After spending a day in the city the group began to get an overall feeling for how the city handled itself. Most travelers and traders didn't go very far into the city. The area called "the Stacks" occupied a stretch between the main docks and the main gate creating an area of incredible density compared to a traditional city. Most visitors were able to bring goods in, unload them, drink, sleep, and be merry all without even leaving this district of the city which was why businesses were stacked so densely one on top of the other.
Upon further investigation the group soon realized that most buildings in a stack were owned by the same people, often merchants with ties to one of the major guilds or merchantlike enterprises. While the inns and shops stacked on top of each other made a big show of competing with one another all the gold they raised was ultimately going to the same place and it seemed their goal was to overwhelm travelers with options.
There turned out to be an entire small industry of "guides", often sponsored by the guilds, to help direct travelers to one particular stack or another.
Going deeper into the city the group would have to pass through another set of gates and these ones were monitored by guards that were much stricter on checking trade and travelers. With the vast majority of travelers staying in the somewhat lawless "Stacks" the guards had a lot more questions about why anyone would want to go deeper into the city without reason.
The guards put a halt to anyone passing that didn't fit one of the following criteria:
- Resident of the city
- An agent of the guilds or noble houses conducting business
- An agent of the Tethyrian crown
- Willing to pay a "fee" to the guards to let them wave the group through
Most people who hit the first three options actually had a "pass" that was carved onto a piece of wood. These permits, about the size of a large coin, were carved with sigils or symbols that identified the wearer as part of this or that noble family/merchant guild/resident of the city proper.
OOC:
To clarify you can find any shop imaginable in the Stacks which is the outer trade part. It seems like there is so much traffic passing through the docks and caravans that the area is basically a free trade zone with limited supervision and oversight so you can pass around freely (although watch your coins, it seems likely this is the area that thieves and pickpockets would target heavily).
You can find inns, leathershops, smithies etc. but they're not the kind of places you would go for in order to get custom gear. You can get pretty much any mundane equipment somewhere but if you're looking for magical gear there doesn't seem to be anything available.
If you want to explore the city past the stacks you'll either need to pay a bribe or get your hands on one of the token passes that would let you wave it at the guards and they'd wave you through. It seems like only one person needs to flash a token.
Also if you ever want to see one another again you'd probably want to set a meeting spot. The place is crowded on a scale almost none of you can comprehend.
