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Very Old Dragon Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 693

Round the Dome, Tales of Ilawith

Sanctuary

Yllenna climbed the hill doggedly. She was dirty, caked in soil and blood, and her clothes were tattered. A hastily bandaged leg gave her a slight limp. The instability of the landscape did not help either. She stumbled as the ground shifted, shook and crumbled around her. She did not know if she would survive. They had taken everything from her.
The goblins had swept their camp by surprise, overwhelming the little sentry they had. It was a massacre. There had been too much confusion. Unable to organize, they were felled where they stood with some dying as they put on their armor.
She was, as far as she could tell, the only survivor.
She reached the crest of the hill. The silver dome loomed before her. Her eyes widened despite herself. It really was as beautiful as they said it was.
It stood there, a serene pearl in the middle of a chaotic ocean. It promised her safety. She cried in relief. It was finally over.
She had finally reached Ilawith.

A Kind of Alchemy

Dale muttered sullenly, as he waited his turn. If there was one thing he hated it was the Ilawith guard. There was something incredibly unnatural about gate guards that couldn’t be bribed. It was against the laws of nature! But then again, everything about the place was unnatural, he thought. He hated Ilawith.
It took some time before he finally reached the gates. He was ushered before a bureaucrat, resplendent in his clerical clothes, as he sat on a small table beside the gate. The people of Ilawith were ruled by the clergy though the term was misleading—they had all the trappings of religion without a proper god. Dale approved of that at least even as he daydreamed of strangling the man behind the small desk.
“Your name?”
“Dale Ashcroft if it pleases m’lord,” he said with his snake oil merchant voice. He was only a low ranking member of the clergy but a little flattery never hurt.
“And your purpose for entering our city?”
“Just passing through.”
“Are you a merchant then?”
“Indeed I am. Carting off spices, smoke grass and a number of other trinkets,” he said.
The official nodded, scribbled a few things on a parchment and handed it to him. “You are to store your goods in this warehouse. Some of the guardsmen will come over to inspect them to ensure you are not smuggling any contraband. A necessary precaution I’m afraid. Fear not, we will not confiscate your property and we will of course compensate you well if ever you sell us anything we require.”
“Very good, m’lord,” he said. He bowed respectfully and excused himself. His little train waited at the back. He went to them grumbling all the while. The storage space and the inspections were all well and good but Ilawith charged strangers ridiculously for the right to rest in the city for a few days. Sure, they had little to no actual products given the unstable nature of the surrounding area—what little land the city didn’t occupy was given over to agriculture—but it was still piracy even if they did pay well.
It was a crime. They were making a killing out of him and Dale begrudged people getting rich if he was not getting a cut in some way or another.
It just wasn’t right.

Catching Whispers

Councilman Korii leaned forward on the table at the priest standing in attention. “Are the people still restless?” he asked the lower ranking clergyman.
The man nodded, looking at a clipboard. “I’m afraid so, councilman,” he said. “We still don’t know who started it but some people still believe that the dome is cracking.”
“Never mind tracing the source,” he whispered. “You might as well chase after living gods for all the good it will do you. Still this is a serious matter. A restless populace is never good.” He stood from his desk and looked out the window. Overhead the godstone shone outward, illuminating both the seven angels painted on the dome and the city it protected.
“Reassure them that the godstone protects us still. The dome is not cracking.”
“It shall be as you say m’lord.”
“You are dismissed.”
Korii furrowed his eyebrows. He wondered which group was responsible for the rumors. The world outside was unsafe, rife with conflict and jealousy. Ilawith had to be protected from that. It was the only haven left.

