Avalir

(Redirected from Pact of Crown and Throne)
Avalir
Official art of Avalir, by Clara.[art 1]
Also known asCity of Crowns
Geographical information
PlaneMaterial Plane
WorldExandria
ContinentDomunas (origin)
RegionMount Ygora (origin)
Historical dates
EstablishedAge of Arcanum, 292 years before the Calamity
DestroyedBeginning of the Calamity
Society
Leader titleThe Septarion
GuardsChancellor's Guard

Avalir, the City of Crowns, was a flying city-state during the Age of Arcanum. It was a mageocracy, ruled by a council of mages called the Septarion.[1]

Description[edit | edit source]

Avalir was a flying city-state that was created out the top of Mount Ygora on the continent Domunas.[2] It was circularly shaped, about three miles in diameter, and as tall as it was wide.[3]

Districts[edit | edit source]

  • Cloudstone, apparently located near Excelsior Plaza.[4] It possibly partially wraps around Excelsior Plaza given that Cerrit passes through the Plaza to travel between the Hall of Eyes and his house, two locations in Cloudstone.
  • Dawnsledge, a neighborhood on the easternmost side of the city.[5]
  • Evenloft[6]
  • Excelsior Plaza
  • Gallamor, located at the top of the city, below the Archsept.[7]
  • Okún, an older neighborhood that has a number of temples, including the Lost Cathedral. It is less protected than other neigborhoods in the city.[8]

Points of interest[edit | edit source]

  • Cerrit Agrupnin's home, in Cloudstone[9][10]
  • Archsept, located at the top-most portion of the city above Gallamor.[7]
  • Crystal Columns, set throughout the city.
  • Hall of Eyes, headquarters of the Eyes of Avalir located in Cloudstone.[4] It is a very large marble building and is described as lacking a hum of magic found at many other buildings in the city.[11]
  • Hall of Prophecy
  • Hall of Symbols, associated with the Abjuration Guild and possibly the other magical guilds[12]
  • Headquarters of Herald's Tome, located in Excelsior Plaza. It contains a room with a raised 10-foot diameter platform made of solid ruby and carved with glyphs and runes that allows Loquatius to broadcast around the city.[13]
  • Helm of Avalir, headquarters of the Navigator's Guild located in Dawnsledge
  • Laerryn Coramar-Seelie's home, located in Gallamor. It is connected to the Meridian Labyrinth through a gate that responds only to Laerryn's official emblem of the Architect Arcane.[14]
  • Librarium Incantatum, located in Gallamor[7]
  • Librarium Magisterium, from which the Magisterium works
  • The Lost Cathedral, in Okún
  • Market of Wonders
  • Meridian Labyrinth, a subterranean network of passages and magical machinery kept lit by the spell engines keeping Avalir afloat and working. It houses or is otherwise connected to dozens of spell engines. All major spell engines are equidistant from the Levitational Corona.[15] Spell engines include:[16] the Heart of Avalir, the Great Registry, the Codex of Keys, the Helm (also the headquarters of the Navigator's Guild), the Ley-Rudder, the Arboreal Calix,[17] and the Astral Leywright.
  • Palazza Por'co, ancestral home of the Por'co family located in Gallamor[18]
  • Por'co Falls, located at the top of the city. This massive waterfall stands 100 feet high and dominates the center of the city. The Herald's Tome morning broadcast is projected onto them.[19]
  • Tower of the First Knight, located in Cloudstone[4]
  • Vault of the Golden Scythe, located in Excelsior Plaza

Society[edit | edit source]

Organizations and factions[edit | edit source]

