Wandering the South Commoners' District

[Kerplunk]

South Commoners' District

History

After the invasion of the Briaf, many Humans, Elves and Dwarves wanted to come to Amstaad. In their eyes Amstaad stood for new opportunities, better lives, good jobs and of course adventure. So, many Briaf men, women and their children went to seek fortune in Amstaad.
Space in Amstaad was not unlimited and so the city-Council decided to build houses South of Amstaad in order to house all these immigrants. The houses being build looked all more or less the same. When the immigrants came, the District was soon divided in rich and poor.

The more wealthy of the immigrants began to live in the East, south of the Noble District. They upgraded the decent but simple houses that had been build there by the Council. Soon the East Quarter of the District was populated by the most wealthy and the buildings there were the biggest and most decadent of whole Amstaad, save the ones in the Noble District of course. The rich quarter became known as the

Sjeek Quarter

.

In the middle part of the District the more simple people went to live. Those people weren’t as rich as the ones in the Sjeek Qtr. and had to work for their money. That’s why they decided to live South of the Old City and close to the Independent Avenue. Most of them did find work in the Old City or at the Docks. Some set up shops, inns or hotels in the Quarter itself. The houses are well kept. This part of the District is called

The Workers’ Quarter

. Where there are rich, there are also the poor. Because they couldn’t afford living in the Sjeek or even in the Workers’ Quarter.

They all had to build their own houses. Most of them are living West of the South Mercantile district.

The Slums

, as the Quarter is called, is one of the most depressing parts of Amstaad. People live here under the most terrible conditions. Some live in houses of stone, but most of them have to live in tents. In the Slums not a day goes by when there isn’t a poor soul murdered for a couple of dimes. When you walk the streets all you see is sad faces ready to give up. Some of the young are trying to get away from the Slums, few succeed.

When the lay-out of the South Commoners’ District became more apparent, the rich in the east and the poor in the northwest, on the border of the Slums and the Workers’ Quarter slowly a new kind of Quarter was forming. Smart people from both the Slums and the Workers’ found each other in their goal to make money in no matter which way. They began to do business in the region of illegal and legal. As the years went by, these men and women, who “tend to take the law”, began to unify themselves in a Thieves Guild, The Uhura. There came rules by which the members had to live. Things such as honour became important. Now the Guild is the center of the

Uhura Quarter

, which is situated at the border of the Slums and the Workers’ Quarter. The Quarter is where thieves, assassins, criminals meet each other and do ‘business’.

Locations in the Uhura quarter

- Uhura, Guild of Thieves
- The Black Rose Inn, main meetingpoint of the Uhura quarter
- O' Toole's, buy and sell you ware (stolen or not)
- Mirel's, essentially a mercenary base

Descriptions with NPC's coming

[Kerplunk]

So... what do you think?

edit: I should say that this is the first version (after a few thinking scratches and thinkings), just curious what you all think of this first impression of the District.

[Yaw]

Looks good so far. Let me know when you're done -- if you want I can proofread it. Not to change the content in any way, just to fix up the English a little.

Also, if there are any places of importance inside each quarter (famous pubs and inns, monuments, parks, religious sites, businesses, etc.), make sure to include them as you create.

[Kerplunk]

Not to change the content in any way, just to fix up the English a little.

I tried so hard...

Seriously, that would be a very good idea. Thanks for the offer.

[cuban smoker]

The English is mostly solid; I think the major problem is in verbe tense. Also, I think your history should reflect the idea that after the city walls were built, but before the Briaf came, it would be logical that people would still live outside the walls. See South Mercantile for my interpretation. Other than that, I'm happy. Just timing, that's all.

[Kerplunk]

Okay, I changed the History a bit. But I wrote it pretty fast, just for people to see and judge it. I'll have to tweak some things and write some things in a nicer way. Maybe you could help, Yaw?

And the things in

red

are things I still have to think about.

[Yaw]

Well, for the things in red...

The way I wrote the Old City history was as a taking-off point for everyone else. So as long as you consider what was likely to be the case right after the city switched hands, you can speculate from there.

The likely situation was a Briaf government, but one that had to be politically careful in dealing with the Passani (and Tiktuk, to a lesser degree). They wouldn't have been

able

to build in the Old City due to lack of space, so would have had to build outside the walls. (I kind of picture the Elvish Quarter opening up as Passani unhappy with the defection of their fellows vote with their feet and leave.) The Briaf were an alliance of Humans, Elves, and Dwarves, but why they found Amstaad desirable is up to you. I don't think they would have found their own architecture "barbaric", though. I think they would have left the Old City as is because they physically couldn't build anything new there, and couldn't destroy anything because of the political ramifications of pissing off the Passani. Don't think beauty would have had too much to do with it.

