Cities In-Depth: Kor's Geode, Ashdar

Map

Given the unique nature of the place, I've decided to map Kor's Geode in profile.

Location

Kor's Geode is a minor city located in Ashdar's Broken Teeth mountain range. It is built almost entirely within an enormous geode lined with building-sized amethyst crystals inside of a dead volcano. There is no other place like it in the world.

The city was founded to harvest the geode's amethysts, and this remains a major part of its industry. These crystals are cut from the geode's walls and broken up by master gemsmiths for export. The largest chunks are prized for their ability to bind elementals in the cores of airships. Smaller pieces are turned into powerstones or simply used as jewels.

Several years after the city's founding, entreprising elvish shipwrights established the Skyperch Shipyard in the dead volcano's caldera. This arrangement has allowed the dwarves of the Geode to export the largest crystals without having to transport them by road.

Architecture

The city on the geode's floor is built of local reddish-brown volcanic stone in a squat, angular style similar to that of the Plains Dwarves of Koldar. Most of the buildings have 2-3 floors and no roofs. The lack of weather also means that the buildings' windows have no glass or shutters. Simple curtains suffice. Low-level window sills often have sharp metal to prevent climbing inside. Some buildings extend underground into the sandy dirt on the geode's floor.

A prominent feature of Kor's Geode is The Citadel. Suspended on chains high above the city, the Citadel is the home of the CEO of the Kor's Geode Crystal Co. and ruler of the city, Kor Andesite III. The citadel is built of timber and lightweight stone panels, making it appear similar to buildings below but much lighter. It's chained to the geode's outer shell at eight points with heavy steel chains. A wooden bridge connects the citadel to the lift shaft that runs up one side of the geode.

Powerful lights on the the citadel illuminate the entire geode with purple light shining through the amethysts on the cavern's walls, casting the city in permanent twilight.

Culture

Kor's Geode is a blue-collar company town. Only employees of the Kor's Geode Crystal Co. and their families may reside permanently within the city. The population living inside the geode is almost entirely Mountain Dwarves with a few Duergar.

The culture of the geode revolves entirely around the work of harvesting and exporting crystals. Work is hard, hours are long, and many of the inhabitants live in near-poverty while the CEO and company executives live lavishly in the palatial Citadel. 

The Crystal Co. employs some townspeople as a city watch and small defensive force. Larger-scale defense is provided by Skyperch's airship fleet.

Politics

The entire mountain containing Kor's Geode is owned by the Kor's Geode Crystal Co. All properties on and inside the mountain are leased from the company. The CEO of the company is the city's despotic ruler. Succession is handled by the company's executive board but since the city's founding it has always been ruled by a member of House Andesite.

To date there has been one strike in the city's history. Striking workers protesting long working hours and their lack of say in the city's governance were violently rounded up and exiled from the city. Thirty-six died. This short of "trouble-making" is now heavily frowned upon.

Stat Block (Pathfinder)

Kor's Geode, The Broken Teeth, Ashdar

LN Large Town
Corruption +4; Crime +1; Economy +2; Law +4; Lore +0; Society -4
Qualities defensible, racial enclave, insular
Disadvantages impoverished
Danger 5

Demographics

Government Overlord (CEO)
Population 3,800 (90% Mountain Dwarves, 8% Syldarri Elves, 1% Duergar, 1% Other Races)

Notable NPCs

CEO of Kor's Geode Crystal Co. Kor Andesite III (mountain dwarf, male, LN, Aristocrat 6 / Expert 3, age 179)
Watch Commander Halite MacMorag (mountain dwarf, male, LE, Fighter 7, age 130)
Anarchist Brazz (duergar, male, CG, Psion 5, age 96)

Marketplace

Base Value 2,000 gp; Purchase Limit 10,000 gp; Spellcasting 5th
Minor/Medium/Major items: 3d4 / 2d4 / 1d4

Next Time

Next week's article will be a Elvish Engineering article covering airships, how they operate, and their role in the world of Teredahar.

Elvish Engineering: Powerstones

Another new article series? Madness! I was all prepared to alternate Cities and Factions articles for a couple months when I realized there are some key pieces of tech that are essential to the purposes of certain cities or factions. So I'm going to sprinkle these tech articles into the mix as needed to make later articles make sense. Spoiler: next week's article will involve powerstones, so I'm explaining them now.

Announcements done. Where was I?

Powerstones

Description

A powerstone is a lump of crystal imbued with magical energy. This can be raw, undifferentiated power but more often is a specific spell. Sometimes crystals that don't contain any magic are still called powerstones because they are intended for that purpose. The amount of magic that can be contained is proportional to the quality of the crystal and its size. For example, a very large milky quartz has about the same capacity as a small flawless diamond. Cut doesn't really matter beyond physical size so powerstones are often shaped for a specific purpose.

The most common powerstones are made of rough-cut quartz and are about the size of a fist. Amethyst is another common material. Corundums such as ruby and sapphire are less common. Diamond powerstones are extremely rare. Size naturally decreases with rarity.

