Standholme

A wide field of shattered gravestones, barrow mounds, and mass graves surrounds the city of Standholme, a vast plain known as the Cairnlands. Rising from the muddy wet earth like the grasping arms of the dead are countless ancient remains of houses and watch towers. Called the city of the cursed, Standholme is a very crowded walled in city, with ancient out dated architecture crammed into every available space. Buildings crowd the streets as much as people do, jutting into the street in a haphazard manner, even worse, there isn’t a place you can look that isn’t occupied by at least one or two ancient gravestones. Most of the buildings in this part of town are three stories tall, constructed of red bricks or gray stones, and everything is unnaturally dirty and soot-stained. There is a dank and oppressive smell, and mold grows on many of the walls. The roofs are mostly constructed of grayish tile, though a few have slate tiles, and are angled steeply; you suspect most of having an extensive attic space for storage. From the higher stories of each building, gray stone balconies protrude, providing shade and shelter from the pouring Vedanian rain for those walking along the sides of the streets. Clotheslines stretch above the streets from one building to another, connected to pulleys that enable clothing to be aired and dried after washing, provided the rain ever stops. Doors, which are usually constructed of thin softwood with heavy iron locks. The streets are narrow and roughly cobbled, not very level, and footing is uncertain. From place to place, deep pools of grimy and muddy water gather in depressions. The populace always seems to be busy, and generally look down as they rush from place to place, rather than meeting each other in the eye, almost as though they were all scared of each other. They typically dress in dark woolen cloaks and wear wide-brimmed leather hats of poor workmanship. Footwear is usually black leather boots, over thick woolen leggings or knee-high socks. Knife-sheaths and purses adorn leather belts to either side of the wearer. Carriages and wagons groan and clatter as they travel down the center of the roads, swinging out to the sides of the streets only one must pass another; at such times, they pass mere inches from the faces of pedestrians who are forced to cling to the walls of the buildings to avoid being struck. Most are drawn by one or two horses, and evidence of their passage is perpetually underfoot. Straw and hay lay on the streets to bind the dung, and each afternoon, people shovel the resulting mass into carts, adding to the crowding of the streets.

Alternative Name(s)

City of the Dead

Type

Metropolis

Population

51,025

Related Ethnicities