MarkOliva

06/04/2012

1486

With the 65th Map of the Week we continue in the land of Slovania, a corner of the fallen Æsir Empire that is not ruled by forces of evil but that is not necessarily good aligned either. Slovania was settled by a high shamann from Windland in the south who was named Aleksandra. Her witch faith was dominant in the formative years but since has lost much of its influence.

Today, Slovania is a weak kingdom with four strong counties and a march. The king has his seat in Newhouse. The four counts and the margrave combined have considerably more power than the king alone. However, they work against one another rather than together. Their lands are the Royal, River, Grainland and Southland Counties and the Border March.

Slovania is a relatively corrupt land between the borders of good and evil. However, evil agents serving the dark draugs in the ruins of the Æsir Empire to the north are beginning to establish secret bases in parts of the kingdom.

Today's map shows us Newhouse, the royal seat of the Slovanian kings. Key to the Map of Newhouse:

1. Wizard Bořivoj's Compound. The wizard Bořivoj does magical research here, he sells magical services and, for high fees, he also trains natural sorcerers to become wizards and magi. Bořivoj seldom hires out his personal services to customers, but he does sell the services of wizards, magi and sorcerers who are in his service. He also accepts commissions to produce magical items and to ensorcel non-magical items with arcane powers. The tower is 75 feet/22.5 m high. All of the spellcasters except the apprentices work in the tower. The main building is three stories high. It serves as housing for Bořivoj, Brigita, Bartoloměj and Slavoj as well as the apprentices. Františka and Ondřej have their own dwellings in the city. The building also contains the administrative offices, training rooms for the apprentices, magic labs and supply rooms.

2. Dark Road Inn Stable.

3. Dark Road Inn Brewery. The inn brews its own dark beer and sells it in the Bridge Tavern across the road and to some of the other taverns in the city. The brewmistress is 38-year-old Dorota, a human female master artisan. She employs two laborers, both human male commoners. Her brewery also has the city's only malting house. All other brewhouses buy their malt from her.

4. Dark Road Inn. The inn is Newhouse's elite hostelry. It is owned by one of the city's biggest business magnates, Řehoř, who is the devil Gadreel in disguise as a human male merchant-thief. However, Řehoř seldom is seen in the inn or anywhere else in public. His manager and innkeeper, Květoslava, operates the Dark Road for him. Květoslava is an attractive human female merchant in her early 50s who is expert at keeping her moneyed customers charmed and happy, even to the extent that she will discreetly provide the services of the River House's staff (Location No. 22) to customers in their hotel rooms. It is rumored that Květoslava is available too, if the price is right. Řehoř also owns the River House, making arrangements with the bordello unproblematic. The Dark Road takes its name from the road on its west side, the route that leads northward out of town, eventually into the Dark ruins of the Æsir Empire. The inn has two suites, six double rooms and 14 single rooms. The suites cost 30 gold pieces per week or 100 gold pieces per month. Meals in the public room begin at 8 bronze pieces and can go as high as 1 gold piece and a silver piece. The dark beer from the house brewery costs 4 copper pieces per pint/half-liter tankard. Imported Windland wines run from 1 to 40 gold pieces per quart/liter bottle. Spirits from the royal distillery cost a silver piece per shot/0.1 liter glass.

5. Dark Road Inn Woodshed.

6. Market Square. The open markets of Slovania are the main retail source of contraband and loot from the Æsir ruins and small, illegal merchandise smuggled in from the North Kingdom and the Dreadlands. It is conceivable that almost anything but high-powered magical items might be found in the market stands.

7. Ljuba the Wise. Ancient Ljuba is the last in a family line of Slovanian spellcasters. The 88-year-old human female seer never wed and is childless. She is descendant in a line that once included a seer in the service of the adventurer Vladimir before he became the vampire draug monarch of the North Kingdom. Ljuba's descendant, however, left Vladimir's band earlier, taking the substantial treasure that she had earned and using it to establish herself in the new royal seat of the fledgling Queen Aleksandra in Newhouse. Almost any knowledge that is worth having and knowing in Slovania either is known to one of the two seers or is accessible in their library. Prices for their services begin at 1 gold piece. There is no upper limit.

