Player-Character Owned Businesses

(Businesses on This Page will require a Player Character to be PRESENT so that PERMISSION can be granted for access to it when you are in character. If they are not around, wait for them, or seek an alternative for your scene.)

Le Théâtre des Rêves 

a mysterious and eerie opera house located in the shadowy corners of Altheris. Its grand, gothic architecture is decaying with age, and the atmosphere is thick with the scent of old wood and blood. Inside, performances feature bloody, violent operas and plays, blending disturbing violence with haunting, supernatural themes. These shows are produced by La Compagnie des Ombres, a secretive theater troupe led by a mysterious figure known only as "La Directrice." The performers, gaunt and hypnotic, seem to be part of a dark, supernatural pact.

Rumors swirl about the disturbing nature of the performances, with actors allegedly drinking blood on stage and blurring the line between reality and fiction. Whispers speak of sinister rituals and dark forces at play. Despite the theater's disturbing reputation, it draws thrill-seekers eager to witness the macabre combination of opera and horror, leaving them haunted by what they’ve seen and the lingering, eerie music that stays with them long after the show ends.

 owned by Romula Constantinescu

Placeholder for: A Black Market Potion Shop

owned by Catanikis The Great!

Other Points of Interest

(These locations are completely NPC owned and operated and do not require permission for IC use!)

The Main Strip

The Main Strip of Altheris bustles with energy, a vibrant tapestry of commerce, law, and life woven together in the heart of the city. This wide avenue, paved with cobbled stones worn smooth by centuries of foot traffic, stretches through the city's core, lined with a mix of shops, government buildings, and spaces where both citizens and travelers alike mingle.

As you walk down the strip, the sharp scent of fresh bread greets you first, drifting from the Olde Crust Bakery. The shopfront is a warm, welcoming sight, with freshly baked loaves and pastries stacked in the window. The bakery is a popular stop for both the city’s common folk and the wealthier nobles who come for its legendary spiced honey cakes and golden-crusted bread. The baker, an older woman with flour-dusted hands, always greets passersby with a warm smile and the latest gossip from the town.

Next door is the Blood and Bone Butchery, its wooden sign swinging above the door, painted with the image of a cleaver and a dripping joint of meat. The butcher’s shop is a no-nonsense place where the sounds of slicing knives and the rich scent of fresh cuts of meat fill the air. Carcasses of wild game and freshly butchered livestock hang in the shop’s windows, enticing customers with the promise of hearty meals. Inside, the butcher himself, a brawny man with a thick beard, carves expertly while chatting with customers about the hunt and the best cuts for different dishes.

A little further down the street stands the imposing structure of the Courthouse of Justice, a massive stone building with tall columns and engraved statues of past rulers guarding the entrance. Its glistening steps lead up to a heavy wooden door where city guards stand watch, ensuring order is kept. The courthouse is the heart of law in Altheris, where criminals are tried, official decrees are made, and the fates of the accused are decided. The bustling sounds of defendants arguing their cases and judges’ proclamations echo from within, starkly contrasting the peaceful market street outside.

Across the strip is the Redveil Apothecary, a quaint but mysterious potion shop, its windows always fogged with the steam of boiling brews. The air smells of herbs, strange flowers, and the faint trace of something otherworldly. Inside, bottles of brightly colored liquids line the shelves, each with a label scrawled in a different language or symbol. The potions range from healing elixirs to enchanted tonics for power, love, or fortune. For those in need of something truly rare, they can also procure magical reagents—for a price.

At the end of the strip, the Prison of Altheris looms, a grim building with iron bars, a tall stone wall, and a heavily guarded gate. The structure is surrounded by a dark, shadowed courtyard where prisoners are often seen working under the watchful eyes of the warden and his guards. Rumors circulate that the prison holds more than just common criminals; some say it houses those who have crossed the city’s most powerful figures, locked away in dark cells for unspeakable crimes.