To Protect the City

Captain Krauser pushed his telescope away, covering his eyes as a column of flame shot up twenty feet high a hundred paces away. When the flash subsided, he returned the lens to his eyes. There were people slumped around from where the flame had ripped from the ground. The sight had made him all the more thankful for the patch of stable ground the clerics had provided for his unit.
“Send a rider out,” he told the nearest soldier. “I want to know who these people are and why they’re here.”
“Aye, Captain.”
The rider galloped back to the waiting group of soldiers. The mass of people behind him stared at him sullenly, as they huddled together, trying to protect each other from the unstable ground surrounding Ilawith.
The man hopped from his saddle and approached the captain, knuckling his breast in salute. “They’re as we suspected, sir—refugees from the fighting in the west.”
The captain looked at the ragtag band and grimaced. “Send them away,” he ordered. “They’ll only bring trouble to the city.” The man nodded, as if the captain had not just condemned hundreds of people to their death. “Ride close to make sure they don’t try anything stupid. Kill anyone who tries to make a run for it.”
“Aye aye, Captain,” they shouted in unison, as they made for their horses. Krauser extended his telescope again to watch his men work. The ground began to tremble.

Messengers

Illana felt as if time had frozen. She had been ready for death. The Liberators had surrounded him and his men at last and their doom had been certain had it not been for the appearance of the seven angels. The swooped down silently, serene and graceful bringers of death and Illana could only watch in awe as they came to their aid.
They fought well, infused as they were by incredible divine power unseen since the end of the Godfall war and they slew all of Illana’s enemies but at great cost. One by one the seven angels fell, their crippled forms still beside those of their foes.
“One of them is still alive, m’lady,” one of Illana’s followers called out. Illana snapped back to her senses. She ran towards the angel, kneeling beside her.
“Easy,” she said. She examined the failing body and shook her head. “There’s nothing I can do.”
“T-the…stone…” the angel murmured, reaching outward.
“What?”
“I…must tell you…about…the…stone…” he managed weakly.
Illana leaned in, listening, as with his dying health, the angel told him of the miraculous stone that gave them their power.

Growing Safety

Illana craned against the stone, muttering to herself. Lucas, her aide, hovered warily around the aged Eladrin. Illana had always been a hard worker but she was old now and her body was finding it hard to cope with the strain she subjected it to. Still, the progress she made was amazing and the young man suspected that it was what little control she possessed over the divine source of power that gave her such vitality.
“I think…I think I’ve got it,” Illana said in an almost whisper. Her eyes glazed over and she swept her hand forward. The power source began to glow a warm white light, bathing the room entirely.
The ground shook around them. At first, Lucas thought that it was another earthquake. “Look at that!” someone outside shouted, breaking his preconception. He ran outside. Around their settlement, a dome was forming. He looked back towards Illana. She was floating backward; being pushed out of the building, as the source began to rise, still glowing like a white sun. It crashed through the roof and continued upwards, rising in step with the dome until the whole structure surrounded the settlement with the divine source in the middle.
“Illana!” Lucas shouted, catching Illana as the elderly Eladrin fell over from her trance.
“Where’s safe now,” the elderly woman said smiling.

Unwelcome Visitors

The ground shook underneath the ancient city of Ilawith. As the earthquake stopped, people ushered out to see what had happened. Earthquakes never occurred in Ilawith.
Though clouds of dust obscured their vision, the screams were more than enough to tell the onlookers that something was not right.
“Get the lot of ‘em for the lizardbonezz!” a draconic voice said in heavily accented common. The city was being invaded by Kobolds.
The fighting went on for a day and half. Finally the Kobolds were pushed back to the source—a cave within the dome revealed by the earthquake. The guard had been quick to cordon the area off but were reluctant to send there own inside.
A call for adventurers was made…

Sanctuary II

Yllenna stood before the dome. There was a line by the gate—a train of merchants had just arrived. She made for the line, eager to get to safety.
She wondered what kind of place Ilawith was… ~END~

The City of Ilawith

Introduction

Ilawith is the safest city in the world of Bone Thrall. It is also one of the oldest, founded by Illana Aw’yth, an Eladrin cleric, a few hundred years after the Godfall War. Ilawith is tucked between a number of city-states and it earns its wealth mainly by guiding merchant safely through the perilous lands that surrounds it. Without the presence of Ilawith, whole cities would be cut off from the rest of the world.

