Spillwater¶
"Here we have some Spillwater troublemakers trying to assassinate some of our beloved citizens. They come down here and think our lives are theirs to take as they see fit." — Berek Beetleslayer, to the crowd at the Pale Pit (S061)
Spillwater is the dock and warehouse county on the south-western edge of Proturas, "known for its poverty and squalor" (S103). It is the city's transport hub: caravans drop their goods in its warehouses to be processed or ferried across the river and shipped up the dam, and most heavy freight bound for the upper grotto passes this way rather than up the steep ramps of the Stairs (S103, S104). Its people are dock workers, haulers, butchers, millers and potters, "tough and proud, determined to make a living in a world that offers them little comfort or security", and its narrow winding streets of dilapidated wood and rough clay brick are "a hotbed of crime and disease" (S103).
Overview¶
"The sounds of clanging hammers mixed with the cries of street vendors and the smell of meat is overpowering, almost suffocating" (S103). The district sits on the Spillwater river where it meets the still water below the dam; Reservious, the reservoir above, is defended with the upper grotto by the Silver Wolf Brigade (S103). Fishing in the stillwater "is not great" but some scrape a living at it (S103). Spillwater is the cheaper half of a pair: many who work its docks sleep in the low-cost housing of Southstep on the Stairs, inside the walls (S104). Beyond its south-western edge the Warrens begin, an unofficial slum in the abandoned parts of a clay mine; the working mine between them "is well-policed and treated in all respects as part of Spillwater" (S105).
Beneath the streets lie "several entrances to old dwarven quarries used to cut Basalt, Granite and Andesite", the glassy rhyolite discarded as too weak to build with (S103). Lower still, the Dwarven Roads connect the sewers of Spillwater to the Cutters' den and to the vaults of a warlock's mansion on the Stairs (S042), and a flooded dwarf-clan hold below Dockside is home to the fish-like Tolassovores who secretly run the thieves' guild (S028).
Government¶
Spillwater is a county "lorded over by Count Turick Elgonned (Lord Elgonned, who lives in palatial estate in Palladine)". The Count appoints a Mayor and three City Councillors for day-to-day administration; "the primary concern of the Count is for Spillwater to keep the trade flowing", and "he and the administration ultimately care little for the populace or other industry" (S103). One councillor is suspected of being on the Cutters' payroll. As a city-county it has no brigade of its own but shares the three that defend Proturas City: the White Bear against the Deep Earth, the Silver Wolf in the upper grotto and Reservious, and the Flying Dragon at the perimeter and gates (S103). The Count and the Pallidine family of High Lord Councillors are among the minor figures of Proturas; the spelling Palladine is S103's, where the timeline (S107) has Pallidine.
The Spillwater city watch "are good at protecting the warehouses and Stepside … to a point. Magistrates and Chief Constables tend not to last long (they either retire wealthy … die … or are jailed for corruption)", the exceptions being those "with political connections with all the right people + Cutters" (S103). A murder of a citizen, as opposed to a guard, brings in the Proturan Wardens and Arbiters, which is why the Cutters forbid it on their jobs (S062). The Arbiters pursued the arsonist of the Spillwater Dockside Fire for a hundred thousand in damages (S062, S063).
Industry¶
Hauling and warehousing; hard labour in the mud and stone quarries; butchers, millers and weavers; fishing; and the utilitarian crafts, "blacksmiths for horseshoes, locks, nails and hinges. Tailors and leather workers for basic clothing" (S103). Potters are the most common tradesmen of all: "Spillwater Pottery is universally recognized across the area as 'generic' pottery" (S103). The shops sell "low-quality commodities and sometimes rarities", and the district is "home of many low-end taverns & brothels", with "only a single Inn in the district which can even claim 'mediocre' quality" (S103).
Export houses work here too. A merchant company "specializing in high end merchandise for the Old City runs an export operation out of Spillwater" and has resisted the Cutters' protection demands thanks to excellent guards (S062). The Blue Banner Brothers kept a warehouse ten minutes from the Edgewater, well guarded enough to hold imported artifacts, where a smuggling crew's tip-off job turned up a mithril dragonskull, a dragon-egg stand and a vial of the blood of Vixseranyol (S036).
Notable places¶
Dockside lies on the west side of the Spillwater river, "housing, warehouses, trade Administration offices and workhouses". Stepside on the east bank "has more shops and housing", and on its north side the small fishing quarter of Fisher's Beach (S103).
Inns¶
The eight inns of Spillwater, from the meanest to the best the district offers (S103):
| Inn | Trade |
|---|---|
| The Muddy Mermaid | Inn and brothel, the lowest sort |
| Sunken Rest | Inn only, the lowest sort |
| The Bargeman's Inn | Inn and tavern |
| Spillwater Lodge | Inn only |
| Hauler's Hearth | Inn and tavern |
| The Rat's Nest | Inn |
| Emberlight Inn | Inn and tavern, among the district's best |
| The Lone Hearth | Inn, tavern and brothel, among the district's best |
Taverns¶
Nine taverns, in the same rising order (S103): Damside Digs and the Undercurrent Tavern at the bottom; the Edgewater Tavern, Grotto's Gullet Tavern, Potter's Pint Tavern, the Green Grog and Troll's Tankard in the middle; the Mole Hole and the Grumpy Goblin at the top. The Edgewater, "a tavern in Spillwater near the docks", ten minutes' walk from the Blue Banner warehouse, was where Hobard's crew met before their last warehouse job (S036, S068).
Hobard's Relics and Ergstrom's Coal Distributors¶
The relic dealer Hobard kept a relic store in Dockside and a coal-selling business, Ergstrom's Coal Distributors, as fronts for a crew of some forty smugglers, thieves and fences (S068, S077). When the Cutters moved against him, his partner Anita "signed over all Hobard's property" and the guild "installed their own people" (S028).
Ernie's Emporium¶
A pet shop, where a High Elf illusionist once talked his way into a displacer beast for fifty gold (S103).
The Cutters' den¶
The Dockside Cutters, "an old guild with a well established name that been around more than 100 years", work Dockside and parts of Stepside (S103). Their headquarters "is located in an old dwarf quarry which is accessible from several tunnels below Spillwater" (S028). Deeper still is the guild's secret: "a ritual cave below Dockside where victims are dropped in the water" to feed the young of the Tolassovores, amphibious children of an Elder God who migrated into the Spillwater basin some fifty years ago "from cracks connecting it to deeper waters" and now sleep, work and eat in a flooded dwarf-clan hold lit by dim blue magical lights, keeping some workshops in the old quarters above the water for work with fire (S028). An underground temple, a converted dwarvish shrine, is "off-limits to anyone not already paired with a Tolassovore" (S028). The guild's ranks and rites are on its own page.
People and groups¶
Besides the Cutters, "the White Hand is a little known new guild which seems to have its origins in the Warrens (name is assumed to be derived from the white clay mined there), but has recently been trying to expand its territory into Spillwater (esp Dockside)" (S103). Its name "is actually better known and more feared in Spillwater" than in the Warrens itself (S105). The White Hand, the Stone Syndicate and the Drowned Ring have their own pages; crew bosses who lose the Warrens have gone to ground in Spillwater under the Cutters' protection (S039). Work gangs compete for the dock jobs, and street fights between them are common enough to kill (S074).
In Play¶
Spillwater is where the Proturan Campaign opened, with Hobard's crew infiltrating the Blue Banner Brothers' warehouse (S036). The seizure of Hobard's property and the Cutters' recruitment of his old crew followed (S028, S062).