Orchid Bay (WIP)

Cut into the table-like cliffs that rise from the gleaming beaches of Crystal Sands, Orchid Bay is a shining city in the shadow of a volcano. It’s an old city and a beautiful city, but don’t let its history fool you into thinking it’s a place of rules and laws, or its grandeur fool you into thinking there aren’t sharp corners and dark alleyways waiting for you here. Orchid Bay has history the way an old family has history: a threadbare tapestry of grudges, feuds, traditions, and unspoken rules that somehow holds the whole place together.

Impressions:

Mysteries:

Places

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The Green Quarter. The oldest part of the city, partially swallowed up by the jungle that surrounds Red Maw Volcano. Old ruins and crumbling neighbourhoods in the process of being reclaimed by nature. Heavy volcanic fog makes it an undesirable place to live, but it’s still inhabited by some stubborn old families (and those with nowhere else to sleep). The ruins are sometimes used as hideouts by smugglers and thieves.

The Farwater Colleges. A society of high-minded scholars and explorers, based in a crumbling campus on the edge of the Green Quarter. Their mission is to sail the seas, gather knowledge and culture from distant lands, and bring it back to their library - where it is made freely available to all. They are funded by the city itself, but there’s never enough money to go around.

People

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Speaker Jasper. The elected representative of Crystal Sands at the Speaker Council, which meets each solstice to discuss matters that affect the entire Circlet. He is mostly responsible for ensuring that the city runs smoothly: taxes are collected, trade is conducted, food comes into the city and goods flow out, and none of the gangs (or the Vigil) get too out of line.

The Orchid Vigil. A militia that grew out of the mess of street gangs and mercenaries that used to keep the peace in Orchid Bay, back when it was smaller. It’s still more like a vocation than an organisation; anyone can call themselves a vigilante and wear the colours. The Vigil polices itself, organised into small bands led by captains. If you’re dragging the name “vigilante” through the mud, that’s who’ll come for you. Can’t have people thinking we’re a bunch of extortionists, right?

The Crystal Guard. The city’s only regular military outfit, numbering less than a hundred. The city runs on taxes and the Orchid Vigil is too unreliable to trust with collecting them, so it falls to the Guard. When they’re not escorting shipments of ivory and gold, they’re protecting the Speaker’s household. Don’t expect them to come running because someone picked your pocket.

The Claw Consortium. Something between a mercenary group and a shipping company, with a reputation for sourcing rare and exotic items from across the Archipelago. The network of caches and safehouses they maintain to protect their “acquisitions” is legendary, as are the consequences for looting one if you find it. Their leaders hang out in a beachfront tavern called the Mystery Fish.

Local Specialties

Charms from the Shroud

Cinder Pot. A little clay pot of smouldering embers which never grows cool. Used to warm the hands, provide a little light, or quickly start a fire. (5 coins)

Feather Wrap. Wrap something in a sheet of this soft, fluffy material and it seems to weigh barely anything. Reduces the Supply cost of an item by 1, but it can’t be unwrapped quickly. (8 coins)

Homeward Needle. Enchanted by a wizard with a spell of finding, it will always point the way to the island where it was made. Like an ordinary compass, though, it is disrupted by strong magnetic fields and other such disturbances. (30 coins)

Kin Candle. Made by a wizard for a specific person with a drop of their blood. Burns with a bright blue flame if they’re alive and well, or a regular flame if they’re dead. The flame pulls in their general direction. (15 coins)

Paper Sprite. An expensive way to send a letter. The wind spirit bound up in this slip of paper will seek out and deliver itself to the message’s recipient, wherever they may be. It’s not foolproof, and sprites sometimes get lost along the way, but it’s much faster than waiting for a messenger. (10 coins)

Warding Charm. A magical amulet that offers protection against a single kind of magic, such as Binding, Influence, or Seeming. Works reliably against simple spells; otherwise, it acts as a setup action to resist or overcome the effects. Once it has worked, the charm loses its luster and its efficacy. The paranoid jingle with these little copper disks. (10 coins)

Denizens and Dangers

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