Duskmire Hold

Where the ragged wilds of the Northern Expanse threaten to spill into the Lucent Realm, Duskmire Hold rises from the blackened soil like a broken tooth — jagged, unyielding, and haunted. The keep is the northernmost military stronghold of the Toaasi Dukedom, an undead-manned bulwark that stares endlessly into the mists.

Unlike the Sapphire warriors of Saferri who control most border regions, Duskmire Hold is an exception fiercely and deliberately held by the Toaasi. Their justification is simple: "The dead do not tire, and they do not falter. The wall holds because we demand it."

The hold is a stone-and-bone labyrinth, surrounded by wards etched in blood-ink and braced with necromantic pylons. Day and night, an army of Contract-Bound Undead patrol the ramparts, eyes glowing faintly with the sigils that define their purpose.

Location and Structure

Duskmire Hold is nestled into the edge of the Marsh of Murmurs, its foundation built atop deep necrotic stone that hums softly beneath one’s feet. The structure sprawls both above and below ground a surface fortress of grim battlements and watchtowers, and a subterranean command structure laced with ritual chambers and control halls.

The most notable architectural features include:

The Pylon Spine: A row of bone-white obelisks that feed necrotic energy into defensive wards.

The Contract Hall: Where legal scribes and bonebinders inscribe contracts into soul-scrolls.

The Mirror Gate: A haunted silver arch through which elite revenants may deploy instantly across the swamplands.

The Wall of Binding: Where broken undead are staked for contract violation — a constant reminder that service is sacred, even in death.

Leadership

Duskmire Hold is currently overseen by Viscountess Elgira Toaasi, a high-ranking noble from one of the eldest subterranean branches of the family. Once a living necromancer, she died in battle and voluntarily returned under contract, her form now a well-preserved corpse adorned in topaz-threaded robes, her face painted in ivory lacquer to mimic life.

Elgira is ruthlessly logical, terrifyingly efficient, and utterly uninterested in the opinions of the living; particularly Saferri generals who believe her post should fall under Sapphire control. Her presence on the field is a legal paradox: both a dead woman and a titled noble, she retains her lands, her mind, and her signature authority.

The Never-Ending Contracts

In the Toaasi Dukedom, death is not a release but an obligation. Every corpse within their borders, noble or pauper, is subject to the ancient system of contract necromancy, a legacy that defines the region’s terrifying efficiency. The dead do not rise aimlessly. They return under Contract, and that Contract determines everything.

Whether in city, farm, mine, or battlefield, the Contract-Bound form the cornerstone of Toaasi society. Their legal and magical agreements are ironclad, woven through bureaucratic layers, notarized in the Order of Last Rites, and signed by both the living and the soon-to-be-deceased.

In Duskmire Hold, the system is applied with even greater rigor, as the defense of the border demands unwavering obedience and precision.

Leverage and Glee

To the wider Lucent Realm, Duskmire Hold is both vital and unsettling. It has never once fallen, even during the worst spillovers from the Northern Expanse, a fact Saferri generals resent bitterly.

The Toaasi use this as leverage, often bargaining for rights, land, or trade exemptions in exchange for continued control of the Hold. Even nobles who distrust necromancy admit one thing: nothing holds the border like the dead.