Environment: Scavenged, Urban Ruin
Notes: A stacked settlement built atop a crumbling overpass, its ropeways and alleys hide entire micro-communities.
Roads To: Saint Thera's Remit, Verrow's Span
Typical Ancestries: Goblins, Halflings, Katari
Recent Events
Dolm's Break has fallen. The sacred pyre went dark, and umbral beasts overran the settlement. Approximately thirty refugees—mostly goblins and halflings with some katari—fled westward to Verrow's Span, effectively doubling that settlement's population. A rear guard of fighters held the line to allow the evacuation, though their fate remains unknown. The refugees carried what they could in carts and bags, arriving in desperate condition with no clear plan for their future.
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Redmorrow
Environment: Coastal, Shipwrecks
Notes: Built around a a series of grounded shipwrecks, Redmorrow is a ruthless smuggler's haven masked as a trade port.
Roads To: Thistleglass, Mireveil, Salthewn
Typical Ancestries: Fungral, Humans, Infernis
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Saint Thera's Remit
Environment: Mountainous, Temple
Notes: A convent of penitents isolate themselves in austerity above the world of the Umbra.
Roads To: Dolm's Break
Typical Ancestries: Dwarves, Halflings, Humans
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Salthewn
Environment: Coastal, Urban
Notes: Carved into salt cliffs, this village maintains black-pitch fires on buoys to keep the evils of the sea at bay.
Roads To: Kaelrock, Mireveil, Redmorrow, Thistleglass
Typical Ancestries: Goblins, Halflings, Humans, Orcs
Known Connections
Heyou, the construct rogue, once called Salthewn home. He recalls two giants who worked as enforcers for a rival syndicate—twins named Ugg and Grug, distinguished by the fact that between them they had four eyes (3 and 1, respectively). They were card players and brutes, memorable for their particular brand of intimidation.
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Tern's Watch
Environment: Fortified, Mountainous
Notes: A precarious high perch for scouts and salvagers overlooking the remaining mountain roads.
Roads To: Kaelrock, Verrow's Span
Typical Ancestries: Humans, Katari
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Thistleglass
Environment: Forest, Mystical
Notes: A strange and magical forest, home to elves and faeries. Few go in or leave.
Roads To: Redmorrow, Salthewn
Typical Ancestries: Elves, Faeries, Fauns
Potential Source
When the pyre at Drosven's Gate went dark, Sylvie identified Thistleglass as one of two possible sources for a blessed branch needed to rekindle it. The party ultimately chose the closer option of seeking a branch at Ulmira's Step instead.
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Verrow's Span
Environment: Mountainous, Village
Notes: A string of households, joined by narrow ropeways.
Roads To: Dolm's Break, Tern's Watch
Typical Ancestries: Humans, Katari, Simiah
Settlement Details
Verrow's Span is a marvel of mountain engineering, built primarily by and for the simiah who form the majority of its population. The settlement curves around a section of the mountain, with multiple types of access:
- Staircases carved directly into rock
- Easily climbable ledges
- Rope bridges connecting different levels
- Ladders for vertical access
- Little community spaces jutting from the rock face
The architecture assumes climbing ability—there are no railings or guardrails. Children here simply learn "not to fall and die." A few human families and katari also make their home here, but the spacing, handholds, and heights are all optimized for long-armed climbers.
The Sacred Pyre
Like other settlements in the region, Verrow's Span maintains a sacred pyre that burns openly, providing both literal illumination and protection from the darkness. The beacon can be seen from a distance, guiding travelers through the mountain passes.
Geographic Position
Verrow's Span serves as a triangulation point connecting:
- East: Tern's Watch
- Northwest: Saint Thera's Remit (a monastery)
- West: Dolm's Break
- Far West: The Amber Reach (a long, ancient ruined region)
Key Figures
Makiri and Janzi: Two locals who greeted the Enduring Lesser Lights upon their arrival, offering food, drink, and rest with genuine hospitality.
Tamber: A Celsian Itinerant who serves as tutor for the settlement's children. The Celsians are wandering scholar-monks associated with the Celsian Athenaeum far to the west. They share knowledge freely and educate communities they visit. Tamber possesses extensive texts and knowledge of runes, including information about:
- The Rune of the Moon (resembling a less-than sign), associated with false hope and paralysis of thought
- Tlellic, the god of predation and the Long Night
- The Askavir, the massive raptor that may be Tlellic's mount, familiar, or even avatar
Tamber and the witch Ygva were once initiates together at the Celsian Athenaeum. Both learned from the same teachers, but Ygva was expelled before completing her initiation for practicing "depletion"—a technique that drains the essence of living things to power powerful magical effects. This practice was antithetical to the Celsians' preservation-minded philosophy.
