Shriekspire

Shriekspire is the capitol of the Bitter Vale and is the seat of power for Duke Dazak who claims responsibility for those lands. Shriekspire is a sprawling hodgepodge city of 100,000 souls whose population is rumoured to be amongst the most villainous outside of the Greater Teeth.

Shriekspire was built over the ruins of the farming community known as Arodan, a community that fell foul of plague and died its death due to lack of interest from the Crown and lack of trading options; Shriekspire is the opposite. The founding of precious Gold, diamond and frimion veins in the area lead to a massive upsurge of immigrants moving into the area and major investment in the land from not only a once disinterested Crown but also from foreign investors and various Dukes, the most significant being Dazak North.

This swift influx accounts for Shriekspire’s somewhat haphazard nature; it is a warren of streets and dead ends seemingly with no logical structure or planning. Quite often one can wander through frightening slum areas that can only be presumed to be controlled by the clearly visible street gangs, but exit a road to one of Dazak’s Centres of Knowledge: These centre’s can be found throughout the city and comprise schools, libraries, guilds and laboratories all as one. Each also houses some form of Shrine to Bethylak if not a full fledged temple or church.

The landscape around Shriekspire is somewhat daunting, the woodland surrounding it has been subject to severe deforestation over the past few years and the stumps of felled trees litter the land like the corpses on a battlefield. Various mines can be found around the outskirts which in turn have sprung up small communities which have become affiliated with Shriekspire but are the home of hardened miners, vicious camp guards as well as the well paid overseers of such ventures.

### Commerce

The commerce of Shriekspire is based around the money and wealth that are mined from the nearby area; The Nine Stars, The Eagles Wing Trading Coster, Nightstar Trading and the trading families of Phyphor, Sung, Garalanis, Fat and Dumor are all predominant throughout the city of Shriekspire although their power has been somewhat annexed by taxation laws introduced by Dazak that prevents them forcing out smaller more independent trading costers. The wealth generated by the mining is the heart and soul of Shriekspire; more then 60% of the wealth generated from the mines are spent on the streets of Shriekspire.

### Security

Shriekspire is a city that has long been plagued by the criminal fraternities of not just the basin but many groups across Vaklam. It is strongly believed the Van Gore Co-operative, Helgathian Red Shirts and several Teeth based organisations have their bases of operation within Shriekspire. It is also widely believed that the Lord of that land is aware of the activities that occur on and around his land and monitors the situation, allowing the activities to take place but never to escalate and take control. The lawmen of the city are specially trained operatives from both the Colleges and the Clergy selected by Duke Dazak personally and paid above and beyond the usual wage of a militiaman. These folk are called the Frozen Men and are widely feared and respected.

The Frozen Men take their orders from Duke Dazak and they keep order as best they can. They are considered to be above rank and privilege and will act as they see fit. All the Frozen Men are able to teleport to scenes of any discretion within seconds and are able to deal with both physical and magical opponents. Dazak has never allowed Silver Saints to populate his land but allows the Guilds to prosper and flourish, maintaining various brands of their own discipline and law enforcement; many taverns boast a training band of guild members as bouncers, enforcers and frequently customers.

### Society

Much like the city itself Shriekspire’s society is a wide, varied and most importantly integrated affair. You can expect to find poor and rich alike living in extremely close proximity to one another with seeming no qualms. Churches to Bethylak and Terref provide the larger parts of the entertainment throughout the city and taverns of all qualities flood the streets with bustling noise and light at all hours of the day. The highest part of the Shriekspire social life is the Gamthan Gentlemans club; a high profile establishment with memberships that take years to process. Amongst the lower of the more famous establishments is the Rancid Goat; a varied inn that offers refuge to just about anything, various sightings place divine beings of the Devourer and Angels of Tiberius in the area of the Rancid Goat at the same time!

### Notable Buildings

Gamthan Gentleman’s Club:  The Gamthan Gentlemen’s club is an elite society made up of those of rank or position. Money cannot buy your way in nor can power that comes from anything other then noble or military rank. The only other way into the club is to be nominated by an existing member and then to pass muster with the rest of the chaps that make up the old guard. The GGC is clouded in mystery and seen by many to be some form of esoteric gang of powerful figures that actually control much of the basin. Of course none would ever dare to speak ill of the GGC for fear of reprisal but one rumour which too many people claim to be fact to be a lie is that after the destruction of Gamtha the GGC club building was the only one still intact…. He GGC has branches across the Royal Basin.

