District Type: Tavern district
Buildings: Temple (Onatar), average lodging (12), poor lodging (80), average food (24), poor food (120), poor trades (40), poor services (40), poor residences (80), sporting arena
First Impression: The buildings of this district are a bizarre mishmash of architectural styles and materials. Narrow spires stand across from squat brick keeps and densewood halls. In addition to the bridges connecting the great towers of the district, a maze of suspended rope, wood, and stone roads connect the upper levels within the towers, creating the impression of a mad spider web. Music and song can be heard echoing from various towers, and people laugh and run through the streets.
Social Class: Lower class
Location: Sharn, Middle Dura
Today, common opinion believes that the architect Hareth ir’Talan was mad. He should never have been allowed to work on a project as important as the construction of a Sharn district, but gold and family connections gave him his chance. The result was the district now known as Hareth’s Folly. At first, Hareth sought to include buildings in the styles of all the contemporary cultures of the kingdom, so that visitors from all parts of Galifar would feel at home. As construction continued, he began to add new designs, based on his visions of the architecture of Syrania, Thelanis, and the other divine realms. As a result, all manner of different buildings can be found in Hareth’s Folly, including some of the strangest structures in Khorvaire. While most believe that Hareth was mad, a minority feel that he was driven by divine inspiration.
Hareth’s Folly focuses on entertainment. Inexpensive inns, pubs, restaurants, and taverns fill the district. While there is less criminal activity here than in Callestan or the Bazaar, a great deal of gambling occurs in the back rooms of Hareth’s Folly. In particular, the district serves as a center for aerial sports, including windchasing and skyblade matches. Hareth’s Folly is not represented in the Race of Eight Winds; instead, it provides a neutral position from which the race begins and ends.
Areas and People of Interest
The Hollow Tower: Aerial Arena used for Skyblade Matches among other events.
The King of Fire - Tavern in a firey Motif.
ir'Talan Enclave - Home of the descendants of Hareth. The enclave is a number of buildings in the center of the square, most of them residential. The district tax collector's office is also within the enclave.
Weary Unicorn - Torion's favorite pub on the west side of Sharn.
Hareth ir'Talan - Long dead, but his memory lives on in the mishmash of a district he left behind. His descendants, the ir'Talans, hold a few properties in the district as well as the ir'Talan enclave.
