Flatlander Expanse - Part 4 - Field Guide to Emberlife

Flora and Fauna of the Court and Wild

“In the deep of frost, her breath kept me alive.”
—Testimony of Flame-Sister Naeli, Emberwarder

Elemental Fire Conduit: Influence on the Boreal Forest

Concept:
The Elemental Fire Conduit isn't just a flame source—it's a magical, semi-living rift between the world and the Elemental Plane of Fire (or Mars, depending on your setting's flavor). It's not a volcano or a wildfire in the classic sense. Instead, it changes the way fire behaves across the surrounding boreal forest.
Instead of the usual natural fire cycle—lightning strikes causing periodic burns that clear undergrowth and renew the soil—sentient, unpredictable fire energies now warp the entire ecosystem.

Effects on the Boreal Forest Ecosystem:

• Living Fires:
  Fires don't just start and burn out; they linger like semi-aware beings, smoldering without consuming all fuel, moving at unnatural speeds or directions. Some fires "hibernate" underground, then emerge months later.
• Ash-Born Flora:
  Certain plants now require elemental fire exposure to germinate—seeds won't sprout unless "kissed" by the conduit’s ember-charged flames. Groves of ash-blackened trees with glowing veins might sprout up almost overnight after a fire.
• Elemental Fauna Mutations:
  Some native animals slowly mutate from the elemental nature of the area.
• Weather Warping:
  Rain clouds near the conduit might carry sparks instead of water. "Firestorms" occur where hot dry winds whip embers across miles in unnatural patterns.
• Spiritual and Magical Distortion:
  The conduit has twisted or empowered spirits of the land—once guardians of regular growth cycles—. Some now act as shepherds of necessary "cleansing fires," while others become aggressive, seeking to ignite all life in endless, destructive rebirth.

Courtbound Creatures

Keepers of the Last Coal

Species: Canis Familiaris (Sheepdog lineage)
Court Role: Hearth Guardians, Spirit-Warners
Temperament: Fiercely loyal, empathetically attuned
Notes:
When a Keeper dog curls beside a hearth, Ember sages say they are listening to the whispers of coals long dead. If they bark at empty corners, it's said to be an omen of intrusion—be it spirit, ember thief, or emberborne child gone rogue.

Ritual Practice: Their ashes are mixed with forge soot to bless newborn hounds.

Redhorns of the Hearth

Species: Bovinae (Heirloom Prairie Cattle)
Court Role: Warmth-keepers, sacred providers, living relics
Temperament: Docile, protective in groups
Notes:
Redhorns are not just beasts of burden; they are the living hearthstones of Ember villages. It is said their breath can revive failing embers and calm restless ash spirits. Calves are named ceremonially and braided with emberthread during the Winter Stilling Festival.

Game Hook: A Redhorn calf has gone missing before its Emberwild release. Track it before the forest spirits grow offended.

Sunborn

 

Species: Gallus Domesticus
Court Role: Egg-bringers of fortune, providers of sacred ink
Temperament: Nervous, irritable near firestorms
Notes:
Every egg laid during Ashveil Night is gathered for divination and ink-pressing. Elders believe the yolks carry messages from the fire gods. In lean times, Sunborn flocks are offered to the Emberwild, where they often vanish without trace.

Wild Kin of the Emberwild

Fleeing Flame (White-tailed Deer)

Role: Spirit messenger
Habitat: Borderlands of the Emberwild
Behavior: Flees unnatural fire, guides the lost
Field Notes:
To see a Fleeing Flame during an ember storm is rare and powerful. Embercourt folklore suggests following one can lead to hidden safety or lost relics—but to hunt one is blasphemy.

Smoke-Eye (Great Horned Owl)

 

Role: Omen-bringer, vision guide
Habitat: Burned-out ruins, high scorched trees
Signs: Three calls in the night = warning of betrayal
Field Notes:
It is said the Smoke Eye can see both the ember trail of the past and the spark of future acts. Scribes sometimes follow them on vision quests, using powdered ember glass to match their gaze.

Art Prompt: An owl with ember-colored eyes and smoke curling off its feathers as it lands on a twisted chapel spire.

“I followed the flame-tail through ten shadows, and there I found her locket—untouched by ash.”
— Journal of the Wandering Skald, p. 87

Changed & Charred

Charwalker (Emberwild-Adapted Horse)

 

Origin: Descended from prairie horses left behind in the Great Ashing
Appearance: Charcoal skin, ember mane, burning hooves on nights of high fire magic
Temperament: Skittish but fast; require whispered handling
Use: Courier missions, fire dancing rituals
Special: Resistant to heat and terrain-based fire damage
Cultural Role: Only chosen riders may bond with a Charwalker. The ritual involves walking barefoot across hot coals while reciting fire-lineage names.

Coalboars

Origin: Wild boars fused with ember growths
Appearance: Blackened hide, glowing tusks, exhale faint embers
Temperament: Aggressive, territorial
Use: Rarely domesticated; hunted for volatile bone charms
Ecological Role: Tillers of the Ashground. Their rooting encourages emberflora growth.

Game Hook: A particularly massive Coalboar has begun attacking embergrain fields—only a boar-bonded youth knows its old name and may calm it.

