Oh yes indeed, there was a circus here! Some hundred years ago.... or so the tale goes.

Tannhauser is a working class neighboorhood. No nobles will be found perusing it's small market square, or the few shops there. The wealthy and powerful have holdings and investments in Tannhauser, but few would be willing to be seen on those dank streets.

The Shield District is the old Orcen Mercenary Quarter. It is called the Shield District because Orcen always carried their shields. In terms of buildings, it looks the same as the rest of the town, perhaps a bit more run down. The signs are both in Orcen and the Local tongue. The only differences are The Pits.

While travelling through an unfamiliar area of the city at night, it it easy for one to become quite lost. Though this is an upper-class residential neighbourhood just east of downtown, the streets wind, twist, and turn in upon themselves in a rather chaotic fashion.

The wealthy landowners of Ardales began to grow personal gardens on their flat rooftops. The shade helped cool the buildings. The competition renewed among the aristocracy for the lushest garden. Over time, the increased population caused an increase in building density, especially in the city's heart.

The Artisans District is home to the large, half shell theatre the Lorantos Theatre. The theatre is named after Lorantos Trugeone, a famous bard who was invited to the city and never got around to leaving.

A pleasant little grove with an unusual resident

After a long day on the road, what could be more inviting than a hot meal and mug of ale - just don't criticise the cook

If you travel North from city's main gate, 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 was supposed to be the district of hearth and home: the domestic soul in a city of industry and trade. It has been the quiet ward for most of the city's recent history. It is still the 'soul' of the city, but now that soul is changing.

Originally planned to be a green area, where an Elventi community would thrive, this area has become the ward where the rich and powerful live. It is neat, orderly, and practically invitation only.

Every city needs a place for building things. These places often have pompous names that nobody ever uses, except those in the City Offices. The Maker's Ward is just such a place.

There are always places between other places. The Alley District is sandwiched between the Temple Ward and the Docks Ward. Of all the wards, this one has the most ways in and out, thus is one of the most heavily traveled areas in all of Antioch.

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.

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.

There is only one path to divinity in Antioch. There is only one street with temples. It reaches from the DiPlaza to the end of the Ward, to the temple of Beginnings and Endings.

The work is being done on the largest temple of Stryfe ever constructed. So massive is this project, that it could not have been placed within the city's walls without displacing a large portion of Gnopolis's inhabitants.

The Taymour district is tucked between two other distinct districts in the city. It is a transitional district. It is where the newly rich or noble (or the formerly rich and tarnished noble) tend to live. It is also a place with a deep history with the city.

The Antioch river is slow and broad in most places. Due to some quirks of biome geography, the best place for riverside docks between the headlands and the sea is Antioch. Given the biome's convient access to a number of other biomes (and paths to said biomes), it is only natural that a trade city with a dock would thrive here.

Many people would assume that this main stree 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.