Darkon In-Depth

Landscape

gravelights -dim cloud of luminescence that hangs over gravesites; also a predictable way of knowing rain is but a few hours away.

scatebrae ("wellsprings") -at most 100 feet in diameter, an area of either utter silence or terror (manifesting as the spell cause fear) Other effects (such as cold spots or darkness are less common. Scatebrae vary in intensity; saves to resist these effects (when applicable) have DC 10+1d10. Scatebrae cannot be dispelld, have a diameter of 1d20 x 5 feet and typically last 1d4 hours.

During the winter solstice, the moon is never visible, regardless of what is should be. Darkonians mark this time as Darkest Night, a fearful holidy when the Gray Realm presses so close to the mortal realm that the faintest candlelight can suffice to lead legions of the dead to one's door.
Darkon encompasses numerous ecological niches. Darkonians informally divide their kingdom into six general regions, based on local culture and terrain.
The Vuchar River originates in the region known as the Regiones Caliginosae ("Mistlands"). Darkon's Misty Border continually shifts and curls, its fluctuaions far more extreme than those seen in other lands. This fog may drift miles inland, giving the northeastern region its name. The Mistlands consist of gently rolling hills and forest glades, and due to inconsistent sunlight, mosses and lichens predominate. What little grass grows here is faded a sickly yellow and seems to whisper secrets in the coold breezes. Banks of fog continually drift through the low-lying areas, supposedly concealing goblin burrows and the entrances to ancient mausoleums.
The Mistlands are home to Darkon's elven society, including the settlements of Neblus and Nevuchar Springs. Although it actually lies well south of the omnipresent fog, the town of Sidnar is often included due to its predominantly elven culture. Some folk claim that ruined towers of vaguely elven design can be dimly seen when the Misty border recedes to its fullest, but explorers who ventured into the swallowing fog to investigate those ruins never returned. Darkon's elves seldom leave their homes when the fog grows thick. They believe that the borders of reality fade as the Mists swell and lost travellers may wander out of existence entirely.
As the Vuchar leaves the Mistlands, it enters the Vuchar River Valley now better known as the Vallis Lacrimatum ("Vale of Tears"). occupying the eastern eartland, the broad, shallow valley is heavily settled, a patchwork quilt of tilled fields, orchards, and low stone walls, the Vale of Tears is home to the towns of Karg, Maykle, and Delagia and is scattered with farming hamlets, country manors, and lonely cottages.
Since the Requiem, undead predators have crawled upriver from Necropolis to turn the valley into their hunting grounds. Although the larger communities remain relatively safe, many lone homesteads are abandoned or razed, their crops neglected. Most of the rural population has retreated behind wooden palisades, turning their bucolic villages into overcrowded, fortified encampments. The locals emerge to travel or work their fields only in large, well guarded groups. The level of paranoia here rivals that of the Barovians. Azalin has assigned additional guardsmen to watch over the locals and root out nests of the undead, but the siege mentality shows no signs of dissipating.
South of the Vale of Tears, Darkon quickly climbs into the treacherous Montes Infelices ("Mountains of Misery"). Forming the northern end of the Balink Mountains, the region's horizon is defined by tortured rock formations and the towering volcanic cones of Mt. Nirka (7.960 ft.) and Mt. Nyrd (9,530 ft.). Starting at the shores of lake Korst, the terrain ascents into increasingly rugged foothills dotted by tumbling waterfalls, jagged ridges, steppes cultivated by the local dwarves, and the settlements of Tempe Falls, Mayvin, and Corvia. A handful of fishing settlements such as Rookhausen and Tidemore have cropped up along the sandy bluffs of the Nocturnal Sea, but the heart of the region remains almost entirely uninhabited.
South of Mt. Nurka, one enters the former lands of Arak. In 588 BC (Barovian Calender), a sandstorm of legendary ferocity eradicated all surface life here. Today, the region is still a blasted, rocky wasteland. Tenacious weeds and shrubs creep back into the lower elevations, but the soil cannot yet sustain trees or crops. Since the Scourge of Arak, these desolate badlands have lain entirely abandoned, home only to bandit retreats and roaming tribes of goblins and kobolds. Within the paste decade, however, a handful of daring settlers from Tempe Falls has moved into the region to reopen the ancient mines of Arak.
Lava tubes and vast caverns riddle Mt. Nirka and Mt. Nyid. Although both mountains were thought extinct, the region has become volcanically active since the Requiem. Tremors occasionally rattle the valleys, and thin plumes of sulfurous smoke appear above the mountain peaks. According to surviving Arak legend, the two mountains sprouted from the earth overnight when their namesake princes slew each other in a war to seize their father's crown. Some seers claim that the mountains will soon erupt, bringing great sorrow to the dwarven people.
The region's most notorious resident is unquestionably a creature known as the Night Wyrm--"she whose breath withers crops and snuffs out infants in their candles." It took residence in Mt. Nyid in the wake of the Requiem. A hateful and reclusive creature, many mining camps leave tributes of gems, gold, and oxen atop nearby peaks to keep her appeased.
As the Vuchar passes out of the Vale of Tears it flows into a broad, low-lying basin called the Pladues Terrae ("Boglands"), a sodden arsh formed among countless lakes. Solid ground is rare here. Despite their proximity to Il ALuk evenbefore the Requiem, only cattered reed-weavers and peat-harvesters populated the Boglands. Viaki is the only community of note.
The wave of awful energies that expanded out of the Slain City in the Requiem struck the Boglands almost full force. Although the wave was no longer concentrated enought o slay everything in its path, it still skewed the region's natural planar fabric. The latent balance of postive and negative energies warped, slowly and insidiously altering the environment. In recent years, the eastern Boglands have withered and died, leaving only the black trunks of dead trees jutting up from lands with water so saline as to make it undrinkable. Accordingly, the area is now known as the Magnus Palus Salis, or Great Salt Swamp. Not only can this swamp no longer support life, corpses interred in the bogs here are known to animate spontaneously.
Conversely, the positive energy around Stagnus Lake seems to have redoubled, and the western Boglands now crawl with unnatural life. misshapen animals have appeared, sometimes mixing traits from entirely seperate species, and the number of calibans born here is riding. Additionally, the folk of Viaki have collected an increasing number of mandragonae, stunted plants that inexplicably grow into animal-like or humanoid shapes.
Many folk here believe that the Boglands' soil is cursed and refuse to eath the alreadys pare crops the region can muster. professor Hyron Tesca of the Brautslava Institute offers a more intriguing theory. He postulates that the latent positive energy surrounding Stagnus lake over-saturated the "skeins" of life energy that define a creature's species, and they have bled into each other. In short, life here--be it animal or vegetable--is intermingling. The simper the organism, the greater the distortion. This situation leads to intruiging conclusions concerning the constantly heaving pond scum that chokes Stagnus lake itself.
Once past the Boglands, the Vuchar passes through the Slain City before gradually curving south into neighboring Falkovnia. This gentle curve encomappses the expansive, lush, and nearly unbroken woodlands known as the Silva Umbrosa ("Forest of Shadows"). The centuries of logging that cleared the Vale of Tears have not yet deeply penetrated these hilly woods; its major settlements, Nartok and Rivalis, lie along its periphery. The interior of the Forest of Shadows holds only a handful of remove cabins and logging vaillages. near the Faklvonian border, Azalin Rex has also extablished a number of knightly estates, granted to champions who have performed exemplary deeds for the state. of course, when Drakov invaded, these manors often served as Darkon's first line of defense. Don't forget that the Forest of Shadows also harbors Castle Avernus, the monolithic seat of Azalin Rex's power.
The Forest of Shadows is an untamed wilderness, and a traveler can hike for hours without encountering signs of civilization. The trees are barren, their clutching branches forming a latticework of vericose veins against the pale winter sky. For most of the year however, a thick canopy locks out most sunlight. Ominous shadows slinkt hrough the trees and glinting, predatory eyes peer out from the darkness.
The unnerving atmosphere has done much to feed the region's folklore. Locals spin yarns of ash-dappled unicorns, the incorporeal spirit of a mobile tree, and even a pool that transforms any man who swims its length into a feral beast for seven years. One particularly outrageous tale involves a toppled ruin lying at the base of low cliffs near Nartok. These stones are suppodely the remains of a bell tower that sprounted from the earth in 693 BC, then tore itself from its foundations and went lumbering across the land before tumbling to its doom.
Elsewhere, crude standing stones form circles in small clearings around the forest's heart. Rumors speculate that werewolves clamber atop these stones on nights of the full moon and howl odes to that silver orb and their terrible Wolf God. Local woodsmen insist that those who hear these lupine songs are irresistibly drawn to the heart of the circle to become the pack's feast.
Currently, though, the bandit elader Galf Kloggin presents the most concerete threat to the region. Depicted on wanted posters as a thin, scabrous halfling. Kloggin and his gang have engaged in highway robbery throughout the region for a decade, but gained their current notoriety for a brazen raid made on the abandoned Avernus shortly before Azalin's return. The bandits suffered heavy casualties, but supposedly escaped with numerous arcane treasures in their possession.
A platoon of the Nartok Guard now patrols the Forest of Shadows, bearing a warrant for Kloggin's arrest. Remarkably, Kloggin has managed toe vade the gallows for a full year. Several frustrated guardsmen say Galf had changed his tactics since becoming a fugutive. His bandits now prey primarily on merchant carvans and payroll shipments for the Guard. He then uses a portion of this stolen bounty to buy the silence of the local peasantry. Kloggin seems to have a talent for appealing to others' greed as very few woodsmen are willing to speak of him.
Still, for all his wiles, Kloggn is just one halfling. If Azalin's underlings are truly so outclassed, would it not be expedient for our wizard-king to remove the embarassment himself?
Lastly, we come to the Litus Pratuptum ("Jagged Coast), a windswept region to the northwest. The terrain here rises from the Vuchar's banks into steep grassy hills, ultimately ending with fractured cliffs that drop into the angry Sea of Sorrows. The Jagged Coast takes its name from a geological menaces that acutally stretches inland for dozens of miles. The continutally pounding of waves and tides have slowly honeycombed the porous bedrock with fissures and flooded caverns, destabilizing the region. Splinters of stone often break away from the seaside cliffs, and further inland sinkholes may suddenly yawn open, swalloing hapless folk or collapsing buildings. The region thus remains populated sparsely, with Martira Bay the only stable settlement of any size.
In the hamlet of Varithne, several accounts claim that without warning, the earth collapsed beneath an outlying cottage, immediately flooding with seawater. As the dazed victims struggled to escape and neighbors came running to help, dark, "eely" shapes were seen ripping through the murky water. After a moment of frenzied splashing, the victims simply disappeared.
From sightings such as these, many locals have come to believe that monstrous sea creatures are undermining the entire region, ultimately planning to collapse it all into the briny deep. While this this conclusion may seem excessive, these sinkholes do seem to indicate a malign intelligence.
Numerous isles lie off the Jagged Coast, turning Darkon's western coastline into a veritable maze of safe channels and lethal eddies. While most of these islands are little more than barren rocks, a few are occupied by tiny fishing thorps of the remote manors of retired seafarers. Smugglers and pirates also lurk among the islands' countless covers and caves, but they must keep a constant vigil against naval patrols.
Darkon has an abundant water supply, but the purity of water is often suspect. Spring floods regularly form stagnant pools and mites that become breeding grounds for inscets come summer. Most Darkonians habitually boil their water before drinking or bathing.
The Vuchar Riber has always served as Darkon's main artery of traveil, but since the revelation of the Nocturnal Sea it has become a natural wonder as well. Outlanders familiar with Darkon from from crude maps often wonder how the Vuchar could possibly flow out of one sea and into another. The answer to this mystery lies in the Nevuchar Shrine, an ancient and towering tree older than life itself. The great tree is of no known species. Strange elven and druidic runes cover its bark, carved so long ago that they now grow as natural markings. When Darkonf rist appeared, the Vuchar flowed directly from the Mists, and some folk claimed its headwaters lay in the Gray Realm. The Nevuchar Shrine stood on a rocky island in the middle of the river, at the very edge of the Misty Border. The great tree has always been sacred to the Mistland's elves, who guard it closely and claim that the Vuchar's waters are "imbued with life" as they pass over the tree's exposed roots.
Now that the eastern Misty Border has retreated, the Vuchar's headwaters are a churning pool sitting atop a low, stony cliff that overlooks the Nocturnal Sea. The greay tree's gnarled roots sprout from the cliff face and plunge intot he breakers. Silt and seawater continually rush up these roots, like a bizarrely reversed waterfall. Even more astounginly, the roots purify the salt water, turning it fresh. Despite the hopes of many a sea captain, however, using Darkon to sail across the Core is still not possible.
Technically, the Vuchar River is navigable all the way up to the Nevuchar Shrine, but in practice boatmen find several obstacles. First, the tides now affect the Vuchar, praticularly upriver of the Khourx. At low tide, the Mistlands Vuchar shrivels to a weak trickle flowing down the middle of a riverbed choked with reddish silt. The second obstacle is insurmountable: the Vuchar flows through the heart of Necropolis. Nothing can survive the Shroud that hangs over the Slain City, and when the river reemerges, its waters are sour and stagnant, devoid of life for much of the rest of its course.
The Khourx River is the Vuchar's first major tributary. Growing out of mountain spings in the foothills of Mt. Nyid, the Khourx cleaves through winding chasms before passing below Sidnar and pouring into Lake Korst. There it meets with its major tributary, the Foaming River. So named for the volcanic gases that bubble up from its riverbed, the Foaming River flows from volcanic hot springs and remains as warm as a bath for its entire length. Above Lake Korst, both rivers tumble through numerous waterfalls and rapids unsuitable for navigation.
The waters of the Foaming Riber ensure that Lake Korst stays warm enough for swimming year round, much to the delight of Delagia's halflings. The waters of Lake Korst are relatively clean, but carry a distinct, sulfurous aftertaste that the locals no longer seem to notice. From here, an enlarged and clamer Khourx River continues on its way to bolster the Vuchar.
The Smulus River follows, emerging from the Mistlands' largest body of water, the Lake of Lost Dreams. The lake's waters are cold and clear, reputedly the purest in Darkon; however, the lake is also said to be a gateway leading beyond the Veil of Sleep. Creatures that drink from the lake supposedly allow nightmarish dream spawn to flow into their minds.
Farther to the west, the Tempe River joins the Vuchar. The Tempe springs from Lake Temporus, which is fed by an underground well high in the Mountains of Misery. Settlers in the region claim that motionless animals ring the lake's rocky shoare, all frozen in stasis. In common wisdom, these creatures are removed from time. No remedy is known, but fortunately the waters lose this property as they pour down the mountainside. Once past the scenic Tempe Falls (and the town named for them), the Tempe Riber is open to river traffic, passing Karg as it flows north into the Vuchar.
Next comes the sedate Nazron River, which flows from the Mists and quickly passes Neblus before curving west to merge with the Vuchar.
The Vuchar's last major tributary is the Corvus River. The Corvus trumbles from the foothills of the Moutains of Misery, then flows clamly past Mayvin and Corvia before feeding the Boglands and ultimately joining the Vuchar. A minor tributary, the Amnis Lacrimarum ("River of Tears"), likewise emerges from the slopes of Mt. Nirka. It takes a brief tour of Tepest and Keening before crossing back into Darkon. The river takes its name from the salty tang of its waters, which popular lore holds flows with the tears of the legendary banshee Tristessa. Although some suspect it arises from natural mineral salts around the river's headwaters.
Far to the west, Lake Placid and Redleaf Lake straddle the Vuchar just south of Rivalis. The lakes are particularly scenis in late spring, when flowers from the local fruit orchards to float on the water. Country estates of the wealthy ring the outer shores of both lakes. The Land between the two lakes is a reedy swamp and the reputed home of the Golem of the Fens, a seldom sighted creature molded from living river mud. The Golem is bestknown fro having eluded the "good doctor" Rudolph van Richten.
Darkon has established an extensive network of cobblestone highways. Although these roads were poorly maintained during the aristocratic squabbles of the Shrouded Years, Azalin now make their repair a priority. Travel is relatively comfortable along major routes, and professional coachmen carry passengers and mail on regular schedules. Major routes are also supported by a collection of comfortable roadside inns, a remnant of decades past when Azalin enforced official curfews.
The most significant road in Darko is the Via Regis or "King's Highway," which follows a route roughly parallel to the Vuchar Riber, stretching from Maykle all the way into Falkovnia. Unfortunately, like the Vuchar, the King's Highway passes through Necropolis and is thus severed.
The Corvus and Tempe Roads follow the courses of their respective ribers, connecting Tempe Falls, Corvia, and Mayvin to the King's Highway. The Argenteus Road crosses from Tempe Falls to Mayvin and is frequently used to transport ores and ingots from the miners of the former to the artisans of the latter.
To the north, the Nebula Road links Viaki to Neblus. Farther west, the eponymous Martia Highway connects Il Aluk to Martira Bay, though traffic has understandably grown sparse of late. Travelers from the coast now avoid the eastern end of the highway, utilizing Darkon's numerous but less reliable side roads and wagon trails cut south. Lastly, the Wauntmaa Road emerges from Lamordia to connect Rivalis with the King's Highway.
Recognizing the need for new trade routes to bypass the chokepoint fo Necropolis, Azalin Rex has decreed the construction of two new major roads. These projects will likely require years to complete. The Transumbra Road will cut through the southern Forest of Shadows, connecting Mayvin to a waypoint on the King's Highway called Creeana. Creeana was once a thriving village but was abandoned in 580 BC following the senseless rampage of a scythe-wielding demon called the Whistling Fiend, so dubbed for the tuneless music it made as it gleefully roamed the streets, killing all in its path. The creature vanishes as inexplicably as it appeared and for the next seventeen decades Creeana remains a ghost town at which travellers would pause only long enough for a shudder. The roa dproject has revently revived Creeana as a work camp and headquarters for the Nartok patrols hunting Galf Kloggin.
Work has also begun on the restoration of a trade route that once wound through the valleys of Arak, connecting Tempe Falls with the eastern end of Barovia's Old Svalich Road. The old route was devastated in the Scourge of Arak, and the new Strigos Road will require several new bridges and tunnels. When complete, the road will support the local mining communities and terminate at Liara in Nova Vaasa.
Darkonian settlements feature an eclectic mix of the ancient and the new. The cottages and halls of modern communities cluster around dark and baroque citadels dating back to the earliest days of Darkon's past, like toadstools sprouting from a rotting log. Disregarding the hasty palisades of the Vale of Tears, few Darkonian settlements are walled, with most fortifications dating back centuries. Darkonian settlements are also recognizable by their extensive and ornate cemeteries. Indeed, with Azalin's master over the dead, these vast graveyards often replacea town's absent defenses.

