So, This is a map of Nightsdeep that I’ve been working on. I drew it on paper with pencils and then brought it into the Gimp to do some minor graphics work. This is a preliminary form of the map. I will likely revisit the map and try to be more detailed with it. Not everything that should be there is there.
The Marches
The Freemen live up in the marches and perform regular trips down to the old temples of Saluwan as a sort of pilgrimage that they call “The Hunt”.
The Hunt
The Hunt serves multiple purposes depending on whom you are asking. Firstly, the hunt is a religious pilgrimage. When a shield (a party on The Hunt) travels to one of the holy sites, they confirm that it’s still standing and attempt any normal repairs that they can perform. This keeps the old sites standing and keeps hope alive among the Freemen. Another purpose is that it allows the young to become stronger and better able to survive in the harsh world that they must live in. Lastly, some of the more cynical people believe that The Hunt allows the Freemen to weed out the weaker or lazier members of their society. That way, population is kept low and fed. Either way, the hunt takes place throughout most of Nightsdeep on the “free” side of the wall.
The Deep
This is where the fire from the sky landed. The Hollow Ones are very common here. People, animals and even trees filled with a sort of green fire have been seen everywhere. There are also tales of inhumane screams echoing through the woods. The Deep is a valuable source of metals however. The mountains there are so rich in metals that one can pick any spot and swing a pickaxe and find iron or other metals.
Forte Ruin
This ruin used to be a major center of commerce because it had access to a major road and a huge waterway that fed out to the Great Black Sea. It boasted a fairly large population with lots of farmable land on either end. A sizable milita and a training ground. Now, it’s a ghost of what once was. It holds nothing but ruins and an old church. The church had been maintained as best as it could but until a particularly intense attack when my players were holed up in the church. Now, the church has fallen.
Helmir
Helmir was a place of learning. There were schools where one was taught how to harness the manna (magic) and how to use it. Many religious scholars had their homes there and taught there too. Helmir is home to the Basillica of Light. This was an enormous church that held a great many services. It was also the seat of the Festival of Summer. A festival lasting two weeks where a great many citizens of Sweitenholm would visit and partake. It was said that a blessing during the Festival of Summer would grant the citizen happiness and health throughout the whole year. Even now, a group of Freemen attempt to hold Helmir against the encroaching tide of the Hollow Ones.
The Scarred Lands
These lands once were filled with farmable land, homes and forests. In the last days of the battle to defend the wall, the defenders burned the land with regular fire and with magical flames. The landscape was left a battered, grey ruin with cracks down into the bowels of the earth everywhere. It often rains ash here and the voices of the many fallen can still be heard on the wind.
Vaggr
This town is more of a fort than a city. They maintain the wall and mine metals that get distributed to the rest of Darkholm. Vaggr is the main hold of the Jotunnheimr clan of vampires. Huge men and women who used to hide in mountains and under bridges but now live among humans. Vaggr is a mass of tunnels, above ground homes and below ground areas. The people of Vaggr claim that they’d forgotten what the sun was like long before the last sunset. Interestingly, Vaggr is farthest from Darkholm and the Jotunnheimr don’t care much for politics or intrugue. As such, inhabitants of Vaggr are allowed to say whatever they wish without fear of reprisal. All the Jotunnheimr want is to be left alone. So, the metal flows out of the mines, the Jotunnheimr recieve their tithe and the people get to be left to their own. Every once in a while however, the Elder Jotunnheimr awaken and everything changes.
Skaldfel
Skaldfel was home to quite a few quiet academics and skilled craftsmen even before the last sunset. Now, it is a vital stop along the way between Vaggr and Darkholm. This town verges on becoming a major city itself due to the massive about of trade and important port leading to Dranet and the “net towns”. Skaldfel is mostly below the sea level but it’s inhabitants have adjusted to this by building canals throughout the city. The stonemasons of Skaldfel are legendary and have chiseled out beautiful buildings of white marble and walkways of granite blocks. The iron-workers of Skaldfel, while not as skilled as those of Vaggr, have managed to use wrought iron in all manner of construction projects from the great locks of Skaldfel port to the Enormous “tower of triumph”. The tower was once a symbol of triumph over the Hollow Ones, now, a symbol of their new position as sheep. Skaldfel is the lesser seat of the Skald. These “poet-vampires” watch over Skaldfel and constantly search for rebellious groups so that they can be destroyed from within.
Darkholm
After high king Elrick the younger united the tribes, he established the city of Zweitenholm. This city was to serve as the seat of the new empire and the center of politics in the newly united kingdom. Zweitenholm was a triumph of glass from the far west, iron from Vaggr and stone from Skaldfel. It boasted enormous churches to Saluwan with clerics coming all the way from Helmir to preach and study. Today, Darkholm remains a powerhouse but it’s luster is faded. The churches have been torn down or repurposed and clerics haven’t been seen in far too long. The city is now a technological powerhouse in Nightsdeep. Gas from Dranet is piped in to Darkholm to power the gas lamps that light the street and gas ovens that heat the citizen’s food. Water wheels turn the wheat from nearby farms into grain at rates that were impossible before. Darkholm is the very center of the advancements that keep the cities behind the wall alive. Behind it all, the Skald in their towers and the Draugr in the sewers manipulate events to keep their power strong all the while competing against each other in a competition to rule Darkholm.
Dranet
The Island- city of Dranet is home to the Draugr. The Draugr keep a low profile and stay out of political affairs. A strange fact is that Dranet has a law stating that all people on the streets after dark must wear masks. This law has led to the city being considered quite “modest” by anyone’s standards. Most people in Dranet perfer to have no skin exposed. They tend to see exposed skin as being scandalous and look down upon the people of Skaldfel especially because of their “showy” behavior. The lack of exposed skin doesn’t mean that the people of Dranet are dull and lacking in creativity. There are a wide variety and colors of cloaks, gowns, hoods and all manner of accessories.
The Net Towns
From one side of the wall, extending out into the black sea and all the way around to the other side of the wall is a net of sorts. It’s primary purpose is to keep the hollow ones from drifting inland and arriving at the shores of Darkholm. Along the net, there are small settlements whose purpose is to capture the hollow ones that get caught in the net and move them further out to sea or repair any parts of the net that need mending. These towns don’t get many visitors and prefer it that way. It’s the kind of place that one learns a slow pace and ones neighbors are almost like ones own family.
Used Words for Sale 