The Armory

Located at the edge of The Lady's Ward nearest the seedy Lower Ward, the Armory serves as the Doomguard's head-quarters. The elegant, ominous structure has an opening at its top that's protected by metal fretwork. Billowing up from the center of the Armory at all hours of the day or night is a tremendous blast of heat and light from the huge weapons forge below. The Armory has few windows, and the only entrance to the building lies beneath a dominating brass relief of the Doomguard's faction symbol, the skull of a wild planar bull. Folks who enter the Armory tend to shudder as they pass beneath the monstrous sculpture.    The 24-story structure is covered with razorvine deliberately left to grow out of control — all the better to discourage any would-be thieves from climbing the walls and entering through the open roof. But the four square towers anchoring the corners of the building remain strangely free of the sharp vine, even though no Sinker or dabus seems to cut it back.    The Armory's first floor is the only one open to the public. The mighty weapons forge takes up the center of the floor, with the rest devoted to the buying and selling of all types of weapons. In each corner of the floor are guarded doors leading into the four square towers, which hold only a small forge on the first floor and Sinker quarters on all the rest. Only the Doomguard — or sneaky bashers — may use the towers to get into the higher floors of the Armory. Those remaining floors house treasuries, guard barracks, meeting rooms, practice halls, display cases that boast every type of armor known, and repositories for weapons not available to the public. The topmost floor features only the factors quarters and chambers for visiting Doomlords.

Buying and selling weapons

Just inside the building's only entrance is the area for buying and selling weapons, an exhibition hall that's open to the public 24 hours a day. A customer must first go through a harsh security check, and the entry hall's antimagic barrier is sure to pick up anything the searchers might miss. A berk more interested in a particular purchase is escorted into one of the weapon repositories, where, depending on his desire and his purse, he can purchase weapons both common and magical. A sod without much jink can poke through slightly damaged or defective weapons, all on sale for half price. If a cutter's got real brass, he can check out the engines of war repository for large-scale equipment — a siege machine, say, or a catapult or two. (The Doomguard'll teleport any item anywhere in the multiversr, no matter what the size, for an appropriate delivery fee.)    Those looking to have a special-order weapon made can talk to Cromlich at the central forge. A weapon fired in the forge costs three times the standard price, but they're exceptionally well made and worth every coin. Besides, it said that any weapon forged in the Armory has a special enchantment — undetectable by detect magic — that lets it absorb the effects of a spell cast in combat. 'Course, Cromlich won't say if a particular weapon's got the power, not unless he gets a mighty fine fee for his "professional opinion."