Portjaw

The Beating Heart of Shadowstar

Founded long before the Cataclysm, Portjaw stands as the political and economic capital of the Three Castles Confederation. Its great bay shelters fleets of merchant vessels, while the fertile delta beyond provides abundant harvests that feed much of the island.

The city’s skyline is defined by the remnants of its tragic past: the ruined tower of necromancer Zargath — the sole surviving pre-Cataclysm structure — rises black and broken above the port, left untouched as a warning.

Once the crown jewel of the old world, Portjaw was shattered when the skies burned and the seas turned violent. Yet from that devastation came renewal. Today, its proud walled silhouette stands against the horizon — a symbol of what Shadowstar has always been: defiant, adaptable, alive.

🧩 The City of Diversity and Commerce

Portjaw’s people are as diverse as its history. Halflings dominate trade, their guilds thriving amid the bustling markets. Elves and dwarves maintain proud enclaves near the upper terraces, where the river meets the old city walls. Orcs, though once enemies, now walk the streets under the uneasy peace of the Shadowgate Treaty.

Ships arrive daily from Capefang, Greenshore, and Hatchet — their sails crowding the bay like bright scales upon a vast, living creature. Inside the walls, caravans from Reikerpass, Jawguard, and even distant Gundarakk fill the cobblestone streets, trading goods, gossip, and favors.

⚔️ Guardians of the Gate

Portjaw’s walls are secured by a trio of renowned orders:

• The Children of Light: Paladins of Lathander, who serve as the city’s moral and military compass.

• The Hawkeyes: elite archers who watch over the city walls.

• The Polearms: stoic defenders of the gates, known for their iron discipline.

Each order stands as both sword and shield: the living promise that Portjaw will never fall again.

🍻 Taverns, Inns & Tales

No visit to Portjaw is complete without a stop at one of its famed establishments:

• The Laughing Parrot: a luxury inn for nobles, adventurers, and the lucky few who can afford it.

• Altınkapı: the city’s legendary entertainment house, where politics, romance, and intrigue dance together long past midnight.

• The North Call Inn: a quiet retreat 10 miles outside the walls, frequented by knights of the Golden Lions and wandering heroes seeking solace.

By sundown, every street becomes a chorus of laughter, song, and the clinking of glasses — a living reminder that peace, too, can be loud.

Here, adventurers whisper of lost ruins, merchants toast to fortune, and sailors spin tales of storms that sing in the night — and sometimes, the night answers.

🕯️ A City Haunted by its Past

Only one pre-Cataclysm structure remains in Portjaw — the ruined tower of Zargath, the necromancer whose dark experiments helped unleash the Cataclysm itself. It stands untouched in the old quarter, its black stones fused by magical fire.

At dusk, the tower’s shadow stretches across the bay like a scar, a reminder etched into the heart of the city. To most citizens, the tower is not just a ruin — it’s a reminder that power without wisdom nearly destroyed the world once before.

🏰 Portjaw Today

Under the steady hand of Lady Stephanie, Portjaw has entered a new era of prosperity. Her leadership has strengthened trade alliances and expanded agricultural production, while balancing the city’s growing population of elves, dwarves, and halflings. Orcish traders, once enemies of the realm, now walk its markets under the protection of the Shadowgate Treaty — a fragile but hopeful symbol of peace.

To stand atop Portjaw’s sea walls at dawn is to witness Shadowstar’s spirit in motion — sails catching the morning light, laughter rising from the docks, and the ever-present hum of survival and ambition.

Portjaw endures because it must, rebuilds because it can, and thrives because, in every generation, someone chooses to stay — to fight — and to call this city home.