Location: Ferris

Rumors

  • Ferris is a prosperous-looking city of cobblestones, fine buildings, and strange sophistication compared with rougher frontier settlements.
  • A prince from Sinte came to buy the city and bring it under his church’s power.
  • Druids and other locals are resisting the sale under the cry of “Save Ferris.”
  • The city sits under mounting pressure from both political ambition and quieter local dangers.
  • A great oval vessel hangs in the sky above the city.
  • Ferris has suffered under bandit extortion for years, and the people may be closer to open resistance than they first appear. session-2026-05-20

What is Known

  • Ferris is a real city, not an illusion, reached by the party after a mysterious white beam tore them from their roadside camp. session-2026-05-13
  • It has cobblestone streets, tightly packed buildings, and workmanship noticeably cleaner and finer than many other known settlements. session-2026-05-13
  • A massive oval-shaped vessel resembling a zeppelin can be seen overhead. session-2026-05-13
  • Ferris was in the middle of a political struggle when the party arrived.
  • Prince Cena came to purchase the city on behalf of Sinte. session-2026-05-13
  • Degra and allied druids opposed the sale and warned that similar imperial pressure had already fallen on other towns. session-2026-05-13
  • The city was vulnerable to local bandit pressure at the time of the party’s arrival, with protection money apparently playing a role in keeping worse violence at bay. session-2026-05-13
  • Ferris’s mayor later confirmed that bandits had been extorting the town for roughly two or three years and estimated that at least twenty to twenty-five different bandits were involved. session-2026-05-20
  • The mayor trusted a blind scout living just outside town to gather intelligence on the bandit camp and gave the party a wax-sealed letter for her. session-2026-05-20
  • Prince Cena ultimately chose to work openly with the party in Ferris after discovering they had independently poisoned the same disloyal soldiers. session-2026-05-20
  • A mercenary encampment on Ferris’s outskirts was destroyed after Cena and the party slaughtered its command structure and burned the remaining force in a night assault. session-2026-05-20
  • Important known sites in Ferris include:
    • The Pig’s Third Leg - a rowdy inn used as the party’s resting place, meeting point, and staging ground for their talks with Cena. session-2026-05-13 session-2026-05-20
    • The Mayor’s House - the site of the confrontation over the city’s sale, the seized gold chest, Corneleus’s solo fight against corrupt guards, and the later apology and intelligence exchange with the mayor. session-2026-05-13 session-2026-05-20
    • The alley behind the inn - where the party fought the guard captain and his remaining men after Corneleus collapsed under crossbow fire. session-2026-05-13
    • The mercenary encampment - a large tented camp outside Ferris where Cena, Watsie, and the party killed the disloyal soldiers tied to the town’s crisis. session-2026-05-20

History

  • Ferris was already an established city before the party’s arrival.
  • By the time the party reached it, Ferris was being pressed toward sale and religious-political absorption by Sinte. session-2026-05-13
  • According to Degra, Ferris was facing the same kind of takeover that had already displaced druids and others from her own home. session-2026-05-13
  • The town had also been paying off bandits for two or three years by the time the party became entangled in its affairs. session-2026-05-20
  • The party interrupted that cycle by redistributing the town gold, confronting the mayor, and helping destroy the mercenary force tied to the crisis. session-2026-05-20
  • The surviving record for Ferris presently grows clear only at the moment of the party’s arrival by unnatural means; what older powers, bargains, or structures shaped the city remains uncertain.

People

Prince Cena

Degra

Watsie

Loose Threads

  • Why was Ferris the destination of the white-beam transport?
  • What became of Ferris after the party left with Prince Cena?
  • Did Degra actually manage to distribute the seized gold to the city’s people?
  • Did destroying the payment chain and mercenary camp leave Ferris safer, or merely provoke the bandits to strike differently?
  • What became of the Mayor after the party departed?
  • Will the blind scout aid the party against the bandits, or resent the mayor’s plea?
  • How much real strength do Ferris’s druids possess if the city must defend itself?
  • What is the true nature of the great vessel overhead?