Garden and High Quarters

High Quarter

What a grand array of buildings and personages await the fortunate traveler who decides to stroll down the Promenade! What marvels of architecture! What splendid grace and beauty, such impressive style!   The grand edifices of the Free City's High Quarter are, in general, mansions that would be fit for the ruler of most political entities. In Greyhawk, however, such homes are the just rewards for successful merchants, important ambassadors the city's own Directors, and othe;s of wealth and station. (Actually, in the Free City, wealth is station.) The mansions sprawl over large estates-an equivalent amount of property might hold the homes of 1 ,000?uls in the cramped confines of the Old City.   Stores and shops are not found in the High Quarter; the residents can usually find everything they need at the city's High Marketplace. The only businesses in the quarter are those gambling houses, taverns, and clubs that cater to a wealthy clientele.   The noble district is the best illuminated of the city's quarters after dark, for each mansion maintains a lamp on the road before it, and the city maintains other lamps at frequent intervals along each thoroughfare.   In addition, the guard patrols of the city watch are diligent and common in the High Quarter. A standard patrol will arrive within ld6 rounds following any loud cry of alarm in the High Quarter. Also, the private agents of the Nightwatchmen are employed throughout the High Quarter, sometimes to watch a single mansion, and other times to patrol a region of several estates. When the Nightwatchmen form such roving patrols, they go in groups of five, accompanied by two great hounds (war dogs).   The roads of the High Quarter bustle with crowds only on the occasions of parades and festivals. The quarter receives a lot of traffic every Starday, attracted by the grand array of booths and stalls in the High Marketplace. Otherwise, the quarter is quiet, with only a few people moving about at any one time. These travelers are nobles in carriages, on horseback, and afoot, their servants (with or without their masters), craftsmen hired to work in the High Quarter on their way to and from the job, and many others. Travel is allowed to and from the High Quarter with no restrictions, but a visitor to the quarter who appears to be up to no good (loitering about, acting furtive, associating with known criminals, etc.) is quickly accosted by a guard patrol. If the visitor can produce no good reason why he is in the High Quarter he is escorted to the Garden Gate with orders not to return without a valid purpose.  

Garden Quarter

The Garden Quarter marks a great arc about the city's High Quarter. In truth, an untutored observer could not tell where one district ends and the other begins. But the boundaries are clearly defined in the collective social consciousness of the city's elite.   If the estates in the Garden Quarter tend to be a little smaller than their uphill neighbors, if their statuary is less exquisite and the architecture more plain, these deficiencies are more than made up for by the brilliant profusion of blossoms grown here. The sweeping expanses of manicured beauty have given the quarter its name and its character.   On a pleasant spring day the fragrance of lilac is carried by each passing breeze, while in summer a stroller can sample the dewy aroma of the lilies, and so on. The patrols of the city watch are as diligent and common here as in the High Quarter, though there are fewer hired security agents in the Garden Quarter.   There are no shops in the Garden Quarter, save for the region of the High Marketplace. Several fine inns and clubs offer fine cuisine and often gambling to wealthy patrons.