The Nameless City Campaign Art and Info
Hey y'all check out these scenes from the campaign!
Some of the art has been created using Text to Image AI technology. Please contact us if you believe you recognize any of the art.
The Nameless City
Map of The Nameless City
The Nameless City consists of 7,500 - 8,000 citizens of all different ancestry.
The city is divided into three distinct districts separated by one of the river canals. The East district, Tinker Town, where the city library is located along with the Crystalcatcher Compound of the city's Gnomish inventors. This district is often abuzz with activity and merriment in equal measure. In contrast, on the Western side of the city sits the sober Silent Grove district. Here the city's main school is located along with the entrance to the greenhouses and city food storage, along with the Dwarven mines and forges run by the Silenthammer's from their Stronghold. To the South of the Stronghold exists the regal spender of the Telinna Den and their impeccable gardens. While the gardens may be beautiful each plant cultivated is as dangerous as the Drow who reside within the Den. and despite it's uniqueness within the city few venture to behold these deadly gardens. The Northern most district is know as the Governing Lands, home to the city's more official buildings including the Court Hall, Arena, Prison, Guard Barracks, and the Nyekore Pillar, the home of the Dragonite Syndicate's Leader and their family. This district has the fewest amount of permanent residents and instead what residents do choose to reside here are often the more wealthy families not apart of the Five Families including leaders of the city's guilds, high ranking members of the guard, and wealthy merchants. There are two unofficial districts which consist of the Kell Tower plateau, which is home to the Vampires and Dhampir clerics dedicated to the Moonweaver, and the Dragonite Syndiate Meeting Hall which resides direct between Tinker Town and Silent Grove districts. Both areas are considered separate due to their importance to the city as a whole.
The city was originally populated by refugees from the war between gods on the surface world the city has grown significantly over the centuries managing to flourish where few things are able to survive. Now the citizens of this isolated city work together under the leadership of the Dragonite Syndicate to carve out their future safe from the wars of the surface...even as the dangers beneath grow stronger everyday.
City Center View from the South
This image depicts the view of The Nameless City from the Southern most bridge looking North towards the Dragonite Syndicate Meeting Hall and the Nyekore Pillar beyond. On each of the sides are buildings that consist of everything from homes, shops and everything this isolated city needs to survive.
Dragonite Syndicate
The Dragonite Syndiate Meeting Hall is one of the largest buildings in the city and is where all of the city's most important meetings between the Five Families takes place. While the Hall can been seen from almost anywhere due to the glowing green crystal that floats atop it, still nothing compares to seeing it up close from the market streets below.
Patrol from Above
The Comet Guard often patrols throughout the city in order to keep watch for potential threats from some of the Underdark's most dangerous creatures. The wall that protects the city extends high above most buildings but the warning bell towers stretch even higher and often used as conduits for climbing onto the cavern walls to the outcroppings near the ceiling. While these ledges make for the best scouting locations in the city few are brave enough to climb them. A particular half-Drow Jaz'Zara Telinna can often be found here during her shifts.
City Homes
While there may be five main families that rule over the city that does not mean that The Nameless City does not have an abudnace of other citizens as well. The population of the city is a large variety extending to Genasi, Halflings, Kenku, Kolbolds, Tabaxi and more! Their homes are scattered throughout the many districts of the city many settling near their loved ones or friends. It is not uncommon for people who are looking to start over or a change of pace to move to another district across one of the towns rivers.
The Nameless City: Tinker Town District
Crystalcatcher Compound
The Crystalcatcher Compound is a place of vast excitement and sounds. With the constant thrum of invention and craft making up most of the workshops located here there is never a dull (or safe) moment. The Gnomes of the Crystalcatcher family take great pride in their ability to craft something out of nothing and every year there is a competition to see who can come up with the most creative (and chaotic) piece. The competition is highly cutthroat and many Gnomes have lost creations and even the occasional limb to sabotage. The ability to tinker and craft is the most prized skill any Crystalcatcher Gnome can have, as such it is expected that the leader of the family also be one of the most gifted tinkerers in the city. While this certainly holds true for their current leader, Ithro "Woodsmith" Crystalcatcher, and his wife Celia "Silversong" Cyrstalcatcher as well as their son Eal "Boonstone" it does not hold true for their young heir Degalas Tricket Crystalcatcher. Degalas has been named heir to his family at the young age of 16, having gained the title after his father, Eal, was passed over for the honor, though this was much to Eal's relief. However, youth and a sever lack of discipline have left Degalas with a cruel and arrogant attitude, this coupled with his near total inability to craft even the most basic of tinker creations has created a rising unrest among the family and a growing uncertainty for the future of the family.
