Vorel’Arux

The following features correspond to numbered areas on the map.

1. Entresol: Dragons on their way to an event in Vorel’arux sometimes arrive early to socialize with neighbors or start informal debates. The entresol surrounding Vorel’arