Excelsior, Gatetown to Mt. Celestia
Excelsior is the ideal of ideal for any berg you can think of. Gold flecked streets, orderly and secure, and rife with paladins. The streets themselves glow at night, and warmth (literally) pervades the place keeping the residents from even needing to light a fire at night to keep the cold away. In all ways, this place is just itching to try to get into the first layer of Mount Celestia like the nearby Heart’s Faith managed.
Excelsior is laid out at the top of a low hill out near the edges of the Outlands near Mount Celestia, it is not a walled city – and doesn’t need to be considering the surrounding paladin keeps that keep it safe. The surrounding plain is green and lush with rich soil and a few fields of wheat that supply the town overall with food. A nearby river provides water and power for a mill. The city itself is rumored to be paved and built with pure gold. This is screed, though screed with a grain of truth. The dark of it is that the entire town is built from enchanted brick, with silver and platinum flecks within the clay of the mix used to make them. These bricks are enchanted in their creation to glow with a faint light, and to radiate warmth. A kitten’s daydream, this place is one where you can bask – anywhere – and be surrounded by warmth and comfort.
On the edges of town can be seen a number of strong looking keeps, the homes of paladins who used to have their castles circling the town but who have since retired and brought their homes to a rest on the edge of town. The center of the city is the heart of its governmental offices, and home to many of the high ups of the place. This is also the place there you can find the majority of the temples, and the headquarters of the Order of the Planes Militant in Excelsior.
Most of the population in town is human or petitioner. They prefer to dress in white clothing, occasionally highlighted with gold or silver jewelry. “The purest of colors” or some such bunk. In either case, it leads to uniformity amongst the population, and a bit of a squint at high peak. Much of the population has a calling to a higher power, and paladins are easy to find here as well. If anything one would look at the place and think that there was almost nothing *but* paladins, but that wouldn’t be quite accurate. Thing is, if you’re not good-aligned you get noticed in this place real fast (all those paladins) and before long you may be asked to leave. Though no one would be uncouth enough to force you out if you didn’t leave on your own, you’d certainly be watched for the length of your visit and receive a cool reception pretty much everywhere you went. The folks here aren’t as judgmental as Arcadian blood… but they come right close.
Of course, the paladins aren’t the only folks in Excelsior. They also have an active thieves guild, called the Holy Shadow. This group of rogues feels they’re doing their bit to punish the wicked and the reckless – they claim they only target the non-good, and non-lawful that shouldn’t be in Excelsior in the first place. And for the most part, they keep strictly to this claim. The population of the city is at no risk from this gang of thieves, but unsavory merchants and other outsiders should keep a close eye on their pockets. Of course this argument gets a fair number of peery looks and protests that the leadership of the city is tolerating dissembling criminals. It doesn’t help that no one’s quite sure where the coin they’re gaining from this activity is going.
The Holy Shadow strictly observes certain protocols in behavior. First, a member will take no action against a lawful good person. If they are forced to come into a conflict with them, such as having a member of the town guard attempt to capture them - a member of the Holy Shadow will make every effort to avoid capture without permanently harming their opponent. Second, they are expert pickpockets and catburgelers and prefer to exercise those skills as opposed to more violent techniques. The Holy Shadow does not associate with thugs and ruffians.
The city is led by a paladin from Toril, High Chancellor Miguala abd-al Ragarin from Zakhara. She is an elderly human, who has spent much of her time in office patiently unraveling her opponents and trying to guide the city as a whole to its greater purposes on Mount Celestia. She is assisted by his viziers, the archon Blazara Lightmaker and the Halfling Mendel. For the most part she simply presides over arguments or debates, may be called to give advice in their courts, and stands ready to defend the city. She is also in charge of the town guard in Excelsior. In Excelsior there is not such thing as election, and leadership is a position taken and held by the most righteous and skilled. For the moment that is Miguala – but rumors hold that her health is fading.
