he Artisans District

A barren skeleton of destroyed buildings is all that remains of the Artisans District, a once vibrant and lively neighborhood that overlooked the Moonsea many moons ago. In days gone by the thriving district was centered around the Scholar’s Square, the hub of learning in Phlan. Libraries, religious schools, sage houses, and other institutes of learning could be found there, the streets awash with eager students and leanred academics. Now the majority of the buildings are entirely reduced to rubble, except for one long, low edifice that was formerly the site of Mendor’s Library. The Library, formerly one of the finest libraries and greatest centers of knowledge in the Moonsea area, attracted visitors coming from as far away as Cormyr to do research in its hay day.

When the nearby Western Ruins were finally retaken and pacified, the focus of the reclaiming efforts shifted east of the city to the River District and this section was left for a yet unplanned further push. The interest of the church of Bane in returning their River District temple to full operation, along with no stories coming from the area regarding any supposed hidden treasures or riches, has left the Artisan’s District as the favored target of unseasoned adventurers who do not dare entering the far more dangerous unclaimed areas north and east of the city.

This is not to say the Artisans District is free of danger. Numerous wild animals and monstrously large vermin can be found here, and there have been occasional sightings of gargoyles, although the latter are often attributed to nervous young adventurers who think they have seen old statues move. The interior of Mendor’s Library is in complete disarray, and most of its intellectual wealth has gone to waste. Occasionally an intact book or scroll is found among the debris, which is why every so often scholars from the city hire adventurers to retrieve some long lost tome, more often than not to no avail. There are well funded rumors of ghosts within the library, which the local legend experts attribute to the old curators and librarians that chose to die protecting their books than leaving them to the mercy of invaders.