Between the Echo Wood and the broad expanse of the West Sellen River stands a resolute stronghold of law and order: the walled town of Fort Inevitable. From its stern keep, companies of Hellknights ride forth to enforce the strict laws of their commander and bring authority to the unclaimed lands of the Crusader Road. While the taxes imposed by the town’s rulers are heavy and the laws inflexible, no one can deny that prosperity has followed the Hellknights’ establishment of hard justice in this small corner of the River Kingdoms. Merchants, travelers, and adventurers journeying on the Crusader Road find that Fort Inevitable provides a rare island of safety in an otherwise lawless land—so long as one is careful not to run afoul of the Hellknights’ laws.
Six miles northeast of Fort Inevitable lies one of the deepest and strangest dungeons to be found anywhere in the lands of the Inner Sea—the Emerald Spire. Like an iceberg, this weird structure shows only a small portion of itself above the surface; level upon level of hidden vaults and mysterious crypts lie buried deep below the ground. Few of the people living in Fort Inevitable or the surrounding lands have even the slightest inkling of the dungeon’s true extent, let alone its astounding age. Standing in a wide clearing within the Echo Wood, the Emerald Spire is the ruin of a large Azlanti tower that appears to be made of green glass harder than stone. The upper portions of the tower were destroyed long ago, leaving broken, half-melted glass blocks lying jumbled around the tower’s perimeter and the ground nearby. The site is well known to locals from both Fort Inevitable and Thornkeep, and many travelers passing through the Crusader Road area make the trek into the forest to look on the ruins—from a safe distance. The Spire’s ruins are known to be infested with dangerous monsters, and the surroundings attract an unhealthy number of bandits, raiders, and hungry predators.
FORT INEVITABLE
LE small town
Corruption +3; Crime –3; Economy +1; Law +4; Lore +0; Society –2
Qualities insular, prosperous
Danger +0
DEMOGRAPHICS
Government overlord
Population 960 (878 humans, 25 half-orcs, 18 dwarves, 9 half-elves, 30 other)
Notable NPCs
High Mother Sarise Dremagne (LN female human cleric of Abadar 7)
Lady Commander Audara Drovust (LE middle-aged female human fighter 5/HellknightISWG 6)
Maralictor Dandru Wolfhelm (LE male human fighter 5)
Seven Foxes Leader Kallon Poldmar (NG male human rogue 4/fighter 4)
Signifer Oritian Hast (LE male human cleric of Mephistopheles 3/wizard 3/mystic theurge 4)
MARKETPLACE
Base Value 1,300 gp; Purchase Limit 7,500 gp; Spellcasting 4th
Minor Items 3d4; Medium Items 1d6; Major Items —
