Radiant Citadel

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5e's noblebright setting, a city in the Deep Ethereal Plane is built on top of a gargantuan snake skeleton coild around a bigger crystal that can shine even through the ethereal fog, next to the menacingly looming cyclone of death.

The Radiant Citadel

founded 250 years ago (generic setting time), the ancient brass dragon, Sholeh, and an adventuring party from across the material planes she suspects were ancestors of the Citadel's maker, rediscovered it being encircled, by an ethereal cyclone, the Keening Gloom, that nothing returns from. After turning it back on, the cyclone pushed away, the life support magic got back online, and the city has now become a trade nexus between the current homelands of the Thirteen civilizations of the adventurer that survived the journey.

Being founded by Good aligned adventures, the Citadel is heavily Socialist. Still, it must remain politically neutral, despite being a haven for revolutionaries and political exiles, and much to the chagrin of a multiverse of people that wish to exploit a portal nexus (entrepreneurs, warlords, archmages, lichs, demons, devils, aberrations).

Auroral Diamond at the center, changes color between once a year to twice a week, being speculated to be the birth and death of civilizations or an elaborate countdown, like most scholars speculate. inside the diamond is the Preserve of the Ancestors, where spirits across likely the ethereal, material, mabey other planes gather, grouping based on a shared homeland, becoming crystalline amalgam creatures called Incarnates, with the Dawn Incarnates representing the founding civilizations being the largest by bigger than 12 feet tall. The incarnates possess the memories and personality of their constituents but require specific mementos so they can cox it out of them.

Planner travel is done with the Concord Jewels, which are basically crystal spaceships that teleport between the citadel and the occiated civilization.

The city is controlled by Speakers of the Ancestors; each voted in by a diaspora of the people of the civilization they represent (make up the details on how that election works), and must pass the trials of all the currently active Dawn Incarnates, all to serve a 10-year term before doing the dance all over again. Out of all the speakers over 250 years, only Sholeh of all the founders is still on the council. Having the election prosses completed as soon as possible is extremely important as not only dose each Speaker has the power to shut down all the Concord Jewels as veto power, but only they or their successor can turn them all on again. Also, if a speaker dies or leaves the citadel for more than a month, the plant life and water supply stop working. They also need all members present to turn on the city's Force Cage.

Being founded by refugees and political exiles that now must play the political game, the politicians and its rescue rangers, the Shieldbearers, have to walk a fine line between saving people while playing ball with politically corrupt governments.

Member Civilizations

Siabsungkoh

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Godsbreath

Alternate inserts:

• Forgotten Realms: Turmish region, part of featherdale in the dalelands
• Domain of Dread: you know it's not a well of place when it could be inserted into the Domains of Dread.

San Citlán

Cattlepunk Mexico. It's south of the mountains that is suspisusly a few letters misspelling of Tletepec.

Alternate inserts:

• Eberron: between the Blade Desert and Endworld Mountains in eastern Khorvaire. Fits in just nicely; just add more elves and dinosaurs.
• Forgotten Realms: on the edge of desert Anauroch near Graycloak Hills or Desertmouth Mountains; east of Tethyr, or near Chessenta's mountain range.

Population: mostly Humans, dwarves, plus others and a small number of intelligent Undead with full citizenship.

Founded by the explorer Citlali following the city's to-be Lady of death to a cenote rich in mining and on top of lay lines. After its founding and several failed invasions, colonizers took over the city for two decades before being kicked out during the Wars of Separation +++Records expunged+++ years ago, destroying during the land baron and scaring off the local fey (possibly forever, hopefully).

Like any cattlepunk, the city is what you expect from Ebberon, with publicly widespread artificing, Social inequity (which is more common than not as Dnd loves its noblity divisions), and surrounded by expansive and badly defended badlands were the other half of the dispersed population farm, mine and/or live.

Translating to “the place near Citlali” but also a pun on satan, as the first adventure involves fiends.

La Catrina, an embodiment of death is the patron spirit of the city, and she likes to be known more for her partying rather than reaping.

The ley lines of the city, thinning the border of the dead, that once a year a big festival is had to honor them, but spirits sometimes stick around in the city as sapient nonhostile skeletons or spirits called Olvidados or “forgotten,” has no recollection of the afterlife (which is typical in dnd).

Harnessing the ley lines, the Argent Congregation, a large and lose conclave of artificers and other magic users (so constant backstabbing), had created the recent explosion of industrialization in the city (surprisingly no threats of possible repercussions in the book).

The Trecena, city-state Council of thirteen elected from the citizenship+. The Dwarf landowner, Doña Estela, thier at the start and oversaw the Congregation as San Citlán’s economy began to boom. Her fifty years in office ended in a recent death, with her seat suspiciously not immediately filled; there is circulation of rumors about the Trecena now in conflict over replacing Estela or resurrecting her for an indefinite term of service. The fact Doña and her policies could comeback (with a Raise Dead spell, as a lich, vampire, dragon, doppelganger, or fake death in an elaborate scheme) blew many minds thinking San Citlán was a democracy and inspired many revolutionary groups currently squatting in the borderlands.

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Sensa Empire

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Tletepec

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Shankhabhumi

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Akharin Sangar

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Djaynai and Janya

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Atagua

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Tayyib Empire

India inspired, just got out of a big civil war.

Controversy

People don't like new things. Its release also got shoved back several times because of covid and got overshadowed by the hype and controversy of the new 5e Spelljammer book.