Region

• The Crater (Region)

Hallowspire Village

The village is utilitarian, its architecture bleak and oppressive, many buildings sporting machinery that is no longer functional . It is divided into four districts. Over the past two decades, the government has grown increasingly authoritarian, enforcing strict laws and doctrines to ensure obedience. A pervasive "shame-culture" has taken hold, where disobedience or idleness are met with social scorn. The transformation was so gradual that few noticed until the recent ban on the arts.

It is divided into 5 districts
-(Central) Virehold - Farming and Government Tower
- (North) Stonegate - Gate Defense and Militia Training
- (East Lexi) Gravemarket - Engineering and Shopping
- (West Tony) Ashveil - Arts and Entertainment
- (South) Hollowmere - Quarter Housing and Warehouse

Aesthetic and Atmosphere

Hallowspire exudes a claustrophobic and oppressive atmosphere, the wretched place is shrouded in a perpetual mist cast from the Whispering Woods. lanterns cast pale, flickering light across cobbled, snow covered streets. Buildings lean with age, their iron facades adorned with rusted, machinery that once served a now unknown purposes. The air is thick with dread, and the chime of the toll of the Council’s bells. Here your thoughts are not your own, whispers are weaponized and freedom is slavery. Despite its decay, there is a strange elegance to the symmetry of its quarters and the ritual precision of daily life—a place where suffering has been sculpted into order, and fear into art.

Government

The ruling body is a totalitarian regime known as the Crimson Council. They maintain order through surveillance, propaganda, and brutal enforcement. Dissent is crushed swiftly, and loyalty is rewarded with meager privileges. The Crimson Council's agents are everywhere, and their influence permeates every quarter.

• Individual freedoms are suppressed— speech, education, and personal beliefs, that break doctrine are treason

• Surveillance and propaganda are used to maintain control and eliminate dissent.

• Ideology is weaponized—citizens are expected not just to obey, but to believe.

The Crimson Council is composed of five members, each representing one of Hallowspire's quarters:

• High Executor Virellian Thorne (Central - Virehold): The supreme authority whose vote is final.

• Artisan Lyrixa Veil (West - Ashveil): Oversees cultural expression and ideological messaging through art and performance.

• Tinkermaster Drell Varn (East - Gravemarket): Responsible for engineering, innovation, and technological regulation.

• Commander Kael Vorn (North - Stonegate): Leader of the Crimson Guard and head of militia operations and external defense.

• Quartermaster Sera Mourn (South - Hollowmere): Manages housing, labor distribution, and warehouse logistics.

Together, they enforce the Council's doctrine, with Thorne's vote overriding all others.

Voicebearer Nyx Virellan, Servitor to the High Executor: Nyx Virellan acts as a proxy for High Executor Virellian Thorne and handles all of his responsibilities outside of the tower. Though not the highest ranking, she is the most powerful party member other than the Executor himself.

The People

Hallowspire's citizens are proud of their traditions, identity and see the Council as a monolith of Virtue. Generations have grown up knowing only the town's harsh rules and isolation, forging a culture of resilience and quiet defiance. Families pass down stories of survival and loyalty, and public rituals reinforce a sense of belonging.

A deeply ingrained shame culture permeates daily life, targeting laziness, unproductiveness, and any hint of dissent against the Crimson Council. Children are taught from a young age that idleness is a moral failing, and public scorn awaits those who do not contribute meaningfully to society.

Community surveillance is not only sanctioned by the Council but internalized by the people themselves, who often report neighbors out of a sense of civic duty. This culture reinforces the town's rigid order and suppresses rebellion not just through fear, but through collective pride and moral conditioning.

Traditions

Back to Roots Tradition

On the Day of Nights, villagers craft effigies of children from twigs and bone-thread, offering them to the Whispering Woods. The effigies are placed at the forest’s edge, fog curling outward like reaching hands to retrieve the figures for the lost.

The people of Hallowspire belief is the Whispering Woods are a portal to the afterlife. When someone dies, the fog that emerges from the forest guides their spirit to the next realm. The effigies serve as symbolic companions for the departed—innocent guides to ensure safe passage and protect the soul from becoming lost or corrupted.

On rare years, the Crimson Council demands that a real infant be offered instead of an effigy. This decree is met with horror and grief, yet the people comply, believing it necessary for reasons they do not understand. The Council need not offer explanation, and speculation is forbidden. The chosen child is never spoken of again.

Unity Anthem Ritual

At 7am and 7pm each day, citizens are required to step outside and sing the town's anthem, regardless of weather conditions or current activity, failure to comply is considered an act of civic betrayal.

Rules, Rumors, and Superstitions about the Whispering Woods

• The Woods are Dangerous: Those who enter never return. No exceptions. The forest swallows them whole.

• Silver-Eyed Guardians: Some believe that those who survive the woods are transformed—marked by silver eyes and bound to protect the forest from intrusion.

• Chance to Say Goodbye: Dead towns people have been spotted at the forest’s edge, watching silently and beckoning their loved ones. There are even stories of those who spoke to the apparitions, some tellers scared and others, in awe.

