Pandora - Part 2

 What is it?

An island that you won't find on any map, and a city on that island.

Where is it?

No one is sure. Most people who've been there believe it's somewhere in the North Atlantic, based on the climate and the terrain. However, Pandora's exact location is unknown, and all attempts to quantitatively locate it fail spectacularly.

Why is it?

If you believe the locals, the island was the refuge of the mythical Pandora, who fled there after the whole incident with the box.  They say she was taken pity on by some unnamed power, greater than the Hellenic pantheon, and spirited away to the island that now bears her name, so that she could find some measure of peace.

Others followed in her footsteps and the native Pandorans are all descended from refugees, exiles and a myriad of others who fled the outside world because it no longer held a safe place for them.  As such, they tend to be very welcoming to individuals in trouble.

 How do you get there?

The only way to get to Pandora is by the Pandoran Ferry. It's a boat that travels to and from the island at least once a month, although sometimes twice. It is the only vessel that can reach the island. Any others that try fail. Most are never seen or heard from again. The Ferry puts into various ports around the world, from Boston to Hong Kong to Capetown.  There is a schedule, but it seems to change often and to the whims of the Ferry's mysterious Captain. Rumors of the Ferry's arrival circulate locally about a week ahead of its actual appearance.  Passage is booked at the ship and the fees are negotiable. However, cabins fill up fast so get there early if you want a spot.

When the Ferry departs for Pandora, it seems to enter a timeless, misty realm where neither the sun, moon or stars are visible. Watches and personal electronics will usually stop working. The only reliable timepiece on the Ferry is the Captain's pocket watch.

Travelers are advised to stay below deck, in their cabin or the passenger lounge. Sometimes people vanish off the deck.  The Ferry's crew refer to these disappearances as the Toll. Some of them whisper about the Monsters in the Mist, but these sailors usually don't last too long on the Ferry.

 What happens when you arrive?

The Ferry will arrive at the docks. There, passengers disembark into the waiting arms of island officials.

You'll be taken to the Customs Office on Peabody Street. There, you will be examined by a doctor from Saint Penitents, and interviewed by the Customs Officer, Mister Barthenel(Who is Very Nice). Your belongings will be searched. Contraband items will be seized.  You may be searched, as well, but this happens Very Rarely.  Any currency you have will be exchanged for the Pandoran rho. (Don't worry, the exchange rate is very fair.)  You'll be issued an identification card with your picture on it. (The picture is usually a Very Good Sketch but sometimes a Very Unflattering Photograph.)  After all of this, you'll sit through a very short film to help familiarize yourself with local etiquette and then you'll be allowed to enter the city.

 The Welcome Wagon

Once you leave the Customs Office, we recommend that you visit the Welcome Wagon. It is just outside the Customs Office.

The Welcome Wagon is a bright pink truck, mounted on cinderblocks, surrounded by wooden troughs full of brightly colored plastic pinwheels. In its previous life, it was an ice cream truck. Now, it is the Welcome Wagon.

The Welcome Wagon is a free resource available to all newcomers to Pandora. It is sponsored by the Knitting Society and the Royal Philanthropic League. It is open from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday thru Saturday, and closed Sunday and Ragsday. (Note that the Pandoran week has eight days, the seven days your familiar with and then Ragsday.)

The Welcome Wagon is usually staffed by Mrs. Allwall of the Knitting Society and Mr. Yanel from the Royal Philanthropic League. (Don't stare at Mr. Yanel's glass eye; it's Rude and Very Bad Luck.)

The Welcome Wagon can provide newcomers with all sorts of useful information: a map of the city, subway schedules, information on various neighborhoods, the best place to buy yarn, how much to tip the maître d' at Kvaltjen's to get a Good Table and what to do if you run into a wild grendel in the city. (The last one happens Very, Very Rarely! We promise!)

The Welcome Wagon can also provide resources on where to find a job, where to find somewhere to live and a list of social organizations where you can make new friends and learn interesting new skills such as firewalking or knife-catching.

 Where to Stay?

Honestly, that depends on if you're just visiting or plan on staying.

If you're visiting, we recommend the Santa Clause Hotel, on Bavwen Plaza in Starwell. It's just a short walk from Nightjohn Station, and close to the Carnival District and Old Town, so there's lots of fun and interesting things to do. The prices are very affordable, 9r per night for a single occupancy, 15r per night for a double.

If you fancy something more upscale (and Expensive!), we would recommend the Knizbeth Inn, on Gerr Street, in the Three Princes District. The Knizbeth Inn is close to the Palace, the Garden District and Peverelle. Fine dining and all manner of entertainments are nearby, and the Inn's staff are more than happy to make recommendations. Be warned, though, that rooms at the Knizbeth Inn are a bit pricey. An average room will cost you 40r a night! (But that includes a host of amenities, including Hot & Cold Running Room Servants. Yowza!)

