The City Out of Time

Here's the result of the one of the PC groups having a sage henchmen research the City out of Time - offered for your use and comment. 

The City out of Time

There are several competing legends about the city out of time.  All of them place the city about a half day’s travel inside the timeless forest, a place where time runs differently.  It is said that time changes like the weather inside it’s boundaries.

All the legends place the founding of the city during the second age, at a time when the ancients began spreading across the surface of Telluria.   They also all agree that the city was founded on the ruins of an older city. They also tell of the city’s magical guardians who slay those who seek the treasures of the city.  The legends diverge from there. 

Version One – The Lizard King

As the ancients began to explore the world, they found the remains of the ancient Altrusian civilization, a race of lizard people that have since degenerated into barbarian lizard men tribes.   The stonework of the ancient city became the backbone of a new city.  They new settlers discovered gems and semi-precious stones in the land under the city.  As the city began to flourish, the ancients dug deeper.  It is said that they dug too deep and awoke an ancient evil; the Lizard King. 

The Lizard King awoke to find that his ‘heart’ was missing.  He saw the plundered tombs of his children and the destruction of their ancestral home and was filled with sorrow.  It quickly turned to rage.  Using powerful ancient chaotic magic, he unleashed his wrath on the city.  He cursed the entire city, banishing it into the depths of time.  He also controls the guardians, giant stone constructs, using them to enact his wrath on those who plunder his ancient home.  The city only appears on the ancient holy days of the Altrusians, doomed to remain lost in time until his heart is returned and the Lizard King continues his slumber. 

Version two – The hubris of Rymond

The ancients had come to the timeless forest to study the magic of the timeless forest.  To support their research, they built a city on ruins of the old.  In its place arose a great center of learning and healing.  The ancients found that several crystals and herbs found in the timeless forest had healing properties. 

The leader of the ancients, Rymond, was a gifted healer and scholar.  It was said that he studied under Apollo and Athena themselves.  As he grew older, however, he began to fear the ravages of age.  Instead of seeking immortality, he sought a way to slow the effects of time.  It was said that Rymond wanted more than anything to see how the world changed.

It was thought that the prior masters of the city had worked with time.  Rymond directed his followers to dig deep into the earth to study the ancient structures of the city for clues.  The City was renamed Chroma, and the secrets of time were opened to the people of the city.

As Rymond continued to age, he began his great work, the Chroma Clock, a device that allowed the entire city, and all of it’s residents, to avoid the ravages of time.  As the final day approached, Rymond’s health continued to deteriorate.  Several members of the city elite became wary of the result of early testing.  Afraid that Rymond had mingled with chaotic magic and dark ways, they moved against the Chroma Clock.

It is said that Chroma Clock was started and as a result, the city disappeared into the mists of time, slipping back into the world at random.    Whether that was a result of damage from the assault or a natural result.

Version three – The City as Bait

Many scholars believe that stories of the city are just that, stories.  They were invented and spread by a group of bandits, the Blue Razors, operating out of the Timeless forest.  The stories attract treasure hunters and scholars, usually easy prey for an organized force.  Their victims provide a steady source of supplies for their raids on nearby relams

The Blue Razors were formed by an insurgent legate of Adamas, Edwin Solomon.  After defeat in the Battle of Ferrysville, he fled with the remainder of his troops to the settlements of the Lanis River. He attempted to overthrow the Barony of Dor, lost again, and settled into a life of banditry along the Lanis River.  When the Barons focused their efforts on wiping out the Razors, he fled into the Timeless Forest. 

It has been over 70 years later.  The Blue Razors continue to operate out of the timeless forest, preying on those greedy enough to enter the forest seeking wealth and power.    

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