Styes

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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)

The Styes is a downtrodden slum 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 of Prymp, lies on the coast of Relmor Bay on the northern edge of the Ahlissan plains, in the western arm of the Principality of Ahlissa .

Cityscape

District quarters

• Alchemists' Quarter—
• High Quarter—
• Low Quarter or Flotsam—
• Merchants' Quarter—

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.

"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).

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