The second most powerful leader in the city is Thotatis of Tyr. He is the most senior of the paladin guard, and holds the strongest keep outside of the city. Thotatis himself is a stern and upright sort who only accepts perfection in his men and followers. He came to Excelsior after decades of action on Toril - eventually turning to the planes out of a desire to do a greater good for the greatest number of people. He firmly believes the current leadership of Excelsior is directly responsible for the city’s failure to shift to Mount Celestia. In his view, Miguala has failed to curtail the criminal element in town and failed to accept her responsibility. He has even of late accused her of collaborating with the thieves to maintain control of the city.
Sancia Rosalia is the youngest of the guard, barely past mid-twenties and a paladin of Mithras. She is a remarkably compassionate if stubborn woman with a fierce passion for the welfare of others. Sancia is planar born, the daughter of indentured farmers in the Outlands near the other side of the ring. At a young age she says she heard the voice of her power speaking to her to free herself and her people, and formed a rebellion that led her family around the ring to safety near Excelsior. In keeping with the habits of her god, she spent much of her career in the dress and manner of men, only becoming comfortable with a more feminine appearance after her arrival in Excelsior. Even now, she may often be mistaken for a boy, or effeminate male, by those who have not met her before.
The city of Excelsior is only roughly broken up into districts. The center of the city holds the highest towers and kips of those high ups that don’t have their own paladin keeps. Outside the center can be found the homes, inns, markets and other buildings of the town. The fields of wheat that keep the place fed and the clay banks of the nearby river that produce bricks for building are found just outside the edges of the residential areas. The paladin keeps circle outside, around the hill orbiting like moons around the city.
The Towers
At the center of Excelsior the shining white towers of the city rise easily twice the height of any other building in the entire city. This structure is the oldest within the city and predates all of the current buildings. It is crafted out of a naturally gleaming stone (as opposed to the bricks of the rest of the place) and has roots below in the hill on which Excelsior sits as well as it’s heights in the sky. The towers are slender but strong looking buildings and within them contain the majority of business, government and spiritual worship of the city.
Within the towers there are quite a large number of winding stairs, most of them tangled in such a way that without a guide you would get lost, though most of the residents are more than happy to give you directions so that it rarely a problem. The tangle of the stairs and their odd configurations, which at times ignore any boundaries of gravity or sense, have led some of the scholars of Excelsior to believe that the stairs may be an extension of the Infinite Staircase, or under some similar effect. The roots of the tower are deep within the hill, though most of the population of Excelsior rarely explores in that direction. Most of those chambers are dusty and unused, opened only when the residents of the tower need a little bit of extra space. Otherwise, most of the residents of the tower virtually forget about the lower levels. The occasional youthful explorer has returned from these chambers with tales of grand galleries, full of glowing warriors in golden armor and magical images of the towers afloat in the sky like a grand keep of its own. These are generally dismissed as fairy tales as the children are never able to lead their parents to the same rooms they say they say these images in.
The chambers of the towers are tall, much taller than the average human, with thin buttresses supporting their weight. The majority of the rooms in the towers are carved from the same gleaming white stone as the outside, and there are intricate abstract carvings throughout. It is of note that no one in the city knows who originally designed or built the towers, just that they have always been at the heart of the city on the hill. The height of the stairs throughout the towers seems built for a species with slightly longer legs than the human average. (Those who inquire about reshaping the stairs of the towers have generally met with a smile and polite inquiries as to their health from the elderly High Chancellor Miguala who climbs them each and every morning.)
The Observation Deck
All of the stairs of the towers will eventually lead you back to the same place, the Observation Deck. from here one can get a commanding view of the entire terrain surrounding the city, including glimpses of Fortitude, Courage and Tradegate – the three closest towns. The view here is something that most visitors to the town are encouraged to partake of. This is also the most common gathering area for the high ups of the area where the matters of the city are planned and discussed before decisions are made.
The Council Chambers
The council of paladins and advisers which assist Miguala in her management of the city, meet in a room accessible by many of the stairs throughout the towers. This central chamber is heavily carved with the abstract designs and patterns of the makers of the tower and has a single chair built into the far end of it that is carved from the material of the floor itself. The room enjoys great wide windows with white silk curtains that are usually left free to drift in the breeze while the council is in session. Behind this room are the private chambers dedicated to Miguala and her retinue. The far wall of the chamber depicts an image of Mount Celestia itself, with each layer outlined in abstract shapes.