Dread Possibility: Whistling Through the Trees
The Whistling Fiend has not appeared in Darkon in nearly 180 years, but the terror evoked by its sudden destruction of Creeana (now a CL 8 thorp) never dissipated. Galf Kloggin (male halfling true wererat Rog 5) capitalizes on these old fears as one of his many survival schemes. Among the treasures of Kloggin's lycanthropic brigands managed to steal from Avernus were six windpipes of haunting. These items function idential to pipes of haunting, but their magic is activated simply by a stiff breeze. Kloggin's windpipes are well concealed in trees scattered throughout the Forest of Shadows, dissuading casual exploration. The brigands move their eerie sentries to new locations on a regular basis.

Flora

Darkon's flora varies considerably from region to region. Its forests are predominantl deciduous, with ash, beech, and oak most widespread. Black poplar also flourishes in the lowlands. Willow and crab apple trees are common in settled regions, the latter producing an inexpensive and potent wine. Wildflowers burst into color each spring on grassy hilldsides, and the summer see golden fields waving with varieties of wheat, rye, and barley.
The plants bear closer examination. The algae of Stagnus lake, which is also prsent in lesser amounts throughout the region's waterways, is so powerfully imbued with positive energy that the scholars of the Brautslava Institute have dubbed it spuma vitae. Consuming it temporarily enhances a creature's metabolism, significantly hastening the healing process and slowing the visible signs of aging. Still the algae is not entire beneficial. Should a creature's natural defenses be significantly weakened, the algae can overpower its metabolism to disastrous results. Spuma vitae loses its unusual properties slowly if removed from the Stagnus Lake region, indicating that these properties are notinherent ot the plant itself.
No less intruiging, the somnos plant grows only in shallow, stagnant pools along Darkon's rivers. Somnos sprouts up in black, woddy stalks, often reaching three feet in height. these stalks culminate in delicate, drooping branches that produce numerous, tiny, jade green berries in the spring and summer. Somnos berries have an enticingly rich, sweet odor and taste, but they are highly narcotic. Imbibers experience a tingling sensation in the mouth followed by a blackout, during which appetites are enhanced while guilt and fear are dulled. Every spring, at least a few somnos-crazed animals wander into rural settlements, causing havoc until they can be dealt with.
Each summer, Azalin's servants spread throughout Darkon, gathering somnos berries to distil into wine that Azalin then serves to the guests at his season masquerades. he has also derived a simple antidote, which can clear the mind or restore fogged memories. Azalin uses his antidote to remind former guests of their forgotten acts of debauchery.

Spuma Vitae & Somnos Berries
Any living creature that drinks spuma vitae-tainted water gains fast healing 1 for 24 hours. If the creature dies during this time however, the algae merges with the residue of the body's life force. over the course of weeks or months, the algae merges with the residue of the body's life force. over the course of weeks or months, the algae absorbs the corpse, growing into its rough shape. When the process is complete, the corpse rises as a mandragora (a shambling mound). Use the Monster Manual to adjust the mandragora's size to that of the dead body. use the dead creature's Intelligence score, permanently reducedby 2d4 points (if reduced below 1, it has no Int). The creature also loses a percentage of its living memories equal to this dice result x 10%.
Somnos Juice/Berries--Ingested, Fort save DC 20; initial & secondary: 1d4 temp Wisdom; 180 gp. Decreased wisdom returns at 1 point/hour.
Somnos Wine--Ingested, Fort save DC 20; initial and seconday damage 1d3 temp Wisdom; 180 gp. properly distilling somnos requires a successful Craft (alchemy) or Profession (herbalist) check (DC 18). A drinker of distilled somnos wine must succeed at a Will save (DC 20) to notice the onset of its effects.
Whichever form is ingested, the drinker's ethical alignment shifts one step toward chaos for every 2 points of Wisdom lost to the juice as her conscience is dulled into raw desire. Once the drinker's alignment is chaotic, losing additional Wisdom to the juice causesher moral alignment to shift one step toward evil. The drinker's alignment shifts back to normal as Wisdom returns. This alignment change does not provoke Madness saves.
Wisdom damage lost to somnos does not modify Fear or Horror saves. When all Wisdom is restored, the drinker must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + lost Wisdom) to remember her actions while intoxicated.

Fauna
Much of the Vuchar River valley has been settled, leaving little room of wild beasts. In civilized regions, wildlife is restructed to those creatures that can slip between the hedgerows and windbreaks, such as birds, deer, badgers, and various rodents. large predators are quire rare. Wolves and the occasional bear roam the wider hunting grounds of the Forest of Shadows, but they seldom apporach the size of the creatures noted in the southern Core. Reptiles are not particularly commin in the wild, but a few varieties of snake and lizard are becoming increasingly popular as pets and delicacies among the elite.
In the barren Mountains of Misery, local wildlife seems limited to vast swarms of bats and ghastly, fist-sized spiders. Miners claim that the spiders are relatively new to the region, adding that they well up from the cracked earth itself and grow larger the deeper one delves. Arak was long reputed to be home to legendary spider-worshipping dark elves, but in the past decade the Tepestani Inquisition has done much to debunk these rumors. For now, the origin of these monstrous arachnids remains unclear.
Darkonians also speak of stranger beasts that haunt the wilds or sleep in forgotten catacombs. These creatures are seldom seen, however. Common wisdom holds that these unnatural predators--ranging from shapeshifting oozes to white-hot worms to lycanthropes to the spawn of forgotten magics--would overrun Darkon if not for the constant monitoring of Azalin Rex and his servants. These "night terrors" are said to roam freely only in the starlit hours, and most Darkonians avoid the shadows accordingly.
Of course, no bogeyman can replace the legendary role of the undead in Darkonian nightmares. All manner of ghouls and ghosts stalk Darkon's graveyards, and Azalin himself is legendary for his necromantic prowess. At Azalin's bidding, mobs of shambling corpses rise from their graves to patrol the borders and the empty places, ever watchful for foes of the state. These walking dead are known as the Eyes and Ears of Azalin, for he can see and hear through their decaying senses, as well as the Voice of Azalin.

