Deepberth

Deepberth is the beating, blood-soaked heart of piracy in the Pirate Isles: a sprawling harbor-town built vertically up three stony karst towers on the shores of southeastern Island of Tamerynd. This narrow, ramshackle town is are where fortunes change hands faster than blades are drawn. Murder, deceit, betrayal, and sudden wealth are not aberrations here but the city’s natural weather. A sailor can arrive penniless at dusk, command a crew by midnight, and be floating face-down in the harbor by dawn.

Every six years, Deepberth becomes the political center of the pirate world when the Warcaptains gather to debate, amend, and rewrite the Compact... the only law that pirates broadly acknowledge. During these periods, the city becomes even more volatile, as old grudges resurface and new ambitions are forged in blood and rum.

Geography

Deepberth is not a city laid upon land... it is a city clinging to stone. Along the southeastern shore of Tamerynd Island, three immense limestone karsts rise abruptly from the sea like the broken teeth of some drowned colossus. These karsts form the natural arms of an extraordinarily deep, sheltered harbor, whose waters plunge far beyond the reach of ordinary anchors. It is this abyssal anchorage, it is said able to swallow whole fleets, that gives the city its name. The sea floor drops away sharply between the karsts, creating a harbor so deep that wrecks and bodies alike vanish into blackness within sight of the docks. Some old sailors claim the bottom has never been reached. Though the city is generally protected from the worst of the storms of the Pirate Isles, the climate is wet and plant life verdant... any structure that lasts more than a few weeks either disintegrates from the moisture or grows a thick cover of moss and ivy that, somehow, keeps the buildings of the city clinging to the walls of the three karsts.

The tallest and most sheer of the three karsts, Blacktooth Rise dominates the harbor like a jagged fang, its stone face riddled with iron spikes, rope bridges, and cantilevered platforms driven directly into the rock. On calm mornings and rainy nights, the upper levels vanish into mist and smoke. As with the other two karsts of the city, buildings are stacked vertically, five or six layers deep, collapses are common and rebuilding is constant. Blacktooth Rise is where Deepberth’s most dangerous districts climb skyward, built atop ruins, which themselves rest upon older ruins from forgotten ages. Whole floors and carved caves have been sealed off and forgotten, becoming tombs, lairs, or secret routes.

Broader and more fractured, Gallowskar slopes unevenly toward the jungle interior, its stone split by old fault lines and sinkholes. It is riddled with natural arches and overhangs, many of which now support hanging structures lashed together with chains and timber. It is easily accessed from shore and jungle and has the only road leading out of the city, into farmlands and fishing villages that huddle nearby along the shore. Gallowskar has always been associated with judgment, punishment, and politics. It is said that in some distant past, when Deepberth briefly flirted with law, executions were carried out here—often by rope suspended over open air. The name endured long after the laws did not.

The most outward-reaching karst, Dagon's Horn juts directly into the harbor like a prow, battered constantly by waves and storms. Its lower reaches are perpetually slick with spray, while its upper tiers lean precariously over open water. In her shadow lie docks generally unclaimed and storm-facing drydocks, often with ships in various stages of repair or randomly careened along the shore. Even the buildings that rise up the walls are constructed from or reinforced by ship hulls and scrap from the shipyards. Entire sections of the city here are periodically claimed by the sea as improbable and reckless construction finally breaks and crashes into the waters below. Dagon's Horn is where the city meets the ocean head-on. Ships moor directly to stone piers driven into the karst, and some structures extend so far out that waves crash beneath their floors at high tide. Many believe parts of the Horn are slowly sinking.

The Harbor of Deepberth is deep and dark, providing for plenty of space for even the largest of fleets to dock along her shores. Anchors often fail to reach anything substantial, so mooring chains are essential. Sunlight seems to vanish quickly beneath the oily, grimy surface. Rumors persist of lights seen moving deep underwater and sounds echoing up from the depths on still nights, but whether these tales are superstition or a warning is a matter of opinion...

