Burgs of Kearackinin
Location: Abyss / Layer 7—Kearackinin
- Glimmering Spires (realm town)‡
- Hollow Crown (realm town)‡
- Shifting Mire (realm town)‡
The Glimmering Spires
The Glimmering Spires rise like jagged shards of light from the choking mists of Kearackinin’s swamp—three sanctuaries of strange and terrible beauty amid the unrelenting darkness. These crystalline towers shimmer with an unearthly glow, their surfaces refracting light into kaleidoscopic patterns that dance across the fetid waters below. Each spire is impossibly tall, piercing the bile-black clouds above, and their translucent walls seem alive, pulsing faintly with an inner radiance. Yet this beauty is deceptive; the air around them hums with oppressive energy, a low vibration that gnaws at the edge of your mind. The spires are both a beacon and a warning, promising shelter but demanding submission.
The Glimmering Spires are said to be remnants of an ancient civilisation that predated Sess’innek’s dominion over Kearackinin. Their creators are long forgotten—perhaps devoured by the swamp or even by Sess’innek himself—but their purpose remains: they are sanctuaries, places where even the swamp’s predatory hunger falters. Within their walls, the air is clear, and the oppressive mists recede. Pools of clean water glimmer like liquid silver, and strange flora grow in abundance, their bioluminescent tendrils casting soft light across the crystalline halls. However, this sanctuary comes at a price: only those who have earned the favour of Lizard King Vassz’akath (planar khaasta lizard king [he/him] / CE) may dwell here. To enter without permission is to invite swift retribution.
Vassz’akath rewards loyalty and punishes defiance, granting access only to those who prove themselves useful or obedient. Within these sanctuaries, life is harsh but orderly—a stark contrast to the chaos of the swamp outside. Petitioners who dwell here must dedicate themselves entirely to serving their overlord. The Glimmering Spires are both haven and prison—and a reminder that safety in Kearackinin comes at the cost of freedom.
The inhabitants live in constant fear of being cast out into the swamp should they fail to meet their masters’ expectations. This is a society driven by paranoia and ambition, where betrayal and intrigue fester beneath the surface. The spires may gleam with light, but their foundations are steeped in shadows…
The Lizard King Vassz’akath
The Glimmering Spires are ruled by Vassz’akath, a fearsome and cunning Lizard King whose name is whispered with dread throughout Kearackinin. Vassz’akath is known as the Emerald Tyrant. His obsidian-black scales shimmer with veins of glowing green ichor, a mark of his rebirth in the Breeding Grounds. His eyes burn with an unsettling emerald light, and his claws are exude crackling green abyssal energy. Towering over his vassals, Vassz’akath exudes an aura of malicious authority, his mere shadow able to cow even the most rebellious petitioners.
What sets Vassz’akath apart from the other Lizard Kings is his intellect and ambition. While other Chosen Ones of Sess’innek embody brute strength and martial prowess, Vassz’akath is a master manipulator, weaving schemes as intricate as the crystalline patterns of the Glimmering Spires themselves. Under his rule, the spires have become an unusual bastion of order in the chaotic Abyssal swamp—a place where domination is refined into a cruel art form.
Despite their beauty, life in the Glimmering Spires is far from idyllic. Petitioners who earn entry into the spires live under Vassz’akath’s iron claw, serving as artisans, scholars, and warriors. Their society is built on fear and submission—strength and loyalty are rewarded with sanctuary, while dissent is crushed without mercy. Those who fail to please the Lizard King are cast out into the swamp to face its horrors.
Vassz’akath rules through fear, maintaining control by pitting khaasta factions against one another and rewarding betrayal when it serves his purposes. The inhabitants live under constant scrutiny, knowing that even minor failures could result in exile—or worse. Yet this internal strife only strengthens Vassz’akath’s grip; by keeping his subjects divided and bickering, he ensures that none can grow to challenge his authority. The spires may offer sanctuary from the swamp’s dangers, but they are also a crucible where ambition and paranoia highlight and burn away weakness. But should Vassz’akath falter or fall, the delicate balance he has created would collapse into chaos, leaving the spires vulnerable to both rebellion and the predatory forces lurking in Kearackinin’s marshy depths.