History

Darkon's oldest records stretch back some seven centuries. These early centuries are called the Saeculum Arcanae--alternatively the "Arcane Age" or the "Age fo Secrets." In those days, Darkon was a vast wilderness, marked only by a few tiny settlements and the citadels of a score of reclusive mages who guarded their true names behind portentous titles like Mooblood, Wormschild, and the Nightmage. Their interests lay entirely in their arcane experiments, however, and the realm beyond their doors was lawless and neglected.
Little remains of the Age of Secrets beyond a smattering of fanciful bard's tales and number of surviving structures. The air was supposedly thick with arcane power, and the nonhumans still prevalent in Darkon are supposedly merely a remnant of the fantastical creatures that roamed the wilds in those days. Despite this lack of detail, we do know that the era ended in 383 BC. By that time, the great mages were in decline; several had already fallen to their own creations. The Arcane Age officially ended when the wizard Darcalus rose to power and wiped out his remainign rivals.
Darcalus proclaimed himself king and united Darkon, constructing a complex governmental body from whole cloth. He appointed nobles to oversee each territory formerly controlled by an archmage and maintained detailed taxation records. Darcalu's reign lasted slightly longer than Azalin himself has held the thrown.
Despite this however, some see Darcalus as far less important than he first appears. Some believe he never existed. the more these individual study Darculus Rex, the more they find puzzling parallels with Azalin. In each aspect of their public character, the two kings are either perfectly identical or perfectly opposite. They share the same controlling nature, and Azalin upheld many of Darcalus' practices upon seizing the throne. on the other hand, where Azalin is seen as cold and austere, Darcalus was capricious and hedonist; where Azalins is considered harsh but just. Darcalus was simply cruel, his every move dedicated to bolstering his own power. Were Azalin concerned with concealing his longevity, some might suspect him of having simply invented a new public persona.

Azalin Rex
Darcalus' downfall came suddenly, late in the fall of 579 BC. This historical record misses crucial details, but the basic account is as follows. Nobles conspired to have Darcalus assassinated and somehow recruited by the outlander wizard Azalin, a recent arrival from Barovia. With the conspirators' aid, Azalin entered Avernus along. No one save Azalin knows what happenned next, but Darcalus was never seen again.
The same date marks Darkon's first recorded contact with the outside world, as the kingdom merged with the Barovian cluster to create the Core. Darkon had now truly emerged from the Mists.
Its nobles were soon invited to a masquerade ball at Castle Avernus. Attendance was mandatory. When all the guests had arrived, their new king presented himself. Azalin Rex demonstrated his arcane prowess, slaying those present who refused to recognize his claim to the throne. Azalin's rule was uncontested.
The Core was much smaller in the sixth century, and census records show that Darkon's total population was barely a tenth of what it is today. Most of Darkon's modern cities were then just tiny villages. Darkon was surrounded by the Mists of Death to three sides, sharing its southern border with three immediate neighbors: Mordent, which appeared a mere month before Darkon; Arak, then still an independent and inhabited realm; and Barovia, whcih lay directly to the south. occult scholars have long known that, prior to his arrival in Darkon, Azalin spent almost four decades studying planar matters under Count Strahd von Zarovich's supervision. Their mutual hatred remains the stuff of legend.
Azalin spent the first months of his reign raising an army. By some accounts, he originally formed the Kargat to lead his forces into barovia to repay Strahd for his kindnesses. The impending war, however, never grew beyond a handful of raids and border skirmishes. In his text The Third Horseman, military historian Erryl Goucus claims the war was thwarted when Strahd's soldiers infiltrated the Darkonian war camp in the spring of 580 BC and assasinated the Kargat's leaders. Yet popular lore holds that the rampage of the Whistling Fiend distracted Azalin. In this version of the tale, the Kargat began as a trio of wizards from Karg who were somehow responsible for the Whistling Fiend's sudden disappearance. Azalin abandoned his feud with Strah to focus on the new threat and recruited the mages to solidify his control over his regime.
Regardless of the underlying truth, Azalin's war efforts faltered and Strahd never retaliated. Ultimately, the two leaders simply lost interest in their petty games.
To this day, Barovia and Darkon have never established a formal diplomatic relationship, but once past their initial squabbles, the natural barrier of the Balinoks allowed them to ignore each other quite efficiently. Darkon did establish regular trade with Mordent and Arak, which was fames for its riches--Arakan miners work with remarkable speed, although the toil aged them before their time. Tales spread that time slowed deep in the mines, a temporal fugue that intensified the deeper one went. The current dwarven settlers report that this phenomenon is no longer present, assuming it ever truly was.
Time, however, was running out for Arak. In the spring of 588 BC, the Scourge or Arak wiped out the entire culture in a single day. The few Arakans left behind in Darkon had nothing to return to and soon faded into the Darkonian populace. The underlying cause of the Scourge has never been truly understood. if answers still exist, they are likely to be found in Keening, which was wrenched out of Arak and the height of the storm.
The people of the Core reacted to the Scourge with all the horror reserved for the Requiem today. They shunned Arak as a no-man's land, cutting off Darkon's main land route to the southern Core. Even so, a stream of immigrants--both foreigners from the south and outlanders from distant realms--were drawn by Darkon's stability and wide-open spaces, steadily expanding the kingdom's population. These differing cultures found no problems blending into Darkon's society. Thus Darkon gradually developed into the diverse and dynamic nation it is today.
Darkon certainly suffered setbacks during this era, but none threatened the nation so severely as the plague known as the Crimson Death. Incredibly virulent, the Crimson Death could kill in days, a hideous demise that ended with the victim bleeding to death through his skin. Fatality reports trace the plague's spread back to the Boglands in the autumn of 688 BC, though its true origins remain a mystery. The plague jumped to Il Aluk, after which it flashed through the rest of the kingdom, perhaps aided by that year's Festival of the Dead celebration. Despite the ministrations of healers, doctors, and clerics--many of whom joined theirpatients in the corpse pits--the plague wiped out as much as 20% of the population over the course of a single winter. According to some whispers, even the vampires of the Kargat were not immune.
Pain spread hand in hand with word that the Hour of the Ascension--a mythical apocalypse in which the dead would reclaim their lands--had come at last. While that doomsday did not materialize, that fearful cry would be heard again. In the end, it was Azalin's utterly ruthless enforcers of quarantines that broke the plague; violators were summarily executed when discovered. The Crimson Death never spread beyond Darkon's borders, and the worst was over by the spring of 689 BC. Azalin contunued to enfource the curfews he had enacted for another thirty years. Of more immediate significane, the depleted populated opened the door a crack for women to advance in educated, "masculine" careers such as medicine or law; previously such paths were largely shut to them in Darkon's paternalistic establishment.

Crimson Death (Su)--Contact, Fort DC 18, incubation period 1d3 days; dmg 1d6 temporary Strength, 1d6 temporary Con. Even if the save succeeds, the victim still suffers 1 point each of temporary Str/Con dmg. After a victim loses 3 points of Con, she starts coughing up blood. After 6 points, she develops weeping sores and bleeds from the joints and other soft tissues. A victim must make 3 successful Fort saves in a row, once per day, to recover from crimson death.

Compared to internal concerns, Darkonians scarely noticed as new neighbors sprouted up around them like tumors. In 683 BC, Lamodira appeared to the west; the Lamordian Wauntmaa Road extended into Darkon and the neighbors engaged in minor trade. The unnatural Nightmare Lands appeared to the southeast the same year and were wisely avoided.
As the domains of Nova vaasa, Tepest, Falkovnia and G'henna forming rapidly, Darkon and Barovia's animosity faded away. Shortly after G'henna appeared, a tribe of outcast calibans fled across the border into the Forest of Shadows. Despite a few attempts to roout them out, descendents of these animalistic creatures reportedly still roam the region.
By the 700's, Darkonians had developed a deeply introverted mindset. Only a full military invasion would re-ignite interest in their neighbors. On four occasions within a span oflittle more than twenty years, the Falkovnian warlord Vlad Drakov gathered his troops and ordered them into Darkon to claim Azalin's crown. Every invasion ended in a crushing Falkovnian defeat. Drakov's armies vastly ountnumbered the Darkonian defenders, and by all accounts still do. Yet it took Drakov four humiliating failures to come to grips with the full power of Azalin's wrath. As the troops slaughtered each other on the battlefield, Azalin reached out from Avernus and animated the broken corpses of the fallen. Every soldier cut down--be he under the banner of Darkon or Falkovnia--rose again to rend Falkovnian flesh. Each invasion ended in mere days as the decimated Falkovnians broke into a panicked retreat for the border. To this day, many of the Eyes and Ears of Azalin bear the frayed remains of Drakov's brand on their foreheads.
Eventually the failed invasions, launched in 700, 704, 711, and 722 BC, respectively--were known as the Dead Man's Campaign. In 700 BC, full, open warfare was unheard of in the Core, and Darkonians were terrified of Drakov's soldiers. By 722, Darkonians fearedthat the only true victor in these battles was Death, who claimed the slaughtered for the armies of the Gray Realm.
The Dead Man's Campaign eventually reached its end, and Darkon enjoyed nearly two decades of relative calm. Darkon's fortunes would turn for the worse in the summer of 740 BC, beginning with the calamitous Great Upheaval. Occultists have long rumored that the outlander Azalin desperately seeks to return to whatever realm he calls home, even after ruling Darkon for generations. Some of these occultists even claim that Azalin caused the Great Upheaval to exact that end.
In 735 BC, Azalin discovered a Vistani prophecy, "Hyskosa's Hexad," listig six events that would portend the coming of a "Grand Conjuncton," a planar inversion in which everything in the Land of Mists would be cast out. Azalin then spent the enxt five years somehow forcing these events to take place, thus prematurely bringing about the conjunction. Yet these same theories posit that Azalin may have inadvertantly saved the world. By artificially manipulating the conflux of events, Azalin perhaps weakened them, causing the Grand Conjunction to collapse before its completion. The end result, of course, was the Great Upheaval of 740 BC. Naturally, doomsayers were once again heard to proclaim the coming of the Hour of Ascension.
Once the earth tremors and wailing storms of the Great Upheaval subsided, Darkon seemed little worse for wear. Certainly it had fared better than G'henna, which was replace by the vast, bottomless maw of the Shadow Rift. The Nightmare Lands also vanished, to no one's dismay. Azalin officially annexed the lands of Arak, to neglibile complaint from Darkon's new Nova Vaasan neighbors. Azalin reportedly spent weeks touring his new badlands. The first explorers followed, most of whom were considered mad at the time.
In hindsight, it becomes clear that the failure of the Great Upheaval stung Azalin badly. His discontent turned to distraction, and his apathy would breed an infection in the kingdom. Few reconized it at the time, but many of the problems would plague Darkon during the Shrouded Years actually arose in the decade before the Requiem.
Beginning in 740 BC, Azalin and his apprentices toil at a project to construct a great artifact. It took 10 years.
In 750 BC, Azalin announced that he would personally appear in Il Aluk to perform the Darkest Night ceremony, a rite called the Requiem. On the appointed day, hundreds of people flooded into the city for this race chance to see their king in the flesh. At the stroke of midnight on the winter solstice of 750 BC, Azalin sealed himself within this artifact and activated it.
The ensuing wave of energy explanded in every direction, dispersing as it went but still reaching every border. In that moment, every Darkonian suddenly recalled hearing a whisper at his ear: "Necropolis," Darkonese for "city of the dead." Some believe this was Azalin's last coherent thought. Darkon's planar fabric was insidiously altered, and a spiritual maliase fell across the land. The era that followed is now known as the Shrouded Years.
This fatalistic whisper led most Darkonians to believe that their homeland was no longer truly Darkon. throughout the Shrouded Years, Darkon was usually called Necopolis; however, this trend ended with Azalin's return.
Darkon was left with neither king nor heir. Always an ambitious lot, the nobles turned on each others. had Azalin not come back, it is likely Darkon would still be embroiled in civil war. The clergy of Darkon's state religion, the Eternal Order, now as rudderless and terrifiedas anyon else, declared that the Requiem marked the beginning of the true Hour of the Ascension and pointed blame at the weak faith of the Darkonian people. Outraged, the Darkonians railed against Azalin's failure to protect his people from the Gray Realm. They abandoned the Eternal Order by the score, and in some regions--particularly the southeast--Kargat agents too smugly open with their identities were lynched one after the other. The surviving Kargat went to ground so effectively that many folk continue to believe that they ceased to exist entirely.
Vlad Drakov wasted no time in seizing on Darkon's frailty. In March of 751, he again drove his armies into Darkon, and for the first time since the invasion of 700, his troops penetrated as far as Nartok. Convinced that their city would fall, the citizens of Nartok were united in their terror--and the corpses still cralwed from their graves to attack Drakov's troops. The Falkovnian morale shattered at once, and the armies broke into a full retreat.
As Darkon's glory continued to crumble, many folk who once cursed Azalin's name came to miss the security his regime offered. From the March of Doom arose legends of the Lost King, a desperate hope emerged that Azalin was not truly destroyed and would return to halt the Hour of the Ascension.
These hopes preceded the coming of the Drowning Dreams. All across the wounded nation, seemingly random people suffered from peculiar, enervating nightmares, often involving warped memories of a spectral creature reaching into their chests--the most common manifestation--of the sensation of drowning in a lightless void.
Officially, Azalin claims that he halted an incursion of the dead in the Requiem, but then spent the next five years wandering in the Gray Realm, seeking a way home.
Three years after this event, rumor spread of three hideous undead riders on the move, leaving swaths of destruction in their wake. It was soon agreed that these entities were the mythic Horsemen, emissaries of Death and a sure omen that the Hour of the Ascension would soon occur.
In a curious turn of events, Tavelia, a popular cleric of the Overseer (a local cult in Martira Bay) may also have been involved. In the weeks preceding Azalin's return, Tavelia engaged in increasingly odd behavior, eventually announcing her upcoming marriage to a gentleman she refused to name. tavelia then disappeared without a trace once Azalin returned. Tavelia may have stumbled across some method of trapping Azalin's spirit; had her plans come to fruition Darkon might now be under the rule of Tavelia Regina.
Ultimately, the Shrouded Years boiled down to three factions: Azalin's handful of allies, who sought to restore him; Tavelia, who sought to enslave him; and Death and the Horsemen, who sought to devour him. It's obvious that Azalin's supporters succeeded in the late summer of 755 BC.
Azalin quickly set his house in order, smithing the Horsemen and preventing their foul energies from flowing back into Death. Several barons were also removed or executed; in fact, Azalin solidified his power anew just as he had done in defeating Darcalus.
Darkon now looks to be on the road to recovery.

