Daelin's Landing

Glimpsed from afar, in the early morning light, it is a city of wrought white light. From the gates, it is a tangled network of streets and avenues where anything can be had by the canny buyer if the price is right. From the undercrofts and hidden hold-fasts of the shady underbelly of the Dimandowns, it is a jeweled apple ripe for the plucking. From the heights of the Ivory Tower, it is a city that works.

Built around a natural blue-water harbor, making it a perfect location for mooring passing trade ships, Daelin's Landing has always been a crossroads for trade and intrigue. Amid the arching terraces and snaking canals, people of all walks of life may be found. Merchants, soldiers, tradesmen, footpads, innovators, ne'erdowells, dabblers in things man was not meant to know, aristocrats of every nation imaginable, and several sorts that defy all categories.

Daelin's Landing is a trade hub located to the north of Stormwind, named for Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore. Granted as a fiefdom to Marquis Vallinor Lovell for service to King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind. The oversight and administration of the city has fallen to his only daughter, Maddalena Lovell and her husband Chiasmus Strake.

The Ivory Tower
The original holdfast that formed the first foothold of Daelin's Landing was originally a squat fortress set in on a bluff overlooking the bay, utilitarian and imposing. Over the years, master stone-masons and other skilled artisans have left their mark on the old fortification, turning the original tower into a vaulting work of art. Hidden among the stones are various subtle signatures of the various men and women who have effected the transformation, indelible marks echoing through history.

The Ivory Tower is the seat of the Doge and Dogaressa of Daelin's Landing. It is the home, hall, and holdfast to Houses Strake and Lovell, their various retainers, courtiers, and personal soldiery. It is well-appointed for a fortification, even a beautiful one, with comfortable chambers, airy solars, a banquet hall arrayed for three-hundred, and innumerable fireplaces to ward off the ocean's chill.

Court of Swords
By the blue sea of Daelin’s Landing, equal screams of thrilled participants and frightened criminals fill the air and contest with the local seagulls. The circling of such birds are the harbingers of action and ultimate death. Floods of residents take a break from the busy streets and cram into the stone arena to catch up on the latest bloodshed. Here, convicted criminals are sentenced to death by gladiatorial combat by the city’s best combatants or the fiercest beasts they can wrangle and provoke. Traders take the opportunity to pack up their stands and transport them outside the arena’s facade to make use of the masses hunger and rage. It’s not uncommon to see men and women selling expired fruit for the purpose of throwing at the criminals.

High Arbor Opera House

Connected to the foot of the Ivory Tower in an ornate and spacious building, the High Abor Opera House attracts nobles from both near and far. Balconies ornamented with lavish gold fixtures house sets of plush velvet chairs, which allow for the best view of Daelin’s Landing resident First Lady of the High Arbor Opera House, Dogaressa Maddalena Lovell. Lady Lovell’s harmonious voice resonates through the several open chambers and muraled dome ceiling, leaving a lasting impression upon all those fortunate enough to pay high dollar for the exquisite event. Frequently, when the night is peaceful, her voice floods the surrounding districts.

High Arbor Cathedral

Upon every hour, the sonorous ring of the High Arbor Cathedral’s resound throughout Daelin’s Landing. Within the Cathedral, those of pious nature gather and say prayer for what they have been gifted. Its high spires jut into the cloudy sky and may only challenge the spire of the Ivory Tower. The cathedral overlooks a section of the harbor and may take the breath away from those unaccustomed to such beauty. The main prayer chamber sees much use through the day, with a procession of righteous priests and paladins fiercely devoted to its upkeep. Religious sects within Daelin’s Landing call the Cathedral home and utilize its many rooms for meetings, bedding, and prayer.

The Dimandowns
Under the streets of the city of Daelin's Landing bustles a second city. It is a place of shadow and intrigue. A place of watching eyes and rising water. As the tide comes in, the ocean washes through the streets, washing away the unwary souls who wandered into the hidden jungle that lies beneath the gilded streets of the Landing. It is a place of predators, and even the smiles are barbed.

These are the Dimandowns, for they are both dim and down.

Anything can be had in the Dimandowns, should the buyer be exceptionally careful or foolhardy. For the streets of the Dim are unkind to the unwary. But it is a place for those who know that even in the stone jungle of a market city, it is better to be a tiger than a man. Walk soft, be aware, and peer well into every shadow.

The Floating Market

The market does not truly float in the nature of the word. ‘Floating’ implies the idyllic state of mind the market captures and fosters. Perhaps, however, somewhere amidst the sprawling stalls and barking calls there is someone with a tonic that will let you slip the surly bonds and fly.

Part gypsy caravan, part market-day, part 'that little shop that I don't remember being there yesterday', and all wonderful, the Market converges on some place within the world when and if it pleases. And that place, for a day, becomes a carnival, a hub of commerce both licit and illicit, and a wonder of the world. Anything can be found within the shops and stalls: Poisons, potions, castles in bottles with little marching retainers, glass flowers, steel serpents, whispers captured in stone, wishes counted on the fingers of dead men, and true brave hearts.

The Floating Market is a mystery. If you see it, you've seen it all. If you know where to find it, you can find anything. If you know about it, then there's nothing left to say.