Aeor


 * &rarr; For the episode of the same name, see .

 was a pre-Calamity floating city that crashed in Eiselcross, currently being excavated by a few outposts for the ancient relics to be found there.

History
Long ago, the massive flying city-state of Aeor was a place of invention and magic, ruled by its mages, and considered one of the most powerful of the pre-Calamity arcane societies. Held aloft by brumestone, the bluish stone used in sky ships with the property of being easily enchanted to lift, Aeor's people had grown powerful enough to create weapons capable of killing the gods.

However, the city also suffered from tumult within, even as its success and growing abilities drew the ire of the gods. During the Calamity, a consortium of both the Prime Deities and Betrayer Gods called a truce long enough to crash the city onto the island of Foren in Eiselcross. It was believed that there were no survivors from the fall of Aeor.

Post-Divergence Ruins
Aeor was long believed to have been obliterated and its location forgotten. However, artifacts and relics from Aeor began to be discovered and started making their way into the Empire around 828 or 829 PD. Dwendalian, Uthodurnian, Xhorhasian, and mercenary expeditions began searching the hazardous terrain of its crash site for more. Kryn Dynasty and Empire outposts are currently excavating what remnants they are able to access of the fallen city.

Caleb was able to recognize and recall that the material used to power both the golems and the collar that he recovered from the Heirloom Sphere does not exist naturally, but was utilized as an arcane battery-type technology that was employed by some of the top echelon of archmages during the Age of Arcanum, and that some elements of it had been traded, usually scavenged from the ruins of Aeor to the north.

Lady Vess DeRogna then offered the Mighty Nein unspecified work "in the north" to be done sometime after the peace talks concluded. When the party inquired at her residence, she asked for their assistance with an expedition to Foren to investigate Aeorian ruins for artifacts. They traveled with her there, where she was killed by Lucien and the party discovered the link between the Somnovem of the Cognouza Ward of Aeor and mysterious living city in the Astral Sea which they saw in Vokodo's dying vision.

The Mighty Nein ventured across Eiselcross in pursuit of Lucien, first coming across the A5 and then A2 crash sites. They traveled alongside the Tombtakers for a time, and learned of a secret entrance to the main crash site crater. After splitting with the Tombtakers and regrouping with other allies, the Nein ventured into the main ruin itself. The secret entrance led the party to the Praesidis Ward, and they continued travelling to the Genesis Ward. In their trip through the ruins, the Mighty Nein found evidence that the Aeorians had discovered a Luxon beacon, and had made developments in the arcane field of dunamancy. The party then made use of the Immensus Gate to travel to the Astral Sea, where they found and defeated Cognouza.

Some months after the defeat of Cognouza, Caleb Widogast and Essek Thelyss returned to Aeor to further study the ruins and report their findings to the Cobalt Soul. During this trip they destroyed materials and research enabling time travel in the T-Dock chamber of the Genesis Ward.

Demographics
Most of the populace in Aeor consisted of humans and elves. The people in Aeor created living constructs called aeormatons as companions.

Notable People

 * Brashaar: One of the great mages, an architect, and one of many who doomed the people by filling their minds with grandiose thoughts, drawing the ire of the gods. She was found by the Mighty Nein in a stasis bubble on the dais of the political discourse amphitheater, surrounded by long-dead and mummified residents of the city.
 * Athodan: Information was found in the records room in the Genesis Ward. Athodan made the inspired find of "The Relic", and worked in rejuvenation. Athodan's weaving of necromantic glyph work revealed unique arcane properties, and The Magistri were said to be pleased.
 * Ayoshadaf: An archmage who worked with Athodan studying the "Primal Artifact", channeling the seemingly limitless source of temporal transmutation. They discovered one could temporarily shunt to a point in one's own history (leaving an anchoring echo behind) and that it might even be possible to go beyond one's own timeline.
 * Devexian: An aeormaton that was restored to working order with the help of the Mighty Nein.

Cognouza Ward

 * &rarr; Main article: Cognouza.

One section of the city of Aeor was called the Cognouza Ward, and the leaders of that ward were called the Somnovem. The Somnovem orchestrated Cognouza's escape from the destruction of Aeor, and wish now to return. They betrayed Aeor to ensure their survival.

Praesidis Ward
The Mighty Nein entered the Praesidis Ward during their exploration of the ruins of the city. The location was identified as "Convocation Grounds, Central Deliberations", and held a large amphitheater with hundreds of mummified bodies surrounding a raised dais and podium. A central figure near the podium was caught in a stasis bubble at the moment the city was destroyed and the rest of the crowd annihilated. The neighborhood also held several other official-looking buildings among the homes.

Genesis Ward
Similar to the Praesidis Ward, the Genesis Ward when the Mighty Nein found it in the buried ruins of the city was an open neighborhood consisting of thousands of feet of rolling, broken streets and structures. However, it appeared more industrial with larger buildings that were plainer and more defensible, and less of the decoration found in the Praesidis Ward. It was designed more for function than beauty.

