City of Brass
Ervenian Era, 1051 AB
The City of Brass blazes upon a vast concavity of hammered aurichalcum and burnished brass, drifting over fire-seas or hovering above an older scar of obsidian that crazes and weeps heat. A covenant of wards bends smoke, tempers glare, and holds the ambient fury to merely unbearable, skin-safe for the warded, gear-scorching for the careless. Everywhere towers spear the ember haze, minarets bleed sparks, and lava aqueducts thread the air like molten arteries.
Governance, Law and Custom
Sovereign
The Grand Sultan of the Efreet rules through viziers, pashas, and guilds of forge, chain, lamp, and ash.Contract Primacy
Signed, sealed (heat-stamped), and witnessed oaths are binding in law and fate; the Pact-Brand sears the breaker.Quench Law
Water is contraband beyond ritual and industry; coolth is measured, licensed, and taxed.Guest Right
Envoys under ember-signet are inviolate within their quarter; outside it, the street has teeth - This right is conditional.Security and Hazards
Cinder Guard
Efreet legionaries with salamander auxiliaries; ash hounds for scenting lies and fraud.Forbidden Acts
Unlicensed water magic; oath-breaking; summoning that tampers with civic forges; sky-lane trespass.Common Dangers
Contact burns (any brass rail), falling slag, ember pickpockets, mirage muggings, and contract traps phrased in beautiful High Ignan.Customs and Rites
Salat of Sparks
At Dask, palms to brazier, breath to ember; a whispered vow carried by heat.Ember Fast
At Zenith, there is no shade, no drink which proves mettle; stewards ladle thimblefuls of saffron brine at bell’s end.Oath-Quenching
Contracts are cooled in scented oil; the smoke bears the names to city spirits as witness.Ash Alms
A pinch of ash to the beggar brazier to honor those made fuel for the city.Geography
The Brass Basin curves like a colossal shield, rimmed by wind-towers that sift ash into usable fuel. Within, stacked quarters step down toward the Ember Core, a heat well capped in latticework where fire-falls descend from lofted channels. Streets are copper-veined and glass-slick from centuries of footfall; alleys glow with furnace-light; terraces host braziers the size of cottages. Above, sky-chimneys plume saffron, and suspended bridges of black steel cross rivers of orange-white fire that hiss and bead where they touch brass.
Notable Locations
The Grand Seraglio of Flames
Palace-temple-furnace; audience halls glow like dawn inside a bell.Crucible Court
Public foundries where petitions are cast as ingots; let your case take shape.Market of Smoking Lamps
Genies’ wares, bottled winds, bound embers, and dangerous curios behind smiling stallkeepers.Scoria Docks
Lava-barge port with chain-cranes and spark-signal towers.The Quenched Ward
Embassy enclave with legal coolth, tiled pools, and the Marid Serail (heavily audited).Anvil of Writs
A basalt altar anointed with oil, are contracts hammered shut; oaths ring true (or crack).Ash Archive
Soot-script library; burned books reappear as legible residue upon command.Phoenix Eyries
High lattice nests; feathers traded dear, moltings celebrated by nightflight pageants.The Lampwright’s Spiral
A tower of stair and flame where everburning lamps are tempered and tested.Chain Gardens
Suspended parks of black linkwork and heat-thorn; nobles promenade in fire-silk.Travel and Access
Approaches
Brass sky-docks receive spelljammers and windborne palanquins; magma ports berth salamander barges; obsidian causeways allow caravan entry (heat-shielded).Gates
The Furnace Gates (wide, roaring portals) open by tariff and time; Lamp-Gates (lamplighter portals) open by name and coin.Permits
Visitors receive a graded Ember Visa (Skin, Gear, or Cargo) dictating where their protections hold.Transit
Chain-trams over fire canals; ash-sleds along cinder boulevards; fire-resistant palanquins for the well-connected.Economy and Practice
Exports
Heat-rights, fireproofing, enchanted brasswork, weaponry, bound elementals, exotic fuels, lampcraft, ember-silk, phoenix ash. Imports: slaves (where permitted), ore, rare woods (for alchemy), spices, glass-sand, and coolth licenses.Fees
Heat-Tithe on every furnace, Quench Duty on water, Spark Toll on flying traffic lanes.Inhabitants
Efreeti nobility and their households dominate; salamanders, azers, fire giants, magmin, and mephits (magma, smoke, steam) fill crafts and cohorts. Fire elementals and ember-wraiths serve as municipal labor. Mercane factors, devils under compact, and hardy mortals trade in specialized quarters. Phoenix flocks circle the high thermals during festival nights; ash hounds prowl the lawless margins.Localized Phenomena
Ember Rain
Glittering cinders fall in sun-showers; beautiful, blistering where cloaks are held like canopies.Heat Mirage Lanes
Parallel ghost streets seem open but lead into chimneys; locals read the shimmer like a map.Brass Memory
Touched metal retains prints and heat-signature for a day; forensic divinations gain advantage.Fume Currents
Whispered words can ride smoke; eavesdroppers station incense-bowls to net talk.Coal Squalls
Sudden black gusts reduce vision to a blade’s length; cough-masks are mandatory in the Low Kilns.Trait Type |
Description |
|---|---|
| Gravity | Normal. Air is thin and superheated; updrafts are common near chimneys and firefalls. |
| Time | Normal. |
| Shape & Size | A metropolis of continental ambition; districts accrete, sink, or are remelted and recast by decree. |
| Morphic Traits | Hierarchically morphic. The Grand Sultan and viziers can reshape plazas, streets, even skyline with ritual edicts; lesser efreet may refashion their holdings with licensed forge-rites. |
| Elemental Energy | Fire Dominant. |
| Alignment | Neutral. |
| Magic | Fire, heat, binding, oath, metallurgy, and smoke/illusion are enhanced. Water/ice, cold, and plant magics are impeded; large conjurations of water require a Quench Writ or are instantly fined, seared, or both. |
Type
Dimensional plane
Location under
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