However, if you plan on staying in Pandora, you'll want to find more long-term accommodations that won't empty your pockets.

Many newcomers find their feet at the Bellerephon Apartments in Oceanview. They're very affordable(30r per month), the lease is month-to-month, and they offer a striking view of the ocean. (They're also supposedly Haunted, which would explain the cheap rent and high renter turnover rate.)

House-sharing is common, especially among the Outsider community. You can usually find such accommodations available in Old Town and the University District.

If you're really strapped for cash, (Or just want to save your pennies) there are flophouses in the Wharf District as well as the Seahorse District. Be warned though that flophousers tend to be dirty, dangerous and/or mad.

If you're Really Desperate, you could always sleep rough in the Garden District or take up residence in one of the old, abandoned homes just outside the city.  There are several such houses within walking/bicycling distance of Functionary Station and Raven's End.

If you're Completely Crazy, you can go to Saint Penitents Hospital. They'll give you a nice, warm bed every night, but you have to agree to take part in their Medical Experiments. (So you might not wake up from that nice, warm bed they offered you, or you might wake up with more appendages than when you went to sleep!)

And, if you're Suicidal, you could sleep on the Underground. Be warned though, if the Train Police catch you sleeping rough on the Underground, they'll give you a good kicking(if you're Lucky!) or just throw you to the Gap Monsters.

 How to Get Around?

Many newcomers are surprised at how easy it is to get around Pandora.

The main means of getting around is the Underground. This is the subway system that extends beneath the city. Please note that the Underground is not actually considered part of Pandora, and that it falls under the authority of the King of the Underground. (More about His Subterrestreal Majesty later!)

The trains run all night and all day, all year long, except for the Silent Days in December. Otherwise, the trains are quick, efficient and mostly safe. Infractions of the Underground rules, posted prominently in Stations and on the trains themselves, are dealt with swiftly and violently by the red-coated Train Police. (Trust us. You do NOT want to get caught Breaking the Underground Rules.)

If the Underground seems daunting, there are many surface travel options.

There are City Buses (Antiquated things apparently imported from the automobile graveyards of various third-world nations!) that run most of the week from about 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM.  An in-district round-trip ticket costs 1r. Traveling between districts costs one additional rho. There are no transfers between the Buses and the Underground. The buses run on bio-diesel and smell pleasantly of French fries.

Aside from Military, Police and Rescue Service vehicles, motor vehicles are forbidden within the city. However, there are transport options.

Rickshaws are cheap, costing 1r per person for every mile pulled. Rickshaw wallahs are Very Fit and Very Knowledgeable about the city. (They're also prone to Road Rages that can amass impressive body counts!)

Bicycles and rickshaws are common throughout Pandora, and it isn't odd to spot a palanqueen being carried about some of the richer neighborhoods.

Horses and horse-drawn carriages are allowed in the city, but maintaining a mount is expensive. Stables charge between 5 and 10r per week just for stabling. Feed costs extra.

Traveling by hired carriage is usually more expensive than taking the Bus or the Underground, but it's also more private. Carriage-taxis charge 1r per mile and many are only licensed to operate in one district.  Unlicensed taxis(Commonly known as wild horses) operate illegally across the entire city, but are at risk of being stopped by the blackjacks. The carriage driver and any occupants are likely to get thrown in jail. The horse is likely to be seized by the government and sent to the Farms outside the city or publicly auctioned off to various interested parties. (Which includes some very well known restaurants!)

Travel by foot is probably the most common means of getting around the city. Pandoran neighborhoods are very pedestrian friendly.

Of course, the efficiency of all of these modes of transport are influenced by the season. During the warm months of spring and summer, traveling by foot and rickshaw is no great difficulty. However, in autumn and winter, when the snows fall, travel by anything other than City Bus and Underground can be a bit daunting. After the first snowfall, rickshaws vanish from the city streets and don't appear again until spring.

 What to Eat?

The Pandoran diet is mostly protein, with lots of fats and some random carbohydrates on the side. Fish and mutton are common and pretty cheap. Beef is available, but it's expensive. So is horse. Pork has to be imported and is Very Expensive. Birds, by Pandoran law, can only be eaten by the Royal Family, and they only eat them during special events.

Milk is plentiful, thanks to dairies outside the city. Milk products, such as cheeses and sour cream, can be found in most stores.

Outside of certain legal restrictions, variations on most world cuisines can be found in the city, although with a unique Pandoran twist. For example, you can buy fried potatoes pretty much everywhere, but if you want an American-style hamburger, you'll have to go to one of the more expensive restaurants around town.

