Celesta

On the southern tip of the main continent, there is a massive desert filled with black sand and luminescent crystals. Connected to the coast, Celesta is a grand city that uses the natural jagged landscape and man-made crystal statues to make one hell of a tourist destination. During the day, the city looks nice, but when the sun sets, the night sky makes the entire city sparkle and glow.

Geography

The most notable aspect of Celesta’s geography is the near-horizontal quartz spire that lays the foundation for exquisite hotels and banquet halls. Celesta is built into the side of a mountain, giving the city plenty of verticality. A man-made river flows through the bottom of the city in order to provide its population with clean drinking water.
Despite being coastal, Celesta doesn’t receive any shipments by sea due to the jagged crystals that jut out of the water. While some argue to remove the crystals, others fight to keep them, claiming that the glistening water gives Celesta its charm. In addition to its glisten, Celesta hosts two annual extreme sports events, one for surfing and one for sailing. Both are particularly deadly, but an amazing claim to fame. It always draws in a huge crowd.

Lighting

During the night, Celesta’s crystals seem to glow, giving it a dim, colorful feel. The city was specifically and meticulously planned for this. Along the main paths of Celesta, reflective crystals are placed over subtle light sources in order to carry this glow across the city. The closer you move toward the mountain, or the lower you go into the city, the darker it gets, as that’s where the residential areas tend to be.

Economy

Celesta is a tourist destination for the middle and upper classes. The beautiful crystals carry a “rags to riches” mentality. Sketchy novelty casinos cover the middle layers of the city. For many, Celesta seems like the final destination for noblemen. The height of the quartz spire offers a lot of safety for the nobles. They live luxuriously with excellent views, and below average food, save for the exotic fish.
Celesta exports a lot of vanity and beauty products in exchange for basic products. They also sell plenty of cheap accessories to the tourists. Celesta hosts a variety of annual events in order to encourage people to travel there. There rarely isn’t something going on.

Holidays

The Festival of the Moon AKA Selunus: This is the equivalent to New Years. Every year, the moon passes directly over a hole in the Stargazer’s Hall, lighting up the entire interior for 15 minutes with beautiful crystalline colors. The Stargazer’s Hall turns into a festival grounds with dancing, live performances, merchants, and games.
Tide Week: On 5/15-5/21 every year, there is an aquatic sports convention with sailors, surfers, and even fishers. Most people come to spectate, but every year, about 100 brave surfers try to ride the Ruby Strip. Most wipe out, and only about 5 a year will completely make it.
Starfall: Often seen as the changing of seasons, Starfall is an event that happens worldwide, where shooting stars can be seen clearly in the sky.
Creation Day: Another worldwide event. Creation Day is celebrated very heavily on the top of Celesta, with extravagant banquents and dances.
Tymoria: In order to celebrate Tymora’s blessings, all casinos host generous raffles for the gamblers.

History

While it is unclear exactly how the Crystalline Coast came into being, most speculate that an ancient meteor strike permanently warped the surface, and bonding with the world. Other people believe that the Coast was deliberately designed by the Gods.
Small villages had existed in the desert for a while, but the unsafe conditions and vicious wildlife made it difficult for formal development. That was until King Dalius III commissioned expansion into the area. Rellen Virinius was convinced that he could turn the place into a picturesque utopia, and got to work building the tourist spot. There is a statue in his honor located at the Stargazer’s Hall.
Virinius peacefully seceded from Dalius’s nation, and turned Celesta into a neutral spot for all cultures and customs. Attacking this specific city would anger all other nations, so it stands on its own without a parent nation.
The tourist ideology was there at the start, but as more people moved into the city, the further they had to dig down and into the mountain. Since then, a more formal road has been paved, and the entire area has been made safer by the addition of tide gates, and regular walls
The city is only about 80 years old

Leadership

To the public, Celesta is ruled by the Virinius family. In reality, they take direct orders from the oppressive Jade Circle, who control the maintenance of the town, the guard, and the money. Thomas Virinius is the current public leader.

Crime

For some, Celesta can’t be mentioned without talking about the Jade Circle. Often thought to be a conspiracy theory, the Jade Circle is an exclusive group of highly influential sorcerers, warlocks, and their servants. Thieves Cant scribblings can be spotted all over the bottom layers of the town, some clues, some warnings.
The Jade Circle originally only existed to provide a network of money making ventures flowing directly to its leaders, but it quickly turned to dishonest practices. Somewhere, tucked away in a noble’s basement, is a secret meeting room, and somewhere, tucked underneath the filthy city, is an underground fight ring officiated by the circle.
The existence of the Jade Circle is widely known, at least in Celesta; however few realize exactly how far up the Jade Circle reaches. Most see the Jade Circle as a powerful crime organization that dominates the slums, but the Jade Circle actually secretly affiliates with more powerful influencers.

Significant Buildings

The Jungle

A hotel for the thrill seekers. Casino is filled with exotic trees and tamed colorful birds. It has a roller coaster and a basement simulation experience meant to simulate Algora (a dense, dangerous jungle.) It also has a nightly show called “Algoran Hell,” where contestants go through gross challenges in order to outlast the others.

The Ice and Fire Casino

There are special rooms here to accommodate those who want warmer or colder climates. They have an ice skating show called “Fire on Ice.”

The Metalican

Situated on the lower end of Celesta, the Metalican is a heavy metal grunge style hotel with fire and statues of hideous creatures. This place is known for its sketchy live music.

The Umberlee

An aquatic hotel that serves the best seafood in the world. They host events for extreme sports fans, and have a beautiful dining area surrounded by the sea. The Umberlee also has a church to Umberlee (obviously.)

Virinia Prime

Virinia Prime features a zoo with strange fantastical creatures. It's known for its tournament of fools where contestants compete for attention, and the audience votes for the most noteworthy comic.