Port Sunder Docks

WELCOME TO THE LOWER SIDE. WATCH YOUR STEP.

You've left the cleaner streets and found the real heart of Port Sunder. This is the Lower Side, the engine of the city, built on salt, sweat, and opportunity. The air is thick with the smell of foreign spices, salt spray, tarred rope, and fish. Down here, the rattle of cargo ships from the Drifting Reach clans mixes with the rowdy shouts from a dozen waterfront taverns. This ain't a place for the faint of heart, but it's where fortunes are made, deals are struck in shadowed alleys, and the pulse of the entire world beats on the tide.

"NEW IN PORT? AYE, YOU LOOK IT. MY ADVICE IS FREE, THE ALE ISN'T. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT, YOUR EARS OPEN, YOUR COIN PURSE HIDDEN, AND YOUR BLADE LOOSE. AND IF A FIGHT BREAKS OUT, YOU PAY FOR THE MUG BEFORE YOU THROW IT. WE CLEAR?"

MEET THE TAVERN KEEPER: "ONE-EYED" MAGDA

Behind the bar of the rowdiest tavern on the docks, 'The Sinking Serpent', stands Magda. She's a mountain of a woman with a tangle of grey hair, a missing eye covered by a worn leather patch, and arms thick enough to snap a troll's neck. She's heard every rumor, seen every kind of sailor, and pours ale with a hand that never trembles. Her tavern is the unofficial hub for every captain, mercenary, and spy in the city.

LORE & SECRETS

Key Tip: Looking for a ship? The captains of the Drifting Reach are the best sailors in the world, but they're fiercely independent and value profit above all else. Don't try to haggle unless you know what you're doing, and never, ever insult their ship.

The Docks are the most diverse place on the continent. It's the only port where you'll see the sleek, wind-guided ships of the Drifting Reach clans tied up next to a Skaldvin longship from Boreas or a heavy Solterran trade cog. Because of this, the Lower Side is a hotbed of underworld activity. Need a map to a place that ain't on any map? Need to hire a blade with no questions asked? It all happens here, in the shadows between the cargo crates and the taverns.