Cities of the March

The North

  • Divinfalls takes its name from the most holy site of the Vadurkin, Lake Divinfalls, which it stands alongside of. It is the oldest of the northern holds and is believed to be where the first Vadurkin settled. The city itself stands upon a massive hot spring which feeds into the nearby lake. Because of this hot spring, the lake and surrounding area do not freeze during the winter. The animals of the region are known to grow both larger and stronger here as well.

    Unlike the other holds, this city is not under the authority of any clan and is instead ruled over by the Crones.

  • Eisheim is considered the great mountain hold of the West. Its environment has left it geographically isolated from the rest of the holds, and as a result it has always been isolated from the modern politics of the North as well. The people from the area are considered strange by Vadurkin standards because of this.

    The city proper is built into the Snostein Mountains, using the mountain’s natural features as fortifications. The foundation of the city is a series of plateaus, proceeding up the side of the mountain like giant steps that taper as they go.

  • Greywald is the southernmost hold of the North. Due to its position and geography, it has the largest footprint of all the holds. It stands at the base of the Snostein Mountains in a large flat valley consisting of good farmland and surrounded by numerous resources. Due to its proximity to the southern lands of the March, it has long served as a very popular trade hub. According to legend, the original foundations of the city’s great hall were laid by a group known as the Seven Sages.

    The city is ruled over by Clan Magtvæg, who have had a claim on the city since its founding. They have remained the dominant power ever since.

  • Wintervale stands as the highest of all the holds, reaching for the heavens and granting the gods the greatest view into the world of humanity. Most of the city’s farmland lies in the valley at its base, located near the River Vale that runs alongside the city.

    Divided into tiered districts, each is organized according to the social status of the individuals that live within them. The higher tier in which a person resides, the higher their status within the city and clan that person holds. The peak of the city is dominated by the castle in which the Jarl of Wintervale resides. The only thing higher than the Jarl’s castle is a a temple to the gods, a place where the clans of Wintervale gather for Althings. Most importantly, the temple was the site of the Jarlmut which ended the Kinstrife in 1021.

The West

  • Goldenfold stands as the largest city in the West March, nestled in the foothills of the Dragon Spine Mountains near the head of the Aulshain River. Rich soils in the vicinity of the city exploded first into fields of wheat and other grains for which it was originally named, and finally into well-ordered fields of luxury crops such as tobacco, flax, and cotton when Blackfield’s output overshadowed Goldenfold’s. The nearby mountains proved bountiful in precious gems, metals, and quality stone. Well maintained trade roads and access to the Aulshain ensured these goods could flow to every corner of the March, resulting in untold wealth entering the coffers of the city’s most powerful who controlled their growth.

    With the arrival of the Hadrian Empire, Goldenfold has changed drastically. The ruling Viscount was deposed and replaced with an Imperial administration. Under this new management, the lands of the wealthy and nobility were repossessed and redistributed, tasked with producing wheat to feed the Hadrian soldiers now stationed in the city’s vicinity. Stone once exported was used to pave the trade road network and improve upon the walls of the city, and the old growth of the nearby forests is used to fuel great forges to craft weapons and armor. A constant stream of both foot and cart traffic flows from the city to the Waste Wall Lift, carrying goods both to and from the Empire.

  • Westfork started as nothing more than an outpost on the edge of the Western Earldom. As commerce and communication increased during the era of rival city states in the March, the outpost would eventually grow into the city it is known as today. Its location made for an ideal rest stop and resupply point for those who were making the long trek across the land, something that spurred the Hold into becoming the trade hub of the Western March.

    The city is enclosed by impressive walls of lacquered pine, which ultimately quarter the Aulshain River. Buildings of thatch and wood line the city’s cobblestone roads. Though the city itself is large, there are many unused plots of land, often used by merchants and travelers as they pass through. These plots would ultimately see great use by citizens displaced by the Ten Years’ War. A number of docks stretch out over the river where barges make landfall to resupply before they continue their journey along the Aulshain. Housed within the back allies of the city is the Black Market – a side of Westfork which lives in parallel with the rest of the city like a symbiote.

  • Whitehurst’s marble towers reach high over the canopy of the Iron Pines, long serving as the seat of military power in the March. Unlike the other Holds, Whitehurst was first and foremost a fortress before it was anything else. At the heart of the city stands the Stone Aegis; a colossal keep of white marble. This fortress sits at the conjunction of the two rivers, trisecting the city. The city itself would ultimately grow out of necessity due to the populations of refugees displaced by the Cataclysm, with many having made their way to its harrowed halls for protection.

    Buildings of plaster, pine, and stone line the tightly packed network of roads and alleyways that radiate outwards from the Stone Aegis as a result. Along these roads blacksmiths, jewelers, masons, and other artisans can be seen either hard at work or pandering their wears to river barges. The city is fully enclosed by another ring of massive stone walls, acting as the only barrier between the citizens of the Hold and the dangers of the Iron Pines.

The Middle

  • Arborgate stands at the confluence of the Foscadain and the Aulshain rivers as a beacon of industry. Its two-tiered layout is wholly unique, as wooden catwalks stretch over the original cobblestone roads of the ground level. These wooden structures arch over the city, connecting the second tier of the city to itself and to the ground level using a system of stairwells and pulleys. The catwalks, dubbed the Arbor Roads, sprawl out over the sky of the city when viewed from its ground level – ultimately casting the lower city into a state of perpetual dusk.

    Along the river, barges fill the far-reaching docks transporting lumber from the Iron Pines and ore from local mines. Whether traveling by barge, river way, or foot, travelers can hear the work of the city’s famous craftsfolk echoing about the buildings and alleyways. As torches flicker in the dusk of the lower city, dancing shadows extend down the alleyways and play across the city's towering buildings of wood and thatch. Many of these buildings seem to almost be fused or built into one another, whether that be with adjacent buildings or the additional levels built atop of them. A single north facing wall is the only man-made fortification, the confluence of rivers that the city has been built upon providing a natural defensive moat that has provided the primary source of protection for the city over the centuries of existence.

  • Standing at the feet of the Iron Hills is the city of Hillshire. A moat, created by a canal connecting the Rust and Blue rivers, surrounds the outer walls built from oak, stone, and iron. This moat then flows into the city proper through smaller streams which are primarily used for irrigation, while larger ones are used for transportation throughout the city's. The city proper is considered to be among the largest of the Holds, given that a majority of its farmland is housed behind the walls of the city. This has given the city an almost checkerboard like layout with plots devoted to agriculture, commerce, industry, and living scattered about - a striking difference when compared to other cities of the March. Thus, travelers passing through on barge or by foot are met with the sight of a districtless city as rolling-hills filled with crops and cattle farms sit next to pockets of mine entrances, homesteads, and shops. Given its shared border with the Vadurkin Clans, relations with the Vadurkin have always been a point of focus for the Viscounty. Yet, after the Vadurkin War, raids became less frequent to the point of near obscurity. To this day, Hillshire is the only known Hold to have had diplomatic relations with the Vadurkin of Divinfalls to the point of even having trade relations.

    As of the events at Schlosswald Garrison in 1023, the city of Hillshire is nothing more than a shadow of its former glory – the entirety of its old population has vanished, and most of the city has been reduced to varying states of ruin. Even so, there are some who have chosen to make Hillshire their new home in the hopes of rebuilding and returning this city back to the greatness that it once held.

  • While much of the old world was swept away by the Cataclysm, what remained became the foundation of the March today. The Great Temple of Fossegrim is one such location, having sat on the shores of Lake Luminar seemingly untouched by the chaos. As the years passed the city of Pond Hollow would grow around it.

    Today the city has almost overtaken most of the surrounding shoreline, where stilted houses can be found alongside fisheries, apothecaries, and traders that have made the lakefront their homes. Floating docks ebb along with the gentle currents, standing on a foundation of supports and connectors that comprise their primary infrastructure. Moving away from the lakefront, the city sprawls out towards an inner wall, with multi-storied houses and shops built from pine and plaster lining roads and walkways. As one ventures closer to the Temple proper, the buildings take on a different style, adopting resources from other locations such as the white granite of Whitehurst or the clay bricks of Sodmire. Despite this, none of the inner city’s buildings are as grand as those of the colleges and trade schools that the city has become known for in recent centuries.

The East

  • Blackfield claims the title of the oldest city among the Eastern March, much like its Middle and Western peers Pond Hollow and Whitehurst. Its importance as a food provider to the region has remained a constant in the Hold’s long history within the region. Initially, the city established its position by making deals with settlements near the Sodden Paths, trading silt to enrich their fertile soil which overtime began to turn the city’s soil black – the source of the city’s name.

    Constructed at the mouth of the Torthulain, the river has long been utilized by the people for trade with settlements along the Sodden Paths and to provide needed irrigation to the fertile soil of the land. The city’s walls are primarily constructed of lacquered pine and reinforced with stone and iron where needed and function as its primary defense. The city’s famous black fields stretch far out to the horizon extending from the base of the walls. Small Farmsteads and Hamlets of simple wood and clay dot the landscape throughout, providing homes for the many commonfolk that tend them. The city’s long history of trade with the Sodden Paths is also displayed among the buildings of the city, constructed from timber from the nearby forests and clay bricks sourced from within the Salt Marshes. The city’s culture revolves around a strong sense of community and hard work, with families working alongside farmhands to grow wealth and prosperity. However, this prosperity has made the people of Blackfield particularly proud and stubborn, giving them a reputation of being somewhat hesitant toward outsiders.