Geographic Info

Continent: Duria

Region: Island of Tamerynd

Terrain: Coastal karst towers

Climate: Tropical

People

Demographic Info

Population: 9,500

Species Composition: About 65% human, 10% half-elven, 20% half-orc and 5% "other"

Primary Language(s): Tamerish

Secondary Language(s): Aebasan, Neptaran, Zetian

The people of Deepberth are composed of the flotsam and jetsam of societies and peoples from around the Betshaban Ocean, washed up by the Great Gyre into one of the most violent, opportunistic and, conversely, one of the most free communities in the world. Though the population waxes and wanes with the arrival or departure of various pirate ships, there is a sedentary core of people who have come to live permanent in the ramshackle buildings stacked atop one another up and down the three karst towers that the town is built upon. The permanent residents all seek to profit one way or another off the pirates who seek haven in the city, either through prostitution, working he docks, fencing and shipping stolen goods or various other nefarious and even semi-legitimate enterprises.

Government & Politics

There is no formal ruler in Deepberth. At times in its history, a mayor has emerged, but he is always self-appointed, always temporary and always deposed once their strength has faltered. Authority in Deepberth flows from fear, wealth, reputation and the number of thugs you can muster at any one time rather than titles.

Law

There is no real law in Deepberth, other than the Compact that pirates are sworn to uphold (and sometimes do!). Each faction in the city has its own rules and regulations that it enforces as it is able, either in its business dealings or, sometimes, even over a whole neighborhood. Public killings are common, but inefficient or rampant violence is frowned upon... anyone who disrupts business too often tends to vanish quietly into the depths of the harbor.

Law Enforcement

"Justice" is more a cycle of revenge and retaliation than anything organized, characterized by crew retaliation, personal vendettas, syndicate reprisals, gang warfare and, rarely, arbitration by the Warcaptains.

Power Groups & Factions

Anchorfall Combine

Original article: Anchorfall Combine

The lifeblood of the Anchorfall district of Deepberth on the Island of Tamerynd, this is a loose association of warehouse masters, auctioneers, accountants and disreputable galley merchants who convert piracy into coin. They never draw blood... but they decide who starves when trade dries up.

The Ashen Oath

Original article: Ashen Oath

The Ashen Oath does not exist and is merely a story meant to scare street urchins from infesting the Tidegrave. Those stories claim the Ashen Oath is a discreet cabal that traffics in souls and revenants. No one sane believes they actually exist...

The Black Chart Society

Original article: Black Chart Society

Based in various shops around the city of Deepberth but rumored to be centralized in the Veil Market, the Black Chart Society specializes in selling stolen or outlawed maps... routes through dangerous oceans, past naval patrols, around cursed waters or even to places that should not exist...

The Blackwake Brotherhood

Original article: Blackwake Brotherhood

Shipbreakers, salvagers, and scavengers of cursed or ruined vessels, they are a superstitious and insular group that run the Blackwake Ward of Deepberth. They are rumored to worship something beneath the waves. The Blackwake Brotherhood are either organized under or closely allied with the so-called "Undertow Baron," Warcaptain Dartemis Mull of the Bilgehand Syndicate. Mull even maintains a residence in Blackwake and members of the Brotherhood are known to frequent his home when he is at sea.

The Broken Mast Union

Original article: Broken Mast Union

An alliance of sailors and pirates, the Broken Mast Union represents crewmen between ships. They sell loyalty, manpower, and silence to the highest bidder. Their main power base is in Saltspire Row, but they wield no small amount of influence at all of the docks of Deepberth.

The Chandler's Ring

Original article: Chandler's Ring

One of the oldest craft guilds in Deepberth, the Chandler's Ring controls the production of tar, rope, sailcloth and oil in the city. Gang wars and street fights have started over their pricing decisions.

The Coil Crowns

Original article: Coil Crowns

The Coil Crowns are a loose coalition of stairwell lords and gang bosses ruling the Coil. Their leaders wear improvised crowns as symbols of conquered territory and change frequently, as one gang boss or another is assassinated and replaced, often by one of his own lieutenants. More often than not, the organization is just an excuse to gather the powerful of the district for drink and debauchery... rarely do they organize and when they do, it tends to fall apart quickly.

The Compact Keepers

Original article: Compact Keepers

A neutral (and feared) cadre of arbiters, scribes, and enforcers tasked with interpreting and enforcing the Compact. They carry no banners and answer to no single captain. Based out of Goldwake Hall in Anchorfall neighborhood of Deepberth, they are ostensibly funded by the Warcaptains, but even the Warcaptains are subject to their edicts... when the Keepers' enforcers can catch them.

