Vestige Materietúm

The Vestige Materietúm, sometimes simply The Vestige or Materietúm, is a demonic-controlled city in the Near Umbra of Waking Materia's surreal, coterminous realm, the Duskscape. Despite being created and overseen by a league of demonic families, Materietum is populated almost completely by Material humanoids, save for a handful of its "keepers".

While demonic accounts are notoriously variable and subjective, it seems the city is a sort of giant terrarium or ant farm, with the objective of observing (or preserving) the Material population within without making them aware of their highly unique situation. There are unconfirmed rumours it also acts as a zoo of sorts, with demons able to pay to explore it for entertainment or research; nonetheless there's consistent agreement they are not allowed to reveal themselves. How the residents are kept from questioning the obvious smallness of their world is unknown; potent enough enchantment magic or advanced enough bioengineering are both within the grasp of certain demonic cultures.

Perhaps the most thorough Waking documentation of Materietúm belongs to the Dragon Knights of Tallarax, in their Umbral Encyclopediæ. It describes a city of more or less Late New Rozsan architecture, with typical resident species like Meranthic humans, drow and arakh. In fact the overall style is so late in the First Age there is even suggestion the city was rescued from the apocalyptic destruction of the Deluge, however the theory isn't popular as it would have required a great deal of advanced knowledge about the event. Any such foreknowledge has never been established among the demons.

Whether or not it's true that the Vestige was intentionally rescued from the Deluge, it represents the only surviving microcosm of the otherwise extinct New Rozan civilization.

Type
Illicit, Other

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