The Sites

Grimspear's split up into three areas which make up the three wards. Here's a list of the most popular sites Grimspear has to offer, organized by ward.

The Old Town

This is the area that rests on the top surface of the floating island. Most of the city life is found along the shores of Lake Grimspear. The rest of the ward is dense forest area known as Basa's Grove. This is where the sylvan folk make their home.

map | detailed description

Places of Interest

Ecstasy Inn	The Palace of Lord Grimspear, the most famous inn/tavern/festhall/nightclub in all of Grimspear, and the largest in all the realms. Located on top of a cliff which overlooks Lake Grimspear.
The Everflow	A large spring which is actually a portal to the Elemental Plane of Water. Rumor has it that this site was created by the Mad Druid Basa.
Lake Grimspear	A large basin which collects the waters from the Everflow. A popualar area for swimming, relaxing, boating, and fishing.
Grimspear Coliseum	The largest arena in Grimspear and the site of the city's most prestigious tournaments and ceremonies.
Grimspear Gymnasium	The city's largest public bath and gymnasium. Located near Hero's triumph.
Basa's Grove	Not just a grove, but the entire woods which cover the Old Town. Visitors are warned to be respectful to the woods and to the sylvan races who dwell there.
The Temple of Kuan Ti	A small Eastern temple headed by the Shou monk Irondragon. Famed for its warriors of the empty hand. Perhaps the only one of its kind on Western Faerun.
The Lusty Leprechaun	A popular tavern which offers good drinks, fine entertainment, and gambling.
The Treasure Hoard	The largest gambling house in the city. Many unusual games of chance.
The Temple of Isis	The largest temple in this ward. Home of Lord Zaknafein. Perhaps the only temple off the Sword Coast which venerates a Mulhurandi Goddess.
The Carnival	A large market place where all the basic necesaties may be found for reasonable prices. A popular area for many talented street performers.
Vincent's Tower	Perched on top of the highest point on the island, and deep within Basa's Grove. This is the home of the Archmage Vincent.
Lord Rook's Palace	A beautiful elven sanctuary towards the edge of Basa's Grove on the island's southernmost point. Lord Rook's home combines elements from the classic elven architural designs; the Green Labyrinth and the Blue Circle. (see the AD&D Castle Guide for details) Known for being a site of extravagant revelries.
The Pixie Pantry	The best candy in the city. Beware, it's a popular moldman and kender haunt, and it's fully staffed and run by pixies.
The Good Lich's Bakery	A rather eccentric place decorated by an unusually morbid theme. Is it really owned by a good lich? Who knows and who cares. This is the best bakery in the city, providing the finest goods at amazingly low prices.
The Great Library of Grimspear	Like the name says, a great library. The size alone makes it a worthy contender for the 'largest library outside Candlekeep.' Many unique poetry collections and rare literary works may be found here, but not much else. A small shrine to Deneir rests in the center of the library.
The Silk Rose	The finest and most expensive tailor in the whole city. The simplest garments will cost at least 50gp, while the most expensive garments are studded with gems.
Firres Hall	Known as Fear's Hall to most dwarves and some others, this is an impressively large and beautiful opera house. Popular operas are performed nightly. Seats range from 5cp to 100pp. Lord Grimspear himself has been known to perform here. A marvelous monument and shrine to Milil stands before the front entrance.
Grimspear University	Not really a university, but a bards' college. This place is to bards as guilds are to everyone else. Bard's gather here to trade tales/songs/poems and learn each other's skills, but anyone is welcome. Anyone can come here to learn or develop an artistic skill. Small performances of all types are given daily and nightly. Two shrines exist on opposite ends of the college; one to Oghma, the other to Finder.
Beholder's Beauty Salon	A beauty salon run by Zand'nelar, a truly unique and eccentric beholder. Zand'nelar is a masterful artist capable of making any humanoid beautiful. Zand'nelar knows so much about humanoid make-up, hair dressing, and hair/skin care, that he can be considered a beautician sage. Why a beholder would spend centuries perfecting such a craft is unknown. He is scorned by others of his own kind and beloved by the women of Grimspear.
The House of Plenty	A high class brothel run by Madam Raventhorn. Fine rooms and even finer women. The women are well trained in etiquette, dancing, massage, and the arts of love. Very expensive.
The Hungry Owlbear	A large festhall for large parties looking for large meals at not so large prices. Not a fancy place, but the food and drinks are decent, plenty, and inexpensive. The place is always open and always packed with hundreds people.

