Celeriasse

In the Upper Air, that region of sky between the cloud layer and the celestial domes above them, is a city named Celeriasse. This is home to a sylphic people called the Anemoi related to both elemental sylphs and humans. They dress and behave much as people on Aarthus below. They differ because they have extended lifespans, about 300 years each, and strong winds rejuvenates and heal them.

The city and its inhabitants are only visible from below when thunderclouds fill the sky. Otherwise, this settlement and its people are aerial, which is to say solid to each other and their habitat, but airy and ephemeral to human sight. Even when hidden from sight, the Anemoi may be heard when they make noise, such as with trumpets, the clamor of industry, singing, etc.

Celariasse is a city-state with its own ruling family whose leader styles himself as the Prince of the South Winds.

Within their airish realm, the people of Celeriasse employ sky ships, which sail atop the Lower Air as mortal ships sail upon water. If an Anemoi falls overboard, he may drown in the Lower Air. Their ships have been known to anchor to the earth below, and sometimes they get their anchor lines tangled with church steeples or high towers. Like their city, their ships are usually invisible, being seen only in thunderstorms. The ships cannot descend to the earth below, anymore than a mortal ship on the sea may dive to the seabed.

Anemoi have learned a way to visit the earth below by manifesting material bodies. Their customs may be odd, or their accents slightly foreign, but they may pass as humans easily. Unlike standard sylphs, which are tall, broad, and coarse, the Anemoi are aggressively ordinary appearing. The reasons they may venture to Aarthus below are threefold: they have come to trade; they have come to steal livestock or crops; or they are seeking human spouses. How they make use of earth-based crops and livestock is not well understood. How they transition to and from subtle sky bodies and assume grosser material forms is a mystery, as how they transition to and from overhead to the surface world below.

As the Anemoi explain it, they have no souls in the conventional sense, but are personified elemental forces to the core. If, however, they marry a human, then they are granted souls, and the human spouse gains extended lifespans. Once ensouled, the Anemoi has migrated to the earth permanently. Their children will be Anemoi hybrids, but essentially no different that standard humans.

Humans have very rarely visited Celeriasse, because this place wouldn’t physically support them and they would simply tumble out of the sky. A successful visit involves spells that allow the human to assume airish bodies. Wizards known to have ventured there include Melena Kamith and Calvin DeLoque the Younger, both of whom enjoyed extended stays.