Arcwall
The secret village of the Luvo Witches Coven. Hidden in a tiny protected mirror dimension called “The Occlusion”. The path into and out of the village is controlled by the hag, A harpy named Auntie Arush.
Arcwall is named after The village's crescent moon shape. Built upon a giant wall which once made up a circle of a massive Well. The stones gradually climb upward like a staircase forming the main road. On both sides of the curved wall huts and walkways are crisscrossed in seemingly impossible arrays stacked atop each other in the most peculiar ways. All throughout which domestic monsters and broom mounted witches fly all around about their daily tasks.
Battlemaps set in this location
The Ivolant
The Ivolant are all around the edges of the village of Arcwall in the foggy mists that mark the edge of Auntie Arush’s magical protection. Floating listlessly like balloons with not enough helium to rise or drop, they are largely unresponsive unless directly interacted with. Occasionally, the party may spot one or two floating off into the fog and out of the pocket dimension or returning with magical scrolls and wands in tow.
Sight of Deceit: By nature, the Ivolant are creatures who collect magic, secrets, and lore, returning it to the coven. Part of this drivehas evolved beyond purpose and become something supernatural. Their need for uncovering secrets is so deeply woven into their being that they seem less visible to beings who do not have deep, unrevealed secrets. A truly open, honest person might not be able to see them at all, and a person with just a few things to hide might only spot them as a blob of darkness with yellow, reflective eyes. Only someone with a truly deep secret they wish to conceal can fully perceive the Ivolant.
Living Hex: Ivolant are borne of curses and potent hexes. It is said that they are bad luck to even see, such is the power of their curse. The Luvo Coven utilizes the Ivolant to keep eyes on the land and create spell scrolls to teach to Auntie Arush and spread throughout the Coven.
The Elder’s Well
At the center of the village of Arcwall is the bottom of the curved wall that gives it its name. Below the dwellings and walkways is a massive black pit dropping down and out of sight hundreds of feet. 50 feet across and surrounded by a perfect circle of stones, this pit was said to once be a well built by the treants in the oldest of times before humans came to Crudilex. At its absolute depths were the purest waters at the heart of the world, and it was from these waters that the first elves drank and gained the gift of eternal life. However, many Witches have flown their brooms into the endless darkness below and none have yet reached its waters.
The Shacks
Hundreds upon hundreds of huts are all built upon and below each other, leaning in ways that defy both their structure and the laws of physics. The wooden buildings are covered in stairs and walkways, but some seem only accessible by flying. This does not seem to bother the broom-mounted Witches who zip through the maze-like paths. The Shacks extend from the side of the Arcwall well all the way to the top of the wall and the Matron’s Altar.
Matron’s Altar
At the highest point of the Arcwall, a circular platform extends out over the top with countless trinkets, talismans, and charms dangling on threads from underneath. The top of the platform is a six-pointed star with altars at each point. Each altar features a different arcane focus: staff, wand, orb, amulet, tome, and totem.
The Hex Merchant
The Hex Merchant is located in a hut at the edge of the village that hangs over into the fog veil that shrouds the edge of the pocket dimension. The two-story shack features a large tower with a tall window which the Ivolant occasionally float in and out of.
Inside the hut, the walls are completely lined with paper scrolls and talismans, each with names written in Druidic. A small round table in the center of the room is otherwise the only furniture in the hut, at which the patron sits writing more paper scrolls.
Lily Bell, a young and beautiful witch, runs The Hex Merchant. In exchange for a curse laid upon you, she will lay an equal or opposite curse upon another. Her magic requires that whoever benefits from the cursing of another must be equally hindered, and if there comes a day where they come to live with their shared curse, both will immediately end.
The Conjurer
Within the Stacked Huts, deep at its heart under floors and floors, surrounded by support beams and deep enough that the glow of the moon can no longer be seen, is a tiny hut. The space opens up into a vast storage room of all manner of basic tools and goods that line shelves that go deep into the magical space. As the party enters, the patron waves a wand from the side as she speaks to a customer, and three orbs of lights dance around the party and follow after them in the otherwise dark shop.
