River Quarter
This most riotous district is centered around the great curving avenue known as the Strip. With its taverns, brothels, gambling dens, and worse, the Strip at night is a cacophony of noises, a shadowland of flickering torches and blazing lamps. And always, day and night, it teems with drunks and toughs, rivermen and cityfolk.
Always there are many who fight at any implied slight, and never are there enough patrols of the City Watch to keep the peace.
People's Constables are common during the hours of daylight, especially near the Cargo Gate. There these tinpot enforcers of law and order nab many people just off the river, before they have a chance to adjust to city life.
Naturally, adventurers love it here. Lodgings are cheap, and news from the world beyond is plentiful. There are numerous merchants and innkeepers willing to relieve a traveler of his heavy load of treasure.
Behind the Strip the River Quarter is a mixture of boarding houses and warehouses. While much cargo brought up the river is stored on the wharf, many small warehouses are offered for rental here as well. Cargo moves quickly in the lively economy of the Free City, so a load generally remains in a warehouse only for a week or two.
Businesses:
Armorers, bakers, bawdy houses, boarding houses, boats/nautical equipment, boot maker/leatherworker, butchers, eateries, expedition suppliers, shipper and haulers, tailors, taverns, warehouses, and weaponsmiths.
Green Dragon Inn
This is a favorite haunt of adventurers and of those seeking adventurers for various tasks. It offers relatively mundane fare, but in copious quantities. Its location on Blue Boar Street, just off of the Strip, insures that it stays a little quieter than most of the establishments in the quarter. Occasionally a bunch of students may be found here, or a Watch party hunting some criminal.
The Green Dragon is a rough, tough place; any weapons and armor can be ( and often are ) worn in here. There are six members of the bar staff, of whom three are on duty at any one time. One of the six is Imogen Gellett (NPC) who does night shifts. The proprietor of the establishment is Ricard Damaris (NPC). He is 36 years old, 6'3", 236 lbs., with thick black hair worn to shoulder length and brown eyes. He has a small triangular scar on the left side of his chin, and the fourth finger is missing from his left hand.
Fistfights, and even broken-glass and dagger fights, do not bother Ricard unduly, although he may wade in with his club to subdue people if matters are getting out of hand--his regulars know when to stop. Ricard also has a wife, Florence, who is not seen in the inn--she does the bookwork and prepares the plain bill of fare served as food here. He also has a nine-year-old daughter, Clarissa, of whom he is deeply proud, and his spoiling of her has made her a quite intolerable little brat who has temper tantrums and kicks and screams a lot.
Low Seas Tavern
This place has a well-lighted porch and lively sounds of laughter coming from within. It is a favorite of the River Quarter, though its standards are a trifle higher than most of the inns in the district. Weapons longer than daggers, for example, must be checked at the door.
Good food in small portions is available here, as is expensive but very high-quality drink. In addition to the wide assortment of adventurers usually encountered here, the inn is a favorite haunt of the wealthier Rhennee bargefolk.
The Low Seas Tavern is the domain of One-Eye Halloran (NPC), a man that, to hear him tell it, was at one time wizard, high priest, lordly knight, and master thief during his travels across the Flanaess.
One-Eye is also known as One-Leg. He proudly explains the history of each injury to anyone with the lack of judgment to ask, as well as the origins of each of the several dozen scars across his body. The stories always change.
Halloran has indeed lost an eye ( he wears a patch ) and a leg, which he has replaced with a sturdy peg. He retains order pretty much by himself, but if real trouble threatens he asks for help from the regular customers.
The River Rat
The River Rat is the central gathering place of the Rhennee in the Free City, when they leave their barges, that is. Located in the busiest part of the Strip, the River Rat never closes and never seems to want for rowdy customers.
The proprietor, a Rhennee who has lived in Greyhawk for decades, is named Zalkan Sooth(NPC). He never intervenes to break up fights, preferring to bill those involved for damages in the harsh light of the morning after.
Barge Inn
This is another of the thriving taverns on the Strip, a favorite of dwarven visitors to Greyhawk. Generally about 50% of the clientele consists of these stocky demihumans, the rest being humans of the city, bargefolk, mercenaries, and sailors.
The largest inn in the quarter, the Barge Inn occupies a commending curve on the Strip as well. Thus it is one of the busiest and rowdiest taverns in the city.
The owner an manager, Brack Snagtooth, is a dwarf originally from Greysmere, banned from that stronghold a century ago for some forgotten slight.
He has made a new home for himself, becoming the most highly regarded dwarf in the Free City. He is unofficial arbiter of disputes between dwarves here.
Brack and his "waiters" are also the enforcers of what little order there is at the inn. They move quickly to throw troublemakers out the front door with profane admonishments never to return. Of course, the brouhaha will be forgotten by the following day.
The Silver Garter
This grand house is one of the most infamous social establishments in the Free City. While its exact nature is too delicate to be discussed in a scholarly study such as this, it must be stated that the name of the establishment pretty much sets the tone.
But for all this the Barter is a friendly, convivial establishment. The invitations to handsome passers-by from the hardworking ladies perched on the house's second floor balcony are nothing if not sincere. And the welcome given one who steps through the door is even warmer.
The proprietress is a battered old ogress known only as Rhina. She has a handful of musclemen discreetly available to help in times of disturbance.