// THE PREMISE
What this world is
The Black Spire drove itself up through the ruins of the dead kingdom of Vaelmoor a thousand years ago and has been swallowing the brave and the desperate ever since. It has no top that anyone has reported back. Its levels are not rooms but worlds folded into stone - flooded crypt-cities, fungal forests grown in the dark, halls of clockwork that count something nobody understands, and deeper down, places where the rock itself remembers being alive. You arrive at the muddy rim-town below it with a name yet to be feared and a choice about how deep you dare go.
This is a dungeon crawl about descent, scarcity, hard-won gear, and deciding how far to push before the way back becomes too dangerous. Guildmaster Karric's Delvers' Guild owns every map and takes its cut of everything that comes up. Madam Rhylla and the Coin Lords bankroll expeditions and own half the town's debts. Venerable Styrr's Iron Vow believes the Spire is a wound in the world that must be climbed to its source and sealed. And the Hollowed - delvers who went too deep and came back changed, like the unsettling Joric the Silent - simply wait.
Something is rising. Monsters are being pushed up from below, the deepest maps have gone wrong, and the Hollowed are multiplying. The Vow says the seal is breaking; the Coin Lords say there has never been more gold to be had. You descend into the middle of it - to grind for treasure floor by floor, take a side, or chase the pull all the way down to whatever the Spire actually is.
// PLAY PROFILE
What this world plays like
Begin in the rim-town with the next descent in mind. Decide what to carry, whether to trust Guildmaster Karric's maps, and whether Madam Rhylla's money is worth a share of what you might bring back.
You can focus on a careful expedition, build ties with other delvers, or investigate why the deeper maps have begun to fail. The Iron Vow sees a wound to be sealed; the Coin Lords see an opportunity; the Hollowed are a warning neither explanation can dismiss.
Choose how far to pursue the thing rising below. You could aim to return with enough treasure to clear a debt, help another delver reach the surface, or seek the Spire's nature at the risk of going too deep.
// FACTIONS IN MOTION
Principal factions
A pragmatic and secretive organization that controls all cartographic knowledge of the Spire. They view the Spire as a resource to be systematically plundered, creating maps and authenticating claims to fund their deeper explorations. Their ultimate goal is to reach the Spire's heart and extract its most valuable secrets, regardless of the cost to others.
A ruthless merchant cabal that controls the economic lifeblood of Gallows Reach through debt and a monopoly on the Mire Road. They fund expeditions, assay Vaelmoor Shards, and import all essential goods, ensuring that nearly every soul in town owes them. Their goal is simple: to own everything and everyone connected to the Spire.
A militant order of zealots who believe the Spire is a divine wound on the world that must be sealed. They see delving for profit as a blasphemy that hastens the apocalypse. They gather tithes of steel and food to fund their hopeless crusade to ascend the Spire and reinforce a mythical 'Great Seal'.
The shunned underclass of delvers transformed by the Spire's influence, marked by their dead-white skin and unnerving stillness. They share a fractured, communal memory and possess a unique understanding of the Spire's deeper logic. They exist in the forgotten spaces, seeking not wealth, but a final, quiet truth in the heart of the tower.
// KEY FIGURES
People you'll meet
// SITES OF RECORD
Places that matter
A vast, flat expanse of marsh and sour grassland, perpetually shrouded in mist. The only feature of note is the muddy, sprawling town of Gallows Reach itself, built on the only patch of stable ground for miles, right at the foot of the Black Spire.
A sprawling, ancient forest of black-barked trees and corpse-white fungi. The forest floor is a swampy mire in many places, and the canopy is so thick that it is night beneath the eaves even at noon. The air is unnaturally still.
A series of stark, windswept hills covered in dense, pine-like forests and patches of alpine tundra on the highest peaks. The air is thin and cold. It is here the Iron Vow has its primary fortress-monastery, the Grim-Hold.
A deep, dark, and utterly wild forest, even more ancient than the Whisperwood. The trees here are impossibly large. Crumbling, moss-eaten stones jut from the earth: the last visible remnants of the kingdom of Vaelmoor, swallowed by the forest.
A treacherous coastline where grey grasslands collapse into tidal flats and brackish swamps. A single, decrepit port town, Salt-End, serves as the only link to the outside world, receiving the ships that bring new fools and supplies.
// STORY PASSAGE
A passage from the published profile
Madam Rhylla slides the contract across the table without quite letting go of it. "You want the deep maps, you take my coin to buy them, and you come back up owing me a share of whatever you pull. That's the kindness." Her smile does not reach her eyes. "The unkindness is what happens if you come back up and pretend you didn't."
Behind you the Maw breathes cold air up out of the dark. Karric's people are already watching which lender you signed with.
Selected story passage. Your choices can lead elsewhere.
BEFORE YOU ENTER
Choose a first decision
Start with a person you want to meet, a place you want to see, or a problem you want to understand. You make choices through written actions and read the Narrator's response. The people and places above introduce this world; they do not promise a fixed sequence of scenes.
Completed turns save to your account. Review the latest scene and the relevant in-game information when returning. Check current access and Spark allowances before a longer session, and use the player guide for help with saves, artwork, possessions, and other supported features.
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