Draz's Great Aunt: An elder who recognized Draz by his distinctive birthmark—a wavy candle flame that manifests as a shock of white hair with raised skin. She hadn't seen him since he was an infant, before she came to Verrow's Span. Through her, Draz learned painful truths: his mother had died, his father and twin siblings had left westward toward the Amber Reaches, and he had been intentionally abandoned in the forest during great hardship. His parents chose to invest in his younger twin siblings, leaving him to the Wilds.
Recent Events
The settlement's normal rhythms were disrupted by two catastrophic events:
The Refugee Crisis: About thirty refugees from Dolm's Break arrived, doubling Verrow's Span's population. The locals struggled to determine how to shelter and feed so many unexpected arrivals. Among the refugees, Heyou recognized a tall feline katari with an eye patch and broad shoulders—someone who works semi-independently with the Syndicate, picking and choosing his jobs. Heyou suspected ulterior motives.
The Fall of the Askavir: While the refugees were settling, the massive predatory bird known as the Askavir attacked. The locals had practiced for such an event like a fire drill, with designated cover locations, but the panicked refugees scattered and screamed. In the chaotic battle that followed:
- Sylvie cast Tether, preventing the creature from flying and causing it to crash onto a rope bridge, which split under its weight
- The Askavir managed to seize refugees in its talons
- It killed one refugee by biting them in half
- It grabbed a simiah from the town and dropped them to their death
- Draz shot the creature through both eyes, with the final arrow piercing its brain
- Sylvie's perfectly-timed Fireball caught both the Askavir and a wyrm that was ascending toward the settlement, setting the bird aflame
- The dying, burning Askavir circled down and landed in the plaza for its death throes
The Askavir's bones remain at Verrow's Span, held by Draz's kinfolk for future use. Ygva had mentioned something about the bones having significance, though the specifics remain unclear.
Local Attitudes
The people of Verrow's Span have firm opinions about certain groups:
- The Syndicate ("Dimmers"): Not spoken of highly. The last couple of Syndicate members who came through "took a short walk off a high bridge." Heyou wisely chose to be discreet in his inquiries about Syndicate connections.
- The Simiah Community: Warm and welcoming, though they do enjoy pranking outsiders (as Jamal discovered when they convinced him to a drinking contest while serving him much heavier pours than themselves).
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Vireth Hollow
Environment: Isolated, Jungle
Notes: A robust community of fungrals, ribbets, and a few simiah, it has learned to sustain itself in the wake of the collapse of Larrow.
Roads To: Larrow
Typical Ancestries: Fungral, Ribbets, Simiah
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Ulmira's Step
Environment: Mountainous
Notes: A village built into the corpse of a long-dead titan, guarding the last eastern passage into the Stoneheart Peaks
Roads To: Drosven's Gate
Typical Ancestries: Dwarves, Giants, Humans
Settlement History and Culture
Ulmira's Step was once the first stair of a sacred pilgrimage leading higher up the mountain to a shrine that is now collapsed and buried. The settlement began as a community of giants and has since been joined by dwarves and humans. The mingling of these ancestries created Lammat, a distinct local dialect. Sylvie recalls stories of a witch named Oshel who once lived here.
The town is built into and around the fossilized remains of a colossal titan. Its skull juts from the rock like a ruined fortress, with ribs and plate-armor half-buried in the mountainside. Other fragments—shoulder bones, teeth taller than a person, bits of twisted plate—emerge along the trail. Despite the grim foundation, the settlement thrives, kept habitable by its sacred pyre that burns bright and true at its center.
Atmosphere and Layout
Unlike many settlements in the Age of Umbra, Ulmira's Step feels improbably alive. Passing over the bridge into town, the suffocating haze of the mountain road lifts, replaced with laughter, the smell of bread baking, and the ring of hammers at work. Children of giants and dwarves run together through the square. The town is self-sufficient and rarely sees strangers, though wandering teachers like the Celsians occasionally pass through.
The settlement's communal meal is marked by the ringing of a great gong, summoning everyone to a long open shelter where food is prepared in full view around a central firepit. A girthy giant chef, built like a wall, manages the kitchen with the help of teenage sous-chefs who turn bread, stews, and smoked meat for the crowd.
Key Figures
Sarru: A dwarven pyre-keeper, stocky and steady, whose whole life seems defined by the task of tending the sacred fire. She serves as the contact between the community and Ygva, the witch who dwells in the mountains above. When the Lesser Lights explained what happened at Drosven's Gate, she confirmed that the blessed branch they needed was in Ygva's keeping near the ruined shrine up the mountainside. She provided detailed directions, warnings about the dangerous path, and context about Ygva—noting that the witch is touched by the Umbra and has withdrawn from the community, but is not exactly feared. Her magic is dangerous and strange, and those who tarry too long in the heights sometimes come down changed.
