Cascadia

Districts of Cascadia
Places of Cascadia

As the heart of Cascadia and where the majority of the action in SS occurs, it stands to reason that there's a lot to know about this city, right?

The city of Cascadia itself is laid out with the Palace against the western cliff walls, flanked by the river to the south, the bondquarters and training grounds to the north, and the Guildhalls on its eastern edge. The river divides the city into two parts, the main part, which is about two-thirds of the city, and the riverside part, the remaining third. From the river to the cliffs, the Guilds go in order of Knights', Artisans' (with the Great Hall and main square between) Bards' and Healers'. The Mages' Guild is set flush with the cliff walls, with extra rooms being drilled into the cliff walls as needed. Eastward from the guilds is mostly legit businesses and middle-class housing. The farther one gets toward the outer walls and away from the Palace, the scummier and poorer the places tend to get, although effort is made to keep the buildings lining the central road leading up to the Guildhalls and Palace fairly decent-looking. Riverside property is fairly expensive, and mostly used for businesses, although some nobles are rich enough, or lucky enough, to have riverside property on the far side. The remaining third of town is mostly government-related buildings, such as the Knight barracks, and nobles' property. Cascadia is divided up into uneven districts, which usually house similar businesses or homes, so much that one can usually tell what kind of a business a place is just by where it is. The Red Torch is one such district, known for illicit goods and sex.
Abandoned houses can be common or rare, depending on where in the city you go. For example, in the Riverside district, where space in high in demand, it can be hard to find a spot. The Homestead district, where a good majority of middle-class Cascadians live, has a few here and there, but usually any space that can be afforded is snatched up and built on. Broken Hammer and the Torch districts tend to have more abandoned space, because who wants to live there? The Warehouse district also has a fair number of broken-down warehouses that no one's bothered to tear down. A good number of these warehouses are filled with homeless people or gangs.

Here's a few maps of Cascadia, although I'll warn you, they're messy and not very well to scale...
The westernmost point; the Palace and some Guildhalls.
North of cascadia1.jpg, the Healer and Magehalls and northwestern side of the city.
The southwestern corner, largely noble estates and the Knight barracks (which are actually much larger)
Directly east of the palace, the northern part of Homestead, Riverside, and Purple Peacock.
A rough map of how the guildhalls, Palace, and the districts fit together.

Districts of Cascadia

• Homestead: The district for most middle-class housing, it's one of the largest districts in the city and packed to the brim with houses and apartments. It's ringed to the north and south by the Northern Stream and Riverside district respectively.
• Riverside: Almost exclusively a business district, it runs down the northern side of the Cascadia River. Land is fairly expensive and hard to acquire, and most of the businesses are places of leisure that can boast of the river view.
• Purple Peacock: North of the Northern Stream, it's a mixed district with homes and businesses both. Businesses tend to be more practical than leisurely.
• Red Torch: The equivalent of a red light district, it's on the low end of town, one of the smallest but most seedy districts. Prostitutes, black market dealers, and thieves are all known to gather here. It's marked by magical red torches.
• Blue Torch: The district immediately bordering Red Torch, it's not nearly as illegal, but still fairly low-class. There's both homes and businesses here. Marked by blue magetorches.
• Gray Torch: The third of the torch districts, it's also lower-class but better than the other two. It's mostly housing, and marked by gray magetorches.
• Broken Hammer: The location of a lot of seedier activities, but there's several legitimate small businesses here, as the land is cheaper. Largely businesses.
• Warehouse: This region is thought to be the oldest business district of Cascadia, dating back to before the Age of Darkness. Nowadays, it is largely storage buildings for the overflow of large businesses, but they mainly stick to the western parts, leaving the lower areas abandoned or in use by less legitimate businesses.

