From a01cf823820c7338f5e5e3117265b0746d5ff7f0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Nick Dumas Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2024 20:38:00 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] More stuff from the handbook --- blades/Districts/Barrowcleft.md | 65 +++++++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Brightstone.md | 58 ++++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Charhollow.md | 57 ++++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Charterhall.md | 57 ++++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Coalridge.md | 57 ++++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Crow's Foot.md | 57 ++++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Dunslough.md | 53 +++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Nightmarket.md | 55 +++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Silkshore.md | 58 ++++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Six Towers.md | 57 ++++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/The Docks.md | 53 +++++++++++++++++ blades/Districts/Whitecrown.md | 53 +++++++++++++++++ blades/Factions/Bluecoats.md | 13 +++++ blades/Factions/Leviathan Hunters.md | 11 ++++ blades/Factions/Ministry of Preservation.md | 13 +++++ blades/Factions/The Wraiths.md | 13 +++++ blades/Food.md | 0 blades/Landmarks.md | 34 +++++++++++ blades/Language.md | 7 +++ blades/The Shattered Isles.md | 12 ++++ blades/Time.md | 57 ++++++++++++++++++ 21 files changed, 840 insertions(+) create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Barrowcleft.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Brightstone.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Charhollow.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Charterhall.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Coalridge.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Crow's Foot.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Dunslough.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Nightmarket.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Silkshore.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Six Towers.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/The Docks.md create mode 100644 blades/Districts/Whitecrown.md create mode 100644 blades/Factions/Bluecoats.md create mode 100644 blades/Factions/Leviathan Hunters.md create mode 100644 blades/Factions/Ministry of Preservation.md create mode 100644 blades/Factions/The Wraiths.md create mode 100644 blades/Food.md create mode 100644 blades/Landmarks.md create mode 100644 blades/Language.md create mode 100644 blades/The Shattered Isles.md create mode 100644 blades/Time.md diff --git a/blades/Districts/Barrowcleft.md b/blades/Districts/Barrowcleft.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3733a21 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Barrowcleft.md @@ -0,0 +1,65 @@ +# Description +Barrowcleft is the home to the laborers and overseers of the [[Ministry of Preservation]] who +attend the radiant energy farms of Doskvol. It is a dusty, rural district, with simple wooden +buildings of only one or two stories and wide dirt roads to accommodate large cargo wagons. +The farmers of Barrowcleft are organized into tight-knit family-based clans that are proud of +their vital role in the city’s welfare and hold themselves apart from the “city folk” across the +river. Outsiders are welcome here for honest trade, but are met with a cold suspicion otherwise +## Landmarks +> [!recite|bg-blue]- Barrow Bridge +> One of several residential bridges in the city. The bridge is lined with homes, shops, and merchant stalls. Families of river-fishers work from ramshackle wooden huts along the banks on either side. They hunt the large and dangerous wild river eels that gather to feed on refuse near the channel to the sea. + +> [!recite|bg-c-yellow]- Lightning Tower +> The lightning towers of Doskvol are marvels of electroplasmic engineering, requiring constant attention from the powerful Sparkwrights guild. The largest towers are over 200 feet tall and include their own internal generators to provide power to the lightning barrier that keeps the ravenous spirits of the deathlands out of the city + +> [!recite|bg-gray]- Barrowcleft Market +> This open-air marketplace provides a place for the radiant energy farms to sell fresh produce and goods made from their crops. Other related vendors have also sprung up here, including brewers and distillers, weavers, dyers, and goat breeders. The tough and close-knit people of Barrowcleft have managed to keep criminal influence out of their market and it’s famous as a rare place for fair trade in the city. + +> [!recite|bg-green]- Radiant Energy Farm +> The wondrous power of radiant energy allows crops to grow in the darkness of Duskwall. Life in the city depends upon these farms, so their delicate radiant plants and irrigation systems are watched constantly by specially appointed deputies of the Watch. + +## People +> [!recite]- Chief Prichard +> The Head Overseer of Labor for the [[Ministry of Preservation]] in Duskwall. Manages the workers and food allotments for the city districts. *(Calculating, Confident, Calm)* + +> [!recite]- Hester Vale +> Matriarch of the oldest farm family. The living embodiment of "tough but fair." *(Proud, Fierce, Suspicious)* + +> [!recite]- Mara Keel +> A former smuggler who's gone into hiding among the farm laborers of Barrowcleft. *(Quiet, Secretive, Patient)* + + + + +## Conditions +Most engagement rolls suffer **-1d** due to heavy Bluecoat patrols. Operations against the nobility in Brightstone are considered on “hostile turf ” for the purpose of generating **HEAT**. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Smooth dirt roads, drainage ditches. Black Hill Road, Mill Street, Porter Street.| Low, wide wooden structures. Barns. Animal pens. Stone mills. Hilltop manors for the Overseers. Crowded apartments, towers, and market stalls along Barrow Bridge. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Brightstone.md b/blades/Districts/Brightstone.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5212c3 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Brightstone.md @@ -0,0 +1,58 @@ + +# Description +Brightstone is home to many of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of Doskvol. Its streets are broad and paved, under bright electric lights; its canals are sparkling and clean, with perfumed water; its houses are all of fine, pale marble blocks, rich timbers, and intricate ironworks. There are cultivated parks fed by radiant energy; lavish restaurants and cafes; jewelers, tailors, and other luxury shops. Street-side vendors are forbidden here, resulting in a serene, spacious atmosphere, punctuated by the occasional carriage or marching Bluecoat patrol +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- Unity Park +> A grand park, fountain, and roundabout featuring an enormous monument commemorating Imperial victory in the Unity War (or the War for Skovlan Independence, depending on who you talk to). + +> [!recite]- Silver Market +> A curated open-air emporium overlooking the North Hook channel. Named for its original use as the primary marketplace for silver