The variety of fresh fruit and vegetables available to Pandorans was very limited until the last ten years or so, when a group of enterprising Pandorans constructed large greenhouses around the city. Now Pandorans can enjoy things like strawberries and tomatoes year round. More exotic fruits, like pineapples and mangos, still have to be imported and are Expensive. (At one time, fresh pineapples were given as wedding presents because they were so expensive!)

 Where to Eat?

If you've got the rhos, the best restaurant in Pandora is Kvaltjen's. It's on Sochi Avenue, in Three Princes District.  Seating is by appointment only, and the menu is set, but changes every couple of days. This restaurant is Very Expensive but well worth the price. The food is extraordinary. The service is exemplary. (It's rumored that Kvaltjen's caters private dinners where emissaries from Pandora and the Underground meet to discuss various topics of mutual interest.)

If you want a less expensive and more traditional Pandoran dining experience, we suggest Mama Bonan's in Starwell District. This lively family restaurant offers traditional Pandoran cuisine six days a week. The menu is a la carte, and prices are Very Reasonable. Mama Bonan, the owner and cook, often steps into the dining room to chat with the customers. If she takes a shine to you, she might offer you some of her homemade kamstandeldost, a decadent desert consisting of chocolate, sour cream and fermented berries.

If you would rather have something quick, Pandora has a number of fast-food options.

Kendi's is a popular local chain, well known for its menu of fried fish, fried potatoes and fried cheese. Their mascot is a buxom, blonde cartoon girl with pigtails believed to be based on the founder's first wife. (Who disappeared under Mysterious Circumstances several years ago outside the city. They say she was carried off by wild grendels, but a body was Never recovered.)

L'experience Francaise is another popular local chain. Inspired by the Pandoran affection for all things French (Except mimes! Ugh!), L'experience Francaise offers soups and salads, as well as steak tartare, croque monsier, gratin dauphinois, ratatouille and aligot. Their restaurants are decorated in the red, white and blue colors of the French flag and employees are required to be fluent in French. (No big deal, since most Pandorans are multilingual, but it usually surprises newcomers.)

Nirvana Burger is a chain of vegetarian places that serve veggie burgers, French fries, salads and soups. They're open late and are very popular with the afterhours set.

FishFood is another popular chain, offering walk-through sushi and sake takeout boxes for a very reasonable price. (There's a rumor that Prince Oliver pops into the FishFood in Government Center, incognito, after a particularly grueling day governing the city. But don't tell anyone that we told you this!)

Then there are the usual range of food wagons and food carts offering everything from fried fish sandwiches to boiled mutton and spicy cheese poppers. If you do eat from a food wagon or cart, make sure it's displaying an official sticker from the Ministry of Health. These are usually safe. If they don't have the sticker, it's best to avoid them.

 Where to Shop?

Despite its remoteness, Pandora offers its residents a vigorous retail experience. You can find all of the essentials pretty easily and a surprisingly wide range of luxury goods. (Depending on your idea of luxury!)

Most neighborhoods have a corner grocery offering staple goods such as beer, wine, canned tuna, bar soap and toilet paper.

Pharmacies usually serve multiple neighborhoods and are always associated with a doctor's office, which must be associated with Saint Penitents.  Pandoran pharmacies often produce their own medicines (To Very Strict health standards!), and offer products that are restricted or illegal in other countries. For example, Kerndurg's Coca-Pills are an over-the-counter drug containing cocaine and advertised as a 'tonic for the body, mind and spirit.' A wide range of marijuana-laced products, ranging from stress tinctures to edibles, have been available to the Pandoran public for the last century, and marketed as cures for anxiety, hypertension and insomnia.

Specialty stores can be found throughout the city, operating as independent establishments. Unlike fast food, which has established chains across the city, retail establishments have yet to duplicate this feat.

Most districts have a central shopping street or plaza, akin to an American Main Street or a British High Street.  During the spring and summer, these streets and plazas often host open air markets where locals can by fresh produce, local arts and crafts.

And although retail chains and big box stores haven't sank their claws into Pandora, one outside retail institution did catch on: the shopping mall.

The first shopping center constructed in Pandora was the Shopping Center on Darvi Avenue, in Karcell. It was a huge two-story building, housing seventeen retail establishments, that opened in 1992. The Shopping Center was an enormous success and soon similar centers were being built across the city.  Most would fail and close, but some would thrive.

The biggest and best shopping center in the city is the Krishime Mall in Peverelle. Krishime Mall is a three-story building, housing forty two retail stores. It has a food court on the first floor and a movie theater on the second floor. Popular stores include Breklev's Jewels, Gilshe & Rankar Childrenswear, Yah Books and Cinderella's, a high-end dress shop patronized by Queen Lilah and Princess Yanelle.