I think you mean that the council zoned the south lands as residential areas. The land was definitely habitable before, there just wasn't anyone there.

What's the history of the Uhura Quarter? It isn't mentioned...

[Kerplunk]

Okay. Change the history... again. I think I will first make only a thread for the Uhura Quarter. I first want to do only one Quarter and see how this RPG will work. I'm afraid that if I open to much I can't pay my fullest attention to it. I think Uhura is interesting enough.

Later on, when I get "the hang" of it I'll open more Districts with more NPC's and locations.

[Yaw]

Looks great, Kerplunk.

The amount of time you have to spend modding, though, is going to be a function of how many players are in your District at any time, not how many locations are available. (We're still trying to figure out how threads will work, but no matter how they do, this will be true. You only have to mod players in your District.) So I think you're going to be safe creating the whole thing -- players are going to be split up among the mods no matter how large your District is.

You don't need to put the NPCs in here, at least not their stats. If it's an important NPC, a mention of his/her name is enough for this. Keep the stats in a file for now, and we'll figure out what to do with all of them.

[Kerplunk]

Okay. But I have to make in every Quarter some locations where players can go, right? And in every locations I should make some NPC's which I control. So I have to play a lot of characters with different kind of personalities. Or is it not going to be like that?

We'll see, I guess. Looking forward to it!

[mikehart]

Ok an update from me:

I have a lot of stuff I've come up with since my disappearance and i need to print out Kerplunks history to see if it still fits with my stuff but im doin well at the moment. Currently I'm working on my sidequest which i think will involve the Uhura Guild or maybe Mirel. Im thinking about having him be an NPC of note here but its not all set-up yet. Update to come hopefully by lets say Wednesday.

[mikehart]

New History!!!



The South Commoners District evolved after the invasion of the Briaf. To many, Amstaad stood for new opportunities, jobs, homes, and of course adventure. The government, realizing these immigrants needed a place to work and live, layed out the South Commoners District. The original plans called for four central circles, or “hubs,” of activity. As more and more people began to settle, the district was soon divided into four sections, or quarters as the residents called it. All of these quarters were centered around one of the hubs.

To the east, south of the Noble’s District, the more affluent settled. They upgraded the basic stone dwellings built by the Council. This quarter soon began to rival all other districts, except of course the Noble’s, in beauty and extravagance. This quarter was eventually known as the

Sjeek Quarter

.

To the west, near the prison and South Mercantile district, the down on their luck settled. Few had enough money to buy one of the few homes built by the council in this section, and began to live in tents. This quarter is one of the most depressing in all of Amstaad and few people ventured forth at night. This quarter began to be known as

The Slums

.

Between the two extremes, south of the Government district, the middle class people settled. These people had to work for their money and most found work at the docks or old city. Many of the merchants in the District also set up shops, inns, or alehouses in this quarter. The people are simple but well kept. This quarter became known as the

Workers Quarter

.

Soon after the development of the three quarters, rich in the east and poor in the west, smart people from the Workers Quarter and The Slums met and began devising ways to make money in

any

way they could. These people soon began development of the Uhura Guild, a guild of thieves. As the guild grew, a fourth quarter developed between the Workers Quarter in the Slums. This quarter soon was to be known the

Uhura Quarter

.

[mikehart]

The Uhura Guil

a more indepth look.

The Origins of the Uhura guild is a fabled story in the district. The current generation of the district grew up with knowledge of the guild and a basic familiarity with it. Because of this familiarity, and the degeneration of stories over time, the true origins of the guild are unknown and widely speculated upon. The true origin, as described earlier, is that intelligent people of the middle and lower classes came together with the goal to make money by

any

means possible. These means soon turned to thievery, bribery, and general shadiness.

As the guild grew, it became apparent to its leaders, known as Sons of the Uhura, that the guild was becoming much more public than what was wanted. The Sons soon began bribing government officials to avoid answering to anyone. It was through these bribes that the guild acquired the land in the center of the hub between the Workers Quarter and The Slums. The guild puts up a front of a country club type membership. Behind the scenes however, they are a band of thieves and murderers.

The Uhura are thieves in the best sense of the word, but they are honorable thieves. It is well known throughout Amstaad that the word of an Uhura is a guarantee with the full force of the guild. The Uhura rarely steals from the middle and lower classes and generally operate in the Sjeek Quarter and the Nobles District. The guild uses the profits to improve the lives of the middle and lower class. The guild polices its own quarter and much of the Workers Quarter and The Slums. Because of this policy, the Uhura Quarter is known as one of the safest places in all of Amstaad.







Tell me what y'all think.