Shield of Sogambrium NEIGHBORHOODS & QUARTERS OF SOGAMBRIUM Shield of Sogambrium


Below is a general map of Sogambrium, showing its wards and quarters. Clicking on an area will lead you to a brief description of that area, or you can scroll down to see each area in turn. Note that these wards and quarters are informally named, with no firm boundaries or borders. They are however well known by the locals, even if they have never visited one area or another. Also, there is no separate government for these areas -- are all nominally under the control of the City -- but many answer more to local authorities than to the City (e.g. Senior Priests in the Temple Quarter).
Finally, note too that only the largest and main roads are shown. Most of these trace the lines of older walls which have been torn down as the city has grown. Most parts of Sogambrium are a maze of much smaller streets, none of which appear on this general map.
 

OUTWALLS

HUT TOWN
Poorest of the poor, living in the open or in simple shacks. Some find work in the Dump Pits to the east, ferrying garbage, dumping it or digging new pits. Otherwise they beg in town or on the road.

"SILOS"
Grain storage, bulk supplies, a few fenced areas and large bulk warehouses. A few windmills that are used for grinding grain as well.

"CAMPS"
A cross between Hut Town and Wheel Town: a few poor locals who offer to fetch and carry for lower class travellers and merchants, while the poorer traveller can camp here or rent a space in a big tent for a mere copper or two.

DUMP PITS
By far and away the most dangerous part of the City, Dump Pits is rightly feared not for its human workers (who are tough and threatening enough in their own way), but rather for the scavengers that the refuse in the pits attracts. Otyugh, carrion crawlers and worse all abide in the sprawling pits, and are often the focus of full-blown military strikes to reduce their numbers.

WHEEL TOWN
Catering to common merchant guards, tightwads, and low income travellers, a few big cheap inns and flop houses, plus large ostler commons and fenced fields for the largest of caravans that can't find room or afford to be in the walls.

WATER WORKS
Large, smelly, dirty or less profitable operations locate here, particularly those requiring water. Grainmills, sawmills, some tanneries, the stockyards, the city/public crematorium, and so forth make their home here. Ferries across the River Anwan (for those who can not afford the brigde tolls) ply this area too.

RIVERSPORT
While whores, gambling and bloodsports can all be found in the walls, here they are out in the open. There is no City Watch here, and dirty deeds are done dirt cheap.

OUT LAND
Gathering spot and embarkation point point for southbound caravans, and a tent camp for those who want or need to be near the City, but can stand to be no closer (Barbarians, outlaws, etc.).

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IN-WALL

SHORT QUARTER
Greatest density of demi-humans in Sogambrium. While they are generally welcomed throughout the city, most make their home here to be amongst kindred souls. Dwarves predominate, followed by gnomes, then halflings, some half-elves and half orcs, and finally a few elves. Remnants of an old, smaller wall the dwarves built long ago when this area was outside of the proper City walls still marks the boundary for the "core" of this quarter.

"TIPPLERS"
While still full of docks, wharves, warehouses and such, this is also the most popular blue-collar drinking and carousing area. While nowhere near as cut-throat or dangerous as Riversport, it is still a brawling and dangerous area.

MERCHANT TOWN
Far more than merchants live here, but certainly shops and their owners modest dwellings predominate. This is also where the crafts-people, artists and "skills for hire" (scribes, barbers, etc.) commonly make their home. Small theatres, galleries and workshops are here too, but none so opulent as the grand ones in High Town.

COSTER'S CORNER
For the weary traveller or the jaded urbanite seeking relaxation or pleasures of almost any sort, it is likely to be found here. From bath houses and massage parlours to bawdy houses and private brothels, there is little that can't be found for the right price. Technically much that transpires here is illegal even in Sogambrium, but since Watchmen and Judges partake too, seldom is anyone charged.

LOW QUARTER
A teeming warren of overcrowded buildings mixed with pockets of more organized living where one gang of thieves or cut-throats rules, this is actually a relatively quiet area... Most of the time. A combination of a strong Watch (and even Guard) presence plus the thieves desire for a low profile keeps a lid on things. However, when tensions boil over, the ensuing riots wrack the entire city. Many of the City's lisenced beggars live here and work elsewhere.

OLD CITY MARKET
While many markets are still found here, much of the original space is now given over to several large amplitheatres. Here, regular sproting events (chariot races, mock combats, etc.) are conducted. On a big race day many in the City will close shop and find their way into the stands.

OLD CITY
Many large and once beautiful buildings are found spotted throughout the winding and disorienting streets, but all are dilapidated and falling down. Most have been taken over by many more tenants than should be there, while others still hold reclusive or powerful people who have fallen on hard times, while others still hold students from the nearby College Ward. Bird dropping covered monuments, once fancy stores and crowded "antique shops" add a certain character.