The other major shopping center in Pandora is the Government Park Center, just a block away from the Government Park Station. Government Park Center is a one-story structure, housing twenty-one businesses, including a neighborhood market and a pharmacy/doctor's office.  Popular stores in the mall include William Slade, a fashionable menswear store; Sizaku Steps, the most expensive shoe-store in Pandora, and ChadComp, which sells rebuilt computers and electronics.

However, the vast majority of Pandora's retail establishments remain homegrown mom & pop businesses, serving the needs of their neighborhood or a select clientele.

For example, Exile's Market, in Oceanview, focuses on serving the needs and wants of outsiders. Their stock apparently consists of goods imported from off-island. In reality, however, the majority of the goods are from local sources. The owner of Exile's also owns a print shop and he slaps new labels on existing packaging. Everybody knows he does it, but everybody plays along because it's a nice gesture. (And, according to rumors, sometimes he actually does get legitimate outside products that he sells to his customers.)

There is also a Black Market, which sells illegal goods (like frozen chicken nuggets) smuggled through Customs or brought ashore by shady sailors from the Ferry. Occasionally, contraband goods (like Gap Monster teeth) are brought up from the Underground.

The Black Market is well-organized, Very Very Paranoid and Extremely Dangerous. Black marketers disguise themselves with masks and magics, deal only in cash and vanish at the first hint of trouble. Mostly, they meet among the failed neighborhoods north and east of the city, although sometimes transactions are carried out on the busy streets of the Carnival District, the back of a City Bus, or shunned places like Sorrow's Point.

Getting caught buying or selling black market goods is a serious offense and has serious consequences. We highly recommend you don't get involved! (Unless you absolutely HAVE to HAVE the latest version of Grand Theft Auto!)

Another source of goods (Less dangerous than the Black Market?) is the Underground. Underground Markets pop up randomly beneath the city according to an eccentric schedule known only to the King of the Underground and the Market Master. The Underground Market is sometimes allowed to set up in an Underground Station, which attracts all sorts of attention from the Pandoran authorities. However, since the Underground isn't part of Pandora, there isn't really anything the blackjacks and inspectors can do but glower and glare at people. And if they do that too much, the Train Police will tell them to leave.

You can find items in the Underground Market that you can't find elsewhere in Pandora. By mutual agreement, the Underground Market doesn't sell items that Pandora considers contraband. You won't find firearms or frozen chicken breasts for sale, but you can find hallucinogenic mushrooms and bioluminescent fungi, as well as antiques of dubious origin and exotic fruits and vegetables, such as spiked cabbages and abrabananas. You can even find people selling maps to the Long Stair and the Brass Door.  If you do buy anything from the Underground Market, just be warned that doing so might attract unwanted attention from the authorities.

Pandora

 Siobhan stood at the railing, shivering in the damp mist that had enveloped the ferry ever since they had left Tory.  The boat had left after midnight, and the past three days had passed in a strange, sunless twilight. The passengers were allowed on deck, and many had spent that first day at the rails, squinting into the swirling mist. Eventually, most had returned below deck, to their cabins, to endure the voyage in solitude.

 Siobhan could not blame them. The mist swirled around the ship, illuminated as a white formless fog during the daylight hours, and a creeping gray menace after sunset.  The Captain and the crew did not seem bothered by it, going about their duties with aplomb, shooing the occasional passenger out of the way.

 Siobhan tried to stay out of their way. She stood close to the railing, peering into the mist, wondering if she would ever see the sun or moon again.

 Time had lost all meaning. The hours crept past at a snail's pace and, when she glanced at her watch, she wasn't surprised to see that it had stopped. In fact, she'd learned that the only dependable clock on the whole ferry was the Captain's pocket watch.

 "Penny for your thoughts, miss?"

 Startled, Siobhan turned to find the Captain standing next to her.

 He was a big man, broad-shouldered, with the weatherbeaten face of a lifelong sailor. His salt-and-pepper beard was neatly trimmed and his eyes were dark and shining. He wore a black cap, and a heavy coat and smelt like spices and old wood.

 "My apologies. I didn't mean to startled you."

 "That's all right, Captain." She touched her breast, felt her heart pounding like a startled bird. "I was just wondering if we'd ever see the sun again."

 The Captain chuckled. It was an easy sound, but she sensed it wasn't something he did very often.

 "Soon enough, miss. We'll be into port within the hour."

 "What's Pandora like?" she asked.

 "Heaven to some. Hell to others. Home to many."

 She watched his face as he spoke, noticed that his expression did not change, but that his eyes gleamed when he spoke of their destination.

 "Which is it to you?" Siobhan dared to ask.

 The Captain's eyes went flat and black and she saw his jaw clench for a moment.

 "I couldn't say, miss."

