Session Prep Bundlesettlement-starter

pirate city

Recipe: Settlement Starter

New
Contextual Narrative

Marrow-Port: The Sunken Sovereign

Marrow-Port is less a city and more a floating graveyard, a sprawling leviathan of lashed-together galleons, bleached whale-bone piers, and rusted chains anchored to the jagged 'Devil’s Rib' reef. Here, the law is as fluid as the tide, dictated by the jagged edges of a cutlass and the weight of one’s purse. Above the constant groan of shifting timbers and the cries of gulls, the scent of sea salt mixes with the pungent aroma of fermented kelp and cheap black powder. At night, the city glows with a hundred flickering green lanterns—soul-light salvaged from the wrecks below—casting long, dancing shadows across the gangplanks. Beneath the floorboards, the dark waters of the Azure Reach churn with predators both natural and eldritch, waiting for those who can no longer pay their debts to the pirate lords who call this floating purgatory home.

Captain Valerius 'Iron-Lung' Thorne

In Marrow-Port, we don't pray for fair winds; we pay the Council for them. And the Council’s price is always paid in blood or gold.

Marrow-Port
Settlement

Marrow-Port

Marrow-Port is a sodden masterpiece of desperation and greed. The city is a patchwork of lashed hulls and gangplanks draped over the massive, bleached skeleton of a sea titan. Humidity clings to every surface like a wet shroud, while the scent of salt, rot, and cheap rum permeates the air. The Grand Flotilla serves as a vibrant, dangerous heart where stolen goods are traded under the flickering glow of the Lantern Code.

5,500 sailors, outlaws, and marrow-minersPopulation
View
The Barnacle's Breach
Tavern

The Barnacle's Breach

The entire tavern is built into a tilted elven hull. Despite being on land, the magical core of the ship still hums faintly, causing liquid in glasses to ripple as if the ship were sailing through a light swell.

TavernView
The Sinking Keg
Tavern

The Sinking Keg

The tavern floor sits three inches underwater during high tide, forcing patrons to sit on top of the tables or wear high-waisted boots. The entire structure groans and shifts with every passing wave.

TavernView
The Iron Anchor Cartel
Faction

The Iron Anchor Cartel

Stability in the Wake, Profit in the Port

Lawful EvilAlignment
Mercantile Paramilitary SyndicateType
View

Bundle Contents

06Items

Generated entities

Regional Effect

The Brine-Blind Fog

A thick, magically-infused mist that rolls in during the transition between low and high tide, smelling of ozone and ancient depths.

Mechanic

Creatures more than 30 feet apart are heavily obscured from each other. Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight are made with disadvantage.

Connections

Captain Valerius Iron-Lung Thorne

GOVERNSMarrow-Port

Sereia 'Silk' Vane

OPERATES_OUT_OFThe Sinking Keg

The Iron Anchor Cartel

CONGREGATES_ATThe Barnacle's Breach

The Iron Anchor Cartel

RIVALS_WITHCaptain Valerius Iron-Lung Thorne

Sereia 'Silk' Vane

SECRETLY_REPORTS_TOCaptain Valerius Iron-Lung Thorne

Quest Objectives

Recover the 'Tidal Key' from a sunken merchant ship before the Iron Anchor Cartel can reach it.

The players gain favor with the Grog-Council and a powerful artifact that controls the local currents.
The Cartel uses the key to blockade the port, causing a famine and triggering a bloody civil war.

Investigate a series of 'silent murders' where victims are found turned into solid salt pillars inside the Sinking Keg.

Identification and capture of a Medusa pirate captain hiding in plain sight.
Panic spreads, the tavern is burned down by a mob, and the Medusa escapes to claim more victims.