The Tower of Prayers
The tower of prayers houses the temples of all of the paladins of Excelsior. Understandably, that makes for a lot of temples. Most of them, especially the powers who only have one or two representatives in town lay claim to smaller rooms or shrines near the base of the tower. Those with more prominent powers, or who need more room are near the top. The three largest temples within the tower of prayers are those of St. Cubreth, Tyr, and Bahamut.
The Tower of Swords
The Order of the Planes Militant can be found in nearly the same number as the paladins of Excelsior. This military order is based out of the first layer of Mount Celesita and is dedicated to protecting and defending the sanctity of Mount Celestia. For the most part they use the Tower of Swords in Excelsior as a staging ground for all of their other activities. The Order observes those who pass through the gate to Mount Celestia and are extremely critical of flaws they perceive in Excelsior – especially the continued presence of the Holy shadow. They consider (rightfully) that these flaws are what prevent the city from merging with the plane, and have no interest in seeing it merge without being purified of these flaws.
The leader of the Order of the Planes Militant of Excelsior is Housewarden Dolphius Brightwind, a planar born of Mount Celestia. He has put a temporarily halt to the actions of the sect within Excelsior, recalling a number of those stationed further out in the territories of Excelsior. Those who ask are politely informed that Dolphius is restructuring his troops to take a stronger action against encroaching Blood War mercenaries within the area. Rumors hold though, he is recalling troops in preparation for Miguala's passing - and few have any idea what role he may take in the coming conflict.
Lucendio’s Books and Study
This is a bookstore and library nestled at the foot of the towers. Lucendio is a mage who, after a lifetime of adventuring decided to retire to Excelsior and set up kip. He has spent his years since training the occasional student and contributing to the enchantment needs of Excelsior when it comes to their bricks and the paladin keeps. He’s a kindly old man, prone to a faintly whimsical treatment of those around him. However he also is the owner of the largest private collection of books in the city and will freely allow any resident to look through his stacks of histories, fiction, philosophy and natural sciences. The books on arcane knowledge and some of the more obscure texts he keeps in a special reserve, mostly to avoid having any of his guests accidentally hurt themselves with the knowledge they would gain from them.
Waystop Tavern
Specializing in strong meads crafted from the beehives behind the inn, this is a good place for travelers who are making their way from the Towers out to any of the other gate towns around the Lands. The food here is good quality, though this is definitely a favorite place for the Order of the Plane’s Militant to hang out in.
Pilgrims Rest
A very quiet inn, this is the place that merchants and other passers through will take their bread in. It has polite staff and an excellent selection of celestial wines. The Rest is also the favorite inn of the High Chancellor Miguala, as the food and atmosphere remind her of home.
Haven
Have sits at the edge of town on the east side. It is a fairly small bar and commonly patroned by travelers or those interested in avoiding some of the more strident members of the town guard. Haven is self-policing, as its owner, Kris, is a paladin and veteran fighter himself. Beth, Kris’s daughter, has set up her own kip in the basement of the inn from which she runs her operations – divesting herself of the ill-gotten gains of the most wanted gang of thieves in the city: the Holy Shadow. The steady stream of outsiders through the inn helps her locate plenty of places to fence the goods, but the money disappears into the Halls of Shadows, presumably stored for future plans.
The Napping Kitten
A newly opened café near the Forum in the center of town this is one of the sole examples of a business in town owned by a non-lawful resident. The owners of this café, a newly married couple, are a mis-matched pair according to many of the gossipmongers in town. He is a properly lawful, well-raised boy, the son of two paladins and native to Mount Celestia by the name of Aram. She is a free spirited girl from the Lands, and a talented artist whose works adorn the walls of the café, by the name of Madilen - or Moondancer if she's in a particularly artistic and caffeinated mood. Unfortunately, according to the proper residents of the town, she is quite the whimsical sort, and has yet to be accepted by any of the others in the town. Fortunately, she’s far too sweet natured to have noticed their disapproval yet.
