Some notes on my travels (where to stay in towns along the road and where to avoid):
Aruten: Another interesting town. A lot of trade goes thru here, and the gambling houses of Aruten are famous. There is a ziggurat-temple to the gods [or goddesses, or whatever] of luck that numerous gaming houses have encircled, all hoping to get a little "luck-overflow". Many things are available here - a lot of nicer things that you can't ordinarily find. I stop by Tella's Exotic Fragrance House for a few of Tella's special items - the ladies love it and it makes an excellent gift. At night, enough minor magics have been used to make the place well lit, especially around the gambling areas. It discourages the criminal element from preying on those who luck has favored. There is also a beacon of light that always shines from the temple too. Most of the gambling houses have attached inns; I prefer the Golden Goose.
Carigga: a pleasant small town. We had a good time at this place. The people were friendly, and we made a good amount of money entertaining. One of the more pleasant places I entertained in was the Dual Damsels Inn, run by a very charming pair of twins. I think Lurna likes me; she seemed to want me to stay. Mostly agricultural, but they have a few good vintners and brewers. Some of the jugglers frequented the Bouncing Ball Tavern - I think they enjoyed making this merry place live up to its name.
Cartre': The last two nights were spent in one of the Larger towns in Borte' of Shannolti. This town is Cartre' in the Barony of Gustair. Baron Gustair runs a militaristic town, but it is clean and full of opportunities. The famous Blackhawks are from this town and are led by the Baron's son Gertre'. They are a mercenary group famous throughout Shannolti as a deadly force. I was a hit with my weapons display with some of his men. I stayed at the Wandering Cloud, a nice inn if not fancy. The maid Tentria served me well, and not just food. The Autumn Dancers have determined to add this town to their list of stops.
Caryn: on the surface a pleasant town. Unfortunately, Bekkar got involved in one of the local guilds that was trying to supply various interesting narcotics to people on the street. When we tried to recover Bekkar from their grasp, he ended up dead, killed by their magical enforcer, a pyromancer named Igonea. Igonea is rumored to be the daughter of the guildmaster, who paid for her magical education with ill-gotten money from his drug trade. The caravan beat out of there when they started getting even more threatening. Since I left one of my prize knives in the guildmaster's arm, I try to avoid this place whenever possible (Don't look at me that way - I was rushed and could not get off a good throw!). I was masked when we tried to break Bekkar free, but it never hurts to be careful.
Cauldur: this town is dominated by its sorcerous academy. The entire village centers around the welfare of the mage-hopefuls that are in the Cauldur Academy of the Arcane. With any area where there is too much imposed seriousness, there is always need for relaxation and entertainment - we were always welcome here. This town I visited both with the Autumn Dancers and the traveling carnival, and got pretty much the same good response. Mage-students need a lot of money to get into the academy, and since they frequently don't have to pay for it themselves, they have a poorer concept of the value of their money. Therefore, they always tip well, and can be persuaded to buy things that they don't need. The charlatans of the carnival usually whip up a couple of extra batches of "mage-aids" to sell to the students. Unfortunately the last time the carnival was here, one of the masters of the academy got fleeced by accident - poor Brek's wagon was fire-balled to the ground, and the carnival won't be returning here any time soon. Too bad - I learned some tricks here by observing the students' magic.
Met an enchanting young lady who is studying to be (appropriately enough) an enchantress. Querla and I were the envy of the school and the carnival for the two weeks we were there; she graduates in another year - perhaps I'll try to see her again before then.
Places to stay? There are a number of places that have rooms to stay in. Many of these are run by mages who are part-timers at the academy. My favorites are the White Witch and the Minotaur&Mage. The first is good for meeting people (it is nearer the academy) and the latter is better for privacy, as well as some (chess-like) games.
Cyzea: a small exprey community, that is completely camouflaged from the outside. There are dwellings in trees, up in the branches, between roots and even partially underground, but if you didn't know what you were looking for, you probably would not notice. The Dancers were fortunate to know of this place; they were well received. I would not violate this place without invitation or desperate need. This area is also very notable for the many colorful birds that dwell in the area.