Government

Ilawith is run by a secular clergy. At its head are the men and women of the council, overseeing the administration of almost every aspect of the city. The only exception to this is the defense which is given over to the baron of Ilawith. The baron also has the ability to veto decisions made by the council. Council members are called councilman or councilwoman if they are not attuned to the godstone or bishop if they are.

Sections of the City

Within the dome, the city is divided into three rings. The outer ring is given over to agriculture. Acres of crops grow under the beneficial light of the godstone, ensuring that the city will always have food if it were ever to come under siege. The second ring is given over to the citizens of Ilawith. Here, residential districts mix with the shops of artisans. There is also a marketplace that caters exclusively to the citizens of Ilawith. The innermost ring holds the great square and the Temple of Ilawith, home to the government of Ilawith. The inner ring is also the only place that houses establishments that cater to outsiders. It also houses the military might of the city with the main barracks of the guard overlooking the inns and marketplace.

The Dome and the Godstone

The secret of Ilawith’s safety can only be attributed to the godstone inserted on the dome that surrounds it. The godstone is a source of great divine power and individuals who have shards attune to the stone have been known to harness potent abilities that protect them and their allies from harm.

Dangers to the City

Ironically despite the godstones presence (or perhaps even because of it) the lands around Ilawith is unstable and dangerous. The perils of traveling to Ilawith range to destructive earthquakes to fountains of fire erupting from the ground and there are those who speculate that the Elemental Chaos is bleeding into the area that surrounds Ilawith.
If the destructive forces of nature weren’t bad enough, Ilawith is also beset by threats from other races and factions. Bands of Gnolls and Goblins roam the countryside, attacking the unwary traveler and Sinagthari slave traders have been known to prowl the area in search of more fuel for the daystar. Recent earthquakes have also uncovered caves inhabited by hostile Kobolds who fight for Lizardbones. Whether this Lizardbones is a person or a thing is a mystery, which the council is currently attempting to uncover.

The People of Ilawith

In the world of Bone Thrall peace comes with a heavy price and no society guards it more jealously than that of Ilawith’s. The average citizen of Ilawith is fanatically loyal to the city, willing to lay down their lives to protect their paradise. Because of this, they are known to be suspicious of strangers and often treat them coldly. Even the members of the clergy who ensure that the merchants reach the city safely are aloof to their employers. Although they realize that trade is vital for the wellbeing of Ilawith, strangers who are allowed sanctuary within the dome are watched carefully lest they disrupt the serenity of the city.

Edit: Added a new section and a quick run through/flavor guide for the city as a separate article (The City of Ilawith). Look it over to see if it needs any changes. =_=

Minor issues:

-You mentioned a secular clergy. You might want to give a bit more detail here.
-I like the way you use the godstone as the source of light for the crops and stuff.
-Nice play on the city's serenity and the corresponding paranoia and xenophobia this brings.
-Format issue. You'll want to make line breaks, especially if you display them here online, as the bbcode doesn't handle indents well at all.

Do you need help for monsters/NPCs? Not my thing atm, as I'm not as attuned to Ilawith flavor, but if you guys need help, I can be tapped for one or two.

The word Bonethrll confuses many people as well. Contrary to what you might first think, it is not the name of the world, and people who live in the dying plane have never even heard of the world Bonethrall. The exception to this would be the few scholars who've coined the term to represent how the people of today are still enslaved by their masters bones.

As for the name of the world? I'm of the opinion that if a populace are not aware of another world, they will make no attempts to name theirs. As such, I imagine it is only called, "the world".

Iirc, boy_bakal does not share my opinion on this, and has even suggested a name for the world of slaves. You might want to take it up with him. Wink