Places in Cascadia

Restaurants and Bars:

• Quiet Fox: Located in Riverside and run by a pterocentaur named Jacyln, the Quiet Fox is just a few minutes away from the Knight Guildhall and within walking distance of the palace, overlooking the great Cascadia River. Midrange pricing with highly-rated food. Hours are sunrise to sunset.
• Fainting Goat: Formerly known as the Stumbling Goat, The Fainting Goat prides itself on a quiet, relaxed atmosphere lit by candlelight in the evening, ideal for couples and with a menu to match. Mid-range to expensive pricing, average food. Hours are eleven AM to midnight.
• Velvet Gryphon: Run by a dragoon named Abednago and located in the Purple Peacock, the place has a fairly lively atmosphere and features fast and friendly service at a reasonable cost. Hours are 8 AM to 11 PM.
• Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A combination high-class restaurant and dance hall, run by gypsies, on the upper side of the Riverside district. Menus are available in roma and common. High-price, high-quality food. Hours are early evening til late in the night.
• Forte: A bar in western Homestead run by Sway Swelter, which serves a wide variety of food and often has live music entertainment. Midrange pricing, hours are early morning til midnight.
• Unlucky Apprentice: A bar run by Sathal and Gastin out of Broken Hammer, it has a decent selection of low-priced alcohol and a limited selection of food. Hours are 5 PM til 4 AM.

Apartments:

• Skylight: An upscale condominium complex with skylights on the top floor and balconies for every room. Within minutes of the major guilds, ideal for Air Realmers. Fairly expensive.
• Tassel Apartments: A 'try before you buy' place that gives people three nights for free. Midrange pricing, comes with the necessities. Upper floors include kitchenettes. Community baths. Located in western Homestead within walking distance of most guilds.
  Known residents: Elakhi Chloris, Danny Napoleon
• Blue Roof Apartments: Within walking distance to the Northern Stream, the rooms are small but low-cost, with community kitchens and baths. Owned and operated by Omith A'osut.

Businesses:

• As You Like It: One of the Red Torch District's cleaner and better-run whorehouses, therefore it's a bit more popular than other establishments. Run by Em'met Mimishaa, prices vary on account of various sexual deeds, and the "employees" all exchange shifts so the business runs literally all hours of the day and night.
• Crystal Cut: Located in the Riverside District, in a section where the shops and apartments above them tend to be a bit small and crowded together. Owned and run by Shion Reegis, Crystal Cut, as the name implies, is the place to go for paperweights, ornaments, personal effects, utensils, quill-holders, picture frames, bookends, suncatchers, windchimes, protective talismans, and even the ocassional pair of glass slippers, along with anything else the owner can think to make. The hours run from ten in the morning to seven-thirty at night. Prices for small items or talismans tend to run from Tanas to Tyras, while larger or more elaborate items can run from Claes to Aeras.
• Follow Your Nose: Another cramped but cozy business in the Riverside District across from Crystal Cut, selling nothing but perfumes, scented soaps, scented lotions and little sachets of potpourri. Owned and operated by Alisha, hours run from ten in the morning to six at night. Prices usually stay in the Tyra to Clae range.
• Footwork: Situated in a large, open room underground in the Broken Hammer district, the Footwork is owned by Alixa "Velocity" Placka and "Wall" Kenchan. A high-level club by fighters for fighters, they charge a modest fee for membership but are rather picky about who is let in.
  Members: Fluxx, Calcifer, Misty Unvara, Arax Snef, Hethel, "Twilight" Nikado, Rasmahn Brand, Teslian "Stripe" Nikado, Elakhi "Jade" Chloris, Anko Nagasei
• The Little Details: A smithy in Broken Hammer run by imps Enrique and Chus Delmun. Their work is known for its delicate detailing without interfering with functionality. They deal exclusively with weapons.
• Jade's Forging: A boxing ring which hosts fights two nights a week and also offers classes for kickboxing. Owned by Jade and operated with the assistance of Ayane, they have been branching out into other styles of ringfighting as well. All public fights take place in the evening.