Styes

Greyhawk Settlement

Styes
The Styes, illustrated by Joachim Barrum, in Dungeon #121 (2005).
General information
Realm:	district of Prymp, Ahlissa
Size:	Small city
Government
Authority:	Mr. Dory, Rashlen, Sliris, Thornwell (councilmen)
Alignment:	Neutral evil
Demographics
Population:	11,872
Races:	Mixed (78% human, 5% gnome, 4% dwarf, 4% halfling, 3% half-orc, 3% half-elf, 3% other)

This article is about the location—the harbor district of Prymp. For the adventure set there published in Dungeon magazine #121, see The Styes

The Styes is a downtrodden slum harbor district in Prymp, in Ahlissa.

Description

"Under smoke-bent gables, palsied carcasses of houses lean against each other languid, broken, awaiting the peace of collapse. Door frames sag, dislocated from sod walls heavy with mildew, and hemorrhaged timbers hang like broken limbs from rotting boardwalks into the thick, rancid waters of the harbor below. In many places, sections of the boardwalks have fallen away completely, leaving gaping holes that expose polluted waters. This is the Styes, a motley and decayed district of a once-important port city."—The Styes, Chapter 1: The Dying City

History

"Once, the Styes was a marvelous ocean gateway. Her magnificent buildings crowned a man-made island which fountained from the ocean itself, held aloft on leviathan forests of great oak piers and boardwalks. These huge beams proudly carried great facades of marble grandeur, crowned with a thousand dancing statues, impossible towers, and dizzily sloping gables, a testament to the quality of the greatest builders the world had to offer. Her streets thronged with richly clothed merchants, exotic courtesans, and the passing palanquins of nobility. It was known as the Island of Pleasures, a Xanadu of vice and indolence. It was a destination for the rich and decadent of the world."—The Styes

Geography

The Styes and the city it is a part of, Prymp, lie on the coast of Relmor Bay on the northern edge of the Ahlissan plains, in the western arm of the United Kingdom of Ahlissa.

Cityscape

District quarters

• Low Quarter—"Also known as Flotsam, the northwest section of the Styes consists  mainly of slum tenements, dubious taverns, rickety warehouses, hovel-crowded alleys, and de-commissioned ships converted into buildings. This entire area is slowly sinking into the sea. As old buildings become unlivable, new ones are built atop them, and the  tangle of structures is four or five stories deep in some places. Many of the lower structures are completely walled off from the outside. making them ideal places for hidden caches and black markets. Swaying rope bridges provide the best avenues bet ween the blocks of this quarter, since the old boardwalks are sinking like everything else."
• Alchemists Quarter—"The Alchemists' Quarter is the northeast section of the Styes. Long ago, it was the seat of the district's scholastic and religious leadership. but its once-fine temples and universities have long been dismantled for construction materials, or converted into dim. smoky factories and noxious laboratories owned by shady alchemists. With no regulation to speak of in the Styes, alchemists are free to conduct whatever dangerous experiments they like. and to cut corners on safety and quality control. Iron chimneys belch smoke and foul vapors into the air. while liquid and solid waste are dumped into the water around the quarter."
• High Quarter—"The seal of local government in better days, this quarter is the southeast section of the Styes. Most of the buildings here were once municipal offices, but only a few are still in operation. All the rest are either deserted or have been rented to strange and furtive eccentrics. This section of the district is the least populated, and its often-empty streets and boardwalks are in stark contrast to the crowds that frequent the other three quarters. Militia patrols are common here, but guards in the High Quarter are nearly universally corrupt."
• Merchants' Quarter—"The southwest section of the Styes hosts most of the district's industry and mercantile efforts. Most of the community's fishers live here, and numerous ware-houses line the edges of the quarter. Most of these places are either abandoned and boarded up. or serving as flophouses. Of the four quarters, the Merchants' Quarter is the most welcoming to visitors, though that's not saying much. It's also said to be the healthiest part of the district, but that's not saying much, either."