Library
The public library is welcome to all who would like to visit. Literacy and education are highly encouraged within The Nameless City and as such boasts a near 100% literacyy rate among it's people. This has made the library a popular destination among the people. As one of the more generously funded aspects of the city, mainly thanks to the Kell and Telinna family donations, as well gaining funds from acting as the cities largest book publisher, the library is able to offer books on a wide range of subjects and host a verity of classes and workshops that are open, for free, to the public. As the city is entirely isolated from the rest of Exandria, there is a lack of influx of outside reading materials, to combat the stagnant nature of their literature the library holds writing workshops throughout the week for different age groups encouraging people to write their own stories and contribute to the the city's stories. Once someone is done with their work the library will copy, bind, and publish the work to make it available to the public. Anyone who gets their work published by the library is welcome to have their book sold in stores as well and many people pursue this offer. There is also a trend in the city to try and discover the identity of those behind some of the city's most famous pen names. Author F. U. Sweet's identity is the most sought after due to the extremely salacious nature of their writings.
Crystal Catcher Leader's Home
Nearly every home in the Crystalcatcher Compound has multiple purposes. For some their homes double as stores, workshops, or even public spaces. However, for the leader of the family their home doubles as a public forum for all Gnomish people to come and speak with their family leader directly when the occasion calls for it.
The Nameless City:
The Silent Grove District
Silenthammer Stronghold Center
In the heart of the Silenthammer Stronghold is a small courtyard where ancient dwarven customs are preformed. As one of the only groups within the city to have additional holidays the Dwarves created their own place to celebrate. It was decided centuries ago by some of the first generations to live in The Nameless City that the Dwarves, like all of the other races within, would adopt the new holidays created by the city citizens in order to encourage cohesion and harmony among the peoples. However, while the Dwarves were open to accepting the new holidays they decided to keep some of their oldest and most important ones to be celebrated within their own domain.
Silenthammer Stronghold
The Silenthammer family of Dwarves controls the city's numerous mines. Gold, silver, and platinum are in easy supply, however the Silenthammers severely regulate the incoming flow of precious metals and gems in order to ensure a stable economy not only for the current state of the city but to ensure that there is enough to be mined by future generations. Any discovery of new veins of metals or caverns of gems is studied, cataloged, and preserved for future generations unless it is deemed necessary for the city's current survival. The Silenthammer's consider this regulation to be their highest honor and have never compromised on this no matter the pressure put upon them from other families. The Silenthammers are one of the only other families to have "school" within their own area. The classes are actually more like internships and are required of every Dwarf even if they are not directly related to the Silenthammer family and the students learn about mine operations, forging of different items from weapons to jewelry, and learning guild operations. Despite the strong ties of family that exist within the Silenthammer family all dwarves are welcome within all mining and forging aspects as all jobs are given strictly based upon skill rather than connections.
The Telinna Den
Home to the Drow Den of the Telinna the winding pathways that twist throughout the gardens here keep nearly as many secrets as the Drows themselves. As a Matriarchal peoples the Telinna Drow hold a strict adherence to societal standards. Breaking one of these rules is nearly as abhorrent as breaking the city's actual laws, in which they are tasked with upholding. Having been placed in charge of keeping The Nameless City safe the Telinna have taken to perfecting the art of magical and physical combat. Every member of the family from a young age is given the strict training in magical and martial arts. Each child is tested for magical aptitude three times before they come of age, the first is at birth, the second at the half way point before the child reaches maturity, and a final time the day before they come of age. How well the child does at each test determines the training they will receive with those showing signs of magic at birth being pushed towards training for the Nova Guard, the city's magical enforcers and spell crafters. It is considered a great honor within the family to be a member of the Nova Guard and though members of the city outside of the Telinna family are welcome to petition for the Right of 8 Trials and must demonstrate their skills in all 8 schools of magic. However members of the Telinna family are not allowed to take part in the Trials as it is understood that if they failed the 3 trials in their youth than their magic is not strong enough for the Nova guard.
