Vodavenya, the Wailing City

Vodavenya was a burgeoning city built in the Prynh Valley; a large clearing encircled by the Tempest Peaks. Now it sets as a ruined reminder of just how damaging the folly of mortals can be. Cracked and torn asunder by the power hungry wizards of the Weave, Vodavenya offers only suffering for those brave enough to venture into the city for its lost treasures. They enter in hunters of grandeur, and if they are lucky enough to escape, they leave the tortured place a changed and broken sort.

Early History
In the early days, just after the end of the Dragon's Rule Era, it is said that a small band of merchants and mercenaries took up camp in a picturesque clearing amidst the Tempest Peaks. They were on a mission to find the most efficient route from Marsippi to Dune Rest, which were two fledgling towns at the time. This is when they happened upon the clearing that sat nearly perfectly halfway in between the two locales.

In the years that followed they continued to make the trip. They would cut through the passage and the clearing on their way from Marsippi to Dune Rest and back again. Each trip, they took rest in the clearing, and took in its impressive sight. Surrounded on all sides by the peaks of the Tempest, a flat circular clearing covered in a field of verdant grass, a small pond that served up crystal clear fresh water to drink and wash with. It had everything you might need for a camp, or perhaps, some thought... a town.

With this inspiration in mind, some of the merchant band began to fund construction in the clearing. It was a rest station at first, a place for other merchants and caravans to stop and and take leave of travel for a time before leaving for the next leg of their journies. But, it kept growing, and growing, and growing, until eventually its size and population rivaled even Marsippi. Granted, this was in those early days, before Marsippi grew into a wonder of the world, the largest city in history. Even still, there were thousands of people now living in the valley amidst the peaks, and so Vodavenya was born.

Over time, Vodavenya grew into a place where people who sought solitude but still needed the luxuries of a populous city could make a life. Surrounded by the walls built by nature, populated by merchants and workers, it was a perfect place for studying and as such when wizards from around the world began to look for locations to build a school, Vodavenya stood out from the rest. With permission from the council that lead the town's government, they began construction of the College of the Weave, named after the art of manipulation of the arcane by ways of science, weaving the two together, so to say. This is where the first enchanted artifacts are said to have come from, before the art became more widely known of.

For a time, things were peaceful. Prosperous, even. The new college brought in a new sort of folk to the city, intellectuals and magi. Wizards, sorcerers, warlocks, bards, they all flocked to Vodavenya and the city became known as a haven for people looking for a quiet place to study, practice and master the arcane. The people who came before them, the merchants and workers who started Vodavenya, well their children now lead the city and they were happy enough to have them. For a time.

In those halcyon days, it was all rather innocent. The college mostly dabbled in relatively safe affairs behind the walls of their university campus, while the trade district of the town grew and grew. Unfortunately, as the college became a premium place of study for all of Viru, and the city continued to be a great trade hub for the southern hemisphere, laws, policies and other such governmental decisions, came under scrutiny. The arcane types who ran the college began to have very different ideas about things than the common folk and the traders. Eventually, things came to head and the council's leadership was called into question.

Growth and Change
At one point in time, the merchants and traders outnumbered the magi of the school, but as the town grew into a mighty city, the erudites began to take a much stronger hold over the hearts and minds of Vodavenya. And so when a call to vote for a change in leadership happened, the outcome surprised the merchant council. And so the government became a diarchy of sorts. The council now had reserved spots for members from the arcane university, and over time their influence on the council would only grow.

Life continued on mostly unchanged for the common folk. From the outside, however, perception began to shift. In the eyes of many Vodavenya was now a city lead by the wizards of the Weave. This misconception only strengthened their hold on the rule of the city, even as it grew larger and gathered even more folk who would call it their home. The merchants kept some modicum of control, never quite giving over total control to the wizards, after all, there was limited space in the Prynh Valley, which made agriculture limited and as such trade was required to feed the people of Vodavenya.

Meanwhile, as they grew in power in the government of Vodavenya, so too did they grow in power in the arcane. The study of magic grew leaps and bounds with the people of the world free to practice it without draconic overlords to forbid them its nectar. With study came opportunities to try out new sorts of magic, with new peaks of power. Wizards and Sorcerers began to reach new heights of power that had never before been seen, at least not at such a regular rate. All-powerful wizards were a theme throughout history, but to see them grow so freely... it was something of an arcane renaissance.

With this power, the experiments became more promising, but also more volatile. With a majority of the hold over the government, it was also difficult to stop them from taking up these most dangerous of tests and follies. Many of the merchants left on the Vodavenya Council saw the college as a ticking clock, it would only be a matter of time before the toying with powers beyond them would hurt the city.

They were right to worry.

The Arcanaclysm
Little is known about what exactly caused the oblivion that befell Vodavenya and crossed its name from the world map of Viru. Only the ramifications remain for historians to ponder over. That picturesque valley that was nestled comfortable amidst the mountains, is now a craterous ruin of jagged buildings torn into pieces by the explosion. There were no known survivors of the end of Vodavenya, it was a tidy armageddon that left a scar on Viru that stands as a cautionary tale to others who might dabble in magics they do not understand.

Most of the city is now covered in the sickly yellow glow that emits from the cracks of the shattered land. The dead don't stay dead, and the arcane energy that now proliferates the ruins has created foul and unknowable monsters that roam the streets. Those same energies make traversing the lands nigh impossible. Ignoring the monsters and the gnarled remnants of the inhabitants that once called themselves Vodavenyans, the arcane energy itself is enough to affect people who wonder too close or stay too long within the Prynh Valley.

If all this wasn't enough the city moans. She cries out in agony, or so it would seem to those unfortunate enough to travel through the city at night. The ground itself seems to wail and moan in discordant tones that almost sound like people... hundreds of people howling out in lament.

The Ruins of Vodavenya
None of this stops people from entering the ruins and the train tracks that were built by Marsippi to travel through Vodavenya and end in Dune Rest, still stand as the main means of travel between the two cities. The trains are now built to resist the arcane energies, but passengers get a dreadful view of the canary cataclysm as they pass through the desolated city.

Meanwhile treasure hunters have began to make excursions into the city. They look for riches and there is much to discover. In the time before the shattering of the city, it was a place of unrivaled advancement and prosperity. From a technology standpoint, it rivaled even the Whenwhile Wealth, and from a riches standpoint, it stood between two of the worlds superpowers and many grew wealthy off of this fortuitous position. Magic items, treasures of the rich, Vodavenya has much to offer a soul brave enough to enter the wailing city. Unfortunately, making it out with your boons is as rare as the loot is plentiful.