The Cobbled Pass

70% Dwarves (many from House Greymutter, others from smaller pathfinder clans)   15% Humans   10% Gnomes and Halflings (well-suited to the city’s layered layout)   5% Other (Elves, Kenku, Aasimar, and planar-touched mystics)   A significant portion of the population works as guides, innkeepers, bridge-keepers, or stream stewards. A tradition of quiet hospitality permeates the culture here — everyone is from somewhere, going somewhere, but welcome while they’re here.

The Cobbled Pass is overseen by the Arcsworn Circle, a council of five elder wardens elected every decade by guilds, religious orders, and pilgrimage houses. Governance is moderate, stable, and deeply spiritual — laws are focused on non-interference, fair exchange, and the honoring of the path. The current lead Arcwarden is Thurra Rainseal, a stonemason-turned-rune-reader, known for her gentle rulings and unshakable memory.

The Bridgeguard, an elite unit of soul-bound warriors, act as both monks and defenders — their blades carved from repurposed arc-stones, glowing when oaths are broken nearby. The surrounding cliffs have whistle tunnels — ancient alarm systems that echo warnings through miles of stone.

The Pass survives on: Tolls and pilgrim offerings   Guiding services and spiritual passage rites   Rune restoration and bridgebinding services   Trade between east-south Ridge routes, including highland wine, river-soap, spice bundles, and water stones   The city is also famed for its dreamwriting paper, made from pressed soul-infused moss and used in vision-recording rituals.

The city is built into terraces, with the stream at its heart, and roads paved in ancient cobblestones thought to be laid by Ridge-forged giants.   The upper tiers feature bridges wide enough for cart convoys, with suspended soullights used for night travel and ceremonial crossings. Runes carved into the walls hum softly — not enough to cast spells, but enough to remind the land it is watched over.   A binding gate of brass and stone regulates entry to the southward road, and a spiritual resonance chamber atop the eastern bridge is used for oracular communing.

Lowstream Market – fishers, herb-vendors, trinket-sellers, and pilgrim inns.   The Upper Arch – wealthy homes, scholars, and temple villas.   The Bridgemoot – central square where public rulings and festival debates take place.   Stonehand Row – artisan guilds and bridge-maintenance houses.   Runeslip – the oldest district, carved into the cliffside, now home to mystics and historians.   The Falling Garden – an open-air garden-temple to Eldath, the godess of peace, wateralls, springs and quiet, with stepped pools where dreams are said to rise from water.

Control of the only reinforced passway between the mid and south of the Ridge.   A living rune system that predates most current magical theory.

The Bridgebinders’ Guild, who maintain the arches and record all crossings   The Echo Scrollkeepers, who log pilgrim stories and preserve oral lore   The Stream’s Quiet, a contemplative order of monks who listen for omens in the current   The Glimmer Coin Society, a traders’ guild that sponsors and protects sanctioned caravans

The Cobbled Pass was once a sacred waypoint, a place where druids and stone-priests would wait for celestial signs before venturing further. The bridges were built by an unknown clan whose name is now referred to only as “Those Who Built and Left.” After the wars of early House Greymutter expansion, the city was nearly destroyed, but a pact of neutrality was signed and carved into the first arch — no army shall march in formation across the bridges. That pact remains unbroken.   When Highmount was being built, it was the Cobbled Pass that supplied the first soulstones, and to this day, its masons are believed to carry spirit-etched calluses passed down from their forebears.

1. The First Arch A massive, moss-veined bridge that predates all known records. Its runes change subtly over time, seemingly in response to who walks beneath it. It is whispered that the bridge “remembers every footfall.”   2. The Falling Garden A stepped, multi-tiered garden with flowing pools fed by the mountain spring, often used in reflection rites and dream-ceremonies. Some say glimpses of the future appear on the water’s surface at dusk.   3. The Whisper Post A small alcove behind the Upper Arch where pilgrims and travelers whisper their fears, hopes, or confessions into carved holes. The voices disappear — it’s said they drift to wherever they’re most needed.   4. The Runeslip Library A cliffside archive that contains books, scrolls, and dream-captures of travelers who’ve passed through for over five centuries. Access is open to all, but taking knowledge from it requires leaving knowledge in return.   5. The Echo Bell A bronze-rung bell high atop the Bridgemoot, rung only in times of great passage — coronations, deaths, or world-changing news. When rung, it vibrates the entire town, causing bridges to hum in sympathy.

The Cobbled Pass draws:   Pilgrims journeying to Highmount or The Enlightened Haven   Runners on soul-pacts or vow quests   Artists and dreamers seeking moss-paper visions   Philosophers walking the Bridge Spiral, a ritual path said to reveal life’s turning points

Stone homes built into both earth and wall. Bridges, arches, and aqueducts are not just structures but stories. Walls are carved with soul-mark sigils, and glowing runes light the paths after nightfall. Every door has a visitor mark — a stone or scrap left by a guest as thanks for welcome.

The town is nestled in a narrow, green-lit valley, where the eastern Ridge lowers and softens into moss-covered hills. The stream never freezes. The cliffs act as both cradle and compass, always pointing travelers forward.

Cool and damp, with warm breezes in summer and fog-laced mornings throughout the year. Rain comes often, but lightly. The night skies are often crystal clear, making it a favored spot for stargazing.

Runestone veins beneath the oldest bridges   Soulmoss, harvested for spiritual inks   Stream-silver, a rare mineral polished smooth in the current, used in scrying   Stonepetal bloom, a flower said to grow only where true oaths have been spoken