The Alley District is sandwiched between the Temple district and the Docks district.  It has four ways in and out: one goes to the ArchStreet District, the other goes to Makers district, two go to the Docks district. There are always people moving through this district, along its three main streets.

It is a neighborhood that average people live in.  There are businesses here, but except for the taverns/ inns, they do not cater to the people here. The main business of the Alley district is moving of things in the city.  It is here that the taxi and wagon companies stable their wheels. Many carter companies and a few messenger companies are in the district as well.  Since there are carts, wagons, and taxi’s here, there are a three metal-smiths and wheel-smiths.  Thus there is an odd mix of carts, smoke, furry folk, and a rush of humanti here.

The Main Sail Smiths covers several buildings along the road between the Makers and the Dock districts.  The shop is currently run Marcus Excellius the fifth known as Marcus Sail-Smith, the fifth generation in his family to run this shop. His shop is the premiere sail maker for the Northern part of ThirdLand. The trademarked weave of these sails is difficult to do, but makes for intensely strong fabric.  Others try to duplicate it, but no one completely succeeds at it.  Thus you will find Main Sails across the Known World.

It should be noted that the Guards have a strong presence here, because of the barracks that are part of the Dock district wall.

There is no gate to enter the Temple District, but many of the children here will climb the district wall to get at fruits in the Artha orchard.

The ArchStreet neighborhood is all the area between the GateWay Plaza and The DiPlaza (Central Plaza), a somewhat triangular wedge of city.  It is the most prestigous neighborhood in all of the city, because it is the first. (This is only slightly true, but nobody publicly makes a stink about this claim). 

The central feature of this area is ArchStreet.  It is a large street that stretches the entire way from the Gateway to the DiPlaza.  ArchStreet is technically a divided avenue, with each side of the road (suitable for two carts to be driven side by side) is separated by a thin stretch of flowered garden. There are broad sidewalks that are better maintained than some Imperial Roads. 

It begins with a grand arch at the Gateway Plaza (two buildings in at the lesser wall). It crosses the entire street. ArchStreet ends with a grand arch as well as the DiPlaza, the twin of the one a the Gateway Plaza.  Between every long block, there is another set of arches. Unknown by most, hidden under the plaster of these arches are sliding door gates (on one each side). Even the garden divide is broken at these points. In times of trouble, someone with a hammer will chip off the thin plaster, and slide these gates across the arches.  They are of the same design as the main city door. They will seal the street off, making progress for the invading forces (or rioting people) difficult. 

Along ArchStreet are fine shops, a few cafes, taverns (Antioch traditional ones, which are part inn as well) and important businesses and guild halls.  The ArchGuildMaster, the head of the guild council, makes sure that only "appropriately Antioch establishments" are along this street.  (The only exception to this is the Impressors guild, but they are waiting for an opening).  There are strict standards for appearances and quality along the street, but adhering to the standards gives huge tax credits to the business, so it all balances out. 

The Magic, Warrior, ClothSmiths, and MetalCrafters (the various kinds of smiths that work metal), all have large union halls there.

One of the most interesting ones is a "StarBucks Cafe", with an odd hand carved green sign.  Some Stranger made a Klah shop, rather than cart.  This shop serves variations on Klah, some of which are quite good.  

Another one of note is The MapSmiths shop.  This store, using impressor machines, is the place for functional maps of ALL the Known World. In fact, this is an Imperially graced shop, as the Emperor’s son is known to purchase things here.  Most large area maps are books with flip pages, using a page and grid system that attempts to handle some of the odd functions of the Biomes. They have hired an Elventi scribe to create a proper Imperial Edition. It should be finished in a few years. 

The streets that branch off ArchStreet (DiStreets), and those that branch off those streets (mere streets) fill out the rest of the neighborhood.  There are guild halls and standard Antioch shop/ town homes (where the shop is the bottom floor, and the owners/staff live upstairs).  This is a prestigous area, so prices and competition are stiff. 

Many people would assume that it is called ArchStreet because of the arches across it.  In the local language (See the Arth Threads), Arch is a prefix of importance.  More than main street, ArchStreet is the Street of all Streets… an egotistical naming of the street, proclaiming that all the streets in the world are a shallow copy of ArchStreet.  It is a name of hubris and pride for the locals. It is a bone of contention in certain circles of the Imperial court and the other city states of ThirdLand. Given Antioch’s pivotal and growing role in the Imperial in recent centuries, it may be well named after all.

The other two exits (besides Diplaza and Gateway) are the two side gates, clockwise/ widdershins is the Quiet Ward and counterclockwise/ desol is Alley Ward. These gates are heavily fortified, but seldom manned. In times of trouble they will be slammed shut limited access in and out of the district.