Hollow Crown
In the farthest reaches of Kearackinin, where the swamp’s mists grow thickest and the air hums with a strange, otherworldly resonance, lies the Hollow Crown. Built atop a massive, ancient mangrove whose roots twist into towering arches, the Hollow Crown is a city suspended above the swamp itself. Its bridges and platforms are carved from petrified wood and bone, glowing faintly with a sickly green luminescence. The settlement is shrouded in perpetual twilight, its inhabitants moving like shadows through a world of half-light and whispers. The Hollow Crown is not a place of refuge or sanctuary but one of subversion, where Sess’innek’s philosophy is twisted into something even darker.
The Hollow Crown is ruled by Sithik’taal the Whisperer (planar khaasta lizard king [she/her] / CE), a Lizard Queen who has taken Sess’innek’s ideals of domination and submission and turned them inward. Sithik’taal is a master of manipulation, her serpentine form coiled with unsettling grace. Her scales shimmer like oil on water, reflecting colours that shift with her mood, and her voice is a low, hypnotic hiss that can compel even the strongest wills to falter. Sithik’taal rules through fear and intrigue. She has turned the Hollow Crown into a city of spies and informants, where every word is overheard and every action scrutinised.
The philosophy of the Hollow Crown diverges from Sess’innek’s broader doctrine in its focus on internal domination. Here, strength is not measured by physical might, but by one’s ability to control others through manipulation and subterfuge. Sithik’taal encourages her subjects to betray one another, fostering an atmosphere of paranoia where trust is a weakness to be exploited. This subversion of Sess’innek’s ideals has made the Hollow Crown both powerful and fragile—a city where everyone vies for control but no one truly holds it. Sithik’taal herself thrives on this chaos, using it to maintain her grip on power while ensuring that no rival can rise against her.
Shifting Mire
In the heart of the layer lies the Shifting Mire, a burg built not on strength or loyalty, but on lies and confusion. The Mire is a sprawling, chaotic settlement where nothing is as it seems. Its buildings are constructed from warpwood and bone, their shapes twisting unnaturally as though the swamp here itself rebels against permanence. The streets are narrow and labyrinthine, slowly shifting over time as if alive, forcing its inhabitants to navigate an ever-changing maze. The air is thick with whispers—half-truths and outright lies that seem to emanate from every inhabitant and the mire itself. Here, the truth is a weapon, and misinformation is the currency of power.
Ruling over The Shifting Mire is Sszarath the Many-Tongued (planar khaasta lizard king [he/him] / CE) , a lizard king whose mastery of deception has made him both feared and revered. Sszarath’s form is as unsettling; his scales have an matte iridescence that absorbs colour, and his face seems to shift subtly when observed too long, as if he is wearing countless masks at once. His voice is a cacophony of tones—soothing one moment, venomous the next—designed to disarm and manipulate. Unlike other lizard kings who enforce Sess’innek’s will through brute force or rigid order, Sszarath thrives on chaos. He rules by keeping his subjects in a constant state of confusion and mistrust, ensuring that no one can rise against him because no one knows who their allies—or enemies—truly are.
The philosophy of the Shifting Mire is a twisted interpretation of Sess’innek’s doctrine of domination. While other Kings in Kearackinin enforce submission through strength or suffering, Sszarath wields ignorance and conspiracy as his tools of control. He spreads conflicting decrees through his network of informants and sycophants, ensuring that no one really knows what is true or false. Factions within the Mire are encouraged to spy on one another, reporting fabricated plots and imagined betrayals to Sszarath himself. This constant infighting keeps the populace too distracted to question his rule or unite against him. In this way, the Shifting Mire becomes a self-perpetuating machine of chaos, where survival depends not on loyalty or strength but on one’s ability to navigate the endless web of deceit.
The Mire profits from its culture of infighting, turning internal chaos into a spectacle for its ruler. Public trials, staged betrayals, and orchestrated conflicts between rival factions are treated as entertainment for the King, and therefore for the populace—and as a means of identifying those who might rise too far above their station. These events are carefully controlled by Sszarath’s agents, ensuring that no faction grows strong enough to challenge his rule.
At the heart of the Shifting Mire lies the Pool of Reflections, a massive slick of fetid midnight-black oil said to reveal hidden truths—or perhaps only more lies. Its surface is perfectly still, reflecting not the plane above but distorted visions of those who gaze into it. Some cutters see their deepest fears; others see promises of power or betrayal. The pool is both a tool for Sszarath and a trap for his enemies: those who seek answers from its depths often emerge more confused than before, their minds filled with doubts planted by the pool’s whispers. It is said that Sszarath himself communes with the pool regularly, using its visions to craft new schemes and manipulate his subjects further.
Sources: Jon Winter-Holt