Seriaven, City of Travel
I do not like speaking much about this place, of any of the lost cities. Yet I must, for the sake of completeness. The Ortegans dared to reach past the world of the known into the vast darkness beyond, so is it any wonder the vast darkness poured back out and drowned their city? At least, this is what the tales say... if they mention the city at all. I know the truth, and it is enough to know it without committing it to writing. Even in my private journals, some things are best left unsaid.After so many successes, the founding of Ortegan cities moved far faster than it once did. Seriaven was built atop several stony hills, designed along circular arcs - unlike other Ortegan cities. But it was a striking appearance, and most places of the city were easy to locate and accessible for travelers. Yet the main draw were a series of 'travel stones' which allowed people in Seriaven to travel to one of the great cities. Or, as commonly, there could be other cities connecting to Seriaven for various reasons. These pathways were controversial even in their own time, as such magic severely unsettled animals. Yet the potential to travel a week's distance in mere minutes was quite appealing for many trying to move large amounts of goods. And so Seriaven grew, attracting many to travel to it in order to travel through it.
Seriaven was a mistake, and perhaps the key to what destroyed those arrogant humans. I do not mourn them, but I pity them for their insatiable curiosity...
After Ortega, however, the foul reputation arcane magic received meant the city wound up abandoned and left to crumble back into nature's embrace. Wherever the ruins now are, the only incentive to seek them is the potential for ancient secrets of the travel magic. Weighed against modern re-inventions of the spells, however, perhaps the allure of lost knowledge is not as big a draw.
History
WARNING: This section is heavy with spoilers. Do not read if you are playing in my campaigns and wish to remain innocent!
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As the Ortegan Empire reached its zenith, the mystics began approving projects faster and the various experiments being undertaken wandered into many theoretical avenues which had shakier foundations. However, the success of Validnay and Feytral had emboldened another group of mystics who were attempting to create magic which could be used for transportation. Among them there came one who successfully connected two points with a portal, yet the behavior of the enchantment was strangely flawed. As a proof of the concept being viable, however, it gave the council of mystics enough reason to vote on the next great work to undertake: Seriaven, City of Travel.
Seriaven was built in a very peculiar fashion, compared to previous cities. The city was designed first, over a period of several moons, to resemble a ritual circle and have buildings only at specific areas along the inside of the circle. As the layout of this initial design was finalized, the mystics were the ones who undertook the task of shaping the earth instead of laborers with shovels and paving stones. The circle had to be perfect, and lack imperfections before the initial magic was begun. A token amount of citizens were moved into the city with instructions only to keep things tidy until otherwise instructed. After many, many moons of fruitless experiments the mystics reached an iteration of the spell which lacked the side effects noted before. A portal was opened between the center of the city's circle and a target which had been set up on a neighboring hill. Experiments soon proved the portal could be used in both directions, and so long as the destination marker was intact the enchantment was easily activated.
Over the next few years, Seriaven expanded with more circles outlying the first, and many more connections were made so travel could be undertaken to any point of major importance. The advancement of travel magic also allowed for shorter-distance portals which could be opened without a target focus, or spells which only moved an individual from one point to another. However, mystics were kept aware of the dangers of abusing these spells through many unfortunate mishaps for seemingly routine travels. Relations with the elven settlements had been cooling ever since Evaline had begun their experiments, and trying to inquire about travel magic wound up leading to firm refusals to any request for "research assistance". The dwarves had their own systems, but they kept those secrets jealously to prevent anyone from using the information against them. Ortegan mystics still pressed on, refining their travel magic, and theorizing it might even be possible to enter places which only could exist in theory. A small group presented the idea there were actually real locations to reach out and touch with more advanced travel magic. Tunnels underneath Seriaven were used to define another circle, and a great amount of orichalcum was used to build a device which could connect to those locations. According to the theories, if the right criteria and proper steps were taken, it was possible to step into a place which was impossible on Erisdaire yet existed anyway in another realm. Thus the Aether Rings were forged, empowered, and utilized to reach out and search for these other realms.
But this was not meant to be, as many of the potential targets were subject to intense interference. Magical energies caused backlashes severe enough to disintegrate those who invoked the travel spells, and other mystics considered it was perhaps a sign there was a barrier which needed to be broached. It took the insistence of several different sects of priests to halt this branch of experiments as "the Gods do not wish to be disturbed". Ortegan mystics had accidentally stumbled upon proof the Divine Realms existed and could - in theory only, for now - be reached. All of this information and research was lost when Seriaven vanished in the turmoil following Ortega's end. The same travel magic we use today is subtly descended from extra research notes, but it is comparatively far more limited in distance and scope.
Seriaven was built in a very peculiar fashion, compared to previous cities. The city was designed first, over a period of several moons, to resemble a ritual circle and have buildings only at specific areas along the inside of the circle. As the layout of this initial design was finalized, the mystics were the ones who undertook the task of shaping the earth instead of laborers with shovels and paving stones. The circle had to be perfect, and lack imperfections before the initial magic was begun. A token amount of citizens were moved into the city with instructions only to keep things tidy until otherwise instructed. After many, many moons of fruitless experiments the mystics reached an iteration of the spell which lacked the side effects noted before. A portal was opened between the center of the city's circle and a target which had been set up on a neighboring hill. Experiments soon proved the portal could be used in both directions, and so long as the destination marker was intact the enchantment was easily activated.
Over the next few years, Seriaven expanded with more circles outlying the first, and many more connections were made so travel could be undertaken to any point of major importance. The advancement of travel magic also allowed for shorter-distance portals which could be opened without a target focus, or spells which only moved an individual from one point to another. However, mystics were kept aware of the dangers of abusing these spells through many unfortunate mishaps for seemingly routine travels. Relations with the elven settlements had been cooling ever since Evaline had begun their experiments, and trying to inquire about travel magic wound up leading to firm refusals to any request for "research assistance". The dwarves had their own systems, but they kept those secrets jealously to prevent anyone from using the information against them. Ortegan mystics still pressed on, refining their travel magic, and theorizing it might even be possible to enter places which only could exist in theory. A small group presented the idea there were actually real locations to reach out and touch with more advanced travel magic. Tunnels underneath Seriaven were used to define another circle, and a great amount of orichalcum was used to build a device which could connect to those locations. According to the theories, if the right criteria and proper steps were taken, it was possible to step into a place which was impossible on Erisdaire yet existed anyway in another realm. Thus the Aether Rings were forged, empowered, and utilized to reach out and search for these other realms.
But this was not meant to be, as many of the potential targets were subject to intense interference. Magical energies caused backlashes severe enough to disintegrate those who invoked the travel spells, and other mystics considered it was perhaps a sign there was a barrier which needed to be broached. It took the insistence of several different sects of priests to halt this branch of experiments as "the Gods do not wish to be disturbed". Ortegan mystics had accidentally stumbled upon proof the Divine Realms existed and could - in theory only, for now - be reached. All of this information and research was lost when Seriaven vanished in the turmoil following Ortega's end. The same travel magic we use today is subtly descended from extra research notes, but it is comparatively far more limited in distance and scope.
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