• Whispering, Listening Fog: At times, the fog carries voices—soft, fragmented whispers believed to be messages from the departed. Listening too long is said to invite madness or revelation.

• The Hollow Echo: It’s said that if you shout a name into the woods, the forest will echo it back—but twisted. The returned voice is older, colder, and sometimes speaks truths the living were never meant to hear. Some believe this is how the Council selects the infant for sacrifice.

LAWS (DOCTRIN)

• Graveyard Ban: A new law forbids visiting the graveyard. The Crimson Council claims it is spiritually compromised. Families are instructed to mourn from afar, and even speaking of the graveyard is considered a breach of civic loyalty. Those who defy the ban are never seen again, the punishment they face is unknown.

• Council Whispering Woods advisory: The woods are not off limits, however, the Crimson Council advices against entry or even close proximity.

• Crimson Caves Off Limits - Entrance is considered a breach of doctrine.

• Art Censorship Protocol: All creative works must be submitted to the Council for ideological review. Subversive content is destroyed, and creators are reassigned to labor sectors. No one outside the art district may create or distribute art.

• Uniformity Code: All clothing must conform to Council-approved styles and colors. Personal expression is considered a form of dissent.

• Productivity Quota: Every citizen must meet weekly labor quotas. Falling short results in ration cuts or forced labor assignments.

• Memory Regulation: Personal journals, letters, and memoirs must be submitted for review. Unauthorized emotional expression is punishable by confiscation and civic demotion.

• Assembly Ban: Gatherings of more than five individuals without Council approval are considered conspiratorial and are disbanded with force.

• Naming Restrictions: Children may only be named from the Council's approved registry. Unapproved names are erased and replaced during mandatory renaming ceremonies.

Districts/Quarters

Hollowmere - South Quarter: Housing and Warehouse

A densely packed residential zone where families live in cramped tenements surrounded by decaying warehouses. The air is heavy with dust and desperation. Laborers shuffle between home and work, and the Crimson Council's patrols keep unrest in check.

Quartermaster Sera Mourn: A stoic and calculating woman, Sera Mourn ensures the town's housing and labor systems run with ruthless efficiency. Her presence is quiet but commanding, and she is known for her unflinching enforcement of quotas and resource distribution.

Virehold - Central: Farming and Government Tower

The heart of Hallowspire, where the town's meager agricultural efforts struggle against poor soil and harsh conditions. The farms are arranged in a circular pattern surrounding the imposing Government Tower, which looms over the fields as a symbol of control and surveillance. Council officials and enforcers operate from here, issuing decrees and monitoring the populace. Food is heavily guarded, with rations distributed under strict supervision and hoarding punished severely.

High Executor Virellian Thorne: The supreme authority of Hallowspire, Thorne is a gaunt figure draped in crimson robes and bone-thread insignia. His voice is rarely heard, but his decrees are absolute. It is said he never blinks, and his gaze alone can silence a crowd. Thorne is both feared and revered, a symbol of unwavering control and ideological purity.

Voicebearer Nyx Virellan, Servitor to the High Executor: Nyx Virellan is a spectral presence in Hallowspire, draped in robes of ink-black silk and crowned with a halo of bone-thread filaments. Her speech is erratic and fragmented, as if she’s channeling voices from beyond. Citizens fear her not for violence, but for the secrets she knows and the truths she reveals. Nyx is said to walk through walls and appear in dreams, delivering Thorne’s decrees with cryptic finality. Her arrival is always preceded by the scent of ash and a shift in the atmosphere.

Gravemarket - East Quarter: Engineering and Shopping

A hub of innovation and commerce, where tinkerers and tradespeople work in cluttered workshops and storefronts. The Crimson Council keeps a close eye on technological developments, wary of anything that might disrupt their rule. Black-market goods and whispered deals can cost one their life.

Tinkermaster Drell Varn: A brilliant but paranoid inventor, Drell Varn oversees all engineering and technological activity. He is known for his obsession with control and his tendency to dismantle anything he cannot understand. His workshop is a maze of gears, wires, and surveillance devices.

Stonegate - North Quarter: Gate Defense and Militia Training

The militarized edge of town, where recruits train under harsh conditions and fortifications guard against external threats. The gate is both a barrier and a symbol of isolation. Discipline is strict, and failure is punished severely.

Commander Kael Vorn: A battle-scarred veteran, Kael Vorn leads the Crimson Guard with iron discipline. He is revered by his troops and feared by civilians. Vorn believes in strength through suffering and trains his militia to endure pain as a path to loyalty.

Ashveil - West Quarter: Arts and Entertainment

A district of controlled expression, where artists and performers operate under the watchful eye of the Crimson Council. Propaganda masquerades as culture, and subversive messages are swiftly silenced. Still, flickers of resistance persist in coded lyrics and hidden murals.

Artisan Lyrixa Veil: A master of ideological artistry, Lyrixa Veil curates all cultural output in Hallowspire. Her performances are haunting and hypnotic, designed to stir loyalty and suppress dissent. She is rumored to embed subliminal messages in her work, and her influence reaches deep into the town's psyche.