Notable locations

1. Harbormaster
2. Frother's Lamp
3. Marketplace
4. City Garrison
5. City Hall
6. Refrum's workshop
7. Dory's warehouse
8. Rashilen Manor
9. Thornwell tower
10. The mortuary
11. Hopene'er Asylum

People

Notable individuals

Authority figures

• Mr. Dory, councilman (male corpse creature human rogue6/cleric 3)
• Rashlen, councilman (male human ranger8/assassin 5)
• Sliris, Councilman (male wererat gnome lich wizard 11)
• Thornwell, councilman (male human bard 8/disciple of Asmodeus 6)

Important Characters

• Tak Merakin, harbormaster (male human rogue 5)
• The Stitcher of Souls, bound servant of the Councilmen (cornugon devil)
• Refrum, inventor (male human cleric 5)

Others:

• 250 city constables (fighter 3).

Publication history

The Styes originally appeared in Dungeon magazine #121 (2005), in an adventure of the same name. It was later folded into Ghosts of Saltmarsh (2019) as one of the adventures in that anthology, with only minor changes, though it was for a higher level.

"Richard Pett conjured this ghastly sea port for Dungeon 121 in 2005. “The Styes” feels like it was pulled straight from the mind of H. P. Lovecraft, but in Richard Pett’s capable hand we’re treated to perhaps the most memorable depiction of both a cunning aboleth plot and a sinister cult of Tharizdun. Many adventures are set aboard a ship at sea. Can you name another that challenges you to infiltrate a moldering ship held aloft by a crane, above the streets of a slowly dying city?"

Gallery

Maps

• 
  Cartography by Dyson Logos, GoS (2019).
• 
  Cartography by Jason Engle, Dungeon #121 (2005).

External links

Disclaimer:Any lore presented through the following links does not necessarily adhere to established officially published content, and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki.

References

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic	Type	Description	Product	Page/Card/Image
Alchemists' Quarter (Styes)	Place	Quarter,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	164, 167, 168, 169, 172
Council Hall (Styes)	Place	Ward,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	167(Map), 169
Council, The (Styes)	People Group	Council,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	163, 165, 166, 167, 169, 170, 172, 185, 246
District Garrison (Styes)	Building	Barrack/Watch station,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	168(Map), 169, 170, 171
Flotsam (Styes)	Place		Reference	SEE Low Quarter (Styes)
Frother's Lamp (Lighthouse) (Styes)	Building	Lighthouse,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	167(Map), 168, 178
Harbor Master (Styes)	Place	Docks,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	167(Map), 168
Hemlock Pit (Styes)	Place	City Quarter/Districts,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	164, 167(Map), 169, 172-178, 173(Map)
High Quarter (Styes)	Place	Quarter,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	168, 169, 170
Hopene'er Asylum (Styes)	Building	Madhouse,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	164, 167(Map), 169, 170
Lamplicker's Way (Styes)	Infrastructure	Street or road,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	170
Landgrave's Folly (Styes)	Place	Quarter,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	163, 179, 181, 182, 183
Low Quarter (Styes)	Place	Quarter,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	168, 178, 179
Marketplace (Styes)	Place	Market square,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	167(Map), 168
Merchants' Quarter (Styes)	Place	Quarter,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	168, 172
Milden Span (Styes)	Infrastructure	Bridge,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	179(Map), 180
Mortuary (Styes)	Place	Cemetery,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	167(Map), 169, 170
Port District (Styes)	Place	District,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	163, 165
Refrum's Workshop (Styes)	Building	Shop,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	167(Map), 169
Styes	Settlement	City, (576 pop: 12000),	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	165-169
Styes Militia	People Group	Organization/Society,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	164, 166, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174
Tharizdun, Temple of (Styes)	Building	Temple,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	179-185
The Styes	Adventure	Located in: Ahlissa,	Dungeon magazine #121	40-62
The Styes	Adventure	Located in: Ahlissa,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	28, 163-185
Thornwell Tower (Styes)	Building	Tower,	Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e	167(Map), 169