The Telinna Grove: Forever Silence
The entirety of the Telinna Den is surrounding in steeping gardens filled to the brim with all manner of plants, roots, and flowers. The grounds are divided into different areas depending upon what is grown within. Some are used for potion ingredients, others are used for dyes, or trade, but some have a much darker purpose...and if you ask any of the Drow who live surrounded by these dangers they would say anyone foolish enough to enter the gardens deserves not to come out
The Magical Laboratories and
The City Guard
The magical laboratories are confined to their own tower within the Telinna Den's grounds. The tower is heavily warded in order to keep any accidents in check and the backlash of spells gone wrong contained. The building is strictly guarded with both magic and people and sneaking in undetected is nearly impossible, though many have tried. It is within these walls that new spells and magical advancements are made under the careful watch of the Nova guard elite. There is no allowance for unmonitored spell testing and anyone caught unlawfully testing magic or illegal spells will find themselves with a one way ticket to the city's Abyssal Prisons.
​
The City Guard Breakdown
​
-
Comet Guard - The lowest ranking officers, all new members of the guard start here for training extensive training. Completion of Comet Guard training takes a minimum of three years.
-
Astra Guard- Standard soldiers who have completed training and have graduation become members of the Astra Guard. This is where solders are able to being earning individual ranks and begin training or testing for specialized assignments such as:
Surface Patrol - the only people allowed to go to the surface world
Middledark Defense - who are trained specially to combat the horrors of the next layer of the Underdark such as Hookhorrors, Cloakers and more.
Knightmare Stalkers - Commonly known among the people as the "walking nightmares" these guards are tasked with combating the evils of the Lowerdark, are trained specifically to deal with the illithid and their countless minors and tasked with ensuring that the horrors of the lower levels do not make it to the city.
-
Nova Guard - The elite spellcasters tasked with the magical protection of the city and the crafting of new spell work. There are a long and dangerous series of tests that are given before one can enter even the lowest ranks of the Nova Guard, and before taking the tests one must sign a waver of acknowledgement that they may not survive.
-
Void Guard - The elite guard dedicated to the protection of the head of each of the Five Families. Most families select members from their family to be submitted for training into the Void Guard and if they pass the long and arduous training they will be sent back to the family to act as their guard. The only exception to this is the Nyekore family who, unlike most families which are typically guarded by 2 Void Guard, the Nyekore are heavily guarded with multiple squadrons at all times. While the citizens may assume this is due to the status of the head of the family, Stryken Nyekore, being the leader of the Dragonite Syndicate, it is actually because the leader holds the Key to the Gateway of the Sairina the secret well of magical power within the city known as the Faerzress.
-
Moon Matrons - These guards are made up entirely of women who are tasked with protecting the all of the artifacts, texts, relics, and sacred pieces regarding the Moon Weaver. They are stationed at the Kell Tower and are apart of a sacred order whose first and foremost duty is to the Moon Weaver. They hold this duty above all else including, friends, family, and even the city itself.
School
The school is open to everyone in the city. All students spend their earliest years in classes all together in order to gain grow and learn as one. Once the students begin to get older and their developmental stages begin to truly separate the students are separated into classes based upon developmental stages. As the people of The Nameless City have a wide range of ancestries all with different lifespans there is a different rate in which children learn and grow. For instance the Vampire and Drow live for hundreds to even thousands of years and the rate in which their children grow is much longer than that of Dwarves, or Gnomes whose life spans average a few hundred years, or that of Tieflings or Goblins who have even shorter life spans. This is to ensure that all students are interacting with those in the same life stages as one another in order to avoid any negative influence.
[A real world example would be separating the students to ensure that fifth graders and high school seniors are not in the same classes.]
The Nameless City:
The Governing Lands
The Nyekore Pillar
The Nyekore Pillar is a building constantly being constructed, it is carved out of the city's largest pillar, a combination of a stalactite and stalagmite meeting to form one massive pillar that reaches from floor to ceiling. The original Nyekore family began carving into the lowest levels of the pillar and every generation sense has carved out additional rooms, extending high into the air. While many of the old rooms are still very much in use it is tradition for the Leader and his family to have their own rooms carved out strictly for them. The current Nyekore leader, Stryken, used magic to carve out his and his wife, Ryvana's, rooms the week before their wedding as a surprise to his wife. When his wife found out she was pregnant Ryvana and Stryken used magic to carve out their daughter Valkaria's rooms. Even together it took them over a month to carve out the intricate details and the room now stands as one of the most beautiful additions the Pillar has ever had.
The Pillar is very different to most of the other areas the Five Families occupy as instead of many buildings it is instead one large one with many of the larger lower rooms dedicated to official business. There are meeting halls of various types and sizes and in the back of the Pillar exists a multilevel ballroom that Ryvana uses to host some of the most extravagant, and stuffy parties in the city.
