The Glorious Lady

The Glorious Lady is a famous sculpture dating to the Vyrum age. It is attributed to the sculptor Egygax of Giancolis about whom little is known, save that his name is chiseled into the base of many works.

In it, a decidedly Vyrum-appearing Mother Nature (Baere) pours out her blessings on the ground, to coax forth the greenery of the world. A version of this work was embedded into the rock face of the mountain at Ald Ciula on a grand scale and remains one of the wonders of the world.

The original statue from which the edifice was modeled is located in Ald Giancolis, where its sculptor was born.

Seaward Enclave of Triumphax

When a bard returns from his Practice of Tenure, he comes to Heralapix and presents his Magnum Opus to the Professing Masters. In attendance are those who are already Masters of his chosen art, and any Grand Masters of any art who desire to sit in. If his work is favorably graded, he graduates and earns the approbation of his peers and the Professing Masters alike. He will often be invited to join their ranks and live out his life as a member of that faculty. 

Depending on the art form he wishes to demonstrate, the bard will find himself at one Enclave or another. This particular one is called the Seaward Enclave of Triumphax and is generally used by those who will demonstrate oratory, dance or the dramatic arts.

The Vicenary Ports of Northrun

The Ports of Northrun

Samarabad (Ald Ciula)

Tamar (Tirgus Holm)

The Colossus of Berronar

On the East edge of the sea, the Colossus of Berronar stands watch over the waves. The origin of this monument is unknown and while many have given credit to Lamon the Wanderer, that fable peddled by the Grand Temple of the Ten Divines is most assuredly incorrect.

Some hold that the construct was wrought by artisans during the 6th Age, but the most reputable sages agree that it is older than that. Such an argument is not without paradox however, as that means the work would have to belong to a simultaneously more primitive, but more skilled civilization. Also, the 5th Age is not known for any works in stone aside from the rare stela found in forested regions.

The 4th Age is sometimes credited and the site is easily identified as the Dun Berronar spoken of in the Hamurum chronicles. However, a scholar of no less reputation than Thorvir asserts that the histories of the Stoneborn indicate that the colossus was there before Dumathoin became Regn. If Thorvir is correct, then the work is no fewer than 5800 years old, and yet it shows suprisingly little degradation.

The seafarers maintain that the work was done by Algorn after the titan imprisoned the kraken.

The Vicenary Ports Pact upon the Seven Seas

In the estimation of the seafarers, the ideas of  kingdom and border and fealty are overrated. To them, all that matters is the fulfillment of contracts. The movement of cargo and passengers from one port of call to the next is the highest law. Piracy is the greatest breach of it. Between the various port cities is where fortunes are won and lost, one nautical mile at a time. The only governance such men tend to recognize are the ruling authorities of the various ports.

To promote trade and to establish a common set of rules, the Vicenary Ports Pact was negotiated between twenty recognized cities the world over. The Pact creates a loose confederation between the cities and establishes a charter to govern their agreed upon Law of the Sea. The Pact provides a means to pay tariffs that are due inland. It also establishes a way to insure cargo, to certify bills of lading, and a way to negotiate fees with the guilds. The Vicenary Ports Pact also establishes a small navy (and a corps of marines) which can be augmented with privateers. The latter type will operate under letters of authority to conduct reprisals, if necessary.

This system of governance is influenced heavily by the Satrapies of Southrun, from which it draws both its inspiration and its reverence for free trade. Not surprisingly the Seaman's Argot (the thieves cant of the sea) is influenced heavily by the Dahlese language of Southrun. All documents, charters, and licensing is written in the Argot.

The Pact is administered by the Vicegerents (representatives from each of the ports) who are headquartered in Sabaha and act from high atop the Ivory Tower. There the twenty men and their various undersecretaries administer the Pact and command the Vicenary Navy and Marines.

Each port has a local authority vested in the Viceroy whose job it is to receive a bills of lading and to grant a clean bill of health to ships, and his Vice-admiral whose job it is to command the local fleet of the navy and the company of marines, and his Vicereine, whose job it is to dedicate ships.

The Heralapix in Ald Ciula

Ald Ciula, the Provincials call it. The Bard's College, others say... but everyone who has attended there calls it, Heralapix. That is an insider's nod to the school's founding during the glory days of the Vyrum Empire.

