Weepingfort

Weepingfort is an imbalanced place. It totters on the edge of once-grand mountains, its rickety cabins winding around hills and crags brushing against the greedy grasp of the water. Creatures of the Deep appreciate the close proximity to their feeding-grounds, and the more adventurous of the citydwellers appreciate those creatures' tendencies to fall into their nets and traps. Occasionally, a maid-o'-the-depths will find its way to the surface, and for a few days, both human and creature can enjoy sharing songs and conversation before one eats the other. Nature has no patience for poachers, and humans have no patience for encroachers on their territory.
The nicer, safer parts of Weepingfort are within, hidden away from the sun, but one must sacrifice certain delights for the luxury of safety away from the grabby, hungry things of the Deep. Well-lit caves house the rich, ensconced in the rock and close to the warmth of the mountain. But what supplies such heat? What natural or unnatural forces stoke the life-granting fires in the mountain's core? Some expeditions have been launched, funded by the most curious and ungrateful of the rich, but when--if--they return, the crew accept their pay and disappear back into the winding edgemost streets of Weepingfort with little but whispers to their patrons. Those patrons remain haunted weeks after the expedition crew has vanished; fortunately, they do not have to suffer long.
For all its precariousness, Weepingfort remains an important post for The Pearl to maintain upkeep. The city's access to the Deep via its Drowning Tubes is crucial for the harvesting of deep sea life, be it creatures, vegetation, or energy. While the Tubes pose their own problems, Weepingfort is the closest settlement the Drowned Shores have to a port city. If only there were opportunities for trade in addition to the all-consuming need to survive...

Government

Watchers, the silent guards appointed by The Pearl, take the solemn duty of overseeing Weepingfort. They do not delight in their power, nor do they resign themselves to it, but what and whom they choose to protect is as mysterious as the Deep itself.

Infrastructure

Drowning Tubes, rune forges, fish hatcheries and processing facilities, metal walkways, Caves, fortress, abandoned shipyards

Type

Large town

Population

20,000

Included Locations

• The Drowning Tubes

Characters in Location

• Shira