"As the aethership's engine settles, its crystals dimming and quieting their hum, the harbor of Cor Ionas stretches before you. It is a hive of life and activity brimming with a thousand coursing ships. Above, a shining, silvery skyline reaches toward Cor Gaias - a crystalline heart that hangs in the heavens, beating softly. At the city's peak, the spire of the Apex rises high, and at its base are kept the Arcs - ancient portals that can cross a year's travel in an instant. In the distance, rings of artificial earth encircle the horizons, where farmlands built from the remnants of terraformed pearls have taken new root. And far below, in the shadow of the Heart's light, a second city lies in mirror image - a dense and sorrowful refuge forgotten by those above.

 

To many, this sight is the first sign of hope in a new future - and to others, it is the last safety they can find in their escape from desolation. And to others still, it is a continuation of their suffering - fated to be tucked away and forgotten in the shadows of this shining city."

​

Capital of the Aether. Iona I. The Sanctuary of the Heart.

Cor Ionas is the aether's official capital - and its largest and most populated city. People of all origins, creeds, and species gather here to forge their futures - and in recent years, to escape the encroaching threat of the Mirrored God. Cor Ionas is among the youngest major cities, only three centuries old. It was built out of artificial and salvaged pieces of the former capital of the aether - the lost city-pearl Concordia - after the Faction overtook it. (See the Caelha race.)

​

The city is made from a massive crystalline island that orbits close to the Heart of Aether, Cor Gaias. The city is shaped like a diamond in the sky, cut in half into two pyramids, one oriented upwards, and one downwards. Cor Ionas is the nearest habitable city to the Heart - should one come any closer, its crystalline guardians attack on sight. Due to its extreme closeness, it is bathed in constant light and warm aether, giving it a pleasant and mild climate year-round.

​

The Heartlight City

The upper pyramid is the Heartlight City - a shining skyline where the wealthy and famous reside in crystal and white-stone estates encircling the Apex, the great spire at the diamond's peak. Sparkling streets spiral up the surface of the rose-colored crystal foundation, where shops, markets, and gathering places abound. Despite the wealth of its residents, visitors come here from all across the city, and even across the aether through the Arcgates.

​

The Grand Harbour

At the Heartlight's base is the largest harbour of the aether, bustling with aetherships and crowds of activity daily.

​

The Crystalline Way

The primary boulevard of the city, spiraling up from the Grand Harbour to the Apex. Along its length are all the major plazas and landmarks. It is paved in crystalline cobblestones, many of which are hand-carved with artwork.

​

The Arc

A great plaza at the base of the city houses the Arc: a massive glass-domed rotunda where sixteen ancient, arch-shaped gates are arranged in a star formation. These Arcgates are said to have been discovered naturally buried beneath the crystalline base of Cor Ionas, excavated and reassembled here with powerful magics. 

​

These gates serve as instant teleportation between the cities of the Iona, a key point of trade for all the cities that benefit from being a part of the collective. Travel is not free, and guards check identities, and charge tolls, and sometimes inspect cargo before teleportation can be permitted.

​

The Crystal Bazaar and Crystal Plaza

The Crystal Bazaar is the aether's largest multicultural market, operating day and night. It occupies many rows of streets and alleys that radiate out of the Crystal Plaza, the city's largest open-air gathering place. The Plaza's centerpiece is a pool of aether-charged, starry water that surrounds the Guardian, an ancient crystallized tree with massive, drooping branches that shade the whole plaza in dappled light. Travelers give wishes to the Guardian by tossing shards into the waters, or they relax in the grassy sitting areas and picnic spots set aside around the base of the Guardian's pool.

​

The most famous inn and tavern of the Heartlight City, the Jewel-of-Her-Eyes, caters to the wealthy and discerning customer. Its many floors provide impressive views of the city, and its tavern and restaurant hosts an array of events. 

