Doodkanaal

 The Doodkanaal, or Dead Canal, Ward is the most run down area of Marienburg though it
was once a thriving district where trade flowed freely. Slowly, as the canals and
waterways of the rest of the city changed, the currents of the watercourse through the
canton became sluggish. The canal clogged with waste and barges no longer travelled that
way. In Marienburg where there is no trade, there is no money. The district fell into
disrepair as merchants moved away, closer to the active trade routes. Those who could
afford to leave did so, leaving the poor and desperate behind. The Dead Canal district
turned into a hub of crime and villainy, a haven for those who wished to hide from the
more civilised areas of the city. Nowadays the Black Hats fear to enter and the ruling guilds
ignore it in their bustling city. Whilst seemingly lawless, some sort of civilisation still exists
within shops and taverns, as people attempt to claw their way out of the direst of
circumstances. There is no City Watch post in the Doodkanaal and the responsibility for
maintaining law and order theoretically falls to the Winkelmarkt Black Caps as the nearest
barracks.
o Schwartzwasserstraat
 A long and wide street found in the slums of Doodkanaal.
“Schwartzwasserstraat” was wider and more open than the other streets
you’ve seen so far in this forgotten and blighted corner of the city. Clearly
it had been prosperous at some time in the past, but like the rest of the
Doodkannal those days were long gone. These days the once grand houses
were little more than ruined shells, occupied for the most part by
desperate, ragged tribes of people who swarmed over and around their
residences with every sign of a determination to defend them from
intruders, even though they were armed with nothing more deadly than
shards of broken masonry. What allegiance they owed to one another you
can’t tell, since whatever family resemblance you might have noticed was
obscured by grime and the pinched expressions borne of the privations
they endured.”
o “He pointed into the distance, where a wider tributary marked the break between
this island and the next. The buildings beyond it were shabbier, showing
unmistakable signs of dereliction, and a couple of wharves sagged visibly on their
pilings, on the verge of sliding into the canal. ‘That’s Doodkanaal, and it’s well
named, let me tell you. No one goes there if they can avoid it. Even the Black Caps
give it a wide berth if they can.’”
o “The few passers-by were now gaunt and haggard, their clothing ragged, mirroring
the decaying state of the buildings they evidently lived in. Gradually, they
disappeared altogether, although he could still hear stealthy movement and muffled
voices in some of the buildings that surrounded him. There were no more fires or
torches to be seen either, just a faint glimmer of necrotic light from Morrslieb as it
raised a sliver of itself over the surrounding rooftops. The feeble illumination was
enough to allow him to see, despite a thin, freezing mist which began to flow
through the streets, bringing with it the odour of water and rotting mud.”
Guilderveld
“Guilderveld is not at classy as Goudberg, but it’s livelier, and it’s where I’d go to have a shot at some
big deals with the Elves, without having to join the ‘Change or get past the Mannikins in
Elfsgemeente. Dress well enough and hang about in the right clubs, and they’ll think you belong there
doing business - seems we all look alike to them.”

“Dratted vermin! No, not the rats, the chalk artists! Look at it! They’ve drawn an elf kissing the
backside of a dwarf right on my stoop, and I’m expecting a representative from Clan Lianllach to
arrive at any minute - and he has absolutely no sense of humour! Augh! They’ve even signed my
name to it!”

Guilderveld (“Moneyfield”) is one of the newer wards of the city, having been completely rebuilt
after the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. Prior to the coming of the Sea Elves, it was
a lower-class district known as Noordhaven, a decaying dockland that had never successfully
competed with Suiddock. A mysterious plague struck it the year the Elves came - brought, it was
rumoured, on a ship from Mousillon. Although the scourge did not spread much beyond the
district, Noordhaven’s population was decimated.

In the wake of the plague, the Merchants’ Guild presented Baron van Hoogmans with a plan; since
the land was in a good location to take advantage of the new Elf haven, the Baron should simply
seize the lands under his ancient rights – the Guild would then buy it from him and develop it.
Baron Matteus agreed and, faced with a strong force of Tilean mercenaries, the locals had no
choice but to acquiesce. Being poor already, they relocated to the city’s slums, notably
Doodkanaal. This act is known in history as “The Long Swim”. While the Guild paid a
considerable sum for the properties, the fortunes made since have more than repaid their
investment.

