Blackbaron paste

Blackbaron - The Capital of Ashenia
Population: Approx. 300,000
Income: Taxes, tithes, tourism, trade hub
Imports: Industrial goods, wax
Exports: Lumber, stone, luxury goods

The Ashen See was built on the site of Avandra's Dawn, a holy location for the church of Avandra. Supposedly, when investigating the world after the Conjoining, Avandra landed her golden ship on the shores of Telgard Sound, and ventured up the cliffs to a point to make camp. The next morning, at dawn, she looked over the land and declared the beginning of her newest adventure. Her followers erected the holy city there, which in time grew and attracted more people and their own faiths. Eventually other religions began to take footholds in the region and the Church of Avandra gladly shared it power with them. The holy city expanded even further, and was then walled - and small communities began to form on the outside of the walls as well, steadily pushing up the slopes. Eventually, Hubert Blackbaron, a clergyman of the Raven Queen, declared the outside community its own city and organized the zoning of it. This was met with approval by the churches, who had begun to see the outlying communities as an unregulated eyesore, and properly districting them into an outer city would prove beneficial to their image. And of course, the resulting city was named after him. It expanded itself, and got its own walls eventually, though by then the city had grown so large that parts of it were right next to Dawn's Bluffs, so that was left unwalled. It wasn't until some time later that the Bridge of Three Houses was formed, a massive undertaking that involved the major churches importing star rock from as far away as Candor and designing and building a suspension bridge across the floating islands once anchored.

The Ashen See and Ashenia's name were taken from the ash-like coloration of the grey soil surrounding Avandra's Dawn. The world had been saved, renewed from its ashes like a phoenix - and so, they mused, would their nation rise in a place like this.

-------------------
The Yellow District
-------------------

Home of the main city barracks where the First Blackbaron Regulars. They run a tight ship on keeping the streets clean and this is also the site of several other related offices - like customs, impound, and the dungeons. The Ravengate gets most of the civilian traffic, but those who travel by boat usually come from Avandra's Landing and enter through the Explorer's Gate and go through customs there.

The Aquavox enters the city at this point, a series of aqueduct arches that are mostly underground outside of the walls. As the city streets begin to slope, the aqueducts emerge and proliferate through the districts.

Not a lot else to say about this place at the moment. It's hardly an official district.

Sehanine's Rest: An inn found along the main road just past the barracks. A good location, but because of that often crowded and the rates are a bit high.

----------------
The Red District
----------------

Definitely the seediest part of town, but safer than you'd think with the proximity of the main barracks in the Yellow District and the junior barracks in Bishop's Markets. This is also the home of a lot of the more affordable stores for people in Lowborough are. There are a number of stores here that appeal to certain types of clientèle and is popular for slumming tourism. Some notable places include:

The Tank & Spank - The district's premier tavern/brothel hybrid. The proprietor is a dark-skinned Pandoran who goes by the name Serenity, who is a personable host and tries to make her place of business as welcoming as possible. It's actually a decent place to grab a meal if you're in the area, even if you're not up for the more lascivious activities offered upstairs.

Doc Cain's Clinic - A small clinic on the edge of the district that sees a lot of work, providing most of the care for the poor. The owner used to provide free care for the homeless, but demand started to outstrip feasibility and had to be stopped - a decision he regrets to this day. Also one of the licensed areas to accept blood donations for resell.

Red After Midnight - Probably the classiest place in the district, a vampire club owned by a revenant named Scorch. The club is open to anyone, but clearly caters to vampires as its main clientèle. Not a brothel, either, but there are private rooms that can be rented. Mostly frequented as a vampire social club and sometimes as a place to look for more long term relationships in that community.

Fuch's Fabrications - 'If you need something on the cheap, we'll Fuch it up!' A carpentry shop that does cheap commission pieces, mainly furniture and tools, but sometimes wooden trinkets.

The Sewers - One of the lowest points in the city and the easiest way to access the lowest levels of the city sewer for maintenance. Gang hideouts supposedly lie deep within this place.

Other notable terms:

The Rats - A recently formed gang that hangs around the Red District. They don't usually show themselves around the upper crust of society, and the shopkeeper Silver spoke to insinuated they had animal ears. Lycoris in particular hasn't heard much about them other than their name - even their activities are low key and well distanced from the churches.

Snacks - The colloquial term for men and women who regularly give blood to vampires, sometimes for their own financial benefit.

Father Bones - A skeletal champion with ties to the underbelly of the city, particularly the black market and is willing to hook someone up for a price. He often stays at Red After Midnight with his entourage. Skeletal Champions, like their name suggests, is the moniker given to a type of intelligent undead usually spawned if a person's soul escapes the underworld and manages to possess its own bones. Being a skeletal champion is a hollow existence, devoid of any sensation but the cold touch of death, and takes an extraordinary amount of willpower to avoid being pulled back to the underworld, so usually those who become these are singularly focused on a goal. What that might mean for Father Bones, however, is a mystery, as no one knows who he was in life.

