Tag: beastwood
Cunee Abbey (disrepair; Rhyl)
Posted on July 29, 2025 in Steel-Realms
The Cunee Abbey is located in the Barony of Cunee just north of the City of Fortun. The abbey was the sacred place to the Green Church and Darupet under the ancient Westbrook Baronial family. Once their bloodline was spent in CY __, it became merely a public shrine to Darupet and a watch tower. The massive grounds quickly fell into disrepair, except the tower. Eventually a sect of militant druids, pure warriors took over the abbey, leaving it in disrepair and letting nature take its course.
Initial Description: The abbey was once a sprawling 60 acre grounds that was used for agriculture and even private hunting. It was double walled, with a low outer wall mostly to denote its boundaries. To the north and south were a large inner enclosure of 20 acres each with game used for private hunting. Everything of the original Abbey is in disrepair now, except the tower. The walls were dug deep, two meters deep into the soil, and a meter wide. There is persistent bloom of Blue Flax and Scilla marking a striking “blue boundary” around the lands of the abbey.
Farmsteads
There are about 7 Farmsteads located around the Abbey. The locales grow grain, bake bread, tan hides, smoke and salt meat, make mead and ale, and manage small herds of geese and goats and trade with order in the Abbey.
Fendstels Alehouse
On the SE corner of the land of the Abbey is the local Alehouse. It is a small gathering point for the locales and a point of common storage and celebrations. It can be seen from the Gatehouse. There is a large wooden warehouse and a small one (locked and used for fermenting the ale and mead and storage).
Stone Warehouse: This is locked and marked with the ancient Westbrook baronial seal. It is said to be sealed and kept place of mundane items from the old Baronial family – seals, portraits, chairs, clothes, and non precious items. Its been broken into a few times, and nothing of value other than to archaeologists was ever found. These are items emptied from Westbrook Tower.
Gatehouse
There is a newly constructed ‘gatehouse’ on the south side, where the old road to the City of Fortun goes, about 3 miles away. It sits up on the site of an older, larger gatehouse. It is less a Gatehouse and more of a stable and large common room with some private rooms upstairs. It is for visitors, and never staffed – though there are supplies like oil and lamps and such stored in a ‘self-serve’ style. There is a road that leads to the tower from here. There is a hitching post, and a pair of cleared corals here as well.
TWestbrook Tower
The tower of the Abbey is located in the center of its grounds. It is overgrown on the outside. The top has had soil dragged up to it, and a tree grows another 30 feet, squat with a massive trunk and boughs that run 20 feet in all directions. It is a haven for many ravens.
Chronicle of the Locale
Historical Chronicle Information
Knowledge is broken down by ease of discovery/availability & Meticulous Record Keeping may improve usability; Any attempt to know more than what's Pervasive will require a reference, source, knowledge, check, or access to someone who can get or provide either of these. Specific Lores may increase the chance of knowing specific elements.
Pervasive Knowledge / Very Easy Difficulty
Information Sources: Mundane Reference | Associated Phenomenology Only | Specific Lore
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
Common Knowledge / Easy Difficulty
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
Boundaries: The stones of all structures and walls have been allowed to be taken to help locals over the centuries – for their own structures, walls, etc. Every summer there is a designated time for petitioners to come and ask for what is left of the ruins for local projects of the farm holdings around the abbey.
The Westbrook Hall of Records: This is ancient, and while nothing new is being added to it, the collected prayers and ceremonies that go back the ancient days when the Kingdoms of old Rhylan were many. It is these records from which the Greenwood Knot order was founded. Next to the Deepstone Archive of Rhylan, the Westbrook Hall of Records in the Cunee Abbey is the best source for the time of the Kingdoms of old Rhylan. The druids in the Abbey and the Rhylander Green Conjurists have ensured the materials stay safe and are copied as they age. They also allow public access to them for a small fee which goes to keep up the order.
Uncommon Knowledge / Average Difficulty
The power of the Beast Lord Darupet keeps the game within the huge area of the Abbey.
Maintenance: When the reconstituted order took control of the Abbey, it was required to unseal the hall of records, and maintain the tower as a refuge if needed by the baronial family – whoever that may be. All of this has been done and more. The tower was almost completely rebuilt in CY 8320 and stands modern and strong.
Summer Vacation: After the tower was rebuilt in CY 8320, sometimes members of the baronial family will use it as a vacation, with top quality foodstuffs and hunting available from a staff they bring with them. The savage sounds from the order are disquieting and even disturbing to most though, and this happens rarely.
The Haunting of Sir Darron Westbrook, Baron of Cunee
The evil Sir Darron Westbrooke was kept in the deepest places under Cunee Abbey, imprisoned by his son in CY 7101. He escaped one day, eating his own thumb and slipping his manacles. He escaped into the family tombs, a deep cavern with old passages into a spreading ossuary of bones. He was hunted for years, killing many guards in what came to be called ‘the death caverns’.
