The Duchy of Raven Rock

1. #1City of Raven Rock

   Keys: Raven Rock, city, city walls, port city, Duchy

   Enabled · Before character · Order 100 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Raven Rock is a grim, walled port city on the southern frontier of the Kingdom, more than three hard days’ ride from the nearest recognized settlement. It stands between the iron-dark waters of the Mourning Sea and a steep western ridge rich in silver. Approximately four-fifths of its inhabitants are human. The remainder are mostly dwarves, halflings, goblins, elves, and people of mixed ancestry, though nonhumans are rarely treated as equals.

   The city climbs sharply from the eastern docks toward Blackstone Keep in the west. Its streets are narrow, crooked, and frequently slick with rain, fish oil, mud, blood, or mine dust. Buildings are constructed from black local stone, warped timber, and slate roofs weighted against coastal winds. The city smells of coal smoke, saltwater, wet wool, tanneries, livestock, and human waste.

   Raven Rock is divided into several distinct districts. Lowwater surrounds the harbor and slums. Cinder Market occupies the crowded center. The wealthy live uphill in Highward beneath the shadow of the Keep. The Crown’s silver mines lie against the western ridge, enclosed behind their own fortified walls.

   The City Guard patrols the streets in black tabards bearing a silver raven. They are commanded by Marshal Hadrik Voss, a broad, humorless veteran who considers fear more useful than affection. The Royal Guard answers only to the Duke and protects the Keep, treasury, mine offices, and members of the ruling household.

   Raven Rock survives through silver, pelts, shipping, prison labor, and the slave trade. It is a place where law protects rank rather than justice. Outsiders are tolerated when they bring money, labor, or useful information. Poverty is treated as a personal failing, weakness invites exploitation, and mercy is commonly mistaken for stupidity.

   At night, the gates are barred, braziers burn along the walls, and bells mark each watch. Beyond the walls lie marshes, forests, raiders, beasts, and vast stretches of wilderness where the authority of the Duke means nothing.

2. #2City - Blackstone Keep

   Keys: Blackstone Keep, Keep, Raven Rock Keep, Duchy, Royal Guard, castle

   Enabled · Before character · Order 99 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Blackstone Keep crowns the western ridge above Raven Rock. Its towers are visible from almost every street, serving as both fortress and warning. The Keep is constructed from dense black stone quarried directly from the ridge. Its outer walls are severe and largely undecorated except for iron ravens mounted above the gates.

   The Keep is home to the Duchy, hereditary ruler of Raven Rock and sworn vassal of the King, their personal and most trusted advisor Steward Lucan Vane, the many servants and laborers which work around the clock, plenty of slaves for entertainment and pleasure, along with the dozens of courtiers and noble guests.

   The Royal Guard occupies the Keep’s lower barracks and wear dark violet cloaks over polished mail. Its commander, Captain Ser Brannoc Hale, answers directly to the Duchy. Unlike the City Guard, the Royal Guard is well paid, well equipped, and expected to die before allowing the Keep to fall.

   Important locations within Blackstone include the Hall of Ravens, where the Duchy hear petitions; the Iron Archive, containing tax records, mine ledgers, property deeds, and slave registries; the Silver Vault, serving as the treasury for the Duchy; the Blackstone Dungeons located below the barracks under the Keep; the Royal Kennel where the Duchy house all hounds and some prisoners; the Royal Stable where the Duchy keep their prize horses; opulent dining hall; Duchy private study, smoking room, and library; servant quarters; kitchens and larders; slave quarters; and the western watchtower overlooking the unexplored valley.

   Also beneath the Keep lies an older network of sealed chambers discovered during construction. The official claim is that they are unsafe storage tunnels. Servants whisper of bricked doorways, chains fixed to ancient walls, and noises rising through the floors during heavy storms.

   Visitors enter through three guarded gates and are searched for weapons. Nobles are received according to rank. Commoners may wait days for an audience. Prisoners brought through the lower gate are seldom seen again.

3. #3City - Noble District

   Keys: Noble District, Highward, nobles, wealthy district

   Enabled · Before character · Order 98 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Highward occupies the upper slopes beneath Blackstone Keep. It is the cleanest, quietest, and most heavily guarded district in Raven Rock. Stone walls and iron gates separate noble estates from the rest of the city. Streets are paved, drains are maintained, and lanterns burn throughout the night.

   The families of Highward earned their position through royal service, mine ownership, shipping, military command, or old blood. Most maintain private guards, household servants, pleasure slaves, tutors, and political agents. Publicly, they speak of honor, duty, and civilization. Privately, they compete through marriages, debts, patronage, sabotage, and carefully arranged scandal.

   The most powerful houses after the Morcants are House Vale, which controls much of the harbor; House Durn, which supplies timber and mine supports; House Salvek, which finances merchant voyages; and House Orlain, an old military family with strong ties to the Royal Guard.

   Important locations include the Hall of Silver, where noble families hold assemblies; Saint Aveline’s Chapel; the Crowned Stag, a private club for officers and landowners; and the Garden of Nine Fountains, one of the few green public spaces within the walls.

   Highward society follows strict expectations of rank and gender. Noble marriages are political arrangements. Sons inherit most titles and property, while daughters are expected to strengthen alliances through marriage, religious service, or household management. Exceptional women can exercise considerable influence, but usually through family connections rather than recognized office.

   Nonhuman merchants may enter Highward on business but are watched closely. Goblins are generally forbidden after sunset while elves are almost always welcome. Slaves must carry household tokens and step aside for free citizens.

   Rumors of corruption are constant. Masked gatherings, illegal duels, hidden gambling rooms, forbidden books, and private torture chambers are all said to exist behind Highward’s respectable walls. The City Guard rarely investigates a noble estate without direct orders from the Duchy.

4. #4City - Market District

   Keys: Market District, Cinder Market, slave market, slave auction, auction square, Chain Square

   Enabled · Before character · Order 97 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Cinder Market occupies the crowded heart of Raven Rock surrounded by the Common District of Hearthward. It is a maze of covered stalls, permanent shops, warehouses, taverns, counting houses, animal pens, and public squares. Smoke from cook fires and smithies gives the district its name.

