The Labyrinth
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[dc]T[/dc]he Labyrinth, Haven’s most notorious borough, runs from the river along the south wall to Judgement Gate and the edge of Thieves’ Market. Politically, it also extends north to the Horseshoe, and includes The Street of Silk Veils and the workshops and warehouses of Southbank Street. Any Havener will tell you, however, that regardless of technical boundaries the real Labyrinth begins at Southbridge Street, and only gets worse as you approach the wall.
Once a relatively fashionable sector of merchant activity and residences, it is now a collection of slowly decaying tenements and falling buildings inhabited by those either too poor to live elsewhere or too notorious to leave the area. Politically, the Labyrinth includes the sector south of the Horseshoe (among others, The Street of Silk Veils), since it was considered impractical to have an area like the Labyrinth itself (the true thieves’ quarter of Haven) have full representation on the Council of Boroughs.
The Labyrinth is a maze of dirty narrow streets, alleyways, and cul-de-sacs lined with shabby, decaying tenements and abandoned warehouses. Buildings are primarily bricks and wood, and are generally in a state of disrepair and neglect. The streets are little better, muddy and mostly unpaved, and sport deep holes to catch wagon wheels and unwary pedestrians. Trash and refuse litter the streets and accumulate in the alleys, to be picked over by rats, mangy cats, and tieflings.
The inhabitants of the Labyrinth are no better than their environment; a motley collection of cutthroats, alleybashers, derelicts, and ragged children. Despite its unsavory reputation, most of its residents are not muggers or thieves, but are simply too poor to live anywhere else. Beggars in threadbare rags are a familiar sight, particularly in Thieves’ Market and around Southbridge Street, crying to passers-by for pity on their disfigured and diseased selves (an effect carefully cultivated, and frequently faked). There is little room for pity in the Labyrinth, however, for poverty, disease, and violence are all too familiar sights.
The Labyrinth has been the stronghold of Haven’s Thieves Guild for generations, although the actual structure of the Guild’s organization and its headquarters have changed several times. Only a small percentage of the residents of the Labyrinth are actually Guild members (membership is actually a status symbol) but all live with the reality of its existence in their daily lives. Survival often depends on minding one’s own business, and so the Labyrinth residents rarely see or hear anything that does not concern them - like that stabbing in the alley beneath their bedroom window. The only exception to this is the information brokers, who must selectively mind their own - and other’s - businesses, in order to make a safe profit.
The City Guard is responsible for keeping peace in the Labyrinth, but in practice this means keeping the trouble in the Labyrinth, and warning decent citizens to stay out of the area. The Thieves Guild maintains order where its own interests are concerned, but for the rest, it is best to walk warily, watch the shadows, and keep anything of value out of sight. Because of the general lawlessness of the neighborhood, shops and business tend to close before dusk, although the numerous taverns may stay open quite late. Pedestrian traffic (many of the streets are too narrow for vehicles, and horses are very rare) is light even during the day. At night, the streets are very dark and quiet, except near a tavern.
The great majority of the Labyrinth’s population is human, with a scattering of half-orcs, tieflings and a few gnomes. The few tieflings tend to cluster in a particularly grimy, run-down ghetto known as the Tiefling Warren, but tieflings can (and do) appear anywhere, scavenging a living wherever and however they can.
The Street of Silk Veils is the pleasure area in the city of Haven. Here can be found many beautiful women, with whom one may pass a few hours in dalliance for a reasonable sum. One of the customs of Haven (from which the Street draws its name) is that a woman who is open to suggestion from any man or many men will wear a silken veil across her face; it is considered an insult to importune an unveiled woman. In Haven, slavery is illegal, so the girls who work in the various houses, or as independents along the Street, choose to do so; they are frequently joined by various women of the city who works as amateur talent for an afternoon or so, to gain sufficient for a new dress or a bauble that has caught their eye.
