Sparkmire

Sparkmire
State	Fleaspark Union
Population	78,000
Landmarks	Bubbleglass Wharf; Frogskin Looms; Tidegate Array; Sluice-Oracle Platform; Memory Weirs
Coordinates

Sparkmire

Overview

Sparkmire is a marsh-lab metropolis perched on stilts and floating platforms above shifting wetland channels. Wheels, pumps, and sluice-gates hum continuously as tidewater feeds pressure engines, hydro-alchemy vats, and submerged workshops. Mist rolls through the avenues at dawn, sometimes carrying whispers from drowned experiments and half-remembered voices rising from the depths.

The city is equal parts laboratory and haunt: innovations powered by water pressure and the eerie sense that the marsh remembers everything poured into it.

Geography & Layout

Sparkmire’s districts form a drifting lattice across marshland:

• Bubbleglass Wharf – Docks where spherical flood-bombs and tide grenades are tested in submerged cages.
• Frogskin Looms – Workshops producing flexible amphibious cloaks used across the Union.
• Tidegate Array – A sequence of dam-locks regulating experimental pressure flows.
• Sluice-Oracle Platform – A resonance deck where water patterns are “read” to guide civic planning.
• Memory Weirs – Algae-filled channels where old voices and submerged memories sometimes rise during heavy rains.

Walkways connect through rope-bridges, flow-gauges, and retractable platforms, shifting each season to accommodate the marsh.

Society & Culture

Sparkmire values intuition, timing, and acceptance of risk.

• Apprentices learn to “read the water” before they learn to hold a wrench.
• Flood festivals test new hydraulic engines by letting them fight rising tides.
• Memory gatherings are held after storms, where citizens listen for the names of the lost.
• Families mark their platforms with runic tide-marks showing how many floods they’ve endured.

Ancestry blend:

• Ribbets – Hydraulic architects and channel masters.
• Goblins – Hydro-alchemists and pressure-weapon inventors.
• Simiah – Memory-seekers documenting past floods.
• Humans – Marsh pilots, lock wardens, and tidepool laborers.
• Halflings – Amphibious couriers navigating fast, narrow channels.

Government & Law

Civic authority is tied to water cycles.

• The Flow Court – Judges read evidence through water-pattern analogies and pressure models.
• Sluice Council – Oversees dam rotations, flood-timing, and hazard alerts.
• Memory Ledger – Maintains communal remembrance from recovered voices.

Laws often rely on timing windows—when certain channels open, verdicts become binding.

Notable Landmarks

• Bubbleglass Wharf
• Frogskin Looms
• Tidegate Array
• Sluice-Oracle Platform
• Memory Weirs

Trade & Economy

Sparkmire exports:

• Bubbleglass grenades
• Hydraulic traps
• Water-drive engines
• Frogskin cloaks
• Liquid-memory samples for research

Imports include griefglass for stabilizing memory channels, stormglass for reinforced sluices, and smithing tools from Emberbank.

Hazards & Everyday Risks

• Backflow Ghosts – Echoes of drowned inventors whispering from flooded alleys.
• Memory Floods – Heavy rains bring overlapping voices that confuse or entrance listeners.
• Sluice Failures – Sudden pressure spikes can rip platforms loose.
• Pressure Geysers – Unstable tests can launch water and debris across entire districts.

Adventure Hooks

• A memory flood reveals a secret tied to a PC’s lineage.
• A stolen crate of tide grenades threatens a rival state during flood season.
• The Sluice-Oracle begins predicting impossible patterns—the PCs must find what warped the flow.