​

The Cascades

On the lower steppes of the Heartlight City are estates and towering apartments that house the middle to upper-class inhabitants of the city. These districts are interspersed with lush gardens and parks designed to resemble natural environments, complete with small forests, streams, and lakes. 

​

The Upper Spires

Nearer to the peak, the Upper Spires are graceful, towering buildings that house the wealthy. Between these spires are larger, walled-off estates with their own spacious grounds, belonging to old noble families. Access to this part of the city is limited to people with special permissions.

​

The Apex

The Crystalline Way ends here, at the peak of the Heartlight City. Impossibly tall, it appears to reach for the Heart of Gaia above. At the tower's base is a large four-cornered plaza where four major facilities are located: the Council Chambers, Guardian Hall, the Acadaemia, and the Cathedral of the Sevensix.

​

The Apex houses many important facilities, whose headquarters are located on different floors. 

​

The Council Chambers

The Council of Iona, the assembly of representatives from the Iona's sixteen city-states, holds their meetings here in a dome-shaped building adjacent to the base of the Apex. They determine future laws and decisions of the Iona collective, and many meetings are public forums where citizens may attend and submit questions and complaints. Adjacent to the Council Chambers is the Hall of Adjudication, the city's highest court, and the second-most important court of the aether short of the Scales of Truth in Novalassa.

​

The Guardian Hall

This massive building, flanking the opposite side of the Apex, houses the Guardian Order, the Iona's city guard and military order. Within the Guardian Hall is also the city prison and barracks.

​

The Acadaemia

Short for the Acadaemia Arcana, this is the aether's largest arcane university, with a sprawling campus that takes up much of the Apex. All mages of mortal races who live in city limits are required to be trained here to be certified in a seven-year program. The Grand Libram is kept here, a repository of knowledge second only to Fable's Arcanaeum.

​

Cathedral of the Sevensix

This is the aether's largest universal place of worship. Practitioners of all degree of faiths gather here, although worship of voidal entities, Nihila, and the Mirrored God are strictly forbidden anywhere in the city. Weekly prayer ceremonies are hosted here by the Oracle of Gaia, a young female sage said to be blessed by Gaia.

​

The Queen's Tower

The upper reaches of the Apex are the living quarters of the current Queen of Cor Ionas, Lady Hyphalia. She serves as the head of the Ionan Council and is known as a kind and sympathetic ruler, desiring to see more done to help people of all kinds. Some believe she is a fool, or in over her head, but nonetheless she continues to attempt to enact change. She spends most of her time cloistered away in the Arc at the behest of the Captain of the Guardian Order.

​

The Apex Peak

The top floor of the Apex, bathed in perpetual light from its vaulted glass ceilings, is home to the Oracle of Gaia who oversees the city below.

​

​

The Betwixt

In the shadow of the Heartlight City lies a liminal space - the Betwixt, a gap between the twin cities where the pyramids are split apart. The ragged, uneven shape of this section reveals a hidden truth - that the two halves were once one, split by force.

​

But the denizens of the shadowy Betwixt do not care for divides, for they aim to bridge the gap with communication, trade, and ultimately profit. The Forum of Whispers is a market not of goods, but of services and information exchanged between the cities. Dens of various dark factions are well-established here, such as the infamous Talon. It is rumored that worshippers of chaos daimons also find their homes here, where they take up jobs as mercenary companies serving their deities' cause.

​

Not all that occurs in the Betwixt is below-board, however - it is a rich cultural mixing-pot where curious visitors can enjoy a bite of fine food, an unusual inn room, a shop of strange collectibles, or even an underground musical performance.

​

The Tesseract

At the heart of the Betwixt - at the exact center of Cor Ionas's gravity where all is upside-down, is the city's biggest-known secret: the Tesseract. This huge complex is actually a tavern and inn with uncountable hundreds of rooms, from cheap and cramped to luxurious and plush. The tavern is a gathering place for travelers of all kinds and creeds, with its many rooms catering to tastes from humble to extravagant. Its layout is strange and always changing, with its external appearance resembling a chaotic, modular structure like a puzzle cube.

