Blackvale

Deep within the Northern territories of Skovlan lies the city of Blackvale. This town was founded on an burial sites for heroes of old and in the pre-cataclysm era this was a destination visited by pilgrimage for kings and paupers alike. The buildings are made of heavy stone and sit squat against the earth, only rare castles tower across the rest of the landscape. Key roads connect it to the coast and to the rest of the nation, but after the cataclysm these became extremely dangerous to travel leaving the city with only scant connections to the outside world. Fuelled by the fur and trapping in the surrounding wilderness the City survived and endured, becoming more insular and stoic.
It sits at the bottom of a valley whose river stopped flowing in the Cataclysm. The tall craggy mountains to each side block almost all light so now even the dull glow of dawn and dusk cannot provide succour to its citizens. Despite blocking the light, the Skyridge mountains also protect the city from the worst of the storms and snows that scour the landscape. Dotted across its ridge are ruins of keeps and watchtowers built in ages past, most are long abandoned and most likely haunted.
Since the Unity war the city has remained relatively untouched by the Imperium and it is seen by some as the last bastion of Skovland culture. It is ruled by a small council that still pays their tithes and practices fealty in public. With little in the way of natural resources that may be exploited it survives trading the skills of its citizens as trackers and hunters. There is also a small but exclusive trade in rare furs that can fetch high prices across the imperium, but hunting grounds for these rare creatures have never been revealed to outsiders.