#ketria

Talejiah, the hidden sanctuary

In the depths of Ketria’s forests, near the source of the river Tal and nested in the crystalline nest of a valley, lies the human sanctuary of Talejiah. Like other sanctuaries, Talejiah found its own ways to protect itself from Ikoria’s monsters. Where others fight or put themselves out of reach, Talejiah hides. Reaching the valley is hard enough on its own, but wouldn’t deter all monsters. In addition to it, a powerful enchantment courses through the crystals all over the city, in around, integrated to the architecture of many buildings and most clothing. They do much more than warning of approaching monsters, they also hide the city and its dwellers from all senses, and incite the monsters to keep away from the valley.

Due to the abundance of crystals in Ketria and the deeper magical connections elementals of all monsters have with them, the arcanists and elementalists of Talejiah have a better understanding of the connection between crystals and monsters, and have learned to make use of it in various ways, allowing them to create and constantly refine the hiding enchantments. Initially only keeping elementals away, the resonating magic through the crystal valley now affects monsters of all clades. Of the monsters that have come near, only the monster known as Illuna proved completely immune to its effects, having at one occasion come flying right above the city and watching it, deflecting any and all spells targeted at it before flying away. Although, where the invisibility works on all monsters (and even humans), the deterring field has a hard time reaching cats and nightmares, as well as a minority of monsters of other clades, which sometimes lead them to come near the city by accident even if they can’t sense it.

Talejiah is not only hidden from monsters, it is also hidden from humans of the other sanctuaries. While its defenses could be used elsewhere, they require the crystal density of Ketria to be effective, but the underlying magic could easily be abused for other means. As such, the city keeps its real abilities and extant a secret, only trading with other sanctuaries and outsiders via outposts that are paraded as Talejiah. A facade of a minor sanctuary. 

Of course, information and secrets are hard to contain, which is why the magic to influence monsters through the crystals is highly regulated, and only taught in the city proper. Further measures are taken to avoid it being spread further. The crystal network and magical field that envelops the city is used to carry through various other effects, protecting its secrets and improving life all at the same time. Talejians naturally have enchantments placed on them that allows them to see past its illusions. The city’s temperature and environment is controlled through that network, and can be tuned to most subsets of it. Important information can be delivered through it.