  • Abjuration Guild
  • Academy Arcane
  • Circle of the Crescent Moon
  • Court of Owls
  • Court of Workings, responsible for the magical engineering that keeps the city working and civic construction[20]
  • Golden Scythe, merchant guild led by Nydas Okiro
  • Herald's Tome
  • Librarium Incantatum The organization particularly concerns themselves with the use of potentially dangerous magic.[21] Their library also contains considerable historical information regarding the founding of Avalir.[22]
  • Magisterium, oversees magical law and contracts relating to the city, such as the tithe of Pact of Crown and Throne[23][24]
    • Eyes of Avalir, organization of detectives working under the Magisterium.[25] Their investigators are called Sightwardens.[26]
  • Navigator's Guild, responsible for steering and directing the city[27] and led by Guildmaster Akami Rowe
  • Octothurge, part of the magical academic structure.[28]
  • Porter's Guild, transports people and items throughout and in and out of the city using teleportation.[29] They also apparently run the Great Registry documenting magical items in Avalir.[30] Their members are identified by bellhop-style uniforms.[29] They are led by an appointed Guildmaster, whose position was vacated just before the Calamity and election was postponed indefinitely.[31]
  • Ring of Brass, group of six friends who hold leadership positions throughout the city
  • Ring of Silver, identified by silver necklaces[32]
  • The Sailor-Marines of the Harvest Moon, a guild of former pirates
  • Septarion, seven archmages in the highest level of government[33]
    • Ring of Gold, the fourteen apprentices to the Septarion[34]
  • The Sorcerer's University, founded by Nydas to teach sorcerous children[35]
  • Stormbringers, a mercenary company

Demographics[edit | edit source]

A range of peoples live in the city, including humans, elves, eisfuura, changelings, and half-orcs.

Notable people[edit | edit source]

Name Type Description
Cerrit Agrupnin PC Guardian of the Seventh, Senior Sightwarden of the Eyes of Avalir, member of the Ring of Brass
Laerryn Coramar-Seelie PC Architect Arcane, member of the Ring of Brass
Loquatius Seelie PC Herald, member of the Ring of Brass
Nydas Okiro PC Guildmaster of the Golden Scythe, member of the Ring of Brass
Patia Por'co PC Keeper of Scrolls, member of the Ring of Brass
Zerxus Ilerez PC First Knight, member of the Ring of Brass
Akami Rowe NPC Guildmaster of the Navigators Guild
Bolo NPC Woman aspiring to be a reporter, originally from Aeor
Eldamir the Wise NPC Member of the Septarion
Lacrytia Hollow NPC Member of the Octothurge, of the Ring of Silver, and Dean of the College of Necromancy
Loras of the Weaver's Mask NPC Apprentice to Eldamir, making him a member of the Ring of Gold
Micah Cormorant NPC Magister of the Magisterium, Speaker of the Fourth
Volucia of the Heart's Emblem NPC Former apprentice to Eldamir

Arcane Technology[edit | edit source]

  • Carrowhulks, four-legged constructs used for everyday transportation
  • The Herald's Tome's broadcast system, which sends a live video and audio feed from the Herald's Tome headquarters to the Crystal Columns around the city and the Por'co Falls. The scheduled broadcasts are preceded by blasts of arcane confetti.[36]
  • Orison's Odd-Tack, an arcane glue that only sticks to what it is commanded[37]
  • Hodmedods, humanoid-shaped fabric constructs that can carry out simple tasks and play recorded messages
  • Bumbershoots, items meant to be used in inclement weather, presumably a type of umbrella[38]
  • Eldritch batteries, which store the ether collected by Avalir
  • Rings of Masks, small devices that allow communication between the wearer and others
  • The Grand Geometer, a machine that reads leylines and measures the strength of upcoming Apogee Solstices[39]
  • Spell kites, small delivery vehicles that carry goods from Cathmoíra to the residences of Avalir
  • The arcane furnace, which disenchants magic items and collects the released ether[40]
  • The psychometric chamber, which the Eyes of Avalir use for their psychometry, recreating items and areas to a set point in time[41]
  • Delivery paths akin to pneumatic tubes without the actual tubes. The Herald's Tome print newspaper is delivered throughout the city this way, as is Loquatious's entrance announcement to the Feast of Imyr[42]
  • Fidget tools akin to fidget spinners[43]
  • The Astral Leywright, an experimental machine intended to teleport the city to other planes of existence
  • Taxmen, large elaborate constructs made to fight against Aeor if war broke out
  • Divining stones, items that record and display video, used as security cameras in the Palazzo Por'co[44]
  • Recording crystals, shards of crystal that store video and audio recordings, can be put in special stands that project illusory three-dimensional images of the recordings[45]
  • Runes of Recall, small stones that cast a modified version of Word of Recall on the user when broken
  • Ornithopters, presumably flying machines with flappable wings[46]

History[edit | edit source]

Founding[edit | edit source]

