Zarephon is a city in the Plains of Eternity, built around the River of Eternity and the source beneath its mountain. Formerly home to the Oracles of Eternity, it is under Rahmavir's control.
City and source
Mountains enclose the city's valley on all sides but one. A massive black wall stretches between the peaks, with a gate and an opening for the river. Silver buildings, glass, iron and steel beams, and broad arcs rise above wide streets. Trees, parks and gardens fill the spaces between them, and murals decorate the buildings. A skyship dock stands near the tall buildings.
The river flows from a cavern in the mountain, where glowing essence veins illuminate walls covered in unfamiliar spells. A lake extends deep below the cavern; the source lies at its bottom. Its dense essence makes the descent dangerous, and the surrounding rock resists ordinary earth magic.
History
Oracle settlement
The first settlement grew around the valley's rich resources. Its elders monitored outsiders, while the town traded with neighboring cities and nations. Moranna brought Eira before the elders during her visit to the ancient town. Eira found a breach beneath the lake and widened it, increasing the flow of essence into the surrounding land. People leaving the cave began repeating fragments of prophecies, and fish and birds changed as the essence spread.
Abraxas guarded the source and trained the Oracles. Myriandel maintained a trade route to the city, while Rahmavir repeatedly attempted to seize the source. During the fighting, Thamrielle entered Zarephon while its inhabitants hid in their homes and took a powerful crystal from the lakebed.
Rahmavir's occupation
After the original Abraxas disappeared, his successors could not match his power. Raphael, Eliona and Azarion defeated the Oracles and claimed the source. Their attempts to descend into the lake and decipher its murals yielded little understanding of the breach. Rahmavir taught origin magic from childhood. Only a small part of its population could use it.
Zarephon was a city in the Plains of Eternity, built around the River of Eternity and the source beneath its mountain. It was the home of the Oracles of Eternity before Rahmavir captured it. Alistair destroyed the city and its source cave with a concealed technological attack.
City and source
Mountains enclosed the city's valley on all sides but one. A massive black wall stretched between the peaks, with a gate and an opening for the river. Silver buildings, glass, iron and steel beams rose above wide streets. Trees, parks and gardens filled the spaces between them, and murals decorated the buildings. A skyship dock stood near the tall buildings.
The river flowed from a cavern in the mountain, where glowing essence veins illuminated walls covered in origin-magic spells. A lake extended far below the cavern, with the source at its bottom. Dense essence made the descent dangerous, and the surrounding rock resisted ordinary earth magic.
The source was a breach connecting the mountain lake with the lake beneath imperial Zarephon. Essence flowed through it into the plains. Ozaith created the breach when he left the other Valrindor, collapsing gravity until the boundary between worlds broke.
History
Oracle settlement
The first settlement grew around the valley's rich resources. Its elders monitored outsiders, while the town traded with neighboring cities and nations. Moranna brought Eira before the elders during her visit to the ancient town. Eira widened the breach beneath the lake, increasing the flow of essence into the surrounding land. People leaving the cave began repeating fragments of prophecies, and fish and birds changed as the essence spread. The prophecies came from messages Thalena sent through the breach from imperial Zarephon.
Abraxas guarded the source and trained the Oracles. Myriandel maintained a trade route to the city, while Rahmavir repeatedly attempted to seize the source. During the fighting, Thamrielle entered Zarephon while its inhabitants hid in their homes and took a powerful crystal from the lakebed.
Rahmavir's occupation
After the original Abraxas disappeared, his successors could not match his power. Raphael, Eliona and Azarion defeated the Oracles and captured Zarephon without major damage. Rahmavir opened a direct route to the city and integrated its people with the former Oracles. The occupiers studied the murals and trained origin-magic users, though the spells in the source cave remained beyond their understanding.
Destruction
Eliona and Azarion agreed to help end the fighting if Eira, Kaelion and Xarion closed the source. While the three descended into the lake, Alistair entered the cave concealed by illusions. He planted technological objects in the cave wall and struck them with a cosmic beam concealed by illusions. The explosion destroyed Zarephon, the source cave and the forest toward Lake Eternity, breaking the city's wall and bringing down its mountain.
Eira, Kaelion and Xarion escaped through the breach to imperial Zarephon. They had not closed it, and it remained open after the city's destruction.