The City of Blackvale

Blackvale is the Northernmost city of the Alliance and still maintains a number of cultural trappings from the Armillian Empire to which it used to belong.  The principal deity of the city is Philia the Civil - goddess of magic and civil order and the Blackvale Civil Philiaic Church counts most of the aristocracy and the wizards of the Blackvale College of Magics among its flock.

Blackvale from the sea.

The College of Magics is to the left and the Palace, the Cathedral of the Sun and the Crooked Tower are to the right.  

The Lady of the Seas Lighthouse is in the foreground and the Old Shrine can be seen beyond the city.

Being close to the Empire means Blackvale is a lively trade port and sailing, fishing, forestry and magic are among the city's primary trades.  The city boasts a large market where traders arriving by sea from the north meet merchants arriving by road from the south and east.  The trade wealth has caused the city to expand far beyond the original walls but the authorities have maintained walls, gates and a clear space outside them so that they can still be effectively defended in the event of a siege.

Blackvale from above.

Note the River Palace in the bottom left, the Old City Graveyard inside the walls to the right 

and the Philiac Church beneath the palace at centre.

The current Lord Prince Nythantem Zan Thetis (many of the families of the city aristocracy have kept their Armillian-style family names, proud of their imperial roots) is a wily yet fair-handed administrator.  The title of Lord Prince is an elected position, chosen from and by the Lord's Council, which is in turn made up of representatives of the principal aristocratic and mercantile houses of the region.  Zan Thetis has held his position for a decade so far but time will tell if his skills on the battlefield will match his political ability.

For the full-size version of the above map please go here:

