Rosohna
The realm of Xhorhas was home to the strongholds of the Betrayer Gods as they walked the realm of mortals, but the beating heart of their mercurial alliance was the dark city of Ghor Dranas (meaning "gathering of shadows" in Draconic). A monument to the union of tyranny and chaos, the shaded skies framed the dozens of crooked towers and war barracks that surrounded the central citadel of Virkwzual, or "Dark Bastion" in the Infernal language. The final battles of the Calamity were waged around Ghor Dranas, and much of the city was reduced to ash and dust. Towers crumbled, the ground opened to swallow the legions of the Betrayers, and the citadel was left sundered and abandoned. It wasn't until the surviving Kryn drow emerged from the Underdark that the city rose from its ashes.
The Kryn slowly cleared the ruins of the corrupt creatures that had claimed it for so long. They built new structures on the foundations of the ancient city while expanding the underground levels beneath, bringing new life to the city of Ghor Dranas, which they named Rosohna, or "Rebirth," in their tongue.
Rosohna is the center of the powerful Kryn society, a symbol of dark history reclaimed. Its tall, dusky spires and beautiful buildings rise from the broken shards of the Calamity. Breaks in the constant cloud cover offer glimpses of sunlight, which is seen as a holy gift shining on the many monuments to the Luxon. Crystalline halls of glass and quartz glow with interior light in the traditional Kryn hues of green and purple.
The streets are lively with city-dwelling wastefolk, the Luxon-worshiping drow who live beneath the open sky to spite Lolth's design, and even a few duergar and other beings from the Underdark. Local businesses thrive as the Xhorhasian community grows, and goblinoid merchants have found profit and comfort within this dark elf civilization. Even so, most people beyond the borders of Xhorhas only see Rosohna as an unbroken link in the legacy of Ghor Dranas, a city born of malevolent gods and their murderous spawn.
A Collection of Characters
As the Kryn discovered their cycle of reincarnation, many began to find beings outside the drow lineage undergoing anamnesis, the process in which a creature reincarnated by a Luxon beacon begins to recall memories from its past lives. Unexpectedly, the spirits of heroic Kryn were reborn in various intelligent creatures outside the dark elf society. With this knowledge, the ruling dens of the Kryn Dynasty began to reevaluate their treatment of non-drow, instead seeking to bring the light of the Luxon to the wastefolk of Xhorhas. While many beings across Xhorhas and beyond still cultivate mutual animosity toward the Kryn, there is a growing number of goblins, ogres, gnolls, orcs, and many other beings who have found a new home and purpose under the rule of the dynasty. Thanks to the miracle of anamnesis, Kryn society has become a diverse and thriving community that spreads across Xhorhas. The Dusk City
The dark elf and duergar bloodlines are averse to sunlight, which presents a challenge to a culture that journeyed to the surface out of love for their light-bearing god. Periods of worship involve occasional prayer and meditation in the warmth of daylight, but twelve hours of daylight each day can become painful and physically detrimental to those beings adapted to subterranean life. To mitigate this problem, powerful dunamancers have woven arcane shields to temporarily block out the sun above Rosohna. Periods of days, sometimes weeks, will transpire in a state of perpetual evening, enabling the darkness-bound denizens to go about their work. Such periods briefly come to an end to usher in periods of scheduled, mass worship under the sunlight. Above and Below
Rosohna is built on the remains of Ghor Dranas, and an entire, unseen level of the city lurks beneath the surface. These caves and tunnels were used as torture dungeons by worshipers of Torog, and the Dens of the Kryn have spent centuries reclaiming the space for their own people. Much of the dungeon remains abandoned, but a great many layers have been cleared and transformed into underground neighborhoods, hubs for subterranean travel across Wildemount, and farming caverns for crops of edible fungi. However, the Kryn Dynasty has secretly allowed some hidden chambers to fulfill their original grim purpose as cells for vile criminals and political prisoners.
