Zenith

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Regions of Zenith

Overview

The mountains of Zenith are the tallest in the nation, and perhaps the Empire, and the air here is still and cold. The spires tend towards the contemplative, the night sky is rarely concealed by clouds making the territory perfect for stargazers. Many religious thinkers and philosophers also reside in Zenith, where they claim that the rarefied air helps them maintain a sense of detachment and clarity.

Zenith is well known for its abundant magical auras and many spires have experimented with arrays of metal mirrors that focus the light of the sun into internal chambers to try enhance the production of magical crystals. Zenith also has some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Nation, with apparently bottomless mountain lakes providing succulent fish to supplement the diet of the inhabitants.

The shores of these two lakes were once regarded as a fortuitous place to marry for the success of the new family, and although modern Urizen have put such petty superstitions behind them, it is still considered a harmless tradition to eat fish from the Bountiful Autumn Lakes at a wedding, or to present them (fresh or cooked) as gifts.

Major Features

Arch of the Sky

A collection of Spires on the tallest mountain in Zenith, where stargazers from all of Empire gather to discuss and debate the Net of Heavens, comparing their astral observations to the history and present state of the Empire and the wider world.

Return of the King

The Halls of Knowledge

When Zenith was added to the Empire, the Urizen proposed that the Empire should have a second seat of magical study, in addition to the Lyceum. Rather than threaten the Lyceum, the new academy would help unite the magicians of Urizen and allow them to pool their magical lore for the benefit of the Empire. Instead of building their academy of magic around an existing spire, they created an entirely new one and called it the Halls of Knowledge. A number of respected theorists and seers travelled to the new academy, and a Provost was appointed to help co-ordinate their research - and to encourage other Urizen magicians to offer their assistance. It soon became known as a centre for prognostication and the study of Day magic - to this day some of the best diviners in the civil service spend time studying in the peaks of Zenith to hone their abilities.

The Provost of the Halls of Knowledge is an Imperial title appointed each Winter by those citizens of Urizen who control mana sites.

Endsmeet

Studies interaction between people, and has particular interest in times like the present, the times between thrones. It’s now home to refugees from the Spiral, particularly those who brought with them the great library of Ankarien.

The Starlight Drift of Shimmering Snow

High in the mountains of Occlusion, the Starlight Drift is a site of great natural beauty - and naturally high magical auras. Impurities in the rock, similar to the material used to make lightstones, capture sunlight and slowly release it after sunset. At night, especially cold winter nights when the sky is particularly clear, the entire cliff shimmers and sparkles like distant stars or falling snow.

While there is no regio here, magicians from nearby Endsmeet have long been aware that the flows of mana here are particularly strong. In Autumn 378YE, the Imperial Senate voted to take advantage of these flows to create a sinecure, overseen by the Custodian of the Starlight Drift. Despite some mild concerns that construction here would damage the great beauty of the area, it was completed without mishap and the mithril collectors stand some distance from the base of the cliffface itself.

Regions

Lustri

The Spire of Twisting Shadows is located in Lustri - a spire dedicated to the treatment (and, functionally, incarceration) of those who suffer long term spiritual or mental damage due to exposure to magic. Most of the inmates are there voluntarily, but a few are restrained for their own safety. The spire has a grim reputation, unsurprisingly. A significant portion of the patients here have been hurt due to overuse or misuse of astronomancy - permanently twisted by exposure to a tulpa.

OOC Notes

• All the regions of Zenith are under the control of the Urizen (and by extension the Empire), and this is a staunchly Imperial territory