Praenubilus Astu

From The Heretic Knowledge Vault

Current hangout (and, as far as we can tell, sole surviving city) of the elves. Most of what we know about it comes from Sarine (reasonably enough, being that she's an elf and all), who teleported off to it when she got back from her unsettling encounter with Kawaii and Nookie. The image of it that she sees on arrival suggests a combination of Manhattan, second-rate but gaudy hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, and underground missile complex in North Korea. No wonder she doesn't like the place.

Location

Apparently its exact location is a carefully guarded secret, unknown to the general population of non-elves. However, one of the little tidbits revealed by Sarine (nominally to Jon and Sara, but we know it was really for the benefit of us readers) is that it's in "southern Veracia," geographically speaking. Having attacked the Elven Barrier, the Veracian Church knows full well where the Elven Territories are. It is Praenubilus Astu that they are not too clear on.

The road to Praenubilus Astu

As Sarine explains here, all the old and ruined Elven Travel platforms were retrofitted with the latest Elven tech, while keeping their scruffy appearance. This gives the Rangers a private and clandestine travel network, separate from the Tsuirakuan one. The travel platforms around Praenubilus Astu are all a fair walking distance from Praenubilus Astu for security reasons.

Once visitors (elves, that is) arrive at the mountain above Praenubilus Astu, they still have to get into the underground city. According to Sarine, there is an elaborate security system involving a big gate with detection glyphs that can tell the difference between elf and non-elf, as well as a number of other security features that may not be staffed in this decadent age. Beyond the gate are "lifts" leading down to the city.

History

We discover here that Praenubilus Astu is the last of the elven capitals, and that all the others were destroyed in the Errant War. Sarine gives a quick rundown, referencing the human names;

• Farrel - Buildings built into the sides of trees. They were indefensible and destroyed early on.
• unknown (probably Malacia) - Something like Tsuiraku but even more pretentious.
• Emerylon, Veracia - Medieval style city with a big castle made of gold. It was destroyed and then looted. A thousand years later, it became the site of present-day Emerylon.

In this same conversation, it was confirmed that Praenubilus Astu is indeed the last of the elven cities, the former capital of the Cimmerii, and that most of the remaining Elves live there. Further, that Praenubilus Astu only survived because it is buried deeply underground, inside the mountain.

From 18Dec07

"Seth": Just because they're in an underground magical city doesn't mean that they don't Eat, Drink, Crap, & Breathe. There almost has to be a service entrance, sewer line, underground-river, or air shaft that they can exploit.

"Poe": Those and all emergency escape routes are made in such a way that trying to enter the city through them would be extremly difficult too suicidal to do.