Grimoire: Descent
The grey-stone city of Björkstad lies in a forested vale just south of the Skalaås mountains, where it has existed as a stronghold for almost two centuries. Older still is the castle of the duke and duchess Grimoire to the west of town, shrouded among a blanket of ancient trees and a either sleepy fog that drifts in during the spring and fall nights when the weather waxes and wanes like the moon, or a brushed-on snow that tumbles in from over the mountains in the winter.
Björkstad is home for many. Vardår Keep lies at the northern end of the city, where the Skydf family has watched over the city as its keepers and leaders since its founding. The karl of Björkstad, Eldwin Skydf, is a veteran of the Municipal Wars in the far southern lands of the kingdom. Among the populace, working folk of all kinds ply their trade and work their craft to the benefit of the crown in Heligstad, capital city of the kingdom of Solnerike. Mining, magic, and education are the three most notable trades - at the Falcrete mines in the foothills, at the Mage's Hold at the city center, or in the small but esteemed College of Björkstad within Vardår's lower halls.
Darker things move in the city's underbelly. Unscrupulous trade organizations have formed a conglomerate that specializes in spy networking, the liberal exchange of goods and gold, and asking zero questions. Known as the Steglits, this band of thieves and spies cooperate with the crown when it makes sense for them, and take orders from no one but themselves.
Not all secretive things in Björkstad are dark, with ill intent. High above the city, in the mountains, is a monastery known as the Temple of the Ninefold Celestials. Contained herein are scrolls, artifacts, and relics - all hidden from the eye of the layman, but whose light and guidance are shared with the world in the form of monks and clerics raised or taught within the hallowed walls of the Temple and sent forth to spread messages of warmth and charity with the world. Because of its proximity, the city is home to a Church of the Divinity, near the southern gates of the city.
As the Municipal Wars in the south come to a close, other powers in the world begin to feel a subtle shift in the status quo. Almost indiscernible currents of change are let loose to flow among the people and places in Solnerike, and the many agendas held by the powerful are put into motion.
