Ost Almira (OST all-MEER-uh)

V4
Ost Almira is a city of wonder in the Muhatan Desert - think Dubai or Vegas without the gambling. There are huge-scale enchantments here that make it more hospitable than the surrounding desert, and others used purely for entertainment's sake.
It's ruled by a King and Queen - The Ahura - and the city split into 7 districts overseen by Lords called the _____.

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NEED:

Why players would go here?

History

Civic Life

Government

They have a pair of Monarchs - The Ahura ( Ahura Asifir and Ahura Saeris)- who live on in the minds of their 9(ish) descendants (called the Dynasty). the Dynasts spend hours in meditation each day to channel The Ahura to hear and rule the city. The Generation of 8 children are beginning to have children, which means a shift toward new, younger, dynasts. Each of these dynasts gets a Seneschal who serves them, but in the years have taken-on something of the role of a lobbyist - they meet with people of the city while the Dynast is in meditation, and bring concerns to that dynast in their offtime. With the expanding Dynasty due to the generational shift, that means new Seneschals gaining influence over young Dynasts. (Happening or Hubbub or something)
(unclear how Seneschals are chosen - could be voted by populace, or voted by Lords, and those votes may be weighted by influence/production?)
Note that the seneschals are not exclusively elven. there's at least one kin and orc. maybe a galvan.

The Ahura are served by additional viziers, including the Chief Physiciain - ___name -

Show spoiler

who is up to shady stuff, administering the Peri Fruit and doing experiements for the crown's hopes about the Bodyswap drug.

move this section to the dynast's page 8-12 hours in trance (6-8 are in session. where the dynast speaks through them to the parliament or people who meet the dynast. other time is mysterious). 8 hours with their mentor, discussing policy, seeing the city. 4-8 hours 'on their own' (much of that is training for the first few years. then there's bloat as other things leak into this time. extended trance sessions, etc).
The City is carved up among 12 feudal lords who oversee portions of the city - commanding the citizenry, acting both as landlords, mayors, and bosses. NEED a title for these. META: if the direction of this city moves in a french revolutionary direction, there may be a moment when the lords try to reinvent themselves as an aristocracy alternative to the king.

Layout

Ost Almira is sprawling and spacious. The general plan of the city is non-square geometric lots of hexagons. Pyramidal structures. Homes with subtle arches on the roof to resist the buildup of sand after storms. At the center is a hexagonal pyramid where The Ahura live, named the _____.
There are some wide-open spaces underground - a few bazaars and malls, lit with vented skylights that are protected from dust.

Law Enforcement

The royal guard are called the The Black Blades, named for the weapons they weild, made of a mysterious dark metal that no one living can work

Show spoiler

secret: came from a meteorite)

. Among them are the more secretive Khanjar, who wield curved daggers, and the more obvious Talwar who weild Talwar. (NEED: I think I changed the spelling on these).
Each Lord commands a contingent of guards that have total juridsiction over that portion of the city.

Ministry of Corrections

Violent crimes are punished by exposure to the sun, under the belief that the ancestors will 'correct' them. But prison is pretty infrequent anyway. In some cases, the offspring born while in prison are given ancestor-muting drugs. (WIP - I found this section recently and wasn' feeling it).

Can I say any of that is categorically true? shouldn't lords have ultimate power over thier charges? need to look at late-feudal judiciary stuff.

Political Activity

There are a number of political factions growing in the city

(secret) Dark Elves "drow"

NEED name (Dark Renaissance Of Will) dress is black bodywraps and move like ninja. working in secret to undermine the city. control the black market, but they're entirely unseen there. using shells and subsidiary merchants. Adherents of radical change. burn the tree and keep burning.

New Almiran Republic (NAR)

(symbol is the Naimazor maybe) (alt name: Honorable Almiran Republic party "HARPers". icon is the harp) an in-the-light political opposition party. Want to eliminate the crown and rule via parliament. "Not just an elven city anymore." May have skeletons in closet -strings pulled by the drow. or their leader may be trying to do this all for himself. May advocate for Conjunctivism? Centrist.

The Noorish Party

Concentrated force for beautifying the land. Heavy overlap with The Penitents. Asifir Noor was the one of the early workers of that stuff, and their descendant Valanthe Noor is leading it now.