traders, it’s now host to luxury goods vendors of all sorts, including rare Iruvian silks, spices from the Dagger Isles, horse-traders, carriage upholsterers, and rare alchemical distillations (including some illegal spirit essences—to which the City Watch turns a blind eye). + +> [!recite]- The Sanctorium +> The chief cathedral dedicated to the Church of the Ecstasy of the Flesh. It’s a towering edifice of buttresses and spires, originally commissioned by the Emperor during his last visit to Doskvol nearly 500 years ago. Devotees gather weekly to purify themselves in baptismal rites and through the ritual destruction of rogue spirits in electroplasm. The catacombs beneath contain the cremated ash of many famous and affluent citizens. + +> [!recite]- Bowmore Bridge +> This massive structure of bright white stone and shimmering metal-work is said to be the largest bridge in the Imperium. Luxury apartments and shops perch all along its length from Brightstone to Whitecrown. + +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Lord Strangford +> Operates one of the largest leviathan hunter fleets, serves on the City Council and is a high-ranking member of the secret order within the Church of Ecstasy. *(Secretive, Calculating, Arrogant)* + +> [!recite]- Commander Bowmore +> Chief Officer of the Watch in Brightstone. Bowmore’s family financed Bowmore Bridge centuries ago and now holds many positions of power. *(Proud, Principled, Connected)* + +> [!recite]- Rolan Wott +> An influential magistrate who handles property, endowments, and financial cases. Famous for his extravagant parties. *(Stylish, Elitist, Shrewd)* + +## Conditions +Most engagement rolls suffer **-1d** due to heavy [[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Factions/Bluecoats|Bluecoat]] patrols. Operations against the nobility in Brightstone are considered on “hostile turf ” for the purpose of generating heat. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Broad, clean, well-lit. Silvermark Avenue, Goldcrest Avenue, Ruby Street, Sapphire Street.| Pale stone mansions with lightning barriers, grand manor houses, lavish townhouses, opulent theaters and restaurants, luxury shops. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Charhollow.md b/blades/Districts/Charhollow.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..740c9e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Charhollow.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +# Description +This crowded district is home to the bulk of the workforce of the city—servants, dockers, sailors, stockyard and eelery workers, cabbies, and so on. It’s cheap, noisy, cramped, and sweltering from cookfires and hissing steam-pipes, but there’s a familial camaraderie among its residents that you won’t find anywhere else. The people of Charhollow are a true community, brought together by circumstance, but bound by ties of mutual support and care in stark contrast to the cutthroat ruthlessness that constitutes business as usual in the rest of the city. +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- The Sheets +> Washers, tailors, and seamstresses congregate in this neighborhood, filling the alleyways between the buildings with the billowing fabrics of their trade. A secret association of anarchists among the working class meets here to plot their schemes for revolution. + +> [!recite]- Strangford House +> The grand, fenced estate of the powerful Strangford family perches on the hill of a private island overlooking Charhollow. Many who live in the district toil in Strangford’s factories and workhouses, and few miss the chance to throw the evil eye in their direction when they catch glimpse of their house on the hill. + +> [!recite]- Charhollow Market +> A public market fills the open square here, offering fair prices and decent goods to the local community. + +> [!recite]- Kellen's +> One of the oldest pubs in the city, with a dizzying selection of Skovlander ales and whiskeys. Rich and poor alike rub elbows here to enjoy the traditional food and music with their drinks, though recently, the pub has become the target of masked anti-Skovlander bigots, who’ve vandalized the property and assaulted some patrons, shouting “No Skovs!” and “Skovs go home!” + +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Hutton +> A Skovlander refugee and former soldier, now the leader of an anarchist revolutionary movement, bent on forcing the government to acknowledge Skovlander rights in the Empire. *(Brave, Compassionate, Wise)* + +> [!recite]- Briggs +> The owner of a merchant stall at Charhollow market, cover for a network of gossips, spies, and code-smiths among the working class people of the district, selling their services to those who need them. *(Secretive, Sneaky, Cautious)* + +> [!recite]- Corben +> An ex-military Skovlander on the lam for crimes against the empire. *(Tough, Reckless)* + +## Conditions +Operations against the citizenry in Charhollow are considered on “hostile turf ” for the purpose of generating heat. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Steep inclines cut with crude stone stairs, twisting alleyways, dirt and cobblestones. Bridge Road, Canal Street, Hill Street| Stacked one- or two-room homes, cheap tenements, ramshackle apartments, well- worn taverns and public houses. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Charterhall.md b/blades/Districts/Charterhall.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c3a1ee --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Charterhall.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +# Description +Charterhall is the site of the first major construction in the city, in the days before the cataclysm. The old wall upon which was built the first lightning barrier in the Empire still stands in partial ruin around the district. The area is now home to the civic offices of the government including the courts, licensing and taxation offices, banks, and records archives. City officials and students at Charterhall University live here, along with the captains of Imperial industry who prefer to reside within sight of their fortunes. + +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- Charter Wall +> Along the ruins of the old walls are a sprawl of artist colonies. Bohemian lovers of music and sculpture, these students are typically patronized by a single individual or family who expect their charges to master their craft and make art for their edification. + +> [!recite]- Bellweather Crematorium +> The site of the spirit bells and the rookery for the deathseeker crows. Bodies recovered by the Spirit Wardens are incinerated in electroplasm here to destroy their ghosts. + +> [!recite]- Clerk Street +> The main avenue of the district is lined with imposing governmental structures of all sorts, tucked behind iron fences, patrolled by a mix of Bluecoats on the sidewalks and mounted Imperial cavalry on the grounds. + +> [!recite]- Jayan Park +> The great alchemist for whom this park is named contrived to formulate soil and seeds that could produce real, growing trees, without sunlight or radiant energy. They are horrifically toxic to all living things and must not be touched, but they still grow beautifully