If you like you can look at the (sketchy, incomplete) GM notes as well.

The Trading District

It is full of con-men, thieves, pickpockets and a few honest traders; as well as message boys running errands and delivery people rushing in and out of the district. There are shops lining most streets and where there aren’t shops there are stalls; some more permanent than others. On every street corner there’s someone selling something from a try (rat on a stick anyone?) or goods that have fallen off the back of a cart guv, honest! There are also (unsurprisingly) quite a few people offering themselves as well. Once the district where only the desperate went, the reputation of the prostitutes in the area has increased dramatically. With the introduction of organised whorehouses along the lines of Shoreleave House (as run by the rats) the ladies (and men) of the streets are much better off.

For the girls who have fallen on hard times there is Handmaidens' House – set up some 20 years ago by Joakhim al-Bahrad, this house provides a way out of an endless vicious circle that so many people find themselves trapped in and helps free them from poverty and destitution. It has been seen as nothing but a good thing by all the residents and merchants in the district.

Despite the danger, this is still a highly vibrant and exotic place where you see people from all nations mix to barter their wares. The deals are usually good although anyone can play a fool for his money if you’re stupid enough.

There are a fair number of long time traders here, the more successful ones own a roof while a few are more seasonal selling their goods that they’ve brought in from afar then leaving to find more on long trade routes when they’ve sold it all.

The two main gangs who hold sway in this district are Inmack's Boys and the Dockyard Rats. After the fall of the Cartel the two gangs fought a turf war over who was going to get the now-available area, which continues to this day. The Rats gained control of all the Cartel’s old drug routes (outside traders not really being bothered who they sell to as long as the money is good), a fair number of market stalls now sell narcotics and smuggled goods under the counter on behalf of the Rats, and much of the prostitution, such as it was, has now been organised into a string of Shoreleave House-type establishements such as those the Rats run in the docks. Inmacks' Boys have engulphed the local pickpocket and street gangs (many of which they already had influence in or had worked with before). If you want information then these are the people to go to as they know to keep their ear to the ground and hear more than you would give them credit for.

Outside observers might wonder why the Rats and the Boys don't come to some sort of agreement over control of the Trading District, since at first glance their areas of control seem mutually exclusive. Part of the blame can be laid at the feet of hotheads on both sides refusing to see reason - the Dockyard Rats' own Captain Bloodbeard, back in the early days of the turf war, was particularly remiss here - but the main reason is that the Boys' and the Rats' operations in this area simply aren't good for each other. From the Rats' point of view, the Boys' activities are bad for business: pickpockets and muggers scare away customers, robbers and thieves steal stock from stalls, and the Boys are the Rats' main competitor in the narcotics trade. Meanwhile, from the point of view of the Boys the Rats are being just plain greedy: how's a humble thief supposed to make a living if he doesn't know which stalls are safe to steal from and which will bring down the wrath of the Rats on him?

There's also the issue that the Boys and the Rats don't think much of each others' friends; the Boys are good pals with the Family, who regard the Rats as verminous narcotics-dealing filth, fit only to be wiped out, whilst the Rats are cosying up to the Watchdogs, who hassle the Boys more than any other gang. These and other factors have led to a complete breakdown of relations between the Rats and the Boys; while they could potentially arrive at an agreement on sharing the Trade District, it will require a lot of work to make them overcome their mutual distrust.

Major Developments of 4021 HR