Nowadays, Guilderveld is home to many successful businesses that provide services to the
wealthy and upper middle classes of Marienburg and elsewhere. Large homes belonging to master
craftsmen stand next to their well-appointed workhouses, the separate structures attesting to
their owners’ wealth. There are also the offices of many of the city’s mercantile concerns, while
goldsmiths and gem cutters share the area with successful artists and brokerage firms.

Guilderveld’s bustling streets and canals are well tended, residents and hired help making sure
that everything is neat and clean - even pavement artists are run off! Nevertheless, Guilderveld
sports a large number of street entertainers who earn quite a bit from the tips of passers-by.
Wealth, of course, attracts the attention of thieves and other crooks, so the local ward council is
careful to keep the Black Caps well equipped and happy, and night patrols are frequent and
vigilant.
Kruiersmuur
There are several working-class neighbourhoods in Marienburg, places where the average man
and woman have regular jobs and make enough to live with some small comfort and security.
Kruiersmuur ('Porter's wall') is the oldest such area in the city occupied mostly by artisans and
shopkeepers. Like most of Marienburg, the buildings are tall and narrow usually two or three
stories above a ground floor business. The shop owners typically live on the floor above their
businesses, while the floor or floors above are rented out.

Time and progress haven't been kind to Kruiersmuur. The south side of Marienburg has been
gradually declining for some time - more and more trade has moved to the wards north of the
Rijksweg, and the people have gone with it. While the windows still sport flower boxes and the
locals go to the neighbourhood churches each Festag, Kruiersmuur is decaying around the edges.
The paint is peeling on the eaves and shutters, and graffiti mars the walls. Though the people here
are typical
Marienburgers – friendly, quick-witted, always hustling for a guilder - the residents of Kruiersmuur
are oppressed by the thought that luck is against them, and that if things are ever going to get
better, they'll get worse first.

One thing that weighs heavily on the minds of Kruiersmuur’s residents is the changing nature of
the ward itself - as people move out, more and more "outlanders" are moving in, making the area
seem less and less like Marienburg. No less than three foreign ghettos fall under the ward council's
jurisdiction.

The Remeans and the Miraglianese are constantly at odds, and their brawls keep the Kruiersmuur
Watch busy on many a night.

The southeast has become known as "Little Bretonnia" or "Garlic-town" for the culinary
preferences and breath of the residents and at the furthest end of the ward are the Halflings of
Kleinmoot in the neighbouring Winkelmarkt. Kruiersmuurers prefer them to any of the human
foreigners; both for their sensible attitudes and for the buffer they provide with the dying
Doodkanaal district.
Suiddock
The Bruenwasser Kanal is one of the few channels deep enough to handle the many ocean-going
vessels that visit Marienburg. For almost a mile, both sides of the Bruenwasser are lined with
docks, warehouses, counting houses, mercantile offices, shipyards, taverns and brothels. This
waterfront is Suiddock – the heart of Marienburg, and the crossroads of the world. It is said that
everyone and everything that moves into and out of the Old World passes through Suiddock at
some point. This includes adventurers.

Arriving
If they arrive by boat, it is almost inevitable that their first landing will be in the Suiddock. Both sea
and river traffic end up somewhere in the huge docklands.

If they arrive by the Middenheim road, they will almost certainly enter Marienburg through the
Oostenpoort Gate. Most of the coach services end at depots on the edge of the Suiddock, where the
land is cheap and the Honourable Guild of Stevedores and Teamsters is not far away. This gives the
adventurers a trip right across the city from north to south, over canals and across bridges, as they
marvel at the size of the place. If the adventurers arrive by road from Bretonnia, they will enter
through the Westenpoort Gate, which leads onto the Suiddock itself.

And finally, of the adventurers are Marienburgers born and bred, they will know that the Suiddock is
the area to start a life of adventure. Lower-class types may well have grown up there, and others
might well check out the docklands in the hope of taking ship to some far-flung and exotic corner of
the world.

The Lie of the Land

As we’ve already said, the Suiddock is the area to either side of a mile-long stretch of the
Bruenwasser Kanal. The north bank of the Bruenwasser is made up of three main islands:
Luydenhoek, Stoessel and Riddra, from east to west.

Connected to Luydenhoek by the Neiderbrug bridge is Hightower Isle, built up to form the footing
of one end of the spectacular Hoogbrug Bridge.