Lythorii: what can I say about this Simerii town? The town is situated on the border of Simerii and Shannolti. The people were stones! The carnival did not make hardly any money - I think I did the best here. They are too militaristic to be imaginative; the only thing they respect is combat skill, or so it seems. I think that I was able to entertain them, but they completely missed our jongleurs' wit or the harpists' songs. They seemed more interested in their combat arena, and bought a few beasties from our animal trainer to use there. I did pick up a few nicely balanced daggers here though. We camped in the wagons the few times we came through - either the few inns were full or our weaker members were afraid to show their face in some of the rougher places. I could handle myself, and frequented Greldok's Tavern, but I figured that strength in numbers might be good. Of course, we had a large number in our caravans.
Murra: a small mining town in the hills. Most of its economy comes from its iron mines. There are a few dwarves and shantair here too. One of the times that the carnival came through here they were having a village fair and contests, with sports like iron-ball throwing. We became part of the festivities very easily, and it was a happy several days. There were a few other entertaining troops - I guess this is a yearly event. Stayed in a dwarf-run inn, called Korr's Brawl (a strange name). Korr is of course the proprietor. The Ale was good, and they seemed to like my knife-tossing - got free room and board for entertaining here. Hopefully he'll remember me next time I'm through here; aren't dwarves supposed to have long memories?
Naltan: a pleasant town, but I always feel like I'm being watched here. Naltan is rumored to have a training center for the Devalan intelligence corps; strangers to town are welcomed, but.... There is also a temple and Oracle of [god's name here] in town that is fairly major. Met Nyra here - absolutely beautiful with a deceptively sharp mind. Last time I saw her, she was trying to decide whether to train in the intel corps, enter the local priesthood or become a mage. Someone of her talent will go far; we both learn from each other when we're together.
Orandor: large fortified town/city, definitely a nice place. Dominated by a large castle where the local duchess/countess/baroness lives. A couple of our more idiotic rogues are still in the dungeons after trying to "inspect" the coronet and jewelry in the castle. Something of a backwater - when the Autumn dancers came through here, their trinkets were a big hit. I don't think the people see many outsiders here; a good place to lie low if necessary. A few inns are available, nothing out of the ordinary though.
Rimbon: From what I can gather, Rimbon in Shannolti is a playground for nobles and wealthy merchants. The word on the circuit is that you can find anything in Rimbon for a price. There is no real law enforcement; a token watch to make sure that overt murders or other crimes are not committed, but most of the town watch seem to be extremely bribable to not investigate any crime. Some of the more decadent nobles have pleasure palaces here; we once gave a command performance to the house of Nahl for of of their parties. I think efforts have been made to bring Rimbon under a little tighter control, but these must be hampered by those wealthy people who frequent this place. All in all, an interesting place; keep money hidden and knives visible. I'm glad the Autumn Dancers never came through here - they'd be like sheep wandering thru a wolf pack. Not a place for the naive. I usually stay at the Eagle's Roost - a decent place, for Rimbon.
Rojavis: a town at the base of the waterfalls of the same name. The river falls are beautiful, and soaking in the waters in the lake at the base are supposedly therapeutic. A good number of Druids are in the area - I think the town and falls are named after the Druid who founded the nearby shrine. The community has grown up around this, and there are a lot of what I'd call druidic touches - no walls, but plenty of nearby trees. It would be very hard to take this town by force because of its location - enmeshed in the forest, with a lake and cliff to its back.
T'Serac: Not exactly a real town, but more of a mage's enclave. There are a number of mages of various types who came to this small hamlet to do private research. There is one inn, the Star. The mages here do not publicize their presence, and I have only been thru with the Dancers, who brought them trade goods and news. The carnival evidently doesn't know about it - it is really a place of mystery. Two things I learned - don't believe everything you see here, and avoid the tower near the swamp (bad things from this one).
