Ashkarin's heart and seat of power, the Iron Court is a grim, imposing fortress-palace of limestone and black-iron spires, where Overlord Amir Vexley holds dominion over the city. Here, matters of law, war, and trade are decided with steel-edged deliberation. The Iron Watch is headquartered within its walls, and its brutal dungeons stretch far below the earth — with whispering rumors that deeper, forgotten tunnels slumber beneath even those.
Completed just a few decades ago, the Iron Court rises atop a man-made hill, surrounded by a broad dry moat. A 25-foot-high stone wall encircles the central keep — a squat, rectangular building crowned by towers to the east and west. Despite its power, the keep is cramped, its corridors narrow and claustrophobic, and the heavy humidity of the surrounding swamps clings stubbornly to its cold stone. The walls are perpetually damp; torches lining the halls sputter and smoke, offering more acrid stench than warmth.
The Dungeons Below:
Conditions worsen beneath the Iron Court. The city’s lawbreakers rot in lightless cells where the wet air breeds sickness and despair. Rumors persist that some prisoners vanish, spirited away into lower tunnels that no guard openly admits exist.