The owner, Eve Argreen is the village conjurer, capable of summoning creatures and simple objects worth around 100-500 gold and are commonly available at the average general goods store. Her warehouse is lined with supplies conjured on slow days where she did not get many requests but still had magic to use before resting.
Eve also is seeking some rare moss that seems to grow at the heart of the Bramblefen and is willing to pay well for someone to venture in to get it.
The Crowkeeper
Near the middle of the Arcwall is a hut with a pine tree growing out of its roof. Murders of crows swarm every available possible surface—along the shingles, in the branches. Inside is Quinndel, the Crowkeeper, a quirky witch with dark hair and black-painted lips. Short in stature, one might confuse them for a halfling, but they are just below average height. Self-conscious about this, they often hover seated on a broom to look eye to eye with their guests, in hopes they don't notice.
From within their magical shop, with the aid of the crows, they are able to send messages, letters, and even packages anywhere in the Dunwel Fen. In addition to sending messages, the Crowkeeper also makes and sells Brooms of Flying.
Blue Cat Tavern
Locally famous, the tavern is well known for the large blue wooden cat statue on the roof and its unique magically infused brews. Brief effects enchant whomever drinks them for short periods of time. While the effects are never enough to cause trouble in town, but Floatabout Fridays are a sight to see.
The Wildroot Wand Tree
An ancient tree twisted in knots and lumps is at the center of a garden of magical and alchemical plants, Wildroot was once a very common tree that grew at the crossings of one of Crudilex’s many Ley Lines, but when they became volatile and unpredictable, the species nearly completely died out. Without essence, the magical energy that flows through both Ley Lines and souls, the tree will die within a day. As such, this one is kept alive by the witches of the Luvo Coven placing their wands to its trunk and feeding it their magical energy directly.
What is unique about this particular Wildroot is that its branches, which grow in narrow long twigs without leaves, are perfectly shaped to be fashioned into wands. Any person could simply cut a branch and have a wand perfectly suited to their spellcasting needs.
The Mother Matron’s Hovel
The Matron’s hut, like all others in Arcwall, is larger on the inside and features a long hallway entry chamber with many framed archways on either side. On the left is a table lined with delicious food, and on the right is a library. At the end of the long entry hall is a large black door with a symbol of a rain crow that leads into the Matron's bedchamber.
Above in the rafters, hundreds of rain crows shuffle and caw quietly. Their eyes are like black beads that never leave the party as they traverse the chambers.
Effigy of the Now and Future Mother
At the heart of the pit of the Elder’s Well that the village is built around, six bridges hold aloft the central plaza platform of Arcwall. Buildings line the walkways, planks, and bridges. At the center of it all is a giant wicker effigy of “The Now and Future Mother,” a figure the Covens predict will one day rule over all of Crudilex, wield untold magical power collected for 4 eons by the Coven, and wear atop her brow the Crown of Wand. It is said that when she comes to power, her effigy, watched all across the lands by the many Covens of Crudilex will awaken.
CULTURE
Rulership
Events
Shopping in Arcwall
Many unique goods can be found in Arcwall, but most of what is sold is only useful to scholars, mages, and monster aficionados. Most likely, the party will find the opportunity to sell goods of spell components they have collected here. However, the rules of trade in Arcwall are more complex than elsewhere in the Dunwel Fen.
Thought Market: There is no money in Arcwall. What base needs of its people are required to be met. No one is hungry, thirsty, in danger, or without a place to call home. And so, the witches have little use for the coin of man. Instead, they barter in a far more valuable exchange: memories. The more useful, precious, or personal a memory is, the more value it holds. They might offer you their mastery of the cross stitch for sword, or a first kiss for a spell. The offers are deeply personal, but the import of a memory is not lost when it is traded; the impact it had on its owner is passed to the recipient.
Turmoil
Name the Drama
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