On the southern coast of tropical Nog, on the western side of the strait called The Pillar of Karthage, lies the city-state of Nilkka Senggu. The citizenry of the city are a docile lot, quite peaceful overall, but the reasons for that will be revealed below. The citizens are made up of two former tribes of the area, the Nilkkites and the Senggites. The Nilkkites are tall, nearing seven feet in height, with uniformly white hair and dark skin. They wear traditional dress consisting of robes tied at the waist with colored leather belts, and wear stylish hats that advertise their social positions. The Senggites are smaller, no more than five feet in height, with various hair colors from black to red to brown, and have a medium skin tone. They also have traditional dress, consisting of three principal colors - blue, purple, and orange. Leggings and tunics are worn in all colors, but their boots or footwear are always orange. They have also adopted the practice of the Nilkkites of wearing certain styles of hats to advertise their status. The two tribes are now one people, and no enmity is borne between them.
The strangest thing about Nilkka Senggu is the ruler of the city. The ruler is called the Metaphrast, and is chosen every eight years. The Metaphrast receives his orders from the true ruler of the the city-state, a huge black obelisk called the Testate. The Testate is intelligent, telepathic, and inscribed over its entire surface in an unknown language. It is constructed from a type of stone unknown to the world of Antediluvia, black in color, but with an iridescent finish that shimmers in the light. The Testate chooses for itself a speaker, the Metaphrast, and communicates through this person. Although it can speak aloud, it speaks in what is likely the same unknown language of the inscriptions that cover its surface. The Metaphrast is telepathically and empathically linked with the Testate, and he can innately understand what the obelisk intends, needs, and wants, and can articulate these thoughts to the citizenry.
After serving eight years, the Metaphrast will die. The obelisk, in order to maintain the link to the speaker, drains the life force of the character. Over the eight years the Metaphrast serves, he will age at a highly accelerated rate, and by the end of this time, he will appear to be ancient and frail. As soon as a new Metaphrast is chosen and the link is severed from the old speaker, he dies, the obelisk no longer sustaining his life.
Disobedience to the laws the Testate communicates carries various sorts of punishment. Not only does the police force of the city (called Inscriptors) enforce the law, but the Testate can, because its psionic senses are indescribably strong, tell if an act of disobedience is occurring within the city. Depending on the severity of the infraction, the Testate may or may not alert the Metaphrast and the Inscriptors.
The obelisk itself is usually located in the city square, which lies in the center of Nilkka Senggu. It floats about a yard from the ground and is able to teleport with no chance of error to any location within the city walls, whenever it pleases, in an instant. Anyone that has tried to damage or attack the Testate has found themselves confronted with crushing psionic power, and are usually driven mad by contact with the mind of the obelisk.
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