The Stairs¶
The Stairs, formally Southstep, is the terraced middle district of Proturas, where "a series of shelves & escarpments transition from the lower grotto to the upper grotto" (S104). It is a county of artisans and crafters that "in some senses competes directly with the Old City", and it is the upper grotto's line of defence: two tiers of walls cross it (S104). The Divine Alliance rules the Stairs and the South Bank (S078).
Also called: Southstep (its formal name), the Steps (S051).
Government¶
"The Stairs is a County lorded over by High Priestess Yumarra Eigalhorn, Countess of Southstep, who lives in an estate adjacent to the Temple of the Ancestors in Southstep. The countess appoints 5 City Provosts to assist in running day to day administration" (S104). The Countess is among the minor figures of Proturas. As a city-county the Stairs shares the three brigades that defend Proturas City; the Silver Wolf Brigade, responsible for the upper grotto and Reservious, "occupy two garrisons in the Stairs District" (S104). Each half of the district has its own magistrate.
Gap
The source leaves the provosts' responsibilities as a TODO and gives no "interesting facts" for the district. Nothing describes the walls themselves, the gates through them, or how the Stairs came under the Alliance.
Industry¶
The Stairs is "an important transit district": lighter trade goods climb to the rest of the city on wagons up its roads and ramps, while heavy goods go round by Spillwater and the dam (S104). "Some of the best crafters in the city make their home in the Stairs due to its proximity to the main city entrance while still being inside the walls", selling through "many excellent shops and unique market stalls aimed at selling to the lower and middle classes" at the Southstep Central Market (S104). Its taverns and brothels cater to working people and crafters. It is also "a bedroom city", with "a higher than normal percentage of housing" because it is cheap and walled; "many people make their home in Southstep but work in Spillwater or Southlake" (S104).
Lower Stairs and Upper Stairs¶
Lower Stairs is the lower half of Southstep, Upper Stairs the upper (S104). The Blue Ram, in Upper Stairs "near the market and outside of Cutter territory", is where a mercenary of the Silver Moon chose to meet his captain (S042, S044). The fifty numbered places on the district map (S104) are grouped below; the quality of their goods ranges from sound to very good, the better houses "more likely to screen customers".
Inns and lodges¶
The Arrow Nest, the Underhall, Stepside House, Hearthstone Rest and the Moon Lodge are inns; Badger Hall Lodge, Green Hall and the Sleepy Bear are lodges (S104). The Underhall and Stepside House are the best appointed.
Taverns¶
The Tiddly Toad, the Amberhouse, the Rusty Goblet, the Drunken Damsel, the Mighty Mug, the Blue Ram and the Laughing Horse (S104). The Amberhouse, in the Steps, was the chosen meeting place of the loyal remnant of the Raven Concord after Ravenhold fell (S051).
Artisans, crafts and shops¶
| Trade | House |
|---|---|
| Apothecary | Ram's Remedies |
| Herbalists | Sazar's; Pots & Poultices |
| Scribes | The Inkpot; Books & Baubles |
| Smiths | Fire and Steel; The Iron Horse; Steel Cross Armory |
| Tailors | The Atelier; Fitting Fashion; The Silver Needle |
| Leatherwork | Hunter's Hide; The Cordwainer's Den |
| Curios | Antiques & Relics |
| Animals | Feyhl's Exotic Fauna |
| General store | Ephram's Outfitters |
| Mystic | Den of Divination |
Administration, government and military¶
The Lower Southstep Garrison and Upper Southstep Garrison, the two Silver Wolf posts; the Lower Southstep Magistrate and Upper Southstep Magistrate; the Stairs Administrative Hall; the Proturan City Storehouse and the Proturan Stairs Grainery; and Sharpstone Prison (S104). Sharpstone is where Berek Beetleslayer was held for trial "for murder, racketeering and extortion" after the annexation of the Warrens; prisoners judged too powerful or too magical go instead to Black Iron Hold beneath the city (S051).
Churches, guilds and schools¶
The Hall of the Divine, church of the Divine; the Temple of the Ancestors, beside which the Countess keeps her estate; Bramley Academy; the Stairs chapters of the Artisan's Guild and the Mason's Guild; and the Stairs chapter of the Knights of the Steel Cross (S104). The guilds are gathered on the Proturan Companies and Guilds page and the Knights on the Proturan Military page.
Also called: the Temple of the Ancestors is listed once as the Temple of the Ancients on the same map (S104).
Gap
The map key gives names and trades only. Nothing says who the Ancestors are, what is taught at Bramley Academy, or what the Divine Alliance's temple on the Stairs looks like inside.
Valtor's Mansion¶
The sanctum of the warlock Valtor stands "on the Stairs … against/built-into rock"; "he does not invite people here, not even his apprentices" (S040). Valtor inherited it as part of his father's estate and first used it to house and train his many apprentices, but "after several disastrous incidents" the school fell into disrepair and "he reinforced the place as a Vault and Prison and also uses it to coordinate with the Cutters (his allies)" (S042). Its entrance hall is a trap of bashing knight-statues over a spiked pit; gargoyles wait in the ballroom; the dining room is "set as if expecting guests" and seated with the skeletons of seven intruders "used for training apprentices"; a study whose books teleport back to a spectral librarian; a sitting room where a ghost plays Nine Men's Morris for the lives of failed apprentices; a summoning room where eight Candles of Enchantment hold a frost demon; a shaft where a stairway once stood, traversed by levitation and governed by three runes; a prison of six cells whose dead keep their spirits; and an outer vault to satisfy thieves and an inner vault sealed in rock (S042). The Dwarven Roads below it "connect to the Sewers of Spillwater and the Cutter's Den", though water closes one end and an impassable gate the other (S042, S044).
In Play¶
The Proturan Campaign party met Revan of the Silver Moon at the Blue Ram, robbed Valtor's mansion of the Dracius Cradle and escaped it under the eyes of the town watch and the Spellbreakers (S042, S044), and were later pointed to the Amberhouse and to Berek's cell at Sharpstone (S051).