Hanging Suncloud

Hanging Suncloud is a village of barely fifty halflings who live suspended beneath the middle two spans of The Span, paid to clean and maintain the bridge and to run the toll. Its stairs are well hidden, and the spandrels were extended so that passing ships can't see the houses, with small gaps left for air and windows. It is also a customs post for The Chitin Isles.

Its de facto leader, Merace Rivergather, collects the toll (1 gp a person, for upkeep of the bridge) and records each traveller's answers in a little notepad: their names; whether they are citizens of the Chitin Isles or Creatis; the purpose of their visit; whether they have recently been in or through the Scars or Hysteria, Mycelia beyond The Fungal Wall, or anywhere in The Red Wastes outside the city limits; whether they carry more than 500 gp in Chitin Isles currency, restricted goods (drugs) or soil; and whether they have an address in Reefwatch. Any "yes" means a wait while he checks the guidelines.

• The Responsible Hammer. The village tavern, with benches along the northern wall facing windows in the side of the bridge. On a clear day you can see the coast of The Khevasa Wildlands across the sea. Its regulars are halfling labourers (Gory Tallfoot, Vindon Autumndew, and Idasys and Laton Flintstride) and the inquisitive Gramita Havenmouse.
• The Suncloud General Store. Bare essentials, rations, rope and basic spell components, nothing over 30 gp, plus a few books, among them An Orc Philosopher's Cogitations and On Dunamancy. Both the store and the tavern, which share a wall, belong to Yollandra Wildglide.
• The temple of Gond. A small, unmarked shrine in a recess at the western end of the village: a row of inlaid cogs on shields along one wall and a small altar, with a single attendant and two lightning golems standing guard.