Lichgate

History

Lichgate was one of the first cities created when the Elari came to Lorithandar. Reluctant to separate themselves from their planar power sources, the Elari find areas on the continent sufficiently far from each other to punch holes through to their various power sources. One of the most commonly used powers was Stygian and the steep jagged mountains to the north were an ideal location for a sprawling deep city. The greatest of the Elari necromancers and Stygian conjurers took to fashioning the ultimate necropolis... a megacity built on direct necrotic energy transferred from Stygia. Alliances with various Stygian powers and a virtually limitless number of undead servants formed the city with incredible speed. Resources like adamantine, iron, and bone abounded, conjured daily by sorcerers working tirelessly. Many of the Elari Council itself created citadels in Lichgate wanting to be as close to the power source as possible. More so than any other Elari city, Lichgate has traffic with its linked plane, and it's not uncommon to see dozens of forms of sentient undead walking its streets.

Because of the reliance on undead for most menial tasks, Lichgate has a far smaller slave population than most Elari megacities. The slave races who thrived were the smarter and more useful; predominantly the so called "Bonecaster" Orc tribe.

Geography

Lichgate was created in the shadows of the tallest mountain peaks in Lorithandar, a range of mountains called Demon's Teeth. The city itself is a hugely sprawling affair, but it's not clear from the city approach just how huge it really is, as most of the city is underground or buried in the mountain itself. Over the tens of thousands of years the older areas of the city have collapsed, or been built on top of, forming an undercity many levels deep. These levels have become entirely overrun with Stygian creatures, unattended undead, native beasts, and forgotten terrors left by Elari of ages past. A common pastime for young Elari is scavenging through the Undercity for relics of power. Many of these young treasure hunters do not return. The climate in the area around Lichgate would normally be temperate, however the city itself seems to contain an otherworldly chill that fills the dark halls.

Politics

The Elari Council members using Stygian magic rule Lichgate. They are often absent consumed with their necromantic experiments in buried laboratories. The exact number of Council members is not publicly known, but they do assemble begrudgingly on occasion to negotiate with representatives of the other mega-cities, and Stygian Lords interested in trade between the realms. Lichgate is the least concerned with affairs of the world of Lorithandar. The city operates under much less careful restriction than other megacities such as Bastion, although law is enforced for those who would interfere with the normal function of the city, or engage in destructive magic in public areas. Intelligent and well equipped undead guards keep the peace of the city, and rumor persists about the powers the council retains to defend the city from external threats... including great undead dragons and some guardian undead construct at the heart of the city.

Economy

The economy in Lichgate like most of the Elari society is a money-based abstraction on bartering agreements for goods and services. Most of the upper echelon has no need for external support, their own citadels responsible for enough food production, and conjuration sufficient for almost any imaginable supply. For materials unable to be provided in Lichgate, there is a faction of Elari who travel between the mega-cities bearing goods. The basic unit of exchange is a form of mana crystal called a "crys". The stones are not native to any of the Outer Planes and have value according to the magic used in their construction. In addition to their spending power, a "crys" can be used to draw mana for spells or enchanted items.