Adventurers' Quarter Map

Legend

AQ1. Business: Caravello’s Equipment

AQ2. Row House: Temple of Good Cheer

AQ3. Row House: Madame Garah’s Boarding House

AQ4. Business: Amrani’s Laundry

AQ5. Home/Business: Rhialto’s Tonics and Talismans

AQ6. House: Home of Rokkek Ingerr

AQ7. Business: Jacovo’s Stables

AQ8. Former Wizards’ Tower: Kolat Towers

AQ9. City Building: Dottari Guardhouse (former Scriptorum)

AQ10. Home/Business: The Garrulous Grocer

AQ11. Business: Ferrara's Silversmiths

AQ12. Business: Laran’s Cartographers

AQ13. Business: Bertuccio’s Clothiers

AQ14. Inn: The Safehaven Inn

AQ15. Business: Ingerr & Ingerr Warehouses

AQ16. The Beer Golem Tavern

AQ17. Home: La Della Scalla

AQ18. Alfred's Smithy

AQ19. Business: Cecilia’s (aka The Velvet Hatch)

AQ20. Tavern: Cayden’s Blessing

Your Neighbourhood: The Adventurers' Quarter

Adventurers' Quarter Background

The Adventurers’ Quarter is located in the Rego Scripa (Scribe Sector), the mercantile district just south of the Parego Dospera. Specifically, the Adventurer’s Quarter is in the northeast quadrant of the Scripa, near the Canaroden (the longest canal in Westcrown), which separates the Spera from the Dospera. The Adventurers’ Quarter is aptly named – many of its residents are former or fledgling explorers and adventurers, often from outside of Cheliax, and wealthy enough to permit residence outside of the Dospera. As such, the Adventurers’ Quarter features a higher incidence of non-human population. It is not uncommon to pass the occasional goblin-kin or ‘civilized’ monster race within the Adventurers’ Quarter.

The Adventurers’ Quarter is a relatively new neighbourhood in Westcrown. It developed in earnest after the mayor of Westcrown put a call out to explorers and adventurers to assist the dottari against the shadow plague in 4692 AR, some 16 years following outbreak of the nightly scourge. Those who answered the call had little success in ending the menace, but many stayed and established themselves in Westcrown, opening businesses and taverns in what is now known as the Adventurers’ Quarter. Although many of the original immigrants still live in the neighbourhood, the prevalence of outsiders and non-Wiscrani does mean that behaviour that might be considered anti-Chelaxian is an ongoing issue, at least for the dottari. The Hellknights are ever-watchful, and do not hesitate to make their presence known in the Adventurers’ Quarter.

The main avenues for traffic within the Quarter include Weeping Maiden’s Run, Grocer’s Lane, Snake Alley, and Kerrigan’s Court. Weeping Maiden’s Run is named for the young woman who ran down the street in tears after her lover as he was dragged away by a Hellknight patrol in 4698 AR. As her lover was shackled and taken away in chains, the woman fell to the ground before the stolid Hellknights. She took a dagger from her boot, ran it across her wrist, and spat a curse at the Hellknights before dying, her blood running out on the cobbled street.

Grocer’s Lane, an alleyway finally named by locals, is wide and tidy as Nindal Jalbuck hires men to keep it that way (and keep the midden within its bounds, not in the street). Many assume Snake Alley is named after its twisting path, and Kerrigan’s Court has been named such since before the neighbourhood was called the Adventurers’ Quarter.

The midden and general dumping ground for refuse is located in the dead-end alley south of Grocer’s Lane, behind the Ferrara Silversmiths; garbage is picked up by the Dungsweepers’ Guild on a semi-weekly basis. Handbills, broadsheets, general notices, and employment inquiries are posted on the stout, post-mounted barrels that serve as kiosks; there is one at the intersection of Weeping Maiden’s Run and Fishwife Alley.

The dottari patrol this neighbourhood on the same schedules as the rest of the city, and the condottari (the ‘canal wardens’) patrol the Canaroden. The Hellknights are known in the Adventurers’ Quarter, and the nightly curfew is in effect here as elsewhere in the city.

Gods of Golarion

Major Gods

Abadar (Master of the First Vault, Judge of the Gods, The Gold-Fisted) - LN god of cities, wealth, merchants, and law.

Asmodeus (Prince of Darkness) - LE god of tyranny, slavery, pride, and contracts. National deity of Cheliax.

Calistria (The Savoured Sting, The Lady in the Room, The Unquenchable Fire) - CN goddess of trickery, lust, and revenge.

Cayden Cailean (The Accidental God, The Drunken Hero, The Lucky Drunk) - CG god of freedom, ale, wine, and bravery.

