The Spire

Who Rules: Sister Jaxlin Marblerobe (CG, Dwarf Female, P12) is the head of the Deepmace Temple, a combination abbey and monastery. She is exceptionally short, even by dwarf standards, and has flaming red hair streaked with black. She is very patient and is willing to put up with a lot of grief in the performance of her duties, but even she has her limits. And when those limits are met she is a force to be reckoned, striking fear in the hearts of even the stoutest of warriors.

Who Really Rules: Sister Jaxlin rules completely, though she values the opinion of all of her charges.

Population: 126 priests and priestesses reside at the Deepmace Temple, as well as 50 temple guards (100% dwarf).

Major Products: No major products, though the monks spend a lot of time preparing healing kits and preserving food, as well as the manufacture of books.

Armed Forces: 50, though all of the priests and priestesses are more than capable of defending the temple.

Notable Mages: None.

Notable Churches: Temple devoted to Erken and Tirdin, the Gods of Trade and Water.

Notable Rogues' and Thieves' Guilds: None.

Equipment Shops: None, though some general gear can often be obtained from the monks.

Adventurers' Quarters: The temple provides ample room for travellers, though accommodations are spartan single rooms consisting of a bed, a wash basin and chamber pot, and small shrine.

Important Characters: Brother Mathias Stonevault (LN, Dwarf Male, P14) is an expert shipwright and engineer and has helped repair many a damaged ship that has limped in to the docks.

Sister Lyssa Firenose (LG, Dwarf Female, P12) spends the majority of her time making a very powerful and potent mead that she uses as the basis for healing potions, potions that have a tendency to get patients drunk while healing them. Though the potions are not for sale they are often given out to travellers who befriend Sister Lyssa.

Sergeant Bellard Armorfoot (CN, Dwarf Male, F6) is an expert marksman with all forms or crossbows and he spends his free time ensuring all crossbows are in top condition and he can often be found in the armory sharpening the quarrel heads and smoothing out the shafts. On occasions he will take an order to craft a custom crossbow for some wealthy adventurer or important military leader.

Important Features in Town: The Spire is a large outcropping of rock that is about a mile in diameter and 3,000 feet tall. A steel path barely wide enough for a loaded pack mule winds its way up to the top where a temple sits. The temple is extremely old but built like a small fortress. And that is exactly what it is, a fortress. The temple is fairly large, able to accommodate up to 350 residents. Beneath the temple is a sprawling city-like dungeon that very few outsiders have ever seen. Those who have seen it claim that the complex could house at least 2,000 people in comfort and has enough storage space and cisterns to withstand a siege of years.

The base of The Spire is a jumbled mess of boulders that are constantly battered by waves. A single dwarf-made stone pier juts out several hundred feet and is capable of docking several large ships at the same time. Due to the waves, however, docking a ship can sometimes be a treacherous feat unto itself. Because of this few ships are actually willing to dock at The Spire. Most ships that visit prefer to drop anchor and use their shore boats to land. Better to lose a few sailors and a small boat than an entire ship.

The top of the temple is actually a lighthouse. The lighthouse does not burn any fuel but is instead a collection of mirrors and continual light spells. The light can be seen for a distance of 10 miles and a collection of shutters allows the monks to direct the light in various directions or to let the light shine in a 360-degree arc. Additionally the light can be directed straight up in a bright beam. For the most part the shutters are completely open but during storms the light is directed upwards and the shutters kept closed to protect the mirrors.

Local Lore: The first sailors who arrived to settle the area found The Spire to already be inhabited by a small dwarf temple. No one knows exactly how the dwarves got here, but it is an accepted fact that they have been here as long as the islands have been here. Some suspect that during the Divine Uprising that when the islands were raised from the sea floor that a small dwarven outpost was lifted up from the Dark Regions and found itself on top of The Spire. Some people also suspect that beneath the tunnels there are passageways to the Dark Regions that connect to other islands in the Crescent League and to other regions of the world.

Though relatively few people ever visit The Spire and the Deepmace Temple,nearly all travellers sailing North from The Crescent League use The Spire as a key navigational landmark, it being the last landfall for over 250 miles. The Spire is a formidable hunk of rock, the crags and crevices offering the defenders a nearly unassailable position, and the walls of the temple have never been breached by any attacking force. The dwarves, though, do not interfere with anything that happens off of The Spire. To that end pirates have been known to lay in wait nearby to prey upon ships passing through. Sahuagin are also fond of the same trick, lying in wait in the shadows and then attacking ships from beneath the waves.

For the most part The Spire is an uneventful place. The dwarves mind their own business and sailors mind their own. However, it is well known that the dwarves of the Deepmace Temple will never turn down anyone who is in distress or who comes to the temple with good intentions. Visitors are given free room and board and free medical attention if needed. Granted, the rooms are spartan but the food is warm and the ale flows freely. Those who do visit more than once claim that the ale is worth the risk of trying to dock in the dangerous waters.