Fourth Party

small. want to nominate the dean or dead dean of the academy as a new king. (or maybe someone else - looking for a new power outside the existing government, here)

Enchantments.

1. manna spawning each dawn (this manna feeds livestock. it tastes gross to people)
2. refraction of light into crystal charging aparatusses.
3. a mythal that protects the city from desert storms / winds.
4. creation/evolution of the cacti was a mythal? they require periodic mythals to grow maybe. (the cacti attracts ibexes and stuff like that)
5. mythal to direct the flow of water around the city's sewer system.
6. Mythal enchanted mail/address system. papyrus that follows currents to addresses.
7. There's an "ice park" where a mythal has created frozen water. Not large enough to be used in a big civic way, so it's just a fun place to go. stalls there serve ice cream and that kind of thing. walkways. ice sculptures.

Education

Ilhasin University

This is the foremost university on Magic in Tellas. It's a Classical university focused on magic theory and practice. It includes the World's best library outside of the Red Monastery. Generally, it's also well regarded for History classes, courses environmentalism and a presence of the world's best druids. They have an unparalleled view of the night sky due to the scar in the sky (above the desert, no clouds form). Additionally, the Chancellor of the university can call on its alumni in times of crisis for emergency aid (not like the national guard, but more just the influence that it holds allows it to make a strong case for aid).

mail service.

Power / Utilities

news

Public Transportation

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Culture

Ost Almira is a city of spectacle, built on powerful magic. Everywhere you look, there's impressive magical spectacle, and performers building upon the expertise of their ancestors. Part of the elven cultural consciousness is a wariness of eternity. Art is meant to be temporary - even fine art and sculpture. When a parent dies, the art is often (reverently) destroyed by the children (NEED to think more about this. is there an opportunity to tweak this into a better direction?).

Values

Almira values excellence in skill, which ranges from art to performance, to sport, to craft. And there's a general value in balance. Where the young opt for change and the old hold to tradition, many recognize that a good life requires a balance between those two ideals - the new experiences sought out in a person's life will be incorporated into that ancestral legacy before it's passed on.

Art

Elven painting is usually watercolor. But their focus is on performance art than paper art. Figurative sculpture is almost nonexistent because of their reproductive process makes this a little silly - like you're forging someone and defying the natural process of life. Still, artists gonna art, so there are some interesting sculptural artists doing weird things.

Music

Elven music is layered, full of polyphony, complex time signatures and leitmotifs. And the structure of songs incorporate both slow contemplative sections and loud, bombastic bridges. Instrumentation is wide-ranging, and the most successful musicians draw attention by incorporating instruments from other cultures alongside traditional elven instruments (maybe the harp?). Choirs are a common vocal tool to represent the ancestral choir that one accesses when they meditate.
Elven music is prog, basically.

Sport

There's a cross-desert race once a year called the ___. The build up to this race becomes a significant part of the city for 2-3 months, and the racers are installed as celebrities by the time the race begins. It requires several 'checkpoints' including Ubaramin and Minith.
Falconry is a big deal here. WIP
Kegby? WIP
Dwarven wrestling? WIP

Holidays

• founding of Ost Almira. which predates the conjunction.
• birth and
• death of the Monarch.
• were they reigning before they became the monarch?
• The ascension of Vayanabrimbor
• yearly graduation day for Ilhasin University.
• the big race across the desert.

HEAVY WIP

National heroes.

• - Giyathorn inventor of the cactus, and the manna mythal.
• various creators of other Perpetual Magical workings (Maloniel invented the postal system)
• "Vayanabrimbor" founder of Vayanism (didn't die or repro. mysteriously vanished. in front of people!).
• Ilhasen, founder of the university.
• Mythrandir, worker of the sandstorm mythal
• Alariel (Living). leader of the environmental stuff.

HEAVY WIP

Religion

the Penitents are big here. They're allowed controlled access to the garden, under the watch of The Black Blades. They chafe at restrictions against them, and recently their access has been greatly reduced (which they're upset about - NEED to create a happening with the bodyswap thing. bullshit excuese - coverup to what the vizier is doing.).
There's also a decent sect of Conjunctivism followers here.