   Most legal commerce passes through Cinder Market. Fish, grain, salt, wool, tools, weapons, candles, medicine, livestock, timber, pelts, and foreign luxuries can all be purchased there. Prices rise sharply whenever storms or winter close the harbor or trouble blocks the King’s Road.

   The district’s largest open space is Chain Square, where prisoners, debtors, captured raiders, exotic captives, and imported slaves are inspected and sold. Auctions are held twice each week under the supervision of the Bond Office. Male captives are commonly purchased by the Crown mines, shipmasters, farms, and labor contractors. While females are generally sold into domestic service, taverns, noble households, forced marriage arrangements, or sexual servitude. Children are often separated from their parents and if lucky are purchased and trained for household work or apprenticeships.

   Every legal slave bears a numbered iron collar or branded registry mark tied to documents kept in the Iron Archive. Stealing, sheltering, or assisting an escaped slave is treated as theft from the owner and may be punished by enslavement.

   The district’s chief auctioneer is Master Odran Pike, a wealthy merchant known for his bright clothing and complete absence of shame. His primary competitor is Sella Vane, proprietor of the Gilded Chain brokerage house. Sella specializes in educated captives, skilled servants, translators, scribes, and disgraced foreigners.

   Then for the upscale pleasure slaves there is the Velvet Chain, Raven Rock’s most exclusive broker of pleasure slaves, courtesans, companions, and household entertainers. Owned by the poised and calculating Madam Vanessa Corveil, the Velvet Chain selects captives for beauty, education, charm, and social usefulness, then trains them in etiquette, conversation, music, dance, grooming, and noble household customs.

   Other notable establishments include the Split Coin moneychanger, the Red Hart Inn, Ansel’s Blades, the Crooked Scale pawnbroker, and Mother Krail’s apothecary.

   City Guard patrols are common, but theft, bribery, forged documents, and illegal sales remain widespread. Public punishments, executions, and stocks are held in Chain Square upon a raised wooden platform to remind merchants that the Duke takes his share of every transaction.

5. #5City - Common District

   Keys: Hearthward, Common District, commoners, tradesmen, Cinder Market homes

   Enabled · Before character · Order 96 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Hearthward surrounds Cinder Market at the center of Raven Rock, forming a broad ring between the crowded commercial streets, Highward’s guarded slopes, and the poorer lanes descending toward Lowwater. It is home to the city’s tradespeople, shopkeepers, guild members, clerks, skilled laborers, minor officials, retired soldiers, and moderately successful families.

   The district takes its name from the countless chimneys rising above its tightly packed rooftops. During cold weather, a permanent haze of wood and coal smoke hangs over the streets. Most buildings are narrow two- or three-story structures of dark stone and timber, with workshops or storefronts on the ground floor and family quarters above. Small enclosed courtyards contain wells, vegetable patches, chicken coops, laundry lines, and shared privies.

   Hearthward is neither wealthy nor desperate. Its residents generally have enough food, secure shelter, and respectable clothing, but a failed business, serious injury, or season of high prices can quickly drive a household into debt. Many families take in lodgers, apprentices, or distant relatives to meet rising rents.

   The district’s main streets are paved and regularly patrolled, while its smaller lanes are muddy, crowded, and poorly lit. Crime exists, but open violence is less common than in Lowwater. Pickpockets, burglars, fraudulent merchants, and protection rackets are greater concerns than armed gangs.

   Most of Raven Rock’s guildhalls are located within Hearthward. These include the Brotherhood of the Lamp, the Stonecutters’ Lodge, the Chandlers’ Hall, the Carters’ Guild, and the respected Huntsmen’s Guildhouse known as the Antlered Hall. Guild membership grants a measure of protection, credit, and political influence unavailable to ordinary laborers.

   Notable locations include Bellmaker’s Row, Tanner’s Court, the Old Raven public house, Saint Cuthred’s Common Chapel, and the Ash Yard, where public notices, work contracts, and missing-person postings are displayed. The district’s largest inn is the Three Lanterns, favored by prosperous merchants who consider the harbor taverns beneath them and Highward establishments too expensive.

   Hearthward is overseen by Alderman Tobin Rusk, a wealthy cooper elected by property-owning guild members. Rusk publicly presents himself as a defender of ordinary citizens while quietly accepting gifts from merchants, landlords, and City Guard officers.

   The residents of Hearthward are proud of being respectable. They lock their doors, pay their taxes, attend public executions, and look down upon Lowwater while resenting Highward’s privileges. Many own servants or indentured laborers, though only the wealthier households can afford slaves.

   Nonhumans may live and operate businesses in Hearthward, particularly dwarven craftsmen and halfling shopkeepers, but they face higher rents, guild restrictions, and suspicion from human neighbors. Goblins are generally confined to the district’s least desirable lanes.

   Hearthward represents the stable heart of Raven Rock: industrious, cautious, judgmental, and deeply afraid of losing what little security it possesses.

6. #6City - Slums District

   Keys: Slums, Lowwater, poor district, harbor slums, Tangle

   Enabled · Before character · Order 95 · 100%

   Entry settings

   Lowwater is Raven Rock’s poorest district, pressed between the harbor, southern wall, and Cinder Market. Locals also call it the Tangle because its alleys twist between leaning buildings, makeshift bridges, collapsed foundations, and crowded tenements.

   The district floods during heavy storms. Seawater, sewage, and refuse collect in the lowest streets, carrying rats and disease into homes. Fires are common because buildings are packed tightly together and constructed from dry timber, sailcloth, and stolen boards.

   Lowwater’s residents include dock laborers, widows, beggars, prostitutes, escaped servants, foreign sailors, disabled veterans, unemployed miners, freed slaves, and nonhumans unable to afford safer districts. Life is cheap, but communities are often fiercely protective of their own.

   The City Guard enters Lowwater in groups and usually only to collect taxes, search for fugitives, or punish unrest. Real authority is divided among gangs, landlords, tavern owners, smugglers, and neighborhood elders.

