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Adventuring in the Twilight Age

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Welcome to the Twilight Age Ever since the Empire-That-Was receded, no human endeavor under the fading red sun has reached its heights. Some say humankind no longer possesses the know-how to reach such grandeur. Others claim that confronting daily a sun that could fail them at any moment has filled folks with a spirit of defeat. Regardless of the reasons, it is in the face of such apocalyptic ennui that we find the peoples of Ur-Dun. Just south of the fallen Imperial capital city, this series of towns have become petty city-states just as embroiled in squabbles as they are in desperate dependencies fundamental to their survival. These human-led settlements are not the only civilized peoples in Ur-Dun. The mortal regents possess delicate treaties with distant Elfin Courts. The Gloaming Hills below the Slumbering Mountains are populate with small pastoral settlements of the hill dwarf (re: gnome) descendants of the folk that built the Imperial-era structures that litter the r...
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The Districts of Topside- Cardinal Hill

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  Cardinal Hill (The Heart of Topside) At the center of Topside sits its necropolis- a hill covered with arching paths lined with sepulchers and sarcophagi. It can be seen from any point in the settlement making it a key directional landmark. All of the graves here sit above ground as the people of Dungeon World have learned the hard way that only bad things come to those that inter the dead in the soil born of Tiamat’s decaying body. 12. The Rose Mausoleum At the top of the hill, a tall mausoleum rises to tower above the settlement. The head of the Grave Wardens based here, the shockingly tweenage High Sexton , claims its pink marble walls protect its inhabitants from the effects of the phlogistan. The structure's entrance is marked by a skull relief that possesses eyes set with rubies. Carved into the floor are the words, “Remember that you must die”. Visitors are known to perform Spiritual Execrises in the form of offerings to the dead they have interred there. The attempts se...
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The Districts of Topside- Royal Bay

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  Royal Bay (Southeast Topside) Bluestone and slate-roofed cottages overlook the harsh rocks lapped by the flow of phlogistan rolling in from the Astral Sea. The remains of beached monstrosities and wrecked astral vessels dragged in by the cosmic tide litter the rocks. 10. The Three Wizards This crumbling coastal estate has been repurposed into lodgings for those lost souls who have yet to establish a permanent domicile in Topside. Callidine , one who speaks with two voices, is like a midwife ushering those newly arrived into life on Dungeon World. The following lodgings can be secured on a monthly basis as no one is just “passing through” Dungeon World: *The Common Room (3gp) - a spot can be found among the tented silks around the room’s pool of fresh water. Those that do must pass a Constitution check or suffer a -1 penalty to attack and damages on their next delve due to bad sleep. Those that fail also have a 1-in-6 chance of falling to memorize a spell (roll for each slot they ...
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The Districts of Topside- The Pitch

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The Pitch (Northeast Topside) Tall buildings with blackened timber frames line the narrow, dark cobble stone streets of the Pitch. Its smoke choked paths are home to what entertainment there is to be found in Topside. Often light on foot traffic during the day, the district comes alive with pleasure seekers and spectators of Dungeon World's many contests. 7. The Forge of the (Dungeon) World Pressed against the side of Cardinal Hill stretches Topside’s only smithy. It’s large size seems absurd for it houses but a single ironsmith- Brok . The Dungeon World native is a licensed armorer capable of crafting 5 weapons or 3 shields or 1 suit of armor a month. When drinking at the nearby tavern, he is known to fall into sad lamentations about the Splendid Items he used to forge with his dwarven siblings. 8. The Alchemist’s Jug This halfling-run tavern is the last of Topside’s public drinking establishments. While the taps of the rest of the drinking holes long went dry, the Full-Pint fam...
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The Districts of Topside- Emerald Terrace

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Emerald Terrace (Northwest Topside) Moss-covered paving stones carve a path through the overgrown landscape of Topside’s northwestern quarter. Sparse, ivy-covered residences mark hilly terrain otherwise dotted with pavilions and pagodas. Herds of goats forage grasses in the shadows of small-scale terraced farms. 4. Seedholm Overlooking it all, high on the edge of Dungeon World, sits the baroque manor house that is center to Topside’s elven diaspora. Founded by refugees of a wilted branch of Yggdrasil, the estate was constructed at the site where their migrational samara marooned them on Dungeon World. Their matriarch, the Lady-Bound-in-Leaves , has shrewdly leveraged their colony-ship supplies to position them at the center of Topside’s high society. Their balls and soirees are packed with the who’s-who of Dungeon World’s surface society- often making it the perfect place to Find the Right Buyer for antiquities and curios dragged out of the halls below. 5. Thunder Grove A large but s...
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The Districts of Topside- Ashtown

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Ashtown (Southwest Topside) It is said that all the narrow streets and twisting alleys of Ashtown lead to the fountain courtyard catty-corner of the necropolis. They are dotted with the white-washed homes of petty bureaucrats, the families of dragoons, and the occasional arcanist. At the courtyard itself rest the three most significant buildings in Ashtown.  1. Ashtown Stationers Labyrinthine aisles of book crafting supplies snake around this single-floor establishment. The smell of pipeweed smoke and the sounds of magic-users locked in joyous debate lead to the shop’s oak counter. There, the blind proprietor named Old Emrys holds court in front of a shelf of rare materials for the spellbook illuminations essential for completing Spellcraft downtimes. The following mundane supplies can be purchased here: *A vial of ink (1gp) *A quill (1gp) *Parchment (1gp per 2 sheets) *Scroll case (1gp) 2. The Lodge of the Five Dragons An old sign featuring five dragons locked in a pentangle ma...
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Dungeon World- Topside

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The settlement known as Topside stretches across most of the surface of Dungeon World. Newcomers may find it strange that Topside, marginally a village in scale, is divided into five districts- four quarters orbiting a necropolis. Even stranger is that each of these districts are built of color-coded materials creating sharp delineations in neighborhood aesthetics. Locals, however, find none of this unusual at all. For the former, they all claim that the districts were once needed for, you see, Dungeon World used to be bigger. Ah, while none could quite say when or possesses memory of this past, it is an accepted truth in Topside. As to the latter, the strong color profiles are out of pure practical materiality. Topside was constructed from building supplies hewn from the Rainbow Mother herself- each district from one of the five sections of the chromatic monstrosity Tiamat. They are: Ashtown - The center of what remains of Topside's government. It also the hub of the settlement...
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The Fell Halls Beneath Dungeon World

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The demi-plane known as Dungeon World was created by the benevolent patron known as the Game Master in a times long past. The gods had slain the Mother of Monsters, Tiamat, and from her corpse did the Game Master form his favorite place. From her flesh came the earth of Dungeon World. From her tears, he poured its waters. From her rib cage, he raised the realm’s sky. He hired dwarves to mine the body so he could construct dwellings to reside. The tunnels carved by their labors created five halls beneath Dungeon World- Alabaster, Beryl, Obsidian, Ruby, and Sapphire. It is these halls the Game Master has solicited for adventurers to tidied them up. He had been banished from all corporal realms for eons untold but, recently, that has all turned around. In his absence, subjects neglected their duties. Age brought disrepair. Opportunity welcomed unruly squatters. He really wants to get these underground halls just like how he likes them but it will be centuries before he will possess enough...
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