here, over 100 years later. + +> [!recite]- Charterhall University +> A dozen buildings have been converted into classrooms and dormitories for the students of this modest-seeming but nevertheless prestigious institution. The school’s massive Sparkwright Tower, where experts of spark-craft are trained, looms huge over the district, often belching fire and smoke from the more vigorous lessons. +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Lady Drake +> A magistrate who is “reasonable” when it comes to street crime, so long as the offender’s purse is sufficient. *(Flexible, Shrewd)* + +> [!recite]- Lord Penderyn +> Chief Scholar of the Archive of Echoes, authorized by the Emperor to keep a collection of ancient ghosts trapped in spirit bottles, to be consulted in cases where knowledge from the distant past would benefit the operation of the Imperial government. Lord Penderyn also consults the spirits on his own volition, forming the rebellious Path of Echoes society for other elites and nobles who seek communion with the spectral realm. *(Reckless, Strange)* +## Conditions +The records in Charterhall can be of particular interest to criminal sorts. Take a Devil’s Bargain for **+1d** to gather info here in exchange for 1 heat (the [[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Factions/Bluecoats|Bluecoats]] are always watching for scoundrels like you). + +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Broad, clean, well-lit. Clerk Street, Jayan Way, Dalmore Avenue, Imperial Avenue. |Imposing stone buildings with officious columns and classical sculptural motifs. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Coalridge.md b/blades/Districts/Coalridge.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bc5a27e --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Coalridge.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +# Description +Coalridge is home to most of the machinists, industrial laborers, and factories of the city. It’s cramped, soot-choked, and loud—spewing dense clouds of black smoke, showers of sparks, and burning cinders. The old elevated train lines that once hauled coal now carry heavy equipment and raw materials to and from Gaddoc Station, though many of the ancient tracks and cars have been abandoned to squatters who’ve converted them into makeshift homes. + +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- Coalridge Mine +> Coalridge Mine. The site of the first permanent settlement at the river delta, the mine was originally built by the ancient Skov kingdom, who called it Doskovol— literally, “The Skov’s Coal.” The mine still operates over 1000 years later, though demand for coal has dropped sharply as the mperium adopts electroplasmic power more and more widely. + +> [!recite]- The Old Rail Yard +> Before Gaddoc Station was built, this industrial rail yard was a center for commerce in the city. The Old Yard now serves only a couple heavy cargo trains daily, with many of its old rail cars rusted in place where they were abandoned. + +> [!recite]- The Ironworks +> The Ironworks is a sprawling collection of massive industrial workhouses. Cruel foremen drive indentured laborers around the clock to keep up with the massive production demands to replace and refit leviathan hunter ships as well as the need for goods transported out to the Imperium at large. + +> [!recite]- Brickston +> The most densely packed residential area in Duskwall. Brickston is a cramped jumble of multi-story brick row houses, stacked one atop the other. Many of the toughest scoundrels of the underworld hail from here, learning the harsh lessons of survival and gang life within its dark maze +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Master Slane +> A notorious factory foreman known for excessive and cruel punishment. Many attempts have been made on his life, but all have failed. Some say he’s a devil. *(Cold, Cruel, Sadistic)* + +> [!recite]- Belle Brogan +> A Skovlander factory worker gaining popularity as a union organizer. It’s only a matter of time before a factory boss tries to make an example of her. *(Charming, Confident, Bold)* + +> [!recite]- Hopper +> A drug addict, Whisper, and all-around weirdo who perches on rooftops in the district. Hopper claims to see “spirit train tracks” stretching beyond the horizon. (Weird, Visionary) + +## Conditions +Because the factories of Coalridge operate around the clock, there’s no ideal time for clandestine crime here, but foremen are happy to be bribed to “take a break” or look the other way. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Multi-level, crowded with crates and discarded junk. Elevated rail lines. Dunvil Way, Black Rock Road, Wright Street, Crane Street, Forge Street.| Tall and narrow brick row houses with belching chimneys, metal-clad factories and warehouses, train cars converted into dwellings. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Crow's Foot.md b/blades/Districts/Crow's Foot.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c45967b --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Crow's Foot.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +# Description +Crow’s Foot is a crossroads, merging many qualities of its neighboring districts: the illict vices of Silkshore, the labor and trade of the Docks, the poverty of Charhollow, and the classic architecture of Charterhall. The district is a patchwork, both held together and threatened to be torn apart by the menagerie of competing street gangs and Bluecoat squads that claim every avenue and corner as territory in an endless turf war. +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- Crow's Nest +> An ancient tower from before the cataclysm that has been a ritual sanctum, an astronomer’s laboratory, and a Bluecoat watch post—before its current role as the headquarters of the district’s chief gang, the Crows. + +> [!recite]- Tangletown +> Hundreds of years ago, one of the massive leviathan hunter ships was partially sunk in the river. Since then, it’s collected an attendant flotilla of tiny watercraft, all lashed together into a floating neighborhood. Tangletown is considered neutral ground among the street gangs of Crow’s Foot, and no violence is allowed there. + +> [!recite]- Strathmill House +> The lost children and unwanted orphans of Crow’s Foot inevitably pass through the halls of Strathmill House. Some are cared for and trained for jobs at the docks or the workhouses of Coalridge. Others are quietly instructed in the arts of the lookouts and runners used by the gangs of the district—all for a small fee to Strathmill House, of course. + +> [!recite]- Red Sash Sword Academy +> This large mansion has been converted into a training school for the Falling Star style of Iruvian sword play. The Red Sashes, an Iruvian gang who run several luxury drug dens in the district, claim it as their HQ and cover operation for their illicit operations. + +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Sergeant Lochlan +> The senior Bluecoat squad leader in the district, reporting to Captain Dunvil. Lochlan is flexible and reasonable, taking bribes and payoffs when she can; enforcing the law and making examples when necessary. *(Shrewd, Tough, Commanding)* + +> [!recite]- Lewit, Jol, Myra, Reyf +> Bluecoat constables; run an extortion racket. + +> [!recite]- Mardin Gull +> Owner and operator of the Leaky Bucket public house. Mardin was the leader of the Crows many years ago (before Roric and Lyssa) and now enjoys a comfortable retirement out of the scoundrel life. *(Charming, Experienced, Respected)* + +## Conditions +Years of murder have made this the most haunted district. Angry ghosts crave bloodshed here. You may take a **Devil’s Bargain** for **+1d** for violent action, but the ghost will lash out, too. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Multi-level, cramped, dark, foggy. Ash Way, Cinder Street, Rye Street, Candle Street, Hulliver Lane. |Flophouses, inns, old manors chopped into apartments, traditional stone houses. Smiths, taverns, brothels, and butchers. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Dunslough.md b/blades/Districts/Dunslough.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c13d13 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Dunslough.md @@ -0,0 +1,53 @@ +# Description +Dunslough is a ghetto for the destitute poor of the city, as well as the site of Ironhook Prison and its labor camp. Originally, the ghetto was a neighborhood for families of prisoners, but over the years, extreme poverty and neglect have worn it down into a sodden ruin. A vicious cycle plays out here: crime driven by desperation, then arrest, incarceration, and release back to Dunslough—giving Ironhook an endless supply of laborers to exploit. +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- Ironhook Prison +> A towering metal fortress, where the worst (or most unlucky) criminals are incarcerated. The poorest are forced to work at Dunvil Labor Camp. The most well-connected prisoners manage a comfortable stay, and may even continue to run their criminal enterprises from behind bars. + +> [!recite]- Dunvil Labor Camp +> Poor prisoners who can’t afford to bribe the staff at Ironhook spend most of their days toiling at Dunvil Labor Camp, loading precious ores onto barges for the rail station and breaking the larger rocks hauled from the Mire. + +> [!recite]- Dunslough Ghetto +> The most destitute of the city end up in Dunslough, working the Mire for a pittance just to buy their daily bread. The city counts the space as “runoff ” for the prison grounds, and does nothing to maintain it. + +> [!recite]- The Mire +> A massive mud-quarry pit, the Mire is the site of the impact of an ancient celestial body, which left behind a variety of precious ores and jewels embedded in the earth. +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Master Krocket +> An unsavory, greasy-haired, scarecrow of a man who runs the snarling pack of vicious dogs used by Ironhook to track down escapees and sniff out contraband and tunnels. His dog-handlers can be found around the labor camp and all about Dunslough, using their status with the prison for favors and bribes. *(Cruel, Greedy, Ruthless)* + +> [!recite]- Vandra +> A deathlands scavenger that survived six runs and was pardoned. She knows the landscape beyond the barrier very well—but few can make sense of her haunted mumblings. *(Haunted, Wise)* + +## Conditions +The people of Dunslough are desperate. You may take a **Devil's Bargain** in Dunslough for **+1d** to evade detection by authorities, but you are now in the debt of someone with nothing to lose. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Cramped, multi-level—some of stone but many of dirt, sodden into thick black mud. No street names to be found.|Decrepit wooden row houses, many abandoned from fire damage or fallen-in from age. Stone silos, clanking steam machinery, and metal sheds for dredging equipment. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Nightmarket.md b/blades/Districts/Nightmarket.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e9aca8 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Nightmarket.md @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ +# Description +Nightmarket is a district dominated by commerce. Situated near Gaddoc Rail Station, Nightmarket receives the bulk of salable goods from the cargo trains that travel across the Imperium, bringing the exotic and rare to Duskwall. The citizens that call Nightmarket home constitute a new class of “elites”—wealthy people who are not of noble descent but nevertheless claim land, status, and power without titles. The district has been taken over by new construction, introducing lavish private townhouses with all of the modern advances for the elites that can afford them +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- The Veil +> A luxurious social club known for its confidentiality and permissive policies regarding guests of arcane or unusual origins. Rolan Volaris, the proprietor and host, is a Tycherosi with an extremely unusual manifestation of his demonic blood: rather than legs, he has the body of a serpent from the waist down... or so people say. Volaris is rarely seen in person. + +> [!recite]- Dundridge & Sons +> Considered by many to be the foremost tailor in Duskwall. The Dundridge family has provided the finest clothes and sartorial accoutrements to discerning citizens for over 300 years. Despite their legendary reputation, Dundridge’s prices are very reasonable. + +> [!recite]- Vreen's Hound Races +> The racing of specially bred hounds is currently in vogue among Doskvol’s upper crust. A con man from the Dagger Isles calling himself “Master Vreen” swindled a small fortune from gullible investors to create “the premier hound racing track in the Imperium.” The investors have yet to see any returns, but Vreen assures them that a great windfall is due any day now. + +> [!recite]- The Devil's Tooth +> A tavern known for its “secret” menu of alchemical concoctions. Adventurous psychonauts may experiment with all manner of mind-altering (or spirit-altering) substances in the relative safety of Mistress Kember’s comfortable establishment. +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Jira +> A dealer of fine weapons from the Dagger Isles. Greatly respected by many street toughs in the Dusk—a “jira blade” is a status symbol that many aspire to. *(Bold, Tough)* + +> [!recite]- Leclure +> A purveyor of personal luxuries (soaps, hair oils, perfume, fine silks) who dabbles in fortune telling. Some say that her drowned lover is a ghost that whispers secrets in her ear. *(Shrewd, Tough, Commanding)* + +> [!recite]- Mordis +> A strange merchant that hides its true appearance beneath many layers of robes and hoods. Also fences occult and arcane stolen goods, no questions asked. *(Secretive, Insightful, Arcane)* +## Conditions +Nightmarket is the best place to trade illicit and arcane goods in the city, but the darker corners are full of strange horrors. You can take **+1d** to acquire an asset here, at the cost of **2 stress**. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Multi-level wooden platforms and boardwalks. Landscaped parks of petrified trees from the deathlands. High-class subterranean avenues. Song Street, String Street, Paper Street, Bell Street. |Wooden market stalls. Underground stone shops and clubs. Newly constructed private townhouses for the Nightmarket elites. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Silkshore.md b/blades/Districts/Silkshore.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..75ef4d9 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Silkshore.md @@ -0,0 +1,58 @@ +# Description +Criss-crossed by dozens of narrow canals, Silkshore is a district best navigated by gondola, as most visitors to this “red lamp district” do. The brothels, vice dens, food stalls, and exotic shops all perch at the waterside, ready to satisfy the appetites of their clientele, no questions asked. Silkshore is a place of public indulgence and private indelicacy, catering to every pleasure imaginable—as well as some that strain the bounds of fantasy. + +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- The Spark Grounds +> Beneath the crackling flares of a lightning tower, this open field draws crowds to watch the death-defying stunts of acrobats and circus performers, including the notorious “spark flyers” who soar in manned kites adorned with bits of metal to attract arcs of electricity from the barrier in a pyrotechnic display. + +> [!recite]- The Ease +> The northern part of the district is more easily navigated by gondola than by coach, and the dozens of entryways into the canals are flanked by shops and brothels advertising their wares with colored electric lights and flying banners. + +> [!recite]- Fogcrest +> A high, peaked hilltop crowded with rowhouses jammed within the maze of narrow stairways that constitute its “streets.” A bohemian community of artists, free-thinkers, psychedelic explorers, and philosophers. + +> [!recite]- Ankhayat Park +> This extravagantly landscaped space is the largest open area in the city, hosting many public festivals and events throughout the year. The Iruvian noble for whom the park is named keeps a falcon aviary and stable of fine horses at the park and sometimes organizes gamehawking for the nobility. + +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Levyra +> A medium who invites clients to bring ghosts in bottles to possess her so they can share a few final words before the ghost is “freed” (Levyra hands it off to the waiting Spirit Wardens nearby). + +> [!recite]- Helene +> The elegant and mysterious proprietor of the Silver Stag Casino. People say she would have been a queen of Severos had she lived in the old days before the Empire. + +> [!recite]- Madame Tesslyn +> Operates the Red Lamp brothel, the oldest and most respected institution of its sort in the city. + +## Conditions +Should you overindulge your vice while in Silkshore, you’ll get a taste for it. Take +1d to your roll the next time you indulge your vice here. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +The few remaining surface streets are interrupted at every turn by a bridge over a tiny canal. Colored lights and patterned silks hang roof to roof, signaling various indugences in a complex code for the initiated. Greenwater, Highwater, Chimewater, Ringwater, Sweetwater.|Tall, narrow rowhouses of wood and stone. Low canal-side shacks and stalls. Cramped old stone houses and converted offices on Fogcrest hill. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Six Towers.md b/blades/Districts/Six Towers.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e036ff5 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Six Towers.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +# Description +This formerly prestigious district has faded over the centuries into a pale shadow of what it once was. The eponymous six towers were originally the grand residences of Doskvol’s first noble families. All but two (Bowmore House and Rowan House) have been sold off and converted into cheap apartments or fallen into ruin and abandoned. The district has an empty, haunted feel, with many sprawling old buildings dark without power, broad stone streets cracked and buckled, and the fires of squatters crackling from overgrown lots. +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- Rowan House +> One of the last of the original six towers, this antique building resembles an ancient castle from history books, complete with moat, draw-bridge, and arrow-slit windows. The powerful Rowan family rules their holdings from within the fortress, rarely venturing beyond the security of its thick stone walls. + +> [!recite]- Mistshore Park +> This dark and overgrown space overlooks the eastern branch of the river Dosk and the deathlands beyond. In old folk ballads, young lovers who could not be together would commit suicide in this park. Whatever the truth of it, the park is certainly haunted now. + +> [!recite]- Scurlock Manor +> The Scurlock family came to Duskwall centuries ago and was once a great force in the city, before some curse or calamity befell their line. This tumble-down manor house and tangle of vines is all that remains of their original fortune. It’s said that a young nephew or cousin still resides there, but Lord Scurlock himself has moved on to finer abodes. + +> [!recite]- Arms of the Weeping Lady +> This grand building, formerly an opera house, is now a soup-kitchen and bunkhouse for the destitute, run by the charity of the Weeping Lady. Locals use this landmark as the demarcation between the districts of [[Charterhall]] and Six Towers. +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Mother Narya +> Runs the Arms of the Weeping Lady charity house. *(Kind, Patient)* + +> [!recite]- Chef Roselle +> One of the best cooks in the city, still operating the legendary Golden Plum restaurant—worth the trip into the haunted streets of Six Towers. *(Creative, Insightful, Friendly)* + +> [!recite]- Flint +> A spirit trafficker who trades out of a condemned manor house. (Weird, Calculating, Suspicious) + + +## Conditions +The many empty buildings and abandoned properties make this district a perfect location for a hidden scoundrel’s lair. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Broad stone avenues, cracked and broken, dark without power; overgrown and neglected. Comber Way, Bowmore Way, Rowan Way, Coleburn Avenue.| Palatial estates, tumbled into disrepair. Grand manors, remodeled into cramped and cheap apartments. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/The Docks.md b/blades/Districts/The Docks.