All floors beyond the 4th floor are strictly forbidden to the public and only those with an escort are allowed to go beyond as that is were the family quarters start.
Court
The Court building has two main functions:
The first is as a trial hall for crimes to be overheard and judged upon.
The second is as a meeting hall for all citizens of The Nameless City to come and directly address their grievances to the city leader Stryken Nyekore. This is something he takes very seriously and has held more Open Courts than any leader before him. He often has his Heir, Valkaria Nyekore accompany him so that she may begin to learn about the city's oporations, about the struggles the people face, and to learn what is required to be a fair leader. The current head of the family, Stryken, is a gifted politician and leader, one of the best the city has seen in generations, and is equally known for his kindness as he is for his command of the city. He is well known for his ability to mediate but also for his sympathy towards the people of The Nameless City. When Stryken became head of the family he changed how previous leaders had interacted with the people. While previous heads of the family had taken to hearing the plights of the common people in court at most twice a week, Stryken hears them out nearly every day. Additionally he makes an effort to present solutions to the person in that moment of meeting rather than doing as past leaders have done and having a scribe take notes and contact the person at a (often much later) time. In the event that Stryken cannot create a viable solution during that meeting, he sees that the person is either presented to whoever is most capable of solving the dilemma or makes arrangements to meet once again, and more in depth, at a later time. Stryken is also well known for his walks through the city where he checks in on the inhabitants and those that have recently been to see him in court. Stryken considers these walks to be the most important aspect of his job despite many others in politics not understanding why he insists on doing them. However, his methods are well reflected within the populace and Stryken is beloved among the citizens.
Where Stryken is known for his endless kindness, his wife, Ryvana, is known for her rigorous adherence to that which she deems correct. While Ryvana is not known for any type of harsh behavior among the people it may very well be because she is hardly known to them at all. Ryvana is not known for her interactions among the people and in fact rarely does she make an appearance among the everyday people of the city unless it is with her husband. Despite this willing withdrawal from the people Ryvana has a reputation for her sharp intelligence and is rarely ever found to be wrong. Ryvana is a woman of level headedness and no tolerance for nonsense or anything she considers of ill-repute and while she knows she cannot control such behavior of those from outside the family she works to ensure that the Nyekore are as close to beyond reproach as possible at all times. This has often created tension among some of the family members, especially with her own daughter, the family heir Valkaria, but Ryvana is never swayed from her pursuit and she continues to work to ensure that no one will ever be able to challenge her husband’s position within the city or within the Syndicate due to the behavior of their own family.
The Prison
A tall round building made of stone and sealed with magic stretching 4 stories high and 10 stories below the ground. Few people ever find themselves within the city's only prison, but those who do are often there for life. Favoring community service and paths of redemption the city does not often elect to impression those who have committed wrongdoings. The cost of keeping a prison for the long term is high and the city prefers to enact productive repentance for transgressions caused. Those who are sentenced to life in prison have committed one of the highest crimes in the city of either murder, attempted murder, sexual assault, child or domestic abuse, treason, conspiring with or active association with the Illithids. Those deemed to dangerous to keep within the city are banished to either the surface world or the Lower Dark depending upon their crimes.
The Nameless City:
Kell Tower
Kell Tower
The most unique of all buildings within The Nameless City, not only due to its Vampire and Dhampir inhabitants but also because it is the only building within the city to have access to the outside world. The Kell Tower sits at the center of a large courtyard surrounding which are buildings dedicated by the Kell family to different aspects of the cities needs. on the left and right sides of the tower are buildings for those who temporarily request shelter due to unexpected relocation, such as a divorce/separation, or damaged home, or simply seeking time to clear ones mind and meditate at the temple. Other rooms are dedicated to storage of goods that are donated to the Kell during the Day of Heart and Hearth or only days throughout the year that are then donated and distributed to anyone in need. People are welcome to come request supplies or goods at any point and the Kell are generous in seeing that all who come for aid are taken care of. Other rooms are dedicated to education for subjects such as the teachings of the Moon Weaver, magical and non-magical healing classes, and a strangely popular class lead by the Druid Seer Jusinda which involves an alarming amount of mushrooms and incense that coat the tower and all of the surrounding area in a.....interesting perfume. During these "classes" many ribbons are thrown, and dancing is done and though noting particular ever seems to be taught everyone who attends seems to have had a spectacular time. At the back of the courtyard resides the official temple to the Moon Weaver. The temple is guarded though no one is barred from coming into the temple, the Moon Matrons are simply there to keep the relics of the temple safe. All are welcome within these outer buildings and many people come and go throughout the day visiting for various reasons. Of the many responsibilities placed upon the Kell is mediation. The Clerics often act as mediators for low level and individual disputes between people wo do not want to take their issue to court. This is only if there are no direct legal issues involved in the dispute and are often things like personal differences, or petty arguments, as is often the case between the many Crystalcatchers who visit frequently.
