Ank Moran

Ank Moran is a vertical masterpiece of gothic marble and sleek obsidian. The city is tiered by status, with the Ivory Heights housing the sprawling University of Wizards and government manors. Below lies the Gilded Quarter, where shops cater to the needs of wealthy adventurers. At the base are the Bone Yards, a massive industrial sprawl of graveyards and factories where the unliving labor in eerie, coordinated silence for their living masters.

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Grand Metropolis

Ank Moran

Gothic spires overlook a city where the living dream and the dead build.

TypeGrand Metropolis

Population85,000 Living, 200,000 Unliving

WealthExtravagant

GovernmentMagocracy

ReadinessHigh

“The air carries a faint scent of formaldehyde and expensive incense. Grand marble facades are often marred by the rhythmic, mechanical scraping of skeletal workers. While the elite enjoy a life of leisure and study, the commoners walk the streets with a hurried, downward gaze, avoiding eye contact with the silent, porcelain masked undead that perform every menial task in the city.”

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Connections

Geography

RegionThe Shadow Valleys

ClimateCool and perpetually misty.

TerrainBuilt into a series of jagged obsidian cliffs overlooking the Black Vein river.

Travel Links

The River of Souls (Barge Route)The Silent HighroadThe Ivory Gate Portals

Culture

Labor is for those without breath. Status is measured by the quality and quantity of one's unliving servants.

Races

HumanElfTieflingUndead (Socially Subservient)

Religions

The Keepers of the VeilThe Silent Watcher

Arts & Entertainment

The city is famous for its Silent Orchestras, where undead musicians play perfectly synchronized haunting melodies. Elaborate tomb carvings and obsidian jewelry are the primary fashion trends.

History

Founded on a necromantic convergence, Ank Moran was intended to be a utopia where no living person had to toil. This dream was realized through the Risen Labor Edict, which allowed citizens to trade their remains for perpetual family tax breaks. However, as the dead began to outnumber the living, the city shifted from a place of leisure into a paranoid police state where the elite maintain control through arcane dominance.

The Founding EraThe Archmage DiscoveryArchmage Malchor senior discovered a massive necro-leyline beneath the cliffs. He built the first mausoleum that would eventually become the foundation of the Ivory Heights. He proved that souls could be detached from bodies while leaving the muscle memory intact, providing a source of tireless, obedient labor that never required food or sleep.

The Silver PlagueThe Great HarvestA mysterious wasting sickness decimated the merchant class. While the University claimed they fought to save every soul, the city records show a suspicious surge in labor production during the height of the epidemic. Rumors persist that the wizards allowed the plague to spread simply to bolster the workforce for the construction of the Great Obsidian Wall.

Government

LeaderHigh Dean Malchor

Magocracy

Problems

New Problem

Economy

Industries

Arcane ResearchManufacturingDeath Rites

Scarcity

Fresh organic food and unskilled living labor.

Wealth LevelExtravagant

Exports

Pre-programmed ServantsVoid Salt

Imports

Fine SilksExotic SpicesCasket Timber

Defenses

ReadinessHigh

Fortifications

The Great Obsidian WallAutomated Ballistae TowersWarding Glyphs

The Grave Guard(5,000 elite unliving knights)

Plate-clad wights with enchanted halberds who feel no fear or fatigue.

Law & Order

crime Level: Low in Heights, High in Bone Yards
enforcement: The Grave Guard patrolled by University apprentices.
typical Punishment: Early execution and immediate conversion to labor status.

High Dean Malchor

NPC

Ruler of Ank Moran

A man in his late sixties wearing layers of shimmering silk. He constantly wipes his hands with a handkerchief and avoids touching anything directly. His eyes are bloodshot and yellowed from arcane burnout.

Silas Thorne

NPC

Necromancer for Hire

Wears a heavy iron mask that covers the upper half of his face. He smells like wet earth and lavender. His movements are stiff and precise, almost like the creatures he creates.

Elena Vance

NPC

Shopkeeper

A sturdy woman with grey-streaked hair and soot-stained hands. She always carries a heavy iron key ring at her belt and speaks in a low, gravelly whisper that demands attention.

Brother Thad

NPC

Priest of the Silent Watcher

A thin man with a nervous twitch in his left eye. He wears tattered grey robes and his hands are raw from constant ritual washing. He flinches whenever he hears the sound of bone hitting stone.

The Iron Sieve

Shop

General Adventuring Goods

A cramped, dusty shop in the Gilded Quarter packed with relics from across the continent. The shelves are organized with military precision. Elena Vance knows the history of every item she sells and will not tolerate window shoppers who lack a heavy coin purse.

New Shop

Shop

General Store

New Shop

Shop

General Store

The Silent Flagon

Tavern

Mercenaries and weary travelers.

A dim, low-ceilinged tavern where the patrons speak in hushed tones. The servers are skeletons in clean linen shirts who never spill a drop. It is the only place in the city where the living can find a moment of peace from the constant noise of construction.

The Ascendant Order

Faction

Arcane Ruling Class

The wizards who run the University and the city government. They view themselves as the ultimate stewards of humanity, justified in any action that furthers their research.

The Hallowed Breath

Faction

Underground Revolutionaries

A mix of disgruntled commoners, radical clerics, and 'awakened' undead who believe that Ank Moran is a cancer on the natural order of life and death.

The Whispering Well

Point of Interest

A deep shaft in the Bone Yards where discarded bone fragments are tossed. People claim that if you listen long enough, the fragments call out your name.

The Gilded Plaza

Point of Interest

The center of the adventurer quarter, featuring a fountain that flows with enchanted, glowing water. It is the only place where sunlight feels warm.

Calendar of Events

Winter Solstice

The Night of the Silent Walk

All labor ceases for one night as the dead are paraded through the Ivory Heights to be ceremonially rebranded with new arcane sigils.

This year, three of the skeletons broke formation and attempted to jump off the cliffs while screaming in a language no one recognized.

Secrets

The Soul Leech Truth

The animation of the dead is not powered by the leyline alone; it requires a slow, constant siphon of vitality from every living citizen in the city, which is why everyone looks so tired.PCs find a hidden conduit in the shop basement that is glowing with life-force energy stolen from the living neighbors.

Rumors

Silas Thorne is actually an undead wearing an illusion to look like a Tiefling.

The High Dean's handkerchief is soaked in a potion that stops his skin from falling off.

There is a hidden city of free undead living in the tunnels beneath the Black Vein river.

Plot Hooks

The Singing Skeleton

A labor skeleton assigned to Elena Vance has started singing a complex opera. Malchor wants it destroyed immediately, but Elena wants to know why it knows her mother's favorite song.

InvestigationElena VanceA masterwork ghost-touch dagger.

The Stolen Soul

Silas Thorne hires the party to break into the University to retrieve a soul-gem. He claims it contains his sister. The gem is actually the key to the city's main defense ward.

RecoverySilas Thorne1,000 gold pieces and a favor from the Tiefling.

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