London
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This article may contain mature themes, including homoerotic content, complex power dynamics, sexual encounters with vampires and anthropomorphic beings, as well as other adult material.
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History
The Forgotten City of Llynddwyn
Over 2000 years ago, the fae city of Llynddwyn sat enthroned on the banks of the River Thames. Its slender towers shimmered with colours that the human eye could barely comprehend, its streets whispered with magic, and its heart beat to a beat that only the Fae understood. But when the fae disappeared, the city was doomed to die. Without the magic to hold its buildings, walls collapsed, bridges broke, and within five decades Llynddwyn was nothing more than a ghostly pile of rubble. The people of the Celtic tribes avoided the ruins - not out of reverence, but out of fear of being buried beneath them.
Londinium and Roman pragmatism
The Romans who conquered Britain in the first century AD saw the ruins not as a curse but as an opportunity. Londinium was built on the most secure remains of Llynddwyn, with the Roman builders occasionally encountering foundations still infused with an alien, faintly pulsing energy. The pragmatic Romans utilised what was stable and let the rest fall into oblivion. Thus Londinium grew into one of Britain's most important trading centres, while the remains of the Fae city remained buried deep beneath its streets.
Middle Ages: Legends in the shadow of the city
With the fall of the Roman Empire, Londinium faded, was sacked by Saxon warriors and later reborn under Anglo-Saxon rule. But it was the stories of the Fae that remained alive in the dark alleyways of London. Traders told of ancient doors in vaulted cellars that led to nowhere. Fae-touched claimed to be called in dreams by voices from the depths. And under King Arthur, who is said to have been one of the first Fae-Touched rulers himself, the city took on a new significance as the centre of his rule.
The Round Table, originally his closest knighthood, survived the centuries as an advisory institution to the crown. Its twelve seats, named after the original knights, were given to nobles, scholars and the occasional fae-touched. They influenced laws, magic use and diplomatic relations far beyond England.
The expansion: Pax et Glamour
London's influence grew enormously with the Tudor dynasty, and under the Stuart kings the city became the cultural centre of an expanding British empire. The integration of the Fae-Touched into society - long since accomplished - made Britain unique in world politics. Fae-Touched were esteemed diplomats, artists and scientists. Some rumoured that the industrial revolution was only made possible by the subtle workings of glamour in technology.
The Empire spread, with ‘Pax et Glamour’ as its motto - an ironic fusion of order and magic, of control and enchantment. As Britain established colonies around the world, explorers and adventurers began to search for remnants of Llynddwyn in the dark cellars of London. Secret societies formed, convinced that answers to the world's greatest mystery lay hidden beneath the city: why did the Fae disappear?
1890: The age of revelation
In the late 19th century, London was a bustling metropolis, the heart of a global empire - but also a place of mystery. The scientific community was beginning to investigate magic using rational methodology, and with this new perspective, interest in Llynddwyn grew. Archaeological excavations in the lower town led to inexplicable finds: Fragments of structures that neither man nor nature could have created.
While London newspapers speculated about these discoveries, some fae-touched whispered of dreams in which strange voices called to them. Others, especially the oldest among them, avoided the subject with a striking mixture of fear and awe. London's past was not dead - it was only dormant. And perhaps, some whispered, it was about to awaken again.
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