 He inclined his head, and walked away.

 "You're a bold one."

 A lean, dark figure approached Siobhan. She recognized the youth as one of the crew. He wore the heavy, shapeless sweaters they all seemed to favor, over tough denim trousers. His hair was dark, short and spiky. A silver ring pierced his right eyebrow, and a web of vibrant red ink wrapped around his throat. His dark eyes gleamed and he had an easy, wide grin that, Siobhan suspected, got him into and out of trouble with equal ease. He was more pretty than handsome, and she thought he could have been Spanish or Hungarian or even Asian. But when he spoke, he spoke in the same curious accent as the Captain.

 "Am I?"

 "Oh yeah," said the youth. He leaned against the railing, grinned at her. "I've seen the Captain thump people for asking him questions like that. He must like you."

 "Thank heaven for small favors," said Siobhan. "You're Lizec? Yes?"

 He bobbed his head. "Lizec Garo."

 "You're Pandoran."

 "Born and bred," he said, flashing her another grin. "I've been away on promenade, but now I'm coming home."

 "Did you miss it?"

 Lizec sighed. "More than words can say."

 "What's it like?"

 He grinned, considered the question for a moment before answering. "Hard to describe. Like a house on fire on a moonful night. Or maybe riding a slow moving rollercoaster during a thunderstorm."

 "Those are very poetic descriptions, but not very clear," said Siobhan.

 "That's what Pandora's like," said Lizek. "A poem, whispered at night, in the ear of a lover. Or a song, howled into the void."  He shrugged.  "It's different for everybody."

 "I wonder which it'll be for me?"

 "Look ahead," said Lizek. He pointed ahead of them. "See for yourself."

 Siobhan followed his finger and saw that the swirling mists were thinning. Over the patient drone on the Ferry's engine, now she could hear waves slapping against a shore. Gulls screamed and wheeled overhead, against an overcast sky the color of slate. She lowered her gaze and looked ahead and saw Pandora for the first time.

 Siobhan's first impression was of activity. A busy wharf. Small fishing boats, painted bright shades of green and yellow, with billowing red sails, putting in and pulling away from crumbling stone and rotting wooden docks, dancing among and between the rusting hulks of half-sunken ships.

Noise. The sound of voices belonging to men and woman. Some shouting in conversation, others raised in anger. Weaving through it all the scream of gulls, the sputter of engines, the mournful sound of bagpipes and the bright shimmer of a guitar. Voices, fine and pure, raised in a song, piercing the din like a silver needle, the words a mystery to her.

The smells. God! The smells! The stink of the sea, of brine and fish, tangled up with the smell of diesel and burning coal. The wind carried the scent of unwashed bodies and rotting meat to her nose, slammed Siobhan's senses with smells of exotic spices and fresh-cut lumber, blood and ozone, fresh-baked bread and burning meat.

Her eyes drifted from the wharf, the docks, to wooden warehouses. Cobblestoned streets wove among the building, climbing a gently rising hill. She saw horse-drawn carts, laden with goods, plodding through crowds of pedestrians, bicyclists and even what she recognized as rickshaws. Siobhan's gaze went up the hill, noting old buildings of wood and stone, what looked like wrought iron street lamps. She saw more modern-looking buildings, standing on cliffsides, facing the ocean, and beyond them a haze of gray that could have been rain or buildings or just smoke.

She swallowed and clenched the railing.

"It's so much more than I thought it would be," Siobhan said, very softly.

Beside her, Lizec grinned.

"Welcome to Pandora."

 

25 Inns for Your Fantasy Campaigns

01 The Happy Purse

Of course your purse'll be happy. This place is a dump. For 3c a night you get a cot with a straw pallet in a big communal dormitory. There's no bar and no food, but you can find those close by. The place is clean and doesn't have fleas, but they throw everybody out in the morning so they can scrub the whole place down. Then they don't start renting cots out again until sunset. The staff, what there is, is just kind of there, but the manager doesn't take crap from anybody. Anyone causes problems, he screams for the watch. But, if you're looking for a cheap place to sleep for a night in town, mostly free of 'drama' and free of fleas, then this place might be for you. 2/5 Stars.

02 The Three Coins

The Three Coins is a nice establishment on a quiet little sidestreet in one of the town's nicer neighborhoods. It's two stories tall, with only four rooms to let, but those rooms are nice. The prices are high: 3g per room, per night. There's a good restaurant downstairs, and meals are included for guests. The staff is polite, efficient and discreet. That said, their clientelle tends to be a bit sleezy; the children of lesser nobility, social-climbing merchants, wealthy individuals looking for somewhere to have discreet assignations. 4/5 Stars.

