Valtadre
From Zok
Contents |
Expulsion Era:
When Valtadre was founded roughly two and a half thousand years ago, its founder never expected it to become a city. Valtad was something of an eccentric even for a sorcerer, and devoted himself to the pursuit of knowledge with a zeal known only to a few elves in each generation. In order to eliminate the distractions of life in the small city that later came to be known as Itarada, he headed southeast into the then-untamed mountains. With the aid of a few friendly elementals, he quickly turned the top of an isolated mountaintop into towering edifice that would be the basis by which mages' towers would be judged for centuries: the Hall of Names. Valtad moved in, along with his apprentices, and they studied the movements of the stars and the names of spirits and the properties of matter for decades.
Unfortunately, at least as far as Valtad was concerned, news of their power (especially the power of Valtad's wondrous enchantments) spread. Young sorcerers and namers began to make the long journey into the wilderness to study under the great scholar. At first, they were accepted with open arms. As their numbers grew (and they began to start families with each other), Valtad grew more hesitant and grumbled more, but he was loathe to turn away those who sought knowledge. The tower was expanded twice, and a small town began to grow up around it. By this time Valtad was growing older, and was coming to appreciate that there were young and respectful folk around to keep things comfortable by doing the grunt work while he spent his time in the rapidly-growing library.
Despite its intentionally remote location, Valtadre's high concentration of magical goods couldn't go umnoticed by merchants forever, and the growing colony of mage-scholars was starting to feel the need for exotic ingredients and components in bulk. Trade started, and business started to supply the traders, and soon, the small town had become a small city. The children who grew up there were were well-educated and often brilliant, and continued the magical legacy of the area. Some left town to serve as the court magicians of foreign nobility, some left the plane to serve as court magicians to more truly foreign nobility. As Valtadre's reputation continued to grow, foreign nobles of both varieties began sending their children to Valtadre to study, hoping to have heirs or nephews capable of great and terrible feats of magic. The influence of moderately large numbers of extraplanar nobility ensured that Valtadre's children would continue to have thick sorcerous blood, although after several generations they picked up a less-than savory reputation as potentially dangerous creatures with strange and inscrutable moralities. Still, by then Valtadrans had become a sort of separate-respected and necessary- class within elven noble society.
Even the common people of the city wear fashions imported from the deserts of Dakzan or the palaces of the Efrit. Much of the economy revolves around serving the various nobles who attend the Hall of Names, or selling enchanted objects or trained magical animals or magically dominated Cerneen, but even nonmagical goods from Valtadre are often crafted by masters. All of Valtadre's works are renowned, as are its inventive and occasionally playful con men. The city has become one of the wealthiest and most politically influential in Pallon, relying on its isolation and potent reputation (and its close alliance with and knowledge of the secrets of nobles from all over the region) to make up for its lack of an army.
This strategy has turned out to be a strong disadvantage now, however, as Valtadre's council looks south to Kashrak and Nyeir, both of which have fallen to advancing Cerneen and Bantlings. Valtadre's reputation amongst the Cerneen is extremely poor; it's public knowledge that their mages enchant slaves to be more loyal to their masters, and it's rumored that some of the sorcerers do more unpleasant things in the pursuit of knowledge. Valtadre is everything that the Cerneen hate about the elves, and Krondik Elfrender has made no secret of his armies' next destination. Saltur has promised its aid, as have most of the northern cities.
System of Government
When Valtad was dying, he called his best apprentices to him, told him he couldn't choose an heir from among them, and cast a final spell: he duplicated the Master's Key to his Hall. He gave a key to each of his six pupils, accompanying it with a whisper: a new Name for each of them.
While each of Valtad's successors had their own agendas, they were mostly friendly to one another, having spent decades studying under the same charismatic master. Everyone in Valtadre has always known that whoever rules the Hall rules the city, and the new Masters were readily accepted as the rightful heirs to Valtad's power. And when his heirs grew old and weak or became distracted by research that would take them far away, they have in turn handed their keys over to their most promising students, along with a title that they choose as a translation of their heir's very essence, who have in turn been accepted as rulers of the city. The Masters of the Hall of Names make the laws and pass judgement within the city. Any one of them may pass a law or make a highest-court decision alone, but generally two or three confer with one another. Only rare decisions are large enough to cause all twelve to convene, but the upcoming war may be one such.
Ruler
There are twelve current Masters of the Hall of Names (But I'm too lazy to do backgrounds for all of 'em, so a few are off-plane studying at the moment):
- Steila: The Forger of Comforting Lies-One of Valtad's two living apprentices. Half-djin. Devotes her time to studying illness and death, and to preventing them. Expert in curse removal, words of healing and mending, and famed for giving up a chance to become a djin noble in exchange for life in Valtadre.
- Jiran dur Kashri: The Sacred Blasphemer- A theologist with an empiricist bent.
- Gulzi dur Comtrana: The Singer of Lives- A bard who studies individuals until he can describe them perfectly accurately in the True Speak, and then makes a symphony out of them. One of the few publicly avowed Cern-supporters in the council.
- Stormdancer: The Storm Dancer- One of Valtad's two living apprentices, her original name is unknown by even the other Masters, and she is known only by the title Valtad gave her. Devastated Saltur for fun some centuries ago, and was "persuaded" to leave by a largish army. Hasn't been seen in several years, but before that showed up sometimes to dance somebody's life when the Singer of Lives played it.
- Marathesian dar Murdran: The Whisperer of Truths- The second-youngest Master on the council, three generations removed from Valtad. A pale and secretive patriarch of Saltur's nobility.
- Ereen dur Nyei: The Whimper of Penultimate Suffering- Youngest Master on the council, at the age of seventy. Twitches nervously, speaks with a stammer, has never been seen to perform any magic whatsoever.
- The Sigher in Sheets
- Mordanti, The Bladed Tongue
Heirarchy
Laws of Note
Current State
Organizations
Significant Locations
Significant NPCs
The Patriarchs of the Aristocracy:
Public Enemies:
