Urchins: Setting Details

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A Fantasy RPG for Cortex Prime

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Bar Kesh: City of Swords

The action of Urchins takes place in, around, and under the famed city of the Swordmanir, swordsmiths of great renown, dutybound priests, forging blades for the world that the end of the Mortal Realm might be seeded with the blood of the Nations.

The Gold Quarter

The Gold Quarter is home to some of the wealthiest members of Bar Kesh and a wonder of beauty, parklands, and growing things.

Temple Row

In the center of the quarter stand five somber structures of dark grey stone. Each is dedicated to one of the five main deities recognized by the Swordmanir.

Temple of the Wanderer

Tall and grey, the Wanderer is depicted as a lanky male figure in traveling clothes burdened under a pack with a gnarled staff to lean on. The wolves and bears and ravens and other creatures of the wild are known to approach him and whisper secrets and news from afar.

The Wanderer's temple is covered completely in green vines.

Temple of the Lady

Lithe and young, the Lady is depicted as a young woman clad in a dark cloak with her long hair flowing free behind her and deep, dark eyes. If one looks closely, it is said the twinkling stars can be seen in the depths of her cloak and her eyes.

In every image the Lady bears a pair of bone daggers, stained a deep red along the blades.

The Lady's temple is surrounded and draped in wild oleander.

Temple of the Smith

Stout and solid, the Smith is a figure in bronze and iron, faceless and massive. The smith is always depicted at his forge and always has a great hammer in his fist.

Most important to the Swordmanir, the Smith's temple stands taller than the others and starkly in the center with no growing things adorning its stone walls.

Temple of the Never

Depicted as a young lad in cloak and slippers of mist and fog, the Never exists both within and without the bounds of time. The Never bears no weapon or scepter, but his hands are said to be colder than the ice in the depths of the Lost Sea and able to reach through flesh and take hold of the heart within a man.

Black raventhorn vines grow up the face of this temple.

Temple of the Three

As implied by their title, the three have three distinct forms. The first that of a young girl clad in flowers and laughter. The second a stately matron heavy with child clad in the green growth of the forest. And finally the last form that of an withered crone clad in bark and moss.

Year round the temple is lush with spring flowers, harvest fruits, and hibernating greens.

Garden Tiers

The majesty of the garden tiers are part of the city's notoriety. Fully a third of the Gold quarter's land is given over to fruit trees in neat orchards, then going up levels the rooves of the quarter are dedicated to fruiting and flowering plants and vegetation and herbs.

The Keep of Five High Houses

The city of swords is traditionally governed by the five high houses of the Swordmanir and despite the implications of its name, the "keep" is nearly half the size of the gold quarter.

House d'Amasku is charged with the supply of iron to the city

House d'Jaala is charged with the shipping of wares in and out of the city

House d'Katayev is charged with building and maintenance of the city and its roads

House d'Ruvyen is charged with the defense of the city and its people

House d'Sceva is charged with the city's treasuries, granaries, and gardens

The Jade Tower of Immortal Wisdom

The Jerrid of the Swordmanir, a mad scion of one of the Houses, searches the forbidden secrets of the sorceries of Crispin the Seer in a tower of warded green stone that rises at once above the highest points of the city and drops below the Undercity, a vein that pierces the city's very heart.

The Iron Quarter

The Iron quarter is the near exclusive domain of the soldiers and smiths of the Swordmanir.

The Iron Barracks Along the northern wall are the barracks that house the standing army of mercenary squads that acts as the city watch. Only the Catspaw, the watch of rattown and the wharves, are not barracked here.

Blood Field In the midst of the quarter is a great open square known as Blood field where the soldiers of the barracks train and break new recruits.

St. Michael's Bazaar

On the east side of the city is a bazaar nearly as large as the great keep. Much of the city's commerce flows through here.

The Labyrinth

The largest quarter of the city, the Labyrinth is home to most of Bar Kesh's population. Long ago built to capacity, the Labyrinth boasts no open spaces and no room to grow outwards. So it grows upward. Whole streets will disappear almost overnight to make way for a new building, while small buildings will come down to make passage. The Labyrinth is a nightmare to navigate and very little of it is open to the sky.

Orphan's Tower is a decrepit spire near the center of the Labyrinth that stands nearly a dozen stories above ground and at least three underground. It is neutral ground and home to the city's unhomed children. The truce is an uneasy one, but it tends to hold or be quickly enforced when it slips.

Menhir, City of the Dead

The Mausoleum Pit

Hammerwall

Forges of the Swordmanir

Merchants Rim

The Shipyard

Lesser Light Tower

Rattown Wharf

Greater Light Tower

The Floating Market

The Char:

The 3 Roads

Beyond the Walls

The Beastholds

The Beast Market

The Shanty Field

Potter's Rim

Hammerwall Harbour