Infobox
Grimrest
Population: 5m
Human 78% Shader-Kai 10% Halfling 7% Dwarf 3% Other 2% Information
Laws Medium Wealth Rich Government Monarchy Civil Unrest Medium Kingdom Grimrest
Grimrest, formerly known as Grimgrave, has recently surged in power and population due to substantial investments from the imperial capital, Autumngrove. Positioned as Druecia’s primary port city, Grimrest is now central to facilitating trade between the empire and its colonies in distant Vesh-Tara, as well as maintaining strong trade relations with the city of Qino in southern Nyvara.
While Grimrest’s leaders remain staunchly loyal and supportive of Autumngrove—grateful for the investments and prosperity brought to their kingdom—the city’s populace harbors growing resentment toward their involvement in the controversial colonization of Vesh-Tara. The citizens of Grimrest are deeply spiritual, harboring enduring superstitions and fear of supernatural forces. Many worry that their city’s role in colonial atrocities could provoke anger from restless spirits that have haunted the lands since ancient times.
According to local legend, Grimrest’s haunting began centuries ago, when the legendary warrior Grim betrayed his own people by marrying a woman from the rival Knulth Clan. Using secrets gleaned from Grim, the Knulth Clan annihilated Grim’s people. Ever since, locals believe the anguished spirits of those betrayed souls linger on, forever bound to the land, watching and waiting for opportunities to exact revenge.
A deeply held superstition among Grimrest’s residents states that everyone born within the city is shadowed from birth by a vigilant spirit. These spirits closely observe each individual’s actions throughout life, unleashing harm upon the world should that person commit great wrongs. This belief has fueled widespread unease about the morality of their kingdom’s complicity in the colonization efforts across the sea.
Uniquely, Grimrest is also home to the mysterious Shadar-Kai, a rare and elusive form of Fey. Long ago betrayed by the elves and severed from their ancestral home in the Fey realm, the Shadar-Kai exist perpetually in a twilight state between life and death. They have aligned themselves closely with humans, believing that aiding humanity against the elves might eventually redeem them in the eyes of the Fey and restore their lost connection.
Thus, Grimrest remains a city caught between ambition and superstition, thriving outwardly while wrestling internally with its spiritual fears and complicated alliances.