----------
Lowburough
----------

This is where you see a lot of the low income residents - it's not exactly a BAD neighborhood but it could be better. Lots of buildings renting out single rooms to tenants on a long term basis, smaller houses, a few dumpy parks, a couple of public schools and a smaller chapel or two.  The few stores around these parts pale in comparison to the Markets and the Red District is more where shoppers from here go to find things they need.

You don't really know anyone here yet...

----------
Blackberry
----------

The neighborhood of the more well-to-do citizens. The buildings here range from nice-looking houses to extravagant manors. There are only a few stores here, but they're all nice as well.  Parties are often hosted by the influential either here in their extravagant homes or in the Gardens at some nice venue.

The Piggy Bank - A quaint butcher's shop in the middle of the district that uses a lot of cute pig imagery for its business. It was built in the remains of a bank that closed some years earlier and so the establishment has a unique feel to it with the barred windows railing off visitors from the chopping blocks and the vault where the meat is stored. Remarkably clean and tidy, and mostly deals in usual and expected cuts of meat like pork, beef, chicken, and lamb. If you want game or some more 'exotic' meat types there are other stores for that elsewhere in the city.

---------------
Temple District
---------------

This prestigious neighborhood is the location where Blackbaron's administrative buildings, public service buildings, and temples are. Not content with a single church for each religion, there are numerous - grand cathedrals, medium churches and tiny chapels, for different denominations and beliefs. There's even a chapter of the Church of Saint Kallista here, who otherwise hold little power outside Khudal. Edelweiss University also finds its campus grounds here - the most prestigious institution in the nation. This district is where you go to church if you're the PROPER sort of worshipper of your deity and is often swarming with people just before or after mass. The customs and immigration administrative office is found here - staffed by clergy of the Raven Queen and Avandra mainly, where they process data from the branch offices at the gates.

If you can think of a suitable building in this district it's PROBABLY here.

The Bridge of Three Houses - This suspension bridge, the world's first, has its pylons grounded on floating black islands made of star rock - the antigravity mineral that Ioun Stones are made from.

-------------------
The Baron's Gardens
-------------------

The center of Blackbaron's entertainment, one can find places such as:

The Blackbaron Menagerie - A public zoo with exotic creatures for viewing by the public. The second largest menagerie in the capital, but as the Grand Archive's Menagerie isn't open to the general public, this is the more popular one by far. Whether you want to see monkeys from the eastern isles, mammoths from Graylight, or behemoths in a safe environment, the menagerie has a little something for everyone.

Pillars - An upscale restaurant that has a rotating continental menu. Owned and originally operated by world-class chef Reynard Barclay with an intent to unite people of different nations with the most basic of their cultural pillars - food. Barclay now apparently travels the world to improve his understanding of culture and cuisine, and his restaurant operates well enough in his absence as an extremely popular tourist spot and regular dining for the wealthy. His son manages the restaurant in his father's absence and there's rumors that not everything is peachy under the hood of the establishment.

The Wheel of Fate - A massive coliseum that in antiquity, hosted bloodsports carried over from Ora Anguis. Such practices have been banned in Ashenia, but the coliseum is still maintained and used for various events, including festivals, shows and sporting events.

St. Samson's University - One of three major universities where magic, religion, and a few broader points of advanced education are learned. Though St. Samson's is in the Gardens, it has less of a 'party school' reputation compared to its sisterversity, the Blackbaron College of Esoterics. St. Samson's competes with Edelweiss University for prestige but remains a close second.

Blackbaron College of Esoterics - The third of three colleges in the city and one that focuses on a lot of experimental studies and gets research grants from the temples if Ioun and Avandra. Has a bit of a reputation for rowdy but enthusiastic alumni with really weird fields of study. Some attend to test their mettle in the locally popular wargame/sport Sieget (Siege-it) at the Wheel of Fate.

Westborough Theater - All manner of plays are performed here each and every day, in addition to musical theater, acrobatic performances, dance, and more recently a trend that's surged in popularity among the upper class - the opera.

Explorer's Park - A large park with trees and flowers that only bloom during certain times of year - creating a different atmosphere when you visit, year-round. Described as huge and maze-like, this park is also home to a few of the Menagerie's more innocuous wildlife, allowed to roam free.

---------------
Bishop's Market
---------------

The main site of the city's commerce and the busiest and most lucrative area. From the west is the Explorer's Gate, leading out of the city and down a road snaking down the bluff towards Avandra's Landing, which is somewhere between a small separate town and a wharf district for the city.