Desna (The Song of the Spheres, The Great Dreamer, Starsong, The Tender of Dreams) - CG goddess of dreams, stars, travelers, and luck.

Erastil (Old Deadeye) - LG god of farming, hunting, trade, and family.

Gorum (Lord in Iron) - CN god of strength, battle, and weapons.

Gozreh (The Wind and the Waves) - N god of weather, nature, and the sea.

Iomedae (The Inheritor) - LG goddess of valour, leadership, justice, and honour.

Irori (Master of Masters) - LN god of history, knowledge, and self-perfection.

Lamashtu (The Demon Queen, Mother of Monsters, Demon Mother) - CE goddess of madness, monsters, and nightmares.

Nethys (The All-Seeing Eye) - N god of magic.

Norgorber (Reaper of Reputation, Father Skinsaw, The Grey Master, Blackfingers) - NE god of greed, secrets, poison, and murder.

Pharasma (The Lady of Graves) - N goddess of fate, death, prophecy, and rebirth.

Rovagug (The Rough Beast) - CE god of wrath, disaster, and destruction.

Sarenrae (The Dawnflower, The Everlight, The Healing Light) - NG goddess of the sun, redemption, honesty, and healing.

Shelyn (The Eternal Rose) - NG goddess of beauty, art, love, and music.

Torag (Father of Creation) - LG god of the forge, protection, and strategy.

Urgathoa (The Pallid Princess) - NE goddess of gluttony, disease, and undeath.

Zon-Kuthon (The Midnight Lord, The Dark Prince) - LE god of envy, pain, darkness, and loss.

Westcrown by Night

It all began in Rova of 4676 A.R. What started as stories of strange creatures slinking through the shadows became a citywide panic as Wiscrani began disappearing off the darkened streets. Rumours spread quickly of a return of the White Plague or a resurrection of the infamous Council of Thieves, but these tales were soon replaced by reports of a shadowy calamity at Delvehaven, the local Pathfinder lodge, and sightings of dark and insubstantial beings hunting the streets. After months of ignoring or dismissing the problem, the government eventually launched a campaign to seek out and put an end to what they downplayed as an infestation of giant rats, goblins, and goblin dogs. Yet the dottari proved ill equipped for these midnight hunts, and the office of the mayor offered only empty promises. Growing fear and anger led to scapegoating and suspicions of insurrectionists from Nidal, which culminated in a mob's daylight burning of twin Nidalese coasters. Finally, for the populace's protection, a curfew was enacted throughout the city while a small army of dottari and experienced mercenaries were commissioned to deal with the shadowy curse that had afflicted the Wiscrani night. Numerous raids and hunts were conducted in the Dospera and ancient city sewers, only to result in the loss of many hunters with little apparent gain. Thus, the nightly curfew remained in effect for more than 30 years, with the unwary risking their very lives.

Today, with the dying of every day's light, businesses hurriedly close and respectable homes light lanterns outside their doors. Members of the dottari light pyrahjes, man-sized torches, throughout the Parego Regicona and in the major plazas of the Parego Spera, patrolling between such islands of light in groups of seven. Taverns, festhalls, and similar establishments maintain sleeping rolls for those who stay after dark, collecting a customary 2 sp fee for boarders soon after twilight. Those forced onto the street after dark typically cary halorans, 7-foot-tall hooked staves hung with bright lanterns, made publicly available along the city's most travelled avenues.

Despite the city's adaptation to the nightly scourge, specifics of what the creatures are, where they come from, and their intentions remain the stuff of rumours, with every Wiscrani having his own wildly varying theory. Most residents have accepted and adapted to the deadly curfew, which is frequently broken in the Spera and even more often on Westcrown Island, where few attacks take place. Dottari who catch residents out after curfew can enforce up to a 5 gp fine, but more commonly hurry such scofflaws along their way. Weekly, though, new tales arise of deadly attacks on curfew breakers, assuring that the nightly ban is widely maintained. Several times a year the lord mayor makes a show of decrying the plague of mysterious hunters stalking the city's streets, promising renewed efforts to put an end to the menace, but little has changed in the three decades since the creatures' appearance.

- from Council of Thieves: The Bastards of Erebus, Paizo Publishing, 2009

Westcrown: City of Twilight

For eight centuries, Westcrown was a bastion of civilization and a symbol of national strength in Chelish eyes. As the city served as the centre of Aroden's faith, all Cheliax deemed the City of Nine Stars to be Aroden's next home in the mortal world. Westcrown rivaled Absalom as a destination of pilgrimages during the Age of Enthronement. Yet, with Aroden's unexpected death, the once shining City of Nine Stars became the City of Twilight as Chelish citizens lost hope. Decades of bloody strife followed, and the only direction out of the chaos seemed to be the orderly tenets of diabolism. A city that once sybolized a people's power now projects a people's disappointment and despair. Hope has dimmed in the city, and mysterious creatures walk the night streets instead of Aroden's clergy. Westcrown remains influential in its mercantile and military might, but also humbled by its lost faith and tarnished reputation.

