Irda Ranger
First Post
Thoughts on Teleportation Circle, Magic Circle, and Forbiddance.
As a side note, 50 gp is cheap compared to feeding mules, paying mercenaries and risking the loss of an entire caravan or ship's hold worth of goods.
Leto is assumed to have an Epic Destiny giving him extraordinary power of Magic Circles.
*******
The city of Barak-Na is a hub of commerce and trade, but it has no port and the only roads that lead from it are beaten dirt paths leading only to nearby farming hamlets and a mining town. Just outside its second-tier walls are a line of 10' diamaters Circles, marked by runes of silver laid in stone. There were twenty such circles once, but five of them have been broken up by the Masoners' hammers. The cities they used to lead to have been over-run by Orcs and even more fell beasts, and it would be too dangerous to leave them intact.
Of the fifteen circles that remain, ten lead to Spoke Towns. These smaller outlying cities may be anywhere in the world, but what they have in common is that they have only one Teleportation Circle, and it leads to Barak-Na. Three more circles lead to other Hubs. From there you may travel to on a Spoke of that Hub or to Hubs further on. In this way, leap by leap you can traverse the Empire. At least, that would be the case if you had lived in an Era since past.
The last two circles lead to what was once Bael Turath, the capital of what was simply "the Empire." From the highest tower of Bael Turath the Archmage and Emperor Leto would scry across the worlds. When he found a city of sufficient grandeur he would create a new Circle, and through it would pour the Empire's Legions. Once pacified the City would be given Circles connecting it to the Capital, two to four other Hubs and several Spokes. In this way the Empire grew over centuries. Men and wealth could (and were) moved throughout the Empire as the Empire's needs demanded. In some Cities the sun shown a different color or the day was of a strange length, but the Legions were always the same.
Where the Enemy came from, no one living now knows - but come they did, and quickly. From some unknown Spoke to the Hub of Krenlan to the Capital, the Circles were turned against the Empire. Where a Mage of the Teleporters Guild would require minutes and some gold to power up a Circle, the Enemy could move through the Circles at will. They were made of flame and magma, breathed fire and ash, and weapons of mere steel bounced off their armor like raindrops off stone. Many ancestors of Barak-Na's current residents were at Bael Turath when the Enemy came through the Circles. They saw the Emperor Leto and his Nine Hierarchs meet the Enemy's champions in the streets of the Capital. Although resistance was fierce, defeat was sure. What few residents of the Capital had the ability to open a Circle did so and fled, taking as many friends and neighbors with them as possible.
The destruction of the Empire did not end at Bael Turath however. From the Capital the Enemy could reach any Hub in the Empire by three or fewer steps. They were limited more by time and opportunity than distance or diffilculty. Cities cannot be burned to the ground in a day, you know. But they tried very hard to reach every city, and succeeded to a great degree. As Hubs were destroyed the Empire was fragmented. Merchants, mercenaries, tourists and professionals who were travelling found themselves abandoned. Cities were cut off from sister-Cities, never to be heard from again.
Barak-Na and several neighbors were saved by the efforts of the Mage Brennlan. More than a mere Teleporter's Guildsman, he was a true student of the Arcane. He probably could have arisen to the rank of Hierarch, in the days of the Empire, but lacked the ambition. When the Enemy threatend his home cities however Brenlann cut them off from the rest of the Empire by a powerful Forbiddance. Every day for over a year he travelled to all six nearby Hubs to keep the Forbiddance working while his apprentices modified the Circles to bar their use to elementals and immortals. Once the Enemy could no longer use the Portals he dropped the Forbiddance to all Portals except those leading back to the Capital. Bael Turath was over-run, but Brennlan could not bring himself to destroy the last link with the Empire. So the last two Circles sit, unused, in the hope that one day someone will be able to raise the banner of Leto over the highest tower of Bael Turath and unite the people once more.
As a side note, 50 gp is cheap compared to feeding mules, paying mercenaries and risking the loss of an entire caravan or ship's hold worth of goods.
Leto is assumed to have an Epic Destiny giving him extraordinary power of Magic Circles.
*******
The city of Barak-Na is a hub of commerce and trade, but it has no port and the only roads that lead from it are beaten dirt paths leading only to nearby farming hamlets and a mining town. Just outside its second-tier walls are a line of 10' diamaters Circles, marked by runes of silver laid in stone. There were twenty such circles once, but five of them have been broken up by the Masoners' hammers. The cities they used to lead to have been over-run by Orcs and even more fell beasts, and it would be too dangerous to leave them intact.
Of the fifteen circles that remain, ten lead to Spoke Towns. These smaller outlying cities may be anywhere in the world, but what they have in common is that they have only one Teleportation Circle, and it leads to Barak-Na. Three more circles lead to other Hubs. From there you may travel to on a Spoke of that Hub or to Hubs further on. In this way, leap by leap you can traverse the Empire. At least, that would be the case if you had lived in an Era since past.
The last two circles lead to what was once Bael Turath, the capital of what was simply "the Empire." From the highest tower of Bael Turath the Archmage and Emperor Leto would scry across the worlds. When he found a city of sufficient grandeur he would create a new Circle, and through it would pour the Empire's Legions. Once pacified the City would be given Circles connecting it to the Capital, two to four other Hubs and several Spokes. In this way the Empire grew over centuries. Men and wealth could (and were) moved throughout the Empire as the Empire's needs demanded. In some Cities the sun shown a different color or the day was of a strange length, but the Legions were always the same.
Where the Enemy came from, no one living now knows - but come they did, and quickly. From some unknown Spoke to the Hub of Krenlan to the Capital, the Circles were turned against the Empire. Where a Mage of the Teleporters Guild would require minutes and some gold to power up a Circle, the Enemy could move through the Circles at will. They were made of flame and magma, breathed fire and ash, and weapons of mere steel bounced off their armor like raindrops off stone. Many ancestors of Barak-Na's current residents were at Bael Turath when the Enemy came through the Circles. They saw the Emperor Leto and his Nine Hierarchs meet the Enemy's champions in the streets of the Capital. Although resistance was fierce, defeat was sure. What few residents of the Capital had the ability to open a Circle did so and fled, taking as many friends and neighbors with them as possible.
The destruction of the Empire did not end at Bael Turath however. From the Capital the Enemy could reach any Hub in the Empire by three or fewer steps. They were limited more by time and opportunity than distance or diffilculty. Cities cannot be burned to the ground in a day, you know. But they tried very hard to reach every city, and succeeded to a great degree. As Hubs were destroyed the Empire was fragmented. Merchants, mercenaries, tourists and professionals who were travelling found themselves abandoned. Cities were cut off from sister-Cities, never to be heard from again.
Barak-Na and several neighbors were saved by the efforts of the Mage Brennlan. More than a mere Teleporter's Guildsman, he was a true student of the Arcane. He probably could have arisen to the rank of Hierarch, in the days of the Empire, but lacked the ambition. When the Enemy threatend his home cities however Brenlann cut them off from the rest of the Empire by a powerful Forbiddance. Every day for over a year he travelled to all six nearby Hubs to keep the Forbiddance working while his apprentices modified the Circles to bar their use to elementals and immortals. Once the Enemy could no longer use the Portals he dropped the Forbiddance to all Portals except those leading back to the Capital. Bael Turath was over-run, but Brennlan could not bring himself to destroy the last link with the Empire. So the last two Circles sit, unused, in the hope that one day someone will be able to raise the banner of Leto over the highest tower of Bael Turath and unite the people once more.