Avalir was formerly part of a city called Toramunda, founded by the druidic Gau Drashari during the Age of Arcanum on Mount Ygora on the continent Domunas after Pelor and Melora sealed two Primordials, the Emperor Rau'shan of Fire and Empress Ka'Mort of Earth, beneath the mountain during the Schism.[47][48] 292 years before the Calamity,[49] a group of seven mages enchanted brumestone to lift the top of the mountain, splitting Toramunda into the flying city Avalir and its earthbound sister city Cathmoíra. The spell was completed by Imyr Por'co, who became a hero the people of the city.[50]

Pact of Crown and Throne[edit | edit source]

As a condition of the wizards of Avalir lifting the mountain, the druids required an agreement, known as the Drashari Pact or the Pact of Crown and Throne, under which Avalir would return to Cathmoíra every seven years, giving 25% portion of the raw magic the city collects back to the druids and the continent of Domunas.[51][52] The druids also required that the Tree of Names be tended to in Avalir, but declined to explain its purpose, believing the wizards would take advantage of the tree.[53] As of the events of Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, the agreement had last been updated 119 years ago, shortly after the Raven Queen's ascension.[54]

As a result of this pact, Avalir traveled around Exandria in a seven-year circuit on the world's leylines. During its journey, it traded with other cities, both flying and terrestrial, including Aeor and Vasselheim. At the end of this circuit, to honor this agreement with the Gau Drashari, Avalir returned to Cathmoíra and performed a ceremony called the Replenishment. The city stayed with Cathmoíra for a month before embarking on another seven-year journey.[55]

Avalir's unique ability to extract ether, the raw magical potential of objects, and store it in the Etheric Net for later release, is implied to be related to this pact.[56]

Although tithe of ether for the Drashari people was set at 25% and the other 75% were supposed to be put into the ground for the Replenishment, that hadn't been happening for the last two or three Replenishments (for 14-21 years prior to the Calamity). Just less than 5% of the city's ether was actually going to go into the ground of Domunus for the last Replenishment, and the rest was redistributed to the Astral Leywright or funneled out to archmages in the city to unnaturally extend their lives.[52]

Shortly before the Calamity Golden Scythe guild has been secretly developing the Taxmen, a special aeormatons prototype commissioned by the city of Avalir.[57]

Exandria Unlimited: Calamity[edit | edit source]

On the eve of a Replenishment, Cerrit Agrupnin began an investigation into the disappearance of Vespin Chloras, an archmage of Vasselheim who, as many believed, was trying to mimic the Raven Queen and perform a Ritual of Seeding. Authorities in Vasselheim, the last city visited before the return to Cathmoíra, reported him missing to the Sightwardens while the city was hovering over Vasselheim out of concern that he was stowing away in Avalir. The Sightwardens previously declared him killed by his failed ascension and closed the case. It was reopened in suspicion. Patia Por'co requested that his personal effects be saved for educational research instead of destroyed. Cerrit found the dispelled bow of a solar in Vespin's chambers.[58]

Patia held a party in the evening at her family's Palazzo Por'co to celebrate the Replenishment,[58] which was attended by the Ring of Brass and Purvan Suul, among others.[57] After the party, Nydas Okiro visited Laerryn Coramar-Seelie in her lab, and Laerryn told him it was the time to move the city of Avalir, as the apogee solstice only comes once every 120 years and it was their only opportunity. They inserted the bow from a solar brought by Cerrit and activated the Astral Leywright. When the engines stopped, the leylines realigned and the Ley-Rudder moved along with Avalir, then at a diagonal to Avalir's path, then disappeared. The gems on the Astral Leywright blink, confirming that the preparations for the potential transfer to another plane were finished. However, Laerryn and her assistant Dweomer then noticed that 8% of the city's power was used on the experiment, and that the Arboreal Calix appeared to have drawn that power. Laerryn attempted to fix the problem, but primarily recalled that the Arboreal Calix drew the majority of the energy tithed to the Gau Drashari per the terms of the Pact of Crown and Throne.[57] Patia and Laerryn arrived at the city's Magisterium to learn more about the pact. They broke into Magister Micah Cormorant's office, and Patia detected something magical to the left side. Laerryn cast Fireball, which Micah Cormorant attempted to Counterspell, but failed, losing his concentration on Greater Invisibility. After killing him, the wizards searched his office and found that he had been tampering with the teleportation circles to permit illegal entry into the city, and that he had pulled files on both Laerryn's work and on the Pact of Crown and Throne. The notes on the pact indicated that the Gau Drashari had concerns about the wizards of Avalir abusing the power of the Tree of Names and had refused to reveal more about it.[57]