Invasives of the Ember Rift

Ash Ghost

Classification: Elemental Remnant (Ash/Smoke)
Common Names: Corpse Smoke, Soulflame, Moundland Shade

Appearance:
An ash ghost is a drifting mass of ash, soot, and smoke vaguely suggesting a humanoid form. Its shape flickers and distorts constantly, with only brief moments where a gaunt face, reaching hands, or a ragged cloak silhouette is visible through the swirling gloom. Its body radiates a low, smoldering heat; wherever it passes, the air becomes thick with the stench of scorched flesh.

Behavior:
Forged from the ashes of the dead during the Necromantic Wars, ash ghosts are not true spirits but elemental echoes of assassins who served the Fallen Lord's Corpseman army. With the war's end, they now drift across the edges of the Moundlands as freelance killers, offering their services to the highest bidder, though they care little for gold or goods. Ash ghosts trade only in souls, demanding the surrender of life essence as payment.  They are relentless and tactical in combat, weaving through groups of enemies to isolate and immolate individuals. Death at an ash ghost’s hands is not the end — unless their remains are sealed, the fallen may rise anew as more ash ghosts, continuing the cycle of horror.

Despite not being a place where the necromantic wars took place, hearthgate and the adjoining area attracts these creatures like a moth to flame.

Ember Court Notes:
"Mark this well: the Ash Ghost is no mere wandering haunt, but a weapon of war still fighting battles long after their masters fell. Should one be encountered, conventional defenses will fail — steel does not cut smoke, nor can walls halt mist. Use cold, containment, and consecration. Above all else, do not allow the ash to scatter. Every grain uncontained is a blade pointed at your throat."
— Vigilant Arcanist Morren, Ember Court, Twelfth Seat

Cinder Beasts

Classification: Exoplanar Apex Predator
Common Names: Ashmanes, Riftwolves, Red Howlers
Appearance:
Monstrous quadrupeds with a hulking, lupine build and leonine musculature. Their ash-coated fur constantly smolders at the tips, and their eyes glow like molten obsidian. When agitated, heat waves ripple from their bodies, distorting the air.

Behavior:
Cinder Beasts hunt in volcanic-style packs, communicating through low-frequency rumbles and sulfurous scent trails. Attracted to heat and flame, they will circle fires and settlements before striking with calculated fury. Solitary cinder beasts are rare, usually outcast or wounded—though no less lethal.

Ember Court Notes:

• Their hearts are harvested to create flame cores for Emberforged weapons.
• Folklore says a single howl can boil blood in the uninitiated.
• Packs are sometimes mistaken for firestorms on the horizon.

"I thought it was a weatherfront. Then I saw their eyes."
—Last log of Pyreguard Mekk Thorne

Pyrokinetic Scorpions

Classification: Elemental Invertebrate
Common Names: Embersting, Hellhook, Flamecrawler
Appearance:
Carapace of shimmering lava-glass, with glowing joint lines and pincers that radiate waves of oppressive heat. Their tails end in a stinger tipped with emberstone, capable of igniting living tissue on contact.

Behavior:
These scorpions favor ambush tactics, lying motionless beneath ash dunes or stone outcroppings until prey nears. They hunt with infrared vision, detecting body heat with uncanny precision. Once prey is marked, they unleash gouts of flame from their stingers, searing and stunning.

Ember Court Notes:

• The stingers are often harvested and used in pyromancer wands or alchemical injections for short-term fire resistance.
• Sightings increase dramatically during Red Ember Moons, when dimensional breaches thrum with unstable magic.
• A court legend tells of a warband riding tamed Pyroscorps into the Emberwild—none returned, and the scorpions bred freely.

"Its breath was fire, and its eyes did not blink. The desert made flesh."
—Field journal, Emberseer Karran Vel

Pyronoid

Classification: Oozing Elemental (Fire)
Common Names: Bloodfire Blob, Ember Horror, Hellbubble

Appearance:
A pyronoid resembles a massive, glowing ellipsoid of molten, bubbling sludge, roughly 25 feet long and 10 feet wide. Its surface constantly seethes with blistering heat, giving off noxious vapors and a hellish red-orange glow.

Behavior:
Driven by an insatiable hunger, pyrenoids drift lazily across landscapes, consuming any solid material they encounter. They are not intelligent but exhibit an almost instinctive malice, gravitating toward populated areas and sources of water, which they foul or vaporize with their mere presence. They show no fear or curiosity, only a relentless, smoldering hunger.

Ember Court Notes:
"Should a pyronoid emerge, immediate evacuation is advised. Standard fire wards are insufficient — cold spells and overwhelming water sources are the only known deterrents. Remember: what cannot be burned will be smothered and crushed. The Court's official stance is extermination on sight, before an area is lost to red sand and ruin."
— Archivist Jallis, Ember Court, Sixth Seat

Sinderreign

Classification: Ancient Flameborne Great Horned Serpent

Location: Candle Lake, Saskatchewan

Appearance:

His body is a glowing mass of volcanic scales, each scale like a burning coal. His great horns are blackened obsidian, constantly steaming in the cold northern air—his breath smells of burned forests and ancient magic.

Behavior:

Volatile.  Sinderreign's emotional state is precarious. One day, he may be wise and conversational; another, a raging inferno of hatred.

