Arcana Arts

Devoted servants of the Topaz Emperor.
The Cultist variations in wear and traditions honoring the Emperor.

The City of a Million Stars.

A masterwork painting of Jemmorem the city of a million stars depicted from the slums to the city center of enchanted towers.

Situated on the Emerald Peninsula, the city in by the bay is surrounded by a mountainous forest region. The land surrounding the city if lush with game and the bay is a hub of trade and sea life providing for the city's inhabitants.

Canals web across the city connecting to the larger sea and facilitating trade. The City center is packed with towers reinforced by magical means to weather the storms that blow in from the south. A permanent aroura can be seen every night rippling over the region.

The City is ruled by a council of wealthy magicians and merchants. Jemmorem is the capital of the Emerald Kingdom and is one of the largest settlements on Aetheria. The city is so vast it has aquired the nick name "City of a Million Stars" for when you see the city from the top of the nearby mountain range it looks like the night sky sparkling in the aroura.

Artifacts of The Storm

Sapphire Study

A masterwork painting depicting the Sapphire Sorceress surrounded by the Sanctum of books.

The Sapphire Sorceress tends to the library of all knowledge and the records of souls. It is said when a soul passes their book of life is placed upon a shelf to preserve their memory and experiences.

If a book is given to the Sorceress she is said to grant a boon of knowledge as compensation equal to its contents. If the book is one of fictitious contents the resulting boon will also be fictitious in nature but still accepted for the annals.

However when a book is taken or destroyed from the sanctum the Sorceress is believed to let loose the wrath of the cosmic storm that assails the sanctum on the perpetrator. Many calamities are blamed on peoples who have reached for her knowledge and power but failed in their desire to act on what they discover.

It is commonplace for followers to hoard knowledge in worship from long lost books and Grimoires to religious texts and even trade secrets. From Scholars who amass librariesof artifacts and texts, to spelunkers who rely on their knowledgeto delve into the hidden realms. Their are many who also ban or even destroy tomes with dangerous secrets to prevent their misuse. In the act of preserving the secret knowledge that may only be found within the sanctum.

Many educated or skilled peoples wear the symbol of the Tristar to show their dedication to prefecting their craft. Many Schools offer apprenticeships in various disciplines to spread the knowledgeuncovered from the sanctum. This has lead to Necromancers to ply their trade without the skill or power to stop their creations, as well as diviners to miss interprate visions and cause downfalls of prominant families. Even those of low birth have found that lacking the knowledge of an artifact of power that stumbled into their hands can lead to devestation across the countryside from improper use.

Followers of the Sapphire Sanctum can often be found in places of learning or in guardian roles. The Tristar symbol is often adopted on headwear to represent their dedication to the Sanctum and many Quills are claimed to be blessed by the Sorceress.

Many magical and religious figures are drawn to the Sapphire Sanctum from the apprentice to master. It is common to find tomes dedicated to the Sanctum as a means of protection, with the desire that they will be added to a shelf in one of the endless chambers it holds.

The desire to have a life recorded in the Sanctum is the goal strived for by any who feel the passage of time. Their deeds and successes immortalized forever, from such simple things as the inventor of a new spell or most skilled basketweaver in the hills of a kingdom long lost. To grand deeds such as the dynasty which subjugated the merfolk rebellion or the or the mad druid who cause The Blight of the Green Hills bringing a four hundred year famine.

Audience of the Emperor.

A masterwork painting depicting the Topaz Emperor sitting on their runied throne amidst the raging cosmic storm.

The Topaz Emperor hears petitions of those lost from strife and chaos. Listening to the pleas for salvation or vengance. Souls who challenge the golden paragon are often granted a boon if they can survive the duel but are left to the wastes unaided should they fail.

The soul of those who come before the emperor are tried and measured by their prowess and unwavering resiliance.

Should a soul succeed in the tests given by the King wealth, fame, power and love can be gifted. While a failure leaves the soul stranded in the wastes to be thrashed by the cosmic storm.

