Deadreach
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| Deadreach | |
|---|---|
| also known as Rosereach (former name) · Frozen Quarantine Wound | |
| Kind | Dead city and ruined county |
| Region / realm | Velfald |
| Ruler | None; its undead are directed by Naevys Duskbloom |
| Power in play | Magnus Arcanum (Arcanum Tower) |
| Status | Hollow Desecrated zone; the Reminder slain, the ruin now the Frozen Quarantine Wound |
| GM canon | |
| first cited: [heralds-a#3] | |
Deadreach is the dead but moving city that stands where the port county of Rosereach stood. [heralds-a#47 · heralds-a#48] The name is a replacement for the old one: Rosereach kept its name until Naevys Duskbloom cast a modified Cloudkill ritual against the invading Winter Elves and Bella Worthmore's forces, and the ruin left behind has been called Deadreach ever since. [heralds-a#47 · heralds-a#51 · heralds-a#117]
The city as it was before the ritual — its port, its county, its houses and its defence — is covered at Rosereach. This page covers what the site is today. [owner-form-2026-09-17]
On the world map: this place exists in the map data as province Deadreach.
The fall
As the Winter Elves and Bella Worthmore's forces threatened the region, Naevys cast a modified Cloudkill ritual to stop their combined advance — in her own words, "I sacrificed a city to save a region." [heralds-a#117 · heralds-a#119] The ritual tore bodies apart in Rosereach; thousands died and many victims did not remain whole. [heralds-a#74 · heralds-a#76] Rosereach became a dead but moving city, and the Winter Elves, having lost their army there, withdrew from the plains around it and no longer enter it. [heralds-a#48 · heralds-a#51]
The dead city
The region became a fully Hollow Desecrated zone; its undead and its restless spirits are directed by Naevys Duskbloom, the Arcanum official responsible for the war here. [heralds-a#3 · heralds-a#5 · heralds-a#6] She has begun sending Deadreach's undead forces against Snakecross. [heralds-a#5]
Lesser Smokers roam its streets, born from the catastrophic Cloudkill ritual that destroyed Rosereach. [heralds-a#93] The dead that the torn bodies left behind are the creatures now called Remains. [heralds-a#74 · heralds-a#76] Experienced survivors in Deadreach avoid killing a Remain at close range unless desperate. [heralds-a#66 · heralds-a#73 · heralds-a#75] Spotting one Remain usually means several more are hiding nearby. [heralds-a#74]
Deadreach's undead cannot speak. [heralds-a#132] Unless a character is charmed, their intentions can only be read through action and behaviour — movement, position, bearing — and not through dialogue. [heralds-a#132]
Players, stop here. What is hidden behind this point is game-master material. The full detail is on GM:Deadreach.
Beneath the ruin
Deadreach was built over a temple of the Flower Goddess; when the city fell, the temple collapsed along with it, and the Reminder came to hold sway over the resulting ruin. [heralds-a#125]
The tower
The city's mage tower, affiliated with the Magnus Arcanum, still stands as the Arcanum Tower, and it became the centre of the fight against the Remains infection inside the city. [heralds-b#43 · heralds-a#114]
Politics around the ruin
Bella Worthmore secretly wants independence from Rosereach's influence, as Naevys grows in power there. [heralds-b#105 · heralds-b#109]
The Heralds in Deadreach
The party arrived at the gates of Deadreach. [heralds-a#103] They entered the city through the harbour, where there were almost no undead. [heralds-a#107] As soon as they set foot on Rosereach's soil, an ancient protective ward affected them, charming two party members. [heralds-a#107] They reached the Flower Goddess temple beneath the city. [heralds-a#149]
Aftermath
After the Reminder was killed and Elnaril's cold cloud settled over the ruin, it became known as the Frozen Quarantine Wound. [heralds-a#147 · heralds-a#149] Deadreach's people were evacuated by ship, and the party planned to settle the survivors near Heartpoint. [heralds-a#144] The party did not cleanse Deadreach or save the world, but they got the people out. [heralds-a#149]
Related pages
- Rosereach — the living city whose name and history Deadreach replaced
- Naevys Duskbloom — cast the ritual that killed the city and now holds its tower and part of its dead
- Reminder — the entity that came to hold sway beneath the ruin until the party killed it
- Smoker — one of the two undead types that walk Deadreach's streets
- Remains — born from the victims the ritual left in pieces
- Snakecross — the barony inside the county, and the target Naevys sends her undead against
- Arcanum Tower — the tower that still stands inside the ruin
- Bella Worthmore — wants independence from Rosereach's influence as Naevys grows stronger there
Unconfirmed ideas
The source conversations contain proposals for Deadreach that the campaign owner never confirmed. They are collected on Idea:Deadreach so they cannot be mistaken for canon.