Lod's Lodge - An inn and hunting lodge run by Lod Hammerlock, mostly a place to brag about kills. Adventurers aren't as well received here as singular huntsmen who track and kill big and exotic game by themselves, but hey, a dragon's an impressive hunt even if you did team up with numerous other people to do it.

Blackhive Meadery - The only meadery in the city, due to the climate being ill suited for honeybees. If you drink mead in this part of the nation, chances are you're drinking Blackhive. They're extremely protective about their secrets and are wary of competitors.

Crystasteel Manufactory - A blacksmithing outfit run by twin goblin sisters, Rubi and Jaspa Crystasteel. Jaspa handles the typical blacksmithing and metallurgy work, outfitting the Warrior's Guild and adventurers and selling odds and ends like nails, horse shoes, and locks, while Rubi runs a clockwork shop - selling Candoran style machines - clocks, flintwork firearms, primitive constructs and engines that rely less on magic... Rubi's work is a bit more niche. Jaspa attributes her success to the advice of the Steelmaster of the Church of Ioun, Syl St. Aleph.

Olrein Alkahestries, Blackbaron Branch - A professional and tightly run alchemy shop offering a wide variety of elixirs and tincutres for sale, locked securely behind display cases.

The Warrior's Guild - A guild that oversees various aspects of the martial arts - One division deals with the unionising of combat roles such as soldiering, serving in the temple knights or the Black Guard, and regulation trying to oversee fair treatment of sellswords. The Guild also serves as a place of study and training to fighters around the nation, offering free militia training to the common folk, and allowing warriors to meet up and learn from each other. Texts detailing a great many fighting styles have been compiled here - and the guild's sole focus isn't on strictly brute effort either. As long as proper weapons are an important element in the style of fighting, magic is welcome - the use of pact blades with warlock fighting styles is covered, for instance. Paladins, avengers and monks often train here as extracurricular training in their orders, and there are an accomplished swordmage or two as well. In addition, smiths and metallurgists gather here to similarly trade their knowledge and wares. Training facilities are also offered and a few are open for public use.

The guild also provides room and board to members, and various VIP services in return for yearly pledges and good conduct. What the guild does not provide is a place for people to post jobs. Some of the guild's members are adventurers, but it is NOT an adventurer's guild and those seeking publically commissioned work are likely to find better purchase at one of the city's major taverns. For private commissions, the guild does sometimes lend its members to the churches for tasks deemed unsuitable to their personal soldiers or when manpower is low. The guildmaster is Gregor Blackbaron - a descendant of the clergyman who founded the outer city.

-------------
The Ashen See
-------------

The inner city of Blackbaron and the reason for its founding - the holy site dedicated to Avandra which eventually became occupied by other major churches as well. The grand cathedrals of the three major churches are here, and the majority of the clergy live within the walls as well in communal houses or monasteries.

Avandra's Dawn - The great open-air temple to Avandra built on and around her campsite. Sermons are held in the great amphitheater surrounding this place, and the buildings to the sides contain the various facilities needed by the church, including places for scripture to be stored, indoor pulpits used during inclement weather, and the Holy Cartographer's office. Avandra's clergy tend to wear sky blue, warm yellow, bright whites, or pleasant greens.

Raven Keep - The castle and cathedral where the heads of the church of the Raven Queen congrgate. This is a solemn place, built in an old, gothic style. Few outsiders are allowed in to see. The Raven Queen's worshippers wear black (of course), grey, reds and golds.

The Grand Archive of Ioun - The cathedral-library where most knowledge in the world is hoarded and many famous documents are kept, either in genuine or replica form. An extensive library of research, works both fictional and non-fictional, and more are available here. If you had ten lifetimes you likely wouldn't be able to read every book in this place, and the sorting and maintenance of the library is a monumental amount of work, with extremely careful cataloguing and documentation. The Archive also has a menagerie of animals, both mundane and exotic, cute and fearsome, but all tamed, though this one generally isn't open to the public due to the rarity, needs and temperament of the creatures within. Special permission has to be obtained. Lycoris could probably get you in, though, if you had reason to visit. The Vault is also here, a trove of rare artifacts collected and studied by the clergy. The less valuable and dangerous ones are open to the public for view, but some are kept protected, either because they're too dangerous or because they're too sacred. Documents describing these things in detail, however, are available. The Grand Ioun Stone is one such artifact, the first Ioun Stone crafted by Ioun herself from star rock, said to contain all the world's knowledge within. But ioun stones orbit a person's head and the Grand Ioun Stone is the size of a small building - so instead, some clergy dedicate their lives to trying to divine information from the stone through other means, with varying degrees of success. Sometimes this manifests as prophecies...