You push open the creaking gate. It slams shut behind you. The city of Inkwell spreads before you - cobblestone streets slick with recent rain, lanterns swaying over the Speaker's Square, and low laughter and clinking pewter tankards emerging from The Tipped Quill tavern. The distant clanks from the Gearsmith Quarter mixes with the low growls from the Beastmarket. The Citadel towers above the city, its lofty Scribetower caresses the clouds. Somewhere, a quill scratches parchment. Somewhere, a dice cup rattles. You walk through the winding streets, eager to explore the city and find adventures within.
Inkwell Inn
A timber-framed sanctuary near High Street. Its glowing leaded windows and warm hearth offer weary travelers a welcome refuge from the damp cobblestone streets.
Home of the serialized journals of the scribe Alaric Mosswood.
Visit the Inkwell Inn
Gearsmith's Quarter
The sprawling, soot-stained Gearsmith's Quarter against Inkwell’s northern wall is the centre of city's technological and alchemical innovation. Hot oil, ozone, and coal smoke fill the air, alongside the clang of hammers and hiss of steam. Timber-and-stone buildings with clockwork facades stand among workshops and alchemical stalls lit by experimental machinery and bubbling concoctions.
Visit the Gearsmith's Quarter
Cartographer's Guild
A towering, timber-framed archive and observatory in southwest Inkwell, distinguished by its towering, glass-domed observatory. Mullioned windows glow with the warm, late-night golden light of scholars at work, illuminating piles of rare maps, brass astrolabes, and the tools of the trade for travelers seeking to map the unknown corners of the world.
Visit the Cartographer's Guild
Beastmarket (Bloodpit)
The Beastmarket, colloquially known as the Bloodpit, s a walled arena where beasts fight to the death in a sunken central pit. The air reeks of damp straw, old blood, dried ordure, and cheering crowds. Spectators wager on creatures ranging from scaled lizard-like beasts to massive behemoths, with victors earning coin and notoriety.
Visit the Beastmarket
Temple of the Pantheon
The Temple of the Pantheon stands amid the crowded cobblestones of the city, its weathered stone facade, statues, heavy oak doors, and gothic spires looming over the surrounding streets.
Within its shadowed halls, the faithful may commune with the divine or consult sacred registries preserving the names and pantheons of old.
Visit the Temple of the Ancients
Tipped Quill Tavern
The Tipped Quill is a smoke-stained tavern where Citadel scribes mingle with locals and travellers over ale and ink.
After dark, the downstairs becomes a den of brawls, shady dealings, and spilled drinks, while upstairs offers quieter rooms—provided you don't ask too many questions about their previous occupants.
Visit the Tipped Quill Tavern
Placeholder Location
Placeholder location text.
Placeholder Location
Placeholder location text.
Inkwell
The NORTH Gate
The North Gate, framed by ancient stone and wrought iron, stands on the southern wall.
Some say that the city's founder had a skewed compass. Others whisper the cartographer was deep into his cups when he etched the map.
Regardless, the name stuck. Locals just shrug. "Ya learn your way 'round Inkport by feel," they say, "not by directions."
The Beastmarket
The Tipped Quill
Speaker's Square
Cartographer's Hall
The air smells of vellum, ink, and musty old books. Racks of rolled parchment line the walls - some sealed with wax, others frayed at the edges. Maps line cracked wooden tables: the crumbling ruins of the Sunken Cathedral or the twisting paths of Darkwood Forest. Some maps are well-known, while others are failed attempts with crossed-out passages or dead ends facetiously labeled "Here Be Regrets".
"Don't touch!" a curt voice says as you reach for a map of the Inkport sewers. A middle-aged woman with half-moon glasses and ink-stained fingers looks up at you with a scowl on her face. "Oils from your skin will smudge the lines."
An old scribe approaches you. "Behind every map within the Halls is a story," he says, his voice dry and ancient. "And every story needs a traveler willing to get lost...Now, which map are you after?"
Gearsmith Quarter
Wayfarer's Lodge
The door and floorboards creak. So do the joints of the spindly old woman behind the counter. "If it's information y're after, there's plenty in the racks," she says, her voice soft but high-pitched. "Take what y'need. Leave new when y'ave it." She pauses to gesture towards an area off to the side of the half-lit and half-warm common room. "Bunks're empty there if y'plan to rest. Don' snore neither."
Revolving racks line the common room, filled with leaflets, pamphlets, flyers, and notes. A guestbook lies open on a table near the hearth, filled with scrawled entries: "Ask the Gearsmith about the escape hatch." and "Don't trust the map with the rainbow border." and "The Beastmarket unofficially closes at dusk."
The old woman points towards a shelf jampacked with tattered guides. "Them. Take one. Y'll find 'em useful to figure out where y're going next."
Inkwell Inn
The Citadel (Scribetower)
The door is heavy. The silence is leaden. The Citadel is unwelcoming.
A spiral staircase stretches into shadows. There are no windows, just the ensconsed torches flickering and barely providing light. The acrid smell of the torches' smoke barely masks the muskiness of the old tower.
The highest loft of the Scribetower is a long way for thy feet, a dry susurration speaks from nowhere and everywhere at once. Tis easier for thee to go down than up. Most do fail, but an thou makest it, thou shalt be deemed worthy to enter the summit door.
You start to climb the spiral staircase, easy at first, but the steps appear to become steeper the higher you go. Your breath becomes ragged, your vision blurs. You stop to rest and consider abandoning your ascent. However, the whispering voice lends its opinion: The Citadel hasteneth not, neither should thee an ye wouldst attain the ken thou desirest.
You steady yourself, taking one slow step at a time, and after what seems like hours, you finally reach the top. There is a single door with a note and the words: TURN TO PAGE 1.