Ember
  1. Locations

Ember

Bear Valley

🏘️ Ember — The Last Town Before Stonehell

“Smoke on the cliffs, fire in the dark, and no one asks your name unless you make trouble.”

Nestled on a sheer cliff face overlooking the Vyrkasha Lowlands, Ember is the last threadbare settlement before the haunted dread of Stonehell Dungeon. It clings to the redstone ridges at the gates of Ember Bastion, reached by switchback paths, frayed rope railings, and half-collapsed crusader stairs long forgotten.

Neither a village nor a garrison, Ember is a place of necessity—built to catch the overflow from the Bastion above and serve those who choose danger over safety. It is a haven for the half-healed, the trail-worn, the oathbound, and the damned. Those too hale for beds in the Bastion, too suspicious to sleep among strangers, or too proud to kneel before gods find shelter here.

🛡️ Purpose and Reputation

  • Founded by: Trailhands of the Pale Lodge and merchant families exiled from Ashkarin

  • Population: ~55 permanent residents

  • Buildings: ~15

  • Known for: Price-gouging, odd company, rare items, and no questions asked

  • Threats: Fog-spirits, tax-scryers from Ashkarin, and the curse of returning home empty-handed

📍 Notable Locations

1. Eagle’s Gate (Access to Ember Bastion)

The main entrance to Ember Bastion. A narrow gatehouse watches over the road above, guarded more by tradition than numbers. Watchers here rarely interfere—unless a fire is lit below.

2. Silverleaf Inn (Tavern & Lodging)

Owner: Baelvain Silverleaf (NG elven adventurer, retired)
The beating heart of Ember. Offers strong ale, questionable stew, and lodging for those who snore and pay in advance.

  • Common Room Bunk: 1 gp/night (shared loft, 1 drink, 1 meal)

  • Private Room (2 people): 5 gp/night (clean, fireplace, balcony)

  • Rentable Cottages: 4 small cliffside cottages (35 gp/month; 15 gp deposit; weekly firewood & well access)

3. Shrine of the Wheel (Shrine of Chance)

A scorched copper brazier burns outside a spoked Wheel of Chance nailed to the shrine wall. Vows are sworn aloud, fate wagered. Break your vow and find the doors of Ember slammed shut.

Rule: All followers of Chance seeking treasure or hunting writs must “pull the wheel” and declare their vow aloud. Broken vows carry consequences.

4. Shrine of the Wishing Tree (Shrine to Ky, the Nature Mother)

An ancient oak with hollow roots and wind chimes made of bone, iron, and driftwood. Tended by Taavi Auvo, a crow-marked, broken-spined priest who says the tree caught him when he fell.

  • Common offering: a flower pressed in wax or a trail token

  • Blessings granted: to those who walk alone, especially before dawn

5. The Checkmark Den (Wheelmarked Registry Point)

Hidden in a boarded storefront, this is the secretive registration point for all mercenaries, smugglers, and professional blades-for-hire. Run by Aunt Noose, a veiled woman whose voice is never raised and whose displeasure is never survived.

Miss a check-in, and supplies vanish, contacts go silent, or bounties whisper your name.

6. Pale Lodge of Ember

“Where the smoke lifts, the Trail begins.”

Not a hall, but a converted granary squatting near the shattered stair to the upper Bastion. Its darkwood door is scorched, the iron latch always warm. A white bird is etched into the stone lintel—no words, no hours.

Inside: cots, a firepit, a table carved from the Wishing Tree’s fallen limb. Burned banners hang limp in the rafters.

  • Warden: Syra “Ember-Still” Coal-Eye (NG human Fighter 5), a half-blind trail-veteran with a memory like a ledger and a voice that halts arguments mid-word.

  • Role: Serves as a regional Pale Lodge outpost and mercenary registry.

  • Services:

    • Retainer hiring (combat & non-combat)

    • Trail maps, bounty ledgers, and bone-cursed oaths

    • Shelter for wounded Lodge members

    • Informal exorcisms, meal shares, and vengeance pacts

Local Note: The Ember branch has a reputation for taking in the broken, the wild, and the near-mad. Many who pass through Stonehell's maw return here first—or not at all.