Historically, Humans and Elves have generally kept to themselves. And with the Elves occupying most of the coast, most Humans have settled inland. Around the Three Lakes of the Killhand Lowlands is one such place, with over a dozen kingdoms* and hundreds of smaller independent villages.
Though the Humans pose little threat to Elven society, some efforts have been made to maintain trade and good relations with them. Results have varied… Some kingdoms are friendly and open to trade, others reject the Elves outright. But a consistent trend is that things don’t last when dealing with humans. Deals made are forgotten mere decades later, kingdoms rise and fall, and contracts signed are not honored by the descendants of dead kings. Such is the thing when dealing which short lived kin.
Deepmist, in particular, is an excellent example.
Deepmist Route
Moor Travel Agency — Routes All Over the Sea
Travel or trade — we offer the cheapest route between the sea and the Killhand Lowlands.
Deepmist is the cornerstone that connects Human and Elven lands. With ships on the Three Lakes and a ropeway to Stonevale by the sea, travel through the region has never been easier. The route was established in NN13 as a response to the notoriously expensive shipping tolls at Clearwater. Maximilian Moor cleared and paved the Narrow Pass through Roserock Ridge and built a port close to the human village of Deepmist.
See the full map of the Red Coast.
Why pick Deepmist over other routes?
- Deadbrittle River: While you can sail all the way up the river, doing so is far more expensive due to the outrageous toll to pass Clearwater.
- The Shallow Pass: The land route northeast to Bloodworth requires a long trip through human lands. Both slow and dangerous.
Trivia
The port was originally planned to be built on the south point of lake Black Bone to make the land route as short as possible. But after a third ship sank trying to find a route through the rocky shallows of southern Black Bone the plan had to be changed.
Export and trade opportunities in the human lands
Silver (mined north of the lakes), shadow-grain, freshwater fish, mushroom-wood, a wide verity of swamp-herbs and miscellaneous human made goods (usually of low quality).
The Everfallof Killhand
A spectacular sight on the way past Deepmist.
“Everfalls” are waterfalls from the Roof of the World. There are many such falls across the world, but most are small enough for the water to brake up into rain or even clouds before it hits the ground. This sets the falls at Killhand apart, where the might of a river crashes down just off the shore.
The water is said to originate in the Overworld, by ones that believe in such. As a result, both humans and elves pilgrim to the area.
To the locals of Deepmist the falls are more of a nuisance. Its very name derives from the constant mist surrounding the city, and if the wind blows the wrong way the mist is replaced by an almost apocalyptic downpour. The moisture has also made it impossible to grow anything other than moss and swamp slime, which instead tends to grow everywhere and on anything.
The Honest Human
The trusted Human scroll free of Elf influence – Issue nr 2 (read issue 1 here)
Editor’s note: Please excuse the blotchy print. We refuse to buy a press made by elves!
Our human-built press will be just as good — no, better — once we have dialed it in.
Extra Extra! News from Killhand:
Deepmist humans gain democracy
Humans Vote out elf rulers.
After a long period of protests in the city of Deepmist the elves finally agreed to hold an election for the first time. The people decided and a human will now take rule!
“Make Deepmist Human again,” the crowd chanted as xxxx xx received the comically large key to the keep.
“Humans will once again decide their own fate,” said the new ruler, promising fair work, fair pay, and fair living for all.
“If you humans want a city without elves, I wish you the best of luck,” said Maximilian Moor, former ruler, in an official declaration. “The profits trading in the Human lands have been underwhelming anyway.”
Maximilian and an entourage of well over a thousand elves left Deepmist to travel back across Roserock Ridge.
Celebrations had been ongoing through the night when our reporter left the city.
We look forward to the next report and to see what wonderful things our brothers and sisters in Deepmist will achieve with their new freedom!
History: Deepmist was originally a Human settlement but was “claimed” by Roserock elves a few generations ago. The city is an important trade connection between the Three Lakes and Roserock.
The Scarlet Scroll
Cave News from Roserock
“Democracy was a mistake”
Deepmist, the city that appointed a Human ruler, is burning.
“Life was good!” said one Human, “We should have never tried to change things. This newfangled democracy was all a mistake. Is it too late to wish the Elves come back?”
Human city meets fiery demise after elections*
What happened? – Penny Ink reporting from the scene.
In an unprecedented turn of events, an election* was held to determine if the Elves should relinquish their holdings. The population of Deepmist all got the opportunity to vote for either Maximilian of the Moor Federation or the council of Human calling themselves the “Objectors”.
The Objectors won.
Maximilian left the city shortly after and offered guaranteed work for any Elven circle that followed him back across the mountains.
Celebration of the new leadership were great and joyous — at first. But already by the first dawn of the new regime it was clear a change like this would not come easy. A wave of crime, drunkenness, and unrest swept the city as the peacekeepers, most of whom were Elves, had left.
