Harrowmire sits on the Bittershore peninsula at the eastern extremes of the Empire, overlooking the cold waters of the Forcantor Abyssal. Reachable only by traversing three narrow passes that wind through the foreboding Ironreach Mountains, for centuries Harrowmire was nothing more than a remote whaling town. When the whaling stocks collapsed at the turn of the last century, the town was plunged into absolute poverty. Those who could leave did so, and those that could not suffered.
In desperation the townsfolk dug beneath the town in the hopes of finding tin or coal; instead, they broke into ancient catacombs that wound deep beneath the cliffs the town was built on. Far older than the town above, the tunnels were part of a huge necropolis filled with ancient grave goods of gold and silver, encrusted with precious gems. Alongside these treasures were the mummified corpses of the strange chiropteran creatures that obviously created the necropolis in some unknown bygone age.
At the center of the necropolis the stunned explorers found a titanic example of the builders; a huge corpse wrapped in miles of ancient linen and hung with golden charms. They came to call this creature the Undergod, and many people began to attribute both their luck and ill-fortune in the underground city to the will of the huge corpse.
The sudden influx of gold from the necropolis caused Harrowmire to boom overnight. People flocked to the town to find their fortune in the catacombs. The town began to expand, with new buildings hung with ornate gargoyles modelled on the chiropteran inhabitants of the necropolis being extremely popular. When the city limits met the surrounding marshlands, Harrowmire began to extend upwards, with new buildings being constructed atop the old city.
Amid the prosperity brought by the gold carried up from the necropolis a new wonder appeared: The Bitter Sacrament. Created by the new Church of the Undergod, the Bitter Sacrament was an alchemical drug the origins of which were a closely guarded secret. Its effects were undeniable: a single draft would cause the imbiber to miraculously grow younger, and even cure diseases.
Stories of the Bitter Sacrament caused even more people to flock to the city from across the Empire. The Church of the Undergod exercised strict controls on sale of the Bitter Sacrament, forbidding it to be shipped out of the city. The church became incredibly powerful and wealthy.
For almost a century Harrowmire was bathed in wealth, but also crushing poverty. Many who came to the city to seek their fortune quickly found themselves destitute and reduced to living in the sprawling hovels known as the Shambles that surrounded the city limits. Crime and disease were rampant in the Shambles, while in the city above the wealthy and eternally-young lived in decadent excess.
Then came the Sorrow Plague. No one knew where the plague originated or how it was spread, but it struck both rich and poor alike. Those afflicted shared the same symptoms: headache, fever, red eyes, and a sensitivity to light. As the plague progressed the symptoms grew worse, and many victims bled profusely from their eyes, giving the plague its name. The church officials and the merchant leaders of Harrowmire tried to deal with the plague by rounding up as many of the infected as possible and sending them to three sanatoriums around the city. Most victims quickly expired, making the sanatoriums nothing more than charnel houses. However, in a small percentage of victims the disease entered a new and horrifying phase, turning them into violent, cannibalistic killers.
Discontent and panic grew. Bodies of the plague-dead lay rotting in the streets, the cost of the Bitter Sacrament was exorbitant, and many people were unhappy with the treatment of the victims of the plague. Riots of protest began, and during the largest such protest the patients locked in the various asylums broke free. This became known as the ‘Night of Madness’. Fires started by the rioting raged out of control in parts of the city. The patients, far from being thankful for their liberation, were bloodthirsty maniacs, who attacked everyone indiscriminately. Worse still, some of them had degenerated into abhuman monsters dubbed ‘ghouls’.
Harrowmire, the City the Empire abandonedThe militia finally got the city back under control, but the harm was done. The Empress decreed that Harrowmire must be placed under quarantine. The mountain passes were guarded, with no one allowed to leave the peninsula on pain of death. Ironclad warships were stationed in the bay, within cannon shot of the city should anyone seek to escape by sea.