White Willows pt2

Locations of Note

The Barrowlands

Deep inside the Whippoorwill Mire is a vast field of barrow mounds. Appearing in the distance as a series of low rolling hills the Barrowlands is scattered with the ruins and debris from a people long forgotten. Standing stones with runes and whorls mark the edges of the Barrowlands as well as the hundreds of tombs that are all that is left from these people. Little is known about who these people were, only that they pre-dated the Invincible Overlords and that they had fought a great battle at this site given the large number of arrows heads, swords, and armor found in this area.

Most of the local fear this place and stories abound of the restless dead, of ghastly specters seeking final vengeance, of skeletonized warriors clad in verdigris bronze armor, of swords bathed in unholy light, of ancient wizards whose bodies are little more than leathered flesh and mummified rags but whose spells are still as potent as the day they died. They also tell stores of hidden treasures, of mounds of gold and gems, of strange and exotic grave goods, and of magic items and spells that have been long forgotten to time.

The Old Fane

Not far from the city of White Willows lies a hill. On top of this hill is a series of old megalith stones arranged in a circle and covered in runes and whorls, much like many of the stones found in the Barrowlands. At the center of this circle is a singular large stone. Its color is a dark red brown and a set of four rusted but indestructible manacles are bound deep into the rock. Bits of armor and bone can be found scattered all over the site. This is a cursed place to the peasants of the canton and they go to great lengths to avoid it.

The Border Fort

White Willows has but a single major road leading in and out. Control of this strategic route is vital to the survival of the canton. Any citizen of age is liable to be called up for border duty and the guards here represent a vast cross section of the canton and its population. Every village in the canton has some representation in the guardsmen here as do most demi-humans.

The Harpy Hole

The Harpy Hole is a vast sink hole located in the northeast, deep in the Broken Hills. The hole is massive, almost a mile in diameter and is perforated with many caverns and cubby holes that many flying creatures have made into nests. Harpies are by far the most common but populations of wyverns, griffons, and rocs also have roosts here.

What Lies Below

Like an iceberg there is much more to the canton that what lies upon the surface. Like any geological feature the canton has a distinct stratum below the surface, the Dungeon Layer, the Nadir Aquifer, The Underdark, and The Pit.

The Dungeon Layer

As the area has been inhabited for centuries and many civilizations have come and gone it is not uncommon for old ruins, vaults, and dungeons to be found just below the surface. These sites can contain anything for horrific monsters best left buried, to treasures from long lost societies. This layer keeps a steady supply of adventures, mercenaries, and archeologist employed in charting, exploring and clearing the various discovers of this strata. Of all the locations in this stratum the best known is The City Underfoot, the winding tangle of severs and tunnels below the City of White Willows.

Nadir Aquifer

Below the Dungeon Layer encompassing most of the canton is is a vast underground lake, the Nader Aquifer. Better described as an underground freshwater sea, the Nadir is vast, dark, deep, and cold. So vast, White Willows has a small navy based out of a peculiar lighthouse installed in the ceiling of the cavern, the Mothbitten Light. Caverns and rivers run in and out of the Nadir and albino crabs and fish that glow with false light can be found in its waters, along with other creatures and oddities unknown to the surface world. Large systems of pumps and pipes connect from the surface into the Nadir; operated by slave power these pumps supply the city with a constant supply of fresh water.

The Underdark

In the deepest reaches of the Nadir are caves that go on for forever. They twist and they meander getting more and more narrow. These are the places that the light does not touch. That man does not touch. They go not just under the city or just under the canton, but across the whole world. This is a world of forever night. A deep dark world more alien than any other. Horrible creatures live here. The cannibalistic Morlocks, with dead eyes and ivory white flesh like a cave fish. Bee-like creatures that make ‘honey’ from glowing ‘sick rock.’ Abjurations of all kinds. Humans long forgotten, gone feral and rickety for lack of light and a dwindling genetic pool.

The Pit

Worst still is what lies below the Underdark. Reach the bottom of the Underdark and the cool cave air turns hot and sulfuric. Go even deeper yet and you are in Hell. This is not a figure of speech; this is the literal Hell. Keep in mind if you can reach down to the Pit, the Pit can reach up to you. The Pit is the borderlands between Hell and the Underdark where an eternal war where the Underdark seeks to push into Hell for its heat and its light, and Hell pushed into the Underdark for well, not being Hell.