he Old City

The wealthiest district in Phlan, The Old City was unscathed during the wars and is also the highest point in the city, so naturally the affluent were drawn to live there. The most important families of Phlan have their estates in this area, and they compete with one another to portray their wealth through the lavishness of their homes. The most refined inns in Phlan are also located in the Old City, as well as the more up market shopping choices. 

The streets of the Old City are often teeming with people going back and forth to their prayers, shopping or simply chatting with friends or acquaintances. The heavy presence of Watchmen and private security details makes crime on these streets all but unheard of. It is said, rather, that the most callous criminals of the Old City choose to ply their trade from within the lavish estates of the rich and comely.

1. The Cracked Crown is where Phlan’s elite come to have drinks, rubbing shoulders with Old City residents and temporarily-wealthy adventurers with more money than sense. The only tavern in Phlan with (semi-)private rooms and a staff which is discreet, professional, and famously protective of its patrons. On most nights Esmarelle Gleamsong keeps the main floor entranced with her harp music, the strains of which have been known to stop people in the street and leave them gaping.

2. The Bitter Blade.The merchant and working-man’s tavern in the Old City. Phlan’s upper-crust comes here too, imagining themselves to be slumming. The Bitter Blade is, first and foremost, a tavern. The common rooms up above are a convenience. Sailors who can’t stand the reek (literal or moral) of the Sword and Serpent frequently find themselves here for a clean bed.

3. Coburn’s Grocery. It’s a basic grocery, but for those who don’t want to hike up to Podol Plaza in the cold for food, it’s an important lifeline.

4. The Yurigov Vault. The Yurigovs maintain a high-class and high-security set of “personal vaults” (really large chests) stored in plain sight, thus socially and mechanically impossible to lock-pick. Patrons are always welcome to sit and have drinks while they do business so long as they are suitably attired. (While the Yurigovs have married very well, they are not nobles, and are encouraging to adventurers-on-the-make so long as they behave well).

5. The Thayan Embassy. It is important to realize that this is an Embassy, not an Enclave. While in theory left to its own devices, Phlanite Law (such as it is) can be enforced on the premises. They make their living as the Enclaves do, selling magic at slightly-too-reasonable prices.

6. The Vanity (and Traveller). Positioned literally on the border of the Old City and Podol Plaza, this shop is split in two, with one half catering to the city’s elite and the other to the rest of Phlan.