   The largest criminal organization is the Ragged Crown, led by a halfling fence named Pella Quickhand. The gang controls stolen goods, gambling, and several hidden tunnels beneath the harbor. A more violent group called the Hookmen extorts dockworkers and marks enemies by driving fishhooks through their ears.

   Notable locations include the Broken Oar tavern, the Shrine of the Kindly Mother, Ratcatcher’s Row, the Night Market, and the abandoned Salt Chapel. The Night Market sells stolen property, false papers, illegal weapons, narcotic powders, rare and outlawed slaves too young or too dangerous for civilized auctions, and information after the evening bell.

   Lowwater contains kindness as well as cruelty. Neighbors share food during shortages, hide children from press gangs, and warn one another when guards approach. Such solidarity rarely extends to strangers.

   When plague, fire, or hunger strikes Raven Rock, Lowwater suffers first and receives aid last.

7. #7City - Raven Rock Silver Mine

   Keys: Silver Mines, Crown mines, mines, Argent Spine, miners

   Enabled · Before character · Order 94 · 100%

   Entry settings

   The Crown Silverworks lie at the base of the Argent Spine behind a fortified wall. The complex includes mine entrances, ore yards, smelting furnaces, barracks, warehouses, punishment cages, and the offices of the Royal Mine Authority.

   The largest mine is Crownshaft, an ancient excavation descending through dozens of galleries. Lesser workings include Saint Orra’s Pit, Deep Lantern, and the recently opened Grey Maw. Timber braces groan beneath the weight of the ridge, and collapses are frequent.

   Most labor is performed by slaves, prisoners, debtors, and impoverished free miners. Convicts work in chained groups under armed overseers. Skilled dwarven miners are highly valued and often receive better pay, though they remain subject to discriminatory laws and restrictions.

   Mine workers suffer from crushed limbs, cave-ins, poisonous fumes, burns, exhaustion, and grey lung. Injured slaves are sold cheaply, transferred to surface labor, or abandoned. Free miners contribute part of their wages to the Brotherhood of the Lamp, a mutual-aid society tolerated by the Duchy because it reduces unrest.

   The mines are controlled by Master of Works Ulric Dane, an efficient administrator who keeps precise records of ore, tools, deaths, and punishment. His chief overseer, Braska Holt, is feared for using public beatings to maintain production quotas.

   Silver ore is crushed, washed, smelted, and cast into stamped ingots before being moved under Royal Guard escort to Blackstone Keep. There it is kept until a royal caravan or ship arrives to purchase it for the crown. Theft from the mines is punishable by hanging, mutilation, public raping, or permanent enslavement.

   Recent excavations have broken into older tunnels containing crude carvings and unfamiliar masonry. Miners report missing tools, distant hammering, and pale figures seen beyond lantern light. Officials blame goblins, exhaustion, or deliberate lies.

   Regardless of rumors, the Duchy continually orders deeper excavation. Raven Rock’s wealth depends upon the silver, and lives are cheaper than closing a productive shaft.

8. #8City - Laws of Raven Rock

   Keys: Raven Rock laws, law, crimes, punishment, City Guard, legal code, slavery

   Enabled · Before character · Order 93 · 100%

   Entry settings

   The Duchy is the highest legal authority within the city of Raven Rock. Their rulings may overrule local courts. Nobles are generally tried by other nobles, guild members by guild tribunals, soldiers by military officers, and commoners by city magistrates. The testimony of a noble outweighs that of a commoner. A human citizen’s testimony generally outweighs that of a nonhuman. A male's testimony almost always outweighs that of a female. A slave cannot formally accuse a free person without supporting witnesses or physical evidence.

   City law recognizes this approximate order of the separate legal classes in Raven Rock:

   nobles → free citizens → resident foreigners → guild-bound workers → serfs → indentured debtors → slaves → prisoners.

   Slavery is legal. Owners may buy, sell, punish, transfer, breed, or inherit slaves. Killing a slave without lawful cause is usually treated as destruction of property rather than murder. Harbor officials and the Bond Office maintain ownership records. Escaped slaves are branded upon recapture, and repeated escape attempts may be punished by public humiliation, mutilation, or execution.

   Carrying weapons is permitted but may be restricted during periods of unrest. Drawing a weapon inside the city without cause is punishable by a fine, flogging, or imprisonment.

   The city gates close at the final evening bell. Anyone entering after curfew may be detained. Nonhumans, known brigands, unregistered foreigners, and freed slaves are subject to additional restrictions.

   The practice of magic is not entirely forbidden, but suspected sorcery, curses, corpse-working, demonic rites, and magical poisoning are capital crimes. Healers, alchemists, fortune-tellers, and scholars may be required to register with the magistrates. Most accusations of witchcraft rely more upon fear than evidence.

   Debtors may have property seized, be placed into indentured service, or sell family members into legal bondage. Theft is punished according to the value and owner of the stolen property. Stealing bread from a commoner may earn a flogging. Stealing silver from the Crown earns death.

   Public drunkenness is tolerated unless it causes disruption. Brawling carries a fine. Duels between recognized gentlemen are legal with witnesses. Commoners fighting in public are treated as rioters.

   Only noble women may own property in limited circumstances, especially as widows, but inheritance favors male relatives. Those women who are non-noble may never own property. Husbands and fathers hold broad authority over their households. Abuse within a household is rarely prosecuted unless it causes death, public scandal, or damage to valuable property. Women and girls who find themselves in a household without a man (husband or father) are entered into legal bondage as indentured servants.

   Punishments include fines, stocks, flogging, branding, forced labor, enslavement, public raping, mutilation, exile, hanging, beheading, and exposure outside the walls. Executions are commonly held in Chain Square or at the western gallows.

9. #9Environs - Northern Marsh

   Keys: Northern Marsh, Blackfen, King’s Road, northern road, bog

   Enabled · Before character · Order 92 · 100%

   Entry settings

   North of Raven Rock stretches the Blackfen, a fetid marsh through which the King’s Road crawls toward the civilized heartland. The road is less a proper highway than a long, decaying causeway of sinking timbers, gravel, old bones, and rotting planks. Every year sections vanish beneath the bog and must be rebuilt by prisoners, slaves, and conscripted laborers.