Thakar: predominantly dwarven, most of the town is underground. It is beastly hot in many of the tunnels - I think this is near an active volcano. The dwarves mine gemstones primarily, and have built a town to attract trade. Unfortunately, I've never been fond of staying in a town that feels like a cook-pot.
Thangre: an interesting town in the [southern rebellious area]. It is run by a very efficient Count, and has an effective watch (known as the Hawks). The count of Thangre is also an avid falconer; he was interested in some of the exotic beasts we'd seen in our travels. I have heard that he has not only trained hawks, but pigeons as well - I think he sends messages to other nobles this way. Met Shayra here - she's on the watch, a bit too much of a fighter, but has a good sense of humor regardless. She gives me useful info sometimes, nothing that would compromise her on the watch, but I can count on her to warn me of bad tidings. The Dancers preferred to stay in The Perch; the carnival preferred the Red Masque - it was a little more lively.
Tromyn: probably the most beautiful of towns I have ever seen. The architecture of the main buildings is just indescribable. Many of the central buildings are a mixture of polished stone, precious metal detailing, and stained glass. The town was built by a elven/shantair/human coalition and incorporates all of the best artisans' skills. The inhabitants are very proud of this, and therefore anyone defacing of the property is usually at least severely fined. Roccas was caught trying to pry gold off of the church of [insert god here]; he lost a hand and a good amount in a fine. They aren't cruel here, just practical - they want to keep their town beautiful. I usually stay in the Inn of the Elements, run by a mage named Nemos.
Winoth: Fortified town near the Rym-Devala border. There is a lot of storms in this area - seems half the time we were there we had to put on a show from inside the halls. Must be the lake-effect. The buildings are well-built here, and the protections against rain helped some against the more greedy of our company too (heard this thru rumor). Their symbol [coat of arms] will always be easy for me to remember - it has a couple of lightning-bolts on it. Met the mayor/ruler of the town, a pleasant man named Garth. Not sure, but I think he may be a mage of some sort. Also met a nice girl here, named Ayla. She is fairly strong-willed and confident; we got along quite well. She works in the mayor's household (maybe as a maid or something).
Villemook: Definitely a town to avoid. Villemook sits along the coast of [sea/ocean/bay] and has a thriving trade business. This is moderated by the iron hand of the Baron that controls it. Anything that can possibly be taxed is when it enters the city. The Town guards are crude bullies. They trumped up charges against several of the Autumn Dancers just to get some money. We decided not to perform here, and moved on even though it meant spending the night in our wagons.
Vurla: This was a town some time ago. Now its haunted. We've camped near it, but the Dancers left well enough alone. The carnival went near just once; they sent a few people to search the ruins. When they did not return, we had Mysan, our mage, try to scry what there was inside. He looked like he'd aged forty years afterwards, and said nothing. We left the next day. You couldn't pay me enough to go there. I read some histories somewhere that said Vurla was run by a strong priesthood of some sort. Maybe they are still there, in some kind of afterlife?
Zyrattaii: another Simerii town, and what a difference. This town was deeper into Simerii, and I had expect nothing but another military encampment. Today however I learned the truth of the morale "Never judge a book by it's cover". Publicly the Simeriians present a very cold and harsh attitude towards the world, but away from others, they live life to its fullest. I believe that their violent life style forces them to enjoy everything while they can. They do everything to the extreme. Our carnival was a smash in all ways. The celebrating got carried away, and several wagons and other items were smashed in drunken mayhem. Everyone seemed to want to challenge me! By the end of the night I was sore, battered, and barely standing, but I held my own even, if I didn't win them all. The leader of the town, Wharlik, (I hesitate to use the term "mayor", since the leader's position is fought for every year) met with us, and expressed an interest in some of our crafts. He's held the position for the last four years and is still strong - I think we left a good impression, so he may remember me in the future. I got to witness the ritual of blooding, where the young warriors blood themselves in some sort of weird ritual to make themselves invincible in battle. I can do without the scars - give me style over strength any day. The inn that the Dancers stayed at had no real name - Kharlik's Inn, run by Kharlik of course. It is really the only place that we could stay with our numbers.