Fivefold Court Curiosities
- Location
- Dallas Texas
So I have really liked the Fivefold courts since I read Yog's V1 post, and have spent a long time woolgathering the concept and supplementary ideas. So this will be a post that serves as a collection of stream-of-thought rambles about ideas surrounding the fivefold courts, and I can only hope that some of them are interesting enough to integrate.
In the Fivefold Courts there are plenty of amazing and beautiful structures, but some are a cut above the rest, jewels of their respective city's. None as grand as the Soaring Palace of course, but lesser wonders are still wondrous
In the City of Swords, the single grandest structure would have to be the Arena of Newfound Glories (A blatant colosseum ripoff), a massive stadium with many publicly diplayed events, many which would be called bloodsports in a world were the reaper was not on vacation. Single duels are very rare due to the sheer size making such a thing seem wasteful, but team deathmatches between different recognizable teams are far more commonplace, alongside man vs beast matches, or occasionally an old master facing a large number of his students at once. Some of the largest spectacle matches however, are warstrider duels, sponsored by the wealthy in grand displays of giant metal warriors beating the hell out of each other.
The Arena itself has top-of-the-line viewing technology, but the real draw is the advanced rituals that allow the arena itself to be rapidly reconfigured into a number of different environments, from simulacrums of the different cities to approximations of any of the great forests, every livable environment can be emulated sufficiently for interesting combat.
The City of Scrolls has already had the Infinite Library mentioned, and DP already mentioned a specific academy which is probably a Harvard-expy, so Ill skip this for now.
The City of Fountains/Serenity, There is probably at least one Grand Theater, but above that I would put the Fractal Gallery, a beautiful structure seemingly made of crystal that houses most of the greatest art within all the cities, with six wings, the first five fits with a theme of a city, The Serenity wing being for the most pure expressions of art itself, the Journeys wing for pieces about or symbolic of the forests or wastes, the Secrets wing containing pieces related to history and the occult, the Battles wing containing pieces on the state of society as well as the most beautiful weapons, the Endings wing contains some of the most personal pieces about emotion, tragedy, and the self, and the final wing, the Fateful wing, containing naught but art of the Empress-to-be, some from their own mind, others from half-mad tocalli artists trying to capture a fragment of what they saw
Within the City of Endings nothing can stand to match the Grand Temple Of Her Coming, by far the largest temple of worship in the name of the Empress-To-Be, it takes some obvious inspiration from the Palace itself, except the entire structure is slanted facing the center of the realm, almost as if the building itself was bowing. At all times you can find services within, guidance for all your spiritual troubles and to be brought further on the path of the greater you that She would wish you to become.
The City of Journeys, some more negative might say, is the least interesting of the Cities. While there are certainly grand buildings, the Central Station, the Bountiful Bazaar, and a massive Central Overabundant Farm that provides most of the grown food the the five cities, the City of Journeys has ever been focused outward over inward, leading it to be the most cosmopolitan of the Cities, it is nearly a saying that you can find the best specialists of anything in their city, but the second best is over in journeys.
In the City of Swords, the single grandest structure would have to be the Arena of Newfound Glories (A blatant colosseum ripoff), a massive stadium with many publicly diplayed events, many which would be called bloodsports in a world were the reaper was not on vacation. Single duels are very rare due to the sheer size making such a thing seem wasteful, but team deathmatches between different recognizable teams are far more commonplace, alongside man vs beast matches, or occasionally an old master facing a large number of his students at once. Some of the largest spectacle matches however, are warstrider duels, sponsored by the wealthy in grand displays of giant metal warriors beating the hell out of each other.
The Arena itself has top-of-the-line viewing technology, but the real draw is the advanced rituals that allow the arena itself to be rapidly reconfigured into a number of different environments, from simulacrums of the different cities to approximations of any of the great forests, every livable environment can be emulated sufficiently for interesting combat.
The City of Scrolls has already had the Infinite Library mentioned, and DP already mentioned a specific academy which is probably a Harvard-expy, so Ill skip this for now.
The City of Fountains/Serenity, There is probably at least one Grand Theater, but above that I would put the Fractal Gallery, a beautiful structure seemingly made of crystal that houses most of the greatest art within all the cities, with six wings, the first five fits with a theme of a city, The Serenity wing being for the most pure expressions of art itself, the Journeys wing for pieces about or symbolic of the forests or wastes, the Secrets wing containing pieces related to history and the occult, the Battles wing containing pieces on the state of society as well as the most beautiful weapons, the Endings wing contains some of the most personal pieces about emotion, tragedy, and the self, and the final wing, the Fateful wing, containing naught but art of the Empress-to-be, some from their own mind, others from half-mad tocalli artists trying to capture a fragment of what they saw
Within the City of Endings nothing can stand to match the Grand Temple Of Her Coming, by far the largest temple of worship in the name of the Empress-To-Be, it takes some obvious inspiration from the Palace itself, except the entire structure is slanted facing the center of the realm, almost as if the building itself was bowing. At all times you can find services within, guidance for all your spiritual troubles and to be brought further on the path of the greater you that She would wish you to become.
The City of Journeys, some more negative might say, is the least interesting of the Cities. While there are certainly grand buildings, the Central Station, the Bountiful Bazaar, and a massive Central Overabundant Farm that provides most of the grown food the the five cities, the City of Journeys has ever been focused outward over inward, leading it to be the most cosmopolitan of the Cities, it is nearly a saying that you can find the best specialists of anything in their city, but the second best is over in journeys.
One thing that I never saw brought up was what was used as money. While in the 'modern day' of the five cities many transactions may be digital, they weren't always so and there are always reasons to have a more physical currency. That led to the question, what could possibly be used as a currency? You would want something extremely difficult to counterfeit.
