Tinaris-Mal

The City Of Chains

City— Constructed at the end of The Last War, the city of Tinaris-Mal hangs over a great canyon deep in the Ander-Tinari Mountains. Vast golden chains hold the city aloft; the entire project stands as a testament to the combined power of human and Monster collaboration. The primary building material is an organically grown coral, graciously gifted to the city by Z’athrus, a Monster that makes its home there.

The People

Like any major city in Ald-Amura, summarizing the beliefs and ideals of the half-million residents is not an easy task. Citizens of the city are fiercely proud of their confederation, and they make every effort to present themselves as polite but prestigious when visiting other cities or roaming the world. The rest of Ald-Amura views the people of Tinaris-Mal as somewhat stuffy or old-fashioned, perhaps in part due to the relatively large number of libraries and historical societies based in the city, but the people of Tinaris-Mal consider themselves realists and hard workers. Indeed, their engineering confederations are renowned throughout the world for their precision and speed.

The symbol of the chain is prominent in Tinaris-Mal culture and art, symbolizing the unbreakable bond between Humans and Monsters—and as a solemn memorial to the long-past abuses of Monsters and Humans.

The current atmosphere in the city is tense. It is here that the False Gold first hit, and it is here that the relationship with Humans and Monsters feels most stressed.

Local Monster

The Speaking Swarm Of Voll-us have shared the canyon for at least the past one thousand years, and they were one of the largest supporters of the construction of the city. The Swarm, or Voll-us (used interchangeably), consists of over three million microscopic creatures that utilize their aerodynamic shape, the city’s thermal drafts, and the slipstream of their fellow Voll-us to fly through the canyon and mountains surrounding Tinaris-Mal.

The Swarm is one of the more communicative Monsters in Ald-Amura, working with researchers and Monster specialists to develop a logographic writing system to further ease communication between the two groups. This allows the Voll-us to form itself into characters outside of the city, enabling complex and in depth conversations between the people of Tinaris-Mal and their local Monster.

In addition to The Swarm, Tinaris-Mal is home to over a dozen smaller Monsters that call the city home. This many Monsters living in close proximity with one another is largely unheard of throughout the rest of Ald-Amura, where most Monsters are solitary and occupy a relatively large territory. Whispers of secret Monster meetings deep in the sewers are a common story among schoolchildren, and a trip to meet the local district’s Monster is a rite of passage for the youth of the city.

Notable Sublocations

  • The Golden Chains—Eight immense chains lash the city to the walls of the canyon. They are kept taut by a complex system of wheels and devices spread across the city that allows the city to maintain stability in high winds and in the event of earthquakes shaking the canyon walls. The system is even capable of keeping the city aloft in the event of a catastrophic failure of up to four chains. One of the Chains, known as The People’s Way, is covered with a solid road; it acts as a bridge leading into the city
  • The 67th Historian’s Society Library—Despite the unassuming name, this library, situated just off of the city’s main square, is one of the most important collections of folklore, religious beliefs, and cultural practices in all of Ald-Amura. The result of a dozen lifetimes of work, the library contains (nearly) all known examples of such practices from all across the land.
  • The Collective Pipe Runner’s Headquarters—The vast network of plumbing and piping that exists under the cities gilded surface was originally crewed by a confederation of plumbers and inventors who worked together to solve the complex problems of designing a sewage system for a city as strange as Tinaris-Mal. In the thousand years since the city’s construction, the Pipe Runner’s confederation formed a strong community of workers that live primarily in the very pipes they maintain, constructing beautiful homes, workshops, community halls, and so on under the city’s surface.
  • The Bread Baskets—Far below the city, several large communities of farms make their home on the canyon floor, alongside a riverbed that floods in the spring. These farms tend animals, grow crops, and transport the resulting food to the city via a sophisticated lift system. Most of the farmers live on the canyon floor, and they are treated as minor celebrities when they visit the city proper. A farmer visiting Tinaris-Mal is often a cause for celebration, and hosting one is an honor many imagine for themselves.

What Happens When You Arrive

  1. A chain is broken, and another is weakened. Voll-us crashes like waves against the side of the city.
  2. No one has heard from the Bread Baskets in a while, and none who have gone to the surface can be seen from the city.
  3. An ear piercing shriek echoes from the canyon walls every three hours, with no obvious origin. The people are starting to lose it from lack of sleep.
  4. As the party moves through the streets, an alleyway with a single door at the end beckons them closer. The door glistens a faint pearlescent shimmer.
  5. A new invention has gripped the city—grappleslingers, wrist mounted devices that allow one to swing from a rapidly degrading web-like fluid.
  6. The annual cleaning of the chains is well underway, with most of the city crawling over the golden chains like an army of ants.