Urban Locale: Warehouse
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Merchants, traders, artisans, and some ordinary folk, need somewhere to store their bulky goods. Some own their own warehouses, while others hire the requisite space on a temporary basis.
1: The Warehouse
House of Many: This warehouse is actually a series of interconnected old buildings the merchant purchased one after another. The inside is a veritable maze of small rooms and corridors.
Heikki’s Store: The merchant Heikki Toiva owns this small warehouse. He employs guards but has no idea they are corrupt and in the pay of the thieves’ guild.
The Shed: This small warehouse belies the extensive cellar beneath it which delves several stories into the ground beneath it. The deepest level connects to a natural cave system; sometimes, the merchant flirts with an adventurer’s lifestyle within.
Carter’s Rest: This long, low warehouse is designed so that fully laden wagons can drive straight in and be stored securely. A connected stables serves the horses; often, the carters sleep under their wagons to safeguard their cargo. The warehouse has wide doors opening onto all three streets on which it stands.
2: Major Locale Features
The warehouse has wide double doors at both ends, which open onto different streets. An external staircase leads to the upper floor.
The warehouse recently suffered a minor fire, and some of its walls are blackened with soot. Parts of the roof have obviously been recently repaired.
The single-storey warehouse has a sunken appearance; two levels of storage cellars lie beneath it.
Divided into many small private storage rooms, this warehouse caters to dozens of customers.
3: Minor Locale Features
The warehouse has a thatched roof.
The owner and their family live above the warehouse in a rambling suite of rooms.
The warehouse’s main door is chained shut from within; all business passes through the small sally door.
The warehouse has an old, easily defeated lock on a side door, which is an open secret among the local thieves who sometimes come here to help themselves to small amounts of easily missed goods.
4: What’s Going On?
The warehouse is locked up and silent; no one is within.
The warehouse is bustling with activity; a cart arrives at the main door, and workers quickly unload its contents.
A loud crash followed by confused shouting from within the warehouse announces something heavy falling over.
Two carts have crashed into one another outside the warehouse spilling their goods over the road. A few beggars and other street denizens loiter nearby, waiting to see what they can pinch.
5: Other Folk
Kosti Ahti (old male human) contributes little actual work to the warehouse crew but instead hangs around and generally keeps an eye on things. He is old but canny, and he sees much.
Jegor Susi (middle-aged male human) works at the warehouse as a nightguard. Hideously disfigured by a childhood disease, Jegor prefers the quiet solitude of the warehouse at night. He is not physically brave and won’t tangle with armed adventurers and the like.
Inka Kekko (old female human) works for the thieves’ guild and is casing the joint. She is posing as a water and ale seller and is pushing a barrow containing two small barrels. She’s just pushing her barrow inside as the characters arrive. Inka wears old, ragged clothes, but a perceptive character notices she is wearing an expensive pair of golden earrings.
Isto Kaleva (middle-aged male human) works here but is fat, slovenly and lazy; if he can get away with doing nothing, he will. He is hiding in a shadowy part of the warehouse drinking when the characters arrive.
6: What’s in the Warehouse
Timber: Stacked piles of timber of different sizes and types fill the warehouse, along with bins of nails, coils of thick tarred rope, and so on. The place is a fire hazard.
Empty: Except for some broken crates, bits of rubbish, and a faint, unplaceable odour, the warehouse is empty.
Grain: Sacks of imported grain and other farm produce fill the warehouse.
Secret Fighting Den: The warehouse is empty of goods; instead, it is used as a secret fight club and drinking den.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from Urban Locale #31: Warehouse by Robert Manson. The book is available from DriveThruRPG and ragingswanpress.com.
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