Borek: A dwarf wearing a heavy two-finger ring worked into the Syndicate's emblem, sitting with a group of operators at a back table. Heyou approached him with proper deference, explaining the situation at Drosven's Gate. Borek welcomed him as someone who could "get things done" and hinted at knowledge of where some of Heyou's missing limbs might be, in exchange for eggs of the Askavir.
The Giant Chef: A central figure in the community, managing the communal kitchen with authority and skill. Draz approached him for provisions, and the chef obliged with genuine generosity, providing four days of raw ingredients—food that would require preparation and could spoil—alongside recipes and a forager's list tailored to two possible routes: the mountainside or the underworld tunnels.
The Tunnels and Titan Interior
The settlement includes access to tunnels within the titan itself. Delvers regularly venture into these passages seeking relics of the Old World, but the work is deadly. Shortly before the Lesser Lights arrived, a party of eight or nine returned with only five survivors, their clothes torn and bodies battered. They had discovered a new crevice in the cliffs, but the corridors were riddled with traps, strange slicks on the stone, and other dangers.
The locals maintain healers who tend the wounded, though they politely declined Sylvie's offer of magical aid—their refusal courteous but firm, suggesting a wariness of assistance that uses the power of the old gods.
The Witch and the Mountain Shrine
The path to Ygva's domain involves following the remnants of pilgrimage stairs, still climbable though damaged, leading up toward the collapsed mountainside shrine. The way is treacherous both physically and spiritually—Umbra seeps into those heights.
When Sylvie asked about the Moon rune (Jara) she had been seeing in her visions, the answer was startling: "That is Ygva's rune." The connection between Sylvie's omens and the witch above was direct and undeniable.
Local Attitudes
The people of Ulmira's Step are not hostile, but they are wary of outsiders. They make space for visitors without quite inviting them in. Their courtesy is genuine but measured, and they maintain clear boundaries. The Lesser Lights felt increasingly like outsiders as their visit continued, tolerated but not embraced.
Party's Experience
The Lesser Lights arrived after their climb from Drosven's Gate, passing landmarks including animated trees that could attack but also communicate. Sylvie's healing magic worked on one such tree, strengthening its roots and earning grudging passage.
During their visit, the party faced a choice: join a return party into the titan's tunnels or seek Ygva for the blessed branch. They consulted with Sarru, gathered provisions from the giant chef, and ultimately decided to join a delving expedition led by companions including:
- Savel: A giant sorcerer
- Mellon: A human ranger who had been changed by previous delving experiences, his stories shifting and inconsistent
- Sarru: The dwarf pyre-keeper (who later joined the return journey to Drosven's Gate)
The party later returned to Ulmira's Step before splitting—some members escorting blessed branches back to Drosven's Gate while Sylvie and Heyou sought Ygva in the mountains.
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Drosven's Gate
Environment: Crossroads, Foothills
Notes: Fortified with salvaged stone and statuary, this mountain-flank redoubt refuses to fall like its neighbor, Larrow.
Roads To: Grithmaar Deep, Larrow, Ulmira's Step, Kaelrock
Typical Ancestries: Dwarves, Orcs, Simiah
The Crisis
The campaign began with disaster at Drosven's Gate: the sacred pyre went out. This seemingly simple event marked a catastrophic failure of the town's primary defense against the Umbra. Sacred pyres throughout the region provide both physical light and spiritual protection, keeping settlements habitable in a world increasingly consumed by darkness and supernatural threats.
The Attack
When the pyre died, umbral jellies emerged—horrific creatures of bile and gore that could split and multiply. The town plaza became a battlefield as adventurers who would become known as the Enduring Lesser Lights fought to protect the settlement:
- Sylvie Cerridwen: A witch wielding Umbral magic, cast protective wards and offensive spells
- Jamal: A warrior who smashed the creatures with powerful blows, becoming drenched in acidic bile that ate at his armor and flesh
- Draz: A simiah ranger who took position atop the smoldering pyre, firing arrows that halted the jellies' grotesque mitosis
- Heyou: A construct rogue who stalked through shadow, using his daggers to spill the creatures before they could fully divide
The battle was won, but at a cost. The pyre remained dark. Normal fire wouldn't restore its magic—only a blessed branch could rekindle the sacred flame.
The Mission
With the pyre extinguished and the town vulnerable, the Lesser Lights set out for Ulmira's Step, where they hoped to find either a blessed branch or information about obtaining one. Draz's warning proved prescient: creatures like the umbral jellies don't stay dead unless burned, and anything they split on their own comes back. The heroes ensured all remains were properly burned before departing.