The buildings in Antioch are of what we would call a Neo-Tudor style.  The exteriors are usually a white stucco, with some half-timbering (wooden beams embedded in the stucco, some for support others for looks. Other characteristics include high-pitched roofs (covered in slate), asymmetrical configurations, enclosed entryways, fireplaces with ornamented chimneys and chimney pots, and casement windows.  This design is fairly fire resistant, easy to replicate, and used local materials. 

Most buildings in Antioch are two story, semi-detached town home affairs.  They are longer than they are wide (usually a 3 to 1 ratio). This long and narrow town home design allows the largest number of houses to fill in along a street. There is seldom an alley way between the buildings big enough to use.  The second story usually extends beyond the first, allowing for enclosed or covered entries in front and back.  There is normally a tiny yard associated with the back of the house. The back of a house faces the back of another house. If there is a business in the building (which is usually the case), the business is downstairs, while the family and workers live upstairs. 

Many of the town homes have been broken into two apartments, lower and upper. There are places that just sell rooms of said houses, but they are only in docks area. 

A common variation for ventures that need more space is to create a court yard home.  These are created by buying three townhomes in a row, knocking down the central one, and connecting the outer two.  This is common for guild buildings. 

Almost every building will have a place for people to stay in it.  Given the presence of star stone in the ground, elementals occasionally appear in Antioch at night.  Most people do not like to travel the streets at night for any distance for this reason. Thus it is only polite to have a place for people to stay, even if it is just on the floor in back. 

The roads are a smoothed cobblestone, similar in appearance to the Imperial roads.  There are normally sidewalks made of a weak local concrete, giving a one and a half person wide space on the side of the road to walk on. The size of sidewalks may be the reason for the popularity of taxi carts in the city. They are faster and allow you to avoid being jostled by pedestrians.

The roads here are also slanted to flow water to the center of the road.  There are under channels in the center of the roads, covered by square masonry pieces with short gaps between them.  Water flows into the center, down the gaps and into the under channel. Smaller streets flow into the under channels of larger streets, and so on.  Houses are connected to this system by their own underchannels. This system works fairly well on Earth, and works better in Arth were there are no germs, only mold.  

The sameness of the buildings in Antioch over the centuries has two causes.  The first is that the city was rebuilt from its last sacking by the Goblins 276 years ago.  It was rebuilt using plans incorporating the most advanced elemental associations and building technologies. Since everything was built on a central plan, everything had the same look.  Things that survived the sacking have frequently been torn down and appropriate buildings put in their place. The second cause is the perceived “way” of the city.  Once people thought the neo-tudor look was the “way” the city should be, the people of Antioch made sure that every new building fit that way/ pattern.

The ArchStreet, leading from the main gate, spills out into the DiPlaza - The center of Antioch. Each of the five other districts of Antioch have a gateway at the plaza.  Each of the triangular districts has one corner nipped off, creating the hexagonal shape of the central DiPlaza. A fitting plaza for a (nearly) hexagonal shaped city.

The DiPlaza has three areas: Wall, Open, and The Hall.

The Wall surrounds the entire plaza, except where there are gateways of course.  It is general Antioch design, two to three stories, with the bottom story being a business or office.  The Wall supports a number of cafes/ inns, some guild shops (where various guildsmen sell things they normally do not sell in their own shops), and a large number of offices. The Carter’s guild (those who sell goods they do not make from pushcarts) has its hall here.  Most of these offices are for translators, contractsmiths, and certain crafts that pertain to government.  The houses above most of these businesses are normally broken down into apartments, which is rare for Antioch.  Some of the Cafes are said to be the best in the city.  All have seating areas that spill out into the plaza. Some of the most notable is The Elemental and Cashmirius’s (Cashmirius has been dead for nearly 150 years, but her name and recipes live on).

The Open is the vast open area of the DiPlaza. Except for the continuation of the cut river stones from ArchStreet, it is paved in hexagonal shaped carved stone tiles.  The entire city was to be paved in them, but they proved both expensive and unwieldy.  The cut river stones mimic the imperial road look and design, but are neither as indestructible nor tractionable.

In the open area there is always traffic. Furry folk pulling taxi’s, carters hawking their wares, people travelling through the plaza, others travelling to and from the Hall. The carters are so thick some days (the weekend mostly), those new to the city might think it is a market place.  (Most of the carts are food and drink. The people of Antioch love food on the go and to buy food for later).  Most of the time, carters go through the other districts, but all of them spend part of their “circuit” here.