  • Eastlyn stands nestled between Lake Deir and Lake Brath in the upper half of the Eastern Earldom. The hard working and hardy people of the city chose to focus on animal husbandry and tending to their herds over producing the luxuries that other Holds might pride themselves on. The city walls extend for miles, enclosing the city between its two lakes. Harbors have been set up on either side of the city taking advantage of them for irrigation and fish farms. Pastures and farmsteads dot the rolling plains of the Eastern March on the outskirts of the city proper. The architecture of the city is simple and industrious; these buildings line the footpaths and cobblestone roads that weave throughout the city, sectioning it off into its many districts. Many of the buildings opt to use designs and easily accessible materials to create simple structures that meet the bare minimum of accommodations for living, as the people of the city have chosen to devote most of their time to the herds that the region has become fairly known for. As one travels outside the city proper, settlements can be found leading up to the coast. While the mainland is fairly safe, those who have made a home for themselves along the coast of the Sea of Storms have historically had to brave year-round raids from the Vadurkin and seasonal thunderstorms.

  • Sodmire thrives alongside the enchanting yet treacherous environment of the Salt Marshes that combines an ocean-fed brackish swamp with poisonous Dragon’s Maw. At the convergence of these contrasting ecosystems where one will find life hard but palatable is The Sodden Paths. The city of Sodmire is a place where the culture has evolved to embrace resourcefulness, herbalism, and spiritual beliefs as a result. Its people have learned to navigate the dangers of both the swamp's creatures and the toxic desert sands with adaptability and cunning. Stilted houses of pine and clay line the shore, with walkways of wood and stone built atop the muck and silt to connect the buildings. The city is well known for its apothecaries and herbalists whose shops line the cobblestone paths of the city proper as one moves away from the Marsh. Their deep knowledge of the fantastic herbs found in the swamp allows them to practice advanced herbal medicine and alchemical arts relative to the other Holds. Trade routes forged through hazardous pathways connect this city to the other settlements of the Salt Marsh as well as to the other Holds. In this dangerous ecosystem, the city ultimately harmonizes with nature, ensuring sustainability and revering the mysticism that arises from the transformative properties of their unique surroundings.

Regions of the March

  • Located northeast of the Grass Sea of Terris and south of the Dragon Spine Mountains lies the Dragon’s Maw, a massive and completely inhospitable desert. Extreme temperatures, rumors of massive terrifying creatures, and lethal toxic fumes meant that the desert was rightly considered impassable for centuries. Most could only survive for a few days before becoming permanently scarred or killed by their time there. The Dragon Spines to the north and Brackish Sea to the south also meant that no one had crossed from Terra Nostrum to the March since the Cataclysm. That was true until Hadrian alchemists devised a concoction alongside protective robes allowing them to survive temporarily within the Maw, resulting in the first successful crossing in 1006.

  • The Dragon Spine Mountains are steep and peculiar, with massive and jagged peaks at regular intervals. Wildlife and vegetation are scarce in the mountains, save for the hardiest of goats and raptors at lower altitudes. The height of the mountains means that year-round typhoons which form over Trajan’s Deep are deflected into Impact Bay, with only the largest and hottest storms making it over the mountains to deposit rain in the March.

    Legend says there once existed a foul witch who summoned a great fire breathing serpent and sought to destroy the March. Battle raged against it until Belenus cast a fiery spear into the serpent and pinned it to the earth. The beast raged and spewed flame, scorching the earth permanently and creating the Dragon’s Maw before succumbing to its wounds. Impact Bay, the Shattered Isles, and the Dragon Spine Mountains are also said to be the remains of this great serpent. The strange sounds of wind cutting through the foothills of the Dragon Spines are said to be its labored breathing, the dragon slumbering and waiting to be released from its fetters.

  • The Grass Sea lies south of the Dragon’s Maw on the continent of Terra Nostrum, separated from the desert’s dunes by the Vind and Ormont rivers. The northernmost part of the Grass Sea is a place of fertile farmland thanks to soil born from the rot and decay blowing off the Dragon’s Maw mixing with mineral-rich silt in the waters of the rivers. As one travels south the land transitions to a vast savanna, populated by nomadic peoples referred to collectively as the Horse-Lords. These peoples are a diverse array of long-standing clans who had lived in the area for centuries prior to joining the Empire, the borders of their realm now a province known as Terris. Beneath the surface of the Grass Sea and Terris is a second world of caves, filled as much with monstrous insects as it is aquifers, oil reservoirs, raw metals, and precious gems.

