Marrowport

Built directly into a crescent of bleached sea-cliffs, Marrowport is a marvel of maritime engineering and architectural desperation. The city climbs from the Silt, where buildings on stilts endure daily flooding, up to the Marrow, a dense market district carved into the rock. Finally, the Crown looms above, where the elite inhabit manors supported by massive whale ribs. The constant grinding of the city bone-mills provides the lime used to reinforce the crumbling cliffs against the Narrow Sea.

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Coastal Trade City

Marrowport

A vertical sprawl of salt and ivory held together by a desperate lie.

TypeCoastal Trade City

Population12,000

WealthWealthy (but concentrated in the Crown)

GovernmentPlutocratic Admiralty

ReadinessHigh (against sea threats)

“The air tastes of brine and pulverized bone, a constant white dust settling over the jagged limestone tiers. Lanterns encased in leviathan vertebrae cast a sickly, flickering yellow glow against the damp cliff walls. Tension hums through the floorboards of the Silt docks as the tide rises, while the wealthy in the Crown ignore the rhythmic thumping of the bone-mills that never truly stops.”

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Connections

Geography

RegionThe Chalk-Reach Coast

ClimatePersistent fog and heavy gales

TerrainVertical limestone cliffs and tidal flats

Travel Links

The Great Anchor RoadDeepwater DocksThe Winch-Elevators

Culture

Endurance at any cost and a superstitious reverence for the sea's bounty.

Races

HumansDwarves (Hill and Sea)Half-Orcs

Religions

The Deep TitheThe Weaver of Tides

Arts & Entertainment

Scrimshaw carving is the primary artistic outlet, with masters competing for space in the Marrow's galleries. Public entertainment usually involves the Silt races, where low-tier residents gamble on crab-fighting and small boats navigating the dangerous cliff-base currents during the turning of the evening tides.

History

Marrowport began as a salvager outpost for the massive bones of creatures that washed ashore during the Bleached Era. As the trade in whale-oil and bone-meal grew, so did the city's vertical ambitions. The Admiralty claimed control during the Sinking Year when the cliffs first began to settle. Since then, the city has maintained a precarious balance, literal and economic, by focusing its entire industry on strengthening its own foundation while bleeding its competitors dry.

The Bleached EraThe Discovery of the Pale RibsExplorers found the massive skeleton that forms the foundation of the Crown. They mistook the ancient remains for a unique mineral deposit, leading to the first permanent quarries and the establishment of the early trade guilds.

Thirty Years PriorThe Great Seawall CollapseA massive section of the Silt fell into the ocean. The official report blamed shoddy masonry, but old-timers claim the cliff itself shuddered and pulled away from the stone as if it were moving intentionally. This event established the Admiralty's martial law.

Government

LeaderLord Admiral Silas Thorne

Plutocratic Admiralty

Key Laws

The Bone-Tax (a portion of all organic cargo must be rendered to the mills)Tiered Citizenship (rights depend on the elevation of your residence)

Problems

Structural Instability of the Lower Silt

The base of the cliffs is eroding faster than the lime-slurry can patch it. Admiral Thorne is demanding double the bone-stock from merchants to fuel the mills, causing a near-mutiny among the dock-workers who can no longer afford the tribute required to keep their shops from sliding into the brine.

Economy

Industries

WhalingBone-MillingAlchemical Lime Production

Scarcity

Fresh soil and non-salted vegetation

Wealth LevelWealthy (but concentrated in the Crown)

Exports

White LimeRefined ScrimshawLeviathan Oil

Imports

GrainFresh WaterIron Ore

Defenses

ReadinessHigh (against sea threats)

Fortifications

The Harpoon BatteriesIron-Gate LocksThe Vertical Palisades

The Shoreguard(400 Heavy Infantry)

A specialized force trained for combat on ladders and narrow cliff-walks, armed with polearms and grappling hooks.

Law & Order

crime Level: Moderate (smuggling and dock-fights common)
enforcement: The Shoreguard and private Admiralty Enforcers
typical Punishment: Short-drop hangings or 'The Keelhaul' in the shallow tide-pools.

Lord Admiral Silas Thorne

NPC

Lord Admiral

A tall, gaunt man with a prosthetic leg made of polished leviathan ivory that clicks rhythmically when he paces the Crown balconies.

Mother Hallows

NPC

High Priestess

A woman draped in heavy grey robes that seem to bleed ink into the seawater around her feet when she walks the docks.

Elias Thorne

NPC

Mill Overseer

A pampered young man wearing silks that are out of place in the gritty, dust-choked Marrow district.

Salt Sarah

NPC

Smuggler Queen

A muscular woman with skin the color of wet sand, her arms covered in tattoos of sea monsters that seem to writhe in the dark.

Captain Barnaby

NPC

Harbormaster

A squat dwarf with a beard crusted in salt crystals and a habit of spitting whenever the wind changes direction.

The Ivory Carvery

Shop

Specialty Goods and Tools

Located in a hollowed-out rib cage in the Marrow, this shop smells of sandalwood and wet stone. The walls are lined with intricate carvings of the city and its history.

The Barnacle

Tavern

Dock-hands, sailors, and the Shoreline Brethren

A low-ceilinged dive in the Silt that floods halfway during the highest spring tides. Patrons simply lift their feet and keep drinking. The walls are covered in centuries of copper-green moss.

The Shoreline Brethren

Faction

Religious Cult / Terrorist Cell

A group of radical zealots who believe the city is a parasite killing a living sea-god. They sabotage elevators and graffiti the Silt tiers with bioluminescent paint.

The Pale Ribs

Point of Interest

The massive exposed skeletal arches in the Crown that form the support for the Admiral’s Palace. They glow faintly blue during lunar eclipses.

The Maw-Shaft

Point of Interest

A terrifying vertical drop in the center of the city used for garbage and waste, leading directly to the sea floor beneath the cliffs.

Calendar of Events

15th of the Harvest Moon

The Festival of the Deep Reach

A celebration of the year's whale catch with lantern parades through the Marrow.

The noise and vibration of the celebration usually trigger a minor rockslide in the Silt, which is secretly welcomed as an opportunity to rebuild more sturdily.

Secrets

The Pale Mother is a dormant Great Old One that is physically fusing with the city's inhabitants.

The entire city faces an existential threat of transformation or consumption if the 'feeding' rituals stop.Citizens in the Crown have started developing white, stony growths on their skin that they hide with heavy jewelry.

Rumors

The Lord Admiral hasn't been seen in daylight for three weeks; some say he's turning into stone.

A ghost ship with sails made of kelp has been seen lurking outside the harbor at midnight.

The bone-mills are grinding something much harder than leviathan ribs lately; the noise has changed pitch.

Plot Hooks

The Missing Bone-Lot

Captain Barnaby hires the party to find a shipment of missing whale ribs. He suspects 'Salt' Sarah, but the trail leads to the Governor's own manor.

InvestigationCaptain Barnaby1,500 GP and a permit to trade tax-free in the Marrow.

The Silent Mill

The Shoreline Brethren want the party to stop a specific grinding stone in the Main Mill. They claim it is grinding a human artifact that shouldn't be touched.

SabotageA masked Brethren memberA pouch of high-quality pearls and a strange coral key.

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