Romney, known as the City of Guilds, is a Midkemian city in Betrayal at Krondor. A major commercial hub in the Kingdom of the Isles, it can first be visited in Chapter 1.
Geography
Romney is located in the Eastern Kingdom, east of the King's Highway between Sloop and the northward pass toward Cavall Keep. It is situated on a landmass surrounded by the river Romney, also known as the Rom, which gives the city its name and cuts it off from land access except by its bridge, the Ursine Ford. The Nameless Hideaway is located to the south.
Its cobblestone streets are a knotted labyrinth of closes and wynds, often leading nowhere or into blind alleys and disreputable-looking taverns. The dark main street, the Murky Mile, seems inviting.
History
Not so much a town as a meeting place, Romney is a bustling hub of hawkers calling their wares. In every direction, carts, colorful tents and even more colorful characters fill the landscape. Travelers passing through often get caught up in the general carnival atmosphere that pervades the place. Ten years ago, some old Nighthawks, on the run after their organization was broken up, took refuge there as well.
Romney is fairly independent and isolated, and local news carries more local weight than the making of Kingdom history in Rillanon. A recent local uprising and potential guild war began when the Guild of the Romney, a splinter group of the Riverpullers, annexed guild business in Silden and the Riverpullers responded by raising their own fees in Romney. As recounted by Arlie Steelsoul of the Ironmonger's Guild, the Riverpullers' exhorbitant demands forced Mitchel Waylander of the Glazer's Guild to turn to the Guild of the Romney instead, angering the Riverpullers' Chief Reeve, who felt the new guild was trying to undercut his business. Other guilds followed. In the resulting wave of protest between labor and craft guilds, the Riverpullers blockaded both the River Romney and the north bank of the Ursine Ford. Over the next several months, they took charge of the other labor guilds and surrounded the city, while the crafters tried to fight their way out.
Locations
- Romney meeting hall
- Shop: Port Exchange
- Inn: Black Sheep Tavern
- Town well with drinkable water
Locals
- Duke Romney
- Sergeant Yearly
- Botho Chandler, a guildmaster
- The Glazer's Guild
- The Ironmonger's Guild
- The Dyer's Guild
- The Miller's Guild
- Jason
Story
Chapter 1
Eventually, the crafters received a boost when the King's men arrived from Bas-Tyra to support them. Duke Romney, upset with the situation but desiring to end it through negotiation rather than battle, attempted to arrive at a consensus from the crafters but was balked by the reluctance of the leader of the influential Ironmonger's Guild to come to the negotiating table.
Chapter 2
As tensions grow, prices for shipped goods rise dramatically along the King's Highway outside Romney. As the city's constabulary had all been killed in the Riverpullers' uprising and no one else in authority was left alive, Mitchel Waylander was approached to take command. He decided to use his Guild to maintain order until such time as the Duke could arrive from his estate. To that end, he barricaded the bridge to prevent outside troublemakers from entering the city, allowing only travelers who can be vouched for by one of the craft guilds. The party is asked to produce a Glazer's Guild Seal to prove their bona fides.
If the party arrives with the necessary seal, Waylander admits them to the city, telling them that the King's men are holed up at the Black Sheep Tavern. Entering the tavern ends the chapter.
Chapter 3
At the funeral pyre for the murdered soldiers, the party discusses their next move and examines two clues found at the tavern, a Brass Spyglass and a Silver Spider.
They can approach Jason at the tavern in search of further information, and assist with the city's ongoing state of emergency by contacting Arlie Steelsoul on behalf of the Duke.
Chapter 6
The party can visit and shop in Romney, finding nothing else new.