The City of Helsgrad

The City of Helsgrad

Helsgrad is a mining city situated on the coast along the Helvaskayvol Mountains, which are rich in iron, coal, and rare stones. The city grew out of a small walled port which was built to ship resources up along the coast to the cities of Ostergrad, Vastengrad, and Streissberg. The fortress of Hel's Hearth was built to protect the docks and provide a bastion against piracy from reavers. The city[...]

The City of Ostergrad

The City of Ostergrad

I'm still trying to rough out all of the major cities in the region my D&D group is currently campaigning in, but I think I'm getting better at making the cities look organic. Ostergrad is a rich, sprawling city that bridges the northern half of the western reaches and the southern half, and is ruled over by Lord Oster Hasturmark, whose family died under tragic circumstances.  In the twisting alleys[...]

The City of Streissberg

The City of Streissberg

The Iron City of Streissberg, whose foundries burn red at all hours of the night.

The City of Vastengrad

The City of Vastengrad

The city of Vastengrad is stained red from her docks to the lord's keep by the salt of the Shrieking Sea, Malhalholtra, and the algae blooms it carries on its tides each spring.  She is a proud and ancient city torn between the the Old Gods and the new.  Vastengrad is known for her fleets, which provide security for trade up and down the coast, and for the gray-faced chroniclers who[...]

The Wisdom & Folly of the Whip

I. There is Wisdom in the Whip The Wisdom of the Red Lie And the Obstinate Truth   II. The Whip Serves All Masters For Service is the Pleasure of the Whip And the Fruit of its Kiss   III. The Red Lie is the Promise of Wisdom But the Obstinate Truth is Unyielding And the Fruit of the Whip is Pleasure   IV. The Wisdom of the Red Lie[...]

The Thirst for Light

The Thirst for the Light is the Obstinate Truth And the Obstinate Truth is Unyielding It Will Not Yield to the Mountain, the Sea, or the Sky It Will Not Yield to Sleep, to Skin, or to Bone   We Bathe in the Light of the Radiant Stars Whose Gift is as Great as their Hunger We Eat What is Bathed in the Light of the Radiant Stars We Are[...]

The Knot of Creation

I. In the time before creation there was neither darkness nor light Nor our world, nor even The Red Chapel, Which Waits II. This was the time of the Knot, which neither saw, nor hungered, nor heard And dwelled in the void without fear III. From Elsewhere came the Radiant Stars, Whose Light Needs No Doors And with them came change, and shadow, and fear IV. And the Knot was[...]

The Hungering Stars

I. There Are Many Kinds of Hunger The Hunger of the Belly The Hunger of the Mind The Hunger of the Heart   II. A Fourth Kind of Hunger is the Hunger of Eyes And the Stars Burn Bright with Hunger They Wake Each Night to Drink We Drink the Stars and the Stars Drink Us   III. The Radiance of the Stars are the Strings in Our Eyes The[...]