The Crownless Envoys

Original article: Crownless Envoys

More of a profession in the city of Deepberth than an actual organization, the Crownless Envoys are agents of distant, more respectable, powers operating unofficially in the city, gathering intelligence on pirate activity and backing proxy captains against their state enemies. Having a reputation as a Crownless Envoy is seen by the inhabitants of Deepberth as more of a deficiency in character than a boon.

The Dockhands' Brotherhood

Original article: Dockhands' Brotherhood

Ostensibly a mutual-aid society, the Dockhands' Brotherhood is one of the most powerful factions in the Lower Docks, the Old Quays and Anchorfall neighborhoods of Deepberth. They can shut down entire districts by refusing to move goods from the docks to their destination... or by working selectively to support those they favor and harm those that have offended them. Few are powerful enough to court their wrath.

The Drowned Choir

Original article: Drowned Choir

The Drowned Choir is a mysterious Tidegrave cult in Deepberth said to be devoted to forgotten sea-spirits or oceanic demons. Members sing their droning songs during high tide rituals as the water overtakes them... some never resurface afterward.

The Gutter Admirality

Original article: Gutter Admirality

The Gutter Admirality are a loose association of failed or deposed captains who still command crews too dangerous to ignore. They dream of reclaiming status... and blame everyone else for their fall. The group has some influence in both the Lower Docks and Blackwake Ward of Deepberth, but aren't organized well enough to pose a serious threat to the factions that run those districts.

The Knife Saints

Original article: Knife Saints

Ritualistic killers operating out of the Gallowsreach neighborhood of Deepberth, they believe murder is sacred when performed “cleanly.” Their contracts are expensive... and irrevocable. Most assume they are adherents of Cthos the Doomsayer, god of death, Tisiphone the Despoiled, goddess of vengeance, or else Empusa, Lady Death, goddess of poison. Some even whisper that they are cultists of Maelphegor, the Crimson Wyrm, Dagonian god of air who has a sect, the []Crimson Cowls]], who specialize in assassination.

The Mayor's Circle

Original article: Mayor's Circle

In a city of criminals and rebels, the rebellious seek authority. The Mayor's Circle are a secret cabal of opportunists attempting to bring law and order to Deepberth... under their apt control, of course. They believe the "pirate city" should be ruled... by them or a proxy of their choosing. They are constantly agitating against the other factions, quietly causing disruptions in whichever faction they feel has brought the most chaos to the city in recent weeks. Those who are even aware of their existence presume that they have some base of operations hidden away somewhere in Gallowsreach.

Regas Dall's Ledger

Original article: Regas Dall's Ledger

This is the common name for the personal commercial empire of Regas Dall, the aging half-elven retired Warcaptain that stands as the longest-living survivor of the city of Deepberth. Ostensibly a fencing operation, in truth a web of debts, favors, and blackmail touching nearly every faction in the city. Deepberth has no king... and Regas Dall ensures it, because he hates competition.

The Salt Widow Cartel

Original article: Salt Widow Cartel

The Salt Widow cartel is a matriarchal syndicate in the pirate city of Deepberth specializing in drugs, poisons, and addictive sea-distillates. Their loyalty to one another is fierce and their vengeance against their enemies is surgical. They are the most powerful faction in the Knife Market and operate the dreaded Red Canopy at the heart of the district. Madame Saltren is their matron, an impeccably polite and utterly ruthless businesswoman with connections to most of the Warcaptains. Rumor is that she's not an actual widow at all... that she was the consort of a Warcaptain who abandoned her to move into his estate high atop Blacktooth Rise when he retired.

The Silent Ledger

Original article: Silent Ledger

The Silent Ledger are neutral spies and rumor-mongers who sell information but never act on it themselves. Everyone hates them... and everyone pays them. They operate throughout the city, but maintain a quiet front in Gallowsreach for those who seek to purchase some knowledge they have obtained. More often than not, the Silent Ledger finds their customers rather than the other way around.

