Tyr-Kana Ruins, Syntaxis
City of the Shades
DESCRIPTION - LOCATION - PEOPLE - RESOURCES - MYTH/LORE
Long long ago, far before steel and gunpowder ruled the earth, there was an ancient race known as the Tyr-Kana. Their war like attitude eventually led to their disappearance, and now all that remains is ruins.
More recently there is a group of creatures desperately trying escape their warlike nature. They have picked up the pieces of the ruins.
------DESCRIPTION---------------------
Shitty map when I get my scanner working
The grand city of Syntaxis is built in three parts: The lower city, the residential rise, and the upper city. The lower city being built at the bottom of the mountain, the upper on a plateau carved into the mountain and the residential rise connecting the two.
Though the once grand city is now in disrepair. The beautiful stone architecture reminiscent of the Mayans or Aztecs has long since fallen to piles. Grand staircases have become dangerously unstable, some walls could allow for armies to walk through, and some entire sections of the upper city have collapsed into pitfalls. Some of the towers and walls have been patched by the Shades, but construction has not progressed far.
New construction is limited, but it’s obvious what was built by the Tyr-Kana and what was built by the Yellow Eyed Shades. Where the Tyr-Kana built elaborate structures made to impress, the shades build simple and practical buildings from the salvaged material. Another difference is the use of Shadesteel, a metal created by the corruption of earth by Forgotten Matter. Long bands of the metal secure single room communal domiciles built into the walls or on their own.
Primary Ruins - What was once the lower city is perhaps in the worse shape of the entire ruin. Wind, snow and time has torn down walls and turned buildings into piles of rock. Rather than repair this section the shades use it more of a quarry to gather material for the upper city.
Shade patrols wander through the lower city to ensure nothing is hiding out or assaulting the worker shades.
The Residential Climb - The rising stairs that connected upper with lower city was the home of the middle class in Syntaxis’ prime. Specially built structures creating building on either side and one row in the centre marked a divided highway of stair and ramps. Now it serves as a convient chokepoint for the shades. Guards are posted all along the buildings and walls to protect the privacy of the recluse race.
The Climb cuts through the upper city and leads to the Market centre.
Market Centre - Once apon a time the centre of the upper city was an important location if one wanted to be a trader in the Tyr-Kana empire. While much has changed this area still bustles with movement. Shades work to create objects for the few non-shade residents of the city to trade with the outside world. Weapons, armour, or even elaborate jewellery from the jet shadesteel. This is also where the non-shade residents or visitors stay, inns are kept as comfortable as possible with a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains thanks to the mana gardens. Meat and dairy has to be imported in, thus one is more likely to find a hunk of cheese than a steak.
Shade Mezza - What used to be the upper class section of Syntaxis is now the main shade residential area. Simple one room domiciles erupt from where ruins once were, and the more elaborate houses of the past have been mostly hollowed out to become communal houses.
The southern section of the Mezza has collapsed, and rock pile walls have to keep people out of the dangerous area.
Mana Wells - On the opposite side of the city of the Mezza lies the mana wells. These devices are what allow the shades to live peacefully away from the rest of Gaia. The device, pilfered from the Tyr-Kana and improved by the Shades, looks like a ruined stone pyramid floating upside-down over a similarly ruined altar. Four pillars surround the altar and a Bishop Shade stands watch maintaining the mana well. From this the shades are able to draw magical energy from Gaia itself, and exist without constant slaughter to consume souls. There are a few addition uses of the Wells:
Mana Lights - Throughout the city crystalline orbs are imbedded in the stone walls. At night they give a soft blue glow to the dark rooms and laneways of the city.
Disruption Field - Thanks to runes created by Shade Bishops, the wells emit a field that makes the large amount of magical and forgotten energy emitted by the shades hard to pinpoint.
Mana Gardens - Surrounding the two outdoor wells are elaborate gardens of fruit and flower. The wells raise the temperature and sustain the plants that could never be able to grow in such a cold climate. Shade gardeners and Shades just looking to rest their minds can often be found wandering the stone paths.
Shadow Pools The third well is inside a large stone structure rather than in the open. Rather than actively release energy, this Mana Well stockpiles what it collects in the form of liquid Forgotten Matter. Jet black liquid cascades from openings around the raised well into the closed off pools that take up most the structure. This is also where Shade smelters spend the day transforming forgotten matter and elemental earth into Shadesteel.
The Ruined Palace - The military and intellectual helm of the Yellow-Eyed shades. The once giant chambers have become training grounds, while temples and spires have become places to do research. It is here Omikron and other high ranking shades slave away deciphering the Tyr-Kana Mystic texts.
------LOCATION---------------------
Syntaxis is settled in the far north mountain ranges of the main continent. Wind is troublesome if you are not within the sheltered walls of the upper city, and even then the cold carries. While the winter is not permanent, its harshness and the relative isolation of the mountains leave few travellers to stumble by the city.
------People---------------------
The current inhabitants of the ruins are the Yellow-Eyed Shades led by Shadelord Omikron. These creatures have freed themselves from the violent yoke of The Forgotten One and yearn to live in peace.
Shades are for all intents and purposes, mostly humanoid. Their bodies are made entirely out of a jet black substance known as Forgotten Matter. The substance is not alined with shadow though, rather shares more traits with nullifying magic and raw arcane. The material is fairly malleable, and if a shade trains they can learn to stretch and distort their bodies into tools or deadly weapons. Other shades focus on hardening an outer layer of forgotten matter, giving them a permeant appearance of wearing plate armour. The most distinctive mark of a shade is rather than a face they have a single, and quite large, eye. The iris takes up almost the entire eye, and its colour depends on the Shadelord the shade serves under. Omikron’s colour is yellow. The Shades under Omikron have taken to sometimes wearing bulky human clothing to protect themselves from the elements. Simple hats, scarves, cloaks, and mantles are all popular.
