. 

B15 - Chobham Smith Armorer - This large shop sells all sorts of normal armor, and also trades in magical armor.  Most types of armor up to +3 can be bought here, although the quantities available are not large.  There are also smiths here who can repair field plate and full plate, but only non-magical types.

Taverns

B02 - The Humping Harpy Inn and Tavern, owned by Conner

B03 - The Den of Iniquity Inn and Tavern

T01 - The Admiral's Arms, a very upscale tavern and inn, located in the northwest part of town.  Formal dress is required, and all expenses are billed (passing gold around would be gauche!).

T02 - The Alibi Bar, a hidden bar located somewhere in the southeast part of the city.  It changes location sometimes.  Rumor has it that it is a place where information, illegal items, and the like can be bought and sold.

T03 - Bellefleur's Bar and Grill, a bar with attached restaurant in the southwest part of the city.  The food is simple but filling, the clientele middle class, but rumor has it that werewolves have some connection to the business.

T04 - The Blue Parrot, a bar only, in the northwest part of the city, but only modestly upper class.  Includes a legal gambling hall in the back.

T05 - The Bronze, a bar and dance club located in the northwest part of the city, caters to the young and upper class.  Known for magically amplified music.

T06 - The Cap & Bell - a workman's bar, located in the southwest part of the city.

T07 - The Crazy Horse - a bar and strip joint located in the southeast part of town.  Very tough clientele.  Regular bar brawls, but weapons seldom used.

T08 - McAnnally's tavern, a bar and dining room, frequented by mages and illusionists.  It is known as a safe haven where no combat is permitted; the building and interior are magically warded, and spellcasting is disrupted if attempted inside.

T09 - The Feathers - a members-only tavern in the northwest part of the city.

T10 - The Gem Saloon - a tavern, house of prostitution, inn and gambling hall located in the southeast part of town.  A very rough place, it's not unusual for a corpse to be found in the alley next door any given morning.

T11 - The Green Dragon - a tavern and inn in the southwest part of town, mostly frequented by half-elves, elves and halflings.  The cuisine and drinks are not those most humans would find very palatable.

T12 - The Hand & Racquet - located in the southwest part of town, a tavern for sports enthusiasts, where a number of professional athletes (boxers, horsemen and the like) hang their hats.

T13 - John McRory's Place - a tavern in the southwest part of the city, frequented by constables (though not usually officers).

T14 - Kavanaugh's Bar - a tavern in the northeast part of the city, frequented by police officers and some other government types.

T15 - The Emerald Cafe - a tavern located in the southeast part of the city, rumored to be a hangout for those on the edge of society - half-orcs and worse.  Very dark, and questions are not encouraged.  Humans, elves and half-elves may be denied entry.

T16 - The Old Haunt - Upper class bar located in the northwest part of town, a favorite of Jameson Rook's.

T17 - The Slaughtered Lamb - a tavern in the southeast part of the city, frequented by lower class laborers.  The smell inside can be truly awful.

T18 - The Falcon Inn and Tavern - middle-class, away from other inn/taverns, on the southeast side of town northeast of the warehouse/industry area

Outside the City Walls

The city long ago outgrew its walls, and the area outside them is thickly populated for almost two miles in every direction.  These tend towards farmland, orchards, ranches and estates of those who choose not to live in the city. 

Farms are mostly located on the south side of the city, probably due to the runoff and sewers running underground, making the soil both moist and fertile.  The west side of the city features a number of orchards.  North of the city, you can find a number of ranches, where cattle, horses, sheep and the like are raised. There is also a large lumberyard there, supplied by a lumber mill north of the city at the Yasuette River, where there is also a water powered grain mill.  There are a number of grain silos on the south side of the city, next to a large bakery.

On the southeast edge of the city, near Birnam Wood, lies the Roknia Necropolis, the graveyards for the city.  While it is legal (and not uncommon) to bury loved ones on private grounds, and the practice of burning the body and scattering the ashes is also well known, many choose to inter their dead here, ranging from simple graves with pine coffins, to mummification and elaborate mausoleums.  Plots are purchased from the city, typically for an amount that guarantees care for a certain number of years only (although it is possible to pay a fairly exorbitant amount for 'eternal care', where the ground will never be reused, with the bones tossed in a common ossuary). The southeast side of the land outside the walls is also known for industry too heavy to be located inside the city walls. An example is the Minhas Brewery. 

On the southwest side of the land outside the city is the Dwarven Enclave. While most of the dwarves of the city live here, there are also many gnomes and halflings. 

There is an elven enclave in the forest in the southeast area outside the walls.