The Red Wake

Original article: Red Wake

The Red Wake is less a fleet and more a legend stitched from silk sheets, secrets, and blood. Warcaptain Bonny Billy Blood commands only a single ship, his beloved Lucinde Mae, but his true reach stretches far beyond her crimson sails. His power lies in a vast and intimate network of spies, pirates, lovers, and informants who serve him out of loyalty, lust, or leverage. From Deepberth to the salons of the Freecity of Neptaris, Billy is whispered to hold silent partnerships in dozens of taverns, brothels, and safehouses, each doubling as a listening post for the maritime underworld. Sailors claim that not a cargo slips anchor nor a betrayal blooms without his knowing smile already turned toward it. The Red Wake is a web of influence, and Bonny Billy its grinning spider—charming, deadly, and always watching. In the pirate haven of Deepberth, they operate both openly and secretly according to Billy's whims and needs, agitating where necessary and helping his allies (however temporary they may be). When they attack, they are theatrical, brutal, and designed to destabilize rivals rather than enrich themselves. They are a rapidly growing faction within the city, most prominent in the Coil and Saltspire Row.

The Veilkeepers

Original article: Veilkeepers

The Veilkeepers are the masked custodians of the Veil Market. Their true numbers, identities, and allegiances are unknown. What is known is that they are closely allied with the Warcaptain of the Moonless Wake Fleet, Maelen Draethe, who rose to power as a merchant in their Veil Market and still maintains a shop there that she tends to when in port. Some claim the Veilkeepers are not all mortal...

The Warcaptains

Original article: Warcaptains of the Pirate Isles

The loose assembly of the most powerful pirate fleet commanders, these individuals are the closest thing to nobility that pirates tolerate. They meet formally only once every six years in Deepberth to revise the Compact, but their informal influence over the city is constant. They rarely agree... but when they do, cities burn and navies drown.

Government Info

Type: Anarchy

Ruler(s): None

Strategic Importance: Pirate haven

Economy

Economic Info

Exports: Stolen goods, including foodstuffs, ore, treasure and whatever else the pirates can bring to the city's fences and repurpose with semi-respectable merchants; some pirates will go "respectable" for a while and sell their services abroad as naval mercenaries.

Imports: Everything. Deepberth produces very little.

The economy of Deepberth is predatory, liquid, and brutally efficient. Wealth here is not created so much as captured, converted, and redistributed through violence, leverage, and fear. The city produces little of its own; instead, it thrives by intercepting the wealth of others and laundering it into forms that can be spent, hidden, or reinvested. It breathes by serving those eager to spend their ill-gotten coin on spirits, luck, sex and everything else coin can buy. Coin flows constantly, but stability does not. A single night can see a merchant family ruined, a captain elevated to legend, and an entire district plunged into scarcity or even falling into the ocean itself. Deepberth’s economy does not reward patience... it rewards timing.

Religion & Belief

Superstition dominates in Deepberth and, generally, the overtly religious are unwelcome unless they are aligned with a god of the sea (the Compact begins with the declaration "Let it be known that no king rules the sea, nor any god save those who dwell beneath the waves." Deepberth is one of the few places in the world that Taltos the Deepdweller is worshipped openly. Once every few years, worshipers or converts to Betshaba the Wavequeen amass in secret to large enough numbers to challenge the worshipers of Taltos, which inevitably leads to blood-soaked docks and nights of terror until one faction or the other (usually the Betshabans) retreats into the shadows.

Worshipers of Pothos the Glutton, god of vice, and Orchus the Bluefeather, god of luck, are not uncommon and, along with Taltosian worship, the only faiths that maintain a relatively stable presence in Deepberth.

Various other faiths can be found in Deepberth, though typically worshipers keep their faith quiet or secret. Worshipers of Cebren the Piper, god of music, tend to be found in the many drinking halls and taverns that are scattered through the city. Orestea the Chalice, goddess of rain, is respected and her adherents sometimes attempt to institute some article or tradition that would soften the darker side of the liberties the inhabitants revel in. Worship of Thea the Muse, goddess of art, is not uncommon, particularly among shipbuilders and naval architects. Unfortunately, open worship of Empusa "Lady Death", goddess of poison; Epimetheus the Drowned Wyrm, god of floods; Tisiphone the Despoiled, goddess of vengeance; and Stheno the Stillborn, god of decay, is not uncommon. Strangely, worship of Podarge the Destroyer, god of destruction and drowning and patron of pirates is not significant in the city, though his cult certainly has a presence. The pirates of Deepberth tend to be too focused on profit and coin to truly embrace the destruction and fear demanded by the Destroyer. Worship of Gyges the Herald, god of thunder, is not unknown and is seen as something of a patron for sailors seeking to avoid the dreaded storms of Podarge. Orthus the Stormrider, god of storms, is feared and appeased... some worship him purely as a matter of pragmatism.

