Eye of Magic
City of Twilight
Center of the Ritual Magic school run by the Order of Rituals, this is where every adept of magic starts their career in the lands of the Council, but the unique layout of the place, the Magnificent Tower on its peninsula in the lake and the strange fish caught in the lake attracts lots of folks.
Some are genuinely curious and want to have seen this place at least once on a lifetime. Others can't afford the magical education and hope to somehow still find favour and get taken in, others - the more affluent kind might just want to be able to talk about having eaten the delicacies prepared from the local fish. And of course, there's more than enough sinister motives that drive people to a place as powerful as this.
Infrastructure
Five roads lead out of the ravine to different places: the eastern road leads to the Wolf Hills, the southern road into the Purple Expanse, the northern road towards the Ancient Forest . The road to the west is the one traveled the most and leads to the Seat of the Council, while the fifth in the northeast finds its destination at the The Timber Keep.
By the southern road, before it dives into the canyon towards the settlement proper, is a transfer site. Goods from the Purple Expanse are unloaded from the ships and transported to the bigger trading spot located between the Timber Trail and the Road of the Council. The <Trading Guild> runs both places, and most farmers and producers sell directly to them here instead of worrying about transporting them all the way to the Seat.
Assets
The Magnificent Tower in the center of the lake is the largest collection of knowledge in the known world.
A Random Utopian Tinker> has set up shop in the city, and quite a few hunters coming in from the eastern Trading Hub bordering the Wolf Hills to have their rifles repaired and restock the ammunition supplies.
Guilds and Factions
The Order of Rituals have their headquarters here and control the city, since they are considered the least ambitious of the magical orders, and as such have been the ideal choice to be handed such a powerful place as their dominion.
All other orders (The Circle of Flame, The Crown of Ice, The Veil of Secrets and The Fulmination of Lightning) also have guildhouses here, both to house their members during their studies at the Tower and to be able to scout the fresh adepts coming in. Some people are convinced the Veiled Eye is the actual headquarters of the Veil, but no one knows for sure - they have guild houses in many settlements throughout the Council lands.
The Librarians in charge of the Tower are another important faction in the town, and probably treated with the most respect, since getting on their bad side may very well cause your access to the tower revoked.
History
The Eye of Magic exists as long as anyone can remember. Even during the Mage Wars there was always an uneasy truce between the factions, since the knowledge of the Tower was in high demand and the Librarians refused access to anyone who would start a fight inside the cavern.
No one knows who built it - the stones that make up the outer tower walls seem weathered and are overgrown with moss, and there have been huts and dwelling places that seem just as old as the Tower proper. After the Mage Wars, however, the place really started to flourish. With tensions between the orders resolved, all of them began building lodgings and amenities for their members, and soon a bustling city grew around the lake like a crescent moon.
Geography
The Eye of Magic is located in a curiously shaped cavern. Shaped like a hollow bubble inside the bedrock with 5 main rifts leading out with gentle slopes, the lake in the middle of the cavern is dominated by The Magnificent Tower, located on a peninsula with a very narrow path of land connecting it to the shore. The upper edges of the rock reach out like roofs back into the valley, with a large hole in the middle.
Little sunlight makes it past the edges of the hole, and the anthrazit-coloured stone reflect little of it, keeping everything in a dim twilight, only broken by the light that seems to seep out from below the water. Strongest at night, this light seems to have a similar quality as moonlight and reflects of large gemstones of different colours, most of them hues of blue, blueish purple and blueish green that emerge from under the stone walls. The waters of the lake proper seem to have no bottom, and no one understands where the light comes from. What people DO know, however, is that the fish caught there is delicious and leaves you feeling strangely revitalised after your meal. They resemble none of the beings caught anywhere else on the planet.
Newcomers take some time to get used to the dark days and eerily lit nights, and even more to the amplification anything magical receives. Anyone born in the lands of the Council who decides to take up the studies of magic starts their journey here, and more than one gifted student trying to show off the skills he already gained ended up burning himself (or the building he was in) with a suddenly enormous fireball. Thus, both fire guards as well as the medical profession have important centers here.
Natural Resources
By the edges of the valley, the faintly glowing Moon Coriander grows, and the lake in the center is the only known place where Moonfish can be found.
Alternative Name(s)
Tower City, City of Night, Moon City
Type
Large town
Included Locations
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