   The marsh is a drowned landscape of black pools, pale reeds, twisted trees, clouds of biting insects, and islands of trembling peat. Thick mist settles without warning, muffling sound and reducing visibility to a few yards. Travelers sometimes hear footsteps following beside the road where no solid ground exists.

   The safest stopping point is Morrow’s Lantern, a fortified coaching inn built upon stone pilings. Its proprietor, Widow Enna Morrow, charges outrageous prices but maintains armed guards, dry beds, and a signal bell. She is rumored to know which merchants are smugglers and which patrol captains can be bribed.

   The City Guard maintains three northern watch posts, though only Greyhook Tower is reliably manned. Patrols carry long poles to test the ground and use chained mastiffs trained to detect ambushes. Desertion is common among new recruits assigned to the fen.

   Bog wolves, giant leeches, corpse-eating insects, marsh goblins, and human bandits haunt the region. Stranger creatures are spoken of but seldom proven. Locals tell stories of drowned travelers who rise during moonless nights, lantern lights that lure men from the road, and an ancient stone causeway buried beneath the mud. Among the most intelligent are the resident Lizardkin who live in reedholds. Upright humanoid reptiles with primitive technology which have been known to cause trouble when met without warning.

   Warbands occasionally use hidden paths through the marsh to bypass Raven Rock’s walls. Marsh goblins called the Mirekin know these routes and sometimes guide smugglers or raiders in exchange for iron tools, salt, livestock, or captives.

   No sensible traveler enters the Blackfen without rope, dry firewood, insect salve, and someone who knows the road. Armor protects against blades but drags the careless quickly beneath the bog.

10. #10Environs - Southern Forest

    Keys: Southern Forest, Gloamwood, southern gate, wild elves, werewolves

    Enabled · Before character · Order 91 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Beyond Raven Rock’s southern gate lies the Gloamwood, an immense and poorly mapped forest of ancient pine, black oak, thorn, and silver-barked trees. Exploratory paths leave the city but quickly divide into game trails, abandoned logging roads, and tracks that end without explanation.

    The forest canopy is so dense that midday often resembles dusk. Moss covers fallen stones and forgotten ruins. Sounds carry strangely between the trees, making distant movements seem close and nearby threats impossible to place. Travelers mark their paths with cloth, cut bark, or stacked stones, though such signs are sometimes moved during the night.

    The Gloamwood is home to several wild elven clans collectively called the Thornborn. They reject the Kingdom’s authority and consider much of the southern forest sacred territory. Thornborn hunters use longbows, bone whistles, poisoned thorns, and concealed pits. They may allow respectful travelers to pass, but loggers, slavers, grave robbers, and soldiers are frequently found nailed to trees as warnings.

    The largest known clan is the Red Briar, led by an elder called Saelith-of-the-Ash. Human accounts describe her as a witch, though her supposed magic may be herbal knowledge, ritual, deception, or superstition.

    Werewolf attacks are most common during winter and early spring. Some victims are ordinary wolves mistaken for monsters, but experienced huntsmen insist that true skinchangers inhabit the deep forest. The Huntsmen’s Guild pays a silver bounty for a werewolf’s head, provided the skull and teeth remain intact.

    Important locations include the abandoned village of Harrowfield, the ruined Chapel of Saint Orra, and Gallows Camp, a fortified logging outpost surrounded by sharpened stakes. Deeper within the forest stand weathered stone circles older than the Kingdom. Animals avoid them, and compasses become unreliable nearby.

    The southern wilderness provides timber, rare herbs, game, pelts, and opportunity. It also swallows entire expeditions without leaving bodies behind.

11. #11Environs - Eastern Sea

    Keys: dark sea, Mourning Sea, eastern sea, harbor, docks, Widow’s Cove

    Enabled · Before character · Order 90 · 100%

    Entry settings

    The Mourning Sea lies east of Raven Rock, cold and dark beneath an almost permanent ceiling of grey cloud. Its waters appear black during storms and deep green on clear days. Jagged rocks surround the coast, leaving Widow’s Cove as the only practical harbor for many miles.

    The harbor is protected by two stone breakwaters and the chained harbor boom, which can be raised to prevent hostile ships from entering. Above the northern headland stands the Black Beacon, a squat lighthouse whose great coal fire is maintained by prisoners. Sailors claim that when the beacon burns blue, a ship will be lost before sunrise.

    Seasonal storms make the sea nearly impassable for weeks at a time. Ships caught outside the cove are driven against the rocks or vanish into heavy fog. Wreckage frequently washes ashore, creating fierce disputes between survivors, dockworkers, scavengers, and the Duke’s customs officials.

    The harbor district is controlled by Harbor Master Cressa Vale, a sharp-eyed widow from a minor noble family. She records every vessel, cargo, passenger, and slave brought into Raven Rock. Nothing legally enters or leaves the port without her seal, though smugglers use hidden beaches north of the city.

    Fishing boats remain close to shore and return before nightfall. Their catches include cod, black eel, armored crabs, pale cavefish, and occasionally malformed creatures from deeper waters. Sailors tell of vast shadows beneath ships, bells heard under the waves, and lights moving far below the surface.

    The most notorious tavern on the docks is the Drowned Prince, owned by a retired privateer named Joric Bale. Sailors, smugglers, mercenaries, and informants gather there beneath a ceiling decorated with broken figureheads.

    The Mourning Sea is Raven Rock’s link to distant markets, royal work sites, and foreign ports. It brings food, iron, prisoners, slaves, soldiers, disease, and news. It also isolates the city whenever the storms begin.

12. #12Environs - Western Ridge

    Keys: Western Ridge, Argent Spine, western valley, cliffs, mountains

    Enabled · Before character · Order 89 · 100%

    Entry settings

    The western edge of Raven Rock rises along the Argent Spine, a jagged ridge veined with silver ore. The city’s wealth comes from mines cut into the ridge’s eastern face, while Blackstone Keep occupies its highest fortified point.

