Dural

Traveler's Guide to Dural

''Welcome to Dural, the finest town in the Great Lake of Fungi! I'm Taya Woodwort, and if you've bought the Traveler's Guide to Dural, whether you're gnome, drow, dwarf, kirro, human, or otherwise, I assure you that you won't be disappointed.''

''Dural's an old port town near the south entrance to Dolmingdran. Used to be a lot smaller and have less dwarves, until whatever happened up in the above of the stronghold. Now the stout folk who've been displaced from their stronghold dwellings have taken to living in Dural instead.''

''Dural's one of the safest places in D'norra. The dwarves and the local guard took great pains to wipe out all that hostile underdark life on Echo Rock, so even outside of the walls you're not likely to get stabbed, eaten, shot, disintegrated, have your brain harvested, or any of the other horrible things that most often happen to unfortunate souls in the underdark. It's mostly fungi farms out there, though.''

'' 1. Taste of the Undersea Tavern: Ever seen an undersea fish up close? Most of 'em are disgusting arrangements of teeth and gills and other strange parts that shouldn't exist, but Taste of the Undersea somehow found a way to turn 'em into edible seafood. It's a bit of an acquired taste.''

''2. Pride of Dolmingdran Alehouse: Dwarven quality applies to their ales, too. Just don't challenge a dwarf in a drinking contest if you aren't a dwarf yourself, and be careful if you're a lightweight.''

''3. Purple Worm Inn: If you're looking for a place for a drink, look elsewhere. If you're just passing through, though, it's the best place to stay in town.''

''4. Black Sea Tavern: A decent tavern that's more human than dwarvish. If you aren't a heavy drinker, or you don't like being surrounded by loud, extremely drunken dwarves, the Black Sea Tavern is for you. A decent place for the latest gossip.''

''5. Lassla Schoolhouse: This is where the kids go. Maybe not a place a traveler would visit, but it's an important part of the town.''

''6. Sarryn Theater: A place to go if you've got the coin and enjoy the pastimes of the upper class. Plays are put on every saturday.''

''7. Dural Town Hall: The old town hall is the public face of the government. It's a place for voicing your concerns and whatnot, and it's also the court.''

''8. Mayor's Estate: Fanciest house in all of Dural. Every mayor since the town got built has been a human, dwarves just aren't that interested. Current mayor is a lass named Marivaldi. They do tours of it every so often.''

''9. Redmura Square: Redmura's where the bureaucrats live. If you've gotta get some kind of documentation, this is your place. If not, you're not likely to remember it's even there.''

''10. Thormund Marketplace: Busiest part of town, all day, every day. Street merchants and hawkers abound, and usually you can find what you're looking for for cheap, if you know your way around a good haggling. Named for the current patriarch of the Axebreakers.''

''11. Hargran & Dardur General Store: An old store that's been here since the town got founded. Sells simple stuff, usually a couple gold at most.''

''12. D'norra's Finest Armory: A must-visit if you're headed out of town. Weapons of dwarven make won't fail you, and D'norra's finest has them all.''

''13. Redrock Ales and Liquor: A store the dwarves set up some decades back, and it's seen a huge boom in business lately. If you're thirsting for the stuff that dwarves drink to get blackout drunk, look no further.''

''14. Hornraven Apothecary: The Apothecary's got medicines and potions of all kinds. The owner's a strange fellow, but harmless.''

''15. Dural Adventurers' Guild: If you're an adventuring type looking to make some quick gold, the adventurers' guild has more often than not got something quick and dirty for you. Haven't been in myself, but I hear the kind of requests they get usually send you far out of Dural. Usually to Mazheim.''

16. City Guardhouse: Don't screw around with the guards, they've got more than enough practice and aren't afraid to apply it.

17. Guard Headquarters: See #17.

''18. Square of the Spirits: The hub of spirit worship in Dural. This town has got three important spirits: Lesnis (the ram), spirit of the Axebreaker clan, Ragmir (the cat), spirit of echo rock, and Duraldor (the serpent), spirit of the town. Anything else, you can probably find a small place to worship here.''

''19. Temple of the Three: The main public house of worship for the three spirits. The temple is gigantic, and usually full of stout folk, always griping at humans for not being pious enough.''

''20. Spirit Houses: The House of Lesnis, House of Ragmir, & House of Duraldor: More private places for the clergy than public places of worship. Most of them work in all three.''

21. Ragmir Library: Dural's library isn't the biggest, but it has what the people here need, and that's good enough for most.

''22. Dural Docks: If you're reading this, likely you came in through here. It's two gold apiece for your ship, so pretty cheap.''

''23. Jailhouse: Are you here to visit crooks? Then the jailhouse is your place. Otherwise, not exactly a tourist attraction.''

''24. Road to Dolmingdran: Central Dolmingdran's gone dark, but Lower Dolmingdran is still chock full of dwarves. You need their permission to enter, so make sure you get it before you go into the stronghold.''

''25. Road to Guldir: Guldir is the town way up north. The Echo Rock train comes at around 5 in the afternoon every day, if you don't feel like walking 50 miles.''

''Guldir's only got an inn (the Shackled Kenku), a little shop (Archer General), some houses, and the ferry. Not a bad place, but real quiet.''

''If you're looking to get to Mazheim or Riftstone, there's a ferry there that can take you for a couple gold per person. Runs every day at around 12 noon, to the village of Searidge on the Isogrottan coast. From there you can take the train to Riftstone, or another ferry to Mazheim.''

''If you're going to Riftstone, make sure you can get the gnomes there to trust you, or the whole trip will be a waste of time. Deep gnomes are a paranoid bunch. Mazheim, though, you should have no trouble strolling right into. Just be careful of the folks on the inside.''

''26. White Light River: So named for the reflection of the lights in it. The part of White Light that goes through the town isn't the cleanest, but if you follow it up north it's a tad nicer.''

''27. To Land's End: That little island to the southeast? That's called Land's End. No one lives there save for a couple of crazy dwarves, and legend is, folks go there and never come back. Traveler beware.''

--Taya