[X] [ROADSMEN] The army taught them no trade save war; how else could they live in peace?
War trains a man - not only in how to fight and how to kill but in how to live as well. When one lives off the land of an enemy, one learns to take what is needed and that the only real law is that of the bayonet. For more than a decade, war has trained the men of the King's Army in such a manner, with a method no less expert and no less thorough than that of a master carpenter or blacksmith. It is from that tutelage that they've now graduated, and for far too many, there's no other way.
But those men are not in Antar anymore. The attitudes once so encouraged when inflicted upon the enemy have now been turned upon their own country. The behaviour which had been so necessary to their very survival at war marks them as brigands in a time of peace, and perhaps for such men, there's no other way of thinking.
There will be no way out for such fellows, save at the end of a noose, a destiny which they had unwittingly accepted the instant they enlisted themselves. Some part of you cannot help but feel sorry for them.
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Your ship docks in Aetoria on a rare sunny spring day to find the situation direr than it had been the autumn before. The vagrants and beggars which had seemed so thick on the ground before seem to have doubled in number, and your passage through the poorer parts of the city is marked with a distinct and tense unease. Your clothing and accoutrements may seem practical in your eyes, but to the gaunt faces peeking out at you from alleyways and windows, it is still the finery of a lord. It isn't difficult to see the jealousy in their expressions.
And yes, the resentment too.
You waste no time in renting out the set of lodgings which you'd taken up during your last visit, but as you cram all of your luggage into the series of cramped rooms, you know you'll have to set up a more long-term living arrangement before you can even consider getting seriously involved in the politics of the capital.
The renting of a townhouse means more than the acquisition of a more permanent address; it is also the establishment of a home base and headquarters for all your activities in the capital. Your townhouse is where you will entertain your friends and potential allies. Its location and proximity to the centres of power will serve as an advertisement of your political leanings and a demonstration of the resources you're willing to expend to aid friends and destroy rivals. A large, impressively decorated townhouse in a fashionable district of the city could win you allies, influence, and stature among the city's great and good—if you can afford the cost.
Naturally, you make the acquisition of such a residence your chief priority. You have inquiries made immediately, and within a day of your arrival, you're able to ascertain that there are four districts of the city in which a man of your class and means might be expected to rent a townhouse, each with its own characteristics and possibilities:
First, there is the Castle Quarter in the very shadow of the Northern Keep. It is the oldest and most distinguished part of the city, with many of its grand houses built long before the Unified Kingdom was even an errant notion in Edwin the Strong's eye. The Duke of Wulfram makes his city residence there, as do many of his faction, and although you certainly cannot afford the grand, free-standing palaces which dominate the Castle Quarter, you might be able to manage one of the slightly more modest terraced townhouses nearby—if only just.
There's also the area around what was once Greatmarket Square. It is Victory Square now, renamed and refurbished at the order of the King following the conclusion of the war with Antar, complete with a great bronze equestrian statue of King Miguel himself. Needless to say, the neighbourhood has already gained a reputation as a hotbed of Royalist sentiment, and the streets around the square ring with the sound of building hammers as fashionable new townhouses rise to handle the influx of well-heeled and fashionable newcomers—including yourself, if you are so inclined.
Then there's Saint Octavia's Park, a district that needs no new statues or great squares to cement its reputation as the most well-regarded part of the city. Only the most fashionable make their homes around the great park that gives the neighbourhood its name, and only the wealthiest can afford the exorbitant rents which such popularity has fuelled. Many of the senior officers who made their fortunes in Antar—Palliser, most noticeably—have moved into the area, drawn not only by its fashionable nature but the somewhat martial air that the close proximity of Grenadier Square provides, not to mention the opportunities which such closeness to the Army's general headquarters might offer.
Lastly, and perhaps least of all, there is Prince Robert's Street not far from the docks. A townhouse there would not be fashionable, and it would not get you noticed, but it would be cheap, or at least as cheap as a lord's residence can get without being an embarrassment. If you can afford nothing else, you might have some prospects there.
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[X] What does the Castle Quarter have to offer?
You find three prospects in the Castle Quarter, each located along one of the great old roads which radiate from the Northern Keep.
The first is a spacious townhouse on the main avenue leading up to the gates of the Northern Keep itself. Less than a block from the Duke of Wulfram's own house, it boasts an immense façade of marble and granite and is decorated in the latest style. It is a house meant to be seen and meant to be lived in by the sort of man who doesn't have any compunctions about flaunting his wealth—especially with its rent set at five hundred crown a year.
The second is a rather more modest abode, but only in relation to the first. Its façade doesn't sit within sight of the King's own residence, its furnishings are not quite as opulent, and its rooms somewhat less extensive, but it is still an imposing edifice meant for an owner set upon making an entrance into the world of Aetorian society. Rent is posted at three hundred crown a year.
The third possibility is smaller by far, almost out of sight. It is perhaps the sort of house that might be expected of a minor baron without a wife or children—which is to say, the sort of townhouse you might be expected to rent. Although it does not boast an imposing appearance or the ornate decoration of a more prominent residence, it is still a most respectable home and would be more than enough to get you noticed, if only a little. For a hundred and fifty crown a year, you might even consider it a bargain.
You put your notes on the Castle Quarter away and take a look at the prospects that await you in other parts of the city…
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[X] Take a closer look at townhouses around Victory Square.
Greatmarket Square has long been home to the headquarters of Aetoria's more prosperous merchant houses, but it was only recently that the area became a fashionable neighbourhood for the city's Baneblooded classes. Now, there's construction everywhere, as old counting houses and shops are turned into new residences for those with the funds to afford them.