The Halls of Shadow
The thieves guild of Excelsior is based out of a chamber called the Halls of Shadow – this is a bit of a misnomer as there is only one hall (it’s a small guild) and they routinely move it amongst the various basements and lost chambers of the central towers of the city. Regardless of the room they hold it in though, the halls are shrouded by shadows and divine influence. It is the only reason that the paladins of Excelsior have not yet discovered the guild. What power may be behind the Holy Shadow and its actions is not known outside of their membership.
The River (and environs)
A small branch of the River Oceanus runs past Excelsior to the east. In addition to providing water to this city on a hill, the riverbanks provide the heavy clay that the city uses to build and repair its streets and buildings with. This clay is infused with the holy aspects of the water of the river, making it ideal for use in their enchanted streets. The land between the river and Excelsior is also the best farmland in the surrounding area, and is irrigated by the river. The fields are mostly sown with wheat.
The Paladin Keeps
The keeps are the most unique thing about the city and are something found nowhere else in the Outlands. These keeps are crafted for the defense of Excelsior, its peoples, and its gate. The paladins who live in these keeps are charged with that protection and use the keeps both as their homes and as their staging ground for defense of the city. As a result the keeps are the first and most powerful sign that any mercenary group, or Blood War troops will see as they approach the city – and rarely do any of these groups continue their advance.
However, floating castles really don’t just grow on trees like some theorists out in Limbo would have you believe. These castles take a lot of hard work and magical power to make, and most of them also have the backing of one of the powers of Mount Celestia to keep them afloat. Have no doubt, these are powerfully magical artifact of an arcane and divine nature and blowing one up would catch the attention of more than one entity on the plane.
This means that any paladin who ‘owns’ such a keep, is really more like a renter. He may keep the place for as long as he has it and serves its purpose. No one’s tested how far one of these castles can fly away from Excelsior – so it’s quite possible that unless the castle is being used on a mission to protect the city the magic simply won’t allow it to be taken far.
The keeps circle around the city at a range anywhere between 3 and 30 miles of the city maintaining patrol of the surroundings. They can land, causing a great deal of damage to the ground below and rattling the keep itself. It may anywhere between thirty minutes to an hour to get the keep back up in the area after landing, as the magic needs time to get momentum going and depending on how hard the landing originally was the keep may need to dig itself out of a hole. The castles have a maximum flight height of roughly 50 miles up, and can move about 40 miles in a day.
The keeps are generally equipped with enough resources to ensure that the keep and its occupants are self-sufficient. This may include a bottle of endless water, or a well with a portal to the plane of water. Terraced gardens for food (or a table enchanted with Hero’s Feast), as well as other basic necessities allowing the castle to remain in the air for extended amounts of time are common resources as well. The owners of a keep may also equip their castles with standard siege weaponry such as ballista or catapults. Simply dropping large rocks on opponents from a height of a few miles up tends to serve just as well.
Most castles are built atop a chunk of land and rock large enough to support their footprint and half as tall as the castle is tall. These foundations are often reinforced by the owner with steel beams or stone walls, but the canny and clever could find the nooks and crannies in the underside of a castle to sneak in through.
The Gate
Of all the winding staircases in the center tower, one doesn’t let out onto the observation deck. This one staircase keeps winding upwards and upwards in an ever tightening spiral until it reaches it’s very top – where it abruptly becomes the gate to Mount Celestia and dumps the climber out over the Holy Sea that is the first layer of Mount Celestia. The fall into the water doesn’t hurt (at least not if you’re of a non-evil nature), but the surprise can be rather abrupt.
Plots and Rumors
Thotatis has been the greatest challenger of Miguala’s rule in the last few years. While he has taken his challenge to a physical level, as Miguala has proven that she is still quite capable of fighting, he has made an effort to place himself in position to inherit the position upon her death. Of late, he has been keeping his castle close to Excelsior – presumably so that he may swiftly take position on the throne of Excelsior, as he considers it his ‘rightful place’. His likeliest challenge to this position is the youthful Sancia Rosalia. It is rumored that the High Chancellor is grooming her for leadership. Sancia has spent that last two months in private consultation with Miguala, and the close interaction has made Thotatis quite nervous.