8. Butcher Michal. Master Butcher Michal, a rotund 45-year-old human male artisan, is the fifth in his family line to own and operate Newhouse's biggest butcher shop and slaughtering operation. Michal sells fresh meats to the public rooms in the city that serve food. Butcher shop customers also can order fresh meat in advance or buy it if any is available that has not yet been packed or processed, but most meat is packed in barrels in salt brine, smoked or made into smoked sausage to preserve it.

9. Tinker Nadá. Nadá, a human female artisan, is the proverbial jack of all trades and master of none. She repairs things, almost anything, but she makes nothing new. On the side, she also sells some second-hand goods that she receives from customers as barter payment. Her only employee is her laborer, Mikuláš, a human male commoner. They work afternoons and some mornings in Nadá's shop, making repairs. Two days a week they ride through town in an old wagon, seeking items to fix.

10. Market Bakery . Master Baker Gizela, a human female artisan in her early 50s, owns the northernmost of two bakeries in the city's center. She has a retail shop and sells to most of the eateries in the northern part of town. Her baked goods also are sold on the market square. Gizela employs two journeyman bakers, human male and female artisans; two apprentices, human male and female commoners; three salespersons, human female commoners, and a laborer, a human male commoner.

11. Chandler Zikmund. The bespectacled, 77-year-old Zikmund, a human male artisan, is in his last years as Newhouse's sole candlemaker. Zikmund's eyesight is failing, and he soon will be unable to see well enough to make quality goods. His 52-year-old son, Maxim, also a master chandler and human male artisan, wishes his father no ill but is eager for him to step aside so that he can modernize the business. They buy their tallow from a rendering plant a bit north of town and beeswax from ranger beekeepers in the Southwood. The third member of the business is Maxim's daughter, Hermina, a 27-year-old journeyman chandler and human female artisan.

12. Northland Inn. A quiet hostelry, the Northland seeks no adventurers as guests and refuses to book those who arrive wearing armor or bearing any weapons except those a traveler might carry in self defense. Most guests in this house are merchants and other travelers of middle means who are visiting the city. The innkeeper and owner is Ferdinand, a shy human male merchant bachelor in his early 40s who is seeking a wife. He has four double rooms at 5 bronze pieces per person per night and 10 singles at 6 bronze pieces a night. The public room is run by his brother, Felix, an outgoing human male merchant. Drinks are limited to the house brew, at 3 copper pieces per pint/half-liter tankard, and spirits from the royal distillery, at 1 to 3 bronze pieces per shot/0.1 liter glass. Food runs from three to seven bronze pieces per serving. Felix also has a small brewhouse operated by his wife, brewmistress Ester, a human female artisan. She buys her malt from the Dark Road Inn brewery (Location No. 3). Ester brews a Pilsener type beer, strong in bitter hops.

13. Terezas General Store. Tereza, a human female merchant in her late 40s, sells a wide variety of items except for meat, fruit and vegetables. Food items are limited to trail rations and the like. Adventurers heading out of town should be able to find almost any normal gear they need in this three-story shop. Even some dried healing herbs and potions are available. The eastern half of the ground floor is devoted to saddles, tack, saddlebags, back packs, boots and other leather goods suited for the trail.

14. Temple of the Mother's Waters. This temple serves the power Mokoš, who really is the Earth Mother. The fact that the Aleksandreska call her Mokoš never has impressed the Earth Mother. She ignores those who consider themselves to be her priests and priestesses. As a result, the clerics of the temple have no command of clerical magic. However, they do know how to charge the waters of life and death, and all priests and priestesses are, in fact, herbal healers rather than clerics.