Secret Tunnels
The Nameless City is full of countless interconnecting tunnels that weave throughout the city. Some tunnels lead to dead ends, others to areas of the city long forgotten, a few lead to treasures untold, and some have been known to lead to danger and offer passage beyond the city walls. There is rumor that circulates between the few that know these tunnels exists that there are even passage ways to the Middle and Lower Dark though this has never been proven. In the time of our heroes only a rare few know these secret passageways exists, which just so happens to include Valkaria Nyekore, Asha Kell, and Jaz'Zara Telinna. All of whom have taken to treating these tunnels as their own and have had many adventures and mysteries come to life as a result. Valkaria is known among her trio for stashing secret things away in the groups main hideaway, while Asha uses the space to escape the constant demand of Kell life, and Jaz'Zara makes use of her cartography skills and spends what free time she can spare mapping out the tunnels. But hey at least they don't get lost nearly as much anymore.....mostly.
Gateway of the Sairina and the Faerzress
Hidden within The Nameless City lies a well of magic ancient and deep known as the Faerzress. The magic that thrums through this place is nearly incomprehensible to mortal minds. This well of power when used correctly could create god like blessing upon Exandria, or...in the wrong hands, could cause catastrophe to rival the Calamity war between the gods. The original refugees to the land that would become The Nameless City found the Faerzress and saw it for it's potential to protect them from the godly wars of the surface world. However...they were not the only ones to discover such power. The newly released Ilithids from the Astral Plane had sensed this magical beacon of power and sought to take it for their own. Distraught by the thought that their source of protection from the gods could be taken from them the original members of the Five Families banded together to create a device that would keep the Ilithids and their minions at bay.
Five members of the Crystalcathers, came together to construct the machine, five members of the Silenthammer Family mined and offered a powerful dragonite crystal that would act as the machine’s arcane center. A third family, the Telinna, created the magical circle that would be used to imbue the machine with its magical spell through five of their most talented spellcrafters. The fourth family, known as the Kell, called upon the power of the moon through the Moonweaver’s blessing and fueled the machine with the moon’s unwavering magic. The fifth and final family, the Nyekore made a different kind of contribution. The magic of the Moonweaver gifted through Catha, the largest of the two moons, was too strong for the crystal to take on directly. The Nyekore gifted with mages of ancient power, were supposed to come together as five and act as the conduit from which the magic from the moon Catha would enter into the crystal powering the device. But before the transfer of power could be completed the Illithids broke past the defenses and attacked. Using their psionic abilities to overtake the minds of four of the Nyekore mages and pulled them out of the spell circle leaving only one mage who had been strong enough to resist their psychic control still. Running out of time the 5th family leader, and the only remaining mage within the circle, use themselves as the only magical conduit to finish powering the device, taking on the full force of the moon’s magic and sacrificing their own life in the process. But the sacrifice was not in vain, and the result was activation of the device and with it the creation of a magical barrier whose spell would force out and keep at bay all beings with psychic abilities, pushing back and ending the treat of the deepest, most dangerous of creatures the Underdark had to offer and forever sealing the Faerzress within the city's bounds.
Between the Faerzress and the city lies the Gateway of Sairina which was built shortly after the The Machine. The Gateway is sealed shut and only the magical dodecahedron shaped Key can allow it to open. The Key is worn by the head of the Nyekore family as on honor to the first Nyekore family leader's sacrifice during the creation of The Machine. Whoever holds the key is never permitted to remove it and upon receiving the Key must make a ritualistic vow to protect it and by extension the Faerzress and the city's safety no matter the cost.
Only the heads of each of the 5 families at the time of their appointment to the Syndicate is permitted to enter into the chamber and see the Faerzress themselves and never alone, the other 4 of the five families is always escorted by the head of the Nyekore family and at the time of the changing of the head of the Nyekore family all 4 other council members join. No one is permitted in the chamber alone, and only the Nyekore hold the ability to open the chamber.
