Tamriel Data:Guide to Anvil

Book Information Guide to Anvil
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Guide to Anvil

Maps and descriptions of the city of Anvil and places of interest surrounding it

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Anvil is the mightiest port city of the Abecean and the western gateway of Cyrodiil to the wider world. Its enormous harbor, bustling streets, and gleaming temples have made Anvil and its kingdom a destination for sailors, merchants, and pilgrims alike for centuries.

Any educated reader will surely be familiar with Anvil's historic role in naval history, as home port to both the All Flags Navy of the First Era and the fleets of Tiber Septim in the late Second Era. Today the city retains this proud distinction as host to Fort Telodrach, home of the Empire's distinguished West Navy.

Anvil services trade from half a hundred ports in Tamriel and beyond. Civilian vessels dock at the Port Quarter, the sprawling complex of quays and wharfs which stretches across much of the city's western edge. Saint Bendu Square, the heart of the Port Quarter, is easily spotted by the statue of Bendu Olo, which lies just inland from the piers. The tower headquarters of the Abecean Trading Company are found here, along with the city's famous Shipworks and the Chapel of the Tranquil Sky. Travelers seeking accommodation in the Port Quarter might seek out the Sailor's Fluke -- but keep a close eye on your purse.

Further inland from the Port Quarter lies Little Arenthia, Anvil's most working-class neighborhood. Best known for its Wood Elf community, Little Arenthia is also home to the city bathhouse, which is free and open to all. The Anchor's Rest provides modest, but comfortable accommodations to visitors here for a price, while the doors of the Hostel of Saint Rosunius are always open to the indigent.

Most of central Anvil is called the Marina. Here, the terminus of the mighty Gold Road is crowded with guild halls, Imperial Societies, temples, art galleries, and fine merchant shops. Members of the Fighters and Mages Guilds will find comrades in this part of the city, and services to meet one's every need. Travelers are encouraged to visit the Census and Excise offices in the Marina District, and to check in at the Harbormaster's office if arriving by sea. There are two temples in this part of the city: the Temple of the First Breath, just inside the walls, and the Chapel of Solemn Echoes, just outside them. The editors recommend the All Flags Inn, the oldest inn in Anvil, for travelers seeking a stay in the Marina. Caravaners may also find accommodations at the Caravan Stop.

Anvil's most glamorous -- and most famous -- neighborhood is doubtlessly the Garden Quarter. This part of Anvil is a gleaming boulevard, stretching from the towering Bazaar of the Abecean past the finest shops and the most luxurious manors to the steps of the immense Temple of Dibella Estetica, the largest in the world dedicated to the Goddess of Beauty. Here lies also Anvil's most upscale hotel: the Abecette, renowned the world over for its gambling halls, elegant rooms, and fighting pits. Travelers with deep pockets may wish to withdraw funds from the local branch of the Briricca Private Bank or trade stocks at the Trident Exchange.

Looming above the entire city is Goldstone, the mighty castle of Her Serene Highness the Queen of Anvil. Goldstone's public audience halls are comfortable and luxuriant, but travelers are warned to follow the law in Anvil, lest they find themselves instead in the castle's vast and labyrinthine depths.

Region Information

The city of Anvil sits on a peninsula, and is surrounded by water on three sides. To the west lies the Abecean Sea, from which the city reaps its bounty in trade and fish. To the south, the mouth of the River Strid forms the western edge of Cyrodiil's border with Valenwood Province. Along Anvil's northern walls, the Naharine River runs parallel to the Strid.

Strident Coast

The Strident Coast that surrounds Anvil is a fertile, pleasant land of low rolling hills and gentle fields. Some of the most productive agricultural lands in Colovia may be found here, and the kingdom's orchards, farms, and ranches waste none of its potential. Besides the ancient Ayleid ruin Garlas Agea and the great ridge upon which it sits, there are few impassable features to impede travel in any direction.

Outside Anvil proper, the Strident Coast is not all farmland and field. The trade-town of Brina Cross on the Gold Road serves as the Kingdom's gateway to interior Colovia. The smaller villages of Hal Sadek, Marav, and Thresvy are inhabited by more rural folk. These lands are old, and long-inhabited. A careful traveler may find their bearings by the old Reman coastal fortresses of Olomachus and Thraswatch, now crumbling into dust alongside the far older Ayleid citadel called Lindasael.

Dasek Marsh

Much of Colovia's southern border is the Dasek Marsh, a dense, tropical region whose green foliage chokes the banks of the Strid River. The Dasek Marsh is less settled than the Strident Coast, a fact which enterprising smugglers from Valenwood and Cyrodiil alike have long used to their advantage. The ancient Reman fortress of Strand is the main landmark in Dasek Marsh's westernmost reaches.

The only Dasek Marsh settlement in the Kingdom of Anvil is Archad, a river-port inhabited by traders and fisherfolk.

Abecean Sea and Stirk Isle

The Kingdom of Anvil is unique among the kingdoms of Colovia in that it governs not just a swathe of land, but a swathe of sea as well. It is in these myriad isles of the eastern Abecean Sea, and the trade-lanes between them, that the Kingdom of Anvil leverages its strength as an economic power. The so-called Golden Triangle trade circuit between Anvil, Rihad, and Stros M'Kai lies mostly in Anvil waters, with Stirk Isle in the center. These seas are among the most heavily traveled in the known world, and the seabed is said to be a treasure trove of lost wrecks, coral reefs, and caves of great natural beauty. Travelers should nevertheless take care, for sailors tell of darker, more dangerous things in these seas as well.

The isle of Stirk is the jewel of the Abecean, a shining tropical paradise surrounded by cerulean waves. Its only settlement, the town of Charach, is a cultural crossroads between Colovian, Redguard, and High Elven culture best known for its famous Temple of the West Wind.