Eber
Colorful towers topped by wind-blown pennants thrust up from the center of the capital city of the Vast, contrasting strongly with the tall, black, glassy stone city walls, quarried from the Worntooth Peaks. Within those walls, Eber appears to be the happiest place in the world. Visitors and travelers — not just citizens — who come to the city are overcome with joy. This happiness pervades everything. The sunlight seems brighter in Eber, the sky bluer, flowers smell better and are always in bloom, food tastes better. Nobody can explain why this is so. Some claim it has to do with the ancient Vast sculptures scattered about the city, but others say it is something in the air or water, while still more entertain conspiracies or some sort of evil at work, or even some sinister holdover from the vampire lords that once ruled these lands. Whatever the case may be, Eber is a happy place, and the happiness even remains with travelers for some time after they leave.
Strange though it may be, the sense of happiness here does not affect people’s work or habits; they are just happy doing whatever it is they are doing. Perhaps some might do their jobs even better than they would otherwise, but the work still gets done, products are still made and sold, the streets are still patrolled, and, yes, thefts, robberies, and other crimes still occur. Several sages claim that the wide diversity in architectural styles and building materials used in Eber is a side effect of the happiness here, but whatever the case may be, the city contains a variety of beautiful homes and buildings in every possible architectural style. Massive walled mansions belonging to wealthy merchants can be surrounded by smaller buildings and apartments that somehow all seem to fit together.
Eber has the highest concentration in the kingdom of the abstract sculptures left by the long-gone Vast, spread throughout the city seemingly at random. The most well-known is a bright orange monolith carved in the shape of a spire standing almost 20 feet tall at the very center of the city near the king’s castle. It twists toward the sky in complicated spirals that most find difficult and even disturbing to look at closely, as if the geometry is somehow wrong. It has been nicknamed the “Sunsucker” which, some would say, is an example of why a seven-year-old prince should not be allowed to name things. Yet the name is somehow apt, as the twisting spire appears to absorb the light of the setting sun before then emitting it in a soft glow throughout the night.
As the capital of the Kingdom of Vast, Eber is home to embassies from nearby nations. Craftsmen here turn out elegant jewelry as well as high fashion clothing and ornate furniture, while nearby wineries and distilleries provide fine wines and liquors for elegant dining. Trade and crafts are Eber’s primary lifeblood, and the strange sense of happiness that overcomes its visitors helps draw them back, contributing to the growth and prosperity of a city once decimated by the brutal control of the Singed Man.
Capital
Eber, City of
Alternative Name(s)
City of Spires, Spear of the Vast
Type
Capital
Included Locations
Owning Organization
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