Shard

Province: Ilithi

Currency: Dokora

Population: 200,000

Established: 230 BL

Alternate Names: Crystal City, Leth Deriel that Never Was

Dominant Race/Guild: Elothean

Governing Individual: Ferdahl Aemmin

Guild Halls:

Warnings: Non-citizens might get abducted to Undershard at night, lightning might strike in front of the Stormwill Tower

Overview

Shard is the capital and principal city of the province of Ilithi.

Government, history, and background

Government type

Monarchy

Prominent people

Ferdahl Aemmin
Handmaiden Inyasa
Seer Judge Osiinth
Protectorate Viirin
Leader Osur
Guard Captain Cierzen
Commander Rekave

History

Originally built by Ferdahl Corik and the Queen Morganae of the Mountain Elves, on land which once belonged to ancestors of the Outcast Tribe. After the orignal construction to city, Shard was burned to the ground by the Dragon Priests, only to be rebuilt by Ferdahl Alec.

The Gondola, the only realistic land route from the north into Shard, ceased to run when Anlorahle, daughter of Mountain Queen Morganae was killed by Sidhlot in 250AV. In 350 AV, negotiations between the Queen, Zoluren and Illithi allowed the gondola to resume. These negotiations were organized and led by Ambassador Catrayth (of no small renown himself), who was said to be highly favored in the courts of both the Mountain Queen and the Ferdahl Kukalakai.

Shard was taken over by the Outcasts, who later beheaded Ferdahl Kukalakai. The Outcasts abandoned Shard 379 years, 354 days AV (5/29/2005).

Elothean houses

The fifteen Elothean Houses of Ilithi.

Locations about town

Landmarks

• The most noticeable feature is the Great Tower, in which the leader of Ilithi, titled the Ferdahl, rules and resides.
• The Shoan a Sidelkuloa is the local theater dedicated to providing quality entertainment through regular plays, games, and other various events. Its primary patron is Lady Arkisyela, and is sponsored by the House of the Silk Strings.
• The Tear of Grazhir, Marendin, is one of Shard's prized artifacts. It is located in the Moon Mage guild of the Great Tower.

Unique shops and services

• Located just west of the bank is the Crystal Plaza, in which various traders may open a shop at any given time.
• The Shard Forging Society building is located on Xibar's Crescent Road.
• Test your luck at Bettin' Birdies, the local casino!

Shops

Aelik's Pawn Alchemy Society (Shard) Avlea's Bows Balint's Tiles Banister Mausoleum Repository Bettin' Birdies (1) Blazons and Banners Budd's Barber Shop Coin of the Realm (shop) Crimson Crane Couriers (2) Curious Cabinetry Demiciil's Armory Elanthian Travel Tours (Shard) Enchanting Society (Shard) Engineering Society (Shard) Fatimi the Dealer's Backroom Fiona's Fine Swords and Shields Forging Society (Shard) Froissart's Tannery Genevive's Sweet Tooth

Glassus' Shop Golden Phoenix Inn Grand Entrance Halfling Apple Vendor Hangman's Noose Heraldry Shop House of the Floating Reed (shop) House of the Waxen Moons (shop) Kilam's Locks Lady Atladene's Salon Lance rack (Shard) Liani's Heaven Little Frills (Shard) MAMAS Company (Shard) Malik the True Bard Meek's Stitchery Meeting Hall (Shard) Miglo's Forge Milene's Rose Inn Mirrors by Noelle

Outfitting Society (Shard) Painted Ladies Design Pale Black-Robed Theurgist Rundmolen Post Office (Shard) Scholar's Museum, Gift Shop Seats of Plenty Serene Surfaces Shard Acolyte Shard's Osut'vie Shoan a Sidelkuloa Sierack's Reagents Sierack's Reagents (obsolete) Silena's Curio Tent Silver Eye Sister Imadrail's Emporium Spires of Glory Survivalist Supplies Tokens of Affection Toy Box (1) Tremagis's Furs

Bars, inns, and taverns

The Golden Phoenix
The Hangman's Noose
Liani's Heaven
Milene's Rose
The Silver Eye

Prominent hangouts

• The Triage Building located just south of the eastern gate, is in an unassuming, though rather large, building with a set of wooden doors. (The Ilithi Militia asks that the location of triage not be mentioned over gweths during times of trouble.)
• inside the west gate

Important activities

Favors

Traditional favor orbs are available in the Temple outside the West Gate of Shard.

Task givers

There are currently no tasks available in the city of Shard.

Quests

A number of Quests take adventurers in and around the Shard area.

Justice

If you are arrested for crimes in the Ilithi province you will be jailed and tried in the Great Tower. If you are levied a fine it can be paid off in the debt collector office. Your belongings will be in a sack on a desk in the Sentinel's Office. The Sentinel's office is located down a narrow corridor in the Entryway of the Great Tower.

Creatures

• Creatures in and around Shard

Maps

• Ranik's map of Shard
• Ranik's map of Shard's Great Tower
• Ranik's map of Shard's South Bridge
• Ranik's map of Undershard
• Ranik's map of the Temple of Light & Temple of Darkness

Miscellaneous Facts

Shard is regarded as the capital of Ilithi. Its most noticeable feature is the Great Tower, in which the ruler of Shard and the Elothean people, titled the Ferdahl, rules and resides. The current Ferdahl is Aemmin. She was preceded by Kukalakai, who was killed and Walked by Raenilar during the Outcast War and remains a controversial and talked-about person and event even years after her death.

Shard was ultimately the focal point of the Outcast War. It was learned during the course of the war that the attacks that had taken place farther north, in the earliest days of the conflict, were merely conducted to disrupt and preoccupy Elanthia's fighters so that the main attack on Shard could be commenced. Raenilar was successful in capturing Shard and occupied it about three in-game years before changing his mind and deciding to withdraw to the desert without much of a fight. GMs have hinted heavily that player outcry in the form of angry feedback and subscription cancellation forced them to restore the pre-war status quo, despite the out-of-character actions of the GMPCs as a result.

Shard and the greater part of Ilithi was released as a new area in the game in 1996, following events surrounding the repair of the gondola that to this day transfers characters to it from Zoluren. Lore states that Zoluren and Therengia were aware of Shard's existence, but had been cut off from it entirely for many years. At the time, the items and creatures in and around Shard were more powerful than anything else in the game. They were able to reward and challenge "high-end" (at the time) characters. These same features today are not considered impressive, as many players have improved vastly beyond them. Releases of that very large magnitude are quite rare, and only the implementations of Qi'Reshalia and Forfedhdar are comparable in scale.

Many areas of Shard are not safe at night. If a player character stays still for too long while exposed in some areas of the street, unseen criminals attempt to assault, kidnap, and dump them in a classic-style text-maze beneath the city, known as Undershard, which can be extremely difficult to solve without the help of a map.

Shard is dominated by Elotheans and also has a large population of Elves, being founded and built by leaders of both races (Corik and Morganae respectively). The racial divides of the Elven-Human war are still manifest in the population dispersion of Elanthia, and Shard is overwhelmingly dominated by members of the defeated, Elf-aligned races.

Shard has a full assortment of Guildleaders and is considered, especially by older players, to be one of the three principal cities of the game along with The Crossing and Riverhaven.

The general roleplay climate around Shard tends to focus on the evils that lurk in the area in the form of the Adan'f, the Dark Hand, Dragon Priests and other miscellaneous issues dealing with necromancy and sorcery. Rumors of sorcerers, conspiracies, necromancy, and all manners of treachery generally abound around Shard, both in the form of external threats and government infiltration.

Additional sources

• Shard Histories (book)