Blackvale Map

Map Key

Letter	Name	Info
	City Wall Gates	The old city walls are still patrolled by the city Watch
W1	Tower Gate	leading to the College of Magics
W2	Hunter’s Gate	used by nobles and rich merchants of the New Vilas
W3	Forest Gate	used by visitors from Mist and the north
W4	Trades Gate	the busiest gate into the city, used by visitors from the High Plains, Sentinel and beyond
W5	Tenankatem Gate	or Southwood Gate, used by visitors from Anvil
W6	Infimeses Gate	or Coast Gate, used by coastal traders and visitors from Ghalii’s Gate
W7	South Docks Gate	used by traders passing through the city to the docks
W8	North Docks Gate	used by most passengers and crew of the ships
	Civil	Law, taxation and administrative buildings
C1	The Lord Prince’s Palace	Formerly the High Imperial Armillian Fortress at Blackvale.  The elite Prince’s Chosen are stationed here and operate as Palace Guard
C2	Embassy Row	Including the Embassies of Anvil, Ghalii’s Gate, GiXor, Sentinel, Armillia, the Elf nations, the Blue Stone kingdoms and Varca
C3	Blackvale Horse Guards	The Lord Prince’s Heavy Cavalry
C4	Barracks Secundus	Patrols the North District
C5	Lord Prince’s Shipyards	Where the Blackvale Navy is constructed
C6	Northwatch Tower	Built to watch for invasion from the Empire, now keeps an eye out for smugglers and wreckers.  The extensive cellars have been converted into a small prison.
C7	Barracks Primus	Patrols East District, includes Guard Smithy, Armoury and Gaol
C8	Twin Gates Courthouse	Watch stationed here patrol the Market and South District
C9	Barracks Tertius (Coast Gate Watchhouse)	Patrols West District
C10	River Palace	Otherwise known as Southwood House; home of the Lord Prince when off duty and location of many society balls
C11	City Revenue Office	Where the tax collectors and their bailiffs are based
C12	Outdistrict Watchhouses	Clockwise from north: Black Tower District, Forest District, Tradeway District, Southwood District, Coastal District, Docks District.
	Magical	Magic is a large part of life in Blackvale
M1	Black Tower	Home of the Archmage of the Order – Lord Ellitrix
M2	Blackvale Philiaic Order College of Magics	The largest magical school in the Five Cities
M3	College Porter House	Also acts as the mage’s city liaison and information office
M4	Mage’s Guildhall
M5	The Crooked Tower	Formerly the Imperial Tower of Sorcery.  Home of Dakar Ledermann, Sorcerer Lord.
	Religious	There are shrines to all the gods in Blackvale, these are the most notable
R1	Blackvale Cathedral of the Brotherhood of the Sun	Principal church worshipping Gyros Lightbringer in the Five Cities.  This is the largest temple to Gyros in the Alliance.
R2	Civil Philiaic Church of Guidance	This church is unique to Blackvale but very popular among the wealthy elite.  The headquarters includes a huge public library and a well-regarded educational establishment.  Worships Philia the Civil.
R3	Temple of Olich of the Traders	A small church with a shrine or temple in most cities, popular with merchants and traders.  Worships Olich Undivided.
R4	Topafila’s Great Amphitheatre	The site of gladiatorial battles in the Second Age the amphitheatre was built by the city founder Prince Topafila, this is now the city’s largest theatre and recital hall.  It is also an informal temple to Locus Undivided.
R5	Safe Harbour of Tempess	Ever a superstitious lot, the Safe Harbour is a popular destination for sailors just before and after a difficult voyage.  Worships Tempess Undivided.
R6	Lady of the Sea Statue and Lighthouse	A huge statue built to honour Tempess 500 years ago, it is also designed to be used as a lighthouse thanks to the huge magical glass sphere at the top which acts like an amplifying lens.
R7	Old Ghalii Shrine	The central building of the old graveyard is a simple shrine to Ghalii Undivided.
R8	Church of the Civil Philiaic Order	The college chapel to Philia the Civil.  As goddess of magic, many practitioners find occasional worship a wise investment.
R9	Free Hospital of Olich the Healer	Worshippers of Olich the Healer practice here using mundane apothecary skills, herbal knowledge and alchemy.  Magical healing is saved for emergencies.
R10	Free Hospital of the Lightbringer	Not to be outdone, the church of Gyros built their own facility at the other end of the city.  Magical healing is available here for a small fee.
R11	Shrine of the King of the Gods	Built by the empire when Blackvale was first founded, this ancient shrine is little used today, but is often visited by historians studying religion and the empire and by sightseers, as it is an impressive golden structure atop the largest hill outside the city.  Built in honour of Gyros Undivided it has the ancient form of Gyros’ symbol on it. (See the History section)
