Deepwatch

In the Eronin sea, there is a great whirlpool, over a kilometer in diameter, that descends into the depths. Called the Eye of the Deep, it has existed for as long as recorded history, and although no one knows the precise cause, the area can be felt as a reservoire of intense arcane energies. Suspended in the air at the exact center of the whirpool's mouth is the great fortress-city of Deepwatch. Hewn from blue-grey stone in sharp, jagged lines, the fortress has a primitive, almost primal appearance, as though it was roughly torn from the bedrock far below. The great walls fan outward at an angle towards the sky, while tappering to a narrow spire pointing downward. The resulting shape is something like an inverted pyramid. Four thin platforms extend out from it like arrows at the cardinal points, bridging the fortress to the calmer waters beyond the edge of the whirpool, where each platform blossoms into fractual geometric docks. Visitors to the fortress must dock outside the turbulent waters before marching nearly a kilometer along a walkway less than one foot thick and six feet wide, with no railings, over the swirling abyss hundreds of meters below. As might be expected, visitors are rare, and traders usually do their business at the docks.
Deepwatch is speculated to be a creation of the Elderlings, made using unknown magics, for an unknown purpose. Although it seems obvious that the fortress is related to the Eye in some way, extensive exploration and examination has never revealed a tangible link or mechanism. Millenia ago, the fortress was inhabited by a society of Kuo-toa, outcasts among their own kind for some unknown reason. They called the fortress the Spear of Dreams, or the Dreaming Spear, depending on the translation, though again it is not known why. At some point long ago, an unknown enemy or internal conflict destroyed this society. Their remains were found centuries later, when a tribe of Tritons began to occupy the fortress, using it as a refuge from the aggressive Sahuagin raiders that were a scourge to the region at the time. In the modern era, Deepwatch serves as a diplomatic outpost for the Triton-ruled Cylaer Imperium. It is considered a type of universal embassy to the landborn races, and most official political events and negotiations between surface nations and the Imperium take place within the fortress.
Since the Collapse, the fortress has also become the de-facto seat of the Imperium ruling council. Much of their underwater kingdom has been consumed by the Unmaking Tide, and what remains is besieged by the growing forces of the Renewed Sovereignty. Spies and assassins sent by the Aboleths are everywhere in the Aqueryn, and so for the safety of their leaders, the Tritons have relocated much of their surviving government to the highly secure Deepwatch. This fortress is also where they coordinate with the Coalition Nations, negotiating passage for their people through the Gate-Cities.

Type

City