Bubonia

A plague-ridden and bleak province. It's shrouded in clouds of miasma and toxic haze. Amidst the instability of rampant disease and strife, rival guilds work and scheme tirelessly to achieve their individual aims, hoping to become the next predominant faction that wields the power and wealth to control all others. Most residents live short lives filled with constant fear, but guilds provide an opportunity for a life of larger purpose, excitement, and riches.

The province itself is capable of twisting creatures into mutated versions of themselves. Residents not only need to fear these creatures lurking in the dark, but their own as well. Loyalty in this province is fleeting and assassination, backstabbing, and other heinous acts of treachery are common.

Provincial Folklore

The Pestilent Haze

The air in Bubonia is filled with a yellow-green plague poison with mutagenic power. While plagueborns are more resistant to poisons, this does not make them immune to the haze. It works slowly and insidiously, infecting the body, mind, and soul of those who breathe it.
Some exhibit terrible physical symptoms and perish while others turn to wickedness and commit acts of great evil. The ones who suffer the most are the ravening, plagued mutants
There is no way to banish or get rid of the haze but the province has huge windmills that dot the hills that could blow miles of plague clouds away.

==DM Note: While here, the party needs to make a con saving throw every 15 minutes and roll 1d4 on failures. Success: After 3 successes (10, 14, 18), the player will need to start rolling 1d4
On evens, rashes to sore throats to coughs to fevers escalate. On odds, they feel the need to be wicked: sabotaging a party member, stealing, scamming someone, break a windmill, try getting someone to inhale the haze , etc

The Five Great Guilds

While Bubonia is represented in the Crescent Court, the true power resides among the many guilds that operate throughout the province. There are five great guilds that dominate all others, spending equal time working together and sabotaging each other.

The Doomsday Guild
A league of scientists, alchemists, engineers, and artificers that sit at the top of ruling Bubonia simply due to being the only one that can ensure annihilation of the province should they be deposed. Known for their chaotic and destructive weapons of war and doomsday devices, they seek new glory for Bubonia through strange scientific advancement

The Cheesemonger Guild
A union of cheese merchants, butchers, bakers, and other tradespeople specializing in foodstuffs. The wealthiest guild that take advantage of the poor. They trade nourishment for power

The Bellringer Guild
Often hidden away in crumbling abbeys across Bubonia. An order of monks, priests, and prophets that are the keepers of the primary faith in the province who worship the prestilent haze as a deity called the Great Plagued One. They command legions of zealous adherents, spreading the holy word while administering salves and onitments that cure and spread the plague, all in the name of their pestilent god.

The Ratcatcher Guild
A syndicate of assassins, spies, and saboteurs that skitter through the sewers and run-down alleys of Bubonia's towns and cities. Willing to kill any mark or infiltrate any space if the price is right. They slip through the shadows with envenomed blades to advance the aims of the powerful aristocrats who hire them.

The Boltfinger Guild
An order of highly skilled monster and mutant slayers. They brave the wilds and the haze to seek and destroy the threats to Bubonia. Their mission is to protect and while they may seem like the most noble of guilds, they believe no means are too extreme in wiping out the abominations that lurch through the miasma.

Noteworthy Folk

Doctor Molder Underfoot

A leader who schemes better than anyone else in the province. A plagueborn who greatly extended her life through the discovery of alchemical secrets. She serves as master of the Doomsday Guild and sits at the Crescent Court. Her arsenal of doomsday devices help keep the other guilds in line. Her understanding of the minds allow her to pull the right strings to always get what she wants. She is ruthless and calculating, but her ultimate aim is to develop a reliable immunity to the plague and a reversal of the haze's mutations so that Bubonia can experience a new age of prosperity and safety.

Sister Homunculus

Made advancements in strange science infused with occult magic and uses her artificer skills in arcane machinery that makes the Doomsday Guild's resources appear historic. Regularly robs mass graves of those killed by the plague or the mutants forged by it and fuses body parts together into horrific flesh-crafted abominations that server her unquestioningly and assist her in performing increasingly vile experiments on live subjects.

Location Location Location

Castle Underbelly

The capital city of Bubonia. Built on the ruins of a colossal castle that had long been abandoned before recorded history. A sprawling city is one of the largest population centers in Druskenvald and features ramshackle wooden additions grafted to ancient stone structures. Home to thousands of people of all levels of prosperity, separated by the different layers of the castle. Rich and powerful reside at the top of great towers connected by heavily guarded walkways and most survive far below in a massive sewer system. Contains the headquarters of all five of the great guilds, each prospering from the surprising amount of trade, commerce, and travel throughout the capital.

Adventures can be found on page 23

Sub plots for Characters

There is a rot occurring that's slowly infecting the land that rid the large harvests of their size and taste and leaves regular farms to nothing but bare dirt.
For: Egg

NPC Ideas

Twin sisters who are in different guilds (one in the ratcatcher and one in the boltfinger) who either need to settle things between each other or kill each other lol