03 The White Lady

A comfortable hostel in a recently gentrified neighborhood of the city. It's a two-story building made of gray stone with eight rooms on the second floor. The rooms are comfortable, if unremarkable. The prices are reasonable, 8s per room per night. There is a common room, that serves beer and spirits, but the food is average. That said, the lunch special is very popular with locals during the day. The service is competant, if unremarkable, and the rooms are clean. The biggest complaint I've heard concerns noise from the next street over, the site of several taverns and festival halls. 3/5 Stars.

04 The Inn-by-the-City-Gates

You could walk by this place and never notice it. Prior to becoming an inn, it was a watchman's barracks and a temporary jail. That probably explains the miniscule, airless rooms and why there always seems to be a watchman in the common room. There are six rooms above the common room, which is open late. The atmosphere of the place can be boisterous and sound penetrates the rooms, so sometimes a good night's sleep is difficult to get. That said, the inn has loyal customers and the common room's crowd is large and varied; in addition to the aforementioned watchmen, you can observe merchants talking with craftsmen and artisans, local shopkeepers hobnobbing with street musicians and even some rather shady types holding court in the darker corners of the room. Prices are 1s per room per night. The staff here is very friendly and attentive, willing to go that extra mile to make your stay pleasant. Unfortunately, the place could use more frequent cleaning; dust seems to cover everything and get everywhere, but I couldn't tell you where it comes from. 2/5 Stars.

05 The Reindeer's Head. 

A rustic lodge on the Northern Road, outside the city, this inn's name comes from the reindeer's head that's stuffed and mounted in the common room. The place is bigger than it looks, with twelve rooms to let, ranging in price from 5s for a standard double to 8s for something bigger and nicer. There's even a suite that can be rented, in advance, for 1g per night. The place gets a lot of traffic and fills up quickly, so if you plan on staying here stop early. The staff is average and the place is fairly clean. The common room is large, serves big portions of average food, and offers a limited range of spirits. The bar closes at ten each night, no exceptions, and loud drunks aren't tolerated. 

Then there's the reindeer's head itself. It's mounted above the bar in the common room and there are stories about it. People say that on Midwinter's Eve, the head comes to life and starts to sing odd songs about a strange fellow who lives far to the north. At midnight, it stops singing and will utter a prediction for the new year that always comes true.

Of course, the owners deny these stories, but they always close the place during the week of Midwinter and never say why. 3/5 Stars.

06 The Heart & Hands

A three-story establishment on the border between the good part of town and the bad, the industrial area and the commercial district. The outside is painted bright yellow and there's an impressive, albeit faded, mural of the inn's namesakes on one side. They have twelve small rooms to let for 5s per night, and rent pallets on the first floor for 1s.  There isn't a common room or a restaurant, but there are eateries close by. The staff is small and overworked and sometimes the condition of the rooms is less than stellar. Beware the bedbugs and fleas. 1/5 Stars.

07 The Quiet House

This establishment can be found tucked away at the end of a dead-end lane, surrounded by townhomes and guildhalls. The Quiet House is a two-story clapboard building with a small front porch, a nice rear garden and a newly-replaced roof. There are only four rooms to let, but they're comfortable and clean. There's no common room, but the owners do provide home-cooked meals. Intoxicants of any type are not allowed. Nor is the practice of magic, although magic-users are tolerated. The front doors are locked at 9:00 p.m. every night. If you get locked out, you can sleep on the porch. 

There is a supernatural quietness permeating the house, the result of a magic ritual that went awry and blew the roof off the place over a decade ago. It's impossible to communicate above a whisper within the house. 3/5 Stars.

08 The Bed & Bar

The Bed & Bar is a large, four story establishment containing eighteen rooms to let, as well as a full-service bar housed in another building. Both businesses are connected by a covered walkway, and both are open 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Room prices range from 5s to 2g, and they're worth the money. The staff is professional and courteous and the rooms are immaculate. The bar offers a complete range of drinks, and a rotating selection of tasty snacks. However, if you want a proper meal you'll have to go elsewhere. The owners of The Bed & Bar are a young couple and their clients tend to be younger as well, and socially egalitarian. It's not uncommon to take a seat at the bar and find yourself talking with a young, socially consciouse arisocrat on one side, and a working-class craftsman on the other. 4/5 Stars.

09 The Numbered House

The Numbered House is easily found in its village; it's the only building with an official street number, meaning it's the only building the postal guilds can deliver mail to reliably. The house itself is an ugly  two-story building made of fitted, gray blocks. It has six rooms to let at 5s per night. It has two additional rooms to let over the stables, out back, for 1s per night.  The Numbered House does not have a common room, but it does serve supper. The food is adequate, if bland. The staff is unfriendly, but competant. Complaints and requests are ignored. More than one guest has stormed out after arguing with the owner over some addendum to the bill. Honestly, if it's summer and it's not raining, you would do better to sleep outdoors. 1/5 Stars.

