The Third Ring
Dock District
Divided into three sub-districts, the Docks are the gateway to the greater world outside, the only connection Ascelion has to the lands over which it floats. They are critically important -- though airships can travel over the island and land or hover elsewhere, only Diatu Magicademy has the necessary equipment to unload shipments of any size or bulk, and certainly not in the volume Anastara needs to survive. Much of the business of the island centers around the docks, whose workers and laborers are truly the backbone of the city.
The Royal Docks
Restricted
So described not because they are literally used for monarchy (though they are), but simply because of their quality and general usage, the Royal Docks are the finest of all the island’s moorings, and frequented by the wealthy and powerful. Most residents who are wealthy enough to own a private airship keep them here, tended to constantly by servants and workers in anticipation of the few uses the vehicle ever sees in a year. The official mayoral and governmental ships have their own berth, as does Diatu Magicademy’s great megavessel. Wealth and privilege can also buy the right to receive and unload deliveries here, swifter and more careful than other docks.
The Commercial Docks
Owned and operated by the Trade Consortium, or the Office of Trade and Traffic - does it really matter which? - the Commercial Docks are the largest, encompassing full half of the island’s edge and in a constant state of frenzy. Shipments move constantly in and out of the city, delivering food and imports and picking up the many fine quality crafts to be found in Anastara. A plurality of the island’s residents work at the docks in some capacity, be it as dockhands or clerks or accountants, all devoted to making certain the lifeblood of trade flows unchecked into and out of Anastara.
The Public Docks
Everything that doesn’t come through the Royal or Commercial Docks comes through the Public Docks, a hectic and barely-managed frenzy of people. The docks are fairly unregulated and almost a little hostile, encouraging people to work only through official Trade Consortium members at the Commercial Docks, but many traders and merchants who can’t or don’t want to be a part of that group tough it out for the sake of profit. Here too are transports for people, regularly departing to major capitals or hireable for individual use at significant cost. Piracy is a significant problem in the Public Docks; the lack of regulation means pirate vessels can moor here without so much as a challenge, provided they aren’t recognized as such. Crime rates in the Public Docks are higher than most districts put together. Still, in many ways the Public Docks are the most vital and exciting part of the city, full of entertainment and adventure.
The Backwater
A tavern for the working class, the Backwater is surprisingly classy. Though ship crew, dock workers, and even pirates are the common clientele, the ones who come to the Backwater share a mutual appreciation for music that their common station doesn't always allow them to appreciate directly. Thus, the Backwater is a place for music, not brawling or gambling or drunken mischief. Notably, every few days the Backwater has an Open Stage Night, where anyone who so desires can perform for the crowd -- though woe betide the one who isn't good enough for this rough-and-tumble group.
Merchant District
If the docks are the great veins and arteries through which trade flows, the Merchant District is the heart that keeps that flow circulating. Haphazard, chaotic, and sprawling, the district includes most of the outer ring, with residences mixed together with or simply a part of many of the shops and purveyors present. Shops pop up yesterday in spaces next to business that have been doing business for unbroken centuries, filling the air with a confusing sense of whirlwind timelessness and ancient change.
The Merchant District also tends to be more raucous and wild than the rest of the city, as peddlers hawk their wares, criers call out advertisements, customers raise their voices in aggressive bartering, and the resident eagulls* fly through it all, hunting scraps and stealing whatever food they can find with noisy abandon.
Eagulls are omnivorous birds native to Ascelion and much hated and prized both for their ability to eat almost anything, be it rats and vermin or discarded trash. They are not dumb birds, but get somewhat less respect because they look less intelligent than a shoebill that's been dropped on its head three times a day since it hatched.
Pewter and Brass
Founded by Arsenald Pewter and Stanasia Brass, P&B is in fact a general store with a broad selection of goods, ranging from cookware to chests and boxes to rope to nails and any number of other items in-between. Virtually none are made from pewter or brass, which immensely confuses new customers but also causes the name to stick in their heads, and this marketing (now deliberate, unlike when it opened) accounts for the popularity of this shop.
P&B also maintains a catalogue of deliveries, which many students rely upon to deliver supplies they routinely need directly to their House Tower. (Paper is the most common item in need, for example.) Because the trips are made routinely anyway, it costs very little to purchase an item from their catalogue -- simply send the order by mail or familiar and expect delivery with their next shipment.
The Golden Heron
A tavern of elegance and no small quality, the Golden Heron serves imported, domestic, and home-brewed drinks, with hearty and nourishing fare for those who come to satisfy their hunger as well as their thirst. Despite its higher prices, the tavern does such brisk business that over time it has expanded to take up half a block, and on a nightly basis it hosts minstrels and mummers who entertain the crowd well into the night. Even the wealthy of Anastara can be found here, identities hidden to a greater or lesser degree behind masks to add whatever veneer of deniability they crave.
Violence is not tolerated in the Golden Heron, which considers itself above such crassness. Gambling, however, is quite encouraged, and numerous games of chance and skill play out at its tables over the course of a night. Wizards and students are generally welcomed, being viewed as of the proper sort to spend time here, though uncouth or unpleasant behavior can revoke this privilege for individuals.
The Night Shift
The ‘working man’s’ tavern, the Night Shift dispenses ample quantities of alcohol ranging from decent to tolerable at inexpensive prices. As the name implies, it sees the most trade from laborers and workers from the Commercial Docks, though it generally accepts all the lower-class niches that would find the Golden Heron unwelcoming at best. Violence is not banned here -- quite the opposite, as taverngoers who wish to come to blows are passed into a makeshift ring and wagered on, with no repercussions so long as the brawl doesn’t spread.
Needless to say, students are strongly discouraged from going to the Night Shift, though not strictly speaking forbidden from doing so.
The Anastara War Games Association
Anastara is safe, prosperous, and shielded from the horrors of war; therefore, inevitably, people treat it like a game. The Anastara War Games Association takes affront at that description, however: their simulation of battle on a field of miniatures governed by complex rules is, to them, quite serious business indeed. Within this hall, players range from incredibly skilled professionals who make a living off of winning tournaments, to aspiring amateurs in their own brackets, to rich enthusiasts who buy the best armies money can find and generally bankroll the entire organization. Because the Association creates and manages the game as well as plays it, members often have a say in the rules and development of the wargame. A student with good tactical sense and a willingness to learn could easily earn enough to supplement their schoolwork with good playing here.
Melody's
A combination inn, tavern, theater, and bolthole, Melody's is the place to go for performers who aren't performing. Here, among peers, they can be "off" and finally relax, talk shop, get valuable feedback and critiques, or plot dramatic thefts under the cover of performances. Key to Melody's is the unspoken camaraderie that everyone shares there; in fact, the name actually comes from a code phrase of "Silent Melody's", which its patrons use often enough to indicate something should be or has been discussed there and must be made public.
The Forge
Precisely as the name implies, this small shop is the place to go for Forging materials. It has very little in stock, but possesses tremendous connections to get tools and materials both mundane and fantastic. Prices are, of course, commiserate with the effort needed to acquire such objects; a quart of dragon blood could probably buy a dukedom somewhere down in the Kingdoms. But the Forge CAN get that quart of dragon blood, don't ask how.
Rumored Locations
Milligan’s Aleworks
Stagecraft Clothier
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magicademymods) wrote2019-01-03 11:02 am
