Player’s Knowledge #
Description & Ambiance: A breathtaking vertical sprawl. Travelers see a city clinging to the walls of a massive chasm. You hear the constant rhythmic clack-clack of pulley systems, the whistling of wind through stone flutes, and a cacophony of repeated phrases in a thousand different voices. The air is thin, cold, and smells of wet stone.
Government & Public Law: Skyhaven is governed by the Feathered Parliament, a representative body debating in the high spires, while the Ponderous Plenum acts as a revered elder council overseeing the nation’s history and cultural preservation. This dual leadership enforces a strict legal balance where the Aarakocra exercise authority over trade and defense, while the Kenku hold absolute jurisdiction over city infrastructure and internal justice.
Exports & Reputation: Skyhaven is globally renowned for The Rachis, an unparalleled vertical marketplace that serves as the primary hub for transcontinental information brokering and elite courier services. Beyond their monopoly on high-speed communications, they are the premier exporters of rare minerals and fine textiles.
Rumors & Folklore (Unverified):
“They say the Kenku didn’t lose their voices, they traded them to the Comet in exchange for the secrets of engineering.”
“Local gossip says that the finest suites in The Aeerie are rigged with acoustic resonators, allowing Aarakocra spymasters to eavesdrop on foreign dignitaries through the very vibrations of the floorboards.”
“Some whisper that the Ponderous Plenum are actually immortal, kept alive by the same white fire that created their ancestors.”
DM’s Lore #
Formal Name: Skyhaven
Type & Rank: Parliamentary City-State, Regional Trade Hub
Population: 329,907
Language/Name influences:
Synopsis: A society born of starlight and mutation, held together by a fragile bureaucratic treaty that masks deep-seated racial resentment.
True History & Key Dates:
2,400 AR: A comet of white fire struck the Airspire, carving a deep chasm and releasing a mutagenic wave of energy. This raw magical radiation instantly transformed the local avian wildlife. Those nearest to the epicenter gained sapience and speech as the first Aarakocra, while those on the periphery became the Kenku, gifted with humanoid forms and mimicry but denied original voices.
2,458 AR: After decades of tribal wandering, the Aarakocra visionary Raa’shuk of the Azure Apex and the master Kenku architect Anvilsong formed a historic alliance to settle the comet’s impact site. Together, they led their people to the scar in the earth to begin the monumental task of building the vertical city of K’utu, combining Aarakocra flight for high-altitude masonry with Kenku ingenuity for complex scaffolding and pulley systems.
2,598 AR: As the population of K’utu swelled beyond the management capabilities of the traditional elder council, the city transitioned from the informal rule of The Ponderous Plenum to a structured representative democracy. This birthed The Feathered Parliament, a second legislative body designed to give a voice to the diverse districts of the vertical city and manage the burgeoning trade routes that were making Skyhaven a continental power.
3,100 AR: A century of prosperity created a massive wealth gap, as Aarakocra merchants monopolized high-altitude trade while Kenku laborers felt relegated to the city’s maintenance. This resentment was weaponized by the radical A’shar of the Unbroken Sky, whose rhetoric of Aarakocra supremacy nearly sparked a civil war against the Kenku resistance led by the orator Cadence.
3,150 AR: To prevent a total societal collapse, the revered elders of The Ponderous Plenum emerged from seclusion to impose a mandatory legal restructuring of the government. This decree officially split the sovereignty of the nation, granting the Aarakocra authority over global trade and external defense while the Kenku were given absolute control over internal infrastructure and the judicial system.
Internal Conflicts & Secrets:
The Vault-Cracker Cabal: A radical Kenku cell is utilizing astral residue harvested from the comet chasm to forge intricate spectral lockpicks capable of bypassing the city’s most complex security systems. Their goal is to steal the Aarakocra merchant-lords wealth and redistribute the hoard to the masses.
The Gilded Ceiling: While Kenku run the internal justice system, the Aarakocra-controlled trade guilds purposefully devalue Kenku-made exports to keep them financially dependent on the winged merchants.
Key NPCs & Power Structure:
Coming soon
Economy & Military Might:
Economy: The Rachis serves as an economic engine, dominating the skies through high-speed information brokering and a monopoly on transcontinental courier routes. While the sunlit upper tiers thrive on the trade of rare minerals and fine textiles, The Molt operates within the lightless depths of the chasm, where Kenku master-craftsmen produce forgeries of such staggering precision, from official merchant seals to ancient historical artifacts, that they are indistinguishable from the genuine articles.
Military: The Wind-Guard. Skyhaven maintains no standing army, relying instead on the treacherous geography of The Airspire to discourage invasion. The city’s defense is entirely reactive and structural, where the Kenku destroy the city’s intricate network of scaffolding, ropes, and pulley systems. This leaves attackers stranded on sheer, vertical faces, while Aarakocra pick off the immobile targets from the safety of the open air.
Adventure Hooks:
Political: A Kenku representative from the Feathered Parliament has been kidnapped, and the party is hired by a Plenum Elder to find them before the Kenku districts riot.
Exploration: A new vein of Star-Fire crystal has been discovered at the bottom of the original chasm; the party is hired to clear out the mutated horrors guarding it.
Intrigue: A whistleblower from the Rachis discovers that some “rare minerals” being sold to outsiders are actually high-quality Kenku counterfeits. If the party doesn’t help swap the forgeries for real ore before the next shipment is delivered, the market’s reputation could be destroyed and cause financial ruin across the city.