So my first real Idea was the Scales of the Dragons. While both statues are 'indestructable', occasionally a large scale of one of them would seem to 'shed', falling loose with a massive impact. This never seemed to diminish the statues, and while the scales of the Iridescent dragon have yet to be found out how to be worked, the black dragons scales are relatively easy to shatter. These scales seem lacking in any significant power, and have found very little use in any arcane rituals, but the black stone carries a seemingly unique thaumic signature. A single grain in a coin of metal gives it a mystic sheen that has yet to be imitated, with five, twenty five, and 125 grain coins for larger purchases, alongside the far rarer black coins, equal to 625 grains. For Scale, you can think a single grain as about 50 cents USD for food price equivalencies.
I will admit this Idea stuck with me because the Ebon Dragon being the Source of Money/The Root of all Evil tickled my funny bone
So my first real Idea was the Scales of the Dragons. While both statues are 'indestructable', occasionally a large scale of one of them would seem to 'shed', falling loose with a massive impact. This never seemed to diminish the statues, and while the scales of the Iridescent dragon have yet to be found out how to be worked, the black dragons scales are relatively easy to shatter. These scales seem lacking in any significant power, and have found very little use in any arcane rituals, but the black stone carries a seemingly unique thaumic signature. A single grain in a coin of metal gives it a mystic sheen that has yet to be imitated, with five, twenty five, and 125 grain coins for larger purchases, alongside the far rarer black coins, equal to 625 grains. For Scale, you can think a single grain as about 50 cents USD for food price equivalencies.
I will admit this Idea stuck with me because the Ebon Dragon being the Source of Money/The Root of all Evil tickled my funny bone
The Wastes in an inhospitable enviroment to most of the population, and not a plesent place to live for the rest. That said, there are still some landmarks that are near enough to be known and recongnised to the citizens of the Five Cities, or at least the ones that look outwards at all
The Hungy Spire is a structure just two cycle walk to the east of the City of Scrolls, which makes many people have clear assumptions to its origins. a 6-7 story tall obelisk type structure, clearly hollow and with windows, yet it is definitely no safe harbor for travelers or grovel tribes. For this structure seems to be composed of Consumer Ice. How anyone has shaped such a structure is a mystery besides 'with magic', but if that was all it wouldn't be so foreboding. No, whoever had built such a thing made it far more dangerous with some manner of ritual, causing it to emit an aura that seems to consume all that comes close. From a distance it is subtle, but it gets stronger as you approach, and what few have studied it estimate that at the threshold of the structure it would be similar to being completely encased in a coffin of consumer ice, and perhaps even stronger should the structure be entered. Some say the creator is still within plotting, others say he just got eaten by his own structure and went into hiding afterwards
The Flashflame Canyon is well renowned as it is an absolutley massive trench 5 cycle walk north from the city of journeys. Being well known for being the end of many first time travelers into the wastes who just start at journeys and strait away, noone is quite sure what caused the massive tranch to form in the first place. It has its own mini ecosystem in the slightly higher temperatures deep in the cliffs, but the cliffs get their name from the passage of Link Worms, one of the few places you can see them from the surface, as they pass by their initial hear causes large angular flashes and surges of spherical gasses before being quickly consumed, causing a spectacle that can be seen even from the top of the ravine.
The Kinghut, being about 7 cycle walk South South-East of the City of fountains, is the remains of a truley gargantuan Wastehut. A sphere embeded into the ground about 9 stories tall, it was said to have nearly rolled over a Grovel tribe, before its chief stopped it with his bare hands before breaking it open. However it happened, now it is commenly used by the tribes as a neutral meeting ground, to make deals and trade between themselves.
The Hungy Spire is a structure just two cycle walk to the east of the City of Scrolls, which makes many people have clear assumptions to its origins. a 6-7 story tall obelisk type structure, clearly hollow and with windows, yet it is definitely no safe harbor for travelers or grovel tribes. For this structure seems to be composed of Consumer Ice. How anyone has shaped such a structure is a mystery besides 'with magic', but if that was all it wouldn't be so foreboding. No, whoever had built such a thing made it far more dangerous with some manner of ritual, causing it to emit an aura that seems to consume all that comes close. From a distance it is subtle, but it gets stronger as you approach, and what few have studied it estimate that at the threshold of the structure it would be similar to being completely encased in a coffin of consumer ice, and perhaps even stronger should the structure be entered. Some say the creator is still within plotting, others say he just got eaten by his own structure and went into hiding afterwards
The Flashflame Canyon is well renowned as it is an absolutley massive trench 5 cycle walk north from the city of journeys. Being well known for being the end of many first time travelers into the wastes who just start at journeys and strait away, noone is quite sure what caused the massive tranch to form in the first place. It has its own mini ecosystem in the slightly higher temperatures deep in the cliffs, but the cliffs get their name from the passage of Link Worms, one of the few places you can see them from the surface, as they pass by their initial hear causes large angular flashes and surges of spherical gasses before being quickly consumed, causing a spectacle that can be seen even from the top of the ravine.
The Kinghut, being about 7 cycle walk South South-East of the City of fountains, is the remains of a truley gargantuan Wastehut. A sphere embeded into the ground about 9 stories tall, it was said to have nearly rolled over a Grovel tribe, before its chief stopped it with his bare hands before breaking it open. However it happened, now it is commenly used by the tribes as a neutral meeting ground, to make deals and trade between themselves.
So if any of the Gruvel waste tribes or forest tribes want to move on, they still have to visit the city of ending and participate in their rituals? Or do the Gruvel tribes have some tradition of throwing themselves of the edge of the world? and what happenes to them, Gruvel are the most likley to make that trip after all/
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