Haven

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## A Hunter's Heaven

Haven is a sanctuary covered in the blood of beasts.

As a protected city, it's home to many clans dedicated to the hunt. The people live a life of luxury, absent of fear any longer. Haven encourages and basks in the great hunt, going so far as to assign points and track progress of the kills brought back by hunters, as well as host a grand lottery for civilians. As if a game of madness, the slaying of monsters has become less a fight for survival and more a sport. Humans and the similar races may find solace and fortune within the shrouded city, yet those of furred and scaled nature are oft met with persecution, torture, and death.

While many roads lead to the forest, all converge into one path inward. Within the woods, that path splits to over twenty roads that seem to go on forever. Residents of Haven have learned the forest over the years and find little trouble in navigating them. Outsiders, however, may end up lost for an eternity. With silence and starvation at their side, there are few worse fates for the lost and the damned.

## The Rise Of Haven

Haven lies shrouded within The Illusory Woods, it's back protected by the Daggered Ridge. Over the forest and ridge lies a thick fog that occludes the sight of the city to those external. With crags to the north and a confusing, convoluted forest guarding it, the city is safe from attack at any angle, promising salvation and protection to all who make up it's populace. Yet within this guarded heaven lies a township consisting of xenophobic and aggressive residents. They bask in the blood of beasts and revel in luxury, driven by a lust for a blood-born vengeance. Burned by scars of the past, the people of Haven are known for their animosity towards beasts and the beastkin. In the past, the people of Haven once graced a citadel to the south east, known once as Rasen.

The people of Rasen were prideful and violent, taking pleasure in the hunt and waging a war on all dragonkind while coercing the beastkin of the land to stand at their side. However, they had over-extended themselves one time too many. They'd entrusted their beastkin vassals to cover their weak spots, yet that allegiance was shattered as the beastkin capitalized on this and turned upon their overlords. Spread far too thin, Rasen was unprepared for the alliance of beastkin and dragons. It's came quickly and the capital had been toppled and burned. The survivors fled north, plunging themselves into the Illusory Woods. Many found it a better fate to wander the everlost woods until the end of days rather than be charred and ash. Those who sought not the shelter of the words nor the purifying fire of drakes breath were taken as slaves or executed by their former beastial vassals.

Such a scar was cut over eight decades ago, yet the phantom pain and undying rage burn brightly still. The citadel of Rasen lies in little more than shadows and dust now. The former residents stand frozen in a charred and solid ash, effigies to what once stood as a proud kingdom. The name itself has been forgotten by many, eventually catching the insulting and unsettling title of Dragon's Vale. The Vale stands as a home to dragons and a victory cry of the beasts buried in soot and ash. Great distances of former farmland are reduced to not but a grey cinder, and the kindled embers of the dead still glow to this very day. In the skies patrol large drakes, threatening to melt the flesh from the bones of any who step within their ashen borders. They had claimed Rasen and decided to tread no further, for they found no honor in chasing down those who ran into the shrouded woods. The survivors fleeing from Rasen into the woods weren't all lost to starvation and madness, though. Upon reaching the Daggered Ridge, covered under a cape of fog, the remaining people began to build a camp and try to catch a glimpse of their former way of life. For years they lived in fear, wondering if these drakes and beasts of the sky would come for them. Yet as each year passed, the fear faded. They'd learned the fog was not an enemy, but the embrace of a cold, mist-ridden ally that offered protection. A semblance of peace was achieved, yet malice began to stir. Rage boiled and a hatred formed. Despite their undoing coming from their own faults, the people of Rasen spared little time before building their new city. A haven from the flames. In but a few decades, Haven has grown as a shadow of it's former self.

### The Illusory Woods

Surrounding Haven is a massive forest that is covered in a thick fog. The atmosphere is oppressive, every path misleading. As the woods are intended to confuse and trap the people within, many who enter never find their way out. A strike of mercy happens occasionally when a person finds themselves back at the entrance to the woods after a week of wandering, yet it appears to be simply luck rather than a blessing divine. The fog that rises and falls above the forest occludes the city hidden behind it.

