Embassy Quarter

The Embassy Quarter is a unique section of the town.

The wall surrounding it is nearly larger than the city wall. There is a special road that leads from a main gate to this quarter's gate. That special road has almost no side streets, and the backs of buildings face it. It is the private road for embassy staff. There are Guardsmen at the city wall and at the two embassy quarter gates. It is nearly an armed city within the city.

This large outer wall also has a thick blue line and some arcane runes to keep spells from travelling out. It also has a Purple Line, a royal demarcation, showing the limits of The Law. Nobody just 'cuts through' this section.

In this area, it seems to be nothing more than more walls and gates. However, in this walled off area, foreign dignitaries can rule a small section of the quarter as if it is their own country. Admittedly these little annexes are just within the walls of their compound, but within those walls they rule.

Each of the Countries that trade with the Kingdom has an embassy here. Since these countries do not always trust each other, each embassy has some fairly sturdy walls (often patrolled) seperating them from the others. At the gates of their compounds are often 'border' guards, who often treat the entrace as if they were borders.

Inside the compound walls, it is like you step into another country. Except for when climate prohibits, the architecture is always based upon that country. Each compound has an appropriate mansion and outbuildings for one of the status of the envoy to the country. There may be some farming here as well, in an attempt to grown 'local foods'. Here they may have slaves, small contingents of warriors, or practice foul magics, or do their blood rights, for here... they are soverigns.

Navigation inside the Embassy Quarter is tricky, as it seems to be nothing but big walls are large gates. It is only the decorations of said walls that help define what is behind them. Once you cross into the embassy quarter (or into one of the compounds) you are no longer covered by The Law. You are at the mercy of their law. And if you were inside uninvited or not an envoy of a country, you may be considered a spy (and to be interrogated and killed in the most painful fashions imaginable).