15. Goodwater River. This clear-running tributary of the Leipt River flows down through the city from the Southwood.

16. Millstream.

17. King's Cove. Only King Jáchym, his family and his guests are allowed on or in the cove. The cove is guarded. Intentionally entering the cove can result in time in prison. Signs on the Goodwater warn boaters not to enter the cove and also warn them of the penalty for entering the cove illegally.

18. Royal Brewery. Earlier kings unrelated to Jáchym built the court brewery but bowed to already existent economic interests and did not attempt to monopolize brewing. Instead, they cashed in on the granting of brewing rights to several of the inns and taverns in Newhouse and environs. The court brewery is the city's second largest, but it still is considerably smaller than the brewery of the Dark Road Inn (Location No. 2). Alewife Vendula, the master brewmistress, is a human female artisan in her early 50s. She brews a top-fermented light ale that is served in the castle and garrison and sold in some public rooms. No ale is sold on premises.

19. Royal Distillery. Unlike the royal brewery, the distillery is a monopoly business.

20 Royal Castle Complex. The castle complex of the Slovanian kings, currently of King Jáchym. The central building is the palace. The royal administration is housed in the building to the left or west. Servants and staff live in the building to the right or east. Jáchym is not a king who is inclined to entertain socially. Therefore, the counts and the margrave usually are the only guests who ever enter the palace. The king receives official visitors in the reception hall of the administration building.
 
21. Royal Grain Mill. The late King Eyžen also saw to it that the crown had a monopoly on flour, feed and vegetables in the royal district. The royal master miller is the 60-year-old widow Svatava, a human female artisan who followed in her late husband's footsteps. King Jáchym already has agreed that when Svatava retires in two years, her son, Master Miller Matouš a 38-year-old human male artisan, will succeed her. The present mill payroll includes Svatava, Matouš, an apprentice miller named Medard, who is a human male commoner, and a laborer, who also a human male commoner. After Svatava retires, Matouš hopes that Medard will be ready to be dubbed as a journeyman and that he can take on a new apprentice.

22. River House Bordello. Another of the operations of the devil Gadreel in his disguise as one of the city's biggest business magnates, Řehoř, a supposed human male merchant-thief. The madame of the house, Slavěna, a 50-year-old human female thief, runs it. Řehoř never sets foot in the establishment, although he does send his aides in to monitor doings there. When Řehoř wishes to discuss business with Slavěna, she meets him in his compound (Location No. 26). Slavena hires 12 human females and 4 human males, all commoners and thieves, to take care of customers' needs. Prices are negotiated individually, based upon the services desired.

23. River Inn. This rather basic and economical inn is owned by Ignác, the 55-year-old human male warrior who owns and operates the New Dawn Mercenary Society (Location No. 24). The inn specializes in housing adventurers and mercenaries. Potential guests who do not look like a member of either group usually are told that the house is full, or, if they are coming to eat and drink, that the public room is booked full. Mercenaries and adventurers who know their way around Slovania usually are aware of the River Inn and will tend to stay there when in town, unless, of course, their pockets are full and they're seeking something more elite.All of the single rooms have extra wide double beds, wide enough for two who don't mind close quarters. The 12 single rooms cost 5 bronze pieces a night. There are no doubles. Meals run between 3 and 9 bronze pieces.

24. New Dawn Mercenary Society. This rather strange organization was founded and is owned and operated by Ignác, the 55-year-old retired human male warrior who also owns the River Inn (Location No. 23). Ignác, who seldom is seen outside of his compound, explains little about his organization. What is known comes from tales of those who have worked or are working for him. His society underwrites adventuring groups that search for treasures in the ruins of the Æsir Empire. He maintains a band of his own here in the society's compound that he sends out to do commissioned work, usually to eliminate marauding bands of orcs or brigands or to destroy rings of thieves in cities and towns. He also has a number of solo headhunters whom he sends out when he's been hired to bring a fugitive to justice or to bring in someone sought on a private basis for absconding with the money of another or for failing to fulfill contracts.
 