The Return
Jamal and Draz were returning to Drosven's Gate with Savel and Sarru, carrying two blessed branches, when they and the branches were snatched by the Askavir and dropped up on Ygva's mountaintop.
The fate of Drosven's Gate, and of Savel and Sarru, remains to be seen.
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Grithmaar Deep
Environment: Subterranean, Uncursed
Notes: A mining and forging community that discovered great sleeping monsters in the depths.
Roads To: Drosven's Gate
Typical Ancestries: Clanks, Dwarves, Goblins
What happened?
According to Jamal, they mined too deep and something terrible emerged, and killed everyone except for him.
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Kaelrock
Environment: Foothills, Forest
Notes: A robust coastal township fortified with reef-stone and anchored docks, Kaelrock thrives on steady fishing, trade, and maritime resilience, its people pragmatic.
Roads To: Drosven's Gate, Salthewn, Tern's Watch
Typical Ancestries: Galapa, Humans, Simiah
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Larrow
Environment: Forest, Jungle
Notes: A ghost town near a failed Pyre, now whispered to be a haven for restless souls.
Roads To: Drosven's Gate, Vireth Hollow
Typical Ancestries: None
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Mireveil
Environment: Coastal, Urban Ruin
Notes: The shells of Mireveil's Old World towers have begun to stir with new life—settlers, scholars, and scavengers have returned to make homes among the overgrown glass and stone.
Roads To: Salthewn, Redmorrow
Typical Ancestries: Clanks, Galapa, Ribbets
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Notable Locations Not on the Original List
Witch's Peak
Environment: High Mountains, Supernatural
Notes: The site of Ygva's dwelling and the ruins of an ancient shrine
Typical Ancestries: None (inhabited only by Ygva and spectral guardians)
The Journey
The path to Witch's Peak involves following giant building-sized steps and winding paths that lead ever higher into the peaks. These architectural features suggest supernatural significance. The approach requires navigating treacherous mountain paths, including rope bridges high above the peaks that shake violently when the Askavir passes overhead.
Ygva the Witch
Ygva is a powerful practitioner of Umbral magic who was expelled from the Celsian Athenaeum before completing her initiation. She practices "depletion"—a technique that drains the essence of living things to power magical effects. Her dwelling includes:
- A private fire where she conducts her most significant work
- Umbral spirits that serve as passive defenses
- Kelun, a guardian who serves her
The Confrontation
When Sylvie and Heyou arrived with Kelun as their guide, they faced Ygva's judgment for destroying a sacred tree. The encounter escalated into violence:
- Ygva attacked with devastating magic, summoning one of Heyou's missing legs to kick him in the head
- She appeared to kill Sylvie by removing her heart
Cosmic Revelations
Rather than continuing the fight, Ygva teleported away with the unconscious Sylvie. When Sylvie awoke beside Ygva's private fire, the witch revealed staggering cosmological truths:
- Their reality had served as an "egg" for cosmic entities who had hatched and departed
- The gods weren't absent through choice or defeat, but through completion of a life cycle
- These departed entities, which Ygva called "monsters" and "cosmic horrors," had abandoned their creation
- Ygva's plan was to force them back and bind them
- Sylvie's Splendor domain magic acted as a "lure" that attracted these departed gods
Ygva offered Sylvie an ultimatum: surrender her dangerous Splendor magic in exchange for freedom, or remain captive until Ygva's work was complete. The alternative magic offered represented fundamental transformation of identity. Ygva identified Sylvie as being "of the moon," suggesting connections to cosmic forces that Sylvie herself didn't understand.
The Aftermath
Ultimately, Ygva fled, taking with her knowledge and power that might have answered questions about Sylvie's nature. Sylvie was left alive but transformed—with an empty cavity where her heart should be, yet somehow still functional, able to walk, talk, and move normally despite this impossible condition.
The party decided to leave Witch's Peak rather than returning immediately to Ulmira's Step, where explanations about the witch's departure and the missing blessed branches would be difficult and potentially dangerous. Instead, they headed southwest toward Verrow's Span, leaving a complicated situation to "smolder for a bit."
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The Mountain Roads
The paths between settlements are dangerous, marked by:
- Permanent high-altitude cloud cover that casts everything in pale, diffused light
- Trees that can animate and attack, some trapped between life and blight
- The constant threat of the Askavir's shadow passing overhead
- Umbral-touched wildlife, including simiah corrupted beyond saving, their gestures a mixture of violent and obscene
- Wyrms that ascend from below, breathing noxious acid