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..09f84c7 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/The Docks.md @@ -0,0 +1,53 @@ +# Description +The docks of Doskvol are ancient, going back to the days before the cataclysm, when the area was a colony town of the old Skov kingdom. Today, some commerce has shifted to the new electro-rail lines of the Imperium, but the docks are still bustling with cargo haulers, fishing boats, and the prestigious leviathan hunter ships that provide the raw material that keeps the city running. +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- The North Hook Company +> This grand, old-fashioned estate house is headquarters for the oldest surviving shipping and naval exploration enterprise in the Imperium. The North Hook Company has a massive fleet of trade ships and is considered by many to be merely a private front for the Ministry of Preservation. No one knows for sure, since enemies and rivals of the company (not to mention overly curious journalists) tend to disappear. + +> [!recite]- Ink Lane +> This twisting back-street is home to many of the city’s tattooists as well as several newspapers—who all share the cost of their inks in bulk. A fine place for gossip and rumors of all kinds. + +> [!recite]- Saltford's +> A squat stone building that houses one of the more notorious private banks in Duskwall. Being so close to the docks, Saltford’s has faced many gangs of whiskey’d sailors that decided to turn to robbery as a new line of work, and defeated them all—sometimes even hanging the corpses from their lamp-posts as discouragement to the next pack of drunken fools. + +> [!recite]- The Menagerie +> A fenced-off muddy field, dotted with rusting animal pens, water tanks, and gaudy signage. Sailors traditionally drop off any curious creatures they pick up in their travels, which Captain Rye, the strange proprietor, incorporates into his makeshift zoological displays. +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Chief Helker +> One of the most influential senior Dockers. Helker has a lot of sway at the docks, and if you cross him, you might find your cargo tossed into the drink—and possibly you along with it. *(Cautious, Greedy)* + +> [!recite]- Tris +> A legendary tattooist who only inks those that have looked upon a leviathan and lived to tell the tale. Getting a tattoo from Tris is a rite of passage for everyone who hunts the demons of the Void Sea. *(Artistic, Popular, Insightful)* + +## Conditions +Operations against ships at port are considered on "hostile turf" for the purpose of generating **HEAT**. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Raised streets perched over the docks themselves, rigged with cranes and winches. North Hook Way, Carter Street, Plume Street, Saltford Street, Ink Lane. |Massive cargo warehouses. Squat taverns, brothels, and tattoo parlors. Crowded overnight bunkhouses for sailors. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Districts/Whitecrown.md b/blades/Districts/Whitecrown.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d8482b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Districts/Whitecrown.md @@ -0,0 +1,53 @@ +# Description +Whitecrown sits atop a grand peak on the island across North Hook channel from the city proper. From this lofty height, the Lord Governor’s stronghold oversees all, flanked by the grand estates of the most powerful nobility and the extravagantly appointed campus of Doskvol Academy. Whitecrown is a rich and rarefied world unto itself—most citizens live out their entire lives in the city without ever once crossing the bridge to the glittering spires of wealth and power there. +## Landmarks +> [!recite]- Lord Governor’s Stronghold +> The Emperor originally commissioned this stronghold as a garrison for the Imperial Military stationed at North Hook prior to the invasion of Skovlan. It now houses the Lord Governor, their family, and governmental aides as well. + +> [!recite]- Doskvol Academy +> Hailed as one of the finer institutions of learning in the Empire, the school is most well- known as the instructional facility for the leviathan hunter captains and their senior officers. Training cruises for new recruits are conducted year-round to replace the poor souls lost in the hunts. + +> [!recite]- Master Warden’s Estate +> This gigantic, fortified manor is home to the Commander of the Spirit Wardens and is their primary training facility. It’s said that some spirits are not destroyed at Bellweather—but are brought here instead for some unknown purpose. + +> [!recite]- North Hook Lighthouse +> This ancient structure has been converted into an electro-plasmic apparatus capable of providing a navigation beacon for hundreds of miles into the darkness of the Void Sea around Duskwall. +## People of Interest +> [!recite]- Maestro Helleren +> Senior composer and conductor of the Spiregarden Theater, premiere performance venue for the elite of the city. *(Sincere, Dramatic)* + +> [!recite]- Lady Freyla +> Regarded by some as the finest sommelier in the Empire. She serves only the most deserving at the Emperor’s Cask. *(Erudite, Cultured, Charming)* + +## Conditions +Most engagement rolls suffer **-2d** due to heavy [[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Factions/Bluecoats|Bluecoat]] patrols. Operations against the nobility in Whitecrown are considered on "hostile turf" for the purpose of generating heat. +## Traits +Streets | Buildings +--- | --- +Broad, polished stone, brightly lit to near daylight by a riot of warm electric lights. Whitecrown Boulevard, Swancrest Avenue.| Grand, elegant facades; landscaped terraces, balconies, and elevated walkways connecting bright marble buildings with inlaid platinum and gold details. + +> [!checks] +> - +> - Wealth +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - +> - Security and Safety +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - +> - Criminal Influence +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] +> - +> - Occult Influence +> - [x] +> - [x] +> - [ ] +> - [ ] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Factions/Bluecoats.md b/blades/Factions/Bluecoats.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..48067d8 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Factions/Bluecoats.md @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +Turf: The Bluecoats claim the whole city as their turf, but find their influence severely limited in Whitecrown, where the Imperial Military garrison holds sway under command of the Lord Governor. + +NPCs: Commander Clelland (chief commissioner of the City Watch, corrupt, cruel, arrogant). Captain Michter (chief instructor, ambitious, fierce, confident). Captain Vale (quartermaster, loyal, insightful, quiet). + +Notable Assets: Many large gangs of vicious thugs in uniform. Armored coaches and canal patrol boats. Public punishment sites (pillories, stocks, hanging cages). + +Quirks: The Bluecoats are divided into companies by district, and they have fierce rivalries, encouraged by their superiors—often good-natured, but sometimes violent. + +Allies: The City Council, The Billhooks, The Crows, Ironhook Prison, Lord Scurlock, The Unseen. + +Enemies: Imperial Military, many criminal organizations. + +Situation: The Bluecoats have become jealous of the elite hardware and vehicles used by the Imperial Military. They want to refit their watch-guards in heavy armor and weapons, to better strike fear into those they prey upon. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Factions/Leviathan Hunters.md b/blades/Factions/Leviathan Hunters.