  • Beyond the imposing Snostein Mountains stretches a wasteland of unyielding ice. Devoid of life, this desolate expanse seldom witnesses the warming touch of sunlight, making it a perilous abode for any who linger. The plummeting temperatures post-nightfall induce such rapid frostbite that many have witnessed their hands, feet, and even eyes shatter from the biting winds. Countless frozen corpses lie untouched in the northern wastes, abandoned by scavengers and forsaken by those who would recover them. The treacherous environment is not the sole threat in the Frosts; the haunting moans of the wind serve as an ominous warning, hinting at a more malevolent force. Many believe that spirits lost to the place’s frigid embrace inhabit the barren landscape. The north as a result remains cloaked in mystery, as legend says an inexplicable force restrains these spectral entities from venturing beyond the mountains - a blessing to those dwelling in the shadows of the Snosteins. A prevalent saying among the northern denizens encapsulates their grim reality: "survived the cold to welcome a curse," signifying the inevitability of doom in this unforgiving realm.

  • The Iron Pines are a dense woodland stretching across the center of the March crisscrossed by a maze of roads, footpaths, streams, and rivers. Near its heart lies a lake that has come to be known as Lake Luminar. Every few decades, a full moon on the summer solstice will reflect off its surface and shine brilliant silver light for miles in every direction. Most believe that the veil between the realm of the spirit and the physical worlds is thinnest during this time. Because of this, the nearby city of Pond Hollow has had a long and sordid history with conjurers and dark practitioners being drawn to the lake.

    Because of its dense foliage and relatively unmapped tracts, the Iron Pines can be a hostile place for non-natives of the region. At one time it was somewhat notorious for highwayfolk and banditry, not to mention dangerous creatures that also hide under its thick canopies. While some of that danger still persists, recent years have seen it used more so as a natural rallying position for rebel fighters and those trying to escape from authorities. It is nearly impossible for a marching army to traverse due to its thick underbrush, forcing them to navigate rough roads, meandering pathways, complicated terrain, and to contend with other hidden dangers - a trait well exploited during the Ten Year’s War.

  • The Salt Marshes on the southern edge of the March are a festering pool of danger. The sand of the Dragon’s Maw sinks into a bog of salt water and muck. Even more dangerous than the quicksand and repugnant waters is the wildlife that calls this place home, all of which are among the most vile creatures on the continent. While venomous snakes exist in other places in the March, here there are spiders the size of working beasts in the tree tops, massive slug-like creatures with acidic slime and a tendency to swallow people whole, and reptiles with fang filled jaws and hides like iron lurking in the pools of bile. Deep in the center of its slimey isles is said to be the ruined remains of Mythath Morenial, an elvish city of which is sung in ancient Rivlan songs.

    The bulk of the Salt Marshes have not been charted save for a small stretch in its northern part known as the Sodden Paths. However, for the brave few who are daring enough to go into its unexplored regions, there are exotic plants and fungi that grow in the bogs and nowhere else. Some will even try to load wagons full of the sulfurous muck to spread onto fields from the Sodden Paths, a line of trade which has lead to the agricultural and medicinal success of Blackfield over the generations. While there is good money to be had in their trade, these careers are often short lived due to the high tendency of which the harvesters fall victim to sickness, beasts, or simply disappear into the marshes.

  • The Snostein Mountains stand as a crown of stone across the north of the March. They stretch from coast to coast, starting in the West with its union on the tail end of the Dragon Spine and eventually forking northward and southward, finally opening up to the east. Much of the mountain range is covered with snow and ice, but what stone can be seen is stronger than iron. The crags and peaks of this range are exceptionally sharp in comparison to other mountains, and some ancient tools have been recovered that use the stone for its durability and sharp edges. Perhaps that is why the mountainside is dotted with cave-like passages through the mountains that appear to be man-made.

    Nestled between the range’s forks is a hot spring lake in the east, the lake and city that grew on its shores known as Divinfalls. No matter the season, its waters have never frozen in recorded history. Many believe it to be a font of magic for the world. On its western edge the lake’s water spill over a towering cliff and into the Sea of Stars below. Clans and tribes of the mountains have as a result set boats adrift on the lake for kings and leaders to be carried to sea by the lake’s falls, an act considered a great honor reserved for very few. A myth persists that in its depths lie creatures that will seek vengeance on those who don’t pay proper reverence to the lake. Because of this, there is a festival each Spring to celebrate surviving another winter and giving thinks to the gods, during which offerings of food and wreaths of pine are put into the water to sink to the creatures below or be given to the sea.