Lorica and Waerd

Lorica-Waerd[]

Lorica-Waerd is a metroplex of two cities, Lorica and Waerd which have grown together into one large metrolpol which dominates its surrounding hinterland. These two large cities face each other across Verenzani Bay. This is the massive freshwater estuary of the Danubari River. It is a trading powerhouse, with a large armada of war galleys and trading vessels. It is also famous haven for for privateers, which other city-states regard as little more than pirates. Waerd is the older of the two cities. Lorica grew up during the centuries that followed the fall of the Empire of the Horizon.

Estimated Population (All Boroughs): 180,000

Boroughs[]

Old Waerd - Old Waerd is the remains of an ancient city built as the throne of the High Kings of the Celdsi. It still retains its ancient, cramped character. It functions a sector of the city which houses many craftsmen, taverns, and inns.
Asengard - Asengard is a grand magically constructed palatial complex in the center of Lorica which is the seat of the Grand Council of Magi.
Lorica - Lorica is a city that was built across the Veranzani Bay from Waerd by the Fire Throne to better fortify the harbor. It has become a world-renowned center of magic arts.
New Town - New Town is a suburb that has grownup outside the ancient walls of Old Waerd. This district is full of industry, manufacturies, works, and workshops.
Penny Quarter: Penny Town is a massive slum that has popped up outside of the reach of the Fire Walls of Lorica. Anything belond the Fire Walls is allowed to be constructed of wood. This is a very vibrantly painted quarter filled with flamboyantly dressed squatters. Lorica-Waerd extends its protection to its residents, but not citizenship. Subjects from the Penny Quarter must obtain a special pass in order to pass into Lorica-Waerd to transact business.
Wharf: The Wharf is a large enclosed district of warehouses, docks, piers, and wharfs which lines both sides of the Danubari estuary behind the Verenzani Bridge. This is where the gala of ships, and trading vessels dock and unload their wares everyday.
Longshore: Longshore is a residential district above the Verenzani Bridge which occupies the coast of the Verenzani Bay on the Lorica Side. This is a district of ritzy palazzos owned by the wealthy merchants and captains of industry within the city. It also houses palaces owned by the Lairds of the Celdsi.
Mt. Aethos: Mt. Aethos is a prominatory which extends past Watcher's Island into the Jadess Sea. It is filled with 20 independent monestaries, which are considered their own independent polities. They are tributaries of Lorica-Waerd.

Government[]

Council of Magi
Grand Magi: Gaspard, Melchior, Balthasar
Asengard Palatial Complex

Military[]

Stone Guard
Mirror Knights
Privateers
Armada

Symbol[]

Entwined white and red dragons. These represent the double metropol of Lorica-Waerd. Neither dragon can be claimed exclusively to either city. This is seen as symbolic of their union. Also, this maybe a reference to the legend of Iso and Vutra (see St. Paidrig). These were the entwined dragonds slumbering under the monestary of Mt. Aethos (red and white respectively). However, this symbol was not adopted until after Shakalakala, ruby-hued Celestial Great Wyyrm attacked the city and was subdued Alexandros, the brilliant plantinum-lustering guardian of the city. Therefore it maybe be a symbol of their struggle over the fate of the city. Unfortunately, there is no existing record of it its official origin.

Factions with the City[]

Magi - The establishment of sorcerors which governs the city (including the students and professors within the officially sanctioned schools of magic). Stronghold is Lorica, especially Asengard.
Kabitzers - An outcast and rival guild of mages which olds large amounts of influence within Stronghold is outside of New Town.
Lairds of Celdsi - The chieftains of the Celdsi clans which were conquered by the Empire of the Horizon. Stronghold is Old Waerd.
Privateers - A loose association of licensed pirates which Lorica-Waerd pays and offers haven to. Stronghold is Wharf.
Medji - a large restless underclass of branded slaves, indentures, orphans, foundlings, wards of the stae, debt-slaves, and convicts upon whose backs the economy of Lorica-Waerd is based. Celdsi and Mestisen are over-represented. The Medji fuel the fires of New Town's manufacturies, row the galleys of Wharf's Armada and Privateers, clean the streets, sewers, and provide every other public service imaginable. The Medji are branded with the Brand of the Magi, which imposes certain limits necessary to keep them in line and empowers with certain powers necessary for them to complete their assigned task. The other four factions are largely united in support of the Grand Council of Magi because only it has the power and resources to subdue and suppress the Medji.

