Key locations in Aeryns - 1221AC

The Acrius Residence

Formerly built and owned by a noble family fallen from grace, this lavish manse is currently owned and used as a base of operations by the King of the Riverside, and Aeryn’s most notorious crime overlord, Janus Becks, known informally as The Owl. His personal army of thugs, called the Minnows for their operations near the river, extract “contributions” from most of the criminals in the city. Janus has most of the law enforcement in the city in his pocket, and may be one of the most powerful men in the city, though his prosperity is dependent on the higher ups turning a blind eye. In return, his supposedly philanthropic contributions keep much of the city from starvation, and he is widely celebrated amongst the underclasses.

Three Trees Jailhouse

Halvus’ Bathhouse

A small bathhouse fed off the lower cisterns, with three pools and a poorly maintained boiler leading to the water becoming cold and clammy. Not popular among citizens, receives very little public traffic. Completely unnotable, excepting  the fact that the attached warehouse that used to contain the now removed larger boilers is used as the base of operations and distribution point for the Marsel Familiate, the cities largest supplier of opiates. Jeanus Marsel, the head of the crime syndicate, does not frequently visit – it would appear strange for a wealthy reputable merchant to visit such a run-down establishment – but criminal associates of his visit constantly, and use an abandoned dry cistern to transport their illegal wares. At any time, as much as a hundred thousand arrals worth of opium can be found in the warehouse. Referred to simply as “The Wetroom” by those in the know.

The Imperial Palace

The Imperial Palace, home to the Imperial family and the seat of power in the empire, sits on the Emperors Hill on the western bank of the river, overlooking the entire city from its vantage point. The Imperial Palace is the largest and tallest structure in Aeryns, and can be seen from almost the entire city. It’s highest tower, the Observatory wing of the Emperors tower, stands at 312m above the river, and nearly 90m tall from its own base. The Palace itself has no rigid boundaries, with lower parts blending in with the manses of the Noble District, but the generally agreed upon boundary is Harrus’ Wall, a crumbling and abandoned stone barricade ringing the peak of the hill, dating back to the age of the Council. The Palace itself has many notable structures.

·       The Old Causeway – the remains of a bridge built over the ditch surrounding the Old Hilltop, now collapsed. Some of the griffon statues flanking the remains have been replaced with bears, a change made by the Rogals during the Falconers war to honour a general, the Old Bear of Kalyns.

·       The Old Hilltop – the ruins of the old town hall from the age of the Council, the insides burned long ago. Surrounded by a large ditch. A frequent spot to explore for a young Errim. Secretly built on a set of ruins dating back before the collapse, with a walled off underground portion long since forgotten.

·       Gunnery and Battery – a basement in the Old Hilltop and an open patch of grass within the ditch next to it were converted into a battery and cannon emplacement to defend the Palace in case of attack. The cannons are sometimes fired to mark coronations, though the maintenance of the gun emplacement is mostly for show and is left to a skeleton crew, with gunnery duty being a deeply unpopular placement for the palace guards.

·       Emperors Tower – the tallest out of the three royal towers. Nearly 60m from base to peak,

Lowland Dockyards

One of Aeryn’s primary civilian dockyards, with one large drydock for the construction of large merchant vessels and several piers for docking. The Lowland Dockyards are left mostly alone by the guards, but private security groups are frequently hired by trading companies to guard warehouses. Relatively well maintained – the land here is valuable enough that private interests usually keep the warehouses they own from becoming too dilapidated. The hired hands of the companies keep the beggars out, but let the prostitutes in for bribes – there is good business among returning sailors.

The Palace of the Ten

Rogals Bridge

Once the main causeway across the river, Rogals Bridge has become increasingly dilapidated  in recent years, and with slums now springing up along it there are fears it may collapse. Prevents travel for large boats to sail directly through the capitol, leading to two separate navies existing – the River Navy and the Sea Navy. In recent years, some important ships have been airlifted over the bridge using balloons, however this is an incredibly costly and dangerous procedure, requiring the building of large, welded structures to maintain structural integrity and the stripping down of the ships to ease weight. There is no way it could be done for the more modern naval steamers. Some other ships have been simply disassembled and reassembled the other side of the bridge. Several influential political figures, particularly in the navy, have led calls for the bridge to be demolished. However, due to the difficulty of clearing out the population living on it and safely demolishing the bridge without negatively affecting the nearby dockyards, the plans have so far not been approved by any of the past three Lord Chancellors.

Southern River Dockyard

The Temple Market

Home to the Morris Guild, the largest merchants guild in Aeryns, the Temple Market and outside square function as the largest marketplace in Aeryns. The rooms around the lobby function as offices and scribes bustle in and out of the building day and night, while there is a perpetual orgy of commerce in the lobby, with traders from all over the known world trading goods. The Temple Market was once, as its name implies, a temple to the Church of the Ten, but it has been over seventy years since prayers were held there. The priests of the Ten and house Goodway see the use of the temple as a marketplace as abominable, but they have little power to do anything about it.

Washing Street Well

A small well in the river district. Notable only because it has been quarantined due to a recent outbreak of a virulent waterborne outbreak, and has a guard escort and a cover to prevent people drinking from it. Also notable because a local gang, the Hookers Lads, have bribed the guards and use the well to dispose of the bodies of rivals under cover of dark.