Carnifex
First Post
Some initial ideas for a location:
"When half the land you used to live on disappears underneath the sea, you have to look to a new way of life. And what could be a better place to live than in the skies, free as a bird?"
- High Auramancer Geddaf Kain
High over the Karakan sea a most bizarre sight has been spotted - what looks, to the eyes of the disbelieving watchers, like a floating city hovering over the waters. But surely this cannot be?
Yet it can. Skirricane is just that - a flying settlement, of truly strange appearance. After the meteors crashed down and so much land was lost to the seas, the archmage Duransa Kain wove great sorceries to tear his fortress from the very stone, and this flying castle lies at the center of the conglomerated mass of Skirricane. Around it is a tangled web of ropes, nettings, wooden buildings, entire ships tied into the settlement. Huge gas-bags and air ballons float amidst the jumble, helping to keep the entire thing up in the air.
Skirricane is ruled by the High Auramancer, currently Geddaf Kain (NG human male Wiz 16). Since the position is hereditary, he is a direct descendent of Lady Duransa Kain. He rules through the Skirricane Auramancers, air elementalists who police the flying settlement, provide defensive magics against would-be attackers, and help keep bad weather at bay. Skirricane is famous for its air magic academy, and Geddaf gladly takes on students of all races as his apprentices.
The conglomeration of lashed together homes, storage houses and ships moves by both how the winds care to take it and, occasionally, when the auramancers want to take it somewhere specific, by concentrated air magic rituals requiring at least ten wizards working together. The settlement always seems to avoid bad weather and storms - which could do serious damage - as if by pure chance. This is not so, however, for deep within the stone fortress towering over the rest of the flying city, the auramancers keep their most powerful secrets.
Duransa gained the power to lift her fortress to the skies not just through her own magical puissance, but through a god. One of the many deities who gave his life to diminish the wrath of the impacting meteors was Llaramar, the god of winds and sky, and on a pedestal in the inner sanctum of the keep is his eye. This divine artifact, part of the very body of a god, grants the auramancers several powers. Firstly, it powers a complex machine hanging underneath the chunk of rock that the fortress sits on, which can accurately predict local weather patterns. It also strengthens the structure of the entire city, holding it all together securely. Many auramancers are ordained priests of the religion of Llaramar, though of course these clerics of a dead god gain no divine spells and do not take levels in the cleric class.
Skirricane is usually to be found in pleasant weathers and climes, unless the auramancers have need to take it elsewhere.The city is a wondrous place and tends to attract merchants seeking to sell their goods to the inhabitants, since the erratic movement of the place means it visits most lands eventually. Contact with the ground or ocean surface is done through cages that are lowered to the surface below or just a knotted rope thrown down. Usually the magical place hovers about a hundred meters in the air.
The people of Skirricane live their loves most of the time in learning and contemplation, and it is a peaceful place - though any warlord would love to capture it to use for aerial raids on their enemies. The people live largely off fish and traded goods, and are famous for their skills on training and befriending aerial creatures - the city tends to attract birds as they cross oceans on long journeys. Skirricane trained hawks and messenger birds can fetch a high price, and there are a number of skilled rangers in the city who specialise in this business.
"When half the land you used to live on disappears underneath the sea, you have to look to a new way of life. And what could be a better place to live than in the skies, free as a bird?"
- High Auramancer Geddaf Kain
High over the Karakan sea a most bizarre sight has been spotted - what looks, to the eyes of the disbelieving watchers, like a floating city hovering over the waters. But surely this cannot be?
Yet it can. Skirricane is just that - a flying settlement, of truly strange appearance. After the meteors crashed down and so much land was lost to the seas, the archmage Duransa Kain wove great sorceries to tear his fortress from the very stone, and this flying castle lies at the center of the conglomerated mass of Skirricane. Around it is a tangled web of ropes, nettings, wooden buildings, entire ships tied into the settlement. Huge gas-bags and air ballons float amidst the jumble, helping to keep the entire thing up in the air.
Skirricane is ruled by the High Auramancer, currently Geddaf Kain (NG human male Wiz 16). Since the position is hereditary, he is a direct descendent of Lady Duransa Kain. He rules through the Skirricane Auramancers, air elementalists who police the flying settlement, provide defensive magics against would-be attackers, and help keep bad weather at bay. Skirricane is famous for its air magic academy, and Geddaf gladly takes on students of all races as his apprentices.
The conglomeration of lashed together homes, storage houses and ships moves by both how the winds care to take it and, occasionally, when the auramancers want to take it somewhere specific, by concentrated air magic rituals requiring at least ten wizards working together. The settlement always seems to avoid bad weather and storms - which could do serious damage - as if by pure chance. This is not so, however, for deep within the stone fortress towering over the rest of the flying city, the auramancers keep their most powerful secrets.
Duransa gained the power to lift her fortress to the skies not just through her own magical puissance, but through a god. One of the many deities who gave his life to diminish the wrath of the impacting meteors was Llaramar, the god of winds and sky, and on a pedestal in the inner sanctum of the keep is his eye. This divine artifact, part of the very body of a god, grants the auramancers several powers. Firstly, it powers a complex machine hanging underneath the chunk of rock that the fortress sits on, which can accurately predict local weather patterns. It also strengthens the structure of the entire city, holding it all together securely. Many auramancers are ordained priests of the religion of Llaramar, though of course these clerics of a dead god gain no divine spells and do not take levels in the cleric class.
Skirricane is usually to be found in pleasant weathers and climes, unless the auramancers have need to take it elsewhere.The city is a wondrous place and tends to attract merchants seeking to sell their goods to the inhabitants, since the erratic movement of the place means it visits most lands eventually. Contact with the ground or ocean surface is done through cages that are lowered to the surface below or just a knotted rope thrown down. Usually the magical place hovers about a hundred meters in the air.
The people of Skirricane live their loves most of the time in learning and contemplation, and it is a peaceful place - though any warlord would love to capture it to use for aerial raids on their enemies. The people live largely off fish and traded goods, and are famous for their skills on training and befriending aerial creatures - the city tends to attract birds as they cross oceans on long journeys. Skirricane trained hawks and messenger birds can fetch a high price, and there are a number of skilled rangers in the city who specialise in this business.
I wanted to design something different to the kinda archetypal Netheril style flying cities, all built on a big slab of rock, so I thought that one that was lashed together precariosuly with rope and which you could quite easily fall out of would be amusing 