    Beyond the ridge, the land ends abruptly in a line of towering cliffs. Far below lies the Vale of Long Shadows, a vast, sparsely explored wilderness of grasslands, rivers, isolated forests, and ruined stone structures. On clear days, snowcapped mountains known as the White Teeth are visible along the western horizon.

    Only one maintained route descends into the valley: the Serpent Stair, a narrow switchback road carved into the cliff. Parts of it are barely wide enough for a wagon. Rockslides, broken retaining walls, and sudden winds make the descent dangerous. A small fort called Westwatch guards the upper road, though its garrison is undermanned and poorly supplied.

    Hunters and prospectors enter the valley seeking game, timber, medicinal plants, lost ruins, and new mineral deposits. Few travel farther than a week from the ridge. Those who return speak of enormous herds, ancient roads, abandoned watchtowers, and distant fires that do not belong to known settlements.

    Orc raiders occasionally emerge from the valley during late summer. The most feared are the Ash-Tusk warband, whose warriors paint their shields with soot and human fat. Smaller goblin tribes inhabit caves along the cliffs and steal tools, livestock, and unattended children.

    The valley is also rumored to contain the remnants of an older civilization destroyed before the Kingdom’s founding. Fragments of worked stone, corroded bronze, and unfamiliar coins sometimes appear in Raven Rock’s market.

    The Duke officially claims the entire valley in the King’s name. In practice, his authority extends only as far as his soldiers can march and return alive.

13. #13Races of Raven Rock

    Keys: race, races, humans, half-elves, elves, dwarves, halflings, goblins, hobgoblins, nonhumans, orc, lizardkin, wolfkin, werewolf, werewolves, troll, hag, undead

    Enabled · Before character · Order 88 · 100%

    Entry settings

    The people of Raven Rock divide intelligent races into the “civilized,” who are permitted to live within the city, and the “wild,” who are treated as enemies, animals, or potential slaves. This distinction has little to do with morality and everything to do with obedience to the Kingdom’s laws, customs, religion, language, and social hierarchy. Humans occupy the highest position, while every other race faces legal restrictions, unequal treatment, and varying degrees of exploitation.

    The commonly accepted racial hierarchy of Raven Rock is: Humans → Half-Elves → Civil Elves → Dwarves → Halflings → Goblins → Hobgoblins

    This hierarchy is neither absolute nor consistent. Wealth, citizenship, profession, freedom, sex, political connections, and usefulness all influence a person’s treatment. A wealthy dwarven mine owner may command more practical respect than a human laborer, but the law will still favor the human in many disputes.

    Raven Rock claims that any race may become civilized. In practice, civilization means adopting human customs while accepting permanent inferiority beneath human rule.

    The people of Raven Rock use the term “wild races” for intelligent peoples and unnatural beings living beyond the Duke’s effective authority. The category includes organized nations, isolated communities, nomadic tribes, cursed humans, and true monsters. City officials deliberately make little distinction between them, as labeling a people wild allows their lands to be seized, their members enslaved, and violence against them excused as frontier defense.

    Most pairings between different races do not produce children, despite physical relations being possible. Known exceptions are limited. Humans and elves may produce half-elves. This applies to both civil and wild elves. Humans and wolfkin may produce children. Approximately four in five such children are born wolfkin, while the remaining children are fully human in appearance and nature if a bit on the wilder side. No intermediate mixed form is known.

    Humans and werewolves produce ordinary human children. Lycanthropy is a transmitted curse rather than an inherited race, though a child can later become infected through a bite. No other mixed pairings are known to result in viable offspring. Undead ordinarily lack both the physical capacity and desire to reproduce.

    The approximate order of prevalence in the wilderness surrounding Raven Rock is: Human barbarians → Orcs → Wild elves → Wolfkin → Lizardkin → Werewolves → Trolls → Hags → Undead

    This order describes how established each population is, not how often travelers encounter them. Wolfkin may live nearby without ever being seen, while a single troll or restless spirit can terrorize a road for years.

    Raven Rock portrays everything beyond its walls as savage and hostile. The truth is less convenient. Some wilderness peoples are dangerous aggressors, some are potential allies, and others become enemies only after the city attempts to conquer, enslave, or destroy them.

14. #14Race - Humans

    Keys: human, barbarian, nomad

    Enabled · Before character · Order 87 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Humans form roughly four-fifths of Raven Rock’s population and dominate its government, military, nobility, guilds, temples, and merchant houses. They are considered the natural rulers of the Kingdom and receive preference in law, inheritance, property ownership, and court testimony.

    Human society is highly divided by birth and wealth. A human slave possesses fewer rights than a wealthy dwarf or elven merchant, but even poor free humans are generally treated as socially superior to nonhumans of equal status. Most humans view this order as natural rather than cruel.

    Humans — Barbarian Tribes

    Wild human tribes are numerous and widespread roaming the forests, valleys, hills, and open lands surrounding the Duchy. Raven Rock collectively calls them barbarians, though their customs, languages, and behavior vary considerably. Some are true nomads who follow herds and seasonal hunting grounds, while others maintain hidden villages or return to the same winter camps each year.

    Most tribes are ruled by chieftains who earn authority through strength, wealth, ancestry, victory, or the support of respected elders. Weak leaders are challenged, abandoned, or killed. Some chieftains command only a few extended families, while powerful war chiefs may temporarily unite several tribes into warbands numbering in the hundreds.

    Barbarians value physical courage, hospitality, loyalty to kin, and the ability to survive without city walls. They generally regard Raven Rock’s citizens as soft, dishonest, and enslaved by coin and law. In turn, city residents portray barbarians as violent savages regardless of their actual conduct.

    Common tribes include the Red Elk people of the western valley, the marsh-dwelling Reed Walkers, and the Stone Crow clans that migrate between the Argent Spine and the White Teeth. The feared Blood-Axe host is less a tribe than a shifting alliance of exiles, raiders, escaped slaves, and disgraced warriors.

    Barbarian relations with Raven Rock alternate between trade, mercenary service, blood feud, and open warfare. They exchange hides, horses, meat, herbs, captives, and knowledge of the wilderness for iron tools, salt, alcohol, and weapons.