The oldest part of the Suiddock is in the west, by Riddra and the western half of Stoessel. Over
time, the docks have expanded eastwards and upriver, and the largest and most modern docks are
in the part known as the Luydenhoek Stretch, or Down East. This is where most of the real
business of Suiddock is done, and Riddra and its surrounding districts have become a run-down
maze of slums, where only the locals feel truly at home.

Impressions of Suiddock
“‘This is the Suiddock,’ Kris said, as they passed through an area which seemed to consist largely of
warehouses and taverns. There were more wharves and canals here too, which Rudi mainly
glimpsed through gaps between the larger structures, most of the berths occupied by ocean-going
vessels whose masts towered over the buildings surrounding them like trees in the forest. Other
docks played host to riverboats. Sweating stevedores swarmed over ship and boat alike removing
and loading cargoes, or transferring them between the two. The vast majority of bundles and barrels
seemed to be destined for the warehouses surrounding them and several times Rudi had to stand
aside to let a laden handcart trundle past. ‘It’s a bit out of our way to be honest, but I thought you’d
like to see it. You can’t really get a good sense of what Marienburg is all about until you’ve seen the
docks
Vloedmuur
“A miracle of engineering, sufficient to keep even the mighty ocean at bay in times of need. Great
pumping engines, the finest ever created by dwarven artisans, are kept ready to begin their work
at a moment’s notice.”

Surrounding Marienburg like a mother sheltering her children in her arms is the great wall of the
Vloedmuur. This is the city’s main protection against the dangers of flooding from the sea, and
against the possibility of attack from any side. It runs for miles around the perimeter of
Marienburg, built on the foundations of the walls of the old Elven fortress, but the Directors have
lavished the most money and attention at either end of the Reik and at the important
Oostenpoort and Westenpoort gates.

Here, ramparts of stone and great round towers face the entrance of the Reik, known as the
Strompoort Gate. In times of emergency, officers in charge of the Strompoort towers can order
the raising of huge chains that have been laid across the bottom of the channel. Within a half-
hour, a metal fence can block entrance to all ships coming down the Reik; and cannon on all the
towers ensure the vessels trapped by the chains will be in for a very rough time.

At the opposite end, where the Manaanspoort Zee begins, the entrance to Marienburg’s harbour
is primarily guarded by the fortress-prison of Rijker’s Isle and its cannon and fire-hurling catapults.
Here the towers of the Vloedmuur are smaller and the walls are meant more to shelter the
harbours of Manaanshaven and Elftown, whose ships and marines are vital to the city’s defence.

In between Strompoort and Rijker’s Isle, broken only by the imposing gatehouses of Oostenpoort
and Westenpoort, the Vloedmuur is more of a large dike, built of packed earth, stone and wood
pilings, constantly reinforced and rebuilt. Brick-lined tunnels pierce it at several points, each built
within the base of a stone watchtower. During times of dangerously high tides, residents near the
walls can hear the rhythmic thrumming of the Dwarf-built pumps forcing water out into the
swamp. Each end is guarded by twin metal portcullises to prevent entrance from the swamp,
while the city’s lamplighters keep a regular patrol on the wooden palisade that tops the
Vloedmuur.
Westenpoort Gate
“They entered the city by the Westenpoort gate, the walls rising above them to a height Rudi had
never before conceived that stone could reach. The long grey bulk, like a towering thunderhead,
had loomed steadily larger as they approached it along a causeway constructed across a dreary
expanse of marsh, which seemed to recede to the horizon on both sides of the raised road, as if
the boundary between land and sea was blurring into a viscid soup of almost liquid mud.”

“A gateway higher and more impressive than Rudi had ever seen, fully five times the height of a
man and wide enough for four wagons to pass one another without hindrance. Even so it was
choked with traffic and armed men were bustling about trying to keep order. Their weapons and
clothing varied, but all wore distinctive hats, black and volumous.”
Vlakland
“Desolate salt marsh spread out on either side of the cobbled road, thin tidal pools and patches of
slick mud interspersed with tenacious grasses and other plants which clung grimly to life on the
margins of the sea. Great masses of seabirds wheeled and screeched overhead, like malevolent
clouds, and flocks of them darted about on the mud flats, scrabbling Taal knew what from the
treacherous surface with eager stabs of their beaks. And they weren’t the only ones; to his
astonishment he could make out the unmistakable shapes of crude hovels dotted about the
desolate landscape and a few flat-bottomed boats grounded on the mud from which the smoking
of cooking fires rose lazily against the sky.”
Three Penny Bridge
The only crossing point between Stoessel and Riddra, is the notorious Three Penny Bridge, where
it is said that anything can be bought and sold.