Many who seek corporeal advancement and perfection seek out the Topaz Emperor for favor and luck. From pickpockets looking for a clean getaway, to an soldier wishing a safe return from campaign. It appears still that those who cheat and bend the wills to their favor are met with misfortune and disaster in their endevors.

Nobility are known to seek guidance before the feild and in other forms of conquest wearing or gifting the Tristar to indicate their ambition. It is not uncommon for the Seal of the Tristar to declare war or betrothal. Lowborn folk are found to commonly pray to the Topaz Emperor for safe travels and good harvests. Offerings in bloodsport are given as a distraction to the Topaz Emperor to calm their more disastrous whims which are blamed for pestilence and upheaval.

Practitioners of the Topaz Emperor are found to wear golden masks or helms to remain stoic in the eyes of utter chaos. In many temples to the Topaz Emperor the faithful wear chance stones and StagBeetle pins to honor the challenge and chance of adversity.

Sailors and explorers look to the Topaz Emperor often for bounty and fruitful ventures. Many ships and wagons are decorated with oxen and turtles guilded to incur favor. Even small households can be found with altars of wooden blades or wooden bags for daily prayer.

Tacticians and learned folk seek the Topaz Emperor for stoicism and patient strength for long campaigns becoming a patron for worriors and Magicians alike for the dedication required to prefect their craft.

The Artifacts of Secrets

The Sapphire Scribe
The Sapphire Scribe is a magical quill used by the scolars in the Sanctum to etch down new knowledge. These mithril quills write with the soul of the scribe needing no ink and imbuing the writing that flows from its nib.

It is said that when the sanctum is under attack they can be weilded as blades. Making every knowledge seeker a guardian of the knowledge within. These quills are made from a thin wand of mithril and a nib of adamant with an encrusted Sapphire. The tail of the quill fans out into a shimmering tailfeather from a Quetzalcoatl.

The only way to destroy one of these quills is to melt one in the fires of a Phoenix ash upon which the tomes that were filled from the pen will also catch fire and melt away.

A Soul Tome

A soul tome is a book bearing the entirity of the knowledge for a soul or souls. These books can be found made of many materials. These books act as if the reader were having a conversation with the soul bound within. Soul Tomes appear frequently for Magicians and artisans as a way to pass their knowledge down to further generations.

When the pages of these books are open text relating to some aspect of the books knowledge will magically appear to the reader no matter the page opened to. This information is typically factual and truthful in nature although tinted with only the lived experience of the imbued energies.

These books commonly bound with some form of leather and sometimes stone or metal cannot be destoyed in flame or by corrosion. The only way to destroy a Soul Tome aside from the destruction of a Sapphire Scribe if one was used in its creation is to be smrtuck by lightning in a maelstrom.

An Orb of Observation

Orbs of Observation are scrying stones from which knowledge may be passed without delay. They are believed to show the viewer the very thing they desire most to know.

These large glowing crystals radiate when touched flashing scenes and speech from events long ago and far. Those veiwing the scenes are entranced for the duration of the vision. Disenchanting the individual creates a soulless.

The only way an Orb of Observation can be destoyed is by cracking one in eternal snow leaving shards which melt with the snow as the power is released.

The Glass Hat

The Glass Hat is a cap spun from strands of the very weave itself. The wearer need not fear the mundane as nothing but the weave itself can harm the enlightened.

It is belived that the hat grows the more its wearer learns as secrets are spun into the brim and embroidery stiches tales in the cap marking notable exploits. The hat is supposed to ward off enchantment and give warning of attempted divination. Sapphires grown from the spun fabric over time slowly feeding off of the soul of its wearer.

Glass Hats may be destroyed by unraveling them onto a spindle fashioned from a unicorns horn. Upon destruction the fabric that makes up the hat turns into pure platinum thread known as Life Weave that echos the thoughts and history of the wearer living or dead.