Populace

Darkon boasts the most diverse population in the Core, including both human ethnicities and a large nonhuman population. As noted above, its population has also mushroomed over the last 177 years. Sadly, Darkon's immense immigrant population cannot be attributed solely to the appeal of its culture.
Whenever a newcomer arrives in Darkon, an unseen clock starts ticking down to midnight, so to speak. If that newcomer is still in the kingdom when his time runs out, his past suddenly drains away, one memory at a time, over the course of several hours. As the newcomer's last memories fade into oblivion, his mind is immediately flooded with complete memories of a lifetime spent in Darkon. The false memories never alter a newcomer's core principles or character, even preserving social ties between folk claimed at roughly the same time, but it invariably severs all ties to other lands. Many "new" Darkonians adopt local gravestones, believing them to be the resting places of their kin.
The length of the grace period appears fairly random, sometimes lasting as short as a month, but never longer than a season. The memory drain can affect any creature with an analytical mind, even those otherwise immune to psychic manipulation, such as the undead.
Darkoniansare well aware of this phenomenon, but consider it a taboo topic for polite conversation. Instead, Darkonians euphemistically speak of Darkon as an ancient crossroads, where many visitors recover their roots. Thus, despite this widespread awareness of Darkon's memory leeching soil, most newcomers are still taken entirely by surprise when Darkon comes to claim them. The moment a "claimed" individual leaves the kingdom, the false memories fade and their true pasts return, like a sleeper waking from a dream.

Appearance
Darkon is a land of immigrants, so ethnically diverse that few can describe the original Darkonians with any confidence. Surviving murals and mosacis from the Arcane Age depict Darkonians with dark hair and ruddy complexions, but this is likely just an artistic device to differentiate living subjects from the ashen faces of the dead.
Today's populace displays nearly every conceivable combination of stature, facial features, and skin, hair, and eye color. On the whole, skin tones tend toward slightly fair to light tan, but this feature remains a significant minority. Representatives of countless ethnic groups from the Core and beyond can be found here, and ethnic mixing is commonplace.
Darkon's nonhumans are easily distinguished, of course, with each race showing far less diversity than humankind. Dwarves are stocky and corase folk whose hair, skin, and eye colors all tend toward earthen tones. Elves are a willy, preternatrually long-lived race with distinctly vulpine features. Elves typically have dark hair and eyes of green, violet, or gray; their eyes also reflect light like an animal's, which a few humans find unsettling. Elves and humans are capable of interbreeding, and the resulting offspring deomstrate a mixture of parentail traits. Gnomes are a small, spindly folk with fair hair and unusually large, sparking blue eyes. Their skin tans and wrinkles at an early age, often making their true age difficult to judge. Lastly halfings comprise Darkon's smallest citizens, resembling nothing so much as slender human children. Darkon has also produced an unusually high number of calivans, but these wretched creatures bear little in common with each other.
Human Darkonians prefer a tidy demeanoir. Men usually wear their hair short and go clean-shaven, but those who grow their hair out keep it well groomed. This is reversed for women; most wear their hair long and neat, but some prefer to keep their locks at shoulder length. Humans in predominantly nonhuman communities often borrow styles from their neighbors.
Many Darkonians prefer to weave one or more thin braids in their hair or beards, allowing the rest to hang loose. This choice may be a reflection of the role of chains in Darkonian fashion, addressed below. More elaborate flourishes are usually reserved for formal functions.

Fashion
Darkonians are more consistent in their fashion choices, with both genders preferring earthen tones and practical garb. Men prefer a simple shirt and loose britches stuffed into hose or boots, while women favor a basic blouse and skirt. Most Darkonians currently favor a scalloped appearance, with cuffs and hems often pleated to give the impression of extra layers.
When the weather turns cold, both genders don loose greatcoats that hang to their knees. Among the peasantry, these coats are usually of course cloth or leather; the elite typically enjoy finer tailoring and fur linings as well. Constables all across Darkon are immediately recognizable by their black gloves and woolen greatcoats, which they wear over their armor year round. Constabulary greatcoats are the same navy blue as Darkon's banners and feature wide black collars and cuffs, and brightly polished brass buttons. By all accounts, these coats are miserably hot in the summer.
Long, flowing robes, cloaks, and gowns represent status symbols among Darkon's upper classes, as do high leather boots among younger, more active nobles. Keeping these garments clean indicates that one's feet need never touch the earth. Wealthier Darkonians further adorn their clothing with elaborate embroidery, often depicting fantastical creatures, and tasteful displays of jewelry.
As mentioned above, ornamental chains hold special significane, symbolically binding the wearer to another, such as the state or an individual. Barons and magistrates wear their seals of office on iron chains while holding court. Thin brass chains that hang from their shoulders like epaulettes designatethose with the rank of constable or soldier. Necklaces or bracelets often replace the rings used in other realms to seal weddings and similar social contracts. Even the fact that the Kargat wear no insignia is significant; they are literally "unfettered," free to perform their duties as they see fit.

Language
Darkonese is a complex, somewhat inflexible language utilizing highly precise word meanings. Most grammar is determined by an intricate system of word conjugation and declension. In its purest form, one could theoretically scramble the order of words in a Darkonese sentence without changing its meaning. When spoken properly, Darkonese has a crisp, authoritative ring. Pure Darkonese, though, is usually spken only in court and similar formal functions. In day-to-day use, most Darkonians use a more relaxed dialect. This "vulgar" Darkonese is an expressive mongrel of a tongue, borrowing words and phrases from the ethnic languages of Darkon's nonhumans and a dozen dialects from across the Core. Many Darkonians pick up a nonhuman dialect to deal with their neighbors and educated Darkonians are often taught Mordentish in school. In addition, "claimed" newcomers still retain their original languages. Beyond this, however, few Darkonians bother to learn foreign tongues.

The Realm
All power flows from Azalin Rex. He has ruled Darkon for more than two centuries, and he is undoubtedly also the dread lord at the kingdom's metaphysical heart.
Azalin's extreme longevity does not disturb his subjects. He is thought to have seized the secrets of extended life from Darcalus during their fateful meeting. Darkonians do not believe that Azalin is truly immortal (mortality is inevitable), but they assume that Azalin will live for many more centuries to come. Darkonians acknowledge the rumors that Azalin is undead, but have been skillfully conditioned for generations to dismiss such rumors as paranoia. Public opinion of Azalin has varied widely over the decades, but he currently enjoys a wave of popularity as he restores Darkon to glory. Darkonians often see Azalin as the sole force keeping Death's minions at bay.
Rarely seen in person, Azalin keeps a regal distance even from the aristocracy, but his influence casts a long shadow. In a sense, Azalin constitutes the power behind his own throne. Subtle but unyielding, he commands an obsessive degree of control over the governance of his domain, monitoring and correcting his citizens through sealed decrees, whispered warnings, and his extensive network of secret police, the Kargat.
Indeed, Azalin is sometimes called the "Spider King," although this appelation usually issues from men kneeling before the chopping block. If Darkon is a fly-catching web,then Azalin is certainly the spider at its heart, every thread held in place by a spider's leg. Yet the Shrouded Years demonstrated all too well that Azalin's controlling nature is also his kingdom's greatest weakness. Remove the spider, and the web collapses by design.

Government
Darkon is built on an ancient code of allegiances. Subjects at each level of society must pledge their fealty to their immediate supereriors and oversee their inferiors. Taxation relies on this same chain of command. Azalin demands regular tribue from his nobles, who draw their taxes from landowners, who collect rent from the peasantry in turn.
The King sits alone atop the feudal pyramid. All citzens pledge allegiance to him, and Darkon is ultimately his personal responsibility. Azalin currently rules over 22 barrons, or equites, whose territories divide the kingdom. Baronial titles are hereditary, but Azalin retains the right to depose nobles who displease him. Azalin puts on seasonal masquerade balls in Avernus, where he holds court for nobles who wish to improve their standing or issue complaints. Fueled by somnos wine and exotic entertainments, these galas invariably degenerate into hedonistic exercises in depravity, Azalin's guests inevitably return to their homes strangely subdued, ashamed of actions they cannot quite remember.
A powerful baron oversees each of Darkon's thirteen major settlements and its surrounding lands. The remaining nine administer large rural areas, including the three barons given the rather thankless task of ruling the Mountains of Misery.
Landed knights stand just below the barons, but their titles are not hereditary. Non-noble landowners and peasants form the bottom tiers of the pyramid.
Darkonian law is divided into the royal and baronial courts. Citizens are subject only to the laws of higher courts, this, the peasantry must obey the decrees of both Azalin and their local rulers, while the barons answer only to the king. Azalin's power is absolute. Citizens have no legal standing over their superiors, but rulers can elevate cases to their courts if they desire. Thus, a baron can overrule a knight or reeve, and all three can overrule a magistrate. Azalin's rulings, of course, are final.
At the local leel, an organized constabulary led in each community by a chief constable appointed by the local ruler, enforces baronial laws. Barons personally adjucate major offenses within their lands, but criminal and civil cases falling beneath the nobles' attention are settled before magistrates in open court according to extensive codified laws. Crime is punished harshly, with a focus on making public examples of those convicted. Lesser offenses result in time in the stocks or workhouses, while more serious offenders face long terms of imprisonment or public execution.
Royal law is enforced however Azalin sees fit. As his private enforcers, the Kargat are exempt from baronial law and answer only to their immediate superiors and Azalin himself. Crimes against the king are frequently decided not in a public form, but with a knock at the door in the middle of the night.
Darkon also maintains a small standing army, commanded by Azalin and mainly concentrated in Nartok, and a navy monitors the coasts. Nobles can also call upon the private Baronial Guard for additional protection. Unlike constables, however, these soliders hold no legal authority to enforce laws unless provided with specific warrants.
The Kargat: Darkon's secret police demand closer examination. The Kargat serve in a limited public role in a few towns as the jailors of dank prisons for those who violate royal law. Prisoners who enter these citadels of pain are never seen again. The Kargat also flow invisibly through society, keeping a close watch on dissidents and threats to the state. Many Darkonians think that they are canny enough to spot these agents, but some believe that these "visible spies," like the prisons, are merely distractions to hide the Kargat's true secrets
The Kargat's upper ranks are actually filled with monstrous shapeshifters and undead, the very "night terrors" of Darkonian fears. Azalin guards his kingdom by placing the wolves in charge of the sheep. Azalin's attention kept the Kargat operating as a unified whole, but these predators reverted to their unnatural instrincts after his fall, turning on each other and on the people of Darkon. The Kargat shattered into numerous competing factions, which reportedly remain unstable even now.
Only Azalin himself knows exactly how many Kargat agents are still active in Darkon and, to a lesser extent, neighboring lands. Current estimates place the total number around 200; although the Kargat suffered serious losses in the Requiem and the Shrouded Years, Azalin is surely rebuilding their ranks.
The Kargatane: Azalin's insidious control over Darkon does not end with his secret police. Over the decades, the vampiric masters of the Kargat have lured countless common citizens under their sway with false promises of immortality, turning them into a faceless network of informants and assassins. The members of the Kargatane believe that they are chosen ones carefully guarding the alchemical secrets of extended longevity. In fact, the Kargatane are sadly deluded: the Kargat use the Kargatane as expendible pawns.
Unfortunately, the Kargatane's total numbers cannot be counted. Few of its members are even aware that the cabal extends beyond their immediate compatriots and "enlightened" master. Estimates indicate, though, that each Kargat vampire may command as many as a dozen thralls.