Wisdoms Eye: The Great temple to Bethylak is built alongside the Grey Keep and is a mighty edifice that peers out over the surrounding area. The knowledge held within the Great Keep is formidable indeed and is said to be the collected work of all Bethylakians since the inception of the God of Knowledge hundreds of years ago. It is here in Wisdoms Eye that Priests of Bethylak come to stare into the carved marble eye, from which the temple gains its name, that Bethylak is said to have touched. The eye reveals to the most faithful of  Priests one moment of their future lives that Bethylak believes will aid them the most.

The Grey Keep: Dirigibles float around the great fortress of the Duke of the Frozen North as it sits high above the city on watchers hill, clinging to its steep sides with grim tenacity. This is the home of Duke Dazak North, the High Priest of the Church of Bethylak and most feared Daemon Slayer in the lands. The keep is a great citadel of war, unusual for a priest of the God of knowledge but Dazak has lived through many wars and invasions of the land. The keep is designed to be a fall back point for every citizen in the surrounding area and reports indicate that the keep descends into the very heart of watchers hill and perhaps even further down.

The Grey Keep is populated generally by a huge household staff that deal with the day to day running of the Dukes affairs, 1,000 of the Stark Guard (Dazak’s personal guard) and a number of Priests of Bethylak and Naed. It has been in operation for the past twenty years and alongside the dirigibles designed by the Church of Bethylak are several other defensive wonders created by the Churches and the Colleges. The populace of the Bitter Vale regard the Grey Keep with a great deal of reverence; it is a commonly held myth that if the keep were to fall then so would the Kingdom of the Great Basin and whilst it stands they are safe.

Daemonic Covenenat HQ: Another of Dazak’s creations is the Daemonic Covenant; a guild dedicated to the destruction of Daemonic kind and the influence of their power in this plane. The HQ is nestled at the feet of Watchers Hill and whislt an unimpressive looking building features some of the most advanced training areas in Daemon killing that the world has ever seen. Some rumour that the great Salacin has somehow returned to train those that wish to destroy the Daemonkin to the standards that once existed.

The Catacombs Below: (The following is as accurate a picture as can be painted by this journal created from reports by various adventuring parties) When the plague struck Arodan many villagers died instantly; in an effort to survive those that were unaffected by its evil fled to the mines, taking food and equipment with them to survive for a short period until the plague had burnt itself out. They never returned and when the village of Arodan was found some years later it was abandoned and an easy starting point for Shriek Spire.

The people who fled below slowly began to settle, to build and eventually a community was created, a bizarre flotsam and jetsam society built on what they could find here in the tunnels and what was cast off by others. Firstly they bred amongst themselves but slowly others have arrived there, other cast off’s of society and they have grown.

The people of Palayge (The people of the plague) have evolved very quickly, they are only 4 generations into their culture and already it has several key factions, a well developed pecking order a quick moving economy and a diverse ecology. The very nature of the area in which they live is built upon nightmare and of songs of sorrow, but most importantly of tales of the past, stories and legends. They have managed to trade by tunnelling into long forgotten areas such as grave sites and buried villagers and looting the areas of the valuables that they find there. These they sell on to outsiders in return for things that can be off use to them, never money, never status, but stuff, things and favours.

### The Four Tribes

The Lilac Mouthers

This tribe is the hardest to get to see, they dominate the high caves, the ones free of water or any subsidence. They are the tribe that has the most knowledge and information about the land of the Palayge and are usually the first to bring back or find the best objects. They achieve this due to their God, a creature that they consider to be the voice of all wisdom: The Lilac Speaker.

The Tall Tale Tellers

The second down the pecking order and up until a few years ago the best around, these folk tell stories and sing songs and act as the priests within this culture. They have become attuned to the magical nature of the caves and its link to song and have discovered that various combination of notes and inflections (Songs and tales) can cause things to happen. It seems that their ability to call upon any eldritch power is linked directly to the power of song and tale.