10 The Rare Beauty

Built in the style of a miniature palace, The Rare Beauty is a pink and peach confection that stands out like a sore thumb.  It is tasteless and tacky, ridiculously overpriced and badly staffed. There are velvet paintings everywhere. The place reeks of scented candles and potpourri. They lose staff like a leper loses fingers. Despite all of this, the place is a huge success, booked solid well in advance by rich holiday-takers who seem to think the place is some kind of deliberate joke. I weep for the future. 3/5 Stars.

11 The Blue Anchor

It would be easy to describe this seaside motel as cheap and clean with a friendly staff, but that would be a disservice. With fourteen rooms to let, at 5s per night, the Blue Anchor is an affordable favorite for many travelers heading to the shore. It doesn't have a restaurant, but it does have a bar, manned by an actual bartending wizard. The bartender can magically create the perfect drink for an individual thanks to a unique spell that only he knows. Of course, if the bar's customers get out of hand, the bartending wizard isn't shy about casting Findel's Firebolt or Sinhaven's Mass Sleep. Customers tend to be jolly, but very well-behaved. 4/5 Stars.

12 The Magic Tankard

The Magic Tankard is a tavern/inn about twelve miles north of the city gates.  The place is a single-story establishment, with fourteen rooms to let. Most of the rooms are a bit small, but the prices are good, ranging from 3c for a common room to 3g for a fine suite. The staff is well known for their friendliness and professionalism, and the place is kept in an immaculate condition. It is very popular with merchants, mercenaries and adventurers. Occasionally, a brawl breaks out in the common room, but it is quickly put down by the place's bouncer, a green-haired she-brute named Monika Panbera. 3/5 Stars.

13 The Goat & Shepherd

The Goat & Shepherd is an idyllic country inn with ten rooms to let for 5s per night. The place is quiet and clean, with a reasonably efficient staff.  Most of the common room trade comes from the locals, and the barmaids can be a font of useful local information. Outsiders are generally viewed with suspicioun by the locals. 3/5 Stars.

14 The Traveler's Dream

The Traveler's Dream is anything but. A sprawling one-story building with fourteen rooms to let, the place has changed hands about five times in the last decade. The current owner is a cheerful idiot named Hawthorne.  The rooms are let for 6s per night, and the acomodations are average. However, the staff is ancient, comprised of septugenerains who should have retired long, LONG ago.  There's a common room which offers buffet style eating, but the beer and spirits are definitely sub-par.  Room service is available, but we don't recommend using it. 2/5 Stars.

15 The Priest's Head

The Priest's Head is a one-story brick building that offers nine rooms to let for the evening. The cost of a room is only 5c, and you can get a space in the common room for free for as long as they're available. The inn is run by the Church and the service is less than stellar. The entire place could use a good cleaning. They offer cheap beer and watered down wine in the small common room, and simple foodstuffs like bread, cheese and boiled mutton. The name of the place derives from an unpleasant incident in the distant past. Frequent guests claim that they've seen a headless priest wandering the hallways late at night. The Church doesn't deny these claims, but they don't confirm them either. Stay here at your own risk. 2/5 Stars.

16 The Fine Dish

The Fine Dish is a single-story hostel with thirteen rooms to let for about 6s per night. However, what really sets this place apart from others is its restaurant. The Fine Dish has a large restaurant, overseen by Valerius Cain, one of the finest chefs in the whole wide world. He could be employed in any one of a dozen royal courts, so what Cain is doing working in The Fine Dish is something of a mystery. He refuses to discuss his reasons and can become quite violent if pushed, and he is an expert with knives. Irregardless, Chef Cain has put The Fine Dish on the map. The place is booked well in advance and serves the cream of society.  The staff is professional and friendly, in a detached way, and the rooms are airy and clean. 5/5 Stars.

17 The Red Eagle

The Red Eagle is a pleasant three-story country inn midway between the trading towns of Highmarket and Turner's Shank. As such, the Red Eagle is always busy. The common room never closes, and neither does its kitchen, although after midnight the menu offered is heavily restricted. The Red Eagle has eleven rooms to rent for 5s a night, but if booked solid the owner will happily let travelers sleep above the stables for 5c. The rooms are clean and the staff is fairly friendly.  The Red Eagle's owner, Adara Rexford, is a veteran of the Necromancer's War and she doesn't tolerate troublemakers of any kind. 4/5 Stars.