Just across from the prison is the Town Square, a sprawling open space where the farmer’s market is set up every morning. Stalls filled with fresh produce, baskets of eggs, and bundles of wild herbs line the square. Farmers from surrounding towns come to sell their goods, and the air is filled with the sounds of bargaining and laughter. The sunlight filters down through the trees surrounding the square, giving the area a peaceful, almost idyllic feel, in stark contrast to the tense atmosphere of the nearby prison.

The last stop on the strip is the Bazaar of Altheris, a chaotic, open-air market that sprawls through the square and beyond. The marketplace is always teeming with activity, its brightly colored tents and wooden stalls offering everything from exotic spices and silks to rare magical trinkets and mysterious relics from distant lands. Merchants from all over the realms come to sell their goods, and traders from other worlds pass through the many portals that open up in the city, adding to the bazaar’s mystique. The clink of coins, the loud haggling, and the smell of strange food and incense fill the air. It is here that artifacts, secrets, and gossip are exchanged just as frequently as the wares.

Bards and Noble is a cozy, enchanting bookstore tucked away in the heart of the merchant district. With its labyrinth of bookshelves filled with ancient tomes, magical scrolls, and tales of adventure, it’s a haven for scholars, adventurers, and dreamers alike. The shop exudes an inviting warmth, where the scent of old parchment mingles with the sounds of bards playing soft tunes in the corner. Sections of the store include arcane wisdom, epic poetry, fables, and even adventuring guides. More than just a place to buy books, Bards and Noble serves as a gathering spot for those in search of stories, knowledge, and inspiration—where every visit promises a new journey, both within the pages and beyond.

The Farmer’s Market is a vibrant open-air market offering fresh produce, artisanal goods, and exotic items. While most goods come from local farmers, the market is also influenced by magical portals that bring in strange fruits, rare spices, and otherworldly plants from distant realms. The market attracts a diverse crowd, including farmers, families, scholars, travelers, and priests who sell blessed relics. Though mostly a place of community, the portals occasionally bring unexpected dangers, such as creatures from other realms or bizarre items. Still, the market remains a lively blend of the everyday and the extraordinary, where simple pleasures meet the mysteries of magic.

The Docks are a bustling hub of trade and activity where ships from across realms arrive, bringing goods, travelers, and danger. The air is thick with the scent of the sea, fish, and cargo, while dockhands and merchants unload exotic goods and mysterious relics. The docks are alive with the sounds of creaking ships, clattering carts, and seagulls, creating a constant rhythm of commerce and movement. The harbor is shared by merchant vessels, pirate ships, and cargo fleets, their sails marked by strange symbols, and the waters constantly shift with activity. At the edge of the docks stands a worn lighthouse, its light guiding ships while also symbolizing the tension between law and lawlessness in the area. The Docks are a place of opportunity for some and danger for others, offering both new beginnings and forbidden trade, with a deep connection to the city's criminal underworld and the mysteries of the sea.

Notre Royaume is an imposing and majestic structure, rising high in the city with its white marble spires and stained glass windows depicting divine scenes. Inside, the vast interior is filled with an air of holiness, with a giant crucifix at the altar and a scent of incense lingering in the space. The church is not only a center of worship but also a political powerhouse, with the Holy Order guiding the city's moral and political direction, led by the Justice Minister Claude Frollo. However, beneath its grandeur, rumors swirl of corruption and forbidden practices within the church, including secretive rituals and the guarding of ancient relics and texts. The church's outward appearance as a sanctuary of faith masks its darker, more complex role in the city's power struggles, blending divine reverence with shadowy dealings.