One of the most varied and sophisticated cities of the Inner Sea, Westcrown is an enigma. By day, this city reminds many of any city or country they know, either because of the varied architecture or because people from across Avistan and Garund now call Westcrown home. The many religious sites, whether active or debased, continue to draw the pious, the curious, and the devious. Even the ruins of the northern city draw interest among those looking for less-than-legal materials or rare treasures amid the dangerous rubble. But once the sun sets, only the foolish walk out of doors in Westcrown, for an unknown menace prowls every darkened lane and waterway.

City Geography

Westcrown is divided into three great regions, called Paregos. Each Parego is divided into several smaller regions or sectors, called Regos. The three Paregos are:

Parego Regicona - The Floating Palace
Westcrown island, comprising eight smaller canal-riddled islands. Surrounded by Regiconan Walls, few citizens of Westcrown see anything more of Parego Regicona than the grandeur of the tallest buildings rising above the walls, like the former royal palaces and the grand opera house. The Regicona is home to Westcrown's noble families, most of whom cling desperately to the opulence of times past. Twelve major noble houses stand as the powers of Westcrown, including houses Drovenge, Oberigo, Salisfer, Grulius, Arvanxi, Julistarc, Dioso, Tilernos, Phandros, Khollarix, Rosala, and Mezinas.

Rego Corna - Crown Sector
Encompasses the former stronghold of power in Cheliax - the Imperial Court of Cheliax and its attendant holdings and homes.

Rego Laina - Blade Sector
Triam and Islatra comprise the large central pair of islands in Blade Sector. The name of the sector stems from the many famous nobles, smithies, and armouries situated therein.

Rego Aerum - Treasure Sector
The home of true rarities for sale in Westcrown. It is the youngest territory in the city.

Parego Dospera - Despair's Altar
The Parego Dospera refers to the abandoned ruins and downtrodden slums of the northern shores of Westcrown. The northern sector (Rego Cader) is entirely a ruin, only kept in vague control by the rundottari on the walls around it. The southern sector (Rego Crua) acts as a buffer zone between it and "civilized" Westcrown.

Rego Cader - Dead Sector
The northern ruins used to be Rego Plea (formerly home to house slaves, servants, and lesser trades) before Aroden's fall. The bulk of abandoned or ruined buildings are now squats or partial homes for barbaric humans and dens of thieves.

Rego Crua - Blood Sector
Once held all slave trade and wide array of less-desirable businesses, from tanneries to slaughterhouses. Several 'low trades' still operate here, though to a lesser extent since the fall of Aroden.

Parego Spera - Hope's Altar
The Spera contains the still-thriving sections of the city, once looked down upon by the city's elite and now recognized as its money-making lifeblood. Unlike the Regicona, trade and coin rule here more than politics.

Rego Scripa - Scribe Sector
Once the centre for the bureaucratic work of the Chelish empire. Cartographers, trade warehouses, and ship-related businesses now populate this sector.

Rego Pena - Coin Sector
Houses the more lucrative trades and many houses of dubious standing, politically or monetarily. Also acts as a home to a rising class of rich merchants.

Rego Sacero - Priest Sector
Contains more shrines and ecclesiastical real estate (extant or ruined) than fire other Chelish cities combined. Lord Mayor Aberian Arvanxi resides in a palatial estate (widely referred to as Aberian's Folly) in the Rego Sacero. The Arodennama, a 90 foot tall statue of Aroden at the top of the 200 foot plateau called Aroden's Rise, is the first thing visitors arriving by sea view upon entering Westcrown. The Arodennama predates any known history of the area and all other extant structures in Westcrown.

- from Council of Thieves: The Bastards of Erebus, Paizo Publishing, 2009

Alignment

The following alignments are permitted for starting characters:

Lawful Good
Lawful Neutral
Lawful Evil
Neutral Good
True Neutral
Chaotic Good
Chaotic Neutral

Chaotic alignments are rare in a hyper-lawful society like Cheliax, and any chaotic characters (particularly chaotic neutral) should espouse a philosophical/political vantage point, rather than just being chaotic neutral as an excuse to act like a total nutter.

I'm going to be more strict with tracking alignment with this campaign, particularly for characters like paladins, clerics, and monks. I'm going to use an ethics/morals chart to keep track of alignment. Each axis (ethics = law/chaos, morals = good/evil) will be tracked on a 1-100 scale using the system at this link. The chart at the bottom of the link indicates coloured blocks representing varying degrees of each of the nine alignments, and grey blocks indicating transition areas between alignements. Starting characters should be in the middle of their chosen alignment. A lawful good character, for example, would be at 85 on the ethical scale and 85 on the morality scale; a neutral good character would be at 50 on the ethical scale and 85 on the morality scale, and so on.

