At the center of the mountain range called the Spear, within its circle of peaks, lies a lone mountain, atop which is located Taltun, a technocracy run by sages, wizards, and engineers. The only access to the city is through the Fell Pass on the northeast side of the Spear, or along the river that flows through the north side of the mountains from Lake Kharad in the land of Khemish. A long stair, carved into the mountain itself, winds around and around the peak all the way to the top, right to the gates of the city.
The Sages of Taltun rule the city and its environs by council and this council is called the Synod. The Synod rules by majority, and there are nine members, three each from the Sages, the Wizards, and the Engineers. They vote their conscience and not to defend their respective corners of government, but in the case of a three-way tie, they will consult with an other-planar entity, chosen randomly, and communed with via magic. They accept whatever the entity says as their final vote. This happens only rarely, and only in very contentious matters.
The city and surrounding lands themselves are quite peaceful, appearing at first, upon approaching the mountain, as an agrarian society. Only occasionally, however, will a farmer be seen in the fields. What visitors will see in the fields, rather than humans, are golems, automatons, and constructs of every imaginable type and application. All the agriculture around the base of the mountain is entirely performed by these constructs, at every stage from planting to harvest to market. Once visitors have made it to the great stair circling up the mountain, they'll notice that almost all they counter will be automatons of some sort, on errands, delivering messages, and doing all sorts of other jobs. They'll notice great floating barges moving grain, and great harvesters taking off crops in the fields down below. Even the city gates are guarded by golems, and they comprise the city guard as well.
Inside the city, humans have their choice of leisure activity, unless they're overseeing the golems and constructs, and there are quite a few people devoted to this effort. However, the nobility and land-owning citizens are free to do what they wish since all of their work except for intellectual pursuit and pleasure have been automated in some way. The Sages are free to research the universe, the Wizards are free to create new spells and new methods of making constructs, and the Engineers are free to create new technological wonders.
Not all the constructs and machines in the city are magical, although many are. The Engineers are masters of forgotten ancient technology, and they guard its secrets very closely. Some of the technology is rumored to have been recovered from the Necropolis of Voor or encountered on other worlds, although the Engineers insist that is simply a rumor and that they have created all of their weird wonders on their own. Chief among their inventions is the transportation system that is used within the city, called Telebeams. They work simply by stepping onto a small platform, wherever a platform is located, and speaking the destination. After a flicker of light, the person using the Telebeam disappears and then appears at their destination, assuming the Telebeam is working. If it's not working at the destination, the user goes nowhere. This technology is a very closely guarded state secret of the Engineers, and not even the Wizards or Sages know exactly how it works.
Any imaginable sort of construct, for any purpose, is able to be found or commissioned here. There is no limit to the wonders of Taltun. Adventurers can find ample employment by the different groups in the city to locate components, materials, or information, including items and artifacts. A Sage, Wizard, or Engineer in need is an easy way to line adventurers' pockets, but it is never without danger. The knowledge these rulers seek is almost always in a dangerous or unexplored location, long forgotten by all but those hunting it, and their reasons for seeking it are not always altruistic.
No comments:
Post a Comment