In the meantime, Zerxus Ilerez and Nydas arrived at the Hall of Prophecy. On the resident oracles, Sofyra, told them that two weeks before their arrival, the oracles, beginning with a young woman named Karwen, started went mad and proclaim false prophecies, and anyone who tried to heal them similarly went mad. The others reached out to the Octothurge, and Volucia was sent. Karwen had seemed to be recovering, but something terrible happened, and, while she lived, Sofyra was the only oracle who has not gone mad. Zerxus, entering Karwen's chamber, detected the presence of something fiendish and saw a reflection of a red, horned figure from his dreams, badly wounded, but Zerxus saw in him Evandrin Alterra, Zerxus's dead husband. The red figure introduced himself as the Lord of the Hells, telling Zerxus about his past and the seeking his sympathy, which Zerxus gave him, telling him that much as he adopted his son, Elias, despite not being his biological father, so are the people of Exandria to the Betrayer Gods. Before they left the Hall of Prophecy, Sofyra brought out the prophecy that had been deemed false, who read it: "The stars are leaving us. Our hands cannot reach the limbs of the tree, can no longer scribe the name of our deliverance. We will soon be as broken as our promises. Avalir shall fall. All shall fall. And from our folly will the hands that forge the world banish themselves from the broken things they have made."[57]

On 1:00 PM of the day of the Replenishment,[59] Laerryn received a message on her Ring of Masks from her Helmswoman, Akami Rowe, who told her the city was in position for descent to Domunas and that everything was going smoothly, but Laerryn then heard a choking noise and the communication cut off abruptly. Akami was killed and the helm was broken, preventing the near-future navigation, but the city still made its descent automatically.[60]

On their way to check on Akami Rowe, the party was attacked by Lacrytia Hollow and her undead guard.[57] After being badly injured by Nydas, she tried casting Circle of Death in the hopes of injuring much of the party, but when she tried to Counterspell Patia's Otiluke's Resilient Sphere she was Counterspelled by Zerxus and was killed by her own spell as it was trapped inside the sphere with her.[61] Later, when Nydas and Patia reviewed the memories of one of her mages, they found that she had not only been conspiring with Micah Cormorant to unseat the head of the Porter's Guild so he could tamper with teleportation unseen and bring k'nauthi into the city. They also saw that Lacrytia was trying to prevent Purvan Suul from being able to defend Vasselheim, and that the unidentified cleric of a Betrayer God killed by Cerrit was supposed to get Zerxus's blood that Xartaza later obtained. The party also learned that not only was the helm supposed to be attacked, but Cathmoíra and specifically the Giant's Slumber, a holy site of the Gau Drashari, was supposed to be attacked as well, and that there may be more Betrayers working, not just Asmodeus.[62] Lacrytia also planned modified the memory of the mage so that he believed the city would not land, rather than that it needed to land before sunrise on the apogee solstice.[63]

Meanwhile Loquatius Seelie and Laerryn arrived into the Meridian Labyrinth and dispatch the remaining k'nauthi who were attacking an eldritch battery, saving all but one battery, which was sufficient to land Avalir safely.[60] Laerryn then realized that with the battery out of commission she couldn't plane shift the city unless she shorts the tithe to the Gau Drashari. She told Calum Staffwright to do so, promising she would take the blame.[60]

The most of the party reconvines around the Tree of Names, and Nydas realized this was the exact tree from the prophecy, figuring out that the tree was the reason behind extraplanar beings vomiting blossoms. Laerryn began to cast Blight on the tree to destroy it when she saw Evandrin in the branches. He grabbed her wrist, and the rest of the present Ring of Brass, except Loquatius and Patia, tried to stop her. Nydas pleaded with Laerryn, telling her that if the tree fell, so did the city, but couldn't stop her from casting Blight on it. Zerxus saw Evandrin's scared face in the tree. Evandrin cried out "Not like this!", and Laerryn's Blight hit the tree, which split in half. Vespin Chloras emerged, his face skinned. Asmodeus was behind him, and stepped into the world of Exandria, along with the rest of the Betrayer Gods.[60] The devils swarmed Avalir and its sister city of Cathmoíra.[64]