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..02a2c9c --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Factions/Leviathan Hunters.md @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +Turf: The massive metal docks for the huge hunter ships and the associated construction and repair facilities. Several small private leviathan blood processing facilities for the captains’ personal shares. + +NPCs: Lord Strangford (captain, ruthless, arrogant, tainted). Lady Clave (captain, daring, cruel, accomplished). Lady Ankhayat (Iruvian captain, confident, charming, scoundrel). + +Notable Assets: The leviathan hunter fleet (each vessel is owned by the noble house who built and commands it). Many cohorts of expert sailors, as well as spark-craft technicians, demonologist Whispers, and void-touched navigators. Companies of marines to protect the vessels and their valuable cargo at sea and in port. + +Allies: City Council, The Church of Ecstasy, Sailors, Dockers, Sparkwrights. + +Enemies: The Grinders, Ministry of Preservation, The Path of Echoes. + +Situation: The captains have a horrible secret: the known hunting grounds for leviathans are coming up barren. The immortal creatures, once so reliable in their movements in the Void Sea, have begun to migrate elsewhere. New hunting grounds must be found before the surplus of leviathan blood disappears, and with it, the lightning barriers and the survival of the human race. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Factions/Ministry of Preservation.md b/blades/Factions/Ministry of Preservation.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c6d23f --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Factions/Ministry of Preservation.md @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +> Oversees transportation between cities and the disbursement of food and other vital resources. + +Turf: The electro-rail train lines of the Imperium. Radiant energy farms, eeleries, and other food-growing enterprises throughout the city. + +NPCs: Lord Dalmore (executive officer in Doskvol, commanding, intelligent). Lady Slane (chief of operations, insightful, subtle, effective). Captain Lannock (mercenary commander, shrewd, ruthless). + +Notable Assets: A fleet of cargo ships and their armed escorts. A significant treasury from taxation and transportation licensing. The Rail Jacks who work the train lines. A private mercenary company that answers only to the ministry itself. + +Allies: The Billhooks, Imperial Military, Rail Jacks, Sparkwrights. + +Enemies: Leviathan Hunters. + +Situation: The Ministry leadership believes that the leviathan hunters are too vital to the public well-being to be controlled by the bickering noble houses, vulnerable to their petty rivalries and vendettas. Agents within the ministry have been tasked with a variety of espionage, sabotage, and political actions to ultimately seize control of the hunters and bring them into Ministry control. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Factions/The Wraiths.md b/blades/Factions/The Wraiths.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c394b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Factions/The Wraiths.md @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +Turf: Silkshore and Nightmarket are their primary hunting grounds. They specialize in the theft of luxury items and intelligence gathering for clients to use as blackmail. + +NPCs: Slate (leader, sophisticated, daring, secretive). Loop (appraisal expert, obsessive, moody, secretive). + +Notable Assets: A scattered collection of secret rooftop shelters. A secret lair in a tower in Silkshore. All manner of thieves’ gear for burglary. + +Quirks: Each member wears a mask and conceals their true identity with an alias. They communicate with a private sign language. + +Allies: Cabbies. + +Enemies: Bluecoats, Inspectors, The Hive. + +Situation: The Wraiths recently completed a heist at a luxury brothel in Nightmarket and happened to grab the private map book of a leviathan hunter in the process. The map book shows the secret hunting grounds of augured leviathan sites that will be used by the ship Storm Palace during the next season. Such a map is useless to the Wraiths, but is worth a small fortune to another leviathan hunter. The Wraiths are currently reaching out to contacts in the underworld to quietly arrange a sale. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Food.md b/blades/Food.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 diff --git a/blades/Landmarks.md b/blades/Landmarks.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d6c1e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Landmarks.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ + # The City +1. The Void Sea. During the cataclysm, the oceans turned to black ink. Tiny points of light, arrayed like constellations of stars, can be seen far below the surface. Only the bravest or most desperate of captains dare to sail beyond sight of land, into a sea as black and dark as the sky above. The vengeful ghosts that plague the land tend to shun the open ocean, but there are more terrible things prowling the deeps. +2. The Lost District. A once wealthy area, ravaged by plague then abandoned to the deathlands when the second lightning barrier was built. Contains many lost treasures for the foolhardy to seek out. +3. Ironhook Prison. A towering metal fortress, where the worst (or most unlucky) criminals are incarcerated. Many are forced into labor in the Southern fields and pit-mines of Dunslough. The condemned are sent to scavenge in the deathlands. +4. Gaddoc Rail Station. Electro-rail trains from across the Imperium arrive here daily with goods and passengers. +5. Eeleries & Farms. About half of Doskvol’s food needs are met by imports; the other half is gathered locally from eel farms, mushroom caverns, and crops nurtured by wondrous radiant energy lamps. +6. Old North Port. Before the deluge of the second century, the Dosk River delta was only a shallow bog surrounding a coal mining settlement. Ships used the Old North Port to dock and re-supply before crossing the open sea to Skovlan. The obsolete port was abandoned to the deathlands when the second lightning barrier was built. +7. The Deathlands. Beyond the lightning barriers, the world is a wasteland of petrified trees, ash, and choking clouds of miasma. Restless ghosts ceaselessly search for the faintest spark of life essence upon which to prey. + +# Districts +## Barrowcleft +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Barrowcleft#Description|Barrowcleft]] +## Brightstone +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Brightstone#Description|Brightstone]] +## Charhollow +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Charhollow#Description|Charhollow]] +## Charterhall +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Charterhall#Description|Charterhall]] +## Coalridge +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Coalridge#Description|Coalridge]] +## Crow's Foot +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Crow's Foot#Description|Crow's Foot]] +## The Docks +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/The Docks#Description|The Docks]] +## Dunslough +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Dunslough#Description|Dunslough]] +## Nightmark +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Nightmarket#Description|Nightmarket]] +## Silkshore +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Silkshore#Description|Silkshore]] +## Six Towers +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Six Towers#Description|Six Towers]] +## Whitecrown +![[Projects/Blades in the Dark/Duskvol/Districts/Whitecrown#Description|Whitecrown]] \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Language.md b/blades/Language.