Note: Directly between The Hall (the pylon actually) and the ArchStreet diarch, along the riverstone path, is a set of standing stones.  These stone are the Imperial Gateway for Antioch.  Everyone understands to stay somewhat clear of them, should they become active and the person find part of themselves somewhere else.

The Hall is a hexagonal building in the center of the DiPlaza. It is three stories tall, with a white stone done on the very top.  That dome appears to be supported by six very tall doric columns. Each plaster column has a different colorful elemental pattern on it.  There appears to be an arched doorway on each of the six walls, but only one (the one that faces ArchStreet) is actually a functional door.  (There are a large number of arrow slit windows on each wall that are almost invisible among the textured stones of the walls unless you look carefully.

The first floor is a large rotunda. The ceiling appears to be a stained glass mural lit by the sun (but actually by magical Lightstones). The mural shows the history of Antioch (and a bit of the known world) up to the time of the rebuilding.  The floor is marble inset with mystical symbols (arcane langauge Elventi).  The center of the Rotunda has the Biome’s Pylon. Inset in the Pylon are give KeyOrbs. Discretely off to the side, is a doorway that leads to the narrow stairs that lead to the second and third floor. 

The second floor is taken up with the Guild Council Chambers.  Here each ArchGuildsman (GuildMaster) sits in the amphetheater like room so they can discuss things before putting them to a vote. All rulings take two votes.  In the first one, each guild gets one vote stone; in the second, the guild gets a number of votes stones based upon its membership. For each vote, the stones are openly counted and the results determined A locked area under the amphetheater seating hold the city’s copies of the guild records.

The third floor is taken up by two areas.  The first is the Governor’s office, should the Imperial Governor come to Antioch. The other area is the ArchGuildMaster’s office.  From here, he runs the city.

There are two ways into The City, The main gate and the six minor gates accessible only at the docks. Surrounding the City is a massive wall, 10 Imperial Strides (1 meter) tall, four wide at the base, and two wide at the top where the Guard patrols, with protective braces spread along it.

The Antioch River runs right by the City.  It is a broad and slow river, allowing for travel to the Villages, The Northern Plains, and the eastern part of the Great Ridge.  It brings most of the goods produced in ThirdLand though Antioch and out to the ocean. 

The great city wall slides down into the water of the river, creating a giant retaining wall to protect the land under the city from erosion.  There is a stone lip jetting out from this wall. Attached to it are a dozen small piers.
From these piers goods are loaded and unloaded, ships are moored, and a few fishing vessels eke out a living off the river. 

The six river gates can only be reached from the piers/ water.  They are small affairs, three strides tall and three strides wide.  Each has a grill gate that slides down over it.  There are also stone slab gates that slides across the gates, three at a time.  These six gates are manned by a handful of guards each.  They assist the assessors to make sure everything has a custom (tax) stamp, but they are there to mostly keep the sailors and long shoremen from making trouble.  The gates are open at sky’s lightening, closing at full dark. 

Inside the wall, the wall line creates a plaza of sorts.  During the day, the docks and the dock’s wall line are bustling with people moving carts full of bundles, boxes, and goods.  While the furry folk are known for moving taxi’s in Antioch, none are found here. The Docksmen Guild (the Rat Clan) has only real people as members. 

Everyone is in either a guild or a clan. Not being in one is akin to being an outcast.  It confuses people, as they are not sure of your status.  Rat Clan is a clan that functions as a guild. The Rats ply the rivers and marshes of Secondland and Thirdland, as well as do longshoreman work. The seaclans hold the self proclaimed “rat clan” in contempt. Most officials see them as just a Guild of River sailors and longshoremen with a funny name. The Rats hold their title with pride and will take it out on anyone who gives them grief about it.

One of the reason there are so many guards in the Dock Ward, is that the occasional ocean going vessel docks in Antioch.  This brings Sea Clanners to Antioch.  Sea Clanners and Rat Clanners can work well together, but they do not socialize well together. 

Goods are moved to and from warehouses in the dock ward.  Most of the warehouses are two story affairs, the bottom store being storage, the upper level being offices and apartments. 

In addition to warehouses, there are bars, taverns, and Antioch styled inns. There is only one cafe here, serving to the visiting owners and upper crust lunch and klah, which quickly closes up at dark to avoid problems. The courtesan guild has a number of guild homes here. While there are a few guild homes discreetly hidden around the city, there are eleven in the Dock Ward.  The Courtesan’s guild is the only one that allows Putti and Kern members, though they would only be found in less polite areas (such as the dock ward). 