25. Drowning Draug Tavern. When adventurers, soldiers, mercenaries and the like finish eating and drinking in the public room of the River Inn, the diehards among them tend to gravitate to the Drowning Draug for a serious nightcap. None of the "decent" population of Newhouse ever passes the tavern's threshold. The tavern is owned by a 66-year-old retired human female ranger named Darja. It's no secret that bar brawls are frequent in the Drowning Draug. At times, they even come to a fatal ending. The guests understand that it's in their own best interests to pay for Darja's damages. The watch usually has no interested for the bar corpses. Such deaths usually are written off as self-inflicted accidents.

26. Řehoř's Mansion. Inside the gate, one can see a large mansion and two towers. The one to the north is 80 feet/24 m high. The smaller southern tower is 60 feet/18 m high. The walls and roofs of all three structures are shielded on the inside with lead to prevent seers from using divination magic to see what's inside. Few Slovánski ever have been inside of this compound. Those who have know better than to tell tales about it. This is the base of the devil Gadreel who is known as the human male merchant Řehoř. The only known residents of the council are Řehoř, his wizardess Aneta and his bodyguard Hugo. Aneta appears to be a human female and Hugo appears to be a human male warrior. These are merely the magical disguises of two of Gadreel's deep devils, Sarzhazh and Xanthor. Gadreel's remaining deep devils run its operations in the other towns of Slovania. Their main mission appears to be to keep the nation from reuniting as a strong kingdom. Nothing more is known of this location.

27. Jolana's Bakery. Master Baker Jolana, a 40-year-old human female artisan, owns and operates the second of two bakeries in the inner city. She sells her baked goods over the counter in the bakery shop and she delivers to inns and taverns in the southern half of town. Jolana employs a journeyman baker, human male artisan; an apprentice baker, human female commoner; two salespersons, human female commoners, and a laborer, human male commoner.

28. Bohdan's Wagons. Master Wainwright, a 55-year-old human male artisan, is the only inner city maker of wagons and carts. He employs two journeyman wainwrights, human male and female artisans; two apprentices, human male and female commoners, and a laborer, human male commoner.

29. Northwestern Foundry. The ore of copper and tin taken from the illegal mines in the mountains above Minadoka is made into bronze in ovens fired by coal taken from the same mining region. The foundry supplies most of the bronze worked by forges and smithies in the Royal County and in the Grainland County north of the Štědrost (Bounty River). The foundry is a national operation owned by the crown. The royal manager is Klaudie, a 52-year-old female merchant.

30. Vanda's Woodworks. This operation belongs to the 48-year-old human female artisan Vanda, who is a double master, as a carpenter and joiner. Outside of the shop, Vanda's carpentry crews construct wooden building frames and the like. In the shop, her joiners make furniture and other wooden objects.

31. Gabriel's Weaponworks. Master armor maker Gabriel, a human male, and his human female wife, Master Weaponsmith Marta, both artisans, make the bronze weapons and armor used by the army and the watch. They also are the main makers of weapons and armor for private customers in Newhouse. Gabriel and Marta can make and repair master quality weapons and armor.

32.-34. Warehouses. All three warehouses belong to the trading companies across the road: No. 32 belongs to Distant Trails Trading, No. 33 to Windland Overland and No. 34 to the Slovanian Merchants League. Each warehouse is watched around the clock by three guards apiece, all human male and female warriors.
 
35.-37. Distant Trails Trading. Exactly who or what owns this trading company is uncertain, but it seems certain that Count Arnošt of the River County has a substantial interest in it. Ostensibly, the company transports ore and coal in heavy duty wagons from Minadoka to Newhouse and bronze products and other wares back to Minadoka on the return trip. However, there's more to operation than that. Distant Trails also runs illegal caravans up the Leipt to the North Kingdom, trading merchandise from Slovania and Windland for goods from the lands of the vampire draugs. It then smuggles the North Kingdom's goods into Slovania, hiding them in false bottoms of the ore wagons. The Royal Ministry of Finance does not inspect the company's shipments because they are claimed as domestic merchandise.Building No. 35 houses the administration on the ground floor. The two upper floors are rented out as residentials. Building No. 36 is the wagon house, and Building No. 37 is the stable.

