The Ocean's Keep

"The waters remember everything, in some form. The ice here is weeping - for some long-gone tragedy, and for mortal arrogance."

A stunning feat of magical engineering, the Ocean's Keep is a massive castle made entirely of ice. It was the first structure built on the island of Ekos and grew with the city around it, both over- and underground. The rulers of Ekos have always lived in the Keep, and point to it as the ultimate example of what their nation could achieve. But it is also home to secrets which could send the entire archipelago back into a nightmare from thousands of years ago.

Unmelting Glory

Unlike most other magical buildings, the Keep does not have any supporting framework like metal poles to keep it upright. Instead, it is surrounded by fifteen gigantic shards of crystal which float in mid-air, all carved with runes that prevent it from melting. Their airborne status prevents unwelcome tampering, which would almost certainly trigger a tidal wave of water and ice.
Aside from these runic shards, the Keep is also sustained by a core said to be crafted from the same material as ancient Arkan. This is untrue, but lends a level of extra protection to the surprisingly vulnerable stone orb at the Keep's heart. It provides reserves of magic to keep the castle frozen in an emergency, but the current Triton has redirected some of that power for their own use.

The Secretkeepers

"Ekos is a nation of scholars. The world's secrets draw us in like ships to a lighthouse... or to the consuming maelstrom."

- Kalari i-Tarin

Knowledge is power - in Ekos, this idiom is entirely literal. Information is king over everything, even money. Separate from the rest of the nation, their faces masked and hooded, walk the Secretkeepers: those who weigh out the value of knowledge, and mete out 'Arcana' in exchange. These judges do not speak to each other, and are forbidden from discussing whatever dark truths are whispered beneath the veneer of shining ice. Their identities are the scales by which they measure a secret's worth - for what secret could be worth more than the ones who judge knowledge?
Arcana are rarely used, and rightly so. When a price is simply too heavy, or the object of purchase too valuable, a buyer may choose to share a secret, spending some of its attached Arcana instead of whatever other price is demanded. But secrets lose value every time they are told; and once it has lost too much worth to be used via Arcana, it often ceases to be secret.
Perhaps this was originally meant to teach Ekos' inhabitants the true value of knowledge - or similarly, the Arcana system might be an allegory for the need for academic integrity. The currency of "secrets" encourages sensitive information to be kept silent until absolutely necessary; only when a secret's Arcana have run out do people feel free to spread rumours and gossip. But now, it is possible that the Arcana system serves a completely different, unintended purpose...

Strength in Beauty

"Surely even the Wolves must view this work in awe, for we have reclaimed the glories of nations long gone. Arkan itself lives again in us, in the flow of this water which remembers such a beautiful citadel."

- the first Triton of Ekos, upon completing the Keep

Ekos was still untamed when humans first arrived on it around 100 A.E. The settlers had to contend with wyrbeasts, strange constructs, and remnants of old things better left untouched. In order to rein in this uncontrolled land, they needed to create something that would both lock down some of the ambient wyr and provide protection. As such, the architects of their settlement began to design a castle - learning from the mistakes of old Ara, aspiring to the heights of old Arkan. They raised the waters of the ocean, and the pure springs beneath their feet, and froze them into walls and pillars. The city grew around them as they did so, sprawling across what had once been untamed land.
If such craftsmanship and effort had gone into anything else, they would have been called insane. But, consumed by their ambition, the architects continued until the Keep was complete. None have touched the design since, and the thick, artificially hardened ice has not yet been breached. Many of the mages who worked on it died either during or soon after construction - such massive efforts with such limited magical knowledge (compared to current times) took too great a toll on them.
As its creators had hoped, the Ocean's Keep has become an enduring pinnacle of beauty and wisdom. While other states have had turbulent histories, the island of Ekos - and the archipelago it claims dominance over - has been largely peaceful until recently. But with the previous Triton's tyranny, the increasing hostility of exiled civilisations, and the rise of a certain cult, unrest is beginning to spread. Under the consuming fire of ambition, perhaps even this enduring ice must melt - and who in this world may withstand the deluge?

Type

Citadel