Concordia is the main city of Horizon, and the location of the Council Chamber for the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions.
Overview[]
Concordia's population is approximately 15,000 people, most of them non-Awakened, although given the nature of the Realm there are effectively no Sleepers here either. The city grew up around the Council Chamber during the Grand Convocation, and by 1471 the current layout had taken shape.
Concordia sits in the exact center of a circular continent, surrounded on all sides by a high, beautifully decorated wall. An arm of the Qi-Nagi River runs through the city. The city is divided into nine wards, each of which is named after one of the Spheres. Nominally, the corresponding Tradition governs each ward, but crossover and cooperation are common--for instance, Verbena-run hospitals exist in four of the wards, the Virtual Adepts and Sons of Ether manage the city-wide telephone system, and the city's police force answers to a multi-tradition cabal called the Medeans. The local currency, the navid, can be exchanged for tass or Earth money, but barter is just as common if not more so.
A simple map of Concordia. Horizon's central city and HQ of the traditions.
The Council Complex sits atop a hill called Siúineir, surrounded by dormitories for visiting mages and the sprawling Archives. The Council Chamber, a building with a 600-foot dome, occupies the top of the hill and includes portals to each Tradition's proprietary subrealm. Star-shaped bastions set into the city wall draw up Quintessence from Earth and funnel it toward the ten windows of the Council Chamber, called Fenestrae, which in turn funnel the energy towards a corresponding Council seat.
Concordia's government is nominally democratic: residents of each ward vote for a Regulus who oversees that ward and reports to the Council and their own tradition. However, it is clear that the mages have final say over how the city is to be run, and could easily overrule the will of the unAwakened majority if they chose. Poverty and violent crime are almost unknown within the city, as the Council is a careful steward of resources and quick to ban troublemakers from the realm.
References[]
- MTAs: Horizon: Stronghold of Hope, p. 41, 54, 63, 65, 66, 67, 71-72, 82
- MTAs/cMET: Laws of Ascension Companion, p. 206-207