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Enterprise (businesses: Services/Goods)

Entertainment

The Karandras Theater

The Karanadras Theater has two main shows. the first is a rotating sort of a Cirque de soleil shows and the "ringleader" is a Kin ______. The other is an illusionist ______ (WIP).

The Ironwood Stage

Coloquially 'The Ironwood.' It features a Blue Man Group analogue who do lots of impressive stuff in an antimagic ring. And alternating with them is an Elvis/Frank choir thing. WIP

The Vayana Theater

Also known as "The Sawaril" (NEED: add this to biomes), because the structure of the theater is cactus-like. Inside, it looks like some kidn of Gehry architecture. There's a central structure where the stage is, with 'branches' curving upward for stands. Common shows here are a waterbending show (think Cirque), and a druid show with animal tricks. WIP

Shan'dalar Concert Hall

There's an opera and a ballet that perform here. And when the Orchestra plays, there are giant double-basses that require two elves (usually from the same parents) to play it.

The Sand-lion Arena

This is an arena with a similar layout to an open-air Medieval Times. Events include Naimazor jousts, Orcish Wrestling shows, and Falconry contests

Escape Room Facility

NEED a name. But put players into low-stakes puzzle rooms. One is a crashing airship. One is a nuremborcian house with undead outside.

Hospitality

Almira has several competing hotels catering to tourists WIP

Nightlife

Almira is known for its nightlife (Meta: Berlin may be another touchpoint)

Cania

This is a Kin-run Nightclub that's mostly raves. It's undgerground - that exact scene from The Matrix.

The Flynx Step Ballroom

Ballroom dancing and other fancy events. kind of place where award shows would happen.

Misc Enterprises

Magic mail service that floats papyrus to a specified address (addresses are sort of programmed into a mythal). There's also a civic service that maintains the magic of the mythals. "almiran engineers"

Agriculture

Generally, their food is cacti, dates, bread (from wheat/barley), beans/lentils, onions, garlic, lettuce, chickpeas, chickens, goats. beer (which is an export (for some reason. should't nuremborc be the beer place?). Food is mediteranean.
MAYBE There is also more-arable farmland to the west against the mountains.

Tenemil Brewery

Not really a gathering place, - just a brewery. They do big exports to nuremborc.

• - "Tenemil Lager" flagship beer
• "Heqet Ale"
• "Three Dune Ale"
• "Mythrandir Stout"

WIP - consider moving this to nuremborc actually?

Restaurants

Joints

The Oasis

Really peaceful beer garden - an upstanding place for hangouts. They serve beers from Tenemil Brewery primarily (Tenemil, Heqet, Three Dune Ale, Mythrandir Stout). As well as some from The Nadahan Taproom (infrequently and at a markup)

The Nadahan Taproom

A brewpub with more of a tavern vibe - has a Carving of a river nymph over the bar. more of a tavern vibe.

• - "Ten Mill" (Lager) labelled as '10,000,000 Lager'. it's a spin on "tenemil ale"
• "Peri On, Fruit Beer" (if asked, they don't use peri fruit for the beer)
• "Zaan Point Pale Ale"
• "Barely There" Lite Beer
• "(W)Heat Wave" (Wheat Ale)

The Broken Harp

a jazz club

Brass Street Market

underground bazaar. lots of street food. huge underground clearing. has 'skylights' with an enchantment to keep the dust out.

Arms

Shipbuilding

Item Shops

black market goods

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NPCs

Adventures

Threats from Outside

Sandstorms, Sindr approaching, Fulgur Serpents, Zaan flooding, Nadahans

Nearby locations

Minith

A tower used for trading with the dwarves. also high enough to act as an early warning system for sandstorms. Purposely kept far away from Almira (elves distrust dwarven companies and haven't historically gotten along well.

Nuwas

a City of the Dead. abandoned 150 years ago, some time later, the Sindr moved in and now those bodies are being used. treasures are still there for the taking.

Ironwood Groves

There are smaller ones scattered around, but one huge one to the distant east. Ironwood is traded to orcs and dwarves.