The Dock Ward is surrounded by a strong wall, reminiscent of the Ward Wall of the Gateway Plaza. A Barracks for the Guard is built into a bumped out section of this wall.  By climbing down ladders, Guards can spill into the ward. There are two gates in those wall that lead into the city.  Those gates are manned every hour of the day, just in case of trouble or people try to move goods without custom marks.  The Wall line of the Dock Ward is bracketed by gate arches, that lead into the Wall lines of other area (one of which is the Gate Plaza).

There are two ways into The City, The main gate and the six minor gates accessible only at the docks. Surrounding the City is a massive wall, 10 Imperial Strides (1 meter) tall, four wide at the base, and two wide at the top where the Guard patrols, with protective braces spread along it.  

The main gate is accessible by the main road, a somewhat windy road that climbs up to the city gate. 

The main gate is a massive affair. It is seven strides long. The two drop gates (at the begining and end of the gate tunnel) are the most visible. The main gate door is actually a massive stone wall that slides inbetween the two drop gates on rollers. It is one stride thick. On either side of the inside of the gate is the entrances to the gate house, where the Guards on alert stay. 

The Guard at the gate ask the basic questions of everyone who enters, and record the answers in the Census Book.  Who are you? Where do you hail from? What is your Guild? (usually requires you to produce you guild shield) Do you have magic? (checking to see if you need a magic license, and any special items the guild might have to contend with), Do you have money or wealth? (checking to see if you can afford to stay in the city for at least a week- 40sp).  You get an entry token (with the date on it).

On your way out, the guards take your token and check you out of the census book. 

Lying to the Guard at entry or exit, if caught, can be punished by what ever punishment the Guard deems worthy of the offense, from a slap on the wrist to death.  There are some specific laws that also are in effect at the gate.  All bows and crossbows, and some pole weapons and chains, must be checked at the gate (you get a redemtion shield).  Heartbound weapons do not have to be checked (as it could result in the death of either the weapon or the warrior).  Magic wielders must wear either a blank mage guild badge, or appropriate guild badge, visibly upon their person from once they enter the gate until they become accepted locally. If you fail to have a guild or money, you are usually turned away.  If you are either a stranger or say you are looking for a guild membership, you are given a week plus one day to either gain membership, another job, or to be out of town.  Being caught in town after that point, without guild membership or a job, can have some serious consequences. 

After getting by the guards and through the main gate, you exit to the Gateway Plaza. It is lined with halved and polished river stones. The pattern similar to that found on an Imperial Roadway. It is however, not as smooth, nor is the traction as good.

There are always a few gamblers or people looking for luck hanging around the Gate. They are waiting for Strangers.  They are here to test the addage “Always teach or do something nice for a stranger, it will bring you luck.”

The Plaza is always busy when the gates are open.  There are people coming in and out of the city all the time. Sometimes there is quite a line up to get in. For those not used to such a cosmopolitan place, the variety of peoples can be dazzling.  There are Humanti from all the Lands and most of the biomes of ThirdLand in their native garbs.  There are Elventi, mostly of Air Elventi stock (seldom High Elves). In The City, most are natives, rather than visitors.  On any given day, there might be a Nihkon Orcenti bodyguards, Dwarventi aboveground, A Gianenti from the plains, Podlings, and furry folk of all descriptions pulling the ever present rickshaw taxis of The City.  There will be food carters selling drinks of all types and the occasional snack.  The flow of people is mostly to and from the main entrance arch that stands above the ArchStreet/ main st of The City.

Along the wall to the right or left, are two double gates that lead to the wall line.  There is a breakwall behind the gates, to prevent both the rush of incoming Goblins along it and for people to see the squaller in the Wall Line. 

The Plaza is lined mostly with business having to deal with trade and money.  These are the offices of caravan houses and trade exchanges.  They are of the standard Antioch design, two to three story townhomes (long and narrow) with exposed beams and shale roofs.  While these locations are technically “unsafe”, they are the cheapest prestigous offices/ locations in The City, as they are “first in the city”.  The alleys between the buildings only lead to the next street in.  Buildings on that street, face the neighborhood wall. (Yes, this neighborhood is only one block deep and is an half eliptical area). This wall is not a simple divider, but a scaled down version of the city wall, with the occasional Guardsman patrolling it. It encompasses the entire plaza neighborhood from Wall Line wall to Wall Line wall.  It’s only break is the entry archway to ArchStreet/ main street.