Economy
Darkon was one an economic titan prior to the Requiem, engaging in brisk trade with the rest of the Core, sometimes using its immense wealth to exert pressure on foreign governments. Despite their apaty toward foreign culture or philosophies, Darkonians have always thirsted for exotic foreign goods and delicacies, and the products of Darkon's numerous cottage industries were likewise in wide demand beyond its borders. In this sense, Darkonian commerse has often replaced true diplomacy. Darkon was a microcosm of the Core as a whole; regions poor in one resource were often rich in another. Through robust trade, the kingdom became entirely self-siffucient, leading to the rise of powerful trade and merchant guilds in all but the most secluded settlements. Criminal guilds soon follows.
Indeed, Darkon's economy was powerful enough to resist total collapse even during the tribulations of the Shrouded Years. Necropolis now severs Darkon's central trade routes, however, disurping the flow of goods throughout the kingdom. Despite Darkon's vast resources, many western communities now rely on foreign imports to support themselves. Thought tarnished, Darkon's fortunes are expected to recover when the new roads are completed.
Darkon remains rich in natural resources. Farms in the Vale of Tears and the Jagged Coast produce all manner of crops and livestock, including wheat, barley, rye, oats, hops, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, chickens, ducks, hogssheep, and cattle. On Lake Korst and on the seas, fishermen pull in full nets of herring, cod, flounder, and other seafood. Breweries and vineyards throughout Darkon grow succulent grapes and produce a myriad of ales, wines, and liquors, though the best vintages all hail from Karg. The Forest of Shadows produces timber and the Boglands a boundless supply of peat. The mines of the Mountains of Misery provide a coveted stream of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, salt, and gems, making the struggle to resettle the region entirely worthwhile.
Darkonian artisans also produce a myriad of crafted goods, including cloth, tapestries, perfumes, ships, jewelry, stained glass, ceramics, weapons, and armor--everything a country needs and more. Exotic goods can also be found in more limited markets, from the wind-up playthings of the gnomes to the "lifecrafted" furniture of the elves, grown from a single, living piece of wood. Alchemists and mages occasionally even produce magic treasures for wealthy sponsors.
Peasants often pay rent to their landlords through labor on a percentage of annual yields, but beyond this arrangement Darkonians eschew barter as too inexact. Darkonian currency marks the kingdom's dominance over the forces of the Gray Realm. The Assula ("Chip") is the copper piece, the Ossis ("Bone") is the silver, and the Cranium ("Skull") is the gold. Darkon also mints a platinum piece, the Insigne ("Crown"), but this coin is generally used only in major transactions between nobles or guilds. The tails side of each coin depicts a skull, increasingly intact as the value rises. The heads sides all feature a portrait of Azalin Rex. Unlike most coins, Azalin's stern visage stares directly out at the bearer. One often hears that if a coin is stolen from Azalin's coffers, his portrait changes to a ghastly skull. No Darkonian merchant will accept these "dead coins," but the state sill accepts them in tribute payments. Merchants usually accept foreign currencies, but moneychangers are easily found in larger towns.

Diplomacy
Despite its immense political and economic might, Darkon has never shown more than a passing interest in its neighbors. Foreigners often attribute Darkon's social and political isolationism to a general lack of curiosity or a smug sense of superiority among the Darkonian people. Few Darkonians concern themselves with the rest of the Core because the Core comes to them. Yet one unavoidable side effect of Darkon's introverted view--no doubt enhanced by the memory drains--is that Darkonian culture is barely felt beyond its borders.
Falkovnia: The ongoing hostility between Darkon and Falkovnia should come as no surprise, but for now Falkovnia remains Darkon's sold land route into the souther Core. Commerce continues along the King's Highway through begruding necessity. Darkonian merchants are well aware that every coin they add to Drakov's coffers may someday return in the form of an invader's sword, but many of Darkon's western communities still need Falkovanian grain to survive each winter. Darkonians demonize Falkovnians as jealous and murderous slavers, thirsting for Drakonian blood. Folk bearing Drakov's brand are often shunned. Darkon's nonhumans, quite rightly, react to the thought of visiting Falkovnia with nothing less than abject horror.
Keening: Keening is a lifeless, haunted wasteland, a cursed limb severed from the corpse of one-vibrant Arak. Darkonians avoid Keening just as the folk of the southeastern Core shun Forlorn, though the gnomes of Mayvin often feature Mt. Lamment in their eerie fireside tales.
Lamordia: Darkon has established a steady mercantile relationship with Lamordia, the only neighbor with which it maintains any true relationship at all. the centures have seen some limited immigration from both sides, as Darkonian dwarves settled in the Sleeping Beast and a handful of Moardians spread to Darkon's westernmost communities.
Necropolis: The Slain City is viewed as nothing less than a seeping wound in Darkon's heart, the beachhead of a faltering invasion from the Gray Realm. A few Darkonians still hope to see the city someday freed from the Shroud, but most would be just as happy to see it destroyed entirely.
Nova Vaasa: Long seperated by the barren Mountains of Misery, Darkonians have never truly formed an opinion of their southernmost neighbor. As far as they were concerned, Nova Vaasa might as well have sat at the far end of the world. Only in the past year have Darkon and Nova Vaasa established a formal diplomatic relationship. it is no secret that the Strigos Road is being restored largely to bypass Falkovnian trade, so Darkon is seeking a mercantile bond with Nova Vaasa. Prince Othmar imposes taxes even more punitive than Drakov's tariffs, however, so the strength of this bond is yet to be seen.
The Shadow Rift: The Shadow Rift is nothing more than a dark maw in the earth where the lost land of G'henna once lay. By the Shadow Rift's very nature, no relationship is possible, but it looms large in the Darkonian imagination. peasants throughout the Forest of Shadows claim that Unseelie fey crawl up from the Shadow Rift at night or burrow out in deep tunnels to emerge from local caves or village wells. Disturbingly, these claims may hold more than a seed of truth.
The Stormy Seas: Darkonian ships engage in regular trade up and down the coasts of both the Sea of Sorrows and the Nocturnal Sea. Darkon also boasts a professional navy, recently doubled in size by Azalin. Six sleek, black-sailed caravels, divided equally between the two seas, guard the coastlines against smugglers and piracy. The navy's flagship, the Dominance, guards the mouth of Martira Bay. Despite its nautical power, however, Darkon has shown no interest in colonizing the scattered islands of the two seas.
Tepest: Both the Mountains of Misery and accursed Keening seperate Darkon from Tepest. No reliable roads connect the two countries, and they have yet to establish any kind of formal relationship. In the light of Tepest's ongoing Inquisition, such a relationship is unlikely to occur in the future. Darkonian elves and spellcasters who visit Tepest fear an encounter with a burning stake.

Sites of Interest
NEVUCHAR SPRINGS
Nevuchar Springs has long been one of Darkon's most secluded settlements, an elven town straddling the Vuchar just a mile downriver from the revered Nevuchar Shrine itself. No reliable roads lead here, and the shallow river allows only for light craft. Just like its inhabitants, the town has changed little over the centuries. Until the Requiem, the elves enjoyed the novelty of the occasional visiter, but they were content to be left alone. Baron Thalis Redtree has quietly held his title for 150 years. He is representative of his subjects, disliking sudden change and disruptions of daily life.
The reveleation of the Nocturnal Sea has greatly complicated matters. Nevuchar Springs is now Darkon's largest port on the eastern seaboard and holds the potential of becoming another cosmopolitan sprawl like Martira Bay--a fate the locals view with muted horror. Its citizens have pointedly made no effort to lure additional traffic, neither requesting an extension of the King's Highway, nor even building a new inn by the coast. A shantytown of docks and warehouses has sprouted up to service sea traffic, but mariners must still trudge a mile inland to find lodging.
Nevuchar Springs is a quaintly rustic community, awash in consciously overgrown hedgerows, ivied walls, and herbal gardens. Cottages are constructed of wood and stone, often incorporating living trees into their frames. The town was laid out around a series of natural springs and is now dominated by the Baths, a soaring marble structure surrounded by wild gardens. The Bath's mineral waters are famed for their therapeutic qualities, but some pools repeatedly clogged with foul slime during the Shrouded Years. Rumors suggest the Bath's therapeutic value has dwndled and that occasionally the waters even further enervate bathers.
The town also houses the Library Pharmacologae, an archive of texts on herbal and medical cures lovingly compiled by the elf mystics who guard the Nevuchar Shrine. In recent years, however, numerous texts have been discovered to contain debased necromantic passages. Somehow these scrawls seem to spread independently, like blight slowly killing a tree.
The Church of Ezra has gained many converts in recent years since native son Teodorus Raines founded his sect. Many regional shrines to the pagan elven gods now lie forgotten. Bastion Raines' sect bases itself in a macabre stone temple called the Last Redoubt, surrounded by an ancient churchyard. Originally a temple of the Eternal Order, Bastion Raines and his acolytes literally tossed the old clerics out on their ears, then smashed the Order's ghastly icons. Raines now uses the temple's catacombs to imprison and torture his monstrous captives.
Where to Stay
Nevuchar Springs' sole inn is the River View Rest (good quality rooms/food), a large and comfortably rustic inn atop a bluff that offers an excellent view of the Vuchar. To ensure the best service, travelers should subtly mention that they are just passing through--the locals discourage settlers.

Nevuchar Springs (small town): Conventional: AL LN, CL 5, 800 gp limit, Assets 44k gp, Population 1100; Isolated (elf 89%, human 6%, halfling 2%, half-elf 2%, other 1%.
Authority Figures: Baron Thalies Redtree, male elf Ari4, Chief Constable Sulien Moonshadow, male elf War6
Important Characters: Bastion Teodorus Raines, male human Clr5/AoM2; Cai Grovesong (library mystic), female elf Drd3

MAYKLE
Maykle is a predominantly human community that sprouted up around a natural harbor on the Vuchar just downriver from the Khourx. The sleepy town is a transfer point where regional crops are gathered and shipped via the Vuchar or the cobbled King's Highway, which begins amid a collection of warehouses on the eastern bank. Maykle is also a waypoint for travelers continuing to upriver communities. The Slain City has disrupted trade, however. Maykle can no longer ship its goods as quickly as it collects them. local farmers collect miserably low prices for their crops which often end up rotting on the docks.
Prowling undead are uncommon this far west. A crude wooden palisade encircles the warehouse district for caution's sake, but the heart of Maykle remains unfortified, comfortably shielded by the river. Maykle's buildings are blockystructures of red brick; interior walls are plastered, but Mayklemen prefer to leave exterior brick exposed. Most houses are a single story with steep, thatched roofs, but larger buildings are topped with black slate shingles. The baronial manor overlooks the gently slping common green where local festivals are held. The Ward of Perdition stands atop a low hill to the east, another former temple of the Eternal Order now in the hands of Raines' achorites.
Maykle's most significant landmark is Clangor Asylum, home to more than a hundred tormented souls from throughout Darkon. Clangor's tallest twoers peer out over the entire town from behind the asylum's walled grounds. Founded by the greatgrandfather of its current director, Dr. Quintin Clangor, the asylum is now Darkon's largest mental institution. Clangor's alienists favor differing treatment methods. Dr. Clangor has recently expanded the asylum's medical college, and newer arrivals have introduced the latest surgical and hypnotic techniques from the west. Some alienists' methods, though, range from the bizarre to the torturous. Baroness Iris Sturlock's father is one of the asylum's inmates; several years ago, the former baron was discovered in the act of devouring his elve wife. Sturlock's head is now kept caged to prevent him from gnawing at his flesh, and the young baroness rules in his place. Some folk whisper that Iris caused her father's descent, but more suspect that she will someday inherit his madness.
Indeed, the prominence of Clangor Asylum has produced a common phrase: "mad as a Maykleman." Most locals are undecidedly eccentric, though the cause is unclear. Some folk blame strange gasses flowing down from the Foaming River, while others insist that invisible imps or fey must be whispering in people's ears. An even smaller contingent blames it on degenerative inbreeding.

Where to Stay
Most visitors to Maykle gravitate to Serenity House (common quality rooms/food), a tall weathered building near the gates of Clangor Asylum. The upper floor's windows peek over the asylum walls, providing an entertaining view of the harmless inmates allowed to stroll about on fair weather days. The inn also offers a generous selection of soothing regional teas.

