Rookpoint
Rookpoint is a large town in the Shimmering Shore. During the era of the Republic of Petrenea, the city was known as a communication and trade hub due to its relatively central location. Since the Great Collapse, the city has the much more hazardous distinction of being the closest major settlement to the Great Rift. The city's name originates in the large collection of messaging birds cooped at the town, which could be used to negotiate an inter-city messaging system that was the fastest purely-physical communication method in all of Ahren and could be operated far more cheaply than relying on the use of magical items or the practitioners of magic.
Geography
The city has become highly fortified, turning itself into something of a bastion where its survivors hold out against the wilderness. Here strangers are mistrusted, and the less human you look the less far you'd get. While the city occupies a former road between Xarthekei, Petrenea, and Pashkhara, this road is considered too perilous to be travelled lightly.
Because of its central location the town has no less than four temples in its confines, each of which separately worship the Awakened One, Xia Leng, Anghara, and Kheron.
Economy
The economy of Rookpoint is in shambles. Cut off from easy trade, the city must rely on itself for its every material and commercial need. Materials of all kinds are dear and costly within Rookpoint.
Politics
Even in the republican era, the Lord of Rookpoint ruled over the city, the primarch of a prominent local family. The only real change since the fall of the Republic was that the city no longer sends representatives to Petrenea. Especially of late, these rulers tend to be quite absolutist, requiring the maximum in utilitarian effort from every citizen in order to maintain the security of the city.