Foreign District

The Foreign District is one of the 17 districts of Surket. It lies between East Gate and Longwall and also borders the Bazaar. It runs adjacent to the East Harbor as well, but is separated by the old city wall and doesn't directly connect to it. The Foreign District is known for housing many foreign expatriates and refugees, and is split even further into highly localized culture groups that dominate the district from block to block. Unlike West Scar, which has many embassies and foreign nationals of considerable power and wealth, the Foreign District is almost exclusively the poor and weak. Refugees flock here in search of a better life, but are often the prey of the many gangs and criminal organizations that call this place home.

The Quarters
The Foreign District is split into four distinct communities, each with its own cultural identity.

Elven Quarter
There is the Elven Quarter, which houses the many different elven cultures all under a single banner. Most of the people that live here are travelers, staying for a few months or even a few years and then drifting on to the next experience. The more permanent residents are almost exclusively half-elves, who are often sired by the more transient full-blooded elves and then abandoned as they move on. These half-elves, who are almost entirely orphans, have developed something of a community amongst themselves, and they tend to be fairly standoffish with the other races that live in the Foreign District.

Green Quarter
Also common in the Foreign District are people with orc ancestry, who live in the Green Quarter, named after their grayish-green skin that they often have. The orc quarter is surprisingly well-maintained, at least for the Foreign District. Most of the population has orc blood in them, but almost none are more than half-orcs. The entire quarter has a stoic feel to it, with the population generally keeping to themselves and having a humorless and serious demeanor about them. They have a strong sense of community, and are rarely prone to any level of conflict. This quarter actually has a reputation for being excellent, if boringly conventional, smiths and craftsmen. It is often said that the quietest part of the Foreign District is the Green Quarter.

Small Quarter
Perhaps the most eccentric part of the Foreign District is the Small Quarter. It houses many of the Foreign District's gnomes and halflings, and is exactly as chaotic as that sounds. The few halflings that live here typically live on the first floor of the many wacky-looking and odd buildings in this quarter. The entire district has been warped by gnomes into these massive houses that look like five or six different buildings put together, all somehow precariously standing on their own. This quarter is well known for being nearly impossible to navigate and for being an excellent place for scrap metal and cheap baked goods.

Stone Quarter
The fourth quarter of the Foreign District is the Stone Quarter, named because it houses the sizeable dwarf population of the District. This is the largest district by area, and houses the "clanless," dwarves who have lost their status within dwarven communities or never had it to begin with. These dwarves are often older mercenaries who have retired without making much, young dwarves born out of wedlock, and other various misfits and outcasts amongst the dwarf community. The community is controlled by the Diamond Mafia, who exert their control over the entire population through racketeering and criminal arbitration. It is run by the infamous Strom Stormwind, a powerful figure in the criminal underground.

Goblins
Also prevalent throughout the Foreign District are goblins, though they lack a quarter of their own. They make up roughly a third of the entire population of the district and can be found in every quarter as underlings and hired help. They have their own communities nestled in the corners and out of the way, and this is one of the few places in the world where they are almost treated like regular citizens.

Government
So many disparate groups living together is not without conflict. To try to alleviate this, each of the four quarters has a representative, known as the patriarch or matriarch. The four leaders are selected by the citizens of the quarter in their own way, and if a conflict arises between the quarters, these leaders will meet to resolve the dispute instead of a full-blown war. These four also meet regularly to decide matters on the Council of Surket, where they take turns attending the meetings and deciding policy, usually with all four reaching an agreement and casting their single vote as one.

The four current patriarchs/matriarchs are:
 * Patriarch Strom Stormwind for the Stone Quarter
 * Matriarch Telrup Isendurganz for the Small Quarter
 * Patriarch Gregor Gregorovitch for the Green Quarter
 * Matriarch Elwyn Faemor for the Elven Quarter

Notable Locations

 * The Hanging Gardens Inn and Pub
 * Mason's Smithing
 * Gundar's Pawn and Consignment
 * Foreign District Sewers
 * Marie and Azala's Bakery and Explosives Shop
 * Stormwind Manor