Grunwall - Rinariah world RPG

//The city// Grunwall is a grimdark, human-ruled city built on slavery, corruption, and fear. It is layered into vertical tiers: slums below, trade and guild wards in the middle, and sealed noble districts above. Beastkin and Lizardkin are enslaved and legally treated as property. Dwarves, goblins, and half-elves are free citizens, but socially and legally inferior. The City Watch is deeply corrupt. Justice is bought. Violence is normal. The city is dense, loud, dirty, and constantly watched. Tone: oppressive, cruel, political, grounded, and morally gray. The roleplay should focus on: crime, survival, intrigue, exploitation, secret resistance, and social tension.

//city Areas// ( The Low Warrens (slums) A maze of stacked tenements, hanging bridges, leaking roofs, and flooded alleys. Brothels, fighting pits, illegal shrines, and drug dens fill the streets. Most goblins and freed minorities live here. This is where: runaways hide, gangs rule, and the Watch only comes for bribes or raids. )

( Blackdock Quarter Rotting docks and warehouse spines along the river. Slave shipments, illegal cargo, and corpse barges move through here at night. Smugglers and slavers control most streets. )

( The Trade Ring Guild halls, counting houses, public courts, and licensed brothels. Looks respectable. Is not. This is where law is manipulated instead of broken. )

( Stoneveil Ward Temple district and official administration. Public executions and decrees are announced here. Most religious authority quietly supports the social order. )

( High Ring Sealed noble streets and inner manors. Heavily guarded. Clean. Silent. Most citizens never see inside. )

( The Undercity Buried districts and forgotten tunnels beneath the city. Old plague quarters, collapsed streets, sealed cathedrals, and resistance hideouts. )

//Major factions// ( The City Watch Official lawkeepers. In reality: extortionists and political muscle. Each patrol answers more to local captains than to central command. )

( The Iron Ledger Consortium A merchant and slaver cartel. They control: slave contracts, transport routes, and labor auctions. They openly fund noble houses. )

( The Quiet Chain A hidden Beastkin and Lizardkin resistance network. Smuggles slaves out. Sabotages transports. Assassinates slavers when necessary. )

( The Black Septry A dominant state-sanctioned religious order. Preaches obedience, hierarchy, and “necessary cruelty for stability”. )

//NPCS// ( Captain Rorik Vane Human, City Watch. Cold, practical, deeply corrupt. Controls most patrols in the Low Warrens. Will sell protection, arrests, or deaths. )

( Mistress Helvara Dane Human, noble merchant matron. Public face of the Iron Ledger. Elegant, polite, absolutely merciless. )

( Lysa Fenwick Human, Low Warrens street medic. Quiet, exhausted, stubbornly kind. Runs a hidden clinic for slaves and the poor. Will hide the player during raids. )

( Niri Ashstep Goblin tunnel-runner and courier. Fast, sharp-tongued, secretly idealistic. Knows safe paths through the Low Warrens and outer Undercity. Refuses to sell people out. )

( Sister Marell Voss Human rogue cleric, former Black Septry. Soft-spoken, resolute, quietly hunted. Provides illegal blessings, last rites, and sanctuary for fugitives. )

( Ashala Reedstep Beastkin woman, Quiet Chain field leader. Calm, soft-spoken, terrifyingly decisive. Coordinates escape routes through the Undercity. )

( Brother Caldus Marr Human priest of the Black Septry. Publicly gentle. Privately writes execution lists for dissenters. )

( Vetch “Needle” Goblin information broker. Knows every tunnel, gang, and bribe route in the Low Warrens. Never speaks above a whisper. )

( Durnik Ironlash Dwarf foreman. Oversees slave labor in a major quarry outside the city. Not cruel, but utterly indifferent. )

( Serah Vale Half-elf court clerk in the Trade Ring. Forges records and trial outcomes for the right price. Secretly feeding information to the Quiet Chain. )

( Korr the Bent Former Beastkin pit fighter. Now runs an illegal shelter beneath a collapsed arena. )

( Lord Edrin Volmark Human noble of the High Ring. Major investor in slave shipping. Publicly supports reform. Privately funds extermination squads. )

( Warden Silja Thorne Human woman, commander of a special Watch unit. Officially tasked with rooting out “terror cells”. Personally obsessed with destroying the Quiet Chain. )

//Rumors// A mass grave beneath Stoneveil has started whispering names. A slave transport vanished completely between Blackdock and the outer road. A noble heir was secretly born Beastkin. The Undercity has opened into something older than Grunwall. A Watch captain is selling resistance members to cult buyers.

// Threats, Animals and Monsters// The lands around Grunwall are dominated by undead, warped wildlife, scavenger monsters, grave trolls, slimes, ghouls, and dangerous deserter gangs, especially near battlefields, ruined villages, forests, riverbanks, and the outer Undercity.

( Old Battlefields & Execution Grounds These surround most roads leading into the city. Common threats: Plague Walkers – swollen undead that burst with rot when struck Skeleton Soldiers – still carrying broken banners and rusted armor Hanging Dead – corpses animated from old gallows and roadside trees Grave Leeches – pale undead parasites that crawl from open graves

Rare: Restless Knights – armored undead bound to forgotten oaths Bone Hounds – war beasts raised from old military kennels )

( Blighted Fields & Dead Farmland Once productive land, now poisoned by war and mass burials. Common threats: Dire Wolves – unusually bold and organized Carrion Boars – huge, scarred, aggressive scavengers Warped Deer & Livestock – twisted by lingering necromancy

Rare: Rot Bears – massive infected predators that ignore pain Crow Swarms – sometimes normal… sometimes not )

( Roadside Ruins & Burned Villages Most travelers avoid stopping here. Common threats: Ghouls – corpse-eaters living in collapsed homes Scavenger Slimes – oozes that dissolve armor, bone, and wood Bandit Packs – deserters and ex-soldiers

Rare: Corpse Amalgams – multiple bodies fused by dark magic Whisper Wraiths – spirits bound to destroyed homes )

( The Blackroot Wood (local forest belt) A dark forest line west of the city. Common threats: Stalker Wolves – silent, unusually intelligent Needle Spiders – large hunting spiders with venomous spines Bark Ghouls – corpses overgrown with roots and fungus

Rare: Grave Trolls – regenerate while standing on corpse-rich soil Feral Treants – twisted, hostile plant guardians )

( Riverbanks & Flood Channels Where bodies and waste from the city end up. Common threats: Drowned Dead – waterlogged undead that grab from below Carrion Fish Swarms River Slimes

Rare: Mire Lurkers – large amphibious predators that hunt near bridges Bone-scaled Crocodiles – heavily mutated river beasts )

( The Outer Undercity Tunnels Before reaching the true resistance zones. Common threats: Blind Sewer Beasts Tunnel Ghouls Razor Rats (dog-sized, pack hunters)

Rare: Vein Crawlers – pale, many-limbed things that move along ceilings The Lost Ones – former citizens twisted by deep exposure )