Darkwater

Darkwater is a port city, almost anything can be purchased here, from outlawed tech to favor with crime lords. There is no better place to seek fame and fortune, though death lurks in every alleyway, and the law is almost non-existent.

Darkwater is a city of new beginnings. But for some, the past is something you can never escape. Darkwater is a near lawless city, where crime, murder and other illicit activities occur every single hour.

Surrounded by treacherous straits and towering cliffs, Darkwater Bay is as dangerous as those who call it home. Visitors are often seduced by seemingly limitless opportunity, and become permanent residents, realizing that the longer they stay, the more they can exploit others for power and wealth.

## Darkwater Bay is divided into sections

* Black Market Grottos: Situated in the lowest parts of Darkwater Bay, these locations are the primary location of Darkwater’s black market. The lowliest inhabitants dwell in a labyrinth of meandering canals and hidden inlets, with no separation between the homes they build and the sea where they ply their trade.
* Cutpurse Square: A thriving marketplace surrounded by swaying dwellings built in a wide square on one of the floating wharf-shanties, the Cutpurse Square can be seen from all of Darkwater.
* Grey Harbour: A Darkwater port lost years ago because of the mists of the Shadowfell. Before its fall it contained a magnificent Uk’otoa temple. It has since been overrun by Drow and other light-shy inhabitants.
* Rat Town: Darkwater Bay is the main entrance to the largest settlement of Darkwater, Rat Town. Butcher’s Bridge, which is located upstream and above the Slaughter Docks, acts as a gate to the in and out of the island the city is built on. Fleet Street has various pubs and taverns and boasts the island’s finest rum.
* Serpent Bridge: Connecting the Temple of The Cloaked Serpent to the rest of the city, the bridge is made of uneven cobblestone in undulant and spiral shapes.
	+ Temple of The Cloaked Serpent: One of the few Buhru temples opened in Darkwater, it is dedicated to the deity Zehir, The Cloaked Serpent. It was built within a crater using scavenged materials from the sea

* Slaughter Docks: Massive sea monsters are a constant threat in the waters around Darkwater. Fleets leave port at sunset every night to hunt these mighty beasts. If successful, they return to the Slaughter Docks to render the once-great creatures down to meat, bones and armored hides. The Slaughter Docks are located next to Rat Town, beneath Butcher’s Bridge. The sea around the Slaughter-docks is often darkened by the blood of slain sea monsters. The chum draws sharks and other predators into the many harbors, stirring up a violet froth.
	+ Carving Bays: From Undertaker’s killhouse to the renowned outfits at Bloodharbor, slaughter docks operate day and night to turn death into profit. Only the most successful captains can ever hope to run their own dock, so most are forced to haggle for the best deal before their prize begins to rot in the water.
* Eveline Harrow’s Warehouse: Eveline Harrow’s warehouse is situated at the end of a pier, guarded by three sides by sharks and razorfish-infested waters, and on the fourth by his vicious Hydra Pillagers dock gang. It is full of loot and spoils from every corner of the world.
* Undertaker’s Killhouse: Located at the edge of the Slaughter Docks and Darkwater Bay, it is the primary location where Admiral Eveline Harrow does her dirty work by executing political rivals or insubordinate crew members and where captures outlaws.
* The Iron Dreadnaught: Anchored near the Slaughter Docks, the enormous iron behemoth, Eveline Harrow’s flagship is one of the most infamous vessels of Exandria. It floats there as a reminder of the Admiral’s power as it was the physical manifestation of it. When Admiral Eveline Harrow’s ship returned to port, laden with loot and scraps of defeated vessels, it first berthed near the Slaughter Docks to deposit new riches in the Admiral’s Warehouse.

White Wharf: Located near the Slaughter Docks, Darkwater’s White Wharf earned its name thanks to the layer of bird waste covering it from end to end, which was only to be expected at a resting place for the dead. In Darkwater, the dead are not buried, but given back to the ocean, and this is where it all happens. A grave of the sunken dead hangs suspended in the cold depths, marked by hundreds of bobbing grave-buoys. The graves of poor residents have merely name posts, tied en masse to old anchors beneath waterlogged barrels. The wealthy have lavish bobbing tombstones with carvings resembling rearing krakens or buxom sea wenches. and are interred within expensive caskets below the surface. The Boatman ferries the bodies of the departed to the various graveyards scattered about the straits surrounding the city.

## Buhru

The isle of Buhru is one of the isles of the Serpent Isles island chain. Here battle is not considered a test of strength but of will. These isles are the location from which the religion of Zehir and its priests originate from.

The main Temple of The Cloaked Serpent for the deity Zehir resides here.

The indigenous people of Buhru only know Darkwater as the Serpent Isles. Buhru’s ancient culture is highly respected, reflected and sometimes imitated in the daily life of Darkwater - including traditional medicine, and monster hunting techniques.

The indigenous culture of the Buhru is highly respected by the inhabitants of Darkwater and aspects of it have been incorporated into daily life. The native peoples’ knowledge of the ocean and its denizens is second to none; no ship is able to navigate the perilous straits around Darkwater without their guidance. Those of indigenous descent often hold key roles in Darkwater’s fleets and gangs and are regarded with almost mystical reverence, as are the rare few embraced by their community.