The Barrow Burrowers

Second only to the Lilac mothers for finding things these people know the tunnels like the back of their hands. They can even make it right to the edge of something called “the Dark, dark, nightmares” where no other Palayger would dare to go. The folk of the Barrow Burrowers are often seen to own stalls of junk and clutter that others might want to trade for.

The Upground Talkers

Considered the lowest at the time of this text, they usually deal with the upgrounders, that is to say those that live in Shriekspire as they have very little understanding of other cities; they are supposed to vet newcomers to the Undercity, making sure that they are acceptable to the Underworld if they wish to stay. In a bizarre twist of self important beuarocracy they make short term visitors go through odd custom checks and passport rituals.

### Notable People

Duke Dazak: Duke Dazak North literally fought his way to the pinnacle of Bethylakian society. He remains the only Doctor to achieve the rank of High Priest however his story is a long one: Born to the noble family North in the Frozen lands beyond the Razorback mountains, Dazak grew up in harsh conditions that favoured more the following of Gods of battle and courage. But; however hard he trained with weaponry he found that his mind was his greatest weapon and travelled south to join the temple of Bethylak of which he had heard much.

During his early years of training Dazak became embroiled in the affairs of Daemons and soon became their most fearful foe. He has over the years collected together great powers that are effective against Daemon kind and was instrumental in the downfall of Sarkith during the Great Daemon Wars. Dazak has fought alongside such heroes as Dieron the Blessed, Imravin, his brother Jarmack Steelheart and Catagore Cotageish against such evils as Gabrak, Sarkith, Arcathain, Evil Gann and Orbolom to name but a few. He has been decorated on repeated occasions by the rulers of the basin. One final thing to be noted is the fact that Dazak, though human, has been alive since the time of the Pantheonic wars some 300 years ago. Truly he is the master of time.

His political situation however is greatly different; Dazak prefers to keep the affairs of the Bitter Vale out of the hands of the Kingdom in general and his laws are much more flexible then the Church of Ekimelaw would hope for. Indeed his position upon the Clergy Forum is somewhat disputed; his open hostility towards the Church of Ekimelahw and the Church of Tiberius over their recent handling of the Naed affair almost caused civil war. It is a widely believed fact that if Dazak had not become such a popular figure during the various difficulties that the Basin has faced; indeed ruling for several months after the death of Emperor Joshua that he would have been stripped of his rank and cast out for his attitude and general.

Despite his current decline amongst the Clergy Dazak has still been a notable figure during the recent wars; he has taken it upon himself to organise the adventuring populace of the Basin whilst the main force of the Basin is away fighting against the Challengers. This has won him a certain amount of leeway Court and a certain grudging respect amongst that community; Dazak is a man who believes in discipline and many say would sooner flog you then look at you but his authority is without question.

Blind Violet: Blind Violet is a legendary individual who dwells somewhere in the Southern district. She is virtually impossible to visit but if you manage to arrange to meet her she is said to be a seer of limitless capability. It is well known that she foresaw the catastrophe of the Codex War, the death of Quinn Shadowreaver and the great drought of Widowsmass.

### Religion

Bethylak, Terref and Naed are the predominant religions of Shriekspire; Bethylak finds the highest number of followers here due to the proximity of his High Priest, however both Terref and Naed are highly represented. Tiberiusites and Ekimelahwians are made to feel unwelcome whilst Dragon members are virtually banned upon the streets.

### History

Once the mining community of Arodan, the area was hit by a heavy plague which drove the peoples in the surrounding area away. This was of great sorrow to the Priests of Yarrianne who had already begun a pilgramege to the area to see Fulionawayre; the great temple of Yarrianne built by one of her first priests. According to legend when they arrived they found that the temple had been swallowed up by the earth although no proof of this has ever been found; despite that the temple is definitely no longer in the area and no trace of it remains.

After the towns destruction it became an area of abandonment for many a year though a tavern prospered in the area called the Ballad’s Dirge. Many folk travelled to the tavern to see the young performer who owned the establishment and the fame of Maris Jamalian travelled far and wide.