One notable Gateway Plaza business is Kereg the money changer. For a minor fee, he will convert transportable wealth into coin and visaversa.  Notes of promise, bank drafts, local paper money, and imperial gems, can be converted into Imperial Coinage and Antioch Paper Money (scripts).  What make’s Kereg’s office more impressive is the walls of his work area (which are behind some nice thick bars) that are lined with thousands of different currencies from many far away places.  There are dollars, dutchmarks, euros, yen, credits, Imperium credits, gold tallons, gold pressed latium, cred sticks, bank cards, and bottle caps.  As one can sumise from his name, Kereg is not a local, but a Stranger. In memory of his own early issues with money, he will exchange worthless money that Strangers have for a week’s wage (more if he has never seen the money before). He will convert any gold and gems into money as well, at a better than fair market value.  Thus he gives each stranger a better chance to survive in the city.  Some MoneyCrafters call him mad, yet his business thirves, reinforcing the folk wisdom that helping strangers generates luck.

Like so many things after the Grand ReDesign, this section of the city did not redevelop as planned.  It was originally set aside as a natural area, with the idea that an Elventi community would thrive here. This proximity to Elventi made it prestigious.  Alas the Elventi community never materialized. While there are a few Elventi living in their way here, it has been taken over by the well to do in the city.

This Ward has three parts, dividing the roughly triangular shaped area into three paralellegrams. The three areas from smallest to largest are called Plazaside, Greenpath, and Goldpath.

Plazaside is just that, the side of the Ward adjacent to the Central DiPlaza.  This area’s main entrance is the DiPlaza gate.  It’s other gate leads to the Greenpath, centered upon that dividing wall. The gates are always manned by guardsmen, keeping people who do not belong out. The homes in Plazaside are larger than most in Antioch, more detached, and do not have shop fronts/ work spaces in their lower floors (though certain professional do conduct business in their lower levels).  Gardens decorate their back and side yards.  Some homes are far enough back from the street that they may have small gardens there as well.  Some say it is the nicest area in Antioch to live in. 

GreenPath is the only area that is truly as the original designers envisioned the area.  This longer and narrower area is green and landscaped.  It has two areas, deSol and Widdershins. The division between these two areas is the paved roadway that leads from the Plazaside gate directly across to the GoldPath gate.  DeSol area is the closest thing to a grand park that this city has. The counterclockwise wall has a small gate to one of the common areas. You have the occasional picnic and lovers walking together here.  But you also have to pay to enter it.  In the clockwise area, widdershins, is a small guided area with three Elventi HomeTrees. Here, BeautifulCloudsDeepintheAmberSunset and some Elventi children and grandchildren live. He has interests in the mercantile businesses of the docks.  He also hosts any visiting High Elventi who are not living in Humantime OR don\‘t want to adopt the local way stay. The Imperial Governor, who is a close cousin, is a frequent guest. Casual visitors are discouraged by the paths being blocked by formidable and thorned bushes, more focused visitors by the few guardsmen that patrol along the hedge.  Those that do get through, without an invitation are met with spear and bow or sometimes never heard from again. 

GoldPath has only one entrance and exit, the gate that is always manned that leads to GreenPath.  Inside this area is rolling country appearing roads and green. Nestled between are several dozen or so mansions, of the very rich. These people have horses here, something you seldom see in the city proper.  There is their own private force to maintain things; Foresters serve as the Guardsmen here, keeping those without any business here out of the area.  They will even escort visitors to the correct homes.  Most of those that live here are of HighClans of SecondLand who have business connections here.  The three exceptions are WatcheroftheRollingBlue or Watcherus Trader (a successful Elventi Merchant and his family of six), Delena (a stranger who has adopted MaskLander ways -there is always a constant flow of these strange people to and from her mansion. She literally runs the ClothingSmiths guild bringing the innovations of using MaskLand Silks in cuffs and belts, hair scrunchies, and new and exceptional fasteners), and Sheldonus BeCarry (An Amarian Merchant who watches his good flow from Northern ThirdLand very carefully). 

It should be noted that BeautifulClounds is negotiating to put a HomeTree next to some of his others on the other side of the GreenPath/GoldPath wall.  The people of GoldPath are wary of this Elventification of their area. Many of the people here dally in the Humanti Independence section of the Returner’s Legacy organization.

The name Maker’s Ward was not in the Grand ReDesign for Antioch.  The name is was originally from the laborer’s area in Antioch before the rebuilding.  While the Official name is the SmithCraft Ward, everyone now calls it The Maker’s area. 

This is where guild buildings without shops are found, where large scale production of metalsmithing, clothsmithing (weaving), Dyesmithing (dyeing), woodsmith and crafting (making of basic wood products and artistic ones), claysmithing (ceramics), and others smiths and craftings are performed. 

Connected to the DiPlaza, the “Alley” Ward, The North Ward, and the DockWard, The Maker’s Ward is where all the large scale production is done.  Raw Goods come to it through the Alley and the Docks.  There are no shops here, only work areas. Two and three standard Antioch Buildings are connected and their production is combined.  Most of the goods here are for trade to other places. 

