Highrock
At the heart of the Bones there stands a great rock. Tall, broad, and imposing, it casts its shadow for miles across the southern grounds like a great dial. Here, the whispers of old dreams and future chances can be heard by any.
Here sleeps something well and truly old, which has no name.
South of the Gaze and east of Ven Draria, Highrock would be the ideal location for travelers and merchants to stop on the way to visit the Seekers of Truth and the archaeologists of the dwarven clans, were it a more hospitable place. While the Highrock itself has no active malice, the many pastoral nations that range around it and use it as their winter fortress are far less welcoming to outsiders. Outsiders, after all, are often the reason that they now range. There are those who have lost lands to the Galasteri, those who formed tribes and families to get away from the greed of agriculture, and a few whose ways of life are incompatible with other societies. And yet? They find peace among each other, at least in one place.
For now, those who belong to the walking nations but cannot or will not walk for one reason or another remain within the Highrock. Here, they can receive and interpret dreams for the benefit of their peoples. For now, the Highrock remains safe, as the combined might of the nations is more than enough to repel anything short of a full invasion.
For now, the source of Highrock's vivid dreams remains asleep, but will this be forever so?
Demographics
Government
Each nation is sovereign over their own people within Highrock, with any disputes managed by the Hearth-Handed clan that resides permanently within. One joins the Hearth-Handed for a year at a time, from one winter to the next, and can be part of other nations at the same time. This way, those who reside within may fall under Hearth-Handed elder judgments without causing too much conflict with their home nation. Where conflicts arise, the Hearth-Handed hold sway unless the offender wishes to leave the Highrock for the remainder of the year. This threat alone is usually enough to maintain order within.
Industry & Trade
The Highrock is more of a religious center than a place of commerce, but where nations can meet safely, trade follows. The Hearth-Handed take a small tribute from those who reside within, in return for the great cavern halls each nation is granted for their people. Food. Weapons. Luxuries from Galastaire - one might find surprising wonders in the hands of the Hearth-Handed.
In the meantime, they maintain their own staples of edible lichen, poultry, snails, and giant rams. No one mines the Highrock, but stones that naturally fall are often sold as components for magical items used in divination and transmutation. Visitors seeking visions from the Highrock itself also create a sort of tourism trade, as they too must pay at least a small tribute to spend the night in safety.
History
The Highrock has stood for at least 10,000 years, in a a broad depression in the central buttes. Some wonder if the same winds and dry rivers carved out the massive stone as the rest of the region's plateaus, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's too upright, too uniform to have been sheared down by time alone. Since then, people have found and cleared out a deepening cave system up into the rock itself, rarely finding or cutting paths deeper below.
There are legends of Hearth-Handed who tried to expand into the Underdark, only to be driven by nightmares and imagined horrors out of the Highrock entirely. Respect for the holy place has kept the traditions largely unchanged ever since.
Tourism
Travelers to the Highrock come for one of three reasons: shelter, community, or insight.
Those seeking shelter from the white monsoons of the Bones will find it, but not for free. Tribute must be given of a value determined by the Hearth-Handed and the situation. People have been let into the Highrock for a handful of pebbles if they'd fought and bled to drag survivors in from the storm. Piles of gold have likewise been refused from merchants with no respect for the stone or the nations within. The common tribute is the equivalent of 1 gold piece per person per week, a sentimental item of some personal value, or valuable supplies often treated as worth at least double their sale cost.
Those who belong or wish to belong among the walking nations can meet a variety of clans, nations, and families at the Highrock, especially in winter. Those looking for a new life can demonstrate their skills, their desperation, or whatever other qualities that a nation might seek in a newcomer. Tribute is common, but not always required. Some are treated like indentured servants for a period of a year or more to earn their place, while others are welcomed as kin immediately.
Those who have come for the visions of the Highrock are both the most common and the least welcome. Locals feel that the visions belong to those who respect the Highrock and the nations who reside within it as a second home. The Highrock, if it has a preference, has yet to show it. Hearth-Handed can demand tribute for those who wish to rest within the Highrock, and often wish to question or test those who would stay. Insight into what lies hidden can be traumatic, and warnings are given.
Those who wrong the tribes will often receive immediate, violent retribution, but those who wrong the Hearth-Handed might yet escape. Criminals should expect a response within 1d12 minutes of 1d4 acolytes and 1d6 guards with them.
Dreaming Visions from the Highrock
| d6 | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Instead of welcoming dreams, the character is confronted with visions of failure, indulgence, and petty mistakes. The sense of a final warning looms when they awaken. The next time the character indulges their flaws, they suffer disadvantage on the next dangerous roll that follows. Should they strive to improve, they'll gain inspiration instead. |
| 2 | The dreamer gains a vision of clarity, gaining a clue they've missed towards a mystery or quest they're undertaking. |
| 3 | The dreams remind the dreamer of who they truly are - in joy and in sorrow, with imagined victories and losses. The character rolls with advantage on their next Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw. |
| 4 | The dreamer has visions of obsessions, losing themselves in lust, vengeance, greed, or other compelling drives. The character awakens with a level of exhaustion, but also 10 temporary hit points. |
| 5 | The visions that befall the dreamer involve the decisions they've made, both good and bad. The character may invoke the effects of the augury spell for a key decision in the future. |
| 6 | The dream involves a crossroads, a decision yet to be made that will have dire consequences. The next major decision the character has to make leaves the characters stunned until the start of their next turn if they don't choose immediately. They also roll with advantage on the next ability check, attack roll, or saving throw related to the decision they eventually make. |
Geography
The Highrock is simple enough as a structure. A central tunnel wide enough for a two-wagons wide caravan train leads into the center of the Highrock, where various caverns, cut stairs, and shelves in the rock lead to the different nations' warrens. These warrens spiral up the interior of the Highrock, with each having a view down to the center stones where new entrants arrive. The position is highly defensible and makes each guest into a spectacle for those trapped within for the winter.
Industry and Trade
History
Tourism, Crime, and Dreams
Geography
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