38.-40. Windland Overland. Little is known in Slovania about this trading company, nor has anyone asked a lot of questions. It's a foreign operation that claims to be based in the small coastal town of Dark Mountains in northwestern Windland. Windland Overland does both honest and dishonest business in Slovania. On the honest side, it is one of the main transporters of goods between Slovania and Windland. On the shadier side, it's one of the big customers of Distant Trails Trading for forbidden wares from the North Kingdom. Building No. 38 houses the administration on the ground floor. The two upper floors are rented out as residentials. Building No. 39 is the wagon house, and Building No. 40 is the stable.

41.-43. Royal Trading Co.. Slovania's largest trading company is headquartered here in Newhouse. Despite its name, the domestic company belongs to neither the king nor the crown. Instead, it is a national transportation operation jointly controlled by the crown, the four counties and the Border March, with the king, the burgomaster, the counts and the margrave all having a say in its dealings. The national manager is the 42-year-old Olívie, a human female merchant. Building No. 41 houses the administration on the ground floor. The two upper floors are rented out as residentials. Building No. 42 is the wagon house, and Building No. 43 is the stable.

44. Royal Granary. Agricultural goods that are tithed to the crown from farms in the royal district within a 5-mile/8 km radius of Newhouse are stored here. King Jáchym sells stored grains and other products only when they are replaced by goods from the new harvest. He considers the granary to be above all a source of food in times of famine or emergency. The granary is run by the Ministry of Finance (Location No. 45). The granary manager is the 58-year-old Abdon, a human male merchant.

45. Royal Ministry of Finance. Royal Minister of Finance Radek, a 62-year-old human male merchant-warrior, has the primary responsibility of assessing items for tax value and collecting taxes and tithes. He has a large staff of assessors and tax collectors, but most work in the field and not in the city headquarters..

46. Dark Temple. This location is not publicly known as the Dark Temple. Most residents of Newhouse have no idea that a temple is on the site. Instead, it's referred to as Miluše's Wizard Tower. Miluše, a 76-year-old human female, is not exactly a wizard but rather a black necromancer. Recently, she found what she believes may be her salvation after admitting the disciples of the dark draug Mýsing in the Æsir ruins and hearing their word. Miluše has become a high priestess in waiting in Mýsing's Society of Immortal Darkness, the developing new dark religion that is intended to make a deity of Mýsing..

47. City Hall. The ground floor and second story of city hall house the governmental administration. The ground floor also houses the duty station of the city watch. The watch has its administration and sleeping areas for watch members on standby duty on the third story. The cellar dungeon level is the city jail, which is run by the watch.

48. Royal Prison. This is the national prison where all hardened criminals serving sentences of five years and more are sent. (Those serving lesser sentences are confined in city jails.) The prison is an unpleasant place, to say the least, bit it has no torture chambers or places where death sentences are executed. Both are outlawed in Slovania under the terms of Aleksandra's royal charter. The prison cells – 14 on each floor – are on the second through fifth stories. Six solitary confinement cells are in the cellar dungeon level. In most cases two prisoners are housed in a single normal cell. Both men and women prisoners are confined here, but only members of the same sex share a cell. The prison has a normal inmate population of about 100. The ground floor houses the prison administration. The prison is run by Warden Lýdie, a 36-year-old human female warrior who reports directly to Burgomaster Mojmír and indirectly to King Jáchym.

49. Slovanian Textiles. The spinning mill weaves linen out of the flax from farms in the Leipt Valley north of town. The spinning mill is in the upper (northwestern) building. The lower (southeastern) building is a warehouse where both raw materials and finished goods are stored. The company is a cooperative owned by the farmers who grow the flax. The manager is Master Weaver Nora, a 56-year-old human female artisan.