Its entire center was heaved up from beneath as though from a giant explosion. The center of the crater was a mile-wide deep hole with hundreds of small waterfalls tumbling down the dozens of broken subterranean floors and levels now carved open and exposed. Bits of light glowed inside, as if a series of underground bases were suddenly sheared and abandoned. On the southern edge was a smooth groove a hundred feet across, as if bored with a giant auger directly into where the explosion initiated. Dozens of green-glowing, slightly moving pieces of rock drifted slowly along the ceiling of the now-buried ruin.

Prior to its destruction, the ward was an extremely advanced portion of the mageocracy of Aeor, with bustling streets and large buildings. Then something arrived from above, boring into the ground and creating a massive explosion that threw whole sections of the neighborhood upward, killing thousands instantaneously.

B-1
The Level B-1 held a large hall, "Component Keeping and Dry Storage" and "Records 104".

B-2
The Level B-2 held the "Elemental Energy Funneling" room.

B-3
The ruins of level B-3 of the Genesis Ward held the "Repair Terminal" and "Maintenance" Chamber.

Repair Terminal

The Repair Terminal is a cylindrical chamber with a bunch of rebar-like metal structures on the back wall. In the center sits a brass ten-foot dome that has been slightly pushed up and dislodged. There are doors that opens on the sides. On the inside is a cushioned interior with a number of small, metallic objects and slight arcane flashing bits of energy. This chamber is used to repair aeormatons.

B-9
The ruins of level B-9 of the Genesis Ward held the "T-Dock Project", the "Rejuvenation Chamber" and "Immensus Gate".

T-Dock Project

The "T-Dock Project" entrance is seals with a teal-colored crystal that can be opened with a bracelet. The walls are lined with lead and there is a platform bearing an experimental arcane construction and a deeply intricate runic circle which a combination of transmutation and dunamancy heavily based in temporal alteration. There were notes referring to the "Primal Artifact" with drawings of the Luxon beacon, indicating that the Aeorians learned from the beacon how to travel backwards in one's own timeline, leaving an anchoring echo behind. The Temporal Dock allowed them to spend only a few seconds in transit, but created worrying physical stress. Individuals who spent longer than predetermined in the past had their echoes fade and the person never returned.

On their return trip to Aeor, Caleb and Essek revisited the T-Dock chamber. While they were both tempted by the opportunity to change their pasts, they ultimately decided against it. Caleb destroyed the interior of the chamber, to Essek's approval.

Rejuvenation Chamber

The Rejuvenation Chamber is a large room with two empty platforms at the center-back encased in cylindrical glass labeled "Terminal RE 01" and "Terminal RE 02". One is heavily cracked. There is a purple crystal at the base of each. An amethyst bracelet opens the terminals. When standing in terminal, neon purple light fills the cylinder revealing the skeletal outline of the persons body within. The Rejuvenation Terminal created the effect of a long rest, apparently by manipulating time slightly.

Immensus Gate

The Immensus Gate is one of the larger waypoints between the planes within the city. It is a large device capable of creating a portal into other Planes of Existence, including the Elemental Plane of Water and the Astral Plane.

Ars Ward
Little is known about the Ars Ward, but based on its etymology it may have been a center for the arts within the city.

Crash sites
When the city was brought down during the Calamity, the bulk of it crashed onto the island of Foren in Eiselcross. Large and small sections of it broke off during its descent and are scattered in various locations across the island. Some of the crash sites have been mapped, identified, and to greater or lesser extents, explored.

A2
The A2 crash site was at the bottom of a deep pit. The buried ruins in one direction held a street with a stasis bubble in which were frozen three of the ancient inhabitants of the city. The other tunnel led to a biological research facility containing several Aeorian hunters in stasis and at least one creature which had broken loose. Beyond that was a massive arboretum of warped and corrupted trees leading to a room containing a threshold crest.

A5
At the A5 crash site was a room in which was embedded a particularly large (one-and-a-half to two feet wide) threshold crest, which are used for teleporting entire cities between planes.

Flora

 * Brown mold

Fauna

 * Aeorian hunters
 * Aeorian absorber
 * Aeorian nullifier
 * Aeorian reverser
 * Frost Salamanders
 * Canoloth
 * Otyugh

Trivia

 * The names of the four wards identified to date appear to have Latin roots:
 * Cognouza: cognoscere (to learn, to know, or knowledge)
 * Praesidis: praesidi (guard, help, protection)
 * Ars: ars (science, skill/craft/art)
 * Genesis: genesis (generation, birth, creation)
 * Elements of the structural architecture of Gelidon's lair in Mythburrow have similar elements to Aeor.
 * The wild magic that afflicts all of Eiselcross is strongest within the ruins of Aeor itself.