Warrict

On an island in the middle of the Anadurna sits a strange town. It is built like a tiny mountain, tiered so it rises above the rushing water. The chaotic street plan and busy people running around make it look like one large anthill. To an outsider the chaos and turmoil may be confusing, but gnomes who call this city home know it like the back of their hands.

Riverboats dock on its shores, loading and unloading goods with clever cranes the gnomes designed. Homes of tinkers, toymakers, inventors and alchemists are built like a burrow into the constructed mountain, as it is to the liking of the small people.

Located in Warrict is the headquarters of The Society of Rubixs, a tinkerers guild that has many enclaves all over Aenín.

## Layout & Locations

Warrict is roughly divided into five sections: four main districts, and a fifth larger unofficial district made up of all the tunnels and interconnected works beneath and built into the city.

### Dockwork District

Probably the first thing most travelers to the city see. Here people step off and on the many riverboats that bring travelers and goods to the city. It is located mainly on the south side of the city, where the river is widest between the shore and the island, and away from the ominous trees of Drassfell to the north. Here the city slopes up least and lowest, and long piers jut out into the water. Large cranes pillar up from the river and help with the unloading, some mechanically powered, some manually, others by arcane means, and some with great magnets on their cables.

This district has some homes, but most of it is filled with bustling markets and shops, large warehouses, and rowdy taverns.

#### The Fishbucket

The Fishbucket is Warrict's most rowdy place, which is saying a lot. It is filled day and night with dockworkers looking for a good time off work, and happy-go-lucky travellers just caught in the mix. This tavern is most famous for its weekly drinking competition: the Bucket Challenge. Winners get to drink the entire next week for free!

#### The Gobble Inn

A smaller inn out of the way of the main thoroughfare, its sign in messy handwriting under a faded image of a turkey leg. It is run by Gluggluk, a small goblin. It has a messy look, both inside and out, but it has large, comfortable rooms built deep into the city-hillside, heated by excess waste water, as well as some of the best food of all Warrict. Do be careful though, as Gluggluk employs several mimics who act as the tavern's tables. Very handy for serving orders, but terrible if you make them angry.

#### The Smokestacks

Located at the western end of the district, closest to Cogswatch, is a tall collection of buildings built like several large pillars all leaning against each other, and smoke pouring out of the top. This large inn has many rooms, and is popular with inventors as it one of the few taverns that allows in-house experiments (most of the rooms reflect this). Its common room has several iron spiral staircases leading up to the towers, and a large central hearth, the smoke of which is funneled upwards to power many of the rooms.

### The Warren

The Warren is the city's largest official district, with houses sprawling out over every inch of ground not covered by anything else. On the eastern and northern side of the city, the houses are piled high on top of one another, and construction is ever ongoing. Its streets are narrow and cluttered, and many of its people absent-minded as they are going about. However, much like the rest of the city, it has its own hidden mechanisms that make it run like clockwork. Like all good gnome burrows, most people here know each other, clumping together for any occasion, and celebrating extravagantly when doing so.

### Cogswatch

The west side of the city gladly accepts the incoming rush of water from the river, channelling it into canals, tunnels and pipe systems and using it to power roiling steam turbines and enormous waterwheels. This district hums with energy, both mechanical and arcane, and is filled with laboratories and workshops.

#### Doriandor's Row

This long street runs the length of the district, curving around the summit of the city. It is home to many toy makers, artists and several temples dedicated to the god of knowledge.

#### Flint's Fantabulous Fireworks

A smaller shop and laboratory combination, and the workplace of Amadeus Flint, a gnome tinkerer and member of the Society of Rubixs.

#### Firedrake Construction

A metalworks located near the heart of the district. It has a large central factory with several branching tunnels that go deeper into the city core. Massive bellows, powered by the great waterwheels, constantly heat up the smelting fires.

### Uptop

The small sprawl of schools, embassies and guild halls at the summit of the constructed hill is collectively called Uptop. They are the tallest towers in the city. However, despite them literally looking down on the city, the people here aren't haughty. Instead, Uptop is the pinnacle of innovation and creation here in Warrict, housing only the best and brightest minds in the tinkering business.

#### Beacon Tower

Colloquially known as 'the bunsenburner', this tower is the largest and tallest in Warrict. At its top it has a large brazier that is constantly lit. A clever mechanism of mirrors can be used to spotlight trouble all over the city, whether it be an experiment gone haywire or another fire that got out of control. Many bells accompany this, warning the citizens of danger.

#### Clockwork College

The Clockwork College is the largest place of learning in Warrict, a place no stranger to schools of all shapes and sizes. But the College takes the cake. It is built onto several towers, each of which rotates on a specific mechanism. It is also special because it prioritizes engineering over arcane practice, teaching its students what can be done with nothing but tools and a creative brain.

#### Hall of Edifice

This large, square stone building is home to the city archives. It houses each and every construction project ever attempted by the engineers, and many more besides. Any esoteric design of clockwork madness, it probably has a copy here.

#### Warrocarnix

This great hall is the largest building in Warrict. Its gnomish name means "the burrow/hall of the engineers". It is the guildhall of the Society of Rubixs, the largest tinkerer's guild in the city. Its walls are lined with gears, transferring power through the whole building. Also powered by those are the immaculate wall decorations that depict a moving history of Aenín's different races. Beyond the main hall, large workplaces and laboratories are open to those of the Society, and several high-placed officials have a permanent residence there. A large clocktower tops the hall, depicting not only the time but also the movement of the heavens.

### Underhill

The city of Warrict was built, higher and higher, from the humble rock foundations in the middle of the Anadurna river. Over time houses, factories, and even whole neighborhoods got buried under new construction, leaving a mess of tunnels that function almost as a second city underneath. Much of the space here is taken up by piping, steamworks and hidden mechanisms, but many of the old houses here remain in use. This is all as the gnomes prefer, as they like living above ground just as much as living below it. For the benefit of the other races, parts of Underhill are equipped with artificial lighting on the ceiling tunnels, either merry lanterns, plain arcane fixtures or clever gas burners.

#### The Great Pipe

The Great Pipe runs right throught the center of Warrict, carrying all the excess water from Cogswatch and the great waterwheels through and back out the other side of the city. On the way, various other pipes join up with or branch off of it from the surface, taking and dumping water for private use. It has many access points all over Underhill, ranging from sealed portholes to bricked off balconies and overlooks. Small goblin neighborhoods have been built onto the side of it like fungi on a fallen tree.

#### The Silk Secret

Operated by a Tiefling called Miss Ruby, this seedy dive bar and brothel is constantly illuminated by a stream of red artificial light. It is located at a central crossroads beneath the city not too far from the Dockwork District. It is a tall building, even in the cramped space of Underhill, and its velvet interior caters to people of all races. Miss Ruby herself is well connected in this part of the city, and she knows much of what is going on.

## Politics

Warrict is not ruled by monarchs or aristocrats. Instead, a cooperation of Guilds is responsible for the welfare of the city. However, they mostly concern themselves with their own business. The city is more concerned with progress and technology than actual governance. The guilds think the city runs itself without much interference needed from them, and this is mostly true.

The carpenters' and masons' guilds plan construction projects, the mercenary guild acts as the de facto law enforcement, the tinkerers' and alchemists' guilds make sure everything is working and powered, and where needed the guilds build projects together. This is also what has allowed the city to be a jumble of buildings all on top of each other.