Most of the buildings here are craft and smith locations. There are Inns/ Taverns and Cafes here, but they are few and far between. Few people live in this ward. The upper levels in these areas are the cheapest housing in Antioch. And some of the least desirable due to smells, chemicals, fires, and smoke.  However, there are three areas in the district that seem like a normal Antioch area. They are the areas around three good sized streets: MotherCraft, Blossom, and Archerius. These three streets have businesses and goods that people need to live around.

If you travel through the city’s main gate, travel down the grand ArchStreet, travel across the DiPlaza (walking around The Hall) and travel in approximately a straight line, you will reach the gate leading to NorthWard. 

You will have traveled some of the great and grandest elements of Antioch. Then you will enter the most common and humble. The NorthWard is classic Antioch. It serves as the “average” that all other quarters are measured by. 

It defines the “Way” of Antioch. The buildings are Neo-Tudor town homes; white stucco with some half-timbering, high-pitched slate roofs, asymmetrical configurations, enclosed entryways, an ornamented chimneys. They are all two stories tall, with shops and workshops selling goods on the lower level, families with apprentices and journeymen living above.  A few lots are green and have common wells (not that Antioch water is fit to drink). The roads are a smoothed cobblestone, similar in appearance to the Imperial roads. There are normally sidewalks made of a weak local concrete. Their size and condition often explains the commonness of taxis in the city.

The exception to the Shop/Home configuration is the Antioch Inns, which seem to be everywhere in the ward.  There the owners often live in the house next door. Every business and home has a place for accidental guests to stay. The Streets of Antioch are magical at night, and not in a good way.  The StarStone that originally borough people to the Antioch Biome still impregnates the soil here. Tiny crystals of magic are part of life here.  At night, upon occasion, an elemental, a spirit of magic, appears.  They wander the streets. Normally they just pass through and fade away one bell later. Occasionally damage things in their passing; even more rarely someone is directly harmed. To listen to the natives, it happens every night on every street where walking home from the Inn on the corner can be a harrowing experience. But in reality, it is a uncommon occurence. But the natives consider it an unlucky sign, so they avoid travelling the streets at night when they can.

There is only two other ways in and out of NorthWard. One leads to the Crafter Ward.  The other leads to the DiPlaza.

If you travel through the city’s main gate, travel down the grand ArchStreet, and turn left, you will eventually reach the wall for the Quiet Ward. Sometimes known as The Forgotten Ward.

It’s official desigation was Hearth District. That is sometimes still used. The locals called this the Quiet Ward for a century now, mostly because it does nothing to call great attention to itself. This Ward has homes, shops (usually one and the same) and other guild halls. This area is another of “classic Antioch way.”

The buildings are Neo-Tudor town homes; white stucco with some half-timbering, high-pitched slate roofs, asymmetrical configurations, enclosed entryways, an ornamented chimneys. They are all two stories tall, with shops and workshops selling goods on the lower level, families with apprentices and journeymen living above. A few lots are green and have common wells (not that Antioch water is fit to drink). The roads are a smoothed cobblestone, similar in appearance to the Imperial roads. There are normally sidewalks made of a weak local concrete. Their size and condition often explains the commonness of taxis in the city.

The exception to the Shop/Home configuration is the Antioch Inns, which seem to be everywhere in the ward. There the owners often live in the house next door. Every business and home has a place for accidental guests to stay. The Streets of Antioch are magical at night, and not in a good way. The StarStone that originally borough people to the Antioch Biome still impregnates the soil here. Tiny crystals of magic are part of life here. At night, upon occasion, an elemental, a spirit of magic, appears. They wander the streets. Normally they just pass through and fade away one bell later. Occasionally damage things in their passing; even more rarely someone is directly harmed. To listen to the natives, it happens every night on every street where walking home from the Inn on the corner can be a harrowing experience. But in reality, it is a uncommon occurence. But the natives consider it an unlucky sign, so they avoid travelling the streets at night when they can.

Many MagicSmiths live permanently in the Inns here. The locals are not sure if they cause more or less magical disturbances here.

The Quiet Ward is fairly quiet and calm. Unfortunately for them, the Impressor’s acting guild hall is here on Excellera. So there are noises, explosions, magic, inventing, and pressing going on at odd times. Luckily this is mostly towards the Wall Line (Excellera parallels it), so most of the district is actually quiet. Excellera has four pagesmith shops, who produce all the books in Antioch. Given that each shop has two to four presses going nearly 24 hours a day, that is a good number of books (and dogbounds).  Most of the buildings around Excellera St have shifted to crafters who support Impressors. There is also a swarm of carters around here, as Impressors need Klah and sweets at all times.