Points of Interest[]

Verenzani Bay Bridge: Troll-built bridge which spans the great Bay of Verenzani. Verenzani was the Rosen Explorere who is credited with first discovering and settling the bay. It possesses the power to blaze in a powerful aura of fire, effectively sealing off the harbor.
Shakalakala: A Celestial Great Wyyrm which attacked the Jadess Coast three centuries ago. The Grand Mage Gaspard immobilized it as it was attacking the city of Waerd. He still lives, immobilized in a great city square; dormant, but full of powerful latent magic.
Lorica of Fire: There is a system of city walls in place around the city or Waerd. Lorica, the larger of the two cities is largely undefended. Instead it is pretected by a magical wreath of fire which can be deployed when the city is threatened from without. This is where Lorica gets its name.
Shadra's Wishing Well: This used to be a neighborhood well. However, a star-crossed lover threw herself down the well when she received news of her lover's death in a distant war. Now it has turned into a wishing well, where hopeful believers toss gold pieces as payment to Shadra for granting their wishes.
Mt. Aethos: A hallowed craggy penensula outside of the fortified city of Waerd. This pennisula is made up of twenty independent monestaries of various religous and philosophical traditions. Each is considered an independant polity. They keep to themselves, but graciously accept pilgrims from all over the world.
Baird's Purgatory: Below the Monastery of Ere on Mt. Aethos lies a famous pilgrim's site where legend has it, the Bleeding Poet, Baird charmed his way into the underworld and retrieved his lost lover.
Paidrig's Lorica: On display within the Monastery of Ere on Mt. Aethos is a legendary artifact, Paidrig's Lorica. This artifact is thought to be the source of the Lorica of Fire which protects the city of Lorica. It was stolen by Waerd privateers long ago from the capitol of the Empire of the Horizon, Rosen. It is said that it was the personal armor of the Fire Throne himself. It was worn into battle by the Arch Mage Lucard who founded the Grand Council of Magi to govern Waerd. He used it to insitute the defense of the new polity Lorica. Afterwards, it was returned to the Brotherhood of Ere. The legend that was attached to the artifact during its time in Rosen was that it was the personal breastplate of the beloved missonary saint, Paidrig. Tradition states that he was martyred within the borough of Waerd (although an older and more reliable legend locates his death in Witten). He is considered the patron saint of many Waerdites.
Iso and Vutra (Red and White Dragons): Legend has it that when Saint Paidrig evangelized the Celdsi of Old Waerd, the High King took him to Mt. Aethos deep into a cave and showed hims two entwined sleeping dragons (one red, one white). To demonstrate his power, Paidrig awoke the dragons and commanded them to wait until the appointed time to reawake and finish their struggle. The dragon's obeyed, and the Celdsi of Waerd were converted. These dragons can still be seen under the Dragon's Monastery on Mt. Aethos. Access is highly restricted.
Elsius Pendragon: Elsius Pendragon was the last of the Celdsi High Kings of Old Waerd, who was overthrown by the Empire of the Horizon. He lies in state within the Archives of Woden, forever perserved by an long forgotten Celdsi magic. His tomb draws Celdsi into the city from the wilds and hinterlands of the Jadess Coast as a pilgrimage site. They largely restrict their visit to Old Waerd, avoiding the more cosmopolitan Lorica.
Wultzer's Clocktower: Wultzer's Tower is a mechanical marvel of autonomous gadgetry and one of the major highlights of any visit to Lorica. It is the fortress which houses the Stone Guard and the Mirror Knights. This stronghold is a showpiece of mechanical wizardry with complex locks of every gateway, escalading stairways, etc. The most famous portion is a massive celestial timepiece, which doubles as an astrological observatory for the Magi. It is unique in that it tracks the movement of all heavenly bodies, including stars and celestials. It was from this tower that the Empire of the Horizon first detected Solaren's army closing in on occupied Union.
Hadrian's Haunted Tavern: Hadrian is a magically neutered liche who decided to open up a tavern within New Town. His tavern is a hit because it is fully staffed by ghosts and other freakish spooks. Tourists stop in in order to get a strange paranomral experience.