Betshaban cults are often whispered about and cursed in the same breath. Though most of the city's pirates at least pay some lip service to Betshaba and Taltos alike, whenever Betshabans grow numerous enough to become uncovered in Deepberth, they are generally considered enemies by most, if for no other reason than they tend to violently disapprove of the main means of income for most in the city.

Major Temples

There are no known formal temples in Deepberth, though there are various shrines, often temporary, tucked into its nooks and corners for those who know where to look. There are, of course, constant rumors of a vast temple of Taltos under one of the city's karst columns or at the floor of its harbor.

Religious Info

Pantheon: Any

Dominant Faith: Taltos the Deepdweller, Dagonian god of water, Pothos the Glutton, god of vice, and Orchus the Bluefeather, god of luck

Secondary Faith(s): Cebren the Piper, god of music; Empusa "Lady Death", goddess of poison; Epimetheus the Drowned Wyrm, god of floods; Gyges the Herald, god of thunder; Orestea the Chalice, goddess of rain; Orthus the Stormrider, god of storms; Podarge the Destroyer, god of destruction and drowning; Stheno the Stillborn, god of decay; Thea the Muse, goddess of art; Tisiphone the Despoiled, goddess of vengeance

Persecuted Faiths: Betshaba the Wavequeen

Culture & Daily Life

Deepberth’s people are hard, pragmatic, and often deeply superstitious. Sea-charms hang beside stolen relics. Names are treasured as one of the few possessions that cannot be stolen, but when sullied may be discarded as easily as knives. Loyalty is respected, but only as long as it is accompanied by profit.

Despite its brutality, Deepberth possesses a strange stability. Everyone understands the rules, even if none are written, and those who survive long enough often come to see the city as the only place in the world where freedom is absolute... right up until the moment it isn’t.

Notable Locations

Anchorfall

Original article: Anchorfall

These are the central docks of Deepberth, where the Warcaptains (and their guests) put in to port. Nestled against the foot of Blacktooth Rise, Anchorfall is almost respectable compared to the other districts. The city's counting houses are here, storing ill-gotten treasure and semi-legitimate profits. The warehouses are well fortified and the neutrality of the area is strictly enforced by tradition, the will of the Warcaptains and the Anchorfall Combine. Anchorfall features the city's best taverns, cleanest whorehouses and most of its wealthiest (and well protected) denizens.

Blackwake Ward

Original article: Blackwake Ward

The storm-facing edge of Deepberth, Blackwake Ward clings to the walls of the karst known as Dagon's Horn, just the other side of the Lower Docks. Ships moored here are generally unfamiliar to Deepberth, either because they are relatively new ventures who have yet to gain a reputation in the city or because they have fallen out of favor with the Warcaptains and are seen as a profitless waste of time. Crews sheltering in Blackwake Ward are desperate and violence in the causeways is common. When storms come to Deepberth, they tend to lash at the Ward hardest, often breaking pieces of it in the winds, spray and high tides. There are some drydocks here, maintained by the Gutter Admirality, and unallied ships can seek repairs here for a steep price... and questionable quality.

The Coil

Original article: The Coil

The Coil is a spiraling slum of stacked housing and rope bridges strung between the three karsts of Deepberth. Gang territories here stretch both vertically and horizontally and any stairwell might well lead into a different territory with different rules. There are frequent fires and collapses here, though residents rebuild over the ashes within days of the fires going out. Street urchins are everywhere, almost more common than the hordes of rats that prowl the streets unafraid. Upward mobility is literal... the most powerful gangs rule the highest buildings and the weak are left to struggle and wallow in the damp dregs where everything drips down. The most powerful gang bosses have formed a loose coalition known as the Coil Crowns, mostly as an excuse to enjoy the district's pleasures without having to worry about them killing one another. Sometimes, they organize against some external threat, but such an alliance is brief and rarely finds much success before it falls apart to bickering and infighting.