Scarce Knowledge / Hard Difficulty
Stone Warehouse Site: This is actually a hidden refuge for the Rhylander Green Conjurists.
City of Fortun (Rhyl)
Posted on July 29, 2025 in Steel-Realms
The City of Fortun is a large (capital) city Settlement in the Barony of Cunee. The walled city is dominated by 2 tall, wide towers on the NW and SW corners – small keeps unto themselves. The wall is obviously something that came later, as a great deal of the city is actually outside of it, spreading out on the west side. The road going directly north leads to the Cunee Abbey about 3 miles away.
This locale has a Chapter House of the Narcosan Order of Necromancers in Saltmarch.
Occult/Magi Services: General Occult Services is provided here mostly by Quizmans Magusterum in Rhyl. The other Orders of Magi generally focus their efforts on supplying and defending The Red March and North Gate Garrison against the forces of The Lich Lords.
Locations of Quizmans Within Rhyl
Initial Description:
Heraldry/Symbol:
Greater Sovereignty: Grand Duchy of Rhyl
Type: (see Settlement Planning and Design in The Realms)
Governance: “{title}” (see Titles and Honors of The Realms)
Population: / Transient:
Demographics:
Laws and Protocols of Note: + standard Laws and Codes of the Realms
Groups/Factions:
Primary Hospitality/Accommodations:
- Visitors Quarters > Housing (long or short)/Entertainment (arts & crafts, intimacy)
Commerce: (see Trade Organizations/Institutions of the Realms)
Institutions: (see institutions of The Realms)
- This location as a Autumnleaf Ale Houses.
- > Primary Services Secondary Services
- > Primary Services Secondary Services
Beastwood Presence: This location has the presence of a typical Rhylian Beastwood. This locale trains characters (elves) in the practice of the Rhylian Undead Hunters.
Founding: {approximate year/age and culture of origin}
Primary Surrounding Habitat and Weather:
Roads, Streets, & Thoroughfares:
- Waste: Runs/Bins > Collection | Minor Sewers or Major Sewers
Defenses: {defensive works, fortifications, garrisons, holdouts}
- Police/Watch: | Officers:
- Constables & Detectives:
- Elite Tactical Forces: | Officers:
- Militia/Volunteers: | Officers: > War Time Only?
- Military:
This Locale has a Office of the Herald representing the local Lord/Lady; Rhylan heralds all follow the Heraldic Boreal Tradition.
- Heraldsmein:
Encounters & Dangers in the Area
See Encounters in the Grand Duchy of Rhyl for common potential scenarios of notable events and creatures.
- Normal Settlement Encounters > Patrols | Recruiting | Sellers | Begging | Crime
Chronicle of the Locale
Historical Chronicle Information
Knowledge is broken down by ease of discovery/availability & Meticulous Record Keeping may improve usability; Any attempt to know more than what's Pervasive will require a reference, source, knowledge, check, or access to someone who can get or provide either of these. Specific Lores may increase the chance of knowing specific elements.
Pervasive Knowledge / Very Easy Difficulty
Information Sources: Mundane Reference | Associated Phenomenology Only | Specific Lore
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
Common Knowledge / Easy Difficulty
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
The Transit of Western Fire is a once-a-century symbolic journey to ‘re-light the rising sun in the east’. It travels from Merkaine’s Shrine of Shieldfire in the west, east to the start of The Red March, to the end of it, then through City of Fortun, up The White Stairs to Burning Crop. There a beacon fire is lit.
Flat Peak Ridge (hill folk settlement of Rhyl)
Posted on July 29, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Flat Peak Ridge has a couple of hillfolk Pine Tribes settlements on it, as well as a dwarven logging camp. Technically, the locale is considered part of the dwarven enclave of Sun Stone Top. It is a ridge and a pair of flattened peaks (likely from an old quake?) that provide a small terraced area, and few pounds and three streams of water from runoff and a cold springs.
Population: 1700 approx across a few villages.
Commerce: Mica, quartz, leather and hide work, a few minor gemstones gathered from locales made into jewelry Ilbarsi style (that the Ilbarsi tribe does not normally sell). Agriculturally they are self-sufficient in raising sheep, hogs, high mountain barley and rice, fungus, and nettles and berries (similar to that of the Ilbarsi folk).
The hill folk of the area are some of the Ilbarsi hill people that left the area of Ilbarsia to the south several hundred years ago. The typical Rhylan culture is not found here. They and the dwarves get along. The larger hill folk work some of the jobs moving large objects and help interface with outsiders easier in the Sun Stone Top enclave.
Beastwood Presence: This location has the presence of a typical Rhylian Beastwood.
