Corvis, The City of Ghosts

Situated at the confluence of two major rivers, Corvis is a city of contradictions. On the one hand, it is one of the few major municipalities built during the Orgoth Occupation; on the other, it is, perhaps ironically, the site of the Corvis Treaties, which marked the end of Orgoth rule. It is both the birthplace of the modern Iron Kingdoms and also a city mired in the past, much like it is mired in the swampy lands that surround it.
When deposed king Vinter Raelthorne IV led an army of skorne against Cygnar in 603 AR, he brought them first to Corvis, where he circumvented the city’s defenses and subjected its populace to the lash of the skorne paingivers. His grip on the city may have provided the skorne—and Vinter himself—with a foothold to take much of the nation had not the young sorceress Alexia Ciannor, who had previously marched an army of the dead against Corvis during the Longest Night, returned and thwarted his plans.
When Khador overran the defenses of Northguard and invaded the Thornwood in 607 AR, the 2nd Division of Cygnar’s First Army was stationed in Corvis. Despite the cessation of hostilities between the two fractious nations—at least for the time being—a large standing army is still garrisoned in the city, which has become the center of political power in the Duchy of the Northern Midlunds. Corvis University is located in a sprawling estate in the city’s eastern district, and the students who walk the halls of the school’s aged buildings study everything from astronomy to extraordinary zoology.
In the years since the Claiming, new teachers have arrived to replace faculty lost during the infernal invasion, bringing with them teachings gleaned from Thamarite lore and Cyrissist scientific principles. With so many souls having left Caen for distant Cyriss, interest in astronomy has grown significantly, and the university’s observatory has had a considerable number of visitors in the past five years.
The City of Ghosts is overcast and rainy ten months out of the year. It is one of the few places in western Immoren where Orgoth architecture can still be seen in everyday buildings, but it is also forever sinking into the mire upon which it was built, forcing engineers to construct new layers of the city as the old ones sink beneath the ground. This plight is exacerbated by the natural cave system that exists beneath the bedrock below the city streets, cut by the waters of the Black River. This undercity has expanded over the years, including during the Orgoth Occupation, when thousands took refuge beneath the city for generations. As such, whole city blocks exist beneath the streets of Corvis—some lit by gas lamps and others dark and forgotten, at least by their human inhabitants.
Corvis was crowded years ago when fighting raged along Cygnar’s northern border, but the old saying that the dead outnumber the living in the City of Ghosts likely rings truer today than it has in decades. Rebuilding has taken place on a massive scale throughout the nation, but the cities of Caspia and Ceryl have received the lion’s share of the attention, leaving Corvis to sink once more into the shadows of the past.