Gallowsreach

Original article: Gallowsreach

Once an execution ground, Gallowsreach is now home to killers who prefer privacy. Stretched across the blunted height of the karst known as Gallowskar, Gallowsreach is what passes for a residential area of Deepberth. Its inhabitants are former pirate captains, killers and assassins of various sorts, some of which have long since 'retired' from their business and others who have come to learn from and join in fellowship with the masters of their craft. The streets are silent at night and are unequivocally the safest in the city. Those few inns in the district are sturdy structures built of stone, with many quiet meeting rooms where deals can be made and death is negotiated. The stone platforms that served as the gallows in some forgotten past still remain here and are viewed by the inhabitants of the district with hallowed (or perhaps unhallowed) reverence.

The Knife Market

Original article: Knife Market

A sprawling black-market bazaar in Deepberth on the karst known as Gallowskar where legality is irrelevant and morality is optional, the Knife Market is primarily composed of narrow alleyways packed with stalls and hidden rooms. Prices fluctuate wildly with rumor, bloodshed and the tides. if something exists (or shouldn't), it has been bought here at some point. Pickpocketing is a constant, as is quiet violence of those powerful enough to take what they want from others. Market rules are ruthlessly enforced here by the Salt Widow Cartel, who's thugs are constantly wandering the alleys in twos and threes, collecting protection money from the vendors hoping to make enough coin to pay them.

The Lower Docks

Original article: Lower Docks

The Lower Docks are the lungs of Deepberth, choked with ships, laborers, and the stink of salt, tar, and blood. Everything entering or leaving the city touches these piers at some point. Power here lies not with captains, but with those who decide what gets unloaded. Sprawling beneath the shadow of the karst known as Dagon's Horn, the Lower Docks are constantly in motion, day and night, and the noise of men working, cranes creaking and wagons creaking through the narrow streets are ceaseless. The docks are controlled by labor gangs (most of whom are associated with the Dockhands' Brotherhood) with shifting loyalties who load and unload ships moored there, charging informal tolls and "dock fees" enforced with clubs and fists. Accidental fires and entire sections of the town collapsing into the harbor are not uncommon.

The Old Quays

Original article: Old Quays

Once the main docks of the city, the Old Quays are now crumbling docks and warehouses used by only the most desperate. Cursed and broken ships are towed to the old drydocks here, stripped, burned or quietly hidden away. Situated at the rocky base of the Gallowskar karst, the district is characterized by rotting wood and leaning structures ready to fall into one another. Even when the weather is clear elsewhere, there is often a sickening fog lingering in the air here and the harbor seems eerily calm even during storms. Most common pirates and sailors avoid the Old Quays, claiming that the cursed ships towed here leave a palpable, haunted gloominess where shadows move and whisper.

Regas' Redoubt

One of the few permanent structures in Deepberth, Regas' Redoubt is a mansion built on the ruins of some ancient castle by the city's only retired Warcaptain, Regas Dall. Perched atop Blacktooth Rise, Regas' Redoubt provides for the best view of Deepberth's most powerful resident... and, it is said, the only resident who survived the end of the Third Age and the coming of the Dark Times on Deepberth a century and a half ago. Regas Dall's Ledger is based here and Regas himself rarely descends from his lofty perch himself any more, preferring to work through his agents, spies and strongmen who oversee his fencing operations in the city and abroad. Aged even for a half-elf, Regas is still respected by all of the other Warcaptains... as long as he continues to be useful to their operations. Most believe it is only a matter of time before someone finally topples him from his perch and he, too, finds himself sinking into the bottomless harbor or rotting under some stone sarcophagus in the Tidegrave.

Saltspire Row

Original article: Saltspire Row

Saltspire Row is a vertical riot of taverns, brothels, gambling dens, and fighting pits stacked atop one another up the wall of the Blacktooth Rise karst in Deepberth. Saltspire Row is where crews spend their shares... and where future disasters are born over cheap rum. Rickety rope bridges and scaffolding span the distance between taverns and there are frequent brawls that spill out into the "streets." Murder tends to be rare (its bad for business), but a body or two is usually discovered in the cracks and crevasses of the district on a weekly basis. Rumors spread faster than disease in the cramped quarters here.