Maykle (large town): Conventional: AL CN, CL 6, 3000 gp limit, Assets 390k gp, Population 2600; Mixed (human 59%, elf 20%, halfling 13%, dwarf 3%, gnome 2%, half-elf 1%, other 2%.
Authority Figures: Baroness Iris Sturlock, female half-elf Ari2, Chief Constable Gilros, male human War5
Important Characters: Dr. Quintin Clangor (alienist), male human Exp10; Sentire Arwid Laverre, female human Clr 7(Ezra), Errol Sturlock (madman), male human Ari 5

DELAGIA
Accoring to legend, Sidnar was the site of the archmage Wormschild's citadel during the Arcane Age, with Delagia serving as a glorified gatehouse. Travelers can reach Delagia on foot by following a maze of country roads from Karg, but most traffic arrives by riverboat.
As Azalin's attention waned following the Great Upheaval, Delagia and Sidnar came under the heel of an increasingly brazen and onerous cell of the Kargat. After Azalin fell, the local nobles struck back, scouring their baronies clean of the secret police. When Azalin returned, however, the barons were summarily executed for treason. Azalin's handpicked replacements are the siblings Kasen and Almeta Constantine, who have restored calm but enforce laws to the letter. If the Kargat have returned, they now act far more cautiously.
Delagia is a small, unsophisticated halfling village with a striking architectural style. Although a handful of large buildings line the shore, the majority of this fishing village sits atop Lake Korst, straddling the mouth of the Foaming River. The halflings' homes are rounded huts perched atop wooden supports resting on the lakebed, resembling a cluster of beaver lodges.
Underwater wicker fences line these lodges, creating pens in which the halflings farm most of their fish. Narrow walkways line the tops of the fences, creating "streets" that can support most foot traffic, though horse-drawn wagons are restricted to just a few routes. The rapid current of the Foaming River provides warmth and flushes out Delagia's wastes. The short road to Sidnar, called the Ascent, stretches from the town square on the southern shore. Farmlands spread out to the east, though birds often steal the best of each year's crop. Delagians refuse to use scarecrows, fearing they will rile a legendary bogeyman called Casdin's Reaper--a murderous scarecrow with a burning head.
Several diving platforms are moored in the deep waters near the marina. The townksfolk hold high-diving competitions each summer, but they no longer swim as often as they once did. When the Doomsday Device's energy wave passed over Delagia, all the coralled fish were seen to jump in agitation, and a new inhabitant soon arrived in Lake Korst. Underwater fences have been torn open, and in 751 BC several swimmers were attacked and partially devoured by a large and monstrous aquatic creature.
In the years since, folk have noted that the creature swims only in the gloom of dawn and dusk, and have gradually returned to their beloved water--so long as the sun is high. No one has ever seen the creature clearly, but I examined several thick scales found snagged in the torn fences. Naturally, the Delagians have tried to trap and destroy the creature on several occasions, but it always eludes them. The beastis clearly possesed of a malign cunning...or it obeys a master. Locals are thankful that the creature cannot leave the water.

Where to Stay
Visitors to Delagia stay at the Boatman's Friend (common quality rooms/food), near the marina. The common area is built to human dimensions, but individual rooms cater to humans and smallfolk alike. For guests who value their privacy, the inn also rents a handfull of freestanding, single-room lodges (good quality rooms) that radiate from the main building.

Delagia (small town): Conventional: AL LN, CL 5, 800 gp limit, Assets 60k gp, Population 1500; Mixed (halfling 77%, human 13%, elf 6%, gnome 2%, dwarf 1%, other 1%).
Authority Figures: Baroness Almeta Constantine, female human Ari3, Chief Constable Morgan Blackwater, male halfling War 3
Important Characters: Flavian Sundapple, male halfling Adp3

SIDNAR
The terrain quickly rises into choppy hills to the southeast of Lakr Korst. Sidnar sits atop these choppy hills. Although Sidnar does have its own docks and winding, secondary roads leading to croplands at lower elevations, these trails all present a steep and strnuous climb. Thus, the Ascent, remains the main route into Sidnar. Goods are collected in Delgia and ported up to this lofety, predominantly elven community
The Ascent slowly and steadily climbs to approach Sidnar from the west, passing over the Pons Agitaris ("Brooding Bridge") just before it reaches the town's limits. Eighty feet below, the whitewater Khourx River carves its way through a widy, rocky gorge before pouring into Lake Korst.
The Brooding Bridge is a gloomy stone structure, older than the town to which it leads. Ancient plaques in elven script commemorate those who fell to their deaths from these lofty heights. Scowling gargoyles squat atop the towering gates. Some folk claim that these gargoyles crawl down from their roots after sunset, slaying any who dare cross their bridge by night. Condemned criminals are hung from the bridge in gibbets; two of these cages now hold the shriveled remains of Delagia and Sidnar's previous barons.
Supposedly, the Brooding Bridge is all that remains of the citadel that stood here in the Age of Secrets. Like all such structures dating to that era, it is supposedly full of secret passages. The fate of Wormschild's citadel remains a mystery. Various legends assert it was annihilated by his rivals or drawn into the Gray Realm. Most locals, though, believe that his citadel sank into the earth and that the buildings of modern Sidnar are merely the uppermost spires of the destroyed citadel.
Sidnar's cobbled streets wind up and down the hilly terrain, passing tall, narrow buildings of charcoal gray stone; most buildings are surrounded by small, private gardens. Sidnar's tallest tower, the Star Spire, rises from the center of town. The tower has a solid core, but rumors insist that hidden passages lead down into Wormschild's silent halls. An exterior staircase winds its way up to an observation platform at the tower's apex, offering a commanding view of the countryside.
A local guild of astronomers, called the Omen Watchers, has set a number of telescopes atop the Star Spire. They gather here each night, carefully observing the skies for portents. The Omen Watchers have studed the erratic natural laws of the firmament and the earth for decades and administer the nearby Collegium Caelestis to further their scientific theories. Prospective human students, however, often balk at the typically elven, twenty-year curriculum.
Where to Stay
Sidnar boasts a fine inn, Wormschild's Precipice (good quality rooms, common quality food), a two-story structure that overhangs the Khourx. its rooms offer excellent views of the Brooding Bridge. Meals are prepared with skill, but are rarely as fresh as the seafood availible in Delagia.

Sidnar (small town): Conventional: AL LN, CL 5, 800 gp limit, Assets 56k gp, Population 1400; Mixed (elf 64%, human 13%, dwarf 9%, halfling 6%, gnome 5%, half-elf 2%, other 1%).
Authority Figures: Baron Kasen Constantine, male human Ari3, Chief Constable Echol Gauntglow, male elf War6
Important Characters: Lescion Oakenheart (senior Omen Watcher), male elf Exp5/Wiz4; Sentire Helamil Duskbloom, male elf Clr 5 (Ezra)

KARG
Karg is an ancient and wealthy city sitting at the heart of the Vale of Tears. It links the King's Highway to the Tempe River, which flows gently along its weatern flank. During the summer months, Karg is a dark island of stone amid a waving sea of golden grain.
Karg's populace is predominantly human, but the city has a cosmopolitan flair hampered only by its ancient and ominous fortifications. According to legend, Karg was a prison camp in the Arcane Age, and the city took centuries to fill its walls. The walls were considered a hindrance for most of that time, but now not one resident would see them gone. Farmers and herders from the outlying region have poured into Karg, filling its slums, and a siege mentality has settled in.
Karg is divided into two wards, Upper and Lower Karg, with the latter sitting in a shallow depression. Architectural styles are similar in both wards; first stories are built from stone, with additional floors made from timber. Most buildings are two or three stories and crushed together, with narrow alleys.
Upper Karg, however, is home to the city's industries and upper classes. it features wide boulevards and bustling opne-air markets. Travelers should note that market prices in Upper Karg are often double those common elsewhere. The Granaries fill entire city blocks; towering silos in which the region's grains are stored. The nearby canals are lined by a score of mills and breweries, and the smell of hope and barley hangs in the air. Baron Warbois' ornate palace stands to the north, peering over the peaked rooftops at the Church of the Sorrowful Dead across the canal. This cathedral, the largest remaining temple of the Eternal Order, is famed for its interior murals. Depicted entirely in shades of black and ash, the murals show the sorrows of the dead at losing their land to the living, a continual reminder of the Gray Realm's resentment. Raines' anchorites have also spread to Karg, and the rival doom prophets are now engaged in a fierce struggle for dominance. Several priests in both camps have been brutally attacked.
Lower Karg, by contrast, is an urban nightmare of meandering narrow streets, crowded with slums for the city's epasantry, who must share their district with Karg's most fearsome landmark, the Foramen Atrium ("Black Hole"). This towering citadel of black brick is a prison and the public headquarters of the Kargat, though its leaders are never publicly seen. Crime is rampant here and life is cheap. It is believed that this district serves as a stalking ground for the Kargat's unnatural officers.
Where to Stay
Karg's inns are divided between its two wards. In Upper Karg, the Old Mill (good quality room/food) is just that: a waterwheel-powered grain mill expanded into the city's most comfortable inn. The inn grinds its own grain, serving fresh rolls and pastries each morning. The rooms of the Amber and Gold (common quality rooms, good quality food) are large and well appointed, but saturated with the stench of fermentation. The inn compensates with exquisite meals and the widest selection of wines and liquors in Darkon.
Lodgings are considerably cheaper in Lower Karg, but buyer beware. The Market Hostel (poor quality room/food) caters to regional farmers carting their crops to the silos. The disreputable Stranger's Haven (poor quality rooms/food) offer anonymity, but many guests who sleep here never reach their destination.

Karg (small city): Conventional (Monstrous); AL LE (LE); CL 6; 15k gp limit; Assets 6,375,000 gp; Population 8,500; Mixed (human 52%, elf 15%, halfling 13%, dwarf 11%, gnome 5%, half-elf 2%, other 2%)
Authority Figures: Baron Lucien Warbois, male human Ari9; Chief Constable Balen Gerant, male half-elf War10, Venrith Chole (Kargat officer)
Important Characters: Yako Vormoff (Unholy Order of the Grave initiate), male human vassalich Nec4; Ansa Metter, female human Clr10 of the Eternal Order; Vitus, male human Clr5 of Ezra; Bandersnatch (criminal guild leader), male halfling Rog11

TEMPE FALLS
The heart of Darkon's dwarven culture. The Tempe and Argenteus Roads meet at the entrance to the town, and the site has also become the base camp for workers restoring the Strigos Road.
Tempe Falls is a rugged mining settlement overlooking the spectacular cascade of the same name. The misty spray and roar from these waterfalls can carry halfwaly across town. Glorious rainbows arc through the mist on sunny days, but when the skies turn gray, the rainbows are replaced by spectral, twisting shapes believed to the spirits of dwarves killed in the mines. Tempe Falls also serves as the gateway to the reclusive dwarven complexes hidden high on Mt. Nirka's northern slopes and the lonesome mining camps deep within the Mountains of Misery.
River traffic can access Tempe Falls through the docks at the northern edge of town, but the main approached is a pair of massive suspension bridges that pass through the waterfall's spray. Each bridge is wide and sturdy enough to support the heaviest of wagons, and traffic on each bridge is one-way only. Aqueducts, both raised and subterranean, channel water from the falls, supplying every home with fresh, running water. Within the mines, waterwheels along the underground aqueducts power great machines used to crush ore, then flush waste out through drainage pipes.
Tempe Falls is perched on the edge of massive cliffs hewn into four wide tiers. While a number of squat stone buildings line the edge of each tier, these are primarily the homes and businesses of the town's small non-dwarven population. The town actually burrow directly into the cliffs, with the dwarves living in sprawling, windowless complexes with their extended families. Deeper in the earth, these homes give way to vaults of the dead and extensive mines. Between the churning Tempe Minor River and the cliffs, the town needs no fortification.
Warehouses and peasants' homes are clustered on the bottom tier, closer to the polluted river. The second, commercial tier includes the primary mine entrances, marketplaces, and two local landmarks. The wizened Geraldine Enrich, a human woman who has thoroughly adopted dwarven culture, operates Geraldine Gem Emporium. Her well-guarded shop sells figurines carved from gems produced in the mines. As well, an ornate foundation and statuary park sit at the center of the commercial tier, named Dizard's Sorrow not for the fountain's talented architect, but for a dwarven miner who used it to drown himself over his remore for neglecting his family.
The third tier is the residential district for the upper classes. lastly, the governmental tier houses the tomblike palace fo Baron Gunderin and his clan. The top tier also houses the Ancestral Vault, a temple dedicated to dwarven gods.
Where to Stay
Most visitors to Tempe Falls stay as guests in dwarven homes, but travelers lacking connections should turn to the Thundering Hearth (good quality rooms, common quality food). Carved into the cliff face, the inn actually curves around behind Temple Falls, with thick glass windows looking out into the deluge. The constant rumbling of the falls can be distracting at first, but does wonders to lull guests to sleep at night.