The road there leaves the shores of the Dagger Sea and winds along an artificial river flowing down from the mountains. The Way the road is called and it sweeps wide just before coming to the city gate. There travelers can see that the granite face of the mountain has been carved and shaped into the massive visage of the Glorious Woman. Her arms are stretched out before her and she seems to greet all who approach.

It would be wrong to grant this monumental carving to the Vyrum. Great artisans and architects were they, but the sculpture predates the 6th Age. Indeed, some say it had its origin before even the First. That would be the Age of Chaos when the elemental powers were tamed and the first of the celestial beings gave up their estate to join themselves to this world.

But it was certainly the Vyrum who turned the sacred place to a place of learning. In those bygone days, the Vyrum took humans from the uncivilized tribes of nandi and taught them. They taught them to read and write. They introduced them to art and music and poetry. They gave them gifts of sculpture and architecture. They gave them philosophy and religion. It was the Vyrum who first called them meni. But there was one Practice that the Vyrum were not prepared to share with the younger race.

The Practice of Llor, or what the Dwarves call majk, was forbidden to all but the great matriarchs of the Vyrum race. Ceding such power to others was widely prophesied to mean the end of their people. The Vyrum remembered that their civilization was built on the ashes of the Elven Empire, and that those Elves had squandered their right to rule all Erenth by unleashing Llor-created monsters on the world.

Still the highest Practice of the Vyrum was expressed in their three-fold philosophy... ciur, ciura, ciavala (wine, women and song.) In recognition of that, they sought to make the most talented of their meni servants into skilled Llorvala (or lore speakers) who could embody the highest order of their hendiatris.

Generations of meni were schooled at Heralapix before the Vyrum Empire was brought low. Then the rule of mankind rose on the ruins of the Vyrum. From the wilds the rest of the nandi came, settling into cities and taking what they could salvage from the civilization before them. They had the meni to teach them. Over centuries they grew, some of the descendants of the meni became nobles and kings among their barbaric cousins.

Since the Vyrum vanished from the face of Erenth, only scattered ruined monuments of their culture now remain, but there is none so enduring as the Heralapix. Seemingly untouched by the passage of time, stepping foot on the campus is like returning to a bygone age.

Even now, in the 7th Age, a student may only be admitted by the Practice of Legacy. That is, they possess the written recommendation of a previous graduate of the College. All true bardic practitioners, not the mere pretenders (minstrels, jesters, troubadours, mummers and other prostitutes) which set up shop in every tavern across the Four Lands of Erenth can boast an broken line of succession from the first of the Llorvala. And even the lowliest skald of Northrun can boast this pedigree.

Graduation is not granted to all who attend. For after a period of study (usually between one and four years) every Bard must compose a Opuscule and perform it to the satisfaction of the Professing Masters. Not a few of those works have been inspired by the beauty and wonder of their beloved Ald Ciula and the campus of Heralapix -- or perhaps by the sorrow of having to leave it.

If his Opuscule is favorably graded, the Bard leaves and is forbidden to return to the campus until he has made his Practice of Tenure in the world -- that is, "the Way is closed" to him. Not just closed to the graduate without Tenure, either. The Way is permanently and irrevocably closed to the many, many former students who either drop out of the Bard's College or find their Opuscule unfavorably graded.

For this reason, the sons and daughters of many lords have found admission to the Bard's College for a year, or more; and are considered Poetasters -- perhaps highly skilled and well-instructed, but not full Bards in any true Bard's estimation. Some families even consider the Bard's College a finishing school of the arts, and feel no shame that the "Way is closed." Neither they, nor their children had any real bardic aspirations in the first place. So winning the favor of an old cadre of singers, dancers, musicians and actors means no more to them than the approval of any commoner.

For the graduate, however, there is nothing more important than proving his Practice of Tenure is complete. After his sojourn in the world is up, the Bard may return to Heralapix and present his Magnum Opus. If it is favorably graded, he gains the approbation of his peers and the Professing alike. He may even be invited to join their ranks and live out his life in the idyllic city.

On the other hand, if his Magnum Opus is unfavorably graded, the Bard must return to the world and may only attempt to redeem himself in the students he manages to produce. He would hope to send them under the Practice of Legacy to the Bard's College.