The largest of these conversions is an imposing stone building facing the square itself. Once it was a market hall, but over the past year, it has been entirely refurbished inside and out. Now, like a poor labourer suddenly made wealthy, it has been entirely done over in the most opulent and fashionable style to hide any taint of its humble origins. Renting such a place would give you one of the most prominent homes in the district and a residence more than fitting of your station, although, with rent posted at five hundred crown a year, it would be a costly privilege indeed.
There are also entirely new builds - townhouses constructed from the ground up. They're considerably smaller than the conversions, but they still possess all the respectability of a house in a fashionable part of the city, with none of the lingering odour of trade clinging to their beams. The largest of these newly constructed residences would more than suffice for the city residence of a country baron. At three hundred crown a year, perhaps it is worth the price.
Lastly, there are the smaller residences for rent. These have mostly been converted from shopfronts and small offices. Unfortunately, no amount of refurbishment can disguise the coarse origins of such buildings, but nowhere else would you be able to get a townhouse of such size in an area as fashionable for a rate as low as a hundred and fifty crown a year.
You set your notes on Victory Square aside and take a look at the possibilities elsewhere in the city…
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[X] Examine the options available in Saint Octavia's Park.
No part of Aetoria is quite like Saint Octavia's Park, the most exclusive and expensive part of the city. There's no need to seek out townhouses of particular size or opulence here, for every residence is designed to impress, and even the most modest home is a palace in miniature.
Yet some of those palaces are less in miniature than others. Even here, there are buildings of greater and lesser stature, and one of the most imposing is currently available. It once belonged to Baron Tourbridge before he met his end at Blogia, and given the late baron's well-known reputation for lavish spending and grand entertainments, you do not doubt that such a residence stands head and shoulders above its neighbours—how else could it expect to justify its exorbitant rent of a thousand crown a year?
Of course, not all of the townhouses in the area are so princely in both size and cost, though only the most grandiose mind could ever condescend to call such grand homes 'modest.' Even the middling residences around Saint Octavia's Park are immense structures, boasting great ballrooms, immense banquet halls, and even open interior courtyards, like the atrium of a M'hidiyossi palace. Likewise, even the middling residences in the area command prices that would be ludicrous anywhere else. You cannot find any residence for rent of such a size that doesn't at least demand seven hundred crown a year.
Your only option below that point is to rent one of the smaller, less impressive houses, the ones with façades facing away from the park rather than the more fashionable ones facing towards it. They're certainly the least massive residences available in the area, but they're still far more than what might be expected of the city residence of a minor baron. Even the most modest houses by Saint Octavia's Park are set up in the most fashionable style—and cost at least four hundred crown a year.
You put away your notes on Saint Octavia's Park and consider, for the moment anyway, less ruinously expensive options.
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[X] Take a look at Prince Robert's Street.
Under normal circumstances, most would consider a residence on Prince Robert's Street unfit for a Lord of the Cortes. An untitled Baneblood, perhaps. The more prosperous sort of shipowner or wholesaler, most definitely. But for a Lord of the Cortes to stomach living alongside the common baneless, less than a few hundred paces from the harbour amid the stench of rotting fish and the calls of dockside whores? That is something else entirely.
Even the grandest and most imposing residence available seems fitter for a wealthy baneless merchant than a gentleman of the blood. It dwarfs its neighbours, true, but even so, it would only be considered a middling sort of home in a more fashionable part of town. The only thing you can really recommend for it is the price of rent, posted at a "mere" two hundred and forty crown a year.
There are smaller, even more economical options, of course, ones that straddle the line betwixt merely modest and downright shabby. Still, if you can stomach the cramped corridors, gaudy paint, and somewhat less-than-tasteful wallpaper, you suppose you might be able to make do, especially if it'll only set you back a hundred and twenty crown a year.
You almost dare not look for anything cheaper than that, but you do, and you find something, a wretched little set of rooms, the sort which might normally be rented out to the family of a grocer or a bookbinder or something like that. Still, it would accommodate you, plus a respectable complement of servants, and for a mere eighty crown a year at that.
Quite the bargain—if you don't mind never showing your face in public again. You put away your notes on Prince Robert's Street with a visceral sense of disgust. Surely you can do better than this?
-
Living in the Castle Quarter will improve your standing with the Duke of Wulfram and his followers while calling Victory Square home will likewise win you favor with those that support the King's policy. Saint Octavia's Park wins influence with Grenadier Square, while Prince Robert's Street is the most affordable neighborhood if you can tolerate living among the...
upper middle class.
[ ] [HOME] Castle Quarter.
-[ ] I mean to make a real splash. I shall rent out the largest townhouse. (+250 Townhouse Rent)
-[ ] The medium-sized townhouse seems best suited for me. (+150 Townhouse Rent)
-[ ] I will take the smallest of the three. (+75 Townhouse Rent)
[ ] [HOME] Victory Square.
-[ ] Former trading house or not, a huge townhouse is worth the price. (+250 Townhouse Rent)
-[ ] I will settle for the new build. It is more my style. (+150 Townhouse Rent)
-[ ] A converted shop may not be ideal, but it is affordable. (+75 Townhouse Rent)
[ ] [HOME] Saint Octavia's Park.
-[ ] Money is no object. I will have the most extravagant house in the city. (+500 Townhouse Rent)
-[ ] Something grand, then—but not too grand. (+350 Townhouse Rent)
-[ ] I will choose something modest—by the area's standards, anyhow. (+200 Townhouse Rent)
[ ] [HOME] Prince Robert's Street.
-[ ] If I am to live in such a wretched hovel, it shall at least be a spacious one. (+120 Townhouse Rent)
-[ ] I must be economical, even if it means cramped hallways and tasteless wallpaper. (+60 Townhouse Rent)
-[ ] I fear I can only afford the cheapest possible accommodation. (+40 Townhouse Rent)