Tempe Falls (large town): Conventional; AL LN; CL 7; 3k gp limit; Assets 375k gp; Population 2500; Mixed (dwarf 70%, gnome 12%, human 8%, halfling 6%, elf 3%, other 1%).
Authority Figures: Baron Oscari Gunderin, male dwarf Exp5/Ari4; Chief Constable Pekka Komunn, male dwarf Exp4/War3
Important Characters: Myar Hiregaard (Nova Vaasan ambassador), male human Ari2; Clanmother Kyllikki Seppanin, female dwarf Clr7, Geraldine Enrich, female human Exp12.

MAYVIN
When Azalin first came to power, Mayvin was nothing morethan a gold and silver mining camp inhabited by a mere five gnome families. The old mines were soon exhausted, but nourished by the glow of trade between Tempe Falls and Corvia, Mayvin has grown to become the center of gnome culture in Darkon.
Mayvin sits in an oxbow curve of the Corvus River. The Corvus flows down through the rugged foothills as frothing rapids, but calms as it twists to the north, allowing for light river traffic. The Argenteus Road approached from the east, passing a number of storage vaults on its way into town. These fortified warehouses hold shipments of ore, gold, and gems on their way to Corvia and are heavily guarded. The Corvus Road stretches north from Mayvin's heart, crossing a sturdy wooden bridge as it leaves town. Anglers can often be seen on this bridge during the warmer months, testing experimental fishing devices.
A second, stone bridge is currently under construction. Work has just halted for the winter as I arrived, but the project should be completed by this time next year. The bridge will link downtown Mayvin to the work camp establishing the Transumbra Road.
Mayvin features an eccentric and eclectic architectural style--or lack of one, as the case may be. Local gnomes love experementation, and nearly every building on dislay represents a test of new and unusual features. Any given building may include geodesic domes, scultped archways, harshly angular caves, oddly shaped or proportioned windows or elaborate stained glass. The local folk are also fond of whimsically hidden doors and passages. Of course, the mere fact that most buildings are constructed to acommodate both gnome and human occupants is surreal enough in itself.
Mayvin's primary claim to fame is the Patent Hall, where inventors come to register their inventions. To register a new device, the inventor must provide a working scale model, which then goes on permanent display. once an invention is accepted and a patent certificate issued, the creator is technically granted the exclusive right to market the invention for 20 years. Yet this law is not well enforced in lands beyong Baroness Narglin's control, so most inventers seek patents solely as a matter of personal pride.
Many of the inventions on display are miniature mining devices, such as crushers and blast furnaces that now see regular use in Tempe Falls. Many inventions, however, a clockwork "labor saving" devices, such as shutters that close themselves at night or self-rocking baby cribs. Despite the proliferation of these clockworks throughout Mayvin, the locals seem as harried as peasants anywhere else. Lastly, some of these devices are truly bizarre, hinting at the workings of diseased minds. Some models have a disturbing habit of malfunctioning at the worst possible moment, as if actually waiting for victims to come their way.
Mayvin is famous for its Clockworks, an ornate wooden clock tower that soars above the heart of town. Powered by an underground conduit, the Clockworks are entirely autonomous. Automated dancers emerge to toll the hour, but in recent years the Clockworks have developed quirks that the gnomes still strugge to repair. The great clock sometimes refuses to chime, and several of the dancing figures have disappeared. Most locals believe the tower has simply been vandalized, but a few insist that the figures left on their own.

Where to Stay
Most visitors to Mayvin stay at the Registrant's Dormitory (common quality rooms, poor quality food). Although the Dormitory is open to all guests, it caters primarily to gnome inventors with business at the Patent Hall. Several eccentric innovations have been installed in the rooms. Guests can use speaking tubes to contact the staff, and in turn the staff can activate extremely grating alarm bells to ensure that guests rise in time for their presentations.
Mayvin (small town): Conventional; AL LN; CL 7; 800 gp limit; Assets 60k gp; Population 1500; Mixed (gnome 54%, dwarf 32%, human 10%, halfling 2%, other 2%)
Authority Figures: Baroness Roodyl Narglin, female gnome Ari5/Exp4; Chief Constable Mimis Glockle, male gnome Exp 5
Important Characters: Stamitos Flacken (inventor), male gnome Exp 9; the Toller of Twelve, dread mechanical golem

CORVIA
According to legend, Corvi was an extinct volcanic peak in the Gray Realm. When life washed over the land, Corvia did not receive enough to ignite its vital spark, like the undead. The mountain's "flesh" sloughed away, leaving only its bones: immense pillars of glassy black stone. These brooding spires vary in height from a few feet at the extremities to more than 200 feet at Corvia's heart.
Early dwarven settlers in the Age of Secrets hollowed out the spires to create housing complexes, warehouses, workshops--an entire town that stretches into the sky. Thick stone bridges constructed between many of the taller pillars connect levels high above ground and act as support braces. Each spire is individually well organized, but finding one's way on the ground level can be a nightmare. Instead of a tidy network of streets, Corvnia merely has winding, rounded open spaces. Losing one's way is so common that many of the town's children earn a few extra coppers acting as guides. The urchins can be quite bothersome for affluent-looking travellers who actually know their way around, however.
Corvia is a city of artisans and craftsmen. Raw materials are shipped here from Tempe Falls to be turned into jewelry, dinnerwre, arms and armor, and all manner of trinkets. These goods are then shipped throughout Darkon and beyond. Naturally, the loss of Il Aluk's trade routes has disrupted commerce considerably. Baron Mustanen eagerly awaits completion of the Transumbra Road and has finianced much of its construction from his own coffers.
One of the tallest pillars, the Baronial Tower, stands at the heart of town along the winding Corvus Road. Reserved for state use, it houses Baron Mustanen's palatial quarters, the treasury vaults, and the mint at which Darkon's currency is pressed. Corvia's Baronial Guard is rivaled only by the military presence in Nartok.
Occasional earth tremors since the Requiem have destabilized several of the pillars. these spires are in imminent threat of collapse, but are so massive that local engineers are still determining how they could possibl be demolished safely. The residents have been forced to evacuate, leading to wretched overcrowding in the remaining pillars. Although, the Corvians are excavating new quarters and building comparatively miniscule outbuildings, the problem will take considerable time to resolve. For now, th condemned pillars are sealed and surrounded by massive braces. Rumor intimates that criminals and the Kargat have secretly claimed these abandoned spires for themselves.
The Whistling Tower is an ominous local landmark. The spire proved too porous for excavation and so was left untouched. When the winds blow through Corvia, natural faults and formations in the Tower emit a mournful, whistling howl. According to legend, whenever the Whistling Tower sings its dirge, someone is fated to die. the Tower whistled with increasing frequency during the Shrouded Years, culminating in the summer of 755 BC, when it reportedly loosed a continual howl during the weeks when the Horsemen roamed the land.

Where to Stay
Corvia has two inns of note, both built at the foot of the city's great spires. The Silver Mistress (common quality rooms, good quality food) is favored by guildsmen shipping valuable goods in and out of town, as it is will guarded and boasts private vaults for the use of its guests. The inn takes its name from a life-size statue of a sultry dwarven woman cast in solid silver that stands just inside its entrance. Travelers seeking less attention gravitate toward the Obsidian Heart (common quality rooms/food). The inn caters even more strongly to its dwarven clientele. Guests of other races often feel entombed.

Corvia (large town): Convention (Monstrous); AL LN (NE); CL 7; 3k gp limit; Assets 660k gp; Population 4400; Mixed (dwarf 75%, gnome 12%, human 8%, halfling 4%, other 1%).
Authority Figures: Baron Urjo Mustanen, male dwarf Ari6; Chief Constable Rikkard Jardehr, male dwarf War5/Exp3; Captain Braz Debello, male human War 10; Beryl Silvertress (Kargat officer)
Important Characters: Paeivi Mustanen (Clanmother), female dwarf Clr7; Jilan Olsiscus (baronial advisor), male human Wiz8; Ampicks Halstig (barker), male gnome Exp12

VIAKI
Despite its size, Viaka retains a distinctly rural appearance, leading some folk to call it "the village that nevern ends." The population is dispersed over a spread of several miles, clustering their humble wooden huts and cottages around every clump of arable grassland. A network of dirt roads, low wooden walkways, and stagnant waterways connects the community.
Viaki's residents are predominantly human and overwhelmingly poor. They support themselves through limited trapping and farming or work in simple trades; cutting and drying peat for fuel and weaving elaborate reed mats and baskets. Despite their few resources, however, the aging Baron Slean and the leaders of the local trading guilds have proven desperately inventinve in their attempts to attract additional sources of revenue, often with the counsel of a local midwife and herbal healer named Glennis McFadden.
As the heart of Viaki, where the Neblus Road splits off from the King's highway, the Viaki elders have constructed a number of "amusement houses" designed to entice affluent visitors to spend extra time in their city. The most popular of these amusements are a rickey, hand-powered merry-go-round and the Musem of Grotesques, which displays pickled specimens of strange creatures found in the nearby swamps. A local minstrel troupe, the Peatcutters' Chorus, performs a lively commisatio in its own theater each night as dusk.
Most intruiging of all, is a small teahouse where local women pose as Vistani to read the futures of gullable patrons. Locals claim that one of these false soothsayers offended a passing Vistana, who cursed her for her hubris. The women is now a lost one who sits alone in a back room of the teahouse. Now billed as the Lost Seer she reacts only to predict the death of anyone she sees. Her prophecies are apparently eerily accurate.
An undercurrent of fear is palapable here. The unnatural denizens of the swamps encroach on the city; murders are on the ride, as is the rate of caliban births. These events seem unconnected at first, but some suspect a driving force behind them. Locals claim their troubles started 12 years ago, when a covey of murderous green hags was discovered near Lake Stagnus, but they insist that both hags were destroyed. The instigator remains unknown--too purely malevelonet to be the Kargat, and too driven to be simply a result of the twisted skein of life.

Where to Stay
Viaki hosts a number of ramshackle inns. The Manticore's Tongue (common quality rooms, poor quality food) fares the best; it is at least relatively dry and clan, and its common room is enlivened by the stuffed speciment of an alarmingly lage serpent killed nearby some years ago. The rest of Viakia's the Mosscloak, Toadsfoot, and Clearwater Inns (poor quality rooms/food), are all dirt-floored hovels.

Viaki (small city): Conventional; AL N; CL 5; 15k gp limit; Assets 6,675k gp; Population 8900; Mixed (human 76%, halfling 10%, elf 6%, dwarf 3%, gnome 2%, half-elf 1%, caliban 1%, other 1%).
Authority Figures: Baron Mulciber Slean, male human Ari7; Chief Constable Jimny Cingulo, female human War12
Important Characters: The Lost Seer (lost one), female human Com1; Glennis McFadden (midwife), green hag Adp6

NEBLUS
Neblus is Darkon's most cosmopolitan elven community, its inhabitants accustomed to seeing new faces. Most human residents here have adopted the trappings of elven culture and even claim to possess elven blood. While many local faces do have faintly elven traits, it is to be believed these claims are overstated.
Neblus sits by the headwaters of the Nezzon River, surrounded by a wide swath of feeble cropland. The ever-shifting Misty Border lies just to the north, and the town is continually cloaked in fog and gloom.
The town's architectural style exhibits a distinctly macabre--even blasphmemous--quality. the streets are cobbled with broken gravestones, and cherubs, leering skulls, and eleven inscriptuions peer out from the building's marble walls. According to legend, Neblus rests on the site of an ancient burial ground dating back to the Gray Realm. When Darkon formed, the original inhabitants pillaged the necropolis to create their homes. The locals explain this action quite simply: "By keeping the dead underfoot, we keep them from rising to claim our city."
This is a quiet city, where strangers prefer to pass each other on the streets without so much as a nod of greeting. Some occult scholars believe that the Misty Border is actually a manifestation of the Ethereal Plane--the Gray Realm itself. Thus, so locals claim, when the Mists roll in over Neblus, the realms of the living and dead can merge; the dead can walk among the living, and the living can stray into the spirit world. Ghostwatchers are not uncommon.
Home to many philosophers and scholars (both theological and metaphysical) who come here to ponder the afterlife, Neblus not surprisingly remains a stronghold for the Eternal Order. The Order's domed temple, the Shrine of the Spirits, sits just to the east of town. its stained glass windows were tained a smoky black when the Doomsday Device's energy wave passed through them. Locals claim that the lighter streaks in the glass are ghosts who watch over the Order's services to ensure they are properl honored.
Travelers should beware of a local elf named Trillen Mistwalker. The man is obsessed with exploring the elven ruins said to lie deep in the Misty Border and recurits adventurous newcomers to his expeditions several times a year. Trillen always returns alone.