 

No questions are asked of any who enter, and as per house rules, all personal histories and obligations, for good or bad, are considered void upon entry. Mortal foes may eat and drink side-by-side, but absolutely no violence is permitted.

​

The tavern is owned only by a mysterious figure called the Keeper, an entity that takes many forms on a whim. It controls a veritable army of sentient objects that do its bidding, such as keyrings to guide guests to their rooms, tankards to serve ale, and brooms to sweep up. Even the security is staffed only by sentient suits of armor and mage robes.  Some believe the Keeper is a manifestation of the gods of Memory or Change, an elder daimon, a paragon Aethrin, or an ancient nebulon of some kind. The truth is out there.

​

The Twin Rings

Encircling Cor Ionas are two slowly-orbiting rings of artificial, terraformed earth. They are nested inside each other, the Lesser Ring smaller and the Greater Ring larger. The Lesser Ring keeps livestock and the Greater Ring keeps croplands. It was once bountiful, but in recent decades it has been unable to keep up with rising demand as more and more refugees seek shelter from the Mirrored God.

​

​

The Heartshadow City

The lower pyramid is plunged in permanent shadow from the light of Gaia's Heart. Many of its denizens feel much the same way - forsaken and forgotten, buried beneath the veneer of a shining pillar of hope.

​

The Heartshadow is home to that which is forgotten - the poor and broken in search of sanctuary, and the residents of lands lost to the Mirrored God. Its chaotic, winding streets are overfilled with people desperate to eke out a living and furious at what they believe the Iona has neglected to do.

​

In its own way, the Heartshadow has been left to its own devices. Law and order are enforced by factions like the Talon, who believe they are serving an important purpose to their people. The inhabitants of the Heartshadow have found their own ways to survive, from tiny artificially-lit gardens on rooftops to entire self-run markets operated without the Guardian Order's supervision.

​

The Shadow's Meet

The 'main' part of the Heartshadow, at the flat top of the pyramid, where many of its residents attempt to lead normal lives. For the most part, it functions like its own standard city, complete with public services and its own flavor of law enforcement. Rows of houses hewn from dark stone and crystal, once excavated from the underground parts of Concordia, make up most of this district. Offices belonging to many locally-owned businesses and factions are kept here.

​

The most famous gathering-place of the Heartshadow is an inn and tavern by the same name, the Shadow's Meet, that is found at the heart of the district. A notable feature is its underground fighting ring and private, by-appointment lounges guaranteed to be magically warded from scrying.

​

Lantern Alley

As the 'night market' of Cor Ionas, travelers from throughout the city come here in search of rare treasures not found anywhere else - and in search of things the Guardian Order would not see permitted. This market is densely clustered around a long avenue and its many branching alleys, which are festooned with colorful crystal lanterns handmade by the people of the Heartshadow. Performances of sometimes daring and dangerous acts are hosted in Lantern Plaza, where an artificial "Guardian" tree stands, a sculpture of twisted metal and stone covered in ornaments and charms - some of which are dedicated to forbidden guardian deities like Nihila.

​

The Hive

Along the walls and insides of the pyramid is the dense, sprawling undercity where most of the Heartshadow's residents live, particularly the recent influx of refugees. Its many alleys and streets obey no sense of order, zig-zagging and twisting in all directions, descending hundreds of meters into the earth. Houses here are built out of whatever materials are available, often stacking many stories deep as population rises without the space to accomodate everyone.

​

The Delve

Deep inside the Heartshadow's crystal foundation are a tangle of snaking caverns where reclusive residents prefer to live in secrecy. Some of these residents provide valuable  (if illegal) services like unauthorized magics, goods, and occult secrets. If there is anywhere in the city for dark cults to thrive, it would be here in the depths...