For eight centuries, Westcrown was a bastion of civilization and a symbol of national strength in Chelish eyes. As the city served as the center of Aroden’s faith, all Cheliax deemed the City of Nine Stars to be Aroden’s next home in the mortal world. Westcrown rivaled Absalom as a destination of pilgrimages during the Age of Enthronement. Yet, with Aroden’s unexpected death, the once shining City of Nine Stars became the City of Twilight as Chelish citizens lost hope. Decades of bloody strife followed, and the only direction out of the chaos seemed to be the orderly tenets of diabolism. A city that once symbolized a people’s power now projects a people’s disappointment and despair. Hope has dimmed in the city, and shadow beasts walk the streets instead of Aroden’s clergy.
Westcrown remains influential in its mercantile and military might, but also humbled by its lost faith and tarnished reputation. One of the most varied and sophisticated cities of the Inner Sea, Westcrown is an enigma. By day, this city reminds many of any city or country they know, either because of the varied architecture or because people from all across Avistan and Garund now call Westcrown home. The many religious sites, whether active or debased, continue to draw the pious, the curious, and the devious. Even the ruins of the northern city draw interest among those looking for less-than-legal materials or rare treasures amid the dangerous rubble. But once the sun sets, only the foolish walk out of doors in Westcrown, for the shadow beasts prowl every darkened lane and waterway.
Thrown into chaos after the death of the god Aroden, Cheliax found a new spiritual guide to help tame the resulting lawlessness and destruction—Asmodeus. Dominated today by the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune, Cheliax is a land of inflexible order, like a rigid steel blade tempered in the fires of Hell. It is a land where nobility and virtue take second place to a ruthlessly imposed harmony. It is a place where talks of past glories are only whispered in the dark, where heroic ambitions are kept to oneself, and where normal people strive to blend into the safe anonymity of the crowd. It is here, in the country’s former capital of Westcrown, that the Council of Thieves Adventure Path takes shape.
Council of Thieves Image
Map of Westcrown