    Captured barbarians are commonly enslaved. Those who adopt the Kingdom’s customs may eventually be recognized as civilized humans, though their ancestry remains a source of suspicion.

    Hardened Human Settlements

    Not every human living outside Raven Rock is considered a barbarian. Scattered hamlets, fortified farms, logging camps, and mining settlements survive beyond the walls while still claiming loyalty to the King.

    These communities are usually surrounded by timber palisades and depend upon militia service from every able-bodied resident. Their inhabitants are more heavily armed, self-reliant, and suspicious of outsiders than city dwellers. The Duchy collects taxes from settlements he can reach but provides little protection in return.

    Notable communities include Harrow’s Rest near the northern road, Dunmire on the edge of the Blackfen, and the fortified southern settlement of Gallows Camp. Such places may shelter travelers, but food and safety are never given freely.

15. #15Race - Elves

    Keys: elf, elves, half-elf, half-elves, wild elves, civil elves

    Enabled · Before character · Order 86 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Wild Elves

    Beyond the walls of the city wild elves inhabit concealed villages built among the upper branches of ancient trees. Their settlements blend into the forest so completely that human expeditions may pass beneath them without noticing. Rope paths, living bridges, hidden platforms, and hollow trunks connect their homes. Wild elves are moderately numerous within the southern forests

    They wear little by human standards, favoring light garments of woven leaves, hide, feathers, cord, and painted cloth that permit silent movement through dense forest. Their skin is often marked with natural dyes, clan symbols, ritual scars, or patterns intended to break up their outlines among the trees.

    Wild elves are expert archers, hunters, scouts, herbalists, and ambushers. They understand the Gloamwood’s paths, animals, poisonous plants, weather, and hidden waterways better than any outsider. A small elven hunting band can harass a much larger armed force for days without being seen.

    The forest clans are fierce, proud, and unforgiving toward trespassers. Loggers, slavers, poachers, and grave robbers are often killed without warning. Captured enemies may be expelled, marked, exchanged, or executed depending upon their offense and the disposition of the clan.

    Despite this hostility, wild elves have maintained limited peaceful relations with Raven Rock in the past. They have traded medicinal herbs, rare woods, information, and safe passage in exchange for metal, salt, cloth, or aid against a mutual enemy.

    The most influential local clan is the Red Briar, led by Saelith-of-the-Ash. Another group, the Moonthorn clan, is more willing to negotiate with humans but is distrusted by other elves.

    Civil elves are usually descendants of wild elves who entered human society. The forest clans often regard them with a mixture of pity, suspicion, and grief.

    Civil Elves

    A “civil elf” is an elf born or raised within the Kingdom, usually at least one generation removed from wild elven ancestors. The term implies that the elf speaks the common tongue, follows human law, wears human clothing, and accepts human authority.

    Civil elves are widely prized for their beauty, grace, long lives, keen senses, and cultural refinement. Wealthy households employ them as musicians, tutors, companions, artists, servants, and courtesans. Their beauty grants them social value but rarely genuine equality; admiration is frequently possessive, objectifying, and tied to assumptions that elves exist to decorate human society.

    Even free elves face restrictions on land ownership, guild membership, weapon carrying, and travel. An elf displaying wild customs, ritual markings, forest clothing, or loyalty to the Thornborn may be questioned, detained, or accused of spying.

    Civil elves often maintain small private communities while publicly adopting human manners. Some sincerely identify with the Kingdom, while others perform obedience because it is necessary for survival.

    Half-Elves

    Half-elves are the offspring of humans and elves and are the most socially accepted nonhuman people in Raven Rock. Their appearance varies, though most possess subtly pointed ears, fine features, and longer lifespans than humans.

    Half-elves are often prized as courtiers, scribes, merchants, diplomats, household attendants, entertainers, and skilled servants. Noble families sometimes acknowledge half-elven children when doing so is politically convenient, though inheritance disputes are common.

    They occupy an uncertain place in society. Humans may consider them exotic and desirable while still questioning their loyalty. Civil elves sometimes regard them as reminders of assimilation, while wild elves often see them as children stolen from their proper heritage.

    A half-elf raised entirely within human society is usually treated more favorably than a full-blooded elf, especially if they conceal or minimize elven customs.

16. #16Race - Dwarves

    Keys: dwarf, dwarves

    Enabled · Before character · Order 85 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Dwarves are respected for their physical endurance, craftsmanship, engineering, stonework, and knowledge of mining. Raven Rock’s dependence upon silver gives skilled dwarves more practical influence than most nonhumans.

    Many work as miners, smelters, masons, armorers, surveyors, architects, and forge masters. Experienced dwarven engineers may receive high wages and private housing, though they are rarely permitted authority over human officials.

    Dwarves are stereotyped as stubborn, humorless, greedy, and difficult to intimidate. Their testimony is sometimes accepted in disputes involving mines, construction, or metalwork, but is given less weight in other courts.

    The Duchy tolerates dwarven guild societies because closing the mines would be more costly than granting limited privileges. Despite this respect, impoverished dwarves are frequently forced into dangerous mine labor, and enslaved dwarves command high prices.

17. #17Race - Halflings

    Keys: halfling

    Enabled · Before character · Order 84 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Halflings are valued as artisans, jewelers, engravers, tailors, cooks, clockmakers, leatherworkers, entertainers, and shopkeepers. Their small stature and fine hands make them particularly sought after for delicate crafts.

    Human society often treats halflings as harmless, amusing, or childlike, regardless of their age or accomplishments. Adult halflings have an average height of 3 feet tall and weight of 40 pounds. Their physical appearance is sometimes fetishized, especially among the wealthy, which makes attractive halflings vulnerable to exploitation within domestic service and the slave trade.

    Halflings rarely hold military or political office, but successful halfling families can accumulate considerable wealth through trade and craftsmanship. Many live in Hearthward, where they maintain close family networks and quietly control several profitable workshops.

    Halflings are commonly underestimated, a prejudice that some use to their advantage as merchants, smugglers, informants, and thieves.