R12	New Cemetery Temple to Ghalii	Larger and airier than the shrine in the old graveyard, this new building has yet to draw many Ghalii worshippers away from the old Shrine, not least because it is a long way out.
R13	Lawhouse of the Fortress	Built on the border of the Southwood and Coastal Districts, this temple of Kodir the Builder’s law is positioned at the heart of the Dwarven neighbourhoods.
	Guilds	Where money is made and trades are regulated
G1	Traders Guilds and Indoor Market	This huge two-story building has an indoor market on the ground floor and offices of the various traders’ guilds above.  Almost all the trades guilds are based here except those listed below
G2	Guild of Shipwrights	Guild of Shipwrights, Sailmakers, Stevedores and Cordwainers
G3	Jewellers Guild	Guild of Jewellers, Fine Clothiers and Allied Trades
G4	Brotherhood of Musicians	Brotherhood of Musicians and Instrument makers
G5	Guild of Mapmakers	Prince’s Appointed Association of Map and Chartmakers
G6	Guild of Undertakers	Guild of Undertakers, Gravediggers and Embalmers
G7	Riverman’s Association	Association of Rivermen, Boatbuilders and Dockkeepers
	Sights	Parks, Bridges and other sights of the city
S1	Palace Park	A popular public park maintained by the City Lords
S2	Old City Graveyard	Built hundreds of years ago and now too full and too small for the city, only families with existing Crypts and Tombs can bury their relatives here now. A pretty and quiet place in an otherwise bustling city.
S3	Ambassador’s Walk	A public park and gardens except during official ceremonies
S4	Forest’s Edge Gardens	Private gardens for the New Villa residents
S5	New Cemetery	A modern, open hillside cemetery with plenty of room for expansion.
S6	Logging site	Hammason’s Lone Forest Logging
S7	Zan Thetis Bridge	The newest bridge in the city; connects Southwood District to Tradeway District.
S8	Tenankatem Bridge	Built by Topafila and named after his father.
S9	Infimeses Bridge	Built by Topafila’s son, Infimeses, the second ruler of Blackvale.
S10	Ghostwater Outlet	Where the river meets the Imperial Ocean, also the site of the main sewer outlet.
S11	The Great Market	A huge open-air market at the junction of the two busiest roads into the city.
S12	Southwood Circle	The newest trading area outside the walls, catering to those travelling south along the coast.
S13	Prince’s Square	An open square in front of the palace gatehouse, used often in official ceremonies.  Ringed by grand houses and shops.
	Inns, Festhalls etc.	Some of the more famous drinking and eating spots in the city
I1	Tradeway Inn	Former country inn, thought to be as old as the city.
I2	Seaview Tavern	A drinking house with a rooftop terrace with views across the south of the city and the Imperial Ocean.
I3	Weary Mummer Festhall	A fashionable faux-lowbrow establishment for the stylish and wealthy – good for bards looking for patrons.
I4	The Enchanted Flagon	A backstreet tavern popular with apprentice mages
I5	Danrick’s Place	Inn run by ex-bard Danrick Vost, excellent music due to it’s popularity with bards and musicians.
I6	Palace Park Teahouse	A novel enterprise serving refreshments to strollers in the park.
I7	Hunter’s Arms Tavern	A favourite of Lone Forest travellers and hunters.
I8	Fey Lodge Inn	A bar popular with halflings, gnomes and the more sociable dwarves.  It is also the home of most of the city’s fey population, who live in small houses built into the eaves or cellars.
I9	Clear Seas Tavern	A bar favoured by Ships Officers, especially the navy.
I10	Journey’s End Inn	Catering to sea travellers and traders, a popular meeting place to trade.
I11	Xor’s Table Tavern	A popular tavern with excellent and unusual food run by a fastidiously clean Kobold named Iglik.  It is dimly lit and decorated with Kobold artwork.  No one has ever successfully robbed the place.
I12	Ambassador’s Rest	Very high-end tavern and brothel catering to only the wealthiest clients.
I13	Old Farmhouse Festhall	A vibrant, earthy festhall with a cheap but clean brothel out back.
I14	Origallo’s Five Cities Eatery	An Inn with speciality cooks from every corner of the Alliance.  The longhouse out back serves cheaper, simpler fare to sailors and apprentices from a Ghalii’s Gate style central open kitchen dominated by a huge stewpot.
I15	The Bilges Tavern	One of many illegal drinking pits in the docks district, a dangerous place.
