High in the northern mountains lies one of the world’s greatest places of power: the Grand Scry Pool.
Hidden atop a frozen plateau, the pool rests within an immense cave system fed by glacial rivers and ancient subterranean waters. Reaching Beacon is a dangerous undertaking requiring expert mountaineering and intimate knowledge of the mountain passes. Violent storms lash the cliffs year-round, and even winged creatures struggle against the savage winds surrounding the peaks.
Those who survive the ascent gain access to waters unlike any elsewhere in the world. The Grand Scry Pool vastly magnifies magical sight, allowing even inexperienced spellcasters to witness distant lands, forgotten events, and hidden corners of history. Entire scholarly disciplines have formed around studying visions granted by the waters.
Yet one mystery remains untouched. No spellcaster, no matter how gifted, has successfully viewed the current city of Keridwyn. Mundane scouts fail to return. Magical visions reveal only emptiness or distortion. The unanswered question haunts every scholar in Beacon.
During the height of the kingdom, King Exandrian III seized control of the Grand Pool and fortified the surrounding caverns to monitor the empire. Though the kingdom never fully cleared the vast underground network of native peoples and creatures, they established enough control to construct the city that would become Beacon. The settlement expanded layer by layer across the plateau, down the cliffsides, and throughout the endless tunnels beneath the mountains.
When the Gates of Keridwyn closed and the kingdom fractured, the hidden peoples of the caverns emerged to reclaim their ancestral home. Rather than continue the bloodshed, the remaining citizens chose coexistence. Beacon transformed into one of the most culturally diverse cities in the shattered world, welcoming nearly all who can survive the journey to reach it.
Beacon dedicated itself to preserving peace between the surviving cities during the early years of the collapse. Leaders attempted to use visions from the pools to predict conflicts and guide diplomacy, but interpretation proved difficult and often disastrous. Misunderstood prophecies and incomplete visions contributed to several political catastrophes. Though they failed to stop the wars, Beacon continues striving to restore unity.
Law within Beacon barely resembles a traditional government. Ancient Flora elders maintain harmony among the population through mediation, consensus, and quiet authority rather than force. In practice, the city follows only two universal laws: maintain harmony within Beacon, and pay the required tribute for access to the Grand Scry Pool.
Scholars, mystics, spies, historians, and fortune-seekers constantly travel to Beacon seeking knowledge hidden from the rest of the world. The city itself remains calm and reserved for much of the year, save for the great seasonal festivals where the normally restrained population erupts into brief celebrations honoring the ancient Flora. The elders themselves appear entirely indifferent to the attention, but tolerate the festivities for the sake of unity.
Despite its isolation, Beacon is frequently threatened by outside powers seeking exclusive control of the pools or vengeance against the city’s political interference. Even atop unreachable mountains, peace remains fragile.
Tanadar is a Shimmer whose severe demeanor and piercing gaze sharply contrast the soft-spoken reputation of his people. He fights behind an enormous tower shield, wielding radiant magic capable of blinding enemies while strengthening allies around him.
For more than half a century, Tanadar served within the Order of the White Flame beneath the Angel Cassilera. Campaign after campaign hardened him as generations of comrades aged, retired, and vanished while evil continued to spread across the world.
Eventually, exhaustion and futility overtook him. He abandoned the life of endless war and wandered the kingdom carrying little more than his armor, shield, sword, and spare clothes. He sought a simpler purpose — helping ordinary people directly rather than fighting distant battles for causes that never seemed to end.
His travels eventually brought him to Crossroads. A soul of order trapped inside a city of chaos, Tanadar became deeply entangled in the city’s countless factions, cults, conspiracies, and hidden wars. Decades spent navigating those dangers forged him into a skilled diplomat and leader.
After the alliance shattered following the closing of Keridwyn’s gates, Tanadar once again felt the crushing weight of failure. Gathering a small following, he journeyed to Beacon where he now uses both diplomacy and the powers of the Grand Pool to push the fractured cities toward peace.
Worrow thrives on attention, admiration, and impossible odds. A natural risk-taker, he secretly manipulates the strange luck woven through Troll bloodlines, allowing him to appear uncannily fortunate in even the deadliest situations.
Somehow Worrow is always exactly where he needs to be. Disasters collapse around him only for him to emerge triumphant, usually with an audience watching. His daring rescues and dramatic entrances have made him wildly popular throughout Beacon despite his reckless tendencies.
Raised in a small Trollan village, Worrow quickly grew restless with quiet living. Seeking fame and adventure, he traveled the world until eventually arriving in Orbin, where his cavalier use of Trollan abilities caused conflict with more traditional Trolls. Forced to flee, he reinvented himself in Beacon.
To conceal the true source of his uncanny success, Worrow claims mastery of the scry pools and insists that he simply “knows what’s coming.” Maintaining the deception becomes increasingly difficult as Tanadar grows more suspicious of him with every miraculous coincidence.