On the second dawn the Objectors managed to organize their own forces to stop the “celebrations”. But too late; warehouses were already ransacked, shops emptied of all valuables, and many wounded were left with limited help.
On the third dawn food and necessities came at an unreasonably steep price, as criminals had hoarded what they could. The Objectors promised the scheduled shipments would be distributed and solve the situation.
On the fourth dawn no such shipments came, as they had, of course, been redirected to sail around the mountains to meet up with the Elves.
On the fifth dawn the Objectors were forced to barricade themselves in the keep as mobs formed accusing them of taking all the food for themselves.
On the sixed dawn a fire broke out and spread swiftly across the city. From our sources, none of the Objectors has not been seen since and are presumed likely dead.
At this point, I decided it was time to leave Deepmist and get the news back to Bloodworth, but I managed to catch up to Maximilian on the way to get a short interview.
“Damn, that’s a shame,” he said when given the news, “I feared they would struggle through the winter, but I never saw this coming. I did suggest a slower transfer of power, but the Humans were insistent that whoever won the election should take control right away. And with the anti-Elf sentiment growing, I felt compelled to offer everyone a new life across the mountains. I suppose that removed too large a part of the structure for the city to remain standing. They seemed so adamant and united in their protests I thought they would work it out together.”
By Apprentice Penny Ink
*Election: A Human (and rather silly) way to choose leadership used in some parts of Killhand. The leader is not determined by wealth, military power, competency, or even “right of birth” (as is common in other Human kingdoms). Rather each subject gets a “vote” that each hold the same weight in choosing the leader.
Expert Opinion From the Humanologist
My dearest, Fiona!
Thanks for your correspondence, and, of course, I will offer my opinion as an expert on Humans. I am always happy to be published in the Scarlet Scroll!
The situation in Deepmist is most interesting, and I hope we can see it as a warning for both Elf and Human.
Make sure to spell my name correctly in the byline: Hayden Brin – Humanologist
Headline: Fact check — Who is to blame for Deepmist?
It’s hard to point a finger at anyone in this situation. Misunderstandings, shortsightedness, or maybe simply the location of Deepmist.
To understand what happened we have to go back some 70 years when the Maximilian Moor first established the trade route through the Human lands.
Claim: “The Elves stole the city from the Humans.”
False. It’s a common Human misconception that the Elves subjugate Human settlements by force — it’s rarely needed. This is only an artifact of the short Human memory, or rather that generations pass and their story changes.
Deepmist wasn’t even a city at that time, it was a remote village at the south point of lake Killhand. Only noteworthy for a minor spiritual shrine (to the Everfall).
Maximilian didn’t conquer anyone; he built a port on unused land near the village in the hopes of establishing a trade route to the north side of the lake. The Humans of Deepmist, while skeptical of the Elves, soon came around as a new way of life opened up to them. The port offered good-paying work, the ships brought plenty of food, and soon the village grew far past what it was.
Claim: “The Elves hate Humans.”
False. While there has always been tensions and cultural differences, the Elves and Humans of Deepmist had a good relationship until recently.
The troubles started when the trade of ore leveled off but the human population kept growing. You see, Deepmist has very few resources of its own and a large portion of the profits from the trade route was used to import grain and other necessities to sustain the city.
Maximilian warned of this economic reality many times. He urged the Humans to limit their reproduction as he could not afford to employ more people. He even offered free transit on his ships for anyone willing to move elsewhere. But many Humans saw this as anti-Human propaganda which resulted in the current Human generation feeling unwanted in their place of birth.
Claim: “Humans should have the right to govern themselves and choose their own path.”
True. But they already have that freedom.
This is another misunderstanding of how Elven societies function. Maximilian was not like the Human kings that demand obedience of their subjects. The Elves only claimed ownership of the part of Deepmist they built.
There are leagues upon leagues of unclaimed land around the lake that anyone is free to settle on if they like to live as their ancestors did before the Elves showed up.
The group calling themselves the “objectors”, most of whom never worked for the Elves, still felt entitled to be paid, housed, and fed, simply for living in the city. And I honestly think Maximilian tried his best to appease them, but even he was running thin on resources.
I’m not entirely sure why Maximilian agreed to the election, as he would give up everything he built in Deepmist should he lose. Maybe he hoped a majority of the humans who worked for him would vote in his favor, maybe he was planning on moving on anyway due to dwindling profits, or maybe he was simply tired of being blamed for everything.
The Humans won the election 64% to 58%, and what happened after was already reported in the Scarlet Scroll.
PS: I’m getting the old crew back together this weekend at the Elizeium, you are more than welcome to join us, Fiona!
Hugs and snuggles
Hayden
