The garrison is small — a stone building and watchtower at the Overlook, where the city ends and the Vallombrosa fog begins. The guards stationed here volunteered for the posting, which is considered either prestigious or disturbing depending on who you ask.
Their duties are simple: maintain the barriers, record the names of anyone who approaches the fog line, and document anything unusual.
What the Logs Record
The logs make for unsettling reading.
- Lights moving in the mist that couldn't be torches
- Voices carrying from within the fog, speaking languages no one recognizes
- Figures visible just inside the boundary, standing motionless for hours before fading away
- Measurements showing the fog line has moved — sometimes closer to the city, sometimes farther away — by inches or feet over the course of years
The Cost of the Posting
Most rotations last only a few months. Longer exposure produces effects the Watch prefers not to discuss in detail: sleep difficulties, persistent feelings of being watched, dreams about places the dreamer has never been.
Some guards request extensions anyway. They claim they need to understand something they almost glimpsed. Or that the fog has started to seem beautiful in ways they can't explain.
Character Hooks
- Former Warden who served too long and saw too much
- Someone who went to the fog line and can't explain why they did
- Guard who noticed a pattern in the logs that others have missed
- Person searching for someone who disappeared into the fog
- Warden who claims to have seen what's inside — and survived
Connections
- The Fog Wardens and the Shadowed Wardens — Names this location in its connections.
- The Overlook — Lists this location among its notable places.