Tidegrave

Original article: Tidegrave

Located at the back of the Blacktooth Rise karst of Deepberth, beyond the Coil, the Tidegrave is a half-flooded district that serves as both a graveyard and dumping ground for the unnamed dead. The lowest streets are often flooded at high tide and graves are built above-ground to prevent the dead from floating back up. It is said that there are sunken shrines to forgotten sea gods and watery demons alike here, tucked away behind salt-stained tombs and moldy alleyways. There are more than a few stories of those laid to rest here who rose back from their watery graves to prowl the doomed streets of the district.

The Veil Market

Original article: Veil Market

More a phenomenon than a physical district, the Veil Market appears where it wills and shifts locations throughout the city of Deepberth on some esoteric itinerary. Entrances are well-guarded and participants in the Market are expected to be masked. There is an absolute prohibition on violence here that the place itself seems to enforce on the rare occasion that someone seeks to violate that unspoken edict. The Veilkeepers, masked brokers whose identities are unknown an possibly interchangeable, oversee transactions and enforce the rules, punishing transgressions immediately and absolutely. Reality feels thin here... almost as if the Veil Market exists out of place and time. Those who enter rarely agree on what they saw and some claim they have met people there who claim to be in the back alleys of some other distant city, not in Deepberth at all...

Magick & the Supernatural

Magick in Deepberth is present, feared, and deeply distrusted. The city sits atop layers of ruin, bloodshed, and broken oaths, creating a Heka presence that is best described as chaotic and unstable. Heka does not flow cleanly here; it pools, eddies, and occasionally lashes out. Formal spellcasting is rare in public spaces, not because it is illegal, but because overt magick draws attention...and attention in Deepberth is dangerous.

Practitioners of magick hold influence without authority. Sorcerers, witches, hedge-magi, and occultists are tolerated so long as they are useful, discreet, and careful not to disrupt commerce or violate the Compact. Those who flaunt power tend to disappear. The city respects results, not theories, and mistrusts any magick that cannot be immediately explained in terms of profit, fear, or survival.

Common Magickal Services

Magickal services in Deepberth are transactional, practical, and morally flexible. Commonly available services include:

• Curses & Hexes: Short-term maledictions for luck, sickness, fear, or impotence—rarely permanent unless paid for dearly.
• Wards & Protections: Ship-charms against storms, mutiny, fire, or scrying; often unreliable but better than nothing.
• Divinations: Reading tides, bones, cards, or drowned entrails to answer narrow questions (routes, betrayals, survival).
• Spiritual Surgery: Removal of curses, bindings, or foreign Heka... in practice, dangerous and sometimes worse than the affliction.
• Binding Contracts: Supernaturally reinforced bargains, especially through intermediaries tied to the Veil Market.

True Hermetic or Divine workings are uncommon and usually hidden behind layers of intermediaries.

Local Legends

Deepberth’s sailors and citizens cling to superstition as tightly as to rope in a storm.

• The Harbor Watches Back: It is said the deep water beneath the city is aware. Throwing bodies, cursed items, or broken oaths into the harbor without proper rites invites misfortune... usually in threes.
• Never Whistle on the Karsts: Whistling atop the stone spires is believed to draw storms or worse. Many swear they have heard a whistle answered from below the waterline.
• The Third Shadow Rule: If you see three shadows when casting only one lantern, leave immediately. Something unseen is standing behind you.
• Salt Before Sleep: Old dockhands scatter salt at doorways each night. Not for spirits... but to see footprints in the morning.
• Masks Remember Faces: Any mask worn during a Veil Market bargain must never be destroyed. Burning one is said to call the Veilkeepers’ attention.

Known Curses, Relics or Phenomena

Deepberth is plagued by persistent supernatural irregularities. On still nights, some claim that voices rise from the harbor depths, repeating phrases spoken long ago... often accusations or last words. And if you hear song... called the Drowned Echo... the old sailors say you will not live to see another sunset. Worse still, there are credible stories of those called simply "the Returned," individuals believed drowned who reappear days or weeks later, altered, silent or bound to strange compulsions.

Local Heka is chaotic and sometimes unreliable here, particularly up on the karsts. Some claim there is some rare stone within the karsts that amplify or twist magickal effects, causing castings to misfire, echo or partially manifest later.

This page has been identified as needing a map for clarity.