Shadowgulf

Loremaster Paul

Climate (Temperate)
Danger (Safe to Unsafe)
Alignment (Neutral to Lawful)

Other Tags (Mostly blighted on three sides by post-volcanic & seismic events)
(Civilized, Defensible, Resources of fish+common metals, Resources of rare herb/leaf)
Takes less than a day to walk end to end. Wilds take weeks to wind through safely.

Shadowgulf is a sprawling series of townships in a long and deep crag left by an old seismic & volcanic event. The was a city previously on the surface, but was destroyed over 300 years ago during a cataclysmic rending of the ground beneath them. Over time, survivors, travelers, and neighboring townships learned to navigate the new dangers and wildlife that arose from the change of the region and ecosystems. Scholars recognized that the new terrain was likely never to erupt again and their confidence built over time to eventually lead to the establishment of a real self-sustaining community. The residents live primarily in the crag, farm and fishing lands, and some in the gulf shores. Mining is a strictly-regulated trade, as the foundations of the crag are protected against failure or accidental exposure to dangerous gasses or creatures of the deep. The weather is generally fair and temperate, winters cold but rarely extreme. Rain is needed for crop growth, but deep in the northeastern wilds, rain can bring dangers few can say they have endured.

• The surface edge of Shadowgulf's long crag is surrounded by defensive walls.
• Surrounding areas contain farming villages that enjoy very fertile soil. Shadowgulf grows a smokable leaf plant, Shadowlead, that has various herbal and medicinal uses, primarily hardening the body against cold weather.
• Other than the greens of northwestern/western Shadowgulf are the surrounding region's various geysers, mineral-heavy hot springs/pools, and patchy forests. It is generally not habitable and contains various creatures that while are useful for herbal/medicinal needs are often dangerous if disturbed. The wildlife, poor quality of landscape, geysers and gasses, and the cliff face of the crag itself have discouraged attacks originating from these areas. If one is talented enough in both collection and defense, the resources of these areas can make one well off locally and wealthy if sold abroad.
• The crag itself is roughly 4KM long, half a KM wide

• The western gulf is a protected sea-trade entrance port to the city and is strictly regulated with tracked licenses and permits.
• Various fishing villages line the northwestern landscape with military watchtowers interspersed here and there to warn against landings and attacks.
• If permitted to enter the gulf, one can enjoy numerous trading houses, taverns, playhouses and more, all of varied quality and repute. Some people spend their entire lives in the gulf and never set foot in the crag.

• Shadowgulf has only recently begun its discovery of Mystils, caverns of glowing crystal surrounding still pools of water deep in their mines. Traditional tools have been unable to break the crystals, and the governorship has refused to apply explosive or magical removal of the crystals until more research is completed.
• The people have a fair amount of religious and general freedom, although most believe in a common creator that likely had to punish the original city for some atrocity that history had not recorded. This has made the city have a general culture of being the “rebirthed” second chance of the land's previous inhabitants.
• There is a large defensive pair of towers and gates allowing passage up/down from the western defensive walls of the crag. It faces the sea.
• There is a pair of defensive layered walls guarding the south entrance to the crag down to the gulf.

• Vampiric Bobber - A long- and sharp-beaked bird that lives primarily on the blood and eggs of other foul and small to medium animals. Larger packs of Bobbers have been known to attack or carry off small children or rapidly drain incapacitated or helpless persons.
• Shadowleaf - A plant with various methods of ingestion or application to provide calm against fear (chewed steamed twig), resistance to cold (smoked pipe leaf), disinfectant healing to wounds (volcanic mudpack salve).
• Bombardier Boffins - A fist-to-arm-sized armored beetle that can eject caustic chemicals at a victim, resulting in acidic burns.
• Nomad Seals - Seen only one cold season a year, the migrating seals have an uncanny knack of finding deeply buried seafaring creatures that multiply plentifully the rest of the year. The seals discard pearls, fine shells, armored carapaces, and more that the local fishing villages collect for use in various trades and crafts. Seeing a Nomad Seal giving birth on the shore is considered a blessing to the fishing villages nearby.
• Various sea birds roam over the coastal region. Inland birds are fairly plentiful, kept at bay by the Vampiric Bobbers who punish those who come too near to the eastern areas of Shadowgulf.
• Deepdwellers - Those who work in the mines share stories of creatures that defend their labyrinthian homes against intrusion. Descriptions of these Deepdwellers are varied either because of word-of-mouth tavern tales or because those who truly witness them are never found again.