The Underground

The Quiet Tome is a secretive, underground bookshop hidden deep within the shadowy catacombs of Altheris. Accessible only through a network of hidden tunnels and underground passages, it is known only to those who deal in the forbidden and the dangerous. The shop specializes in rare and illegal texts on banned magic, including cursed spells, necromantic rituals, and dark arcane knowledge. The shelves are stocked with ancient grimoires, many locked behind magical wards or tucked away in concealed rooms, safeguarding the most dangerous secrets. Grigori, the owner, is a calculating figure who carefully monitors his clientele—mages, scholars, criminals, and anyone desperate for the power that forbidden knowledge can grant. To gain access to The Quiet Tome, one must navigate the perilous underground network, as the shop’s entrance is only accessible through hidden doors and tunnels that wind beneath the city. Those who seek knowledge here must be willing to pay a steep price, often more than just gold—sometimes blood, favors, or dangerous deeds. Every book sold carries a curse or a consequence, making The Quiet Tome both a sanctuary for the desperate and a trap for the unwary.

The City Outskirts

The Woods on the outskirts of Altheris is a vast, dense forest filled with ancient trees, thick underbrush, and a variety of wildlife. While the outer edges are home to hunters and woodcutters, the deeper areas of the forest are wild and untamed, offering both resources and dangers. The woods are known for their quiet solitude, with trails that often twist and disappear, leading travelers deeper into disorientation. The forest is home to deer, boar, wolves, and other creatures, making it a place for hunters, but also a place where those who stray too far risk becoming lost or encountering accidents. The forest is isolated but slightly marked by civilization, with old, abandoned cabins and logging camps scattered throughout. At night, the woods become even more eerie, filled with the sounds of nocturnal animals and the oppressive silence of the wilderness. The Whispering Woods stand as a reminder of nature's raw power and resilience, a place where human influence fades and the forces of the wild reign.

The Setting

The City

Altheris stands as a monumental crossroads of both faith and the unknown, a sprawling city whose spires and towers reach ever skyward, seemingly touching the heavens themselves. At its core, Altheris is a city of divine power, its architecture steeped in the grandeur of the holy church, where golden statues of saints line the streets, and towering cathedrals with stained-glass windows shine like beacons of light. The city is ruled by a combination of the Holy Archdiocese and the Elder Council of Arcane Scholars, an uneasy yet symbiotic pairing that governs both the spiritual and magical realms of Altheris.

The influence of the Church is undeniable—its symbols of faith, the crucifix, and holy relics are everywhere, from the great Divine Citadel in the city’s center to the humble shrines scattered across every district. The cathedral, known as Notre Royaumes, dominates the skyline. Its gleaming white stone façade is adorned with intricately carved angels and holy figures, and its towering spires reach toward the heavens as if in eternal supplication. Inside, the air is thick with incense, and the faint hum of divine magic emanates from the sacred relics housed within its vaults.

However, the holiness of Altheris is not all that defines it. Beneath the city’s devout exterior lies something far stranger and far more dangerous: a vast network of portals, arcane gateways that connect Altheris to other realms, other realities, and distant dimensions. These portals are scattered throughout the city like silent sentinels, their appearances as varied as the realms they connect to. Some are open and shimmering, their edges outlined by glowing runes or pulsating light, while others are hidden in plain sight—disguised as doorways or arches in forgotten alleys, or masked as ancient statues whose eyes seem to watch your every move.

The portals are a constant reminder of the city’s connection to the unknown. Worldwalkers—adventurers, scholars, and traders from all walks of life—come to Altheris, drawn by the promise of magic, knowledge, and riches from other realms. Some portals lead to peaceful worlds filled with lush forests and ancient ruins, while others open into more dangerous and hostile planes, where monsters, demons, and creatures from nightmare roam. The city itself is a thriving marketplace for exotic goods and rare artifacts from across the multiverse, many of which are brought in through the portals by those brave—or foolish—enough to explore what lies beyond.

