Deepkeep
Ervenian Era, 1051 AB
Deepkeep is a watchtower drowned on purpose. It rises like a bronze-thorned reef from a cirque-lake high in Shurrock’s blizzard ranges, its battlements and bell-towers submerged beneath glass-cold water fed by skyfalls from the Midrun above. Within, red-rune corridors hum, armories sleep behind shield-locks, and at the tower’s heart stands the Seat of Healing—a rune-throne that knits flesh and spirit in under an hour for any whom Duragg names ward. When alarms sound, the lake shivers with gong-light; kelp curtains unfurl; and sentry currents shepherd noncombatants to grotto-shelters while barakor surge to the breach.
Deepkeep is a phased bastion: most days it sits in Shurrock’s stormbelt; on set watches it over-lays Dwarfhome for a single bell, letting Duragg scan Celestia’s roads and exchange charges with fellow wardens. Every tale agrees on one point—the keep is always underwater, for vigilance sleeps lighter below the surface.
Customs and Law
The Charge
Every barakor bears a named ward (person, nursery, convoy, or gate). You may trade a charge only at the oath-altar with witnesses and record.Hammer Salute
Dawn and dusk underlake: three strikes on the wall, answered by three from patrols. False salutes carry a week of trench duty.Quiet in Red Halls
No idle talk in Seatward; orders are given hand-sign and gong-code.No Unbaring
Armor is shed only in sanctum or medical emergency; to walk unarmed in alarm hours is a penance offence.Shield-Tithe
One weapon per household per season goes to the common racks; its maker’s mark is etched with thanks on the vault doors.Geography
Notable Locations
The Seat of Healing
A bronze-rune throne over warm vents; its arm-braces glow as it mends. Only Duragg or a Deep Warden may name a sitter.Garnet and Jacinth Vaults
Armories with pressure-rated gear; doors open to three hands speaking three truths—Charge, Duty, Last Resort.The Gauntlet Walk
A trap-hall for training only, illusory foes, live water, and sudden dark; barakor learn to fight blind and together.Ventsong Chapel
Coral pews, vent-flutes, and the first gong Duragg struck underlake; rites of Ventsong and Cold Tide ring here.Reef of Shields
A memorial field where fallen bucklers hang like oysters; each one tells a watch in hammered script.The Cold Crown
A high, wind-shredded tarn ringed by ice-corniced cliffs. Skyfalls pour from Midrun vents, powering hidden turbines and stirring the lake with vertical sentry currents.The Bronze Mask
Sloped, kelp-clad plates; murder-slits glow with ember runes. Bronze ward-bells ring underwater, sending ripples that shape currents into defensible lanes.Seatward
The red-lit core: the Seat of Healing, oath-chapel, and muster galleries. Here the keep’s memory-runes record every alarm and relief.Shieldvaults
Layered armories keyed to shield-locks and vow-phrases; from cold-iron nets to weighted mail, from ice-saw spears to pressure-rated axes.Coral Cloister
Living coralline cloisters tended by the Living Corals (high clergy). Bioluminescent gardens provide medicine, poultices, and kelp rations.Trench Roads
Stone-cut arteries through blackwater ravines, linking submerged dwarf steads and old ore-drifts; oath-beacons flash code that only wardens read.Travel and Access
Skyfall Flues
In order to reach Shurrock, rope-lifts and wind-cranes ride the cliff-lip; during calms, supply floats descend with hot-air bags from Midrun trams.Trench-Portals
Stone arches inscribed with kelp-knots open toward allied undersea roads, Selkis' Grotto on Thalasia’s side, and emergency way-sinks into safe caverns.Dwarfhome Phase-Crown
Once per watch-cycle, the Cold Crown overlays a Celestian spur. For one bell, sealed gates align to Dwarfhome’s roads; then the keep dives again.Shield-Locks
Doors that answer to team oaths, no one opens a critical gate alone. Three distinct hands, three phrases, one purpose.Inhabitants
Barakor
Sea Watchers through Deep Wardens, dwarven guardians with wake-bright eyes, immune to magical sleep and trained to read water and stone.Fathom Dwarves and Allies
Scouts, smith-divers, line-handlers, and families in grotto-wards; guest wardens from the Morndinsamman pass through on watch exchange.Celestials an Elementals
Archons, such as Hound archons in bronze helms serve as gate marshals; Angels and Elementals, such as water and earth elementals man sluices and braces during alarms; inevitable messengers audit watch-rotas on phase days.Native Fauna
Lantern eels and lantern-jellies for signal, reef-crabs as salvage crews, kelp-spirits that harden into living nets when the bells toll.Localized Phenomena
Vigilant Gong
When danger nears, bronze runes sing through water; friendly hearts quicken (alert, clear) while intruders feel their lungs grow tight with cold.Red-Eye Wake
In alarm hours the realm refuses slumber; drowsers snap awake with the sense of being watched through a bronze mask.Silt Blind
Disturbed trench floors bloom into choking dusk; ward-lights cut lanes through it, but rushing fights vanish into gray.Kelp Curtain
Oath-thorns of kelp twist against invaders, snagging straps and lines; a spoken apology and a sheathed blade will let them slip free.Thermocline Bells
Warm vent-pulses carry coded warnings; those trained can feel “text” in their bones as microcurrents pass.Pressure Doors
Rapid depth-shifts in gallery shafts; heed the hand-signals, or your ears and pride both will pop.Ward of the Bronze Mask
Alarm, status, and line-of-sight message carry cleanly through walls and water; friendly casters gain steadier concentration while guarding.Deep’s Endurance
Endure elements (cold), water breathing, freedom of movement (in water), protection from energy (cold) feel a hair stronger, especially during drills.Walls Answer
Wall of stone/ice and control water used to hold a line set true; hostile silence and sleep fray and fail near bells and beacons.Seat’s Mercy
Heal, regenerate, restoration invoked on the Seat of Healing clear an extra affliction or mend maim faster than seems fair, once per soul per watch.Oath-Tether
Shield other cast between barakor and charge tugs them together in emergencies; dimension door/teleport to restricted zones works only if the caster bears a current Charge-Sigil.Trait Type |
Description |
|---|---|
| Gravity | Normal to Shurrock’s ground; within the lake and tower, movement follows standard underwater rules. The Midrun’s zero gravity ends at the cliff-lip above the lake. |
| Time | Normal; short watches as when a creature actively guarding gains the effects of 1 hour’s restful healing after a 20-minute relief rotation on the Seat’s level (not cumulative with magic). |
| Shape & Size | Infinite with multi-level reef-tower rising from a bottomless caldera lake (2–3 miles across) with branching trench-tunnels; phase-anchors allow brief co-location with Dwarfhome. |
| Morphic Traits | Law-bound, guardian-favored. Structures that fortify, warn, or shelter are enhanced. While works that conceal malice or sabotage defenses suffer are impeded |
| Elemental Energy | None Dominant |
| Alignment | Strongly Good, mildly Lawful. |
| Magic | Alarm, anticipate peril, detect evil, status, shield other, protection from energy (cold), resist energy (cold), water breathing, water walk, control water, wall of stone, wall of ice, commune with nature (aquatic/stone), find traps, hallow gain are enhanced. Regenerate, heal, and restoration cast upon the Seat of Healing gain +50% additional hp restored (or remove an extra condition While, sleep and magical slumber effects fail outright in alarmed zones; silence that would suppress warnings, illusions intended to infiltrate or sow panic are impeded; training illusions (for drills) are unaffected. Teleport into restricted vaults fails unless the caster bears a current Charge-Sigil. |
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