Buildings line both sides of structure, hanging out over the sides and over the deep kanal running
between the Bruenwasser and the Rijksweg. The bridge is well above the water line, connecting
the high cliff faces of Riddra and Stoessel. Additionally, it is a hump-backed structure, allowing all
but the largest of ships to pass by underneath.

Once an affluent area, the buildings here are large and well constructed, but with decline of the
western end of the Suiddock the area has become little more than a thieves-kitchen. Many of the
houses are subdivided into cheap tenements, while others are heavily barricaded by their owners
to keep out the burglars, foot-pads and addicts who make the bridge their home.

A sailor’s tavern named the Grey Gull marks the start of the bridge at the Stoessel side, next to an
abandoned temple which is supposedly cursed by the gods. The Stoessel side of the bridge is often
frequented by peddlers and streetwalkers, catering to clients unwilling to venture further across
the bridge.

The centremost building was once a watch station, but has long been abandoned by the Black
Caps. It now operates as the Abandon Hope, a low class tavern, gambling den and brothel –
frequented by the dregs of the “Guild We Have Never Heard Of” such as Roosjik Ottervanger and
Abram Cobbius.

At the southern side of the Bridge, across from the Golden Lotus Dreaming House is the Riddra
Fish market, where the fishwives of Riddra come to sell their husband’s catch to the rest of
Marienburg. Some servants and housewives come here for the cheapest prices, while other fish
are sold to the bigger suppliers who pack them in ice and transport them to the more well-to-do
markets in the city. A series of steep steps cut beside the fish market lead under Three Penny
Bridge and down to a small wharf and the notorious Red Lantern Canal, which are used
extensively by drunkards and merry-makers during the nights.

Impressions of Three Penny Bridge

“Kurt heard a crier calling two o’clock as he got his first glimpse of Three Penny Bridge. The
structure itself was little different from many other bridges around Marienburg. Houses and shops
stood along either side of the span, such was the lack of space available for construction else
wherein the city. Buildings hung out over the cut slicing between the much larger Rijksweg canal
to the north and Bruynwarr canal to the south. Kurt was always amazed that those precariously
perched structures did not topple into the water more often, but most had stood for more than a
hundred years. No doubt most would stand for another hundred — barring outside intervention.”

“A line of heavily fortified homes lined the northerly side of the span, all of them looking like they
were expecting war to break out at any minute. No doubt they were burgled or attacked on a
frequent basis, Kurt surmised. Several looked like they had been abandoned altogether, while
another was a burnt out shell, smoke stains above the charred windows resembling the kohl eye
make-up favoured by whores.”
Goudberg
Goudberg is one of the wealthiest districts of Marienburg, along with Guilderveld and
Oudgeldwijk. Unlike Guilderveld, the pace here is more sedate and genteel, while lacking the
backward looking lassitude of the old nobility in Oudgeldwijk. The people who live in Goudberg,
the rich and the filthy rich, can afford to live apart from their businesses, leaving their scores of
flunkies to do the real work.

Elegance is a byword in Goudberg, and the buildings in the ward reflect that. Though small by the
standards of Old World nobility, the mansions of the rich are heavily decorated in whatever style
was the fashion when they were built. Tilean fluted columns and Nulner statues of Winged Victory
mingle with gargoyles and faux-battlements from the time of the War of Independence.

Businesses in Goudberg tend toward luxury, service and the arts. In Goudberg the pavement
artists, streetwalkers and cutpurses of mundane Marienburg are replaced with sculptors,
courtesans and dashing, debonair cat burglars.

During the day, the ward streets and canals are filled mostly with servants and functionaries
dashing hither and yon on their masters' affairs. Tradesmen make deliveries or perform services,
while lesser merchants and brokers cut deals over lunch at elegant cafes. Beggars are forcefully
discouraged.

At night, the streets and canals grow quieter as Goudbergers begin their nightly rounds of social
calls. Small parties travel in lantern-lit canal boats from one mansion to another in a whirl of
dinner parties and less formal affairs. Younger sons of the wellto- do sally forth in small groups of
rakes, cutting dashing figures with their cloaks and rapiers, hopping from one drinking-club to the
next.