The streets of Altheris are a maze of contrasts. The rich, sacred air of the upper city, with its ivory towers and holy temples, gives way to the more chaotic, vibrant lower districts where portals bleed into the slums, and every corner is a crossroads of different realities. In these parts, shops sell magical items from far-flung worlds, while shadowy figures linger in the market squares, trading secrets, potions, and knowledge. Mystics and priests walk side by side with sorcerers, merchants, and travelers, each aware of the delicate balance between the divine and the arcane that the city requires to function.

Above all, the presence of the portals is what defines Altheris as a city unlike any other. Their presence is both a blessing and a curse—while they bring immense power and knowledge to the city, they also serve as a constant reminder of the dangers of meddling with forces beyond mortal comprehension. The Holy Order of the Wardens, a group of elite protectors, is tasked with keeping the portals under control, ensuring that nothing dangerous escapes from the realms beyond, while also preventing anyone from abusing the power that flows through these gates.

Altheris is a city of contrasts, where holy light and dark magic coexist, where the echoes of ancient gods and the hum of alien magics intermingle in the streets. It is a place of great beauty and great peril, a city where the divine meets the arcane, and the line between what is real and what is imagined becomes increasingly blurred with every passing day.

The Underground

Beneath the bustling streets of Altheris, hidden far from the prying eyes of the city’s authorities, lies a network of dark, twisting tunnels, a labyrinth of stone and shadow. This subterranean world is where the city’s black market thrives, its existence known only to those who are willing to seek it out—people with dangerous connections and dark intent. The tunnels, once used for ancient sewer systems and forgotten catacombs, have long since been abandoned by the city’s official infrastructure, and now serve as a home to illicit trade, shady dealings, and the most dangerous secrets.

The air is thick with the scent of damp earth and stale, musty stone. Flickering lanterns hang from the walls, their dim light casting eerie, uneven shadows that seem to stretch and pulse as if alive. The walls themselves are rough-hewn, with patches of moss creeping over them in the damp. The pathways wind through the underground like veins of an ancient beast, leading deeper into the bowels of the city. Some tunnels are wide and open, large enough to fit groups of traders huddled around wooden carts, hidden stalls, and crates of illegal goods. Others narrow to the width of a single person, forcing anyone who dares to venture through to press against the cold stone, constantly aware that they are being watched by unseen eyes.

The market itself is a chaotic maze of makeshift stalls and hidden alcoves, tucked into the very seams of the underground. Ragged cloths drape over rusted iron bars to form the shops, while flickering braziers burn to create warmth and light in the otherwise oppressive darkness. The air hums with the sound of hushed whispers, muffled bartering, and the occasional clink of coins exchanged under the table. Goods of all kinds are traded here—banned magic tomes, contraband potions, forged artifacts, and black-market weapons. Fingers of smoke curl from a cauldron, the scent of strange spices and dangerous elixirs hanging heavy in the air, while chests of stolen relics are secretly passed from hand to hand.

The market operates with its own shadowy rules, where the traders and buyers exchange goods in hushed tones, under the watchful eyes of gang enforcers who patrol the tunnels, ensuring that the criminal underworld remains in control. The merchants here are secretive, and some are said to deal in goods so forbidden that merely possessing them can lead to a death sentence if exposed. Magic-infused relics from other realities, enchanted weapons, and forbidden books of power are the most sought-after items, while stolen goods from the upper city find their way down here too, sold for a fraction of their value to those with the right connections.

The deeper one travels, the more unsettling the atmosphere becomes. The market's fringes blur into parts of the tunnel system that feel less inhabited, where the presence of death and decay is palpable. Hidden doors in the walls, covered in blackened runes, lead to private chambers, where blood debts are paid in secrets or lives. Here, deals aren’t just made in the dark—they are sealed with magic, and the repercussions of betrayal can be swift and brutal.

Far from the reach of the city guard or any law enforcement, this black market exists in a realm of its own, where loyalty and power are currency, and danger lurks around every corner. It is a place where only the brave or foolhardy dare to venture, and where consequences for those who tread the wrong path can be far worse than anything the city above could ever offer.

The Gateways

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