There are three ways in and out of Quiet District. One leads to the GreenWay. One leads to the DiPlaza. The Last One leads to the ArchDistrict.

When Antioch was rebuilt, it was designed by the MagicCrafters. The city was divided into six triangular areas, each one reflecting one of the six mystical elements.  Thus an entire triangle (1/6th the city) was dedicated to Faith/Luminance.  The mages handed the plans over to the GodSmiths (the word is translated as priests from now on), and they handed it over to one Peterus. 

Peterus was both a pious and practical man, he knew that all the priests in the world did not need 1/6th the city.  So he designed a wondrous set of plans to express the glory of the higher tiers, that took up only a third of the allotted area.  It was extravagent by any stretch of the imagination which mollified the mages somewhat, and left area for regular people to live in that section. 

The Temple Ward is entered only from the DiPlaza, the central plaza of the city, through the Arch of Faith. There is only one street here, Faith Street runs from Arch to the far end of the ward, the temple of Ge-Em.  Every building here is a temple. Temples hold appropriate ceremonial places and rooms/ dorms for the priests who focus upon a given deity.

The observant will notice that the Arch of Faith has animal reliefs and details on the plaza side, and Humanti/
Elventi and other intelligences detailed on the temple side.  This represents the sixth and fifth tier of spirits.

Note: The people of Antioch (and all the Known World) believe in One Pantheon. The priests serve the pantheon first and an individual deity second.  So while a priest might have a room in one temple, his duties (that week) might be in another.

Immediately inside the gate, on both sides, is the Temple of Masters.  It is one building, with a second story that spans Faith Street (thought his is somewhat obscured by the Arch of Faith.  Thus shading and encompassing the person walking down in from the Arch of Faith. Here dozens of subpriests (acolytes) help those who are searching for a Master’s help to find the right room.  If there isn’t a room ready, the subpriests might find the appropriate props and prepare a kretch for the supplicant.  

The roadway is made of seemingly random shapes that form together.   After you pass the Temple of Masters, it becomes a triangular pattern.

Next are the Third Tier Deities.  These are four smallish temples, about the size of four townhomes put together each. 

One the right is Deth. This God of Death takes things that Ge-Em is done with and keeps them until they are recycled/  reincarnated.  This temple is minimalist in nature in the facade and public areas, but the rear is a regular rummage sale of things that need keeping. 

One of the left is Chro-No.  The deity of time.  The public areas for worship is quite small. Most of the priests of Chro-No are scribes who record events, so there is a scribery in the building. 

On the right and left, linked by an arch that can be walked across (which technically is a bridge), is the Temple of Luminance.  This thin and narrow temples mostly serve as a theological point of balance for the next two temples. 

Also note that the road stones on the streets change to hexagons from this arch on. 

These are the notable temples of the second tier.  They are larger and more elaborate than most of the temples here.  They house a large number of priests being three and four stories tall.  All but the temple of darkness (which is completely enclosed and has several basement levels) have internal courtyards which are used for some worship, practice of religous knights/ Sirs, and other social events.

On the right hand side there is the temple of Light, the temple of Water, and the temple of Earth.

On the left hand side there is the temple of Darkness, the temple of Fire, and the temple of Air. 

Each temples outer facade is kindred to a Roman Temple, with columns and tiered roofs.  Each has a roof dome of the appropriate colors and material.

(Note the temple of Darkness is currently closed due to some unfortunate incidents that occurred.  If you need a priest of Darkness, come to the temple steps at night (always a risky proposition in Antioch) and the priests will assist you.) Some can be found at the MagicCrafter’s guild house.

From this point on, the road becomes a riot of colorful cobblestones.  The careful eye will see the colors coalesce into a red and blue path to the left, a brown and green path to the right, and a white and black path to the front.  This is the area of the first tier.

The three remaining temple areas are wide rather than deep, as they against the ward wall, which is quite long since the ward is triangular in shape. 

To the right is the area dedicated to Mother Arth (Arth-a in the archaic).  This is a well maintained park area with tame deer and birds.  There are two small buildings here, a shed for maintenance materials and animal food and a circular stone gazebo. This white temple structure has a dome top.  There is a good sized orchard for golden green apples.  The local children climb the ward wall and try to sneak past the guardians (Mother Arth devotes) to get them.  Knowing many of the children in the area, good ones are allowed to slip by, and naughty children are caught and punished by cleaning up after the deer.  

