Art inspiration: caravan yard and ad hoc open air market.

Controlled by Thrane

Points of Interest

• Caravan Court – hectic area for entering or leaving through the Southern Gate to muster or disband
• Embassy of Thrane
• The Jade Dancer – festhall named for the jade statue that serves as entertainment and as a bouncer
• The Moon Sphere – manifest zone tourist attraction
• The Waymoot – a magical signpost that directs travelers to any spoken destination in the city, complete with distance and an arrow pointing the way

Description

It is called the Southern Ward, not the South Ward. Throneporters are peculiar about this, and if you insist on referring to it as the South Ward, expect to be corrected or thought a fool. Today, the ward hosts most of the traveling merchants who visit the city, and is made up of many enclaves, blocks, and streets primarily occupied by citizens who trace their ancestry to other realms.

Southern Ward is a transitory place. Traveling merchants set up their carts and wagons for a day and close up when they’ve sold their stock. Missionaries come for a week or a month and then move on for another place. You can always expect Southern Ward to be different a month or two from now, and sometimes even from day to day.

Thrane, the kingdom that controls Southern Ward, finds this to be a great benefit in their effort to spread the teachings of the Silver Flame far and wide, as missionaries wend their way through streets thronged with dwarves, gnomes, halflings, humanoids from Darguun and Droaam, Lhazaarites, Marchers, Reachers, and even the odd Valenar.

One can indulge in the finest halfling food here, enjoy the best singers of Adaran music, and examine the most stunning works of dwarven crafting- but the first challenge is finding where these treats are housed. The Southern Ward has long been a district of laborers catering to travelers, so its folk have adopted the architectural custom of building homes and businesses above stables or around inn yards, near to where merchant trains are prepared and housed.

Residents of the Southern Ward take pride in their legacy as travelers and hardworking folk, so it should be no surprise that the ward’s mascot is the mule. On their competition flags, a pugnacious mule in rampant pose stands on a field of red and white-colors said to represent the blood and tears the people of the Southern Ward have shed during their labors.

Not a landmark as such, but surely a sight that must be seen, is the Moon Sphere. This isn’t a structure but an event that occurs during every full moon. when a glowing, spherical field of blue light appears in the square known as the Dancing Court. Any creatures that enter the sphere find that they can fly about inside it just by willing themselves to do so. For centuries, Throneporters have used these supernatural events to develop a unique flying style of dance- but amateur enthusiasts aren’t welcome, except on certain daylight appearances of the full moon.

Even when the full moon isn’t out, the Dancing Court is worth visiting because of the adjacent festhall, the Jade Dancer. During appearances of the Moon Sphere, people sometimes daringly leap into the field of magic from the balconies of this three-story tavern, dance hall, and inn. But the festhall takes its name from a peculiar dancer within it rather than those in the court outside.

The “Jade Dancer” is an eight-foot-tall jade statue of a woman that magically animates and dances for patrons- and on occasion serves as a bouncer. Have no doubt that despite its dexterity and seemingly fragile beauty, the jade Dancer is tough as a stone golem. So enjoy the show, but don’t get too rowdy.

Ward Entry Procedures

Southern Ward is the most open of the Nation-aligned Wards. Thrane barely controls entry into and out of its district, and the guards at the Ward’s entry points are closer to missionaries than soldiers. All the major streets into Southern Ward are monitored, and the guards share the teachings of the Silver Flame and invited to join in worship or study. All permanent residents of Southern Ward carry Thrane-issued identification papers.

Ward Security

Thrane’s forces are the worst trained of any Nation’s guards in Throneport, but their zealous embrace of the Silver Flame gives them among the highest morale and make them some of the most approachable and popular. Patrols are always led by an orderly with a divine connection to the Silver Flame, giving them a magical edge of the run-of-the-mill guard force.