Wraith's Watch

West of Gryphon's Reach and to the North of the fabled holding of Medusa's Graveyard, Wraith's Watch is a coastal Lordship, marked by lush terrain, magnificent forest land and numerous creeks and rivulets that marble the countryside. Even on the clearest days, the Breath of Imperius was once so prominent here that everything tended to be viewed as through a haze, or a clouded magnifying glass, lending the landscape a dream-like quality that undoubtedly has appealed to those hosts of spirits, shades and wraiths unfortunate enough to still linger at the periphery of reality.

The forests here are green and lush, mossy, occasionally to thick and tangled that passage through them is an exercise in futility. The roads through the forests seem to change and undulate of their own accord, the will of the woods themselves determining acceptable routes from one place to the next. Following anyone in this part of the world is equally futile, as the mists once swallowed up anything more than several hundred yards away, and the woods themselves never seem to bear the same path through their tenebrous depths.

Hills ripple down like green velvet from the mountains to the east, playing host to rumored underground cultist caves and dangerous caverns for all manner of animals and beasts native to these odd lands. Those hills dissolve into thick, vital woodlands that many people carve their livelihood from before gently rolling into a smooth and surprisingly gentle coastline.

The seat of the Lordship, Chillwinter, rests near the heart of the land, marking as a midpoint through the tangled woodlands and hills that seem to watch travelers from all angles, serving as a beacon of hope and sanctuary for those that traverse the land, their city bell tower chiming out over the lush forests below.

All types of forests and variants of trees and wood can be found within Wraith's Watch, each forest named for any number of superstitions and stories that arch back into the origins of the isle, including Soul's Sanctuary Forest that surrounds Chillwinter, the once Breath heavy valley of the Mantheum Woods and the wild ivy and vine tangled Honora's Bramble near the coast of Medusa's Graveyard in the south. In the very center of Honora's Bramble resides a geographical anomaly called Corinth's Cauldron; the woods drawing up to a beautiful crest before plummeting into a suspiciously smooth, treeless valley.

The many rivulets of streams that break up the land supply the many forests, hills and wildlife with an ample and plentiful water supply, though, creates another interesting trial for those traveling through the area. A prominent river cuts the lordship nearly in half diagonally, traveling south east through the land, known as Boatman's Byway.

A large lordship in a barony of large lordships, full of verdant and plentiful forests, Wraith's Watch is known for cultivating a number of beautiful and mystical woods, plants and flowers for harvesting. A wide array of trees that produce nuts and fruit that are used for components in alchemical potions and magical rites, harvesting has become an organized situation at certain seasonal times where whole villages take time out of their day to pitch in and swarm the woods in groups for safety.

More than just nuts, fruit and berries are collected in the woods as a number of very successful earth mages and arborists work to study trees, shrubs, vines and bushes of the area for study. They also have a rather notable history for trade in certain specialty woods and crafts, including wands, staves, amulets, tokens and the like. Larger items like furniture and other precious, specialty items are carved and assembled for very high prices, proving quite lucrative for a few notable families in the land.

Beyond the woods and hills rests the bounty of the sea where fishing villages make a living gathering fish and other sea life for components. The most notable feature that claims the seas around Wraith's Watch would be the apparent popularity of the coast to Mistian Sea Lions. These majestic creatures are carefully taken into account and protected as a natural resource eventually harvested for their pelts, oils, blubber, teeth and whiskers. Once a year, the coasts are overrun by sea lions for mating season, when the males are abnormally aggressive and have been known to charge and attack citizens who do not take care to stay out of their territory.

A land of paranoia, distrust and superstition, the culture of Wraith's Watch is buried deep under strange cultural abnormalities that don't seem to be practiced isle-wide. This could be due to the rumor that the largest quantity of Cultists exist here, or that the Breath once settled very thickly here, it's hard to say.

The culture of the Lordship is, in general, mistrustful of outsiders yet capable of great acts of hospitality to those who show up at their doors. Most of the folk in Wraith's Watch would take in virtually anyone rather than leave them outdoors to cope with the phantasms and spirits roaming the countryside. Those native to this land have a healthy respect for the dead, but surprisingly, make little attempt to communicate with them directly. Those entering this part of Mists tend to struggle to categorize those of the Watch, believing them sheltered, but not ignorant; aloof and standoffish, but not unkind or openly hostile.

It is a long standing tradition in the Watch that the dead are shown the respect they may not have been granted in life. Neglecting this important cultural oddity will set off even the less superstitious of the folk dwelling in this part of Mists, as it invites ill fortune and risks upsetting the undisputed (and quite large) population of restless dead wandering the lonely moors and forests of Wraith's Watch.

A number of other well-known superstitions noted as simply commonplace in Wraith's Watch include the fact that every village, no matter how small, includes a bell of some sort near the center. Rung at dawn, noon and nightfall, it is said to ward away demons. During holidays, especially Evernight, and times of woe, the bell is usually rung every hour on the hour as a symbol of hope.

Strings of acorns hung around a home's doorframe blesses those who live there with long life and good luck.
A bed facing north-south brings misfortune.
A bird inside a house is a sign of death to come.
If a frog enters your house of its own will, it's good luck.
Ivy growing on a house protects the inhabitants from evil.
It is polite to wave, salute or nod at each mirror they pass as a sign of respect, as a mirror separates the living world from the dead.
If someone bites their tongue while eating, it means they've recently told a lie.
A window must be left open at the moment of death, to allow the spirit to leave and not become trapped in the house.
Every home is fit with a 'wraith lantern' to be set outside the home or in the window to keep death away and guide lost spirits home.

Another interesting occurrence of the Watch is a 'Spirit Tree'. Trees being so plentiful, there is almost always one large tree in the center of town, either living or dead, which has a number of coins hammered into the trunk and branches as an offering to the spirits of the dead. it's customary on the anniversary of a loved ones death to go to the tree and hammer another coin into the bark.

There's also a number of strange, haunting, macabre songs sung to youngsters -- songs taught to parents by their parents, and taught to their grandparents, some believe by the keening spirits of the Watch themselves; songs which have no basis in established history, or even make sense in this world at all.

Giant Bats
Snakes
Mantids
Fireflies
Bone Weevils
Sea Lions