The Arcane Arca
"Where Secrets Are Stored In Magic"
Absalom - The Free City
Founded in 1 AR by the god Aroden when he raised the Starstone from the depths of the Inner Sea, there is nothing ordinary about Absalom's history even from its very first day in existence. Its whole-cloth creation allowed for a quick inhabitation and Aroden tasked the best and bravest from throughout Inner Sea region to protect the Starstone and prevent any from moving it.
But given Absalom's tactical position in the middle of countless trade routes and its undeniable influence, many ambitious nations or greedy warlords have set their sights upon the walls of the city over the millennia, and the guarding of the city and the Starstone within has never been easy. For the past four millennia, the city has been besieged by one army after another, in an attempt to bring Absalom to its knees and wrest control of it from all others. Despite the relentless onslaught, the city has never fallen. Relics of these ongoing wars still litter the plains of the Isle of Kortos surrounding the city (known as the Cairnlands) and sunken warships clutter the harbor.
Absalom - Districts
Absalom - Ivy District
Absalom's Ivy District is by far the smallest of the city's districts. It derives its name from its tree-lined streets, which attracts a wealthier and more aristocratic demographic than the seedier parts of town located down the bluff toward the harbor. Filled with theaters, galleries, and discrete parlor houses, the district draws an eclectic array of artists, minor nobles and famous actors. The Ivy District is one of the safer parts of Absalom, relatively free from the violent crimes one would expect in Puddles or even the Coins, but with money come extravagances and thus crimes such as prostitution and narcotics thrive among the hedonistic residents.
Absalom - Pathfinder Grand Lodge
The Grand Lodge is the world headquarters for the organization of explorers known as the Pathfinder Society. Located in the Foreign Quarter of the city of Absalom, it is a massive fortress surrounded by tall stone walls. Within the outer walls sit seven smaller fortified structures, the largest of which is Skyreach, an enormous five-towered building which also houses the Society's Grand Hall. The Grand Lodge has been the seat of the Pathfinder Society for more than 400 years. Carved out of white stone, it is a five-towered fortress that can be seen throughout the city as a shining beacon of the Pathfinder spirit.
A city the size of Absalom could not function as a single cohesive unit, thus it has been divided or split naturally over time into a handful of distinct districts, each a city unto itself both in terms of sheer population and overall atmosphere, and each having its own district council to run its day-to-day affairs. From the high-class havens of the Petal and Ivy Districts to the dangerous and destitute districts of the Puddles and Precipice Quarter, Absalom's neighborhoods run the gamut of both the economic and social spectra. Additionally, austere monuments of historical and spiritual significance draw thousands of people to Azlanti Keep, the Ascendant Court and Wise Quarter on a daily basis.