Moving from Lower Wards to Middle Wards in Sharn (Eberron)

The_Magician · Jun 24, 2005

Ok, here I was reading the Sharn, City of Towers sourcebook, studing all its wards and districts, when I hit my head against the wall and got confused. Wards in Sharn (lower, middle and upper) change vertically, the higher you are in a tower, the richer the area, the upper you are moving through the wards. So, the same tower will have different districts in different levels. And that's what's bugging me.

For example, in Lower Dura, we have an area called the Gallestan district, which is a district of Inns, mostly. Once you reach higher levels of those towers in that district, you will reach the Bazar district, in Middle Dura, which is the biggest market in the city. How does that change occur? Lower Dura is not policed, the Town Watch doesnt pay it any attention (at least ot most of it. Precarious district is well guarded), but then you go up to the next floor, and instead of inns you have open markets crowded with people and with two guards everywehere?

Anyone have any insights on that?

Zjelani · Jun 24, 2005

Some of the upper levels are close to a mile high, if I recall. So realize that these towers are FAR larger than even the tallest skyscrapers currently in the world. (In fact, it's over 3 times as tall as the Taipei 101 tower which is pretty much the tallest building in the world depending on what you call a "building"). So Sharn is absurdly tall.

So figure the lower districts are as high as the current world's tallest building, the middle districts are that tall again, and the upper districts yet again. So that's plenty of room to shift from being policed to not, inns to bazaars, etc.

Of course, I could be remembering the "up to a mile high" wrong. I'm at the office and am going by memory. At the very least, these towers are VERT TALL, and so each district itself is actually at least dozens of stories high.

Henry · Jun 24, 2005

Correct; one district is multiple levels. It doesn't change all at once, just like in a city; you know how you have your "good" parts of town and "bad" parts of town? It doesn't change dramatically, as there's usually a one or two street crossover. As you go up in levels, it changes progessively; some districts may think of themselves as "middle dura" but be "lower Dura" from the standpoint of the watch; and you can probably get watch patrols there if you scream bloody murder enough.

The_Magician · Jun 24, 2005

That's, but all that sounds easier said than imagined. I think it makes sense for the changes from an Inn district, in a tower, to go to a market district to occur gradually... but how do you imagine that happening inside the tower? Inns + market together?

Henry · Jun 24, 2005

The_Magician said:
That's, but all that sounds easier said than imagined. I think it makes sense for the changes from an Inn district, in a tower, to go to a market district to occur gradually... but how do you imagine that happening inside the tower? Inns + market together?

I'm not sure I understand your post here, but it may help to think of the towers almost like arcologies - encolsed areas unto themselves, but each level is similar. Kind of like living in a multi-level mall.

fredramsey · Jun 24, 2005

I think, myself, that we are not just talking about one tower that goes up the whole way. I can't really descibe what I'm talking about, but with walkways and platforms and such on the way up, it wouldn't seem like a single skyscraper like what we have now. It would feel more like city on top of city on top of city.

Not sure that was helpful, but there it is.

Zjelani · Jun 24, 2005

The_Magician said:
That's, but all that sounds easier said than imagined. I think it makes sense for the changes from an Inn district, in a tower, to go to a market district to occur gradually... but how do you imagine that happening inside the tower? Inns + market together?

Seems to me that they could blend pretty easily. Lower area is 95% inns, 5% shopping. Going up a bit it becomes closer to 50% each, and then eventually 5% inns, 95% shopping and market. And in some areas, there can be distinct shifts - on one level several inns, and just above them a set of stalls and tents for a bazaar. Culturally/economically, they might be pretty similiar. The lower levels of markets are run down, and the higher levels have higher fees and therefore nicer establishments. Same with the inns - cruddier ones the lower you go, nicer the higher you get until perhaps both the inns and markets are middle classish where they meet.

You know, a thought just occurred to me (maybe obvious to others, but i just had the light bulb). One additional reason the wealthier businesses are higher up, and the poorer are lower is if the various towers taper with very large bases and narrow tops, then real estate is scarcer the higher you go. And since rich people like to live up higher (who wouldn't), you want to run a business as high up as you can go, but the taxes/fees/real estate would go up with the elevation. Up high, very few businesses can afford the cost. But in the lower (and wider) bases of the towers, there's plenty of room. Real estate is either cheap or yours by right of defending it, so just about anyone can open a dump. The very shape of the towers reinforce the economics of the situation.

PK · Jun 24, 2005

Keep in mind that the lower levels of the towers are so near the bottom that there is little space between the individual towers. The shops and streets are inside towers in massive hollowed out areas. It is said that some of these towers have such a large space inside of them that there can be rain on occasion. Since one tower can but up against another, it sometimes can be difficult to find any open air. Then ascending the internal ramps and stairs, or the external ramps that encircle the towers, or maybe by taking a skyskiff, one can start traveling up higher in the city. Eventually they will reach the middle level, where the inns have given way to markets and shops. The guard, which was nearly non-existent below, is not uncommon here. The same goes for sunshine and fresh air as the towers have spread out enough that only about half of the venders have their shops inside towers. The others form open-air markets along the ramps, spans, and bridges that web between the towers. Some older towers even have their highest floors in the middle level of Sharn. By the time a person reaches the upper levels, the towers are thin spires with generally no more than a shop or two per level, all accessed by outside entrances. Balconies provide docks for the skyskiffs and bridges reach out in all directions.