Where to Stay
Visitors to Neblus have little choice but to stay at the Dreamsong (common quality rooms/food). Although the inn's food is serviceable an the rooms clean and warm, it matches the town's morbid decor. Staying at the Dreamsong is not unlike sleeping in a sprawling mausoleum.

Neblus (large town): Convention; AL LE; CL 5; 3k gp limit; Assets 435l gp; Population 2900; Mixed (elf 53%, human 34%, half-elf 6%, halfling 5%, gnome 1%, other 1%)
Authority Figures: Baron Iomar Longshadow, male elf Ari4/War4; Chief Constable Adrian Qualth, male human War7
Important Characters: Corbin Eblandor, male half-elf Clr 9 of the Eternal Order; Trillen Mistwalker (explorer), male elf 3rd rank ghost Exp8

MARTIRA BAY
Martira Bay's residents have always owned a reputation for their great--sometimes overreaching--ambition. When Azalin ascended to power, Martira Bay was a humble fishing village, but now it has swelled to become Darkon's largest, most cosmopolitan surviving city.
Baroness Reldkasen currently rules Martira Bay. She assumed her position nine years ago after exposing corruption on his part to Azalin Rex. She is an effiecient ruler who routinely meets with the heads of the city's three most powerful guilds to set economic policy. Some foreigners see this policy as weakness on her part, but their attempts to circumvent the city's taxes by paying bribes to the guilds usualy end in prison terms.
Martira Bay is an ungainly sprawl of cobbled streets and narrow buildings of brick or wood, with only a few local landmarks rising above two stores. The city has no battlements, but is divided instead into distinct economic districts. The Martira Highway divides the East and South Districts as it enters the city. The East District contains the walled manors of the city's elite and the Cosmopolis Club, an exclusive gentlman's club much favored by the city's aristocrats and guild leaders. The City Constabulary has repeatedly raided the Cosmopolis Club on suspicions of prostitution and similar vices, but it always comes away empty handed. The South District is home to the mercantile middle class and Martira Bay's famed shipyards.
Government Square sits at the heart of the city, ringed by the government palace and the Temple of Eternal Balance, wellspring of the Faith of the Overseer. So beloved is this religion that neither the Eternal Order nor the Church of Ezra have ever established a noteworthy following here.
The Guild Quarter contains the city's workshops and craftworks, including a musical library maintained by the Bard's Guild, though this place has long been suspected as a front for the city's highly organized criminal guild. The bustling Merchant's Quarter features a huge, open-air bazaar and shops selling goods from across the Core. The Waterfront's docks run along the bay and teem with taverns and flophouses catering to the city's sizable transient population.
By contrast, the North District feels deserted. It is home to secure warehouses and textile mills. Largely staffed by apprenticed children, the textile mill produces fine cloth and tapestries. Stephen Dyreth, leader of the Weaver's Guild, is widely envied for his highly profitable--but closely guarded--mills.
Lastly, the West District as a squalid slum. The sole source of hope her is Obis House, an orphanage run by the Overseer's clergy. Fortunately for the downtrodden, the recent loss of the beloved Witness Tavelia has not impaired the church's many charities.

Where to Stay
Numerous inns and flophouses serve Martira Bay's transients, although few are worthy of note. The Widow's Retreat, Siren's Lament, and the Red Sails (all poor quality rooms/food) are the most popular of the seedy, interchangeable inns on the Waterfront. Guests can live and die here with perfect anonymity. In the Merchant's Quarter, the Yawning Eddy (common quality rooms/food) also caters primarily to mariners but has a far superior reputation. A wooden plaque in the taproom lists ships lost to the treacherous waters off the Jagged Coast in recent decades. A retired ship's captain established the eponymous Captain Marlbrot (good quality rooms/food) four decades ago. Catering to wealthier travelers, its spacious rooms are decorated with trinkets supposedly collected during Marlbrot's voyages, and the kitchens serve fresh seafood every night.
Martira Bay (small city): Conventional (Monstrous); AL LN (LE); CL 8; 15k gp limit; Assets 7 mil gp; Population 10,400; Mixed (human 60%, halfling 15%, elf 12%, gnome 6%, dwarf 4%, other 3%)
Authority Figures: Baroness Karimana Reldkasen, female human Ari4/Wiz3; Chief Constable Liem Osgul, male human War9; Harbor Watchmaster Helgar Amutsson, male human Brd8, Lady Kazandra
Important Characters: High Cleric Derakoth (lose one), male human Com4; Stefan Dyreth, male human Nec10; Styrix, night hag; Damon Skragg (captain of the Bountiful), male human ghoul lord Ftr6

CASTLE AVERNUS
Avernus is a massive collection of twoers rising from a wide clearing in the wood. it gives the impression of forceful solidity, both soaring and squat at once. Avernus looms large in the popular imagination. All manner of supernatural properties are said to bleed out through the thick walls from the immense magical energies contained within. Many Darkonians even claim that Avernus is the cap on a wall of evil, or in more educated terms, that it is th gate to either the Gray Realm or an otherwordly play of torment. Dread guards--empty, magically animated suits of armor--patrol the bailey walls with such clockwork precision they have worn ruts into the stone. High above, one can see the dangling hook of the infamous Hanging Tower, where condemned prisoers are left to die.
Masquerades are held in a vast two-story gallery at the base of the central towers, the upper story supported by a pair of immense stone pillars.
Azalin's galleries are hung with scores of portaits, including the likes of Strahd von Zarovich, Hazlik, and even Harkon Lukas.

NARTOK
Nartok is the kingdom's guardian against Falkovnian aggression and is often called "Fortress Darkon."
Nartok sits on the King's Highway, a thin buffer of tilled land separating it from the Forest of Shadows. The city is bordered to the west and south by Cruentus Creek, a minor tributary of the Vuchar. The creek is too shallow and rocky to allow for large river craft; however, so a side road runs down to Malanov, a satellite village on the banks of the Vuchar a few miles to the southwest. This village primarily serves as Darkon's final transfer point for traffic on the Vuchar.
The city has gradually spread out from ancient Nartok Keep, which rises above the city on a rocky tar. In the Arcane Age, Nartok was a lone tower occupied by the Nightmage. To this day, the oldest sections of the castle are supposedly littered with secret tunnels leading to the Nightmage's arcane creations. After its master fell some four centures ago, loggers slowly gathered at the tower's base. over time, Nartok Keep was expanded into a full castle, and Nartok grew to cover the district now known as Old Town. The inhabitants of Old Town hail from Nartok's founding families and as such are affluent and elitist. Despite an extensive military presence, Old Town managed to foster a sophisticated atmosphere, offering boarding schools, theaters, and well-appointed townhouses.
After the first Falkovnian invasion of the Dead Man's Campaign, the panicked town fathers ordered thick, stone curtain walls built around their town. The project drew an influx of craftsmen and laborers, many nonhumans, from across the kingdom. Nartok thus expanded beyond its defenses even as those very walls were built.
The Nartok districts outside the walls are collectively called New Town. Filled with sawmills and carpentry workshops, the Logger's Quarter is home to Nartok's extensive lumber industry. The rest of New Town is divided among numeous "ethnic quarters." These residential neighborhoods feature architectural styles reminiscent of the far corners of Darkon. The local dwarves have commemorated Darkon's victories in the Dead Man's Campaign with monumental arches at city entrances and major intersections.
An abandoned temple of the Eternal order sits at the edge of town. Evidence indicates this was the "birthplace" of Death seven years ago; the edifice remains spiritually tainted to this day, and is shunned by the scavenging clerics of other faiths.
Nartok's former baron, Eduard Curwen, died in the March of Doom. No battlefield casualty, he was killed by his own men as he watched the battle from atop the keep's spires. Supposedly, Curwen believed that Darkon was doomed to collapse into anarchy and so conspired with Vlad Drakov to ensure a Falkovnian victory. As his reward, Curwen would have continued to rule Nartok as Drakov's governor. The current baron, Burkhart Volker, was captain of Curwen's guard and claimed the barony after killing the heirless Curwen. Volker retains his title, so Azalin must find the arrangement amenable.

Where to Stay
Old Town houses Nartok'sf inest inn, the Veteran Arms (good quality rooms/food). The rooms are small, but warm and quiet. The Veteran Arms has a display room, where the owners have mounted their growing collection of exotic arms and armor, including badly batterred Falkovnian Talon plate and a remarkable suit of banded mail from Rokushima Taiyoo. The Season's Turn (poor quality rooms, common quality food) sits att he heart of the student district. The food is bland and the rooms cramped, but the taproom is crowded most nights with students engaged in lively, if naive debate. Those staying outside the city walls should seek out the Crow's Roost (common quality rooms/food), which caters the most to the region's nonhumans. The walls are decorated with reasonably accurate sketches of landmarks from all across Darkon. lastly, regional country folk bringing their goods to market rely on the affordable Cedarsplint Inn (poor quality rooms/food).

Nartok (small city): Conventional; AL LE; CL 8; 15k gp limit; Assets 5,625,000 gp; Population 7500; Mixed (human 66%, elf 12%, dwarf 11%, halfling 8%, gnome 2%, other 1%)
Authority Figures: Baron Burkhart Volker, male human Ari6/Sor3; Chief Constable Turner Miktis, male human War10; Sinclair Poorgate (captain of the guard), male human War13
Important Characters: Witness Caries, female human Exp9, Zorian (alchemist), male human Wiz8.

RIVALIS
Rivalis occupies a grassy plain just north of Lake Placid. the Forest of Shadows pressed to the southeast, and miles of cleared land stretch to the north. Rivalis originated as a scattered collection of sheep and goat far,s with the excellent pasturage overcoming the halfling settlers' natural wanderlust. once Lamodira appeared in 683 BC, however, the community grew by leaps and bounds in its position as the Lamordians' gateway to Darkon.
The vast majority of Rivalis' resients are halflings, and the city this reflects their tastes, with most of the tree-lined streets bordered by cozy, rounded cottages. A traveler on horseback can easily see over most of the city's rooftops. More extensive halfling homes often include a slightly larger door and a sunken section of the floor to accomodate vists from their taller neighbors. A number of rustic log cabins scattered about town accomodate the larger locals, with many fine manors sitting on the periphery.
Nearly every home and business has its own flower garden. Although Rivalis was a bleak mix of browns and grays at midwinter, the city explodes with vibrant colors in the spring and summer. Rivalins take their gardens very seriously, with many amateur gardeners attempting to breednew strains of flower. it is told that Baron Windfoot and his family consider orchid bulbs in particular to be worth their weight in gold.
Fittingly, Rivalis' most notable landmark is a gargantuan greenhouse called the Crystal Garden, where the public can view the rare and exotic plants throughout the year for a few coppers. The palatial greenhouse is surrounded by an extensive rose garden, which the public can tour for free. In the summer, these roses are exported ascut flowers or used in the manufacture of fine perfumes.
Strange, even monstrous plants have sprouted in the torried climes inside the Crystal Garden for several years now. the gardeners scrutinize the flowerbeds every day, fearing that a true horror could emerge in some overlooked corner. They have yet to discover the origin of these aberrant plants, however. Theories include the idea that such plants may be mutations arising from the Requiem's energy wave, were maliciously seeded by unknown parties, or perhaps were accidentally transferred here with some exotic import--such as the tropical growths brought here a decade ago from the Verderuous Lands.
Most Rivanlins continue to work as herdsmen or farmers, but the Two Brothers cheese factory is a major employer, producing all sorts of flavored cheeses.

Where to Stay
Three inns support Rivalis. The Coachman's Rest (good quality rooms/food) is a three-story villa, with its top floor built to smallfolk proportions. The resident chefs can serve all manner of cuisine from the northwestern Core to order. The Old Waypoint (common quality rooms, good quality food) is reputedly quite soothing, however, the inn caters entirely to smallfolk clientele, and even dwarves risk striking their heads against the ceiling. Lastly, the aptly named Traveler's End (poor quality rooms/food) subsides on messengers and similar professional travels looking to pay for little more than a dry roof and a solid door.

Rivalis (small city): Conventional; AL LN; CL 8; 15k gp limit; Assets 4,125,000 gp; Population 5500; Mixed (halfling 78%, human 11%, gnome 7%, elf 2%, dwarf 1%, other 1%)
Authority Figures: Baron Arian Windfoot, male halfling Ari8; Chief Constable Schuyler von Anbach, male human War10
Important Characters: Gayle Tallgallows (groundskeeper), female human Exp14; Mercia Goodland, female halfling Clr9; Witness Ewing, male halfling Exp12