Ascension
Background, short version
The city of Ascension floats on a lake.
It was created in ancient times by a sentient race (the Dergals) to became a huge siege engine, designed to break into Heaven; then it was adapted from the Rakash (successors of the Dergals) to become the "Pool": a wide dimensional portal.
Currently Ascension is settled by younger races: humans and elves.
The structure of the city remind its first function: the road pattern was created from the Dergals to gather troops in the middle and it is still noticeable, the Pool is still used to commerce, to travel and to get provisions.
Ascension is also known as Mosaic city because the city tiles created from Dergal mage-artists defines a big marble mosaic. Originnaly it was a great summoning circle, then the humans build upon it, and bird’s eye view of the buildings seems another mosaic on the mosaic.
Ascension is a prosperous city full of specialists, especially magicians, lawyers, scientists, historians and doctors; and, thanks to the natural defence of the lake, needs only few soldiers. The Pool, and its easy ways to teleport goods, attracted many merchants too.
City map
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Background, full version
History and structure
The Dergals (an ancient civilization) created Ascension as a siege engine to assail Heaven; then the race of Rakash used it to build a big portal directed to the Three Plates of the Abyss (hell plane).
Now the humans live in Ascension, but the basic structure of the city reminds these old functions.
The Dergals created the road scheme, designed to gather troops in the center: two big circle and eight lines follow the radius of the city perimeter.
On the contrary the Rakashes built the Pool to summon troops from the Abyss.
Many people know Ascension as Mosaic City because the city tiles were an enormous summoning circle traced by Dergal mage-artists, and defined as a big mosaic.
The humans built upon it, and bird’s eye view of these buildings seems another mosaic on the mosaic.
In the ancient times Ascension could fly, but now Humans can only make it floating on the lake.
Government, city movement an the Control Towers
Four magic schools control the four Control Towers. Every school can choose a counsellor: usually their chief, but it’s not mandatory. These four counsellors control the movements of the city, and they lead the community of Ascension citizen.
- The Control Towers make the city floating; the mages need to keep active at least three of the four towers, otherwise the city will start to sink. To move the city they need all the four towers active.
- Every drawbridge is between two towers. To activate the bridge they need the agreement of these two towers.
- Three Control Towers can decide to block the departures or the arrivals (or both) from the Pool.
- Banned ones: any living being can be forbidden to teleport with the Pool (both ways), for these people the Pool will not work. To ban or unban anyone it's needed the agreement of two Control Towers.
Sustain and the Warehouses
The two warehouses, designed initially as Dergal barracks, now are public property of the city and used to stock provisions.
Two merchants share the monopolies of the city provisions; they manage one warehouse for each. The City Council grants the monopoly licenses every three years and they are free to change monopolist as they want.
The citizens use running water controlled by water pumps; some of these pumps are magical.
Economy and the Refuge of the Blissed
The economy of the city is principally based on commerce and tertiary. Merchants from everywhere use the Pool to import and export their goods teleporting it from or to different destinations, also out of the prime material plane.
Ascension offers also many services such as doctors, lawyers, archivists, historians, magicians and scientists.
The Refuge of the Blissed is a major hospital with an outstanding reputation on many planes.
The planar trade fair and the Pool
The Pool, made of a solid and unknown material (it seems black and empty inside), is used for travel and commerce.
As a sign of good will the city accepted a treaty that prohibits to use the Pool to teleport troops.
Anyone can hire a mage and rent a piece of the Pool to teleport. One needs a specialized mage to teleport FROM the Pool, and needs a circle of runes traced by an expert rune maker to teleport TO the Pool.
Hundreds of teleportations can be enabled in the Pool, the only limit is the usable space. So, in busy times, the fees to afford a piece of the Pool can become really high.
Especially during the annual planar trade fair hosted in Ascension, and visited by travellers and merchants from every known plane.
Races and the Goblin ghetto
All the races are accepted in Ascension, but few of them established permanently in the city. Humans and elves are the main ones but they need someone to take care of the dirty jobs: the goblinoid were the cheapest and most submissive labour force.
These goblins live in the poorest area of the city: the Goblin Ghetto.
Internal politics
Merchants, medics and mages are the main factions of the city. They represent economics, sciences and magics. Many times they argue about who is in charge, although formally Ascension is ruled by a Council of Mages (see Government).
External rapport and the Magical Drawbridges
The drawbridges aren’t usual bridges. On activation they became a sort of gallery: corridors made by invisible walls of magical force. These corridors attach to the land like tentacles; but there’re only two little cities near the lake, so they’re seldom used.
Defences, and the Guardian Dragon
Ascension is a peaceful city. The army isn’t well trained and soldier career is usually avoided from the citizens. Thanks to the natural defences of the lake this isn’t a primary issue.
To avoid underwater attacks the mages, long time ago, stipulated a pact with a dragon: now he is the secret guardian of the city, his lair is in a deep cave under the city itself. Many years in the past the dragon race became asleep. So now he’s dormant.
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Natural Technology and the Floating Park
Long time ago the humans found the city of Ascension stranding in the lake.
After years of research some mages repaired the magic engine, although they didn't restore it thoroughly: Ascension couldn't fly anymore, but the city can float on the water. One of these first mages created a formula to grow trees on the rocks. And he made the park of the city (the Floating Park). Someone suggested to farm cornfield and develop agriculture, but the project was rejected since the space on the artificial island was (and still is) limited. It was easier to teleport food from other farmlands .
Underground
The underground of the city is a big labyrinth.
Entrances: There are many entrance to the underground, the main ones are under the towers and the warehouses.
The furnace: “There’s no place for old bones” said the people who saw the furnace. This is a dread device, hot and chaotic. It’s the engine that moves the city and sustains the pool. It’s a permanent channel between air and fire elemental planes. Inside it there’s a secret portal that took to Nodon (another city similar to this on another plane).
Prisons: the Furnace is like a big magnet that attracts the magic force all around it.
Dergals put it so far from the surface to not interfere with their mages.
Around the engine there are areas of dead magic (where the spells don’t work); the Rakash used it to contain renegade wizards. These old jails are still used by current citizen of Ascension.
Musk room: both warehouses have a Musk Room in their undergrounds. A phosphoric musk (created by condensation of Rakash magics) filled these rooms.
Currently no one knows how to generate or export this musk, but seems that it can reproduce itself. It’s spreading in other rooms, but it dies if removed from the undergound.
Unfinished portal: there’s another planar portal underground, but the works seems unfinished.
Rakash Barracks: the Rakashes build their barracks underground, and they're full of strange devices. (Rakashes planned to fill them with water to defend from possible undergound sieges).
Copyright notice
Ascension (map) and Ascension (city concept, description and background) are published under the Creative Commons licence Attribution Share Alike 3.0 Unported.
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