Ubaramin

Ruins in the far north. doesn't need frequent travel, but it's a location on the Race. The city was lost to tectonic activity apparently

Show spoiler

actually some invasion from the underdark

Adventures out in the Desert

NEED: (look for inspiration in Darksun, Al-qadim, Arabian Nights tropes)

• Hunting of game, (gazellopes, hydrascorpions, geodillos)
• Tension around trades at the dwarf tower Minith.
• Explorations of lost cities, and expeditions to tunnels spotted from the sky (dwarves always looking for atlantis)
• Travel to ironwood groves to address issues threatening trade.
• Attempts at restoring the land - most effective when rites/magic are performed underground

Adventures in Almira

• chases.
• NEED more villanous groups (like the maestrii, corrupt companies, the covenant)
• adapt "the three apples" (murder mystery)
• something happening around the race. Maybe the race is coming up and there are concerns about the storm affecting it.

Happenings

• Recent temporary failures of Mythals. has people worried. may see reports of this on the newspapers
• forecast of a big electrical storm on the way.
• Upcoming Race. or recent race features riders who have witnessed something crazy. (maybe the Sindr)
• Sindr approaching en masse. or just the growing threat of them.
• Hunt for a Relic (or alternative source) that can bodyswap descendants with an ancestor (maybe it empowers the ancestors to takeover, but it's not a specific one). someone told the Dynasts about it and they're trying to lead a search for it.
• the Second Party wants to get rid of the Dynast ( a non-monarchy). secretly intend to use the Storm as a cover for their coup. the faction advocate for a reworking of the constitution to allow the parliament to rule directly, which makes the parliament an easy-in for them. structure the formation of the parliament (oooh, they're modelling themselves after the Commissions) in a way to guarantee representatives. "Almira isn't just an Elven city anymore"may or may not be the result of an underground Dark Elven sect trying to eliminate the old elves.
• recent mysterious closing of the orchard. The Penitents are upset that they've been forbidden (when they didn't do anything wrong). word is that someone broke in maybe, or some minor mistake one of them made. ACTUALLY someone did break in and steal, OR the vizier is doing accelerated experiments with fruits and has to cover that. see the Penitents page

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Vayanism ??

Agriculture

Arms

(bronze worked with magic probably. native weapon specialties are Wands, Scimitar, Hand Axe, Halberds/GuanDao, Shortbow. Orcish spears are in vogue

Fae Blades

Keen Endjulen, Kin (m) - he contracts with the best craftsmen and sells their wares.

generally, they don't want to be bothered - want to be left to the craft. or they're just not into the business side stress.

that maybe does imply some additional stressors on businessmen (taxes from the crown, extortion from org crime, extortion from a 'guild', idk).

has a blade guy (scimitars, hand axes, and guandao) (actually the Red Sage Pair (backup idea if i move them to san salvo is a dark elf that Keen trades with). name is Mustafir Habith, elf (m)

has a magic guy (wands and staves): Rienna Kalir, elf (f)

has a bow guy (shortbows): Symon Enali, elf (m). makes his bows from the brances at the very tips of the ironwood trees.

also has a katana girl: Kuina Ichimonji, human (f). alleged daughter of a blademaster from whatever i'm calling basquemere today. has the creation mark. ACTUALLY the red sage pair (backup plan is an actual human, if i move red sages to san salvo)

there are opporunities to make these crafters fugitives who need their anonymity. that means red sages, olympians, drow etc.

Berevan Smithy, Finest Almiran Blades

Celebrity. Samira Berevan, elf, (f)

expensive. a lot of her time goes toward the Royal Guard. As unrest is rising due to the mytals, the royal guard have literally been sharpening their blades (also expecting to grow in number to protect the next, larger, generation of meditators.

Eva's Orcish Spears

Eva The Grim (Kaznar), orc (f) from Nuremborc, so she likes to party. opens late sometimes. often hungover.

The Royal Guard

They serve the monarch ("Dynasty"). Military tradition. Mostly wield guandao. Growing in size to anticipate the next, larger, generation of Dreamers.

Power / Utilities

solar charging magic as a result of a mythal

wind charging of crystals.

windmills in the 'nile' (the "Zaan river"?)

Item Shops

Prosper's Enchanted Goods

Prosper Midober, Kin (m) Kinnish magic item trader

Altair's Enchanted Weaponry

Altair Safalas, elf (m). eyepatch. experienced ranger assassin vibes. "altair's deadly weapons" "altair's weapons of note" "altair's legendary weapons" "altairs worthy weapons" altairs enchanted weaponry. weapons of infamy.