I16	Circle Hall	New and popular festhall known for its cross-racial clientele and half-elven dancers
I17	Hand of Olich Inn	Market trader’s alehouse
I18	Genera’s Bounty	Oldest and largest brothel in the city, has developed a patina of respectability
I19	Guildmaster’s Inn	Popular with Prince’s square residents and traders, upstairs are the offices of the Innkeepers and Brewers Guild
	Traders	These are just a sampling of the traders operating in each area
T1	west of Twin Gates, Tradeway/Forest Rd	Twin Gates Stables and Smithy; Riverside Runners Messenger Service; Swamlin’s Cabs and Carts; Legal Tender Moneychangers
T2	east of Twin Gates, Forest Rd	Pharst and Sons Bakers; Honest Jorvic’s Moneylenders; Wolf’s Forge Armoursmiths
T3	east of the Market, Forest Rd	Hunter’s Catch Butchers; Elfeye – Bowsmith; Torkel’s Trail Outfitters; Gunnham’s Sturdy Boots
T4	south of Princes Square, Tradeway/Lamplighter Hill	Lamarck’s Locks and Chests; True Elegance Master Furniture-makers; Silvainil’s Elven Jewellery and Gemcutting; Drumble’s Clockwork Wonders.
T5	south west of the Square Tradeway/Keep Hill St	Torruck’s Mail, Plate and Shields; Imelda’s Clothing for Craftsmen; Cut Price Potions; Hogarthy Ironmongers – Cookware a Speciality
T6	north edge of the Market, Market Crescent	Hill’s Hands for Hire – Clerks, Runners, Carters, Laborers, Guards and Agents for all circumstances
T7	south of the College of Magics, Tower Rd	Sanbrook’s Magical and Alchemical ingredients; ‘Such Wondrous Things’ – magic items and scrolls; Grib’s Quality Parchment
T8	Docks District central, Tempess Way	Quality Carvings – Figureheads, Plaques and Sea Chests; Captain Tirran’s Sea Voyage Supplies; House Melvac Merchant Traders; Blackvale Cordwainers; Langstone Family Fair Traders
T9	west of the Amphitheatre, Lightbringer Crescent	Kemsley’s Fine Musical Instruments; Topafila Theatrical Supplies; Amlens Alchemical and Herbal; ‘Unfamiliars’ – Exotic Beasts
T10	south of Crooked Tower, Tradeway	Imperial Mysteries Sorcery; Hearn’s Imported Goods; ‘Green Magic’ - Tobacco and Herbs; Hylak the Plainsman’s Strong Spirits; Ku, Coinchanger
T11	west of the Library, Lamplighter Hill	South Quarter Scrolls and Books; Golph’s Salted Meats and Fish; Krupp, Alchemist; Harad the Cobbler; Nerris of Grinshada – Psychic Medium; Southwall Swords and Knives; Lynch and Spike’s Swords for Hire; Ghostwater Lamps
T12	Southwood Circle	South Circle Merchant Traders; Southwood Ales, Wines and Spirits; Coast Road Travel Supplies
T13	north of Forest Gate, Mist Road	Ghalii’s Gift Funeral Masons; Lone Forest Hunting; Mist Road Stables, Farriers, and Blacksmiths; Detage’s Practical Clothing
T14	east of Ambassador’s Walk, Tailor’s Passage	Zan Hast’s Courtly Attire for Gentlemen; Embassy Row Tailors; Quentin’s Exquisite Hats, Canes and Cloaks; Premier Snuff and Powders; Vido’s Finest Shoes
T15	west of the Cathedral, Tradewind Square off Infimeses Hill	Empire Imports; New Continent Curiosities; Gold Plains Wines and Spirits; Tri-Continent Herbs and Spices; Blackvale Financial – Precious Metals and Trade Bars; ‘Gatecraft’ – Jewellery and Handicraft from the South;  Wholesale Finery – Silks and Fabrics of the World
T16	north of Palace Park, Park Crescent	‘Elisara’s’ – For Ladies Of Fashion; Ironshield’s Modern Dwarf-made Statuary; ‘Enchanted Treasures’ – Magical Jewellery for Discerning Tastes; Sola Seasonal Dressmakers; Laney’s – Master Weaponsmiths; Master Scribe Miah’s Quills, Parchment and Ledgers; Esselroy’s Accurate Maps; Lady Zan Armil’s Perfumery and Powders; Crescent Wines – the Choice of Connoisseurs; Anvil’s Forge Armour and Shields
T17	Gamason Stud Farm	Sells heavy horses and heavy warhorses plus horse armour etc.
	Villas	The homes of the rich and infamous
V1	Zan Ammet Manor
V2	Ledermann House
V3	Zan Sekh Villa
V4	City Villas	Most of the local nobility have townhouses here including Zan Armil House, Orasyn Villa,  Zan Foth Villa, Zan Na’ad House, Relthson Manor, Zan Apep Manor
V5	New Villas	Chiefly owned by petit nobles and rich merchants including Langstone Villa, Hearn House, Melvac Villa, Zan Hast Manor,  Templemann House, Faharuil Villa, Hill Manor
V6	City apartments of Lord Ellitrix	The Archmage’s townhouse for when official business keeps him in the city.
V7	Zan Thetis Manor	The family home of the Zan Thetis clan, run by the Lord Prince’s younger brother.
V8	Gamason House	Home of the Gamason family who own most of the land south of the river including the nearby Gamason Stud Farm that breeds Heavy Warhorses for the Horseguards.

