Harrowglass

Harrowglass is built on and around a vast frozen lake at the foot of jagged mountains, the surface glassy and laced with veins of blue-black ice; markets cling to causeways and glass bridges, while arcane lamps glow like stars above the ice, masking darker lights beneath. The city hums with trade and ritual, but a discreet institute beneath the central spire conducts grim experiments that threaten the fate of its residents.

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City

Harrowglass

A city of glass and ice where bargains with fate are written in ledger and blood.

TypeCity

PopulationRoughly 18,000 citizens clustered around causeways and glass districts.

WealthMiddle-tier wealth with pockets of great private wealth and common poverty.

GovernmentGuild-council with a leading Matriarch and advisory conclaves.

ReadinessMixed; the Frozen Watch is vigilant but understaffed and distracted by odd disappearances.

“A brittle city of wind-honed ice and lamplit glass where whispers freeze in midair.”

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Connections

Geography

RegionHigh mountain basin centered on the Glassed Lake.

ClimatePerpetual cold with long clear nights and fierce mountain winds.

TerrainA wide frozen lake ringed by sheer peaks and scarred moraine.

Travel Links

Northern mountain pass trade roadGlacier ferry to the Frosted ValeMerchants' causeways linking lakeside markets

Culture

Practical stoicism mixed with a superstitious urge to bargain with fate.

Races

HumanHalf-elfGnomeDwarf

Religions

The Shardfaith, worship of ordered cycles.The Tidekeeping cult, which honors the living lake.

Arts & Entertainment

Ice sculptors, ledger-singers, and small shadow-plays are the nightly diversions of the city.

History

Harrowglass grew from hardy traders and ice-harvesters who bridged the frozen lake with causeways and glassworks; generations of survival bred pragmatism and ritual, and the city prospered until the Arcanum Institute arrived offering science to stave off famine and chance, which led to secrecy and strange disappearances that divide the populace and threaten the city's soul.

Founding EraCauseway FoundingFounding families carved the first causeways and built the original ice docks to harvest crystals.

The Long FreezeThe Three-Year SealingA bitter winter closed trade for three years and birthed the ritual of City Releveling.

Recent EraArrival of the ArcanumThe Arcanum Institute arrived a generation ago promising relief from famine and began controversial experiments.

Government

LeaderMatriarch Lys Varr

Guild-council with a leading Matriarch and advisory conclaves.

Key Laws

All experiments affecting citizens require a Ledger Warrant signed by two councilors.No dredging of the central lake ice without council approval.Trade taxes must be paid in kind for winter supplies.

Problems

Disappearing citizens

An increase in disappearances of low-status citizens leads to public fear and protests.

Arcanum political influence

The Arcanum Institute pressures the council for expanded authority and secrecy under the guise of civic benefit.

Economy

Industries

ice-harvesting and glassblowingfish preservationarcane instrumentation

Scarcity

Fertile grain and warm timber are scarce within city limits.

Wealth LevelMiddle-tier wealth with pockets of great private wealth and common poverty.

Exports

Frost-glasswarepreserved fishice-harvest crystals

Imports

grain from the lowlandsiron and coalspices and textiles

Defenses

ReadinessMixed; the Frozen Watch is vigilant but understaffed and distracted by odd disappearances.

Fortifications

The Frostwall, an ice-reinforced embankment along the northern shore.Watcher Spire, a tall tower of glass for early warning.The Broken Gate, an old stone keep overlooking the mountain pass.

The Frozen Watch(Approximately 320 sworn fighters and militia)

A modest, disciplined force focused on patrols and escort duty with limited siege capability.

Law & Order

crime Level: Elevated in poorer districts with organized theft and occasional kidnappings.
enforcement: Formal patrols by the Icewardens augmented by private watchmen and secret investigators.
typical Punishment: Public labor on the causeways, short-term imprisonment, or exile for repeat offenders.

Matriarch Lys Varr

NPC

Head of the council

A resolute and cautious leader who values order and the city's survival.

