The Crystal City
The City as Known
The city sits at the bottom of a Crystal Staircase that reaches up towards the glowing sky above. There is no horizon, there is no sun. You can't see the giants, you can't hear the gods. All that reaches the souls trapped there is the flow of DraKaise and power that keeps us all alive... And even now that I managed to stumble and find my way out, That Crystal City will forever haunt me.Some things confuse even the hardiest of scholars. The Crystal City is one such phenomenon that drives the brightest minds of the The Tinkerer's Guild and the Wizards of the College alike insane. Hundreds, if not thousands of survivors have been located and identified over the last thousand years, all claiming identical stories of a crystal city that survives in a crystal abyss at the foot of a crystal staircase.
This could potentially be dismissed as a grand level of hallucination, perhaps some planar magic or tricksters abusing poor mortals at their whims, except for some significant facts that must be noted. Namely that... The Crystalis Ravine exists. And in the center of that ravine, something that has stood as a predominant feature for a millennia, is The Crystal Staircase. Survivors recovered from as far as the Islands of Esplorzeni recount the same tales, the same landmarks, the same ideas.
On rare occasions when they are brought together, they even recognize each other. This has lead to a not insubstantial movement of peoples as these survivors have began massive treks across Ithungsida upon finding that the city might actually exist. They all make the march towards the Black Feng Mountains into the arms of the Lone Oak Society. Offering goods and services in the hopes of returning to what most identify as what amounts to nearly paradise.
This could probably be dismissed, except, all of these things exist. The Crystal Staircase was a predominant feature in the Crystalis Ravine for hundreds of years before it was dwarfed by new growth, And even now, the Lone Oak Society and others are constantly making trips to the Staircase.
The Survivors Recountings
People claim that the Ravine is known, that all the trips that have been made to it are proof that there are secrets that we are keeping there. Except that there aren't, at least none that we are privy to. You see, the area is so densely saturated with DraKaise that the normal laws of the world don't seem to apply anymore. For example, we've made numerous trips to the Abyss that the Crystal Staircase descends into. We've looked down and dropped magical wards as we've fallen into the depths. Only, we've never made any progress. In fact, only the trips headed by the Lone Oak Society seem to make any progress at all. After a fall recorded as lasting an hour, the people we sent in flew directly out after activating their flight wards. So, yes, we've ventured into that abyss, but it is functionally endless. Only the giants can demarcate the boundaries that we are not privy to see. I'll state it for the record, the College doesn't find it likely that the Crystal City exists; however, if it does, it wouldn't be surprising to find it at the bottom of that endless staircase.
The City as Remembered
The city wasn't too large or too small, it really was a perfect size. You could walk from the Sunmost to the Sunleast in an hour at most, everyone was always happy and going about their daily schedules. You see, a city like that, that only sees the sun through miles of crystal, that has barely enough dirt to allow the most meager of crops, it has to adapt. And the Crystal City was a master at it. Everyone had their assigned locations and jobs, determined by the magicians that watched how the crystals reacted to you. It was a perfect system where all was good and everyone was happy.
The Warriors went out into the crystal and brought back food to supplement the grains. The Farmers managed the dirt and kept it alive. The Arborists harvested the bark of the Ancient Tree. The Scribes wrote down all that we could need. And at the top, the council sought the perfect way to free us.
From countless testimonials from survivors, the Crystal City is one of the most heavily regimented cities in existence. It's tightly controlled by it's rulers. Where everyone has a function, a place, a purpose. An ecosystem kept in perfect balance to afford them life so far from the surface. Sunlight from the surface allows the crops they need to grow.
Alternative Name(s)
Lost City
Type
Underground / Vault
Population
Unknown
Inhabitant Demonym
Crystal Survivors
Location under
Entry for Summer Camp 2019
Answering: "Describe an isolated or frontier settlement and how it survives in your world."
Cover image:
by
HelHeim
Comments