To the left is the temple structure dedicated to Yi-Ang. The dome atop this structure is red and blue and slowly rotates due to some elaborate Dwarventi mechanism. This hall is quite large and very empty.  Priests who focus on Yi-Ang will sleep on pallets in this vast area.  They frequently request duties at other temples, to maintain their balance and promote change. 

To the center, at the end of the street, is the temple to Ge-Em. The temple is not as grand as it once was. The people of Antioch focus on the Deities of the second tier. It is the place of Beginnings and endings, so its only common use is birth ceremonies, confirmations (dedicating yourself to either a deity or a guild), and funerals.  Inside the temple, the local MaskLanders have create a large chapel/ room sized Kretch to Danu, Master of Masques.  The Priests of Ge-Em understand and appreciate this odd Deity’s place, though it is hard for them to explain it to others. (Also the influx of MaskLander merchant cash has not hurt matters).

On the second and third floor are classrooms where religious and semi-religious studies are taught.  This use to be dormitories for the priests of Ge-Em, but there are so few that the space was well used for this purpose. 

Note: Parts of this temple are still under repair as some Amazonti went mad and blamed Ge-Em for all their trials and tribulations since coming to Arth. 

Arth’s main thread has a section on religion and religious ideas.  There is a dedicated thread forthcoming. Until that time, here is Arth Deities

Antioch was once the site of a star stone mine.  As such mines get deeper, they get much more dangerous… given the increase in spontaneous magical effects. The Humanti mined the stones for the Elventi, who brought them there by gate. They left by gate soon after the mine was played out. A hundred or so years later (Elventi are terribly lax about measuring such things), it became time to return Humanti population from FirstLand back to SecondLand and let them colonize other places in the Imperium.  The biome of Antioch was somewhat pleasant and they knew the vibration for the pylon, so gates were once again opened to Antioch.  It became an debarkation point for Humanti’s expansion into the northern part of ThirdLand.  Most of the mine shafts had long collapsed by the return, but a few sections remained sound. The town, then city of Antioch were built upon those strong supports. 

As Dwarventi came to investigate this intrusion of ThirdLand. They were annoyed when they found Elventi and their pets. Since they were not doing anything with this flat area, they thought it might be nice to have non Elventi neighbors who would trade for their goods. They relented any passing claims they had to the flatlands.  As they surveyed the area, they did see work for stone and metal smiths. So they worked. Over the centuries, a few Dwarventi have trickled here, working in the city for a short time and returned home.

When they first decided to stay, there was no holding. Yet, they soon found the substandard Humanti tunnels the city was built on.  The first ones created a hold of sorts, just occupying some tunnels that were sturdy enough and kept one from the sky.  The Undertown they created became a home of sort, supporting subterranean peoples, Dwarventi, Humanti, Molefolk (furries), and others. 

There are three entrances to Undertown, all of which are found in the Maker’s ward.  These well crafted Dwarventi stairs lead down into one of the three main passages of Undertown. The underfolk have cleverly made it look like a short surface streets. Some of the branching passages look like streets as well, but it is all just a facade, soon they become more mine or hall like.  The streets are “lit” (dimly by any topsider’s opinion) by mage lights and a few ancient amber Dwarventi Lights.

Here, the small community of underfolks live a fairly normal existence. The second story of their homes are simply below their first or prime level.  The Dwarventi and most of the underfolk won’t dig down much lower, to avoid disturbing the magic energy pooled under them.  While there is a shop, three taverns, (three guardsmen) and one fungi farm, most people only sleep here. They work, study, and shop topside.

There are some rumors, that the Thieve’s Guild might use the abandoned tunnels under the city for spying or crime.  If they do, they do not include the tight knit undertown community in their plans.

No building is allowed to be within a weapon’s throw of the city wall, that is the law.  When the city was properly rebuilt, after being sacked, there was a paved area 12 Imperial strides (1 meter each) between the wall and the buildings.  In fact, most buildings along that line have their “back” to the wall.  The Good People were once again safe. 

A century or so has passed since then.  The undesirable peoples (be they merely poor or of the wrong species/ ethnic group) have found their way into the wall line.  They have found that the “good people” turn a blind eye to them being there. They make the Guard run them out of their neighborhoods.  The “sad people”  have made the Wall Line their home.

All along the edge of the city (except for the area around the city gate and the docks) there is a pleathora of temporary places. They are tents mostly, but some others are crates and merely bits of cloth stretched to protect from rain. The sad people have their own community there; resting between their menial or scavanging jobs, cooking the captured ratlins, larger grubs, weed greens, and scavanged left overs from the good folks, and looking for a way away from the wall. 

As long as all the buildings are temporary, and there is an easy to navagate passage along the wall (the wall road is a corridor between the tents), the guards leave them alone.