Ternaea'Nel (Turn-ayuh-nel)

The Immortal City of the Elves

Built in the first days of the Stirring Age, in the dawn of humanoid society after the mending of the world, Ternaea'Nel was established to be a safe haven and home to Elvenkind, who awoke to find themselves in a new world. The name of the city was a dedication to a goddess, not one of the elven gods, but instead to Mother Aea, who the elves had learned saved them from some great calamity.

Knowledge of the city is scarce, as the last time that it's gates were open to the outside world was in the first two hundred years of the Titanic Age, three ages prior to the Regal Age. The gates were opened to allow the removal of five tribes of exiles, then shut and locked behind them, never to be opened.

Demographics

When the five tribes of the elves were banished from the Immortal City, only elves lived within the walls. Presumably this has not changed, as there have been no recorded comings and goings in the four Ages that have passed since that event. Last known, wealth was deliberately shared evenly among the people of Ternaea'nel, though the immense wealth held by the city did mean that this was an easy task, as there was no want to be had and no threat of anyone going without.

Government

The Immortal City was ruled by the Timeless Council, an assembly of all the elves who were alive at he founding of the city. Any elves born after the city's founding were not given the right to a vote on the council, but were instead told to petition their ancestors who were on the council to represent them. As elves within Ternaea'nel do not age or die from old age, the Timeless Council had only ever lost six members by the time the five tribes were banished. Five were the leaders of those tribes, but the sixth member's identity has been forgotten by the descendents of the tribes.

Defences

The towering walls of Ternaea'nel are not the only defences possessed by the city. Would-be explorers and plunderers have found that the city is defended by numerous powerful arcane wards, the likes of which even the League of Moons in Tualey did not attempt to dispel. Many mages have theorized that these wards were some kind of intrinsic quality possessed by the location, like some kind of leyline bent to the will of the elves.

History

The most significant historical event pertaining Ternaea'nel that is in common knowledge through recorded history is the Exodus of the Five Tribes. Most records write that five tribes of elves were exiled from the city for an inability to cooperate and work together without violence. Many records question whether this means that there was some form of civil war or schism in the city, which resulted in the removal of the inciters, or if it means that there was infighting between the five factions themselves. Each of these five tribes was led by a single elf, a paternal ancestor who had rallied many elves behind them. Each of these ancestors were members of the Timeless council, and upon them and their tribes being exiled, were given crowns marking them as kings of the exiles. These crown's possessed some of the city's magic, allowing the kings of the elves, but not their subjects, to live on eternally without aging.

Architecture

What can be observed from outside the walls of the city is that the city is clearly of Giant architecture. The metropolis was likely originally built by giants during the Dreaming Age, and then later claimed by elves, though whether or not it was through conquest is unknown.

Geography

Ternaea'nel sits at the base of two mountain ranges, overlooking the Perimah desert. The city's back is at the mountains, with it's main gates facing directly south. There is no apparent river or body of water within or near the city, so the method through which the city once obtained water in the arid climate is unknown.

Natural Resources

It was said that Ternaea'nel was one of the few places in the Perimah desert that was bountiful. Tales of the gems, mithral, and marble that were extracted from the ground there put Dwarven mines to shame. It was also said that in the city, one could escape the heat of the desert in cool bathing fountains beneath the shaded boughs of great trees.

Founding Date

The Stirring Age

Alternative Name(s)

The Immortal City of the Elves, The Immortal City, The Lost Home

Type

Metropolis

Population

Unknown

Inhabitant Demonym

Ternaean

Location under

Perimah