Ild

"And to house their youngest creation, the Divinities made Ild, the City of Gold and Shadow. And for millennia, humanity prospered and every man lived as a king..." — Sezar's The Legend of Ild

Ild is the High Celestial name for mythical city located somewhere in the far corners of the Material Plane, likely in Western Hakoa or Teroa. According to legend, it was the birthplace and home of the human race and a nexus of arcane power during the Mithril Era. Following the Reckoning of Temekan, the city was abandoned. This began the Grand Exodus of Man, when humanity left Ild and spread across Teroa and Hakoa, eventually making their way into Iroa, Nioa, and Auloa over the course of the Palladian Era.
Sources argue if Ild was a true city or a metaphor for the original home of humans and none know its exact location. In most tellings, Ild is called "The Lost City" and is described as being made of gold and jade and black glass. It's people were said to be as beautiful and wise as the aasimar but undeniably human. Great speculation has been given as to why such a magnificent place would be abandoned and why the Grand Exodus of Man occurred, yet few have compelling answers.

Defences

The city has not been seen in thousands of years, thanks to its hidden location. Without the ability to find Ild, it is unlikely that the city could ever be attacked, making its hidden location its greatest defense.

Infrastructure

Many writings on Ild refer to it as the "City of Gold and Glass." They claim that the city's structures themselves were made of gleaming gold, sacred greenstone, and even shadow glass. Some describe the city as lying within a lake set within a sacred volcano's caldera. In these tellings, the city's buildings rise from canals lined with gleaming gold. They say that the canals themselves are inaccessible to outsiders for they all originate from a spring in the center of the city and terminate in great waterfalls that cloak the city's outskirts in perpetual fog.

Assets

Legend claims every man who lived in Ild lived as a king, with gold and jewels, sacred greenstone and arcane shadow glass. The city's canals were filled with fat fish and grew plump stalks of grain that fed its people. Such wealth is considered to still be locked within the city, even centuries after the Grand Exodus of Man.

History

The City of Ild is said to have been built some time during the Mithril Era and built by the Heavenly Council to house the youngest of their creations, the human race. Here, humanity lived in splendor and plenty with each man and woman living as a king or queen. The city was built on a nexus of arcane energy and the people used this energy to craft wondrous things: floating houses, fonts of liquid gold, and creatures beyond imagination. Yet after the Reckoning of Temekan, the city was abandoned and the human race left Ild. This began the Grand Exodus of Man, which saw humanity spread out from Ild to inhabit Teroa and Hakoa and then Iroa, Nioa, and Auloa. None know exactly why Ild was abandoned. Some claim humanity was cast out for some sin by the gods. Others believe that with the Reckoning and Myurdin's Sealing of the Arcana, Ild's wonder became untenable and the people were forced to leave their lives of plenty behind. Whatever the reason, humanity soon forgot Ild's location, and its history became only a shadow of a memory in the minds of its former denizens. To this day, the location of Ild is lost and only fragments of its history remain. Many seek the Lost City, believing that with the Sundering Arcana, the city's greatness can be once more realized and that it is the will of the Heavenly Council that Ild once more be the center of human civilization.

Architecture

The City of Ild is said to have been made by the gods themselves and the architecture of this most magnificent of city's reflects that. It is said to have no streets, but instead wide canals lined with gold and precious stones that never tarnish. The buildings were made from gleaming gold, sacred greenstone, and magical shadow glass. They towered above the city like great stepped pyramids and tiered temples each more spectacular than the last.

Geography

Some sources claim that Ild is built on a spring that lies within the caldera of a sacred volcano. These sources claim that the spring feeds the lake that Ild lies upon and the canals that run through the city. Those canals then run down the mountain's sides as great waterfalls, shrouding the city in fog and preventing anyone from finding the Lost City.

RUINED SETTLEMENT
~1240 BSA

Alternative Name(s)

The Lost City of Ild; The City of Gold and Glass

Type

Large city

Population

Unknown

Inhabitant Demonym

Ilden