The World

Most details in addition to what's here are up for discussion with the player.

The Kingdom of Estrevann

The only magic that works in the world is occult magic, and there are few practitioners of it. It does not automatically destroy its users, but employing it usually leads to dangerous situations, mostly as a result of luring casters into them.

Shade's End is the town of Starflow Vale, the center of trade and civilization for the province. The river is clear and has plenty of fish, the slopes are good for growing crops and keeping animals, and as a result the valley is relatively prosperous.

There are many haunts and dark creatures, subverting the mind and soul. Possessed creatures, objects and places are far from common or everyday occurences, but every person knows several cautionary tales about these.

The whole kingdom is in the low-tech era, with no firearms, no electrotech, no steampower, and clockworks are large and clunky.

The Province of Starflow Vale

To the west, the valley tapers into the Fogpeaks, where the northern and southern mountain ranges converge. There is no known pass over or through the Fogpeaks, although there are several stories about the existence of such, guarded by dangerous spirits.

The Covenant of Mists is a loose organization of occult practitioners who are very insular and secretive. The one thing they openly talk about any time is the Coming, when an inevitable rift opens between the spirit world and the mortal world, which will bring untold suffering to all except those properly prepared, like them.

The Echo Forest in the lower northern range is a place few people dare to go, because of the stories about hearing voices from one's past and seeing themselves as ghosts, sometimes even attacked by those. Despite this, it is a favorite place for mystics and those who seek spiritual guidance, hoping to find answers in those echoes and ghosts.

The remnants of Willow Castle two miles upriver from Shade's End is a place frequented by those who wish to learn fighting, because during full moon instructors from the castle appear and help anyone willing to listen and follow advice. Strange side effect?

The Starflow

Fishing is the main trade connected to the river, which cascades down from the Fogpeaks and slows enough to be usable for traffic, too. The River Guild controls both, and takes its tolls and fees from those involved.

Travel on the Starflow is done using boats with oars, some have sails but winds are unpredictable and prone to violent gusts, so no sane captain relies solely on them. The north end of Narrow Island, just south of Shade's End, is a bad place to be at night, anyone spending even a few hours there comes back with long-lasting spiritual scars. A number of these people went berserk in town some month after, so the Shade Watch keeps regular patrols around the area to catch and return trespassers.

According to local legends, the River Father is an immense psychic creature that lives in the water and watches over it, thwarting any attempts at building a dam on the river, and generally controling it in any way. That's a fact that all such attempts failed miserably, but there's always a perfectly reasonably mundane cause.

Shade's End
The guilds are both a blessing and a curse for the town, at least according to the noble houses. The guildmasters have a lot of say in how the town works, both regarding customs and laws. They always orbit the lady and have a good piece of advice or three.

The Shade Watch is the town guard that oversees the everyday working of the settlement. Officials are said to resist bribes very much, probably thanks to Lady Lucia's strict punishments in the matter. And she is known to find out any culprits rather fast. Still, a small bribe and looking away usually works for small things.

Shantytown is the only part of Shade's End where people can enter through a gate without the Watch's interference. However, it is fully walled, and the single gate leading into the River Quarter is locked as a rule, only getting opened for a specific group of people with proper connections, and escorted by the Watch.

The Coin Quarter, where the merchants and artisant ply their trades, is the busiest part of town without a question. At least a few shops are open even in the early hours, and some never close down. The Singing Orphan is a phenomenon as old as the town itself. From the very first market day, it's been heard here and there, chanting rhymes and singing sadly about loneliness.

Silver Quarter
Folks are generally suspicious of practitioners (dabblers, as the call them), but Lady Lucia is in favor of them. Practitioners are mostly left alone and avoided, getting only worried looks. However, some specifically like them or like to deal with them, and this makes the town a welcome place for occult users.

Ancient Ruins
The ridge of both mountain ranges are lined with ruins of a forgotten civilization, most believed to be haunted. That does not stop treasure hunters from exploring them, and despite the immense dangers they like to tell about in town, they still find and bring back valuable objects.

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