Relics of Order:

The Gavel of Judgement

The Gaval of Judgement binds unworthy souls into prepared Soul Tomes or allows the passage from one world to another. The gaval is a platinum shaft with a series of inlaid rubies topped with the cosmic image of the material plane. When struck on the co**se of a foe judgement passes on the soul.

A Gaval of Judgement can permanently affix a spell or rune to an object which pulls living energy from the user or location which draws power from the local weave.

These objects can be destroyed by weighing less than the soul of a pure individual on scales of justice. At which point the gaval melts into a puddle of mercury.

The Robes of Law

The Robes of Law cloaks the wearer in protective energies and emmitting a calming aura. The robes defend against surprises with abilities that boarder on precognition.

The garment is impervious to flame, or fraying seeming to repair damage to its being from even the smallest thread that remains. The Robes are made from small interlocking scales with guilded sleeves and a pelt of a luck dragons mane over silk pulled from a cosmic spider.

Having the ability to alter fate from small acts, they can only be destroyed by cosmic lightning which disintegrates it.

The Cabinet of Contingency

The Cabinet of Contingency is an extra dimentional storage device which can sustainably store other extra dimentional devices. Each drawer and chamber in the cabinet is able to store any item that can fit within when the closed shut. The objects stored in this manner are able to be called forth at will into their respective receptacle with no loss risk unless the cabinet is destroyed.

The Cabinet is made of an elden tree with more rings than stars, the runes glimmer and cover the object with energy drawn from the weave. Items placed in the cabinet do not age or decay however the cabinet doesn't have breathable atmosphere in any of the chambers.

The only way to destroy a Cabinet of Contingency is to place a Soul Tome into one of the chambers and close the cabinet. The resulting implosion can turn the area into a ruin. This does not destroy the Soul Tome which can be recovered afterwards.

Judge Jury and Law.

A masterwork painting depicting the Ruby Lord presiding over the judgement of Souls.

The Ruby Lord presides over laws both just and unjust granting condemnation or absolution. It is said when one dies if your soul is clouded you stand before the Ruby Lord in final judgment and your life is weighed against unknowable cosmic laws.

If a soul is found to have adhered to these then they will be granted remission, proceeding to one of the many realms of paradise.

However if the soul is found wanting it will be trapped in a book of deeds and given to the Sapphire Sanctum. Where the soul shall remain until the cosmic storm finally devours existance.

It is commonplace for followers to uphold just laws and break the corrupt laws. From coin changers who dilligently ensure the right value of coin, to an urchin stealing from a dukes treasury to feed the poor. However many are still want to steal for personal gain through corrupt policies or murder in the name of justice yet the Ruby Lord doesn't seem to dole out punishment to the living for those transgressions.

In many kingdoms judicial representatives wear the symbol of the Tristar as a badge of office. Many courts have enshrined a right to representation and have measures both magical and mundane to provide such for any who require it. The Quality of that representation may vary depending on stipulations in the regions laws however. Plenty a defendant is granted an inept lawyer or is redeemed by a sly machinations from those willing to bend the law to their whim.

Followers of the Ruby Lord can often be seen weilding Gavel like hammers or donned in a variety of red garments.

Many political figures are drawn to the Ruby Lord from the peasantry to lordlings. Nobility who retain the right to rule are common adopters with statuettes commonly found in their workplaces or homes.

The Merchant class prays to the Ruby lord for favorable business and a stable currency. The poor and destitute even venerate the Ruby Lord either to avoid a punishment of the law or in gratitude of fortune from governance.

The Tristar a pantheon of three cosmic divine entities. Their holy symbol, holy artifact and Seal. Along with three masterwork paintings depicting their realms and personifications.

The Tristar faith attracts many from a diverse collection of peoples thanks to the domains of each of the patron deities. This wide reaching faith is prominent in many cities and townships across every kingdom.

Welcome to Aetheria the world where our stories inhabit and fantasties comes to life.

The Neon Sands at Sunset~ On a journey to Jeol, we crossed into the Neon Sands. The flora in this arid region glimmer in the starlight like a technicolor feaverdream. The vibrant colors attract polinators and nutrient rich prey.