The Hanging City

The Hanging City is the name given to the part of Grimspear, which hangs from the sides of the floating island. This ward consists of many multiple levels. Most of the structures are built right into the sides of the island. Some buildings are carved into the island's rocky sides. Some buildings actually hang off of rock or wooden ledges. Many bridges, staircases, and catwalks wrap around the sides of the island connecting to the buildings of the Hanging City. Some of these are carved into the rock but most of these walkways are made of rope and wood. The Hanging City is accessible by stairways that lead from the Old Town, or tunnels that lead from the Hollow City. The stairways are found on most of the major catwalks, the tunnels are found behind most of the buildings.

Places of Interest

The Float Docks	Grimspear's famed spelljamming docks.
The Swings	A popular form of amusement in the Hanging City. The swings are found all around the Hanging City. They vary in type from bungee jumps to multiple passager swings, but are seldom longer than 100'. Rides cost anywhere from 1cp-5pp.
The Lifts	These are the cranes which lift people up to the island from sea level.
Tiamat's Perch	One of the most popular inn/taverns in the Hanging City. Very popular among adventurers. Owned by three famous gladiators; Onyx Darkclaw, Nathaniel Hawkslayer, and Chuck.
The Tower of Wondrous Arcana	The headquarters of the Grimspearean Wizard's Guild (AKA the Eccentric Wizard's Guild). Many strange things happen in and around here. The Tower also deals in spell components, specializing in the rare and unusual, as well as very minor and next to useless magic items.
Captain Starforge's Shipyard	The only ship building company in Grimspear, run by ex-captain Gunthar Starforge, a reputable dwarf. Specializing in spelljamming craft (of course.) Fairly expensive, but high quality craftsmanship. Captain Starforge's also deals in a variety of spacefaring equipment and supposedly has connections to the Arcane.
Xsraypak's Armaments	The place to go for exotic, unusual, or custom made weapons. The proprietor is Xsraypak, an Athasian thrikreen skilled at making those crazy weapons which until now were found only on Athas. You'll also find things like nunchuks and boomerangs, but don't expect to find any normal weapons here.
The Arrow of Slaying	Located next door to Xsraypak's, this shop is owned and operated by the elf, Quanthelir Silverbow, and the dwarf, Berril Grimlock. Quanthelir's a master bowyer/fletcher. Berril specializes in crossbows. The finest in ranged weaponry, but no arrows of slaying.
Falconhand's Stable	This tiny stable is owned and operated by the human, Gary Falconhand. Gary specializes in hippogriffs and griffins and he's usually got about a dozen of each variety in stock.
The Gem Trader	As you might of guessed, a good place to trade gems. Gems may be traded here for Grimspearean trade bars. You can also purchase exquisitely crafted jewelry here. The proprietor is a mysterious thrikreen known only as "Jeweler Bug," an expert appraiser in gems and jewelry.
The Flying Fish	A large market place where fishermen come every morning to auction off their catches to the highest bidders. Every day, at the just before the break of dawn, frenzied throngs of restaurant owners from all over Grimspear turn the place into a mad house, everyone of them eager to purchase the finest fish for their customers.
The Magic Pan	A restaurant which serves only highly exotic dishes, meaning rare meats, rarer plants, and highest prices. Master Chef Cranabar is one of the finest in the city. So far only 2 people have ordered the 100,000gp Tarrasque dish. An exquisite dish but it "tasted like chicken." (highly dubious)
The Spiked Gauntlet	One of many body mortification studios found in the city. Highly skilled in piercing and artistic scarification.
Bob's Classy Ladies	A popular festhall and house of ill repute run by Bobbolen Waller. Famous for it's alluring dancing girls whom most would describe as more volumptous than classy.
Stix	A shop that deals exclusively in sticks. You'll find high quality sticks for any purpose, be it walking, magic enchantment, or fighting. The owner in an elf by the name of Raintanthalus.

The Hollow City

This is the city's largest ward. The Hollow City is the part of Grimspear located in the island's cavern interior. Most of this ward covers the interior of Arendur's cavern and surrounds Lake Glitterpool. Like many underground cities, structures aren't just built on the ground, they're also on the walls. Some buildings are even built onto some of the larger stalactites. Many tunnels branch off from the main cavern and lead into smaller ones. These smaller caverns are mostly reserved for dwelling places. Many tunnels also provide access to the other wards. Unless otherwise noted, assume all Hollow City locations to be located within Arendur's Cavern.