Enchantment!

Elmira Kattun, elf (f) kind of bored, because of her extreme skill. others may tell you she's one of the most gifted magic practitioners in the world. just in a slump. no inspiration.

Reporting

REWORK. For elections, there needs to be a free press. So make thi private rather than an extension of the crown. businesses can buy these papers to draw people in for reading. have a lot of papyrus. maybe the news is presented in poem form? or handmade caligraphy you can watch - papers distributed, and someone does a sympathetic magic to caligraphize all the pages based on his copy. calligrapher is a celebrity fewer 'stories' per se. mostly updates on things the dynasty has done lately. reminders of civic events.

Public Transportation

Naimazor for around-city transport.

Irrigamel unicorn camels for desert navigation. (anteater mouths for accessing water undergrund).

black market goods

operated by The Drow

gun runners

Peri knowlege-of-good-and-evil drug

drug from lobsterscorp venom that mutes ancestors. formulations can eliminate specific generations. Used by the Ministry of Corrections but illegal for the populace to possess.

History

the city has been here for longer than the conjunction. they're 1500 years or so since the death of their god. A generation/life is something like 40-50 years maybe. could change that a bunch, but that's 16 gens since the conjunction. (the body begins to petrify at higher age).

Develop

Peri Fruit

MUST: have a scandalous use that the dynast can inflict on his people (this is the reason for him to keep the trees)

What he wants from his dreamers: supplication, extended trances (narcotic effect), taking over (doesn't want the populace to know about this, i guess)

MUST: have a beneficial use that he keeps from the people.

MUST: magical/mechanical use (it will have two chief effects)

Fruit story: why did the orchard suddenly get closed off.

NEED: something shifty for Vizier to be doing with the stuff, beyond just feeding it to the dreamers. there was suddenly a massive need for it, used in experiments..

Maybe the relic is a NEW thing that happens after the players arrive. The Vizier is trying to create that effect and has been working on it lately. ehh, that's just too coincidental that it just happens to ramp up right before a mcguffin is found). Maybe rumors of the thing have abounded for a while, and since the king can't find it, he's trying formulations. BUT THEN one of his expedition pay off?

WANT: a devil-fruit situation. you get something but at another cost. But I don't think i want it to be a one-time thing. maybe doing it once changes you like DMT. (can see the weave, if you remain awake)

Venom

mutes ancestors (formulations can mute specific levels of ancestry)

Relic/McGuffin for bodyswap.

could be a relic

(good) will cause a hunt

(?) where does information of it come from? an expedition. expedition member leaks the info out, so while the king knows about it, so do others.

(bad) not connected to the Fruit story.

"Peri fruit" (alt "Maiar fruit" "zoroa fruit", ruman fruit, "shaytan" fuit) is the magic superfruit that grows only in the orchard within the palace.

NEED magic effects. (intellectual stimulation, enhanced communication with ancestors, sedentary)

some kind of food utility. a bullshit claim for what the crown does with the fruits in its garden

a drug *can* be made from the magic garden fruit (something intellectual. like 'fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil'). so the fruits are guarded. and eating them straight doesn't do that. (the dreamers are fed this drug (probably unknowingly) to help access the Dynast.

Meta

Role: A huge, interesting city separate from the world of the Sky.
Inspiration: vegas(shows). the engineering (but magical) of dubai.
Themes: Elves - Original sin, and the weight of legacy. How to carve out your own individuality amid the baggage of your family + heritage. balancing change and tradition). The City Itself - Their challenges are environmental (and magi-environmental). Hubbub: Their challenges are environmental (and magi-environmental). electrical sand storms have been disrupting the protective mythal? or maybe the mythals have been failing and no one knows why.
Events/set pieces around:

Demographics - to update

Population:9860
Elves: 63% (~6210)
Kin: 15% (~1480)
Orcses: 9.4% (~930)
Humans: 9% (~890)
Galvan: 3% (~300)
Dwarves: 1% (~60)

Type

City

Location under

Muhatan Desert

Included Locations

• Berevan Smithy
• Eva's Orcish Spears
• Fae Blades
• Prosper's Enchanted Goods

Characters in Location

• Matteo Caravaggio