Nova Petra

Riftborn humans, minor halfling and elf merchant communities. Predominantly middle-class artisans, merchants, and water priests.

A delicate tapestry of power: the Duke commands civic law and trade, the High Priestess tends to the sacred springs and rites, and the guilds whisper their influence through a semi-formal council.

The city’s natural fortifications have inspired awe and dread in equal measure. Towering cliffs form an unassailable barrier on three sides, their sheer faces carved into watchposts and arrow slits. At the city’s narrow entrance stand the great Gates of Triumph—massive bronze doors flanked by crenellated towers and guarded day and night by the Duke’s men. High atop the cliffs, hidden paths and secret tunnels allow defenders to outmaneuver invaders, while warning horns echo through the canyon to rally the watch. To besiege Nova Petra is to pit one’s army against the earth itself.

Life in Nova Petra is fueled by the rhythm of trade and the steady hand of its craftsmen. From dawn to dusk, the Sapphire Market bustles with pilgrims bartering for relics and artisans displaying their wares—jewels cut from the canyon’s heart, silver beaten into intricate filigree, vibrant dyes distilled from hardy desert blooms. Caravans bring grain and livestock to feed the populace, while great slabs of quarried stone and amphorae of sacred water depart for the Empire’s farthest reaches. Pilgrimage, commerce, and artistry entwine here, making the city both a sanctuary and a mercantile powerhouse.

The infrastructure of Nova Petra is nothing short of a marvel: an entire city woven into the living cliffs with grace and ingenuity. Majestic aqueducts trace the canyon walls, carrying water to glittering cisterns that shimmer like jewels in the sun. Roads, meticulously hewn from stone, wind upward in elegant switchbacks, connecting the market plazas, the sacred springs, and the noble terraces above. Beneath the surface lies an intricate labyrinth of tunnels and vaults, ensuring that the city hums with quiet efficiency—its communal ovens, amphitheatres, baths, and vast stone marketplaces all testament to the mastery of its builders.

• The Heights: Nobility and temples
• The Market Quarter: Merchants and artisans
• The Springs: Sacred waters and rituals
• The Outer Gates: Inns, caravansaries, and guards’ barracks

Vast water reserves, gem-studded quarries, sacred silver mines, artisanal wares.

Guild of Stone

Guild of Water

Pilgrims’ Brotherhood

Temple of the Springs

Merchant Consortium.

Founded in 112 AR after the Rift’s western canyons stabilized, Nova Petra was designed as both fortress and sanctuary. Over the centuries, it became a pilgrimage site thanks to the discovery of the Sacred Springs, which the faithful believe to carry healing properties.

The Sacred Springs

The Amphitheatre of Echoes

The Carved Gate of Triumph

The Sapphire Market

For pilgrims and wanderers, Nova Petra is more than a destination; it is a dream made stone. Visitors from across the Empire and beyond come seeking the Sacred Springs’ fabled waters, reputed to cure ailments of body and spirit. Others lose themselves in the Sapphire Market’s splendor, or stand in hushed reverence before the Amphitheatre of Echoes where every footstep speaks back a thousandfold. The city’s inns and caravansaries brim with stories of miracles and fortunes won or lost, making every visit a chapter in the visitor’s own legend.

Nova Petra’s architecture is a love letter to permanence and beauty. Columns and archways carved directly into the cliffs, colonnades painted with celestial motifs, and domed sanctuaries of polished marble greet the eye at every turn. The walls are adorned with intricate bas-reliefs depicting Imperial victories, Riftborn myths, and the quiet devotion of the city’s masons, whose craft has rendered the cliffs themselves into art.

Nestled within a canyon of rich red and gold sandstone, the city overlooks a river that winds through the canyon floor like a ribbon of azure light. Jagged cliffs protect it on all sides, while desert plains beyond give way to distant mountains. At dawn and dusk the stones blaze with colors that even Imperial painters fail to capture—an ever-shifting canvas of light and shadow.

Dry and warm, with cool nights. Occasional seasonal rains fill the springs and bring blooms to the canyon floor.

Abundant fresh water, silver, precious stones, and hardy desert flora.