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..474664e --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Language.md @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +# Akorosian +There are three main languages spoken in the city. Most common is Akorosian, or “Imperial,” which is considered the common tongue. It’s expressive, nuanced, and verbose—perfect for sprawling poetry or meticulous legal documents. + +# Skovic +Second is Skovic, the mother tongue of Skovlan across the sea. Many Skovlanders live in Duskwall and their clipped, direct speech can be heard wherever they’re found. The ancient name of the city comes from an old Skovic word, do’skov’ol, literally meaning “the Skov’s coal mine.” +# Hadrathi +Third, and most rare, is Hadrathi, an ancient tongue found in musty old tomes but still spoken among some people, particularly Iruvians. Many people favor its elaborate, scathing expletives. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/The Shattered Isles.md b/blades/The Shattered Isles.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..54afe2f --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/The Shattered Isles.md @@ -0,0 +1,12 @@ +## AKOROS +A land of dark, petrified forests and rocky hills. The rich coastal cities get their wealth from leviathan hunting and from mining colonies deep inland. The Akorosi are sometimes called “Imperials” since the Imperium began there. They are generally fair-skinned and dark-haired. +## SEVEROS +A land of windswept plains, covered in dark scrub and thorny growths. Outside the Imperial cities on the coast, some native Serverosi still live in free tribes, scavenging the death-lands on their ghost-hunting horses. They are generally brown-skinned and dark-haired. +## IRUVIA +A land of black deserts, obsidian mountains, and raging volcanoes. Some say that positions of power are openly held by demons in Iruvia. The people are generally amber-skinned and dark-haired. +## THE DAGGER ISLES +A tropical archipelago covered in dense jungle growth; now turned dark and twisted from the strange magic of the cataclysm. Some say that the people there live without lightning barriers. How do they manage that? Native islanders are generally copper-skinned and dark-haired. +## SKOVLAN +A ragged land of cold mountains and rough tundra. Skovlan was the last holdout against Imperial control. They are generally pale-skinned and fair-haired or red-haired. +## TYCHEROS +A far off land, disconnected from the Empire. People say the Tycherosi (rudely called “Strangers”) have demon blood in their lineage. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/blades/Time.md b/blades/Time.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b03e432 --- /dev/null +++ b/blades/Time.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +# Timeline + +> [!timeline|t-l]- **Duskvol is founded** _~160pc_ +> The old Skov kingdom establishes a coal mining settlement at the river delta. It grows into a small port town over several generations. + +> [!timeline|t-r t-1]- **The Cataclysm** _0_ +> During the cataclysm, the far northern reaches are spared the worst of the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that shattered most of the continents to the south. The people of the mining settlement, like almost all of the survivors of the cataclysm, swear eternal fealty to the Immortal Emperor in exchange for his magical protection from the legions of vengeful spirits and other horrors unleashed upon the world. The safeguarded settlements salvage what they can from the ruins, and begin the long process of re-building. + +> [!timeline|t-l t-1]- **The Revival** _~200 ie_ +> Some of the knowledge and technologies lost by the cataclysm are beginning to be restored at this point, thanks in large part to schools established by the Immortal Emperor and stocked with scholarly works rescued from obliteration. Doskvol becomes the primary training ground for all nautical endeavors. + +> [!timeline|t-r t-1]- **The Great Deluge** _~223 ie_ +> The “great deluge” floods the mines of the rapidly growing city and kills hundreds. The mines are abandoned for several centuries, until advanced steam-powered machines can be employed to restore them. + +> [!timeline|t-l t-1]- **Leviathan Hunts and Electroplasm Refining** _~551 ie_ +> The first hunters succeed at harvesting and refining leviathan blood, reaping a fuel source that will eventually power the Imperium. + +> [!timeline|t-l t-1]- **Leviathan Hunts and Electroplasm Refining** _~556 ie_ +> The Immortal Emperor decrees that all cities of the Imperium are to begin construction of lightning barriers to replace waning protective sorceries. The first prototype barrier towers are built in Doskvol around the district that will become Charterhall. + + +> [!timeline|t-r t-1]+ **Unity War** _~809 ie_ +> Local citizens object when the Imperium moves the vast majority of its toxic leviathan blood processing to the factory town of Lockport in Skovlan. The Skovlanders insist that they are not subject to unilateral Imperial decree, claiming their figure-head king, Aldric, as their rightful ruler and demanding a withdrawal of the processing plants. The Emperor ignores them, sending workers to establish the new facilities under protection of the Imperial Military. King Aldric musters a militia force, and the Unity War begins. Over the course of the conflict, over two thousand Skovlander refugees flee their war-torn homeland and make for the closest port, Doskvol. + +> [!timeline|t-l t-1]+ **Skovlan Surrenders** _~845 ie_ +> The Unity War comes to end when Skovlan surrenders after Queen Alayne and her husband are killed by an assassin. + +> [!timeline|t-l t-1]+ **Present day** _~847 ie_ +> Present day + +# Practical Time + + +> [!NOTE]- The Stars +> The ancient stars still hang in the black sky, though their arrangements sometimes swirl and change according to unknown principles of celestial motion. When the oceans turned to black ink during the cataclysm, a new realm of constellations appeared in the depths of the seas—millions of tiny pinpoints of light, somehow clearly visible far below the waves. To sail upon the waters of the Shattered Isles is to be flung into the void—the crushing dark of black sky upon black water, stars far above and stars far below. Not every sailor is able to keep their sanity. + + +> [!NOTE] The Sun +> The sun was shattered in the cataclysm, plunging the world into darkness. Its remnant shards burn weakly in the sky at dawn and twilight, yielding only a dull glow, like the last embers in a dying fire. + + +> [!NOTE]- The Moon +> The moon looms huge and bright, swelling with each passing year, as if drawn ever closer by some terrible power. During certain phases of its transit, the moon appears to multiply across the sky, in pairs and trios of sibling lights, as if reflected on the facets of a vast crystalline dome. It is not known what causes these pale, dimmer sisters to appear, but occultists and natural philosophers have no shortage of arcane explanations and scientific hypotheses. + +## Hours +- Honor +- Song +- Silver +- Thread +- Flame +- Pearls +- Silk +- Wine +- Ash +- Coal +- Chains +- Smoke \ No newline at end of file