18 The Archer's Tree

The Archer's Tree is a pleasant little inn that has seven rooms to let for 5s per night. The inn itself is a three-story clapboard home with dark red shingles. In the front of the inn is a mighty oak and the inn's namesake. It's founder, Nestor Raburn, was an adventurer. When he retired, he and his old cronies would gather beneath the oak, to talk and drink. Eventually, Raburn built the inn. He died before it opened, but his heirs named it the Archer's Tree in honor of the oak that had provided Raburn and his friends with a comfortable meeting-place for over a decade.

The Archer's Tree is very nice. The Raburn family is very friendly, willing to go the extra mile to make their guest's stay as enjoyable as possible. The rooms are large, well-aired and very clean. The common room, although small, offers some nice local beers and complimentary tobacco to smokers. There are picnic tables set up beneath the oak tree in front of the inn, and at night patrons will gather there by lamplight to talk and drink and have a good time. 4/5 Stars.

19 The Three Bells

The Three Bells is an inn run by the Hospitable Order of St. Zeno in a neighborhood on the edge of the Commercial District. The Three Bells is a one story stone building that was once owned by the Weavers Guild.  It's common room is still frequented by many members of that guild to this day. The inn is clean and the brothers are nice but the Three Bells is definitely a no frills kind of establishment. They offer an evening meal with room rental, and a variety of watered-down beers and wines in the common room. The brothers do perform communal prayers but attendance is completely volluntary. 3/5 Stars.

20 The Fortunate Arms

The Fortunate Arms is a rather ramshackle building, six-stories tall, in a once-fashionable district of the city. It provides lodging to both permanent residents and nightly renters. The property is owned and managed by Mrs. Sephrena Quincy, a woman rumored to have ties to both the Spider Guild and the Scorpion Brotherhood. Rooms at the Fortunate Arms rent for 3g per night. The price includes use of the bath house next door, as well as two meals in the inn's restaurant. The Fortunate Arms has a rooftop bar open during the warmer months of the year. It is quite popular with residents, guests and locals. Known troublemakers are barred and repeat offenders are dealt with harshly by Mrs. Quincy and her bouncer, Fainol. 3/5 Stars.

21 The Bear's Den

The Bear's Den can be found about a day's travel south of the city. It's a two-story log and brick structure that has seen better days. The atmosphere of the place is a bit dark. Its ten rooms, rented for 6c per night, are small and poorly ventilated. The staff is reasonably competant but not, in our experience, the friendliest. The common room is large, smells of woodsmoke and everything seems covered by a fine layer of soot. We don't recommend the food, but the house beer is strong and cheap. Order is kept by the bartender and two bouncers, but trouble is rare. The Bear's Den caters mostly to cheap merchants, groups of religious pilgrims, students and migrant workers. It has a bad reputation with the locals, who usually refer folk looking for accomodation to other establishments. 2/5 Stars.

22 The White Fleece

The White Fleece is a squalid establishment on Eagle Street run by a wicked old crone named Esther Merrybones and her two daughters, known simply as Cinders and Rags. The flop has ten rooms that can be rented hourly, for 6c, or nightly, for 1s. The best thing to be said about this place is that it's fairly clean. There are no ammenities unless you count the streetwalkers who use this place for their business as such. We don't recommend this place unless you are truly desperate. 0/5 Stars.

23 The Angel Inn

A nondescript two-story building on a quiet, country lane near the market town of Gildstone, the Angel Inn is a fairly new hostel. Opened just seven months ago, the ten-room inn is run by Mrs. Edwina Spread. She claims the idea to open the inn came to her in a dream. Perhaps she should have kept dreaming. For 5s per night, you get an ordinary room and a meal. However, the service in the common room, and the rest of the hotel, leaves a lot to be desired. It is haphazard, at best, and, given the price, there are other establishments nearby that provide similar accomodations with better service. 2/5 Stars.

24 The Golden Antelope

The Golden Antelope occupies a three-story brick building, on Bell Street, in the Market District. It has ten spacious rooms to rent for 6s per night. The staff is excellent, attentive and professional. The common room is cozy, offering a wide range of spirits. There is a seperate restaurant for meals, and a light breakfast is included in the cost of the room. Both the common room and the restaurant are popular with the locals.

The inn's name derives from the small golden statue of an antelope that can be seen in the lobby. A thief tried to steal it once; his severed and preserved hands are on display in a glass case below the statue as a curiosity and a warning. 3/5 Stars.

25 The Two Bales

The Two Bales is the only inn in the farming town of Hen's Foot.  The nine room establishment, occupying a repurposed barn, charges 6c per night. The rooms are comfortable and clean, but the staff could be more professional. There is a common room, which has live music most nights. The food is unremarkable, and not included in the room cost, but the local beer is quite good. Most of The Two Bales clients are grain merchants and the like, folk who have business dealings with the farms surrounding Hen's Foot.  Occasionally a trade caravan stops for a night, but this mostly happens during the summer. 3/5 Stars.