Usage

Cracking or shattering a powerstone immediately triggers the spell or releases the raw energy stored within. Raw energy released in this way escapes in a big explosion.

There are three common uses for powerstones:

• The smallest powerstones are used to store spells within jewelery and clothing (this is not the same as Spell Storing items and weapon enhancements). The setting will have a mechanism to crack the crystal and release the spell.
• Medium powerstones are commonly used as weapons by imbuing them with raw energy and intentionally breaking them on enemies. 
• The largest powerstones are used to bind elementals in the cores of airships for propulsion (Airships will get a full article on March 6th).

Powerstones can be used as artillery shells. A smoothly-ground spherical or columnar powerstone be clad in a metal casing and fired from a cannon with some accuracy. The casing cracks the stone on impact with the target. Powerstones used in this way usually have raw magical energy imbued into them but sometimes specific spells are used (such as to create a smoke screen or release poison gas).

Creation

Any crystal or gemstone can be used to create a powerstone. Gems worth 50gp or less can store a 2nd-level spell. The required gp value doubles for each additional spell level; a gem that is large and valuable enough to hold a 9th-level spell would be worth 65,000gp. No such gems are known to exist.

Unlike scrolls, a spell released from a powerstone retains the caster level of its creator. No skill is needed to activate a powerstone. In fact, they must be handled with care to prevent accidental (explosive) breakage.

Next Week

Next week's article will be a Cities article about the dwarven city Kor's Geode, Ashdar. Kor's Geode is a prominent source of raw crystals used in powerstone production.

Factions of Teredahar: The Ashram Academy

The Ashram Academy was founded in TR 9500 during the waning years of Tan'Rar's dominion over the world. It was founded by the Azan, one of the Hebdomad as a school to train Warmages to fight the armies of other Hebdomad (Zero in particular) in their war. The institution has existed for nearly 600 years in present day, continuing to follow the orders of its eternal Headmaster but also branching out into other areas of education after the Headmaster's departure from Prime.

Today's Ashram Academy has two faces: The Warmage academy, which remains true to the institution's original purpose; and the more-generally-purposed "civilian" academy which trains mages, historians, and engineers of all sorts.

The banner of the Ashram Academy is Azan's personal banner, "The Triflame," with a golden chief added. It is flown at all Academy facilities and on their airships.

The "Warmage Academy"

The centre of Warmage training is the Academy's original campus: a mountainside fortress at the south end of the Ashram Vale perched above where the vale's river plunges dramatically into the Sea of Rime. It is a virtually-impregnable fortress unwelcoming to any visitors. Within its walls Warmage initiates undergo intensive military training in addition to magical studies. What magic they do study is narrowly focused on skills useful on the battlefield: evocation, abjuration, and conjuration. The finest evokers in the world, possibly in all the planes, are Ashram Academy graduates.

Into the fire!

- Warmage battle cry

Warmage basic training takes six years. Graduates of the Warmage Academy are guaranteed a place in the Warmage Corps within Azan's army. While not mandatory, refusing this posting carries a stigma of being ungrateful and not giving back to the Academy. Each year's graduating class is led by portal to Azan's headquarters on the shard-plane Gran Transit to join forces heading to front lines on any of a dozen Shards.

Veterans too old or wounded to fight anymore are often invited into teaching positions within the Academy (both as warmage instructors and civilian instructors). Many choose to retire in nearby Sylridian.

On Prime itself, the Warmage Corps function as a paramilitary force who answer to the Headmaster but are usually in the service of the Lords Masisters (the ruling council of the nation of Syldar, where the Academy is located). They serve as a reserve force when national military forces need extra firepower or magical expertise.

The "Civilian Academy"

The Ashram Academy operates a "satellite campus" (in truth larger than its original mountain campus) within the city of Sylridian, Syldar. This urban campus comprises several large lecture buildings, libraries, dormitories, and research offices sprawling over almost 1/8 of the city's extent. Students of the Ashram Academy are a large, visible part of Sylridian's population. They come from all walks of life and train in all of the fields of magic except martial forms of magic deemed too dangerous to practice in an urban environment.

Initiate-level non-Warmage training takes four years. Many wizards stay on and continue their education for several years more. The academy in Sylridian also trains officers for non-magical military forces in Syldar, its neighbours, and other planes connected via portals.

Gameplay Notes

• Warmages
• Warmage graduates will have any Lawful alignment, though Lawful Evil personalities are usually weeded out in the first few years.
• Warmages have military ranks, modeled off of real-world army ranks. 
• Warmages often have a fraternal attitude towards each other, and a massive superiority complex over other martial types. 
• Non-Warmages
• Graduates can be of any alignment, though again Evil personalities tend to filter out early.
• Non-warmage Ashram students and graduates often see the Warmages as "violent assholes with overblown egos," neither to be messed with nor taken too seriously.
• The civilian Ashram Academy trains non-mages as well in fields including Alchemy, various crafting trades, and engineering.
• The Ashram Academy has tremendous influence across Teredahar. 
• One of the 5 seats among Lords Magisters who rule the nation of Syldar is reserved for the currently-sitting mortal headmaster of the Academy (Azan's title as Headmaster is traditional). 
• If you're a Wizard on Teredahar, you've heard of the Ashram Academy, and either know someone who trained there or trained there yourself.

