Dock Ward

There are two ways into The City, The main gate and the six minor gates accessible only at the docks. Surrounding the City is a massive wall, 10 Imperial Strides (1 meter) tall, four wide at the base, and two wide at the top where the Guard patrols, with protective braces spread along it.

The Antioch River runs right by the City. It is a broad and slow river, allowing for travel to the Villages, The Northern Plains, and the eastern part of the Great Ridge. It brings most of the goods produced in ThirdLand though Antioch and out to the ocean.

The great city wall slides down into the water of the river, creating a giant retaining wall to protect the land under the city from erosion. There is a stone lip jetting out from this wall. Attached to it are a dozen small piers.
From these piers goods are loaded and unloaded, ships are moored, and a few fishing vessels eke out a living off the river.

The six river gates can only be reached from the piers/ water. They are small affairs, three strides tall and three strides wide. Each has a grill gate that slides down over it. There are also stone slab gates that slides across the gates, three at a time. These six gates are manned by a handful of guards each. They assist the assessors to make sure everything has a custom (tax) stamp, but they are there to mostly keep the sailors and long shoremen from making trouble. The gates are open at sky's lightening, closing at full dark.

Inside the wall, the wall line creates a plaza of sorts. During the day, the docks and the dock's wall line are bustling with people moving carts full of bundles, boxes, and goods. While the furry folk are known for moving taxi's in Antioch, none are found here. The Docksmen Guild (the Rat Clan) has only real people as members.

Everyone is in either a guild or a clan. Not being in one is akin to being an outcast. It confuses people, as they are not sure of your status. Rat Clan is a clan that functions as a guild. The Rats ply the rivers and marshes of Secondland and Thirdland, as well as do longshoreman work. The seaclans hold the self proclaimed 'rat clan' in contempt. Most officials see them as just a Guild of River sailors and longshoremen with a funny name. The Rats hold their title with pride and will take it out on anyone who gives them grief about it.

One of the reason there are so many guards in the Dock Ward, is that the occasional ocean going vessel docks in Antioch. This brings Sea Clanners to Antioch. Sea Clanners and Rat Clanners can work well together, but they do not socialize well together.

Goods are moved to and from warehouses in the dock ward. Most of the warehouses are two story affairs, the bottom store being storage, the upper level being offices and apartments.

In addition to warehouses, there are bars, taverns, and Antioch styled inns. There is only one cafe here, serving to the visiting owners and upper crust lunch and klah, which quickly closes up at dark to avoid problems. The courtesan guild has a number of guild homes here. While there are a few guild homes discreetly hidden around the city, there are eleven in the Dock Ward. The Courtesan's guild is the only one that allows Putti and Kern members, though they would only be found in less polite areas (such as the dock ward).

The Dock Ward is surrounded by a strong wall, reminiscent of the Ward Wall of the Gateway Plaza. A Barracks for the Guard is built into a bumped out section of this wall. By climbing down ladders, Guards can spill into the ward. There are two gates in those wall that lead into the city. Those gates are manned every hour of the day, just in case of trouble or people try to move goods without custom marks. The Wall line of the Dock Ward is bracketed by gate arches, that lead into the Wall lines of other area (one of which is the Gate Plaza).