Blackvale City Districts

North District: Centre of Wealth and entertainment within the walls, the western half of the district is a lively place full of music and theatre, home mainly to actors, students and younger ships officers while the east, containing the wealthy Villas and Embassies is far more reserved and quiet.  North District guards keep an eye out to make sure drunken revellers don’t wander too far east.

East District:  A large part of this district is taken up by the Old Graveyard and thus this has a reputation as a quiet almost middle-class neighbourhood full of the homes of craftsmen, traders and servants.  The south east corner of the District contains the Forest Gate and is thus a little livelier.  Otherwise the only locations of note in the East District are the Temple of Olich of the Traders and the Genera’s Bounty Brothel.

South / Market District: Mainly taken up by the market and surrounding traders, this district also contains the Philiaic church with its school and library.  Busy during the day, this district is much quieter at night and contains only a smattering of Trader’s houses, getting less wealthy further west.

West District: The poorest in-city district and the district with the largest selection of popular taverns, this District is busy night and day and has the largest Guards contingent inside the city walls.  West District guards are expected to reinforce the Docks District should a large-scale problem occur there.  The district is home to dock workers, fishermen, sailors, unskilled labourers and a fair amount of criminals - including, it is rumoured, the Blackvale Thieves Guild.

Black Tower District: Technically covering the College of Magics as well as the out-city villas, Guards of this district rarely meddle in the affairs of wizards and usually aren’t welcome around the villas who often have their own security.  Consequently the guard contingent here is small and acts as a relief post for Northwatch tower, keeps an eye on the students and shipwrights around Tower Road and backs up the Docks guards in times of trouble.  It also keeps an eye on the paths into Lone Forest in case dangerous creatures wander into the city.

Forest District:  Home to wealthy craftsmen, hunters, loggers, masons and farm labourers, this large, but often forgotten district covers both wealthy homes to the north-west and poorer areas to the south.  It is also the front line for bandits and monsters preying on Mist Road travellers. 

Tradeway District:  A small but busy district in charge of the area around Trades Gate and the River Palace.  As well as the Tradeway traffic it has two of the biggest and liveliest Inns outside the city walls to cover – the Tradeway Inn and the Old Farmhouse at the edge of Forest District to the north.  These Inns provide drinks and entertainment to the district’s earthy mix of caravan workers, farm labourers and market stallholders.

Southwood District: Guards in this district are selected for their open-mindedness and lack of racial bias as, along with Coastal District, Southwood is home to almost all of the city’s non-human population – especially the Dwarves, Halflings and Gnomes.  This area is fairly poor but relatively quiet – the dwarves and gnomes being fairly law-abiding and the Halflings usually avoiding causing trouble in their own backyard.  It also contains a large segment of the city’s industrial complexes, with small forges and workshops lining the riverbank to the north of the district.  To the south are Gamason House and the Gamason Stud Farm, birthplace of the Blackvale Gamason breed of hardy warhorses.

Coastal District:  Stretching quite a long way along the coast west of the city, this district is one of the largest in area but third lowest in population, consisting mainly of small pockets of fisherman’s cottages.  Guards here mainly keep an eye on the Coast Road and the sailors and fishermen who live close to Infimeses Bridge.  They also have to deal with the “harmless” pranks of the denizens of Fey Lodge Inn to the south of the district and are thus the only city unit with a Fey contingent.

Docks District:  A small but difficult District to manage, busy both day and night and full of people coming and going the Docks guards have to deal with all docks traffic as well as smuggling, illegal taverns, foreign sailors, brawling stevedores, clueless travellers, arrogant captains and swarms of pickpockets.  This area has one of the lowest permanent populations but the second largest guard contingent outside the city walls and sees a large proportion of the crime in the city.