As the Kryn discovered their cycle of reincarnation, many began to find beings outside the drow lineage undergoing anamnesis, the process in which a creature reincarnated by a Luxon beacon begins to recall memories from its past lives. Unexpectedly, the spirits of heroic Kryn were reborn in various intelligent creatures outside the dark elf society. With this knowledge, the ruling dens of the Kryn Dynasty began to reevaluate their treatment of non-drow, instead seeking to bring the light of the Luxon to the wastefolk of Xhorhas. While many beings across Xhorhas and beyond still cultivate mutual animosity toward the Kryn, there is a growing number of goblins, ogres, gnolls, orcs, and many other beings who have found a new home and purpose under the rule of the dynasty. Thanks to the miracle of anamnesis, Kryn society has become a diverse and thriving community that spreads across Xhorhas. The Dusk City
The dark elf and duergar bloodlines are averse to sunlight, which presents a challenge to a culture that journeyed to the surface out of love for their light-bearing god. Periods of worship involve occasional prayer and meditation in the warmth of daylight, but twelve hours of daylight each day can become painful and physically detrimental to those beings adapted to subterranean life. To mitigate this problem, powerful dunamancers have woven arcane shields to temporarily block out the sun above Rosohna. Periods of days, sometimes weeks, will transpire in a state of perpetual evening, enabling the darkness-bound denizens to go about their work. Such periods briefly come to an end to usher in periods of scheduled, mass worship under the sunlight. Above and Below
Rosohna is built on the remains of Ghor Dranas, and an entire, unseen level of the city lurks beneath the surface. These caves and tunnels were used as torture dungeons by worshipers of Torog, and the Dens of the Kryn have spent centuries reclaiming the space for their own people. Much of the dungeon remains abandoned, but a great many layers have been cleared and transformed into underground neighborhoods, hubs for subterranean travel across Wildemount, and farming caverns for crops of edible fungi. However, the Kryn Dynasty has secretly allowed some hidden chambers to fulfill their original grim purpose as cells for vile criminals and political prisoners.
Government
The twelve ruling dark elf Dens oversee the city, all at the command of Den Kryn and the Bright Queen herself.
The ruling class of the dynasty is seated in Rosohna, spread across twelve noble Dens—all of whom seek to one day rule the dynasty. They play an intricate political game by expanding their families of timeless souls and covertly undermining the authority of other Dens.
Each Den traditionally oversees a portion of local industry, but the more distinguished Dens also vie for control over aspects of spiritual or military leadership. Den Masters keep a careful eye out for weakness among other Dens, seeking ways to sully the reputations of their rivals while displaying their own worthiness to the Bright Queen. Such social sabotage is reminiscent of the old ways of the drow, but assassinations and acts of outright violence are rare. The three ruling Dens—Den Kryn, Den Thelyss, and Den Mirimm—are each helmed by an Umavi. Of those families, Den Kryn holds supreme power, for its head is Bright Queen Leylas Kryn herself.
Conflict and struggle are as common in Rosohna as in any other metropolis, and though the unifying faith of the Luxon helps maintain the peace between disparate and sometimes violent residents, old habits are hard to break. Den Mirimm has enacted a tough, sometimes brutal approach to law enforcement that helps discourage violent behavior. Blackmail is common between political figures, and those that indulge in this vice believe that they can absolve any sins through pious prayer, reasoning that their actions are only illegal if they're caught. Those who have been found guilty of major crimes against the dynasty are locked away in the Dungeon of Penance (see "Geography" below), or taken out beyond the reach of the beacons and executed, with no hope of rebirth.
Defences
A mighty army of Aurora Watch protects the city, while mounted weapons and ballistae stand at the ready. Each Den employs personal guards, as well as highly trained bodyguards for their nobles.
Industry & Trade
Most any goods or services can be found within the city, with distant imports available on the black market.
Guilds and Factions
The majority of temples here are dedicated to the Luxon, but smaller shrines to the rest of the pantheon are scattered throughout in the outer districts. The merchant guilds are organized by the Dens and closely tied to the faith of the Luxon. Agents of the Children of Malice are sown like seeds of chaos throughout the city.
