The Commons and Worker's District

Physical Description / Layout
The Commons / Worker’s district is pretty much where a large percentage of Sedaire’s population lives, including some of the poorest people around. The main notable feature is the vertical ascendance, present clearly in the form of the sub-zone being divided into two distinct and very different levels. The top level is known as the upper quarters stretches in a narrow strip along the north and east of the zone in an inverted ‘L’ shape – but this area is somewhat larger towards the North-West corner, were a section of the town square is present. There is an exit within this corner of the town square that leads either north to the factories or east towards the Sanctum.

The entire upper quarters has a pretty good mix of houses, but these homes are confined to a very narrow strip of land and there’s really only one street that’s accessible – but it’s extremely clean and surrounded with a fair bit of trees and gardens. An exit exists towards the west which leads straight to the farms. A stream originates from a large pipe at the base of the upper elevation to the north. This stream bisects the entire lower level of the subzone into east and west quarters before moving on down towards the inns/docks.

On the western side of the stream are more houses of a fairly decent nature – not quite as rich as the upper quarters, but at the same time not desolate either. The streets here are relatively clean, with a few trees and a few taverns/inns for good measure. There are a few dark alleyways here along with places of ill repute amongst its darker areas. Its, greatest feature, however, is the significant contrast between it and the slums across the stream.

The slums are the poorest and most decrepit part of the city. Full of shanty little shacks, dirty houses and a system of streets that is more akin to a maze than anything remotely organized, its also one of the darkest, dirtiest and most crime-ridden areas of them all. But amidst the darkness, opportunity is present. It is possible to get some of the most illegal contraband amidst the many dealers that hide and do business within the slums as few of the city’s guard bothers with the area. However, even this has its risks - especially that of disease. Throughout its history, the slum has been known to harbor many diseases – which was why the stream was carved eventually as a method of quarantine, even only as psychological barrier. At the extreme south-east part of the zone is a road that leads down to the inns.

Even though the streets seem chaotic, things are still fairly organized int hat there are street signs everywhere, along with major landmarks that are easily recognizable. Creative use of visible landmarks may be important as we can use these to give players incomplete clues or puzzles that they will need to figure out geographically and discover, ala Hexxen/Hexxen 2.

Mood, Lighting, Look & Feel
The entirety of the Commons is basically overcast due to not only the storm, but that of the smog from the factories, creating a somewhat dark and monotone feel to the entire place. The entire place also has a somewhat run-down look to it, especially in the slums, which are basically a visage of squalor and dirt. For the other areas though, things are generally cramped, with narrow streets bordered by tall buildings. In the slums there aren’t as many tall buildings, but the streets are still very narrow with little space to walk.

Lighting: http://osote.net/gallery/albums/album02/City_Canal_view_a_bit_overcast_this_day.jpg / http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2872571243_45b38d3619.jpg?v=0 Streets: http://images.travelpod.com/users/tommcatt/1.1252434471.london-has-narrow-streets.jpg Better example: http://www.oldukphotos.com/graphics/England%20Photos/Durham,%20Durham,%20Narrow%20Streets%20c1930%27s%201280pix.jpg

Important Locations
The Town Square

The Town Square is located in the north-west corner of the sub-zone and is actually really only a *corner* of the Town Square itself. The main square is spread across four sub-zones, the Commons, the Factories, the Estates and the Sanctum, with each of these corners holding a different facet that is particular to that zone. In this case, this corner holds the agricultural goods and acts as the main marketplace for the farmers. It isn’t very large, but suffices for the task. The Town Square doesn’t hold any quests on its own, but is rather the target point for the player’s initial Day 0 quests as well as a major transition point, as it connects to both the Factories to the north and the Sanctum to the west.

Marie’s Surgery and Medicines:

Marie’s Surgery and Medicines is a small clinic located in the north-west corner of the subzone, right next to the town square. It’s a somewhat large-ish structure and is pretty much the only hospital in the city (apart from the Royal surgery in the castle). Due to this, however, it’s also one of the places that has seen the most death, disease and illness since the city began. Although its corridors are clean and tidy, the screams, moans and cries of the sick and dying still fill its many floors as occupants from all paths of life come in hopes of having their ailments cured. The Society will send you here as part of a mid-game quest. They are interested in obtaining a set of special surgical tools that are located within the Surgery’s cellar – one that is reputed to be haunted by ghosts. These surgical tools are vital to help create and mend flesh into the golem they will be sending with you.

The cellar also holds many of the archives of past patients as well, however, which means that if one has been to the Khyber pass then you can use the numbers gathered to access the archive related to Lyda. These archives will yield an address of where her home used to be.

Lyda’s Home

Lyda’s home is located down to the South-East corner of the sub-zone and is actually inaccessible until the player goes to the archive. He will need to search for the house though, looking at the street numbers and finding it according to the clues given at the Surgery. Once inside the house, however, he will need to either fight or convince the current residents to part with a relic from Lyda’s time: a bracelet that used to belong to her which has been part of the currently family’s heirlooms.

The Brass Inn

The Brass Inn is located roughly at the center-east part of the Subzone, right alongside the central stream that divides the slums and the other residential area. It’s a major gathering point for most of the commons area and is generally the first place that things start going bad. Since it borders the slums, however, its almost always under heavy guard to ensure things don’t flare up too bad. This hasn’t stopped the inn from having a history of having burnt down (and rebuilt) at least six times in its lifetime. The Monastery will send you here as part of a mid-game quest to observe and follow a Society operative as they try to get unawares to take their instrument to the wall. Your objective will be to the track the unaware they send and take the device from them (just like they tried to do to you at the start of the game).

The Slums

Deep in the heart of the lawless slums lives a poor beggar named Jason with his wife, Olivia. Although both are beggars, they are also special in that they were both once part of the Governor’s personal entourage before he threw them out for unknown reasons. However, they are also the only two that know where the Governor keeps his dearest possessions and logs, which will be crucial for attempting to analyzing the machine and determining what exactly he did to it. It is your job to find the two and extract the information from them, no matter the cost.

Major Events
1.	If the hospital quest is complete, the player will no longer be able to access the hospital cellar. 2.	During the late game a large number of people will migrate from this area and towards the wall to the north.