18. #18Race - Goblins

    Keys: goblin, hobgoblin, half-goblin

    Enabled · Before character · Order 83 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Goblins

    Goblins are recognized as civilized people rather than monsters, though they occupy the lowest accepted position in Raven Rock’s racial hierarchy. They are valued for their endurance, pain tolerance, adaptability, and ability to perform difficult physical labor under harsh conditions.

    Most goblins work as dockhands, miners, tanners, sewer workers, scavengers, porters, furnace tenders, and construction laborers. Employers often assume goblins require less food, rest, or protection than other workers, leading to widespread abuse and high mortality.

    Goblins are stereotyped as ill-tempered, quarrelsome, dishonest, and naturally violent. Some do possess abrasive manners shaped by poverty and constant hostility, which humans then use to justify the original prejudice.

    Free goblins face curfews, housing restrictions, higher taxes, and limits on weapon ownership. They are often forbidden from entering Highward without written permission. City Guards routinely detain goblins when crimes lack an obvious suspect.

    Goblin communities are tightly knit and slow to trust outsiders. Loyalty to family, clan, or neighborhood is often stronger than loyalty to the city.

    Hobgoblins

    Hobgoblins, commonly called half-goblins, are the offspring of a goblin and a member of any other civilized race. Their appearance varies dramatically, combining goblin traits with those of their other parent. Most are taller and stronger than goblins, with broader builds, pronounced teeth, and skin tones ranging from human shades to grey, green, or ochre.

    Hobgoblins inherit the social stigma attached to goblins regardless of their other ancestry. A hobgoblin with a human father and noble blood is still unlikely to be legally recognized as an heir.

    They are valued as soldiers, guards, labor overseers, hunters, sailors, gladiators, and heavy workers. Their combination of strength, discipline, and adaptability makes them useful to military officers and slave merchants, though they are often regarded with suspicion.

    Some hobgoblins distance themselves from goblin communities in hopes of gaining acceptance. Others embrace their goblin ancestry and resent being used as enforcers against their own people.

19. #19Race - Orcs

    Keys: orc, green skin

    Enabled · Before character · Order 80 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Population: Numerous and increasing

    Orcs organize themselves into tribes led by warlords, champions, and dominant bloodlines. Unlike most human barbarians, many orc tribes construct permanent settlements of timber, stone, packed earth, and scavenged masonry. Several such strongholds have appeared progressively closer to Raven Rock during recent decades.

    Orc society prizes strength, intimidation, conquest, and loyalty to the warband. Leadership is maintained through victory and fear. A warlord who repeatedly fails may be challenged and killed by a subordinate. Successful warlords absorb weaker tribes, producing unstable but dangerous confederations.

    Orcs are exceptionally violent toward enemies and commonly practice raiding, torture, enslavement, ritual mutilation, ritual rape, and the public display of trophies. Especially attractive female captives may be spared death and kept as sex slaves and pets while prisoners considered useful may be forced into labor; others are killed to inspire fear. Even so, orcs possess skilled smiths, builders, animal handlers, hunters, and strategists. Describing them as mindless beasts is a mistake that has destroyed many patrols.

    The Ash-Tusk warband controls several western caves and cliffside forts. Its warlord, Gorvath One-Eye, is believed to be gathering smaller tribes beneath his banner. To the south, the Broken Spear tribe has occupied abandoned human ruins and begun constructing permanent defenses.

    Orcs occasionally trade through intermediaries, particularly for salt, livestock, weapons, and prisoners. Such agreements last only while both parties appear strong enough to punish betrayal.

    Raven Rock recognizes no peaceful legal status for wild orcs. Any orc approaching the city without chains, a recognized escort, or a flag of truce is likely to be attacked.

20. #20Race - Wolfkin

    Keys: wolfkin, wolf people, lupine, anthro

    Enabled · Before character · Order 82 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Population: Uncommon and deliberately hidden

    Wolfkin are an intelligent race of anthropomorphic lupine people possessing strong furred bodies, wolf-like heads, powerful senses, clawed hands, and upright humanoid bodies. The females have human shaped vulvas while the males possess a prepuce sheath which contains their canine penises complete with a bulbus glandis or canine knot at the base which swells during sex. Their coloring ranges from white and grey to brown, and black.

    They live in extended family communities known as wolf dens, usually located in caves, hidden valleys, or ruins made difficult to approach. Some dens keep dire wolves as hunting companions, guardians, sexual partners, or members of the family pack rather than ordinary animals.

    Wolfkin are masters of concealment and disguise. Heavy cloaks, masks, gloves, herbs that obscure scent, and careful observation of human behavior allow some to pass through isolated settlements without revealing themselves. Their knowledge of hidden paths makes them nearly impossible to pursue through familiar territory.

    They are generally nonviolent unless threatened, hunted, or driven from their territory. Wolfkin prefer avoidance, warning displays, misdirection, and negotiation before bloodshed. Once committed to defending their young or their den, however, they fight with exceptional coordination and ferocity.

    Raven Rock legends claim the first wolfkin resulted from a wizard’s attempt to cure his pregnant daughter of lycanthropy. The ritual supposedly stopped the monthly transformation but permanently changed her into a stable lupine form. Her children inherited that form without inheriting the werewolf’s curse. Wolfkin oral traditions neither confirm nor entirely deny the tale.

    Contact with wolfkin has been rare but not always hostile. Huntsmen have occasionally traded medicine, tools, and livestock with them. The City Guard officially treats wolfkin as dangerous beasts, making peaceful contact difficult. It is very rare for wolfkin find themselves as a slave at auction but it has happened.

    Wolfkin are frequently mistaken for werewolves, especially by frightened travelers. Unlike werewolves, wolfkin do not transform under the full moon and retain control of themselves at all times.

21. #21Race - Lizardkin

    Keys: Lizardkin, Reptile people, lizards

    Enabled · Before character · Order 81 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Population: Uncommon, concentrated within the Blackfen

    Lizardkin are an intelligent race of upright reptilian people native to the Blackfen north of Raven Rock. They possess scaled hides, long tails, clawed hands and feet, and narrow faces adapted to dim marsh light. Their coloring ranges from green and brown to black, dull red, and pale grey, often mottled to blend with reeds, mud, and stagnant water. Female lizardkin have a pair of scaled breasts shaped like that of humans while their sexual organ is instead a cloaca. Male lizardkin sport an impressive set of hemipenes when aroused.