OUTER WARD
Home to most of Sogambrium's Guard units, their storage and barracks, it is also commonly where those who travel frequently make their base. Mercenaries, merchant guards, and traders wander the streets, coming home after spending their gold in the Trade Quarter or Merchant Town. A number of Guild Offices and Trading Costers have offices in this ward too.

HIGHTOWN
Spacious homes, walled enclaves, wide streets and even gardens and trees mark this most wealthy area in Sogambrium. Select shops with rare wares, opulent eateries and exclusive clubs dot the area. This was not always the case: when what is now Old City was the core of Sogambrium, this was a slummish shanty town. The great Fire of 3656 razed this area, and the high-rollers took it over for their own, leaving their old mansions to decay in the Old City as they built up with area. Over the hundreds of years since it has only become more upscale and powerful. Given the wider streets and egos that have thrived here, monuments and statues abound.

NEW MARKET
If Merchant Town has shops, New Market is known for stalls. A veritable sea of canvas and silk, sheltering shouting merchants hawking their varied wares marks this area. They wake before dawn as thousands stream in for the day, and the markets close just before dark. Not one massive market, but almost a dozen open squares of varying sizes, most (fish, meat, produce, fabric, etc.) are open six days a week. Others rotate, or occur less freqently, with some markets (magical beasts for example) happening but a few times a year.

TRADE QUARTER
A mix of smaller warehouses (some enchanted to be cold or hot year-round) and multi-unit buildings, this is where many who work in New Market reside. There is a very "work hard, play hard" ethic here, where festival days and parades are enjoyed just as heartily as the hard work of bringing goods in from around Trishore. Note that for many of the food merchants they rent a small space here, as it is easier to bring in several wagons of produce and stay here many days until it sells then it is to travel home each night.

TEMPLE QUARTER
There are shrines and smaller temples in every corners of Sogambrium, but it is here that most (but not all) of the main or largest temples are found. Several pantheons have their seat in Sogambrium (see the Main Temples section for more detail), and this is usually where these magnificent edifices are found. Large squares and broad avenues mark the richest or more most powerful sites, but there is also a quiet tension as Priests vie for worshippers daily.

NEW CITY
One of the most recent areas to be walled, this large area has the feel of unlimited opportunity. Hustlers and con artists match wits with new arrivals bound for the Low Quarter, or (less commonly) Hightown. The area is prone to minor flooding in heavy rain, and it is a long way to many parts of the city, but nothing seems to dampen the hopes and dreams of those who live here -- especially those with a view towards Hightown on the slopes just above them.

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT
As the name implies, this is the main storage area within city walls. Everything from building materials to spices arrives in the boats docking near here, and even materials brought overland are often stored here. Some areas in the District are reasonably clean and relatively safe, most are just the opposite, despite the large Watch and Guard presence in this unwalled portion of Sogambrium.

DOCKS
Squeezed by buildings uphill, this is an older and even more cramped version of the Warehouse District. It is also older, less well planned (if that can be said of any area in the city), and much dirtier. But it is just as busy, with many smaller fishing boats adding to the chaos due to the cheaper berthing fees. The local Harbourmaster has been on stress leave for months. All the action also makes this a smugglers paradise despite the best efforts of a large Watch contingent.

SENATE QUARTER
There has not been a senate in Sogambrium since the day of Bearclaw (see Age of the "Union" ca. 1700-1800), but over thousands of years the tombs and edifices have endured and given this area its name. To this day the city's most illustrious (or richest) are buried here with great pomp and ceremony. But this is not a quarter of the dead: it is the residence of true power in the city. Where Hightown may have wealth, the old gold and truly well connected live here. Not as opulent as Hightown, those in the know aspire to one day live in these elevated surroundings.

CASTLE WARD
Sacked on only a three occasions, and rebuilt more powerfully each time, the sprawling towers of this ward speak to the pride and fear of the city's rulers. While only thinly manned at most times, great stores of weapons and tools lie within, and the walls are so highly magicked that the very stones writhe and move about. The Lord Mayor and many others reside here, but few call it home as they live here only for the duration of their term of office. The buildings (for there are many) cover a vast area, and not even the servants who live within know all the nooks and crannies. The Ruling Council meets here in one of several great Halls, and somewhere in the depths of the main Keep is the Mint.

THE COLLEGE
Likely the greatest treasure in the city, this area holds knowledge and wisdom virtually without compare in all of Trishore. The libraries and repositories hold but a fraction of what is tucked away in various museums, archives and schools. Great minds, both human and not, seek to unlock great mysteries in secluded halls and candle-lit chambers. This area is home to The College of the Brotherhood, and also has repositories owned by the Erudicia (a smaller but ancient local group) and the College of the Arcane Arts. Several secret societies have halls here as well. If one seeks an answer, there are few better places to ask the question.

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