Ember Court Notes:
"Should Sinderreign stir beneath Candle Lake, regional containment protocols will be initiated immediately. Surface signs include blackened deadfall, vitrified sands, and unnatural mist regardless of season.
Subterranean activity reveals a volcanic lattice of molten channels and obsidian tombs. All prior artifacts encountered are deemed unstable and must not be retrieved without pyromantic clearance.
Cult activity detected: The so-called Cult of the Ember-Twined has begun active insurrection, citing 'purification' mandates in Ashcoil’s name. Engagement options are limited. Direct assault is sanctioned, though the Court advises attempting parley with Ashcoil himself to sever their claim of divine right, lest a full holy war ignite across the region.
— Archivist Jallis, Ember Court, Sixth Seat"The air smells like wet ash and ozone. Eerie, flickering light reflects off the ceiling like a phantom aurora.

Court-Cultivated Emberflora

(Domesticated or ritually farmed plants essential to survival and symbolism in the Ember Court)

Ashfern

 

Origin: A hardy mutation of native ferns
Appearance: Pale silver leaves with black stems, grows only in burn-scars
Use: Soil restoration, weaving
Field Notes:
Ashferns bind with ember spores, allowing them to regenerate burned soil quickly. Some use their fronds as parchment for spirit-writing, claiming messages appear when burned slowly.

Superstition: Ashferns growing in a circle mark a spirit’s grave or a place of hidden ember treasure.

Coalroot

Origin: Native prairie root now used widely by Emberfolk
Appearance: Gnarled, black-skinned tuber with red-veined flesh
Use: Medicinal paste, warmth tonic
Field Notes:
Coalroot is dug only during the waning moon, when its volatile essence has retreated deep into the earth. Improper harvesting causes violent steam eruptions.

Ritual Use: Crushed with snow ash and birch sap to produce ‘Ashdraught,’ a warming brew during Emberbirth ceremonies.

Embergrain

Origin: A magically adapted strain of wheat
Appearance: Deep red stalks with black-tipped heads; glows faintly at dusk.
Use: Staple food crop; also used in ceremonial ashbread
Field Notes:
Embergrain must be planted during the waxing crescent moon and watered with cooled hearthwater for the best yield. Farmers often chant ember-prayers to encourage flame spirits to bless the soil.

Special Property: When ground and burned, the ash produces a mild warmth. It is sometimes mixed into winter poultices or used in firestarter charms.

Firewhorl Bloom

Origin: Hybridized prairie flower fused with elemental energy
Appearance: Spiraled crimson petals, center flickers like a flame
Use: Symbol of courtship and sacrifice.
Field Notes:
Firewhorls are cultivated in courting gardens and used to propose Emberbonding (marriage equivalent). The petals are brewed into a passion elixir or left on pyres to honor the dead.

“When I could not speak my heart, I left a Firewhorl upon their windowsill. It was answer enough.”

Kindlecap

Origin: Transformed fire-loving fungus found in scorched woods
Appearance: Bright orange mushroom with smoky underside and ember-speckled cap
Use: Hallucinogen, spiritual incense, rare seasoning
Field Notes:
Kindlecaps emit soft warmth when clustered. They are used in vision quests and ancestral communions, where people mix dried caps with fiberglass dust and inhale the mixture.

Scorchpods

Origin: Charred version of native legumes
Appearance: Jet-black seed pods that snap open with a spark
Use: Emergency food, flint substitute.
Field Notes:
Used by hunters and scouts. When crushed and chewed, they numb pain and dull hunger but cause dry mouth and vivid dreams.

Utility: The seeds are used like tinder, striking flame when struck against bone or stone.

Emberwild & Untamed Flora

“I saw my grandmother, dancing barefoot on hot stones, and she asked why I still feared the flame.”
—Visionkeeper Tharran, Ember Monastery

Cindertrees

 

Origin: Burned pine trees that refuse to die
Appearance: Barkless black trunks with glowing sap and red-veined branches
Use: Ritual charcoal, dream-wood, sacred firewood
Field Notes:
Cindertree wood burns forever unless doused with blood or riverglass water. Its embers are stored in the Ember Court’s eternal hearths.

Mythic Note: Sages believe each cinder tree harbors a sleeping ancestor spirit waiting to awaken at the world's end.

Flarethistle

 

Origin: Transformed prairie thistle
Appearance: Thorny stem with bright red crown that sparks when agitated
Use: Defensive hedging, trap-making
Field Notes:
Flarethistle patches are used to ward off spirit beasts or line perimeters. Some couriers coat their boots in thistle oil for spark-stealth, where each step leaves behind a nearly invisible ember trail.

Whispersoot Flower

 

Origin: Unknown—appears spontaneously near sites of sorrow or betrayal
Appearance: Small, delicate gray petals with a voice-like rustle
Use: Spirit detection, grief rituals
Field Notes:
These flowers cannot be picked—they dissolve into ash. Instead, they're listened to. Whisper-soot blooms are said to speak in the voices of the dead, and sometimes tell secrets not meant for the living.