Next Time

Next week's article will be on a piece of tech the Elves invented that plays an important role in the magical-technological environment of Teredahar: Powerstones.

Cities In-Depth: Dolvan Keep, Din

Another new article series! Cities In-Depth will profile a specific major settlement and provide details about its architecture, culture, politics, and history. I'll also include a complete city stat block for use with Pathfinder.

Map

This is a basic map showing only major avenues and landmarks. Fill in details as needed.
Map download (Google Docs / PDF)

Location

Dolvan Keep is a large city located the United Republic of Din's northeast, approximately 10 miles south of the Crimson Marsh and 70 miles from the coast, where Copper River empties out into the Dinwash River. This region of Din is mostly forested hills and rolling farmland. The city's namesake keep is located at the northern terminus of an escarpment that runs for several miles southwards towards the foothills of the Torran Spine, roughly following the course of the Copper River. The region's climate is temperate, experiencing all four seasons and the occasional coastal storm that wracks the region with rain or snow.

Architecture

The city of Dolvan Keep grew organically around its eponymous fortress. Most houses and businesses are built of river stones and timber with steeply pitched, shingled roofs. In the lower districts they are built very close together with numerous dark, narrow alleys running between them. The largest buildings outside of the keep and church are three stories tall including their roofs.

Boxtown district gets its name for the large, flat-roofed factories and warehouses built from quarried stone and heavy timber. Many of these buildings have blank, windowless facades giving the district the dull appearance of rows of boxes. Mill street is similarly industrial, with several prominent factories along the copper river's waterfront using water-wheels driven by the river. 

Highwatch and Iron Hill are upper-class districts with several very large houses and numerous small parks. Bywater and Westridge are working-class neighbourhoods of small-but-orderly houses along small-but-orderly streets. The Lower Ward and Keeptown are both low-class districts. These districts are densely built, heavily populated, tight and dark. These districts are considered to be an extreme fire-hazard.

The keep is built from quarried stone blocks and river stones. It was built by mountain dwarves after the The Occupation. It has seen battle only once (during The Revolution when Din's citizenry overthrew the ruling vampire cult) and was relatively undamaged during that conflict. Most of the original dwarven stonework remains in good condition.

Culture

There are three prominent cultural centres: Temple Square in Bywater, the Central Market at the foot of iron hill, and The Keep. Dolvan Keep's culture is a mixing-pot of human and dwarven traditions that revolves around these centres. Social stratification is very prominent outside of the centres, with various classes keeping to their own districts.

Piety plays a big role in Dolvan Keep's culture. It was paladins in the service of The Dawnbringer led by local legend Aurus Pyrite who freed the area the grasp of an immortal cult of vampires. Now The Church of The Dawnbringer stands as the second-largest building in the city and its bells ring across the city at dawn every morning.

Unlike many cities on Teredahar, Dolvan Keep actually has a civilian police force separate from the city's guard.

Politics

Dolvan Keep is the seat of the parliament of the United Republic of Din. Political leaders and party members from around the nation mostly live in Highwatch and keep to themselves. The city itself is run by an elected autocrat with the purely-traditional title of Prince and a council of advisors. The populace are generally satisfied with this leadership.

Stat Block (Pathfinder)

Dolvan Keep, United Republic of Din

NG Large City
Corruption +0; Crime +3; Economy +3, Law +1, Lore +3, Society +3
Qualities holy site, notorious, racist, strategic location, pious
Danger +20

Demographics

Government Autocracy (Prince-Elect)
Population 19,500 (50% humans, 20% mountain dwarves, 10% syldarri(elves), 8% plains dwarves, 4% kurudari(halflings), 8% assorted other races)

Notable NPCs

Prince-Elect Ado Augite (mountain dwarf, male, NG, Aristocrat 7, age 161)
Lord Deacon Aurus Pyrite (mountain dwarf, male, LG, Paladin of The Dawnbringer 14, age 128)
Crime Boss "Red Hand" Anders (human male, NE, Rogue 8, age 31)

Marketplace

Base Value 11,200 gp; Purchase Limit 75,000 gp; Spellcasting divine 9th / arcane 7th
Minor/Medium/Major items: 4d4 / 3d4 / 2d4
Racism cost +150% if not human or dwarf, +150% if openly not Good-aligned, merchants refuse to deal with undead necromancers of any kind or obvious necromancers.

Next Time

Next week's article will be a Factions article covering The Ashram Academy, Teredahar's largest mage school and paramilitary force.