Chapter Three: Saragost (locations)

There are many interesting locations throughout the city of Saragost.

You can hear the cry of gulls and see tall walls of ancient stone in the distance. Above the battlements rise towers, steeples and high sloped roofs. This must be your destination, the sea-port of Saragost, capital of the island of Chillhame. As you draw nearer, you see a mass of tents and wagons clustered around the closest gate, like flotsam washed up by the tide. There must be hundreds of people camped out here, unable to get into the city. There can only be one explanation for this – these people have heard the tales of a coming army. They are trying to reach the safety of Saragost but the city has closed its doors to them.

The city before you is breathtaking. Outside the walls were only flat, featureless plains. Inside, there is a crazy labyrinth of streets, with houses, shops and taverns jostling for space. A constant din of activity surrounds you. The smells are rich and strong – spicy food cooked out on the streets in cauldrons, the dung of horses, perfumes that recall the lands of the elves and a fresh sea breeze blowing in from the west.

Towering above all the other buildings is a single spire, on whose top is a transparent globe. Within this, a brilliant fire of red and gold burns, undoubtedly the product of some kind of magic.

• The Tower of Undying Light: This narrow, windowless tower dominates the skyline, rising like a slim white finger above the city. It looks like it is about 150 feet high. It is topped with a transparent sphere inside which a flaming shape flails its wings.
• The Inn of the Flaming Beard: This massive public house is the largest Inn in the city of Saragost. It covers an entire city block. There is a "smart" end and and "scruffy" end of the place. Only people in noble's outfits are allowed into the "smart" end. Everyone else is relegated to the "scruffy" end of the building. The place is named for the ghost of a pirate with a flaming beard that haunts the streets of Saragost. The innkeepers in the "scruffy" end of the place have a habit of insulting the patrons.
• The Grand Baronial Hotel: This place is the finest public house in Saragost. It boasts fine dining, plush rooms and a fantastic dancing and singing mermaid show twice nightly. Rumor has it that members of the Midnight Enclave have a secret meeting place hidden in the hotel.
• The Sanctuary of the Seven Archways: The local wizards' guild holds forth in this dazzling white marble building near the Tower of Undying Light. Lady Arigane Zakawe leads the guild, known as the Order of the Prism. The Sanctuary houses one of the greatest libraries in the known world.
• The Grove of Hernun: The druids of the area have founded a jungle-like grove in the center of Saragost. Their domain is a one square mile nature preserve in which the law of Saragost holds no power as the druids and priests of Hernun are the only power. The Grove is used a s a neutral meeting site for opposing parties as the druids demand that no violence desecrate their grove, and their justice is swift and legendary.
• The Hall of Echoes: The local bardic college holds forth here. Michael Dunsany leads the bards of Saragost and has his quarters here. The library in the Hall of Echoes is renowned as a fine place for historic information.
• The Warf Gaol: The Wharf Gaol is a stinking, rat-infested prison that takes up part of the docks of Saragost. Condemned criminals are chained in the harbor at low tide. High tide serves as their sentence. Directly beneath the windows of the prison are manacles, which hold the rotting bodies of prisoners executed by drowning, or living people sentenced to die that day.

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