People and Places

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The Varisia Territories

Formerly controlled by the Chelaxian Empire, the wild frontier of Varisia (pronounced vah-RHIS-ee-ah) is composed of rural communities, independent city-states, ancient ruins, and uncharted wilderness.

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Sandpoint coastal city and farming community

Nation: Varisia
Region: Magnimar
Size: Small town
Population: 1,240
Demographics: 90% human, 3% halfling, 2% dwarf, 2% elf, 1% half-elf, 1% gnome, 1% half-orc
Government: Conventional (elected Mayor and permanent council of nobles)
Alignment: Neutral good
Leader: Mayor Kendra Deverin

Resting in a natural cove along the cliff-lined Lost Coast region of Varisia, on the edge of the Varisian Gulf, Sandpoint is a medium-sized city that exemplifies the diverse people of the country. While only about thirty miles northeast of the city of Magnimar and technically under its rule, Sandpoint benefits from its isolated position in its ability to remain fairly independent. The most striking feature is the ruined beacon of the city that extends high above the cliffs of the coast, reflecting the ancient empire of Thassilon that existed here centuries before the present town was settled.



The Late Unpleasantness, as the locals in Sandpoint refer to it, was a series of violent and tragic events which shook the normally peaceful coastal town in the year 4702 AR (five years ago.)

The Chopper murders
Sandpoint was no stranger to crime, or even to murder. Once or twice a year, passions flared, robberies went bad, jealousy grew too much to bear, or one too many drinks were drunk, and someone would end up dead. But when the body count suddenly began to mount, the town had no idea how to react. Sandpoint's sheriff at the time was ill-prepared for the murderer who came to be known as Chopper. Over the course of one long winter month, every few days brought a new victim to light. Each was found in the same terrible state, bodies bearing deep cutting wounds to the neck and torso, with both hands and feet severed and stacked nearby and the eyes and tongue missing entirely, plucked crudely from the head.

The Chopper claimed 25 victims until the sheriff himself became Chopper's last victim, slain when he finally caught the killer mutilating his latest victim in the side street that would come to be known as Chopper's Alley. Yet in the battle that followed, the sheriff managed a telling blow against the murderer. When the town guard found the sheriff dead with another victim several minutes later, they were able to follow the bloody trail left by the killer.

A trail that led straight to the stairs of Stoot's Rock, the prominent stone outcropping just north of the Old Light. At first, the town guard refused to believe the implications, and feared that Chopper had come to claim poor Jervis Stoot as his 26th victim. Yet what the guards found in the modest home atop the isle, and in the larger complex of rooms that had been carved into the bedrock below, left no room for doubt. Jervis Stoot and Chopper were the same, and the eyes and tongues of all 25 victims were found in a horrific altar to a birdlike demon whose name none dared speak aloud. Stoot himself was found dead at the base of the altar, having plucked his own eyes and tongue loose for a final offering. The guards collapsed the entrance to the chambers, burned Stoot's house, tore down the stairs, and tried to forget. Stoot himself was burned on the beach in a pyre, his ashes then blessed and then scattered in an attempt to stave off an unholy return of his evil spirit from beyond the grave. In the months to follow, Sandpoint did its best to forget the terror, although even today, children who remember the dark times only five years ago sometimes wake with nightmare visions of Chopper hiding under their beds.

The Sandpoint fire
Only a few months after the horrific murders finally came to their tragic end, another travesty struck the town, this time not in the form of bloodied and mutilated citizens but in that of a conflagration that claimed several lives and much of the northern part of town. The most notable loss was the Sandpoint Chapel and its beloved priest, Ezakien Tobyn and his daughter Nualia.

[Rabbit]

Magnimar capital city

Titles: City of Monuments; City of Secrets
Region: Varisia
Size: Large city
Population: 16,428
Demographics: 81% human, 5% halfling, 4% dwarf, 4% elf, 3% gnome, 2% half-elf, 1% half-orc
Government: Autocracy (lord-mayor)
Alignment: Neutral
Leader: Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras

The city of Magnimar (pronounced MAG-nih-mahr) stands as one of the two major city-states of southern Varisia. Founded by Korvosan dissenters in 4608 AR, the City of Monuments now stands as a rival to Korvosa in an open war of coin and words. The people of the city are termed 'Magnimarians' and they call Korvosa: 'Little Cheliax'. The adjective used to describe something of Magnimar is 'Magnimarian'.