Maldric's Academy of Failed Wizardry (Island): Maldric's Academy of Failed Wizardry is a strange emporium of failed magical concoctions and experiements. Maldric started as a student who failed out of every magical acedemy in Lorica. He and some fellow drop-outs occupied an island in the middle of a lake on the outskirts of New Town, which many magic students used as a dumping ground for their dangerous, failed experiments. Maldric turned this island into emporium of all thing strange, collecting strange magical oddities from all over Aetherea. Maldric has founded a Magical Emporium where these oddities can be bought, an Academy where they can be learned. A Workshop where they can be constructed, a Menagerie where they can be observed, and a guild (Kabitzers) through which they are collected.
The Hanging Gardens: The Hanging Gardens is a great open-air arboral salon where merchants, polititians, and Magi relax and meet. It is from this salon that the cities are governed, commerce is regulated, business is transacted, and trials are decided. The Hanging Gardens serve a similar but more complex function to the Stockhouse in Rosenwaeric. It also serves as a club for the elite of Lorica-Waerd, including the Privateers, The Magi, The Kabitzers, and the Lairds of the Celdsi.
Watcher's Island: Watcher's Island is at the head of Verenzani Bay and guards the entrance to the Danubari River. Upon it was built a Watcher's Tower by the Empire of the Horizon. The Watcher whom occupied it was long ago overthrown. Since then, his stronghold has been expanded and fortified with Stong Guard and Mirror Knights of Asenguard. It doubles as a fortress which guards the harbor, collects shippage tolls, and a high-security prison for the most dangerous magical prisoners of the Jadess Coast. The Grand Council of the Magi has made a fortune renting the detention services of Watcher's Island out to the needs of other city states and kingdoms of the Jadess Coast. For instance, this is where the Grand Warlock Emerald is housed. It is also where the True Fisher King is being held for randsome by Rosenwaeric.
The Twightlight Oracle the Threshing Floor: The Twighlight Oracle and her threshing floor is a part of the ancient sacred landscape of the Jadess Coast. The Twilight Oracle is believed to be some sort of Animus, Nymph, or other minor spirit of nature whom is bound to the local landscape. The Celdsi revere her as one of the Wild Gods of their ancient pantheon.The Threshing Floor is a field of grain that is in perpetual harvest. It is carefully protected by the Lairds of Celdsi. The Twilight Oracle roves the inner depths of this fields, weaving mazes through the field. Seekers who enter the threshing floor encounter a surreal dreamscape which taps into their innermost subconsciense and brings out latent prophesies sought out by the seeker.
The Armada: The Armada is large fortified marina which houses the armada of war galleys which protects Lorica-Waerd. It is also the barracks of the largest community of Medji. Therefore, it is carefully partrolled by the Stone Guard.
Archives of Woden (attendant Academy): The Archives of Woden is the municipal library of Lorica-Waerd. It is also the largest repository of Celdsi magic and lore in Aetherea (including many of Saint Paidrig's original writings). The Grand Council of the Magi setup the Archives of Woden as a converatory to study and perserve the fading ways of the Celdsi. It is also a gesture of goodwill toward a historically oppressed people. These archives are accessible to the general population, as opposed the Library of the Magi, which is carefully restricted to those within the Magi Faction (carefully guarded in Asenguard).
Asengard Palatial Complex (Seat of the Council of Magi): Asengard is an enormous palatial complex, magically built and designed by the Grand Council of Magi. It is the center of government and the center of the Magi Faction's power. It houses all of the public, and civil buildings Lorica-Waerd, as well as all of the sanctioned magical academies. It is a wonder of magical engineering. It also contains the palaces of the Grand Magi: Gaspard, Melchior, Balthasar. It also contains Wultzer's Clocktower: the headquarters of the Mirror Knights and Stone Guard.
The Stone Guard and Mirror Knights: The Stone Guard are massive stone golems which are employed by the Grand Council of Magi to guard all places of importance and patrol the streets of Lorica-Waerd. The Mirror Knights are gleaming metallic automatons of tremendous speed and dexterity which act as the private army of the Grand Council of Magi.
The Horn of Alexandros: The Horn of Alexandros is a massive horn that is built into the head of the Watcher's Island complex which guards the entrance to Verenzani Bay. This massive horn is said to be built of Dragon Salts and is used to summon the legendary protector, the Great Wyyrm, Alexandros. It was gift to Lorica-Waerd from the Fire Throne, during an imperial visit to the Jadess Coast. Alexandros is said to reside in the Celestial City of Union. The last time he was successfully summoned was when Shakalakala attacked the city.