The City of the Lost

''These people look haunted, as if misery dogs at their footsteps. They throng the dreary cobblestone streets, moving like they're hobbled by a great weight upon their shoulders. What happened that could cause such great despair? - Anonymous''

Description
The City of the Lost (For its people give it no better name) is a grim place to eke out an existence. The buildings seem to lean down upon the streets, such that even walking outside feels like you're being pressed in on from all sides. People walk past you without really seeing you, moving through the motions of life but failing to make that final connection in the end.

The cold waters in the harbor ironically offer the most life, as fish and other sea-life remain plentiful enough to feed the hungry masses here. Fishermen leave the harbor daily, coming back with fresh catches that sells for plenty of money.

Yet, there is no hope in the air all the same. Everyone moves listlessly, hardly anyone stops in the streets to talk to one another. Fishermen and merchants don't need to yell to get attention in the marketplace - Merely speaking is enough to cause a minor stir among passers-by.

Economy
The economy of the City is in shambles. With no other cities to trade with and barely enough productive citizens to sustain itself, it is a wonder that the economy hasn't actually collapsed. Still, strange and wondrous items do manage to fall into merchants' hands from time to time, enticing adventurers with special sales and tales of mystery.

Government
The City is led by a council, made up of the head merchants and the current leading member of what amounts to an aristocracy for the settlement. The leaders here are ineffectual people, only adequate at holding their positions but not excelling. Still, that seems to be enough to satisfy the citizens of this place, for at least it is not on their bowed shoulders that responsibility is placed for everyone's wellbeing.

Geography
The City is composed of a single District on the coastline of the world, a world known only as "The Beyond." The only known land around the city consists of a few lakes and some light forests, beyond which nobody has dared to go. The waters surrounding the City stretch for miles upon miles, seemingly without end, and it is from this ocean that the people draw their primary sustenance - seafood.

Beneath the city's sewer system lies an ancient series of catacombs, crawling with the entombed dead. The caverns go on seemingly endlessly, though near as anyone can remember, nobody has ever bothered to go down and try to map it. Nobody has been that stupid. Instead, the passages into the catacombs are kept barred and shut by the Council, who have made at least the token effort to prevent people from adventuring into the depths lest they never be found again.

The City itself is mostly safe, with high walls keeping the outside world from encroaching any further. The land outside the walls is teeming with monsters: abberrations, undead, even other people who have turned from the relatively normal into the completely deranged.

History
None can recall much of the city's history, for none have ever really cared to record it. As much as anyone knows, it is the last settlement left in The Beyond, a "bastion" of civilization versus the chaos whirling outside its walls. The Council has ruled seemingly forever, sometimes changing members when one dies of age or disappears at sea, but always present. It is a small, comforting consistency for the beleaguered peoples.

The catacombs beneath the city are adorned with crypts and sarcophagi decorated with ancient symbols and beautiful artwork. The bodies, what few people have dared examine, were left preserved almost perfectly, with many having yet to fully decompose. Whether this is the result of mere magic or something much worse, people have not dared ask.

Recently, however, there has been a surge in the population. People have started gaining hope, or at least a new semblance of life. Calling themselves 'adventurers' and equipping themselves with strong armor and weapons, these people venture into the lands outside the City to destroy monsters, explore territory, and bring back treasures that most people could only dream of. The citizens of the City can't ever seem to recall any of these people living here before, but surely they must have, because from where else would they have come?

The people had to give these strange, hopeful types a name: A distinction from them who did not dare to break the status quo. They christened those that would willingly leave the safety of their walls "The Awakened."

Inhabitants
The people of the City are grim and dour people. Though they do greet outsiders with interest, there have not been many in a long time. Most citizens tend to keep to themselves, moving in small groups during the day and locking their doors at night. Still, they respect the bravery and skill of anyone willing to leave the safety of the city, for without the fishermen and the laborers, there would be no city at all.

Religion
The City of the Lost has no official religion, and is indeed an eclectic mix of several different religions. Often there will be a new preacher in the town square each week, promising salvation from the seeming ever-present miasma of melancholy in the form of his or her god.

In secret, some people worship gods not spoken of in public for fear of reprisal. There are whispers of a cult of worshipers of an ancient, forgotten being from beyond the stars. A being that bears unfathomable power, perhaps power enough that could restore this world to something greater.

Special Notes
Perhaps as a result of this realm's nature, or maybe some form of curse, the city has a severe lack of higher level casters present. While it is a haven for casters in general, this only means that the highest level of NPC caster present is able to cast up to 3rd level spells.

Additionally, any divine casters capable of resurrection cannot muster the strength to ask their gods for the spell, or perhaps the gods do not wish to grant them such power. Whatever the case may be, NPCs are unable to cast spells such as Raise Dead or the like. PCs are freely able to use such spells, however.

Modifiers
Corruption: 1

Crime: 0

Economy: -6

Lore: 4

Law: -1

Society: 3

Danger: 13

Qualities
Defensible: The settlement is strategically situated to make it easier to defend, giving its inhabitants confidence in their settlement.

Eldritch: The town has a strange and unnatural air, and is a popular place for sorcerers and oracles.

Insular: The settlement is isolated, perhaps physically or even spiritually. Its citizens are fiercely loyal to one another.

Magically Attuned: The settlement is a haven for spellcasters due to its location.

Deficiencies
Cursed: Some form of curse afflicts the city.