50. Bridge Tavern. The small watering hole is open only evenings. It's a place where managers, merchants and other business people tend to gather for a night cap before heading home after a day's work. Scuttlebutt is limited mostly to news of commerce and trade. The owner and only person working on the premises is tavernkeep Kazimer, a 58-year-old human male merchant. He serves ale from the royal brewery at 3 copper pieces per quart/half-liter tankard and spirits from the royal distillery at two to four bronze pieces per shot/0.1 liter glass.
 
51. Cobbler Abrahám. Abrahám, a 57-year-old human male artisan, is the shoemaker for Newhouse's elite, moneyed set. He makes excellent, luxury quality leather shoes and boots that he sells at proud prices. Abrahám employs two journeyman cobblers, male and female human artisans; an apprentice, human female commoner, and a laborer, human male commoner.

52. Antonín's Maps. Antonín, a 74-year-old human male scholar, is a retired adviser to the kings who makes maps more as a hobby than a profession. His business has too few customers for him to make a living with it. For nearly two decades, Antonín has collected information on the surrounding lands from merchants, soldiers and adventurers. Once he has sufficient and corroborated information about an area, he makes a map of it. He has reliable and relatively accurate maps of all of Slovania and the trails southward to Windland as well as the smuggling trail from Minadoka to the North Kingdom. Antonín also has mapped various areas of the ruins of the Æsir Empire, but most areas there remain unmapped, although he has produced excellent maps of the northern lands before the empire failed. Most of his few customers are looters going into the fallen empire to seek treasure or adventurers planning to enter the Æsir ruins. Antonín always tells his customers to what degree his maps are reliable.

53. Mother Anežka's Medicine. Mother Anežka, an 82-year-old female human healer, and her daughter, Apolena, a 59-year-old female human healer, make Newhouse's herbal medicines. Neither of them does healing work. They devote all of their time to making potions, poultices and the like. Many of their raw materials come from their herbal garden on the west (right) side of their house, but they also buy other plant materials from farmers and from rangers who work in the Southwood.

54. Libor's Haberdashery. Master Tailor Libor, a 53-year-old human male artisan, not only makes fine, expensive apparel for Newhouse's wealthy class, but he also sells dry goods from other areas include coveted and fashionable but illegal items smuggled in from the vampire draug kingdom to the north.

55. Blacksmith Emil. Master Blacksmith Emil, a 42-year-old human male artisan, makes all types of heavy to light metal items, and he shoes horses. However, his shop does no work with weapons or armor.

56. Jeweler Denisa . Denisa, a 61-year-old human female artisan, makes jewelry, deals in precious stones and metals and changes money in those rare cases when foreign coins come to town. She employs six guards, all human male and female warriors. They work in three shifts daily; two always are on guard at any given time.

57. Garrison. The headquarters of King Jáchym's small army. The commander is Rút, a human female warrior. She has 75 human male and female warriors under her command in Newhouse. The barracks are in this building.

58. Garrison Stall.

59. Garrison Headquarters. Rút employs four civilian clerks here, all human male and female merchants.

60. Guard Towers. The upper levels of the tower between the castle and the garrison are used by King Jáchym's court wizard, Oleg, a 66-year-old human male wizard.

You can get the map in two versions:

1. The Fractal Mapper (TM) 8 map in FMP format, fully editable, from our Jörðgarð web page (29 MB).

2. As a JPG flat map of 1360 x 990 Pixels (1 MB), available with the hypperlink below.

Both versions are released for personal and commercial use under the Open Game License Version 1.0a, which you can read on the Jörðgarð web site.

The Jörðgarð web site:

www.vintyri.org/joerdhgardh/joerdhgardh.htm

Next: The Slovanian border town of Sentinel City

Mark Oliva
The Vintyri (TM) Project
www.vintyri.org
info@vintyri.org