Geography
Nestled protectively within a deep valley alongside the Penumbra Range, the majestic, ominous, and beautiful city long known as Ghor Dranas stands as a symbol of renewal and change. A vast medley of bright and wondrous structures, grandiose towers, and crystalline cathedrals soar into the sky, thriving among the broken remnants of a ruined metropolis that was once nothing but ash and haunted memories. Districts are laid out in the husk of the ancient capital like a series of layers, each ward growing more refined and enlightened the closer one gets to the center of the city. These layers are the Ghostlands, the Coronas, the Gallimaufry, the Firmaments, the Shadowshire, the Lucid Bastion, and the Dungeon of Penance.
The Ghostlands: Large sections of the foreboding obsidian walls that once surrounded the city have fallen, but they are in the process of being rebuilt as the war with the empire grows more violent. Within these walls, the outlying Ghostlands remain empty, haunted by ghosts and shadows, the razed structures and barracks of the larger, ancient city left to crumble to dust. Two functional roads known as the Hallowed Paths allow caravans, travelers, and military forces to reach the city.
Coronas: Most of the city's poorer citizens are scattered throughout this sprawling, foggy district of salvaged structures and newer homesteads. Patches of magically maintained farmland are tilled and tended by nearby denizens, while industrial factories and bellows release stacks of black smoke and faintly colored steam. Aurora Watch captains coordinate law enforcement from three fortresses, while mercenaries, volunteers, and desperate folk often strike out into the Ghostlands with hopes of exorcising new neighborhoods to shelter the continuously growing population of Rosohna.
Gallimaufry: Deeper into the heart of Rosohna is the massive region called the Gallimaufry. The rowdiest and most vibrant ward of the city, the Gallimaufry marks the intersection of culture and commerce where citizens come to share ideas, peddle wares and services, find employment, or celebrate personal victories large and small in the company of other folk from the wastes. The area is lit with ever-burning lanterns of green light strung across street corners and roadways, and the percussive music of the wastefolk mingles with the haunting melodies of drow musicians to produce an ever-shifting atmosphere that many find at once both welcoming and claustrophobic.
Firmaments: Near the center of Rosohna, travelers will find the Firmaments, where the haunted memory of Ghor Dranas has been erased with a beautiful district of glowing drow gardens, luxurious chapels to the Luxon, and the spacious halls of Marble Tomes Conservatory, the city's center of higher learning. Wealthy estates house Den members and figures of import to the dynasty, and the impressive towers of the Nimbus Keep loom over the region. The Nimbus Keep is the center of the Aurora Watch and the first of two paths to the Dungeon of Penance beneath the city.
Lucid Bastion: Located at the very center of Rosohna is the awe-inspiring and towering citadel of the Lucid Bastion. This impressive cathedral is built from the ruins of Virkwzual and now stands as the symbol of Kryn rebirth and their faith in the light of the Luxon. The Lucid Bastion's spires of gray quartz pierce the sky, and the soft interior glow that suffuses the interior chambers never darkens, shining over the city day and night. Major religious events are centered around the Bastion, for it houses the "heart of consecution," the first Luxon beacon to have been discovered. Within these halls, the Bright Queen, her trusted Umavi, and their Dens work to govern and protect all citizens of the Kryn Dynasty.
Shadowshire: Several well-guarded stairways curl beneath the Firmaments, descending under the surface of Xhorhas into the Shadowshire, a vast subterranean district built throughout the reclaimed prisons of Torog. Less affluent dark elves live among the stone and glass abodes built into the rock and sediment. Caverns amass bioluminescent fungi to be harvested for food and medicine, while enchanted lanterns light the various levels with a soft and many-colored luminescence. A magical underground farmland has been established here, where sunless crops are grown to feed the city. The second entrance of the Dungeon of Penance is located within the Shadowshire.
Dungeon of Penance: The many levels of the Dungeon of Penance delve under the city. This terrifying oubliette bears the marks of the Kryn Dynasty's renovations on its upper levels, but become less explored and less changed from the days of Ghor Dranas the deeper one delves.
As the largest prison within the dynasty, a microcosm of the dynasty itself can be found in the complex bureaucracy of jailors, supervisors, and elite Aurora Watch soldiers who guard the frigid halls of the dungeon.
Maps
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Rosohna
Type
Capital
Population
113,190 (66% dark elves, 9% goblins, 7% duergar, 18% other races)
Location under
Owning Organization