Karvasii, The Burned, Sloane

The vast, reed-like grassland known as The Burned is home to a great many strange and unique fauna and flora. However, these pale in comparison to the roaming city of Karvasii. Powered by the elements, driven by ritual and community, and sustained by stewardship and conservation, Karvasii is a cloistered enigma that appears and vanishes when it pleases. Its streets and neighborhoods are divided into sections and are set upon tracks that determine its way through the reeded grass. Its movements are dictated by the interpretation of the winds that race across the open plane and facilitated by arcane-powered clockwork machines and the brute strength of Earth Elementals. Constructed entirely of harvested grasses, roots, stones, and crystals, the city’s towering buildings baffle those who happen to catch a glimpse of the Verdant Wheel moving to its next location.

Home to many different communities, Karvasii is self-governed. There are few laws and no figureheads to dictate life to those living in the moving city, only longstanding traditions and expectations. It’s divided into 8 major sections: Head, Heart, Hands, Feet, Blood, Mouth, Stomach, and Bones; each with specific purposes and duties to keep the ecosystem of the city in working order. The Head houses the Druids and religious centers, as well as navigation. The Heart is home to the Artificers and engineers, striving to maintain efficiency. Harvesting and production of raw materials like food, fabric, and building materials happen in the Hands. The Feet handle stragglers, parasitic attachments, and emergency rescue. The Blood is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of all platforms. Merchants, emissaries, and spies reside within the Mouth. The Stomach is home to herbalists and the culinary arts. And the repurposing of organic materials, be it compost or otherwise, takes place in the Bones.

The city is rarely still. It moves and changes to fit the needs of its inhabitants daily. Buildings built from processed reeds are connected by extendable bridges, winding streets, and sub-platform passageways. The towering structures are crowned in lush, green gardens of flowering plants and creeping vines. In many ways, it reflects the materials it’s made of and the slow but constantly changing landscape that its populace reveres. This reverence is divided among the personifications of the four elements. The Burning Mother, Fire, is seen everywhere among the flame colored hues of the reeded grass. The Hooded Father, Earth, is witnessed in the soil and naturally occurring arcane crystals. The Ancestral Song, Wind, is heard in the harmonies of the crackling reeds and unfurled sails. And the Wandering Wellspring, Water, is the pulse of the underground rivers and aquifers winding underfoot. Each is venerated at significant sites in The Burned. While the Hooded Father and the Ancestral Song have stationary locations, the Burning Mother and the Wandering Wellspring are constantly moving.

With no true governing bodies, Karvasii relies on its citizens to keep order and peace. They view the city as an organism or ecosystem, and each piece is as important as the next. Those who choose or seek to steal from, harm, or terrorize the community are temporarily exiled and sent on a pilgrimage to specific sites based upon their transgressions. Reconnecting to the landscape and the elements is essential to achieve before they can be welcomed back into the community. And while the city is mostly closed to outsiders, some are permitted to reside among the community. The travelers are informed of the expectations of the city and of the consequences of defying them. Nearly all travelers, with few exceptions, are using the Verdant Wheel as a mode of transportation across vast distances. The few exceptions seek a long and arduous path to citizenship and a life unlike any other. 

Karvasii is known throughout the plane for their fire-resistant building and clothing materials, made from processed reeds and roots of the flame-touched grasses of the Burned. Through a complex and ever-evolving process of alchemy and natural magic, these raw materials produce bricks lighter and more durable than some varieties of stone, planks more durable than ordinary wood, and durable yarn and fabric that is ventilated in hot weather and retains heat in the cold. The city is also known for its deep understanding of the soft spots that are scattered across the plane. It not only travels across the Burned but will make annual treks to various large settlements to trade and provide shipping and travel to those interested. Uninterested in physical money, the city seeks compensation in other ways, including exchange programs, minor positions within guilds and municipal organizations, and protected habitat of local fauna and flora.

The three moons of Sloane are significant to the citizens of Karvasii. Twice a year, the city will celebrate Dark Moon’s Renewal. A festival that occurs when all three moons are in their New Moon phase in unison. It focuses on building up the community and the betterment of oneself, individually and collectively. These are the only times of the year that some very important parts of the city are unmoving and powered down, reflecting the rare need for stillness in improving and maintaining the city. And once a year, the city celebrates the Flowering Mirror. A festival that occurs when all three moons are full in unison. The pull of the full moons draws the waters of the Wandering Wellspring above ground, creating a vast wetland in the grassland and causing the reeds to flower. This event is seen as a reflection of the care taken in stewarding the region over the past year, and a time to collect rare herbs and remedies from the flowering grasses. Even in celebration, the work of the Verdant Wheel never ceases.

Notable people and places

• Gravik – NB Warforged
  • Chief Engineer of the Motion Core within the Heart
  • Integrated the Motion Core with parts of damaged Warforged for improved communication of problems within the mechanical pieces of the city
• Ilya Thorne – M Human (Ashmarked)
  • Merchant and Curator of the Ember Archive
  • Only “surviving” citizen from the first construction of Karvasii
• Rilk – M Goblin
  • Head cook at The Parlour
  • Known for his boisterous personality and his famous Burnroot Stew, sought after for its mild hallucinogenic side effects
• Mazara – F Tiefling
  • Dreamspeaker and Navigator
  • One of the three navigators charged with plotting the city’s course across the Burned and believes the Burned is dreaming
• The Veilstone Academy
  • Nestled within the Mouth District, the Veilstone Academy is dedicated to producing individuals skilled in the arts of negotiation, subtle manipulation, and gathering information. Individuals with applicable talents are sent here when they reach the age of service.
• The Crown
  • The top of the tallest structure within the Head District. Said to be the most biodiverse place within the city as it houses Archdruids of several different circles. Its appearance changes each time a new Navigator takes the “helm” and for each ritual during the year.