[Rabbit]

Kaer Maga city of the strange

Titles: The Asylum Stone, City on the Cliff, The Hex
Region: Varisia
Size: Small city
Population: 8,000
Demographics: 5,500 humans, 500 halflings, 400 dwarves, 400 half-elves, 400 half-orcs, 200 gnomes, 100 elves, 100 orcs, 75 trolls, 50 centaurs, 50 nagas, 175 others
Government: Anarchy
Alignment: Chaotic neutral
Leaders: Horus Ilaktya, High Priestess Shamalay Kasan, Merriman Ardoc

Standing atop one of the highest spots of the Storval Rise, the cliff-top city of Kaer Maga (pronounced kare MAH-gah) is built inside the ruins of an ancient fortress: a six-sided ring of 80-foot-high seamless stone, stretching more than a half mile in diameter and topped with towers of every shape and design. Also known as the Asylum Stone, the ancient city of Kaer Maga is home to anything that might wander the surface of Golarion. With no gates to close, and no official government to speak of, the City of Strangers is an open trading ground for all walks of life, unlife, and anything in between. An amalgam of cultures and lifestyles from across the globe, Kaer Maga is one of the few places in Golarion where someone can walk through the corridors of the immense stone walls and pass a bloated bloodmage, a troll reading prophecies in his own entrails, an undead prostitute, and a vigilant urban defender all on the same block.

[Rabbit]

Riddleport pirate bay, city of rogues

Titles: City of Cyphers
Region: Varisia
Population: 13,300
Demographics: 77% human, 7% dwarf, 5% half-elf, 4% half-orc, 3% tiefling, 2% halfling, 1% gnome, 1% other
Government: Non-standard (titular overlord with multiple crimelords)
Alignment: Chaotic neutral
Leader: Gaston Cromarcky

Riddleport is the third-largest city in Varisia and is a haven for pirates and sea-faring brigands. Teeming with criminals and rogues of all kinds, Riddleport is full of potential danger and hard-to-avoid intrigue. Also known as the City of Cyphers, Riddleport takes its name from the Cyphergate, a giant stone arch spanning the natural cove around which the city is built. It is covered on both sides with ancient Thassilonian symbols, although their exact meaning is unknown.

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Korvosa Magnimar’s rival city

Region: Varisia
Size: Large city
Population: 18,486
Demographics: 90% human, 4% dwarf, 2% elf, 2% halfling, 1% half-elf, 1% other
Government: Conventional (monarchy)
Alignment: Lawful neutral

Korvosa (pronounced kohr-VOH-sah) is the largest city found in the wilderness area known as Varisia, and serves as the seat of one of three city-states that claim independent authority over their individual holdings in the region. Though its citizens and traditions have strong ties to the nation of Cheliax, with many of its people tracing their ancestry directly to servants of the Empire, the city's location at the mouth of the Jeggare River and the presence of a highly-defensible harbor have contributed to the establishment of Korvosa as a primary hub for trade; various cultures and peoples can be found within the city's walls as goods move in and out of its gates.

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Goblin Tribes: The elven ranger Shalelu Andosana provided the following information to the party during her recent visit to Sandpoint.

There are five major goblin tribes in the region. The closest to Sandpoint are the Birdcruncher goblins that live in caves along the western edge of the Devil’s Platter, although traditionally these goblins are the least aggressive of the five. To the south are the Licktoad goblins of the Brinestump Marsh, pests that are excellent swimmers. East are the Seven Tooth goblins of Shank’s Wood, goblins who’ve secured a place for themselves by raiding Sandpoint’s junkyard and rebuilding the stolen refuse into armor and weapons. Further east are the Mosswood goblins, likely the largest tribe but one traditionally held back by feuding families within their own ranks. And finally, there are the Thistletop goblins, who live on the Nettlewood coast atop a small island that some say holds a passing resemblance to a decapitated head.