 

 

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Flatlander Expanse - Part 3 - Hearthgate

 (formerly Prince Albert)

A Fire-Touched Domain in the World After the Hodgepocalypse

Overview

 

Once known as Prince Albert, this city did not fall to ruin when the Hodgepocalypse came. It transcended, scorched clean of time and sense, reforming into Hearthgate—a domain caught between flame and memory. Buildings do not simply stand; they smolder. Streets are paved in cool cinders, and the air hums with the scent of ash and burnt magic. Here, flame rules nature, law, culture, and the soul.

Hearthgate is not a singular location—it is a realm whose borders shimmer and shift, rooted in Prince Albert's bones but flickering across time and dimensions. Reality burns slow here.

Core Themes

• Elemental Entropy Meets Frontier Survival – You don’t just live here—you burn with purpose.
• Memory as Flame – The past is never entirely gone; it reignites without warning.
• Post-Collapse Majesty – Ruins turned radiant;             culture reforged in fire.
• Dangerous Beauty – Everything in Hearthgate could kill or transform you.

Tech of Hearthgate

Post-apocalyptic elemental engineering for a fiery Saskatchewan.

 Core Concepts:

1. Combustion is Culture: Fire isn’t just a utility—it’s a spiritual force and a power source. Tech here isn’t built to resist flame but to channel and honor it.
2. Elemental Feedback Loops: Inspired by Martian volcanic systems and lava vent colonies, Hearthgate developed tech that feeds off fire and returns it to the cycle, always burning and constantly renewing.
3. Adapted for Prairie Scale: Unlike Martian megacities, Ember Court tech is modular, agricultural, and local. Think solar stills crossed with bonfires, flame-capped silos, and molten tractors.

Signature Technologies

Ashflow Irrigation Systems

 

• What: Uses thermally reactive tubing to heat and distribute mineral-rich steam to fire-resistant crops like Embergrain.
• How Used: Local farmers trigger systems at sunrise with spark runes. Ash from the Emberwild is used as a mineral additive.
• Side Note: Makes fields glow red-orange at dusk—called "Fire Blooming" by locals.

Ash-Gliders:

 

• Description: Modeled after glider technology, these vehicles use large wings to glide through the thermal currents created by heated air above the Ashen Forests or Ember Plains.  They are often used to zip around by the young and adventurous around the Embercourt and outlying reasons.
• Usage: Ash-Gliders can serve as a means of reconnaissance or swift travel from one location to another, providing an aerial view of the surroundings.

Cinderforges & Embercrafting Tools

 

• What: Personal and communal forges that bind spirits of flame to materials, letting smiths create semi-living tools that reshape with intention.
• From Mars: Derived from terraforming drones designed to sculpt Martian crust with psychoreactive heat.
• Rural Use: Used to craft everything from embersteel plows to ritual dueling gear.

Fire Contracts & Spark Seals

 

• What: Legal tech—pacts are burned into enchanted parchment that flare if broken or fade if fulfilled. Used in markets, duels, and smuggling.
• Mars Influence: Echoes of Martian flame-oath culture where contracts were seared into oxygen-limited stone.

Firemind Meshes

 

• What: Networked psychokinetic circuits woven from burnt copper and fireglass, allowing small-scale local mindlinks or communal flame-memory recall.
• From Mars: Derived from Martian unity rituals where colonies shared thoughts to survive isolation.
• Prairie Use: Used in the Archive of Charred Memories, Ember Artistry Collective, and among the Coal Children.

Heat-Hollowed Habitats

 

• What: Buildings reinforced with igneous marrowwood (from the Emberwild) and volcanic concrete, constructed to "breathe" heat and hold it.
• Design: Fire chimneys double as spirit vents, allowing heat ghosts to pass through and bless the home.
• Martian Touch: Inspired by lava-tube shelters and volcanic dome habitats on Mars.
• Homes feature subterranean cooling chambers, like Earth root cellars, to store perishables and hide from flamewinds

Molten Railcarts

 

• What: Self-guided carts powered by magmaline cores—they “float” over scorched rails and run errands through town.
• Uses: Deliver Embergrain, ferry duelists to the Arena, or carry goods to Riverglass Docks.
• Visual: Think glowing hovercarts with ember exhaust trails.

Thermokinetic Batteries

• What: Heat-storing "cells" built from obsidian-wrapped ceramic, developed from Martian heat-retention vaults.
• How Used: Homes are warmed for weeks using a single Embercoil, charged during high-temp solar flares or volcanic steam vents under the city.
• Bonus: They glow like warm coals when charged—also used as status symbols.

Culture

Rituals of Fire:

 

• Purpose: Fire is viewed as both a creator and destroyer, so regular rituals are held to honor its power. These rituals can involve offerings of food, crafted items, or even the lighting of sacred fires.
• Example: The Festival of Flames, where communities celebrate with dance, storytelling, and a ceremonial bonfire that symbolizes unity and regeneration.

Oaths of the Flame:

 

• Purpose: When making a promise or forming alliances between groups or individuals, an oath is taken before a fire, symbolizing the binding nature of their word. Breaking an oath could be considered a grave offense.
• Example: Before embarking on a joint venture, leaders may vow to uphold their commitments by placing their hands in fire (safely, through magical means) to signify their sincerity.

Trial by Fire:

• Purpose: Young warriors or aspiring leaders undergo a trial that tests their strength, courage, and mastery over fire. This is a rite of passage that determines their status in society.
• Example: A challenge where participants must navigate a series of fiery obstacles or face a trial by a creature.

Cultural Exchange Ceremonies:

 

• Purpose: Regular gatherings between different factions facilitate trade, cultural exchange, and unity among the inhabitants of Mars.  This has been expanded to all potential visitors to Hearthgate, as they can learn from anybody.
• Example: These ceremonies include showcasing crafts, sharing food, demonstrating fire manipulation skills, fostering cooperation and understanding.

The Code of Heat:

Food is ritual, harvests are worship, and cooking is sorcery

• Purpose: A set of guidelines that govern interactions involving respect, honor, and the responsible use of fire. It emphasizes community welfare and the dangers of uncontrolled fire.
• Example: Individuals are expected to put out excess flames when using fire for crafting or cooking, and to refrain from starting fires in places that could be harmful (like Ashen Forests).

Harvesting Flames:

• Purpose: Specific times of year are marked for collecting flames from naturally occurring sources, like thermal springs or volcanic activity. These flames are used for crafting and rituals.
• Example: A communal event where residents gather to safely capture and harness flames from a volcanic fissure, celebrating the bounty and its contributions to their life.

Sacred Fire Guardianship:

 

• Purpose: Elders or chosen individuals called “Guardians” oversee the sacred flames that hold cultural and spiritual significance. They are responsible for maintaining the fires and ensuring they are respected.
• Example: A chosen Guardian may lead a group in a pilgrimage to a historic fire site, telling stories of the lineage and history of their people along the way.

Songs of the Flame:

• Purpose: Artistic expressions through songs and stories that recount the history of fire and its effects on the inhabitants of Mars. These are passed down through generations.
• Example: Performances that incorporate dances, fire displays, and chants about legendary battles fought in the name of fire, reinforcing cultural identity and heritage.

Social Etiquette

 

• Greeting with Warmth: Physical greetings often involve gestures incorporating heat or fire, such as clasping hands near a flame or touching foreheads in a warm embrace, symbolizing respect and camaraderie.
• Offerings of Warmth: When visiting someone’s home, it is customary to bring a small flame or token related to fire, signifying goodwill and a sharing of warmth.

Species of Hearthgate

The culture is a mixing of traditional Martian culture with the locals to create something new.

Cats

Cats already have strong psychic associations, and with the Ember Court and elemental fire influence, it’s natural for some of them to develop pyrokinetic powers — especially under the influence of ambient ember energies.  They're sleek, unpredictable, and have become natural fire-mages or spirit mediums. The fact that Hearthgate is considered "haunted" boosts their role as spirit communicators.

Fate Fugitives

Prince Albert’s haunted reputation has historically resulted in a strong Fate Fugitives presence. They're escaped spirits who became flesh again—perfect for a region full of broken ley lines, ghost memories, and ember-haunted ruins.   

Potential locations for Fate Fugitives.

• Diefenbaker House Museum (Prince Albert): Ghostly sightings around this old home hint at lost political ambitions and old regrets.
• Old Courthouse (Haunted Basement): Said to have a chilling presence in its lower cells.
• Sacred Heart Cathedral (Mysterious Choir Sounds) Rumors of ghostly hymns echoing through empty pews.

Haraak (Bloodfire Kin)

 

"We are not mistakes. We are the promise the fire made to the stone — that together, we endure."
— Old Haraak Proverb

In the decades following the arrival of the Ember Court, bonds between Ignithari settlers and human survivors formed — sometimes through love, sometimes through necessity, and often through shared struggle against a burning, uncertain world. From these unions emerged the Haraak, also known as the Bloodfire Kin: a resilient people who carry the stone-skin and ember-veins of their Ignithari ancestors alongside the endurance and adaptability of humankind. Sturdy and spirited, the Haraak act as natural bridge-builders between the pureblood Ember Court and the human communities of Hearthgate. Traders, scouts, and diplomats, they move easily between flame and frost, understanding both the language of molten stone and the whispers of living soil.

Humans

 "The embers chose us, same as the stars once did. We just had to learn how to burn without breaking."

— Common saying in Hearthgate's Outer Districts

Once the region’s original settlers, humans now form the backbone of Hearthgate’s evolving society. Generations of life beside Ignithari flamekin, ember-haunted spirits, and awakened beasts have left deep marks. Some humans bear faint ember-cracks beneath their skin, others manifest subtle pyrokinetic talents, and many possess an uncanny intuition for the spirit-riddled wilds. In Hearthgate’s tangled alleys and glowing squares, humans serve as negotiators, pioneers, and survivors — fiercely adaptable in the face of elemental upheaval. Some cling to old hearthfire traditions, while others embrace the burning future the Ember Court heralds. Their versatility has made them indispensable... but also restless, as ancient bloodlines and emberborn gifts awaken without warning.

Plot Hook: "Ash in the Veins"
Certain human families across Hearthgate have begun to exhibit sudden, dangerous surges of ember magic — spontaneous combustion, prophetic visions, and even skin turning to living stone. Fear grips the outer districts as rumors spread: an ancient ember pact, once buried, is rekindling. A desperate steward hires the party to investigate the phenomenon... but the new emberborn aren't all helpless victims — some may have their fiery plans for Hearthgate’s future.

Little Bears

 

The boreal forest setting and the natural fauna of Saskatchewan (bears being prominent) make Little Bears fit extremely naturally. They’d act as hardy frontiersfolk, perhaps even the original defenders of the Sacred Ember Grounds and the Ash Trail Network.  Think stout, wise, capable, rugged survivors who've adapted to the half-charred, half-thriving forests outside the Ember Court.

Ignithari 

The Ignithari, proud elemental beings from Hallowed Mars, have settled in what was once Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, now transformed into Hearthgate. With four muscular arms and glowing, ember-like skin, they carry the legacy of the Forge-God and their fiery heritage. As immigrants, the Ignithari blend their intense culture with the traditions of local settlers, creating a unique community enriched by shared rituals and beliefs. While honoring their martial caste system and the Cycle of Flame, they forge connections with diverse races, shaping a resilient society that balances ancient traditions with the promise of new beginnings in Hearthgate’s vibrant landscape. 

Factions in Play

The Ember Court

 The ruling nobility. Each noble is bonded to a flame: flashfires, candles, volcanic heartbeats. They duel for territory in the Arena of Ash and govern with flame edicts.

The Ashen Pact

Scholars and arcanists researching the limits of flame-death and rebirth. They experiment with soul-kilns and fire symbiotes.

The Firebrands

Rebels and flame cultists. Some want to cleanse the world, others to liberate fire itself. Cells are often housed in ashfall shelters under city ruins.

The Glass-Eyed Smugglers

 Nomads and merchants who cross the Riverglass on boats that don’t exist in linear time. Their deals are bound in spark-promises and always seem to echo later.

NPCs

Constable Thorne 

He walks the scorched streets of Hearthgate with the weight of three worlds on his shoulders. A grizzled human with a deep prairie drawl and a spine forged in duty, he’s seen too many fires started by hatred, desperation, or worse belief. His left eye was lost during the Martian incursion, replaced by an emberglass implant that glow faintly in the dark, letting him see heat trails and lies with equal clarity. Armed with an old slugthrower and a newer flamebrand baton, Thorne maintains order between the volatile Haraak clans, fire-worshipping cultists, and the settlers from Mars. He doesn't trust easily, but he knows how to keep a lid on a powder keg... most days.

Plot Hook:
When a respected Harraak elder is found turned to glass in the middle of town—burned from the inside out—Constable Thorne turns to the party for help. All factions deny involvement, and tensions rise fast. But his emberglass eye has started seeing flashes of a shadow that shouldn't exist—something that moves through the fire, not just within it. Is it a new Martian threat, or something far older?

Eddy the Wrencher 

 Meet Eddy the Wrencher, a wiry, soot-smudged handyman of the Red Rust Collective, always ready to spin a tale or a wrench. With the heart of a tinkerer and an arsenal of duct tape, he’s got a knack for turning Martian salvage into something that hums and sparks just right, even if it looks like a raccoon cobbled it together in a hurry. Each part is treated like family, as he coos soothing words to reactor cores and apologizes to stubborn gears that won’t budge. Folks call him eccentric, but Eddy’s uncanny intuition for machines has bailed out more than a few emberborn from disaster. His workshop—a half-collapsed grain silo festooned with gadgets and gizmos—is a glorious shrine to both the beauty of decay and the promise of new beginnings, where bubblegum and duct tape find their place beside the remnants of Mars.

Plot Hook: Eddy’s prized machine-spirit—an ancient Martian AI core he affectionately calls “Gran-Nan”—has gone quiet. He insists it’s not broken, just taken. Strange signals are being broadcast from the Riverglass Docks at midnight, and Eddy swears he hears her voice in them. He begs for help retrieving her, offering a boon, a relic, or the blueprints to something forbidden. But the source of the signal might be a remnant of Mars no one was prepared to face...

Ma Grella Ashcroft 

Bloodfire Matriarch of the Ashcroft Lineage

 Ma Grella Ashcroft is the iron-willed matriarch of Ashcroft Hearthstead, a basalt-walled homestead nestled at the edge of the Emberwild. With skin like weathered bark and eyes the color of banked coals, she’s seen more than her fair share of emberstorms and boreal Buccaneer raids—and carries herself like someone who never lost one. Though she runs her land like a fiefdom, with strict rules and sharper expectations, Ma Grella never lets a soul leave her hearth without a tankard of emberbeer and a tale crackling from her lips. The walls of her longhall are carved with family victories, scorch marks, and prophecy-scrawls she refuses to explain. She's fiercely protective of her kin and holdings, and rumors claim she once struck down a firewraith using only a hot skillet and bad attitude. Despite her brusque manner, she's become a keystone figure in Ember Court politics—where her wisdom, grudges, and gruff generosity carry serious weight.

Plot Hook: The Ashes of Memory

Ma Grella has begun speaking to someone in her sleep—a long-dead husband who died in the early days of the Ember Rift. She claims his voice tells her that something is buried beneath the homestead, something burning and old that should never have been forgotten. Now, her dreams are growing more vivid, and the hearthfire at Ashcroft Hearthstead won't go out, even when quenched. She calls for trusted outsiders—preferably ones with swords and a knack for discretion—to descend into the hidden tunnels beneath her land and unearth the truth. But what they find may unravel the very founding myth of the Ashcroft line… and awaken a fire that Ma Grella herself may not be strong enough to contain.

Sister Caldera 

 A tall, gaunt Ignithari draped in tattered priestly robes that flicker with firelight embroidery, each thread stitched with the ash of old oaths. Her ember-glow eyes never blink, and her voice crackles like a smoldering log as she delivers sermons filled with riddles and apocalyptic prophecy. She wanders from settlement to settlement with a scorched staff and a reliquary of emberdust. She proclaims that Hearthgate’s survival hinges on its destruction—only through fire can the colony be purified and made whole. While many dismiss her as a mad prophet, others have begun to follow, whispering that she sees what the rest will not.

Plot Hook:
A series of coordinated sabotage events have struck key Ember Court infrastructure, always preceded by one of Sister Caldera’s cryptic sermons. Has one of her followers misinterpreted her visions—or is she guiding these acts toward some divine, fiery reckoning? The party is tasked with either stopping her... or understanding what she truly sees in the flames.

Key Locations

"When the Ember Court came and the world cracked open, the old bones of Prince Albert did not vanish — they burned, shifted, and endured. The grand sandstone facades, the weathered courthouses, the sprawling parks and markets — all were touched by flame and spirit. Some buildings stand scorched but proud, their stones threaded now with ember-veins and memory-fires. Others have been reshaped entirely, serving new masters and ancient powers. Hearthgate is a city of crossroads: between past and future, mortal and elemental, hope and ruin. To walk its streets is to walk through history reborn — if you can survive the heat."

The Archive of Charred Memories

Formerly: The Historical Museum
This library-museum hybrid is filled with ghost-flame projections—living moments from the past replayed endlessly in ember light. History here is preserved and haunted; the deeper you go, the more vivid (and less stable) the memories become. Some say time itself has grown brittle in the lower halls.

Hook: A missing historian disappeared while watching a memory flicker to life. Their voice echoes throughout the Archive, speaking languages from before the firestorm. Is it a possession—or a message?

The Arena of Ash

Formerly: Kiwanis Park

A public space turned coliseum where noble disputes are settled through ritualized fire-duels. Ringed with flame-wreathed balconies and scorched stone sigils, it crackles with the weight of centuries-old vendettas played out in the ember-lit sand. Audience members often wager in flame-tokens, secrets, or fragments of memory.

Hook: A duel has been called, but one of the champions is an outsider, accused of violating a fire-law they didn’t even know existed. The party must defend them in the arena… or replace them.

Ash Trail Network

The old world's crumbled highways and twisted backroads have been reborn as the Ash Trail Network—a living web of emberlines seething just below the surface. These trails, glowing with residual fire magic, connect settlements and sacred sites but are treacherous to those without flame-guides or embermarks. Ley energy rushes through them like currents in a river, sometimes warping time, bending distance, or luring travelers astray. Once a simple drive between towns, each journey across the Ash Trail feels like threading a needle through an inferno.

Plot Hook:
A caravan carrying vital supplies for Hearthgate never arrives. Locals report strange lights, warping roads, and "voices from the ash" along the route. The players are hired (or desperate enough) to navigate the unstable Ash Trail Network, uncovering a hidden sect using forbidden rituals to hijack and reshape the ley lines—and maybe even tear open a door to far worse places.

Ashwalk Market 

Formerly: Northern Lights Casino

A sputtering bazaar where the stalls burn low but never out. Items sold include embersteel blades, time-tempered relics, heat crystals, and volatile spell-cores. Currencies range from charcoal script to bottled flame-motes.

Plot Hook: A flame core detonates during a trade. Whispers say it was planted—who wants to destabilize the Market?

Coal Children Encampment 

 

Formerly the Sacred_Heart_Cathedral,

A group of mutated or emberborn youths call themselves The Coal Children. Considered half-prophet and half-threat, they commune with the fire spirits through rhythmic ember dances and ash sigils.

Plot Hook: A Coal Child is having prophetic seizures. Each vision ends with the phrase: “The Ash King returns.”

Ember Artistry Collective

Formerly: Prince Albert Arts Centre
Here, performers craft illusions of flame, molten-glass murals, and ember dramas that can change the audience. A place of dangerous inspiration.

Embergrain Emporium

 

Formerly: Buy Low Foods
A gathering point for those trading crops grown in volcanic soil. New recipes, ash ale tastings, and fermentation rituals occur weekly. Also houses the Flamekeeper Guild for fire-farmers.

The Emberwild

Formerly: Prince Albert National Park
No longer a simple forest, this warped wilderness is made of charcoal trees, flaming moss, and root systems that whisper through smoke. Semi-sentient, it’s expanding slowly toward the city, absorbing and transforming anything it touches. Creatures within have adapted, become hydrophilic, or gone feral with ember blood.

• Hook: A fire druid from the Emberwild approaches the city with a dire warning—the forest is waking up. A heart of flame pulses at its core, and if it beats too fast, the forest may ignite everything.

The Everflame Spire 

Once the Prince Albert Courthouse, now the throne of Hearthgate, shrouded in spiraling flame that never burns away, its halls host fiery debates, ritual duels, and political plays. Nobles here speak in smoke-script and blaze-code.

Plot Hook: A noble has vanished mid-conversation—frozen in time mid-sentence. Was it sabotage or a planar hiccup?

The Fire Verge 

 

A jagged rift marks the edge of the elemental fold, where paused time and real-time conflict. Crossing it is like stepping into a painting mid-destruction—beautiful but deadly.

Plot Hook: A salvage team disappeared beyond the Verge. Their last transmission hints at an untouched cathedral full of pre-apocalypse relics.

The Green Wall 

Just beyond the city’s north limits, a massive ring of mutated, heat-resistant vegetation acts as a semi-sentient barrier. Nature’s attempt to reclaim Prince Albert created it, and it functions like a living firewall against the flames.

Plot Hook: The Green Wall has begun whispering to travelers. Something inside it is growing... and hungers.

The Riverglass Docks 

Formerly: Saskatchewan River

Where the North Saskatchewan River touches the city, water has turned to crackling blue glass. The Glass-Eyed Smugglers sail strange boats with flame sails here, slipping between time pockets to trade forbidden tech and secrets.

Plot Hook: One of their boats arrived empty smoking, cracked, and whispering a riddle in Old Cree about “the Ember Underneath.”

Sacred Ember Grounds

Once a mundane resting place for the dead—or the site of cheering crowds and summer games—the Sacred Ember Grounds now pulse with quiet, molten reverence. Smoldering gravestones and scorched goalposts stand like skeletal sentinels under a sky often tinged red at dusk. Here, the boundary between the living and the dead has thinned dangerously. Ash spirits whisper through the smoke, offering blessings, riddles, or dire warnings to those who dare walk the grounds. Locals believe performing rituals—like ash-circle dances or ember offerings—can sway the spirits' favor, though no one agrees on what the spirits want.

Plot Hook: A vital ancestor spirit has gone silent, plunging the community into confusion just as a major seasonal rite approaches. Someone—or something—is stealing or corrupting the memories stored within the smoldering gravestones. The players must brave shifting tombpaths, avoid ash-possessed mourners, and uncover who (or what) is meddling with the dead’s domain before disaster strikes.

Saskatchewan Penitentiary

Once a formidable prison, the Saskatchewan Penitentiary now stands as a haunting relic of its past, repurposed into a fortified sanctuary for the Ignithari and their allies in Hearthgate. The imposing stone walls, steeped in the echoes of lost souls and untold stories, serve as a shield against the chaotic outside world and a repository of haunted memories. Within its restructured confines, the Ignithari have infused vibrant elemental energy into the architecture, transforming cells into living quarters adorned with intricate fire-themed artwork and flickering glowstone lamps. However, the remnants of its grim history linger, with restless spirits roaming the halls, seeking closure from their tormented lives. This blend of fiery culture and spectral presence creates an atmosphere ripe for exploration and danger.

Plot Hook: Whispers of the past have resurfaced as spectral manifestations within the penitentiary grow stronger, culminating in a series of chilling encounters with the restless spirits. The Ignithari leaders enlist the party's assistance to investigate these hauntings, believing they may be tied to an ancient grudge or a long-buried secret entwined with the prison's history. As the party delves deeper, they unearth clues hinting at a hidden chamber beneath the penitentiary, rumored to contain forbidden knowledge that could empower the Ignithari or unleash catastrophic consequences upon Hearthgate. Are these spirits warning of impending doom, or are they guardians of a truth meant to be unearthed? 

This is also an excellent location for an origin story for a Fate Fugitive PC.

 

Plot Hooks

·       Ash in the Wind: A rogue ember spirit has ignited three other settlements. The PCs must enter its trail, walking backward through time, to understand its rage.

·       The Coal Child’s Vision: A Coal Child speaks of an Ash King, a forgotten fire deity, ready to awaken. Locals want the PCs to protect—or stop—it before a second combustion begins.

·       The Clockburner’s Map: A glowing map of the city moments before the firestorm has surfaced. It marks a vault of old-world tech… but only visible in “paused time.”

·       Embersteel Heist: A Firebrand contact hires the party to steal a cache of embersteel weapons meant for Hearthgate’s army—right from under the Ashwalk Market’s nose.

·       Green Reclamation: The Green Wall acts strangely, forming humanoid shapes and “drinking fire.” Is nature striking back—or has something worse taken root?

·       Trial by Fire: PCs must duel in the Everflame Spire to gain access to an ancient vault—only to realize the duel causes temporal echoes affecting events before the Hodgepocalypse.

·       The Emberwild Creeps Closer – Why is it moving now? What burns at its center?

·       The Ghostflames Grow Louder – What are the Archive memories trying to tell us?

·       A Coal Child Dreams the End of Days – But it’s written in dancing flame.

·       The Arena Flame Dies – The eternal brazier at the Arena of Ash gutters. This has never happened before.

·       Riverglass Cracks – A vessel returns from “sometime else” with no crew and a screaming reflection.

Common Proverbs or Sayings

• “Better to burn in glory than fade in ash.”
• “Flame reveals the true form.”
• “Speak only what you’d swear in fire.”
• “A cold soul draws no kin.” 

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