The City of Fortune
The City of Fortune lives up to its name. It is grandiose, opulent, and larger-than life, despite 1,000 years of abandonment and isolation. Yet the gold that adorns the streets, the walls, and the décor of the city is obscured by tendrils of red-orange haze intertwined and competing with tendrils of black and violet. With every breath, the sensation changes – cold and otherworldly to the heavy embrace of smoke, dust, and death. One moment you see the streets as they are: partially collapsed and empty. The next, smoke rises and people scream, a surge of arcane energy detonates nearby, and the thunderous sound of armored feet on stone echoes all around. The Temple stands as the centerpiece at the far end of a sprawling market. Threads of red drift, barely visible in the air. A forceful sensation tugs on one’s very being.
The Central Avenue & Market
Passing through the partially collapsed gates, a large, central stone road continues straight into the heart of the city. Even at a distance, the grandiose Temple stands proudly, overlooking the entire city. Between the Gate and the Temple lies a stretch of mostly open expanse. The stone road still contains flecks of gold, though diluted by the haze and mirage that drifts through the air – itching at the mind one second and then cold and otherworldly the next. Portions of the road have been destroyed. The nearby rubble suggests that such potholes are not the product of general wear and tear, but an explosion.
Compared to the rest of the ruins in the Wasteland, the City of Fortune has… somehow not faced quite the same fate. While the damage and ravages of war are immediately apparently – partially collapsed buildings, destroyed carts and stalls, and marks and residue of various kinds of explosions and combat – the City remains almost… oddly preserved. Wooden structures have yet to fully rot away. Some tapestries and textiles remain. There are even some remnants of food, albeit rotten, resting on carts and within stalls.
As you move into the city, the stench of death is strangely absent… yet the bodies are incredibly apparent. These corpses have still retained a bit of flesh, though taunt and stretched thin over bones. Most are suspended in time, almost, reaching towards the gates that they will never reach. Some hold onto others, attempting to shield them. Some are still covered in the rusted remnants of armor.
You blink. Screams echo, terror hangs in the air. You blink. All you see are the dead.
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To the Temple
A circular pool of water marks the transition from open market to the Temple Courtyard. Two large statues of the Judean goat stand, horns proudly displayed and presented at the other – reflected in the little water that remains. Beyond the pool of water, two buildings adorned with colorful roofs – though dulled by the miasma and mirage – flank the grandiose stairs leading upward. Between the buildings and the pool of water… there is one additional feature: a wishing well. Compared to the rest of the city, the well is considerably older and partially crumbled. It is simple in structure and lacking all ornate embellishment.
The Temple of Fortune
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