While Haven appears to enjoy open air, the fog that rolls into the streets during the night is not taken lightly. Like a faded mist, illusions and hallucinations are commonplace both in the woods and within the nightly fall of the fog. Around the woods are various charms, some signaling those with certain knowledge where to go. Yet, there are countless misdirections and false paths for those who simply wandered within. A pristine skeleton is a far too common sight within the woods' many dead ends and endless loops.

### The Hunt

As the populace grew quickly in a short period, so did the need for sustenance. Thus, the hunt was established. In time though hunting became less a chore and more a past time. The woods eventually became mapped and marked with chimes and symbols that only the people of Haven would know. With dolls, figures, paintings, and marks, many of these signs are meant to confuse outsides and draw them away from the city. Countless wanderers find themselves back where they started if they're lucky, while others end up as another pile of bones upon the ground. Just past the woods, however, lie The Great Wilds: a hunters paradise. Large creatures roam, just waiting to be struck down and stripped down to their skeletal frames. Once the people of Haven had mastered The Illusory Woods, it was were no longer a threat. The forest was now a grand shield, bringing salvation in a fog-riddled blessing that cast upon the city.

With a lust for revenge and a burning hatred for the beastkin and their dragon nemeses, hunters formed clans over the years. These clans were known to leave the shrouded woods and hunt in The Great Wilds. Each group seemed to specialize in a certain type of target. Some favored killing lizardmen, others favored the large beasts of the plains. Some excelled at culling aerial creatures while some shined in their expertise regarding the extermination of subterranean monsters. For decades, they'd known success and prosperity. Massive creatures were cut down and carted back to Haven. With every kill, every part of the beast was used. Their meat, their bones, their fat. All of it was granted a purpose over the next decades. Beasts, monsters, dragons, and feral creatures became part of the economy. The beasts were carved up and eaten, salvaged into tools and clothing, and became a staple of Haven. Rarer beasts were sold for higher prices, their horns and internals sold as incense, aphrodisiacs, health and beauty items, or even catalysts for alchemy and magic. No longer were they killed out of necessity or survival. They were killed out of sport, for fun, and fueled by a long-dead feud of betrayal. The hunt goes in seasons with many clans competing, closing out with a great festival that any outsiders may consider mad yet surprisingly cultured.

### The Lottery

Clans compete in the hunt as if it were a sport. Points are given and tracked on a board in the center of town while bets are often taken for which clan will win the season. As not everyone is a hunter, there is a lottery for civilians to partake in the festival with the winners of the hunt. This is to unify the hunters and the people, as well as remind the citizens of Haven that they are stronger together. The civilians and hunters that win share the prize granted at the end of the festival. Throughout the off-season, they're treated in high regards and are often the subject of spoils and prosperity. It is considered one of the highest honors to win.

Regarding the hunt and scoring, large creatures are often scored higher, yet modifiers are placed for going outside of ones specialization. An example may be a clan that focuses on beastkin slaying a dragon and vice versa. Points are subtracted if a creature comes back in a non-usable state, and those that are captured alive tend to get a hefty bonus. Creatures carted back to Haven are often painted or branded with the mark of the clan who'd captured or killed them, identifying them for the tally of points. However, if a creature provides too much of a challenge, one group may request help from another via striking up an azure torch. The group requesting help will forfeit their points for that mark to those who help, ensuring there are those willing to provide assistance and keep their brethren safe. There is no shame in asking for help, but one must weigh the cost of their life if they find themselves in hesitation. As the season comes to a close, the winners of the hunt and the winners of the lottery are announced at a grand gala that leads into a festival of the hunt. This festival is witnessed by captured beast tribes who are forced to watch the entirety of the ordeal, taunted by the citizens of Haven while they writhe in cages and suffer branding and jabs. As the festival reaches it's end, the winners of the lottery are bestowed the honor of executing the beast men one by one, together with the victors of the hunt. For, to be a beastkin is to be a betrayer. This festival and execution helps to soothe the rage of the burned blood.

### The Clans

Many clans grace Haven, each of them stemming from a family. While competition is strong within Haven among the clans, the bond of being a resident of the city is stronger. Rivalries bloom, yet clans will not attack each other let alone kill one another in general. These clans are often a surname of the founding family paired with a title. Much like sports teams or gimmick titles.