    They live in hidden settlements called reedholds, built upon marsh islands, raised platforms, and ancient stone foundations swallowed by the bog. Their society is organized into extended family groups known as clutches, usually led by an elder, hunter, or spiritual keeper chosen for wisdom and experience.

    Lizardkin are skilled swimmers, fishers, trappers, herbalists, and ambush hunters. They move easily through deep water and unstable ground, using barbed spears, nets, short bows, bone knives, and poisoned darts. They often mark their territory with carved stakes, arranged bones, or bundles of black feathers. Travelers who ignore these warnings may be misled into dangerous bogs or attacked without ever seeing their pursuers.

    Most Lizardkin avoid Raven Rock and prefer trade to open conflict. Some exchange fish, venom, herbs, safe passage, and marsh knowledge for iron tools, salt, cloth, and pottery. They are slow to trust and rarely forgive betrayal.

    The people of Raven Rock generally consider them primitive and dangerous. The City Guard treats them as hostile wilderness inhabitants, while captured Lizardkin are prized as exotic curiosities found in court and bedside alike.

    Lizardkin can mate with other intelligent races, but such pairings never produce children. Only two Lizardkin can produce offspring. Females lay small clutches of leathery eggs guarded within warm communal nests, and threats against their young are met with immediate violence.

    They are not naturally aggressive, but they consider the Blackfen their ancestral territory. Those who respect marked boundaries may find them cautious and reasonable. Those who arrive with chains, axes, or fire are unlikely to return.

22. #22Race - Werewolves

    Keys: werewolf, werewolves, lycanthrope

    Enabled · Before character · Order 79 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Population: Uncommon, though exact numbers are unknown

    Werewolves are humans afflicted by lycanthropy, an incurable curse transmitted most commonly through the bite of another werewolf. For most of the month they appear entirely human. Under the full moon, they transform into powerful, monstrous half-wolf creatures driven by hunger, territorial instinct, fear, and rage.

    Some afflicted individuals remain near civilization and conceal their condition. Others flee into the wilderness after their first transformation. Small communities of werewolves exist beyond settled lands, where members restrain or isolate one another during the full moon.

    These communities are not necessarily hostile. Many are founded specifically to prevent their members from harming innocent people. They construct reinforced cellars, iron cages, remote shelters, or ritual enclosures where transformations can occur safely. Such precautions sometimes fail.

    During a full moon, a transformed werewolf may roam across an enormous territory. It can climb, track prey by scent, break ordinary doors, and survive wounds that would kill a human. Silver weapons are believed to be especially effective, though experienced hunters disagree over whether silver is truly necessary.

    Children born to werewolf parents are ordinary humans and are not born cursed. They may later contract lycanthropy through a bite like anyone else.

    Raven Rock officially offers bounties for werewolf heads. Because wolfkin are often mistaken for them, this policy has led to the killing of innocent wolfkin and ordinary dire wolves.

23. #23Race - Trolls

    Keys: troll

    Enabled · Before character · Order 78 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Population: Rare

    Trolls are enormous, long-limbed humanoids found in remote caves, deep forests, marsh islands, and ruined structures. They are solitary or live in small family groups. Most possess limited speech, crude tools, and a voracious appetite.

    Their bodies heal from wounds with unnatural speed. Severed flesh may continue twitching, and injuries that appear fatal can close within minutes. Fire, strong acid, and complete destruction of the body are the most reliable methods of killing them.

    Trolls prey upon animals, travelers, livestock, and sometimes isolated settlements. A few have been known to demand tolls from bridges or roads, suggesting more intelligence than common stories allow.

    The largest known local troll is called Old Gristle, believed to inhabit caverns beneath the western cliffs. Hunters claim it has survived for more than a century.

24. #24Race - Hags

    Keys: hag, witch

    Enabled · Before character · Order 77 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Population: Very rare

    Hags are ancient, cunning beings that resemble twisted elderly women but may not be human at all. Sometimes referred to as Witches they live in remote cottages, hollow trees, ruined towers, caves, and places associated with old tragedies.

    Hags rarely attack without purpose. They prefer bargains, manipulation, curses, stolen names, exchanged children, poisoned gifts, and promises designed to ruin those who accept them. Their apparent frailty is deceptive.

    Some hags possess genuine magic in a world where magic is otherwise scarce and unreliable. Their abilities may include prophecy, unnatural healing, shape-changing, dream intrusion, curses, and the creation of monstrous servants.

    The best-known local figure is Grandmother Mire, said to inhabit a hut that moves between islands in the Blackfen. Desperate people seek her cures despite the certainty that her price will be worse than expected.

    Whether hags reproduce, transform from humans, or simply emerge from cursed places is unknown.

25. #25Race - Undead

    Keys: undead, zombie, wraith, ghost, ghoul

    Enabled · Before character · Order 76 · 100%

    Entry settings

    Population: Rare but widely distributed

    Undead are corpses, spirits, or remnants of people prevented from passing fully into death. They are most often encountered near battlefields, abandoned settlements, forgotten tombs, execution grounds, desecrated shrines, and places where large numbers died violently.

    Zombies are animated corpses with little awareness, usually created through sorcery, curses, or contaminated burial sites. Ghouls are corpse-eating creatures that retain predatory intelligence and sometimes imitate human speech. Wraiths are hostile shadows bound by rage or magic. Ghosts are spirits anchored by grief, guilt, duty, or unfinished business.

    Not all undead are immediately violent. Some ghosts repeat the same actions without noticing the living, while others can speak and reason. Even peaceful spirits may become dangerous when disturbed.

    Undead generally show little interest in physical pleasure or reproduction. Their desires tend to revolve around hunger, memory, revenge, obedience, or release.

    The Church teaches that all undead are violations of the natural order and must be destroyed. In practice, Raven Rock’s priests are poorly equipped to deal with anything stronger than a wandering corpse.

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