09 - Handmaiden's Burrow [whipstache]
Sandwiched between the disciplined pursuit of perfection in Pixie's Monastery district (Disctrict 21) and the anything-goes mentality Meshon's Mossbank bazaars (District 8 ) lies the quiet working-class district known as Handmaiden's Burrow. The residents of the Burrow generally keep their heads down and their hands busy simply trying to provide food for their children and buy supplies to make repairs on their small cottages. (There doesn't yet appear to be anyone responsible for Section 10 to the south and southeast.)
The eastern section of the district, influenced by its proximity to the monastery, has set up a small trade school to help the farmers and masons and carpenters improve the quality of their output. There's even whispers of support for the establishment of a Laborers Guild; rumor has it that a few of the property owners have pooled resources to buy the abandoned warehouse near the cliffs to re-purpose into a Laborers Guild Hall.
The middle and much of the western section of Handmaiden's Burrow is filled with the craftworking equivalent of the Mossbank's Inkslingers that the Realisminites so despise; that is, you can find someone to make or get for you whatever product or item you're wanting, and someone else to undercut that price by 10%. You might sacrifice some of the quality found in some of the wealthier districts, but, hey, those bazaars don't fill themselves with dyes and knives and leather, do they?
The western-most section of the Burrow its nicest, cleanest, safest portion, as it is infused with outsider coin from those entering through one of Guild City's busiest gates and insider coin from parties with vested interests making a good impression on visitors and travelers. These parties are presently experiencing different stages of anger and disappointment with the current status of Kuma Manto Falls, normally a busy destination. Guild City officials have restricted access to the Falls as disputes over ownership and rights have emerged between three groups: 1) the noble Ardaris family, descendants of the Vanished Queen from long ago, 2) the Water Merchants, a political organization whose membership is comprised of nearly every Guild in the city with a(n even tenuous) connection to Guild City's rivers & lakes, and 3) the Mining & Engineering Corporation who are a privately owned company contracted by the Guild City government to prevent catastrophic collapses. Of course, their motives are suspect, as they only recently joined the dispute shortly after two boys found a massive Alexandrite gemstone in the winding cave structures behind and around the waterfall.
Possibly the most interesting note about Handmaiden's Burrow, though, is that there are three tales firmly embedded in the lore of Guild City that share only a single component. They each reference a mysterious and powerful thaumaturge that resides somewhere in the district. I wonder if she still lives there?
Here's the first sketch. Just blocking things out. Feedback welcome.
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