Doctor Edrin Halvors

NPC

Director of the Arcanum Institute

A cold-eyed director who values results over ethics.

Captain Marek Tholl

NPC

Captain of the Frozen Watch

A loyal and blunt commander who doubts his own compromises.

Sera Koss

NPC

Tavernkeeper of the Skewed Compass

A warm host with a sharp eye for who's telling the truth and who is lying.

Idir Ansel

NPC

Archivist of the Deep Ledger

A meticulous archivist who hides truths behind courteous manner.

Boreal Curiosity

Shop

Curiosity stall

A cramped stall of odd crystals, clockwork charms, and protective runes favored by fishermen.

Gelid Remedies

Shop

Apothecary

A tidy apothecary that blends herb lore with minor arcane stabilizers for frost ailments.

The Skewed Compass

Tavern

Fishermen, watchmen, low-level clerks, and resistance whisperers.

A warm, crowded tavern half-carved from a single ice beam and lit with soft amber lamps.

The Frosted Ledger

Tavern

Merchants, smugglers, and the occasional visiting noble.

A quieter bar with better spirits and a backroom rented by merchants for discreet deals.

The Arcanum Institute

Faction

Secret research order

A secretive research body that studies probability and seeks to change destinies by experiment.

Icewardens

Faction

Paramilitary city guard

The city guard charged with law, order, and maintaining the frozen causeways.

Freeing Hand

Faction

Resistance movement

An underground network of activists and victims' kin who expose and oppose the Institute.

Glass Veil

Point of Interest

A vast stretch of lake where the ice is transparent enough to see faint chambers below.

Sunken Promenade

Point of Interest

A narrow, dim market built in a trench beneath the ice where contraband and experimental tools trade hands.

Watcher Spire

Point of Interest

An observation tower used by the Watch that overlooks the entire lake and the spire of the Arcanum.

Sundered Cavern

Point of Interest

A cracked cavern under the western ice rumored to hold old machines and discarded fate-devices.

Calendar of Events

January 12, 832

City Releveling

The City Releveling honours the building of the frozen causeways with lanterns and carved ice offerings.

One year a hidden ceremony doubles as a recruitment night for the Arcanum Institute.

February 2, 832

Night of Glasslights

The Night of Glasslights sees fishermen and merchants set lanterns across the lake to guide traders.

Some lanterns briefly flicker with impossible runes from below the ice.

Secrets

The Arcanum Institute runs illegal human experiments meant to 'correct' destiny by grafting memory and probability signatures.

RegionalCross-reference missing-person entries with transport logs and watch a frozen lantern sputter near a hidden grate.

A series of holding cells are sealed beneath the Arcanum's glass floors where subjects are kept in suspended states.

LocalFind a hidden ledger column in Ledger Hall marked with a single rune and a date.

A few wealthy foreign patrons buy tailored fate-alterations, making the Arcanum's methods a sought commodity across distant lands.

WorldFollow the donor caravan manifests and note nights when lanterns over the lake burn blue.

Rumors

Some claim the lake remembers those taken and whispers their true names back during thin moonlight.

A patron paying for 'fate correction' promised to live twice as long but lost half his memories instead.

Plot Hooks

Ledger in the Deep

Recover ledger entries that name the Arcanum's live subjects and expose them to the council.

InvestigationIdir AnselA cache of preserved food and an official pardon for freed victims.

Shatter the Orrery

Break into the Arcanum Institute, destroy the fate machinery, and free those kept in suspended cells under the glass floors.

AssaultSera KossGratitude of dozens of freed families and a unique glass-etched boon.

Turn the Watch

Convince Captain Marek Tholl to turn against his debtors and publicly accuse the Institute at Matriarch's Hall.

DiplomacyMatriarch Lys VarrOfficial employment with the Frozen Watch and a small land parcel.

Trail of the Donor Caravans

Track a caravan tied to merchant patrons of the Institute to uncover where donors send bodies for experiments.

TrackingIdir AnselAccess to merchant routes and trade discounts.

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