The area east of Silk Veils is primarily base materials manufacturing, and provides such commodities as bricks, seasoned lumber, bulk glass, cement and mortar, etc. There are numerous cottage industries in the area, producing such things as furniture, barrels, looms, etc. There is one large furniture “factory”, the compound of which occupies an entire city block (it is owned by a man named Dortmund), and employs almost 100 people.
The Labyrinth itself produces nothing it seems, but crime, trouble, pestilence and disease. Few people care to venture into the area (unless they are given no choice in the matter), but there are some interesting inhabitants. Some of these inhabitants are not derelicts, dregs, destitute, or criminals of any description, but have a special interest in the Labyrinth and its denizens.
Southbridge Barracks, Market Station, and, to an extent, Judgment Barracks are responsible for keeping the peace in the Labyrinth. To the guardsmen, this means making sure that the denizens of the Labyrinth stay in the Labyrinth; the guards go into the plague area itself only infrequently, and only in squads of 6 or more. The upper area of the Labyrinth, around The Street of Silk Veils, and the industrial area are patrolled on an approximate two hour schedule.
The Street Rats
Given the large number of casual alliances that occur between the men and women of the Labyrinth, the general lack of money available for child support, the high incidence of disease and the frequent incarceration of its less successful residents, it is not surprising that a substantial number of children living in this area have no permanent home or family. Such children become the wards of the streets, and quickly learn to band together and use their collective wits to eke out a meager existence for themselves. These youngsters are called “street rats” by most of the Labyrinth’s residents, and the name Is not an inappropriate one - for they are quick and tricky, and as hard to get rid of as any household pest.
Street rats can be found on almost any street corner of the Labyrinth, and will volunteer to perform any number of helpful tasks for a few coppers. They can prove to be very useful little scum - capable of spying, message delivery, or supplying information, as long as one bears in mind two restrictions:
- They will always exaggerate the information they provide, and there is a 30% chance that the story they give is sheer fabrication, and
- There is a 60% chance that they will not complete a task they’ve agreed to do if their “employer” is foolish enough to pay them the money agreed upon in advance.
Within these bounds, the rats will generally provide reasonable service for whatever money they can connive.
Persons of Interest
—Dog-end::Old man wandering the streets. Harmless—
—Enos the Maul::Blacksmith—
—Murfi::Mage with a flair for showmanship—
—Kuber Hasbin::Street “doctor” with a clinic deep in the maze—
GM’s Notes
There is little industry in the Labyrinth, except small family operations that supply basic needs, such as potters, greengrocers, butchers, etc., and even these facilities are generally lower in quality than similar shops elsewhere in the city. Many “shops” deal in second-hand goods; the few items of quality to be found in these establishments tend to be stolen. Many who live in Labyrinth hold menial jobs in The South Corridor, work during planting and harvest season on farms just outside the city gates, or provide cheap labor for the large manufacturing houses on Southbank Street. Housing in the Labyrinth ranges from old decaying row houses to ramshackle warehouses, divided into apartments by flimsy wood or canvas walls. Rats and other vermin abound, and heating is limited to drafty fireplaces or small braziers which create a constant fire hazard. Running water does not exist; there are only scattered wells, and the river. Rents are not high, but neither are wages, and it is sometimes a struggle for the average family to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.
[anchor|street_encounters]
Random Street Encounters
While a party is wandering through the area roll d1000 to determine what random encounter they may have. Note that some encounters may happen in multiple locations in the city so feel free to ignore the results if the event is a one-off and already happened.
People and Locations in The Labyrinth
| People | Places |
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| [tagged:the-labyrinth-person | list |
Demographics
Government
Defenses
Industry & Trade
Infrastructure
Districts
Assets
Guilds & Factions
History
Points of Interest
Tourism
Architecture
Geography
Climate
Natural Resources
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Persons of Interest
Neighborhoods
Type: Quarter
Other Name(s):
Located In: Free City of Haven
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World Anvil Metadata
Id: e05f9a94-a44d-4991-b419-28cae89db0ee
Entity Type: Article / settlement
Category: Districts of Haven
Tags: fcoh,quarter
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