Perils & Legends
Sarnath has a busy life behind its walls, from the shops of the High Street to the drinking houses along the river. Its ghost stories are just as well established. Some concern the city’s celebrated dead; others come from the people living in the drains beneath its streets.
Helyon’s Wraith
Helyon the Silver was so certain he would become a saint that he commissioned his own grand memorial. Carved from silver-veined Ebstone blackstone, it still stands in the terraced graveyard below the Black Keep. He was never sainted. His years as a wandering warrior and his violent returns to the Southern Provinces left a less flattering history.
Stories around the lichyard describe his restless spirit appearing in old knightly armour, armed with a greatsword that shines like moonlight. Helyon challenges those he judges virtuous, bringing the pride and bitterness of his former life into the confrontation. His memorial remains a subject of local ghost stories and an unusual destination for those seeking to prove themselves.
The Wretched Cistern
The drainfly infestation beneath Sarnath has spread through old runoff passages, filling them with shed shells, egg-sacs and nesting slime. People who know the lower tunnels avoid the worst of it. Vermy, who makes a living finding his way through the Wormways, will guide others towards the infestation but has no wish to fight what lives there.
The Wretched Cistern is one of its most heavily infested chambers. A broken walkway circles dark water, with swollen egg-sacs clinging beneath the stone. Deep claw marks score the ledges, and pieces of armour lie among the remains around the basin. A bloated creature occupies the flooded centre, its bulk shifting beneath the water while drainflies gather around its nest.
The Dothloden Stalker
Below Sarnath’s sewers are the remains of Ardundir, a Dothloden settlement built long before the city above it. Pale stone halls, copper fittings and faintly glowing inscriptions survive beneath layers of later construction. The old armoury still contains weapons and machinery, though those who have reached it have left warnings for anyone following them.
The Dothloden Stalker is one of its surviving dangers. Roughly the size of a cart, it is built from metal, stone and preserved flesh, with jointed limbs and overlapping armour plates. Age and damage have made its movements erratic. It can remain motionless among the fittings overhead, then move with enough force to break the stone around it.
DothlodenSaint Ringal’s Shadow
Saint Ringal’s influence remains strong in Sarnath. His old observatory stands above the Starry Archive, and a small shrine on Helyon’s Hill commemorates his travels through the Southern Provinces. People still seek his guidance, and some believe he has answered them directly.
Accounts of these visitations vary. A hooded scholar appears to one person; another hears the voice of someone they have lost. The advice can be personal, touching on private fears, old grievances or questions the visitor has struggled to answer. Some leave convinced they have received a revelation. Others find the experience disturbing. Those investigating the stories will find people affected by them both in the city and in the settlements beneath its streets.
The Cloak and Dagger Fighting Pit
Beneath the Ruddy Cloak Alehouse, fighters compete for coin and reputation in the Cloak and Dagger’s bare-knuckle boxing pit. Newcomers can enter the bouts and work their way up, facing tougher opponents as their name becomes known. A successful run earns a chance to challenge the reigning champion.
The crowd includes dockworkers, soldiers, shopkeepers and Crimson Brotherhood gamblers, all with favourites to back and money riding on the result. Landlord Felix Morison arranges the matches. His champion, Dav, also works the alehouse door and is always pleased to meet someone who thinks they can beat him.
The Crimson Brotherhood