85% of shades are mute and can only communicate telepathically with other shades. They have their own script, which is mostly used for runic inscriptions on weapons and objects. Shades mostly appreciate calm and relaxing actives, but some are still know to enjoy the thrill of combat.
------RESOURCES---------------------
Forgotten Matter - Formally known as “dark matter”, this substance is what the shades themselves are made of. Jet black not because of the property of darkness, but rather because Gaia itself is trying to purge itself of all memory of the Forgotten One. Since the shades were born out of the material of The Forgotten all creatures cannot visualise the true nature of the material. It would be like trying to imagine a colour that is not a mixture of the ones we know currently.
Shadesteel - The black hued metal created from forgotten matter and elemental earth is a tradable commodity. While it is not an impossibly strong material, it holds up to normal steel and is quite a bit more magically resistant.
Magical Energy - The inhabitants of Syntaxis do not think of the Mana Wells as much more than a source of nourishment. In truth, those magical generators could be used for much more.
------MYTH---------------------
Designated Hero Wrote:The Tyr-Kana are a strange race in that their long, gradual ascent to power was followed almost instantaneously by their sudden disappearance. Initially used as slaves, the Kana, as they were originally called, were a race of cat-like imps that had a lifespan of only a few years at most. The Kana, through years of artificial selection, began to grow stronger, live longer, and flourish as a species. They eventually evolved into biped, bilateral creatures that resembled a human with claws, cat-like ears and a scale-like pattern that ran down the length of their back. As all slave societies do at some point, an uprising occurred, and the Kana threw off the shackles of their masters.
That was not the end of their growth, however. Living in an area where predators were numerous, the Kana continued to struggle for survival. Their proximity to the gods only produced more evolutionary pressure upon them, as the gods consistently found joy in tormenting the beleaguered race. Resistance to sudden death was soon a common trait among the entire population, and became a vital role in their next evolutionary leap.
Fed up with being seen as mere playthings, two Kana lead their people on a crusade. They burned temples, killed pilgrims, and weathered the wrath of Sirtos, greater god of pestilence, upon themselves. The Kana were nearly wiped out by the god's fury, yet somehow their race survived. When Sirtos fell at the hands of two Kana (Valan Keil and Kyrein Traveska, as they came to be known in the texts), something strange occurred. The void of power caused by the fallen god had somehow empowered the race, giving the former slaves the power to survive unopposed in the Northern regions of Gaia. The Kana had become far more human in appearance, forgoing the cat-like appendages and only retaining the ringed irises that they were famous for.
As a result, the Tyr-Kana had become the dominating race over their entire region. Their society evolved along with the race. Instead of taking up the lives of nomads, they began to settle new regions. Syntaxis, a cultural and economical hub, became their greatest achievement. Kyrein and Valan became the militaristic and religious leaders of this new city, respectively, and surveyed its construction. Valan was responsible for ensuring that the city itself would be nearly impossible to take by force, while Kyrein was in charge of most residential, commercial, and religious construction. The resulting city became a two-tiered representation of the Tyr-Kana's might, and acted as the civilization's unofficial capital.
Their cultures and customs were based mostly around genetic and phenotypic traits. Citizens that had golden rings upon birth were the favored sons of society, becoming warriors and leaders for the group as a whole, while those with different colored rings were assigned various tasks. White rings were raised as the religious leaders, while purple rings were destined to become merchants and craftsmen, supplying most of the goods that powered society.
As the race flourished, they began to grow increasingly intelligent. Land became favorable, and they set out on campaigns to conquer distant territories. The more land that came under their influence, the more they began to revere warfare as a chosen method of living. Warriors and generals became the most revered positions in the culture, leaving religious leaders with less and less power as time went on. These increasingly powerless but spiritualy attuned Tyr-Kana soon atracted the atention of a powerful, but corrupting, entity: The Forgotten One.
At their peak, the Tyr-Kana had spread themselves out in a wide circle, 500 miles in diamater, building smaller cities and villages on the extreme ends near coastlines and even establishing settlements close to modern-day Lament. Only Syntaxis, which was reduced to ruins following the society's own civil war, and Dimas, the religious capital that took sides with The Forgotten One, remain standing today. Both cities are located near the heart of the empire.
Soon after attaining this peak, a small conflict arose in Dimas, resulting in the death of two priests and one soldier. The army was ordered out of the religious center, and Dimas cut off all ties to Syntaxis. This single event would turn out to be a defining moment in the eventual downfall for the race.
As the rift between religious and military leaders grew even deeper, The Forgotten One used his powers of manipulation to spark a civil war between the two. Cities erupted into battle over night as Shades and religiously devout figures united against the armies of the Tyr-Kana. The resulting death and destruction fed The Forgotten, giving the shade armies power to decimate the Tyr-Kanan empire and force the armies of the golden ring to retreat into Syntaxis. After this point, the records of the war simply cease existing for a long period of time. Popular opinion is that the war came to a standstill in the city, and that any records that existed were more than likely destroyed during the chaotic fighting.
After a few decades, some recordings of their existence begin to spring up again. All traces of Tyr-Kanan society and cultures have been discovered in Murmillion texts and lore. The similarities between the two races were almost uncanny, and so many scholars believe that the Tyr-Kana never really went extinct, but adapted to Murmillion living.
Curriously, in most surviving texts all reference to The Forgotten have been neglected.
Approved by: The Goddamn Vahn