Your character's actions during the campaign will affect his/her standing on the alignment scale. Classes with abilities tied directly to alignment will find themselves hindered if they reach the grey areas (paladins may lose their highest level ability, for example) and may lose their abilities entirely if they fall on the other side of the grey scale.

I've never been very strict with alignment before, but after completing the Savage Tide campaign I felt that implementing consequences for the many questionable decisions you were forced to make would have made for a more interesting campaign. Council of Thieves should offer up some similar ethical quandries, so we'll see how it goes.

Cheliax, Empire of Devils

Non-Chelaxians often ask the nation's citizens, "How could this have happened? How could you have let devil worshipers take over?" Such questions betray a fundamental lack of knowledge of Chelish nature.

Cheliax has long imagined a central role for itself in the history of Golarion. For more than 500 years, it was the prime military and economic power on the continent. Its rule featured prominently in the Starfall Doctrine, which prophesied a time when the god Aroden himself would return to take the crown and usher a new reign of peace and justice. Dreaming themselves to be the inheritors of grand destinies, the Chelaxians grew proud - arrogant, even - and expanded their empire mercilessly in the name of their glorious fate.

It came as a great surprise to them when Aroden died. Desperate, the nation sought to hold onto its self-important stories and national mythology. How they found themselves under the heel of a different leader, Abrogail Thrune - who promised them the glory that Aroden's death destroyed even as she twisted the country away from its most cherished ideals - is a riddle to which few know the answer.

The darkness that swept the country after their god's demise nearly destroyed the Chelaxians. They were shattered and riven; 30 years of internicine warfare turned families against each other. Small tyrants arose, promising shelter from the increasing fury of the civil underlings, and were just as swiftly swept aside by ambitious underlings, crafty foes, and diseases that ravaged the country. Chaos reigned, uncertainty in every breath, and the dreams of imperial Cheliax were a golden memory of a time-that-was.

The wars grew steadily more vicious, and the would-be rulers of the country turned to increasingly desperate measures, until at last Abrogail Thrune struck a bargain with the darkest powers of Hell. Whatever pact she made that night was decisive; the hordes of Hell came to her aid, and the House of Thrune ascended to the throne of Cheliax. Her family has remained in power ever since.

Since the Thrune Ascendancy, the country has known relative peace, but that physical peace comes at the cost of peace of mind, and perhaps the soul itself. Devils - most of them in the guise of mortals - roam to the very corners of Cheliax, constrained by some force within the borders that the nation rightfully calls its own; Hellknights and Asmodean Inquisitors enforce the law with brutal clarity and vicious efficiency; the noble houses engage in bloodsports and crush the lower classes for their entertainment. The golden dream that was Cheliax lives on, but in name only, and woe comes to those who dare to voice their discontent.

The Chelaxians have traded their freedom and their future for the promise of the lash.

Understanding Cheliax

The key to understanding modern Cheliax is recognizing its need for power, and that if ever there were a concrete illustration of power's corrupting influence, Cheliax would serve admirably in that role. For centuries, the people of this land have paid tribute to the notion that power in any form is the highest achievement in life. Even before the Thrune Ascendancy took shape form the chaos that surrounded the failure of the Starfall Doctrine, the people of Cheliax believed in the goal of power for its own sake: military, economic, political, or magical.

This is what led to their downfall. When power becomes the goal, concerns about the way one achieves it fall by the wayside. It was only natural that some would seek to increase their power by supernatural means, and then by diabolical ones, and that once they achieved dominance, they would consolidate their standing by crushing their rivals and subjugating any who fell under their sway.

Those outside Cheliax accuse the country's ruling class - and, indeed, any who seek standing in the country - of serving Hell. They point to the Hellknights, to the bloodsports, to the sanctioned worship of Asmodeus, and the increasing rigor and evil of the country as proof of their claim. But the Chelaxians maintain that their critics have it backward: Hell serves Cheliax.

- from Cheliax: Empire of Devils, Paizo Publishing, 2009

Queen Abrogail II

Races of Golarion

All standard PC races are available for play in the Council of Thieves campaign. Here are some links:

Dwarf
Elf
Gnome
Half-Elf
Half-Orc
Halfling
Human - Azlanti
Human - Chelaxian
Human - Garundi
Human - Keleshite
Human - Kellid
Human - Mwangi
Human - Taldan
Human - Tian
Human - Ulfen
Human - Varisian
Human - Vudrani
Tiefling