The hill folk of Flat Peak Ridge do not go around Metvan’s Mound, they are superstitious about it and claim there are ghosts nearby.
Crime: Though this place may have a local gang, the Rhylian Criminal Presence is through a very underground outpost of The Dead Hand – mostly to gain access to dwarven items.
Highspear Grove
Posted on July 29, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Highspear Grove has a Pine Tribes and a dwarven logging camp. Elven magic and hillfolk magic come together. The hillfolk bring Ilbarsi water from Orb Lake every year to nourish the planted trees. It is considered to be part of the dwarven enclave of Sun Stone Top
They employ and trade with the hill folk of Flat Peak Ridge to help log the area.
Small Beastwood
There is a small Beastwood here, maintained by and for the long ranging Patrols of the members of the druidic Greenwood Knot order who works close with the elves of Haivelaugh Weald, the dwarves of Sun Stone Top, normal patrols of Barony of Kopriane and even the Greykin Hill People.
Haivelaugh (Elven Weald, Rhyl)
Posted on July 27, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Haivelaugh Weald is an Elven Weald of the Steel Realms – typical Elven Weald. The weald encompasses North Vinewood Forest (protected by The Vinewall), the Hythleit Grassland, and the Broken Shoulder Lowlands that contain water sources, copper, and iron, a few gemstone deposits (including obsidian) and a small quarry. The elevated Hythleit Grassland strip at the base of the mountains to the east and forest to the west is used for pastures, and home to deer, beaver, waterfowl, and a variety of flowers and wild grains.
Force Majeure: The elves of the Haivelaugh Weald are the most active and dynamic in The Grand Duchy of Rhyl, and have paid the price for it. They are still aggressive and prideful, but more cautious about committing their support without ensuring their own safety – necessitating the powerful and mobile Har Cunetha and the Heralds of the Har Cunetha.
- Typical of Elven Wealds of the Steel Realms, this faerie home is lit using Elven Lake Lamps including the annual festival; This eerie glow sometimes seen by outsiders and centennial festival add to the typical mystery and wariness of the Elvish home.
Governance of the Weald
“Green Sleeves“: Huldra Greenspeaker is the office for Weald who represents it to outsiders. The Heralds of the Har Cunetha can sometimes speak for the Green Sleeves of the Haivelaugh Weald.
Rulership/Governance: {Integrity ***} – uses Elven Wealden Titles.
- Administrative Center/Seat of Power:
Population: Approx. 20,000 Wyld Elves
> Note: There is no official census provided.
Protector Spirit: Ratuk the RAM – the senior followers are involved in both Defense and Faith of the community.
+ Hartwood Presence: This location leans heavily to the Wyld Faith, and has the presence of both Rhylian Briarwood and Rhylian Beastwood.
Although not officially part of the Weald, the town of Ten Stacks is watched over, as the half elves there are relatives and with the depleted population trying to recover, the half elves are considered an important part in regrowing their population.
Resource Accord with Rhyl: The active version of the Rhylan Weald Accordance that govern resource management is carved upon a preserved tree stump in the City of Klyben in the North District of Klyben for all traders to be able to reference. Per this accord the elves post signs using bright yellow ribbons (from Ten Stacks) to mark their Weald Boundaries.
- Typical of Elven Wealds of the Steel Realms, this faerie home is lit using Elven Lake Lamps including the annual festival; This eerie glow sometimes seen by outsiders and centennial festival add to the typical mystery and wariness of the Elvish home.
- This locale produces Sap of Wound Closure and trades with other Wealds in Rhyl.
Products and Trade of the Haivelaugh Weald
Like most Wealds, it is self sufficient in terms of sustenance for its inhabitants. Like most Wealds, the honey produced is prized by locals, as well as most of the foodstuffs.
Hythleit Sweet Feed: Every year an amount of Sweet Feed is sent to North Gate Garrison. These are meal bars loaded with sweet grains, honey, fat, protein and minerals. Perfect for ranging and scouting long distances. World Watchers moving through the area often are presented with this to help them in their travels.Carved yellow jasper, Amber, honey, sweet-preserved ‘rations’, and the occasional “sweet sword” and “sweet armor” novelties will be sold to outsiders. Also, some yellow dyes based on goldenrod are sold to outsiders, though most of that goes through Ten Stacks.
Characters of the Haivelaugh Weald
Characters with their origins here have the Wyld Elf of the Weald Experience available to them. Those entities Flora Bound to the Wealds have access to the powers described under the Common Amesha Element of the Wealds of the elven faith of the Steel Realms.
List of Elven Wealds of Rhyl
The Har’ahdu Cunaigh – Aelfpath of Helca twines through the Great Forest of Rhyl, also connecting all the Elven Wealds within the Grand Duchy of Rhyl.