The Ring of Brass learned that the Betrayer Gods intended to awaken the primordials sealed beneath Toramunda, Rau'shan and Ka'Mort, and side with them against mortals and the Prime Deities, and this would end in total destruction.[65] Laerryn determined that, given the similarity of primordials to the energy of leylines, she could use the Leywright to instead send the primordials to another plane.[66] She was able to do so successfully, averting total annihilation, although the release of energy from the activation devastated not only Avalir but the continent of Domunas.[67]

Legacy[edit | edit source]

The city's failure at the outset of The Calamity caused its name to become the basis of the Elvish word "savalir" (guilt) by 585 PD. A notable usage of in the name of the Savalirwood (formerly the Veluthil Forest) in the Greying Wildlands.[68] Avalir itself was remembered as a pre-Divergence city in 843 PD: Imahara Joe, a tinkerer with an interest in Age of Arcanum automata, and Orym, who does not have background in academia but "vaguely" knew of it.[69]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:49:41.
  2. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:05:29.
  3. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:50:25.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:28:47.
  5. "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 6:54.
  6. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 38:53.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 2:56:34.
  8. "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 3:03:14.
  9. "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 1:28:38. Travis: "Towards the Cloudstone?" / Brennan: "Towards Cloudstone, yes. Yeah, off towards your home. Exactly."
  10. "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 5:08:50. Travis understands Cerrit's home to be in Cloudstone. Travis: "I'm going to make my way to the Cloudstone and I'm going to gather— First of all, I approach the Cloudstone cautiously. I expect an ambush at every corner. I'm gathering things for Kir, things for Maya."
  11. "Excelsior" (E3x01) from 1:29:00 through 1:30:15.
  12. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 2:37:31.
  13. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 38:27.
  14. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 58:18.
  15. "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 2:52:16.
  16. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 41:49.
  17. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 1:00:53.
  18. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 43:28.
  19. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 31:59.
  20. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 39:01. The Architect Arcane, a position in the Court of Workings, is mentioned in relation to civic construction
  21. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 3:13:28.
  22. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 3:04:58.
  23. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 1:11:37.
  24. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 1:34:00.
  25. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 1:29:21.
  26. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:33:21. An operator of the psychometric chamber, presumably also a member of the Eyes of Avalir, refers to Cerrit as "Sightwarden", suggesting that they are not also a Sightwarden.
  27. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 52:30.
  28. "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 3:59:13.
  29. 29.0 29.1 "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 44:04.
  30. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:38:47.
  31. "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 3:54:28.
  32. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 3:42:42.
  33. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:53:35.
  34. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:53:24.
  35. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:18:06.
  36. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 34:55.
  37. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 36:13.
  38. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 45:34.
  39. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 59:39.
  40. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:36:53.
  41. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:39:52.
  42. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 2:35:44.
  43. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 2:45:48.
  44. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 2:04:57.
  45. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 2:39:55.
  46. "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 3:46:36.
  47. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 3:54:58.
  48. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 3:31:26.
  49. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 42:17.
  50. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:50:42.
  51. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 1:06:45.
  52. 52.0 52.1 Twitter Post-finale Chat with the Exandria Unlimited: Calamity Cast. Full transcript and recording of their discussion can be found here.
  53. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 3:29:55.
  54. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 1:11:07.
  55. "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 1:06:33.
  56. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 1:04:20.
  57. 57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 57.4 57.5 "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02).
  58. 58.0 58.1 "Excelsior" (E3x01).
  59. "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 4:32:54. Brennan: "Now, as you are all wrapping up your business, it's about one o'clock in the morning."
  60. 60.0 60.1 60.2 60.3 "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03).
  61. "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 2:39:37.
  62. "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 3:53:52.
  63. "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 4:20:52.
  64. "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04).
  65. "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 2:34:42.
  66. "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 4:03:47.
  67. "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 6:00:35.
  68. Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) on Twitter: ";)" (May 27, 2022) — in reply to: "So if the city Avalir is the beginning of the calamity and "Savalir" means "guilt" in elvish, does this mean that the ensuing calamity caused the name of the city to represent the guilt the elves feel?"
  69. "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 3:55:24.

Art:

  1. Official art of Avalir, by Clara (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.