This city is located in a mostly unclaimed land between the Irillian Empire and Chrysalis on the shore of Lake Muertdi. This deep lake is always warm and filled with many types of fish not seen anywhere else. Its waters can heal the sick and if drunk purge demons that have possessed the body. Government

The city is ruled by a council of the oldest child of the five chiefs whose tribes settled into this land. Advising them is a larger circle of magicians that live inside the town. The magician's circle, called the Black Court by the locals, elect one of its members to serve the interests of the circle within city's council.

Also called the Shadow Council by the non-magicians that live in Starsfall, which is still the vast majority of the population — the Black Court is involved in the affairs of most of the magicians in the city. They provide their members with charts showing the flow of the shadow energy and guess at the effects it will have on any magical experiments currently on-going. They also send a member of the court to help the town council decide matters of a magical nature. Some people fear the Black Court has too much power, but when they account for a large percentage of the city's economy and military force such control is understood.

The city's council relies on several men-at-arms to bolster its own militia. In addition, it has agreements with the Black Court to defend the city in case of any attack. This gives the council an effective way to deal with any strong effort to sack the city as well as maintain the safety of the roads surrounding the lands.

With so much effort of the town devoted to the study of magic and its effects it comes as no surprise that most of the economy of the town revolves around the magicians that inhabit it; however this is a two-edges sword. The magic is often so chaotic that the creation of magic-imbued devices can become very difficult. More than one complicated device was twisted beyond the creator's control when the shadow flows shifted at a critical moment. Still, enough items are crafted that the magicians can continue to purchase the expensive materials they need — and merchants eagerly seraching for new products to offer.

Because of the many streams that run between the hills this land was always used by many of the nomadic tribes that moved through the area; however there were always places that the people held in taboo. Their legends speak of a large graveyard of the ancients that sat atop the hills in a great circle. One day a fiery god that fell from the sky and struck the graveyard where he was was swallowed by the earth. The ancient spirits and fiery god did battle, tearing assunder the surrounding earth until the spirits summoned a great storm to quench the god's heart. This deep, and still very warm lake, is called Muertdi, or godsdeath, by the locals who refuse to partake of any bounty it offers.

Into this area came refugees as the Irillian armies continued to purge the land of any tribes that would not bend knee to their Emperor. Several tribes settled into the lands around Lake Muertdi even though the their own legends told of this land's great evil. Over times these tribes intermarried and formed close ties of blood and survival. While the land played its tricks upon the people over the years, this only made them seek out those skilled in the magical arts to tame the land. Finally, with the worst of the storms under control the small town began to grow into a larger city.

Being located on the shore of a lake where a fiery god is believed to be held captive by the earth is enough to draw the attention of explorers and adventurers. However, the city is also a hot spot of magical activity that have drawn magicians as a honey draws flies. Magical Affinity Additionally, it is known that a very unique ley lines crosses under the city. It is unique because it is stronger under the city that anywhere else along its path, also the line becomes very strongly aligned to fire and blood only during its path under the city. This alone would draw magicians to the city to study and make use of the line; however, the city is also where the northern edge of the Sarjek shadow flow and southern edge of the Minos shadow flow cross. During the winter festival the Minos flow is dominate and during the summer festival its the Sarjet flow. At all other times the two flows battle along a short ten mile line that crosses over the city exactly parallel to the ley line.

As unusual area require unusual ideas — the city of Starsfall has sought out its own unusual solutions to the many problems it faces. First is the problem of too much chaotic magical energy in the area. As this becomes attracted to area the laws of physical reality become warped and twisted beyond reason. To combat this the town has changed quite a bit over time as the various magicians who live inside the city come up with new and innovative ways to rid the city of excess magical energy.

The largest construction was the great inner wall. This inner wall is a large pentagram that holds the central donjon, the lord's manor house, two guest houses, and a small barracks. At each point of the pentagram a tower rises over the wall and at the top of the tower is kept an eternal flame. This entire construction is a huge circle of protection against magical attacks caused by flares along the boundries of the shadow flows.

In addition that the wall there are houses built are certain critical locations throughout the town that gather up the residual magic the fills the air and disperse it in are safer manner. During shadow storms these houses will glow with an eerie blue light as the sheer amount of shadow magic in the air overwhelms their ability to contain it.

The final step is the inclusion of led in the mortar used to secure many of the towns foundations. While the small amount of lead in any single house is insignificant, when seen as a whole it has a dampening effect on the entire area. There are several craftsmen that make talismans and decorative ornaments from lead and cold iron to help ward off any potentially dangerous magics.

With all of these strange activity, Starsfall has become a place where the most bizarre becomes almost commonplace. Things that would drive most men insane seem almost commonplace to the other oddities that happen within the city's walls. To counter many of these effect the rulers of the cities long ago created a council of magicians whose job is to monitor the flows of chaotic magic over the city and respond when things reach dangerous levels. This council has a select group of guards under their command trained to handle magical matters.