Places of Interest

Lake Glitterpool	A large underground lake surrounding the base of the Spike.
The Spike	A large rock column with a 1/4 mile diameter, which connects the ceiling of Arendur's Cavern and the bottom of the Glitterpool. Many buildings have built themselves onto The Spike, including the Grand Clock.
The Grand Bazaar	A large market place where almost anything short of powerful magic items can be found. Many auctions take place everyday. Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog has an outlet here.
The Blood Pit	The bloodiest fighting arena in Grimspear. No-holds-barred competition. Anything Goes, but overt magic and psionics are frowned upon. The mortality rate here is very high and no healers are available at this arena.
The Vulgar Unicorn	This is the roughest tavern in the city. No one walks in without being hit by a flying chair. This place has been destroyed and rebuilt at least a dozen times.
The Grand Clock	A gigantic clock built halfway up The Spike. This is the temple of Gond The Wonderbringer, and the largest temple in the city. Inside the clock is a huge gnomish workshop, laboratory, and place of worship.
The Slides	The most popular way of accessing the Hollow City from the other wards. These are waterslide tunnels. Some are very tame and gentle, others are very wild and dangerous. All of them empty into the Glitterpool. The largest slide tunnels carry passengers down on boats.
The Palace of Bast	Headed by the beautiful half-elven high priestess Mena, this temple is dedicated to the Cult of the Sharess, possibly the largest of its kind in the Realms. Parties are thrown nightly for members of the cult, and weekly for the public. The greatest orgies in Grimspear are found at this temple.
Tiamat's Pit	A popular tavern/fighting arena, brought to you by the same three gladiators who brought you Tiamat's Perch. A great bar and an arena which offers fierce competition.
The Crystal Caverns	A series of smaller caverns where many crystals are found. Lord Tyrin makes his home here and welcomes anyone in need of a quiet place to meditate.
Moldville	The second largest cavern in Grimspear. This is the largest concentration of moldman dwellings, hence it's name. Despite the warm and friendly nature of the community, most non-moldmen (except for kender) tend to avoid Moldville. Many small moldman operated businesses are found here, but offer little of practical interest.
Velinquir's Fine Wines.	Velinquir is an elven importer who specializes in fine wines. Extremely expensive, but the best selection. Here you'll easily find both the rare and exotic.
Steelgrip's Armory	A massive forge headed by the dwarf, Steelgrip. The largest provider of arms and armor in the city. They supply the armed forces of Grimspear. Good dwarven craftsmanship, decent prices.
Sharp's Gallery	Owned and operated by a mysterious kenku calling himself Sharp. This guy's a grandmaster weaponsmith who makes nothing but bladed weapons. He's very expensive and he makes only fine and exceptional quality. He can make any kind of sword or knife known to exist and knows all the techniques for working in all those special, rare, exotic materials.
Ironrage's School of Combat	Owned by the retired dwarven battlerager, Ironrage. The school's split into 3 parts; a battlerager school open only to dwarves, a gladiator school open to anyone, and a large training ground featuring many state of the art mechanical obstacle courses and training dummies. Only enrolled students may use the grounds.
The Liquor Dragon	A popular tavern located in it's own small cavern. Known for it's strong drinks and a planar portal which shifts between Sigil and the Outlands on a weekly basis. The portal key is a thrown copper piece.
Danse Macabre	A fighting arena which invites only the most exotic warriors and caters to the sophisticated, high class audience. Fights are usually to the death. Wrestling, magic, and psionics are prohibited in matches. Minimum bet is 10pp. Prizes are among the highest.
Bloodstained Canvas	One of many tatoo parlors found in the city. This shop specializes in large scale works of portraits and scene depictions. The work here is expensive, but worth it. An old tatoo covered human by the name of Wingran Sangrost is master tatoo artist. He works with 5 younger apprentices.
The Drunken Drow	One of many decent taverns found in the hollow ward. This one's popular because of the picture on it's front sign; a manic drow holding a mug up in the air with no pants on.
The Snatchbox	A small brothel. The place isn't very pretty, but the women are cheap. A popular place.
Dwarf Ready!	An armory that specializes in dwarven battlerager gear. A favorite place of all battleragers. The owner is an old battlerager by the name of Sareg Bloodspike. Non-dwarves be warned, his common isn't too keen.
The Stewpot	"The best gruel in all the Realms!" as proclaimed by Lord Grimspear himself. Before that was said, only the poor would come for the cheap gruel. Now everyone comes for the cheap gruel.