Lifestone
Lifestone is a city nestled in a valley found between the Houndstooth Mountains and Everlight River. Once it was a thriving metropolis that benefited from the protection of Alarielle the Everqueen, but it has since fallen into hard times and disrepair.[1a] A forest known as the Stonewoods is found nearby.[1c]
History
Before the Ages
Lifestone is not merely a city but rather part of a mysterious being older than time. The entity infuses its spirit and soul into the city but this creature needs to be restored once a generation. So every few decades seven children, Lifestone's Chosen, are born. Each bears the mark of one of the Mortal Realms, except for Azyr. When the seven join together beneath the Arbour, they open a Realmgate that allows the Soulspring to revitalize both the entity and city.[4b]
Age of Sigmar
Once Lifestone was a grand metropolis, but a great cataclysm struck the city which caused it to fall into disrepair. Strangely neither those who remained in the city nor those who fled the city can recall what manner of cataclysm affected the city.[1a][1b]
The city's troubles eventually culminated in the Siege of Lifestone. However, the people of Lifestone managed to throwback the dark army of Ashnakh and overcome the cataclysm that had been affecting the city. After the death of Elias Stonehand in the siege, his son Elio Stonehand becomes Lord of Lifestone and throughout the city people's memories of who they were are restored.[4a][4b]
Government
The City of Lifestone has been ruled for generations by the Lords of Lifestone, whose duty it is to govern and protect the city.[2a] The Lord of Lifestone also commands the Lifestone Defenders.[1e] The current Lord of Lifestone is a man known as Elio Stonehand, who succeeded after his father's fall in the Siege of Lifestone.[4a]
Culture
Before the city began to wither and fall apart, it was known as a center of learning and healing. People would travel for many leagues to reach Lifestone, to seek aid from it's famed healers.[1c]
Military
The City of Lifestone is surrounded by sold walls of granite that offer protection from invaders and like many other cities of Order it is defended by soldiers of the Freeguild known as the Lifestone Defenders.[1c][1e]
- Lifestone Defenders: The City of Lifestone's Freeguild is known as the Lifestone Defenders. They are an undisciplined force armed with aged and blunted gear. Their uniforms and weaponry are adorned with an insignia of a fountain on them. They are referred to as Alarielle's chosen.[1c][1e]
Economy
The city has fallen onto hard times after a mysterious cataclysm and many of it's people have become distrustful and resentful of outsiders. The main market of the city is a dour place, where folk shop and barter in eerie silence and stalls line the courtyard. These stalls sell root vegetables, hard bread, eggs the size of a child's head, rhinox meat, and grain.[1a][1c]
The city's primary currency is coins.[1c]
Locations
At it's height the City of Lifestone was a metropolis full of life. It had many orchards, gardens, sparkling fountains, and renowned places of healing. But all of those fell into disrepair after the city was struck by a mysterious cataclysm. Now the city's great, stone manses are battered and worn, it's spires are crumbling, and many of it's citizens live in huts on the lower slopes of the valley or amidst the ruins.[1c]
- Arbour: Long ago the Arbour was a famed center of learning and healing, but it's past glories have long since faded. It is comprised of many white towers, with a singular dome at it's center. The palatial complex sits on the highest tier of the city, towering over all else.[1a]
- Outer Walls: The sturdy, stolid granite walls that surround the city are one of the few structures that remain well-maintained. It's gates are manned by Freeguild soldiers. The stones used to make the walls are so large, that a team of Rhinoxen or some other beasts of burden would have been needed to haul them.[1c]
- Gate in the Outer Wall: The main entrance into the city is a large, imposing portcullis guiarded by Freeguild soldiers.[1c]
- Silent Market: Upon entering the city through the front gates, visitors are greeted with a vast courtyard that plays home to a market. But unlike other markets found across the Realm of Life, and Mortal Realms as a whole, which are dominated by noise, this market is eerily silent and it's stall-folk and merchants wear dour expressions.[1c]
- The Fountain: An old tavern and inn.[1c]
- Temple to Sigmar: A temple to King Sigmar is located three streets away from the courtyard that holds the eerily quiet market. It is made from sandy stone and capped by a bell tower, the hammer of it's bell is shaped to resemble Ghal Maraz. Much like the rest of the city the temple has fallen into disrepair, it's bell rusted. A lichen-covered statue dedicated to Lady Alarielle, the Goddess of Life, stands near the steps leading to the temple's heavy, wooden doors.[1c]
- Upper Circle: An old, abandoned theatre. It is a curved, brick building, located just a street away from an eerie, overgrown garden with a lkifelike statue in it. Frescoes of the Age of Myth, including ones depicting Sigmar upon Dracothion and Alarielle planting soulpods, line the ceiling above the theatre's stage and pews.[1c][1d]
Organizations
Gangs
- Rotten Angels: One of the bigger, violent street gangs of the city.[3a]
- Scarlet Shadow: One of the bigger, violent street gangs of the city.[3a]
- Scraps: A gang comprised of orphans and runaways.[3a]
Inhabitants
The people of Lifestone are an insular and self-centered people, who resent outsiders and travelers. Their hostility born from whatever strange cataclysm led to the deterioration of their great city.[1a] Even in it's state of disrepair the city is home to both Humans and Duardin.[1c]
Notable Inhabitants
- Brodwin: A dour and brusque stallholder.[1c]
- Elias Stonehand: The current Lord of Lifestone.[2a]
Sources
- 1: City of Lifestone (novel)
- 2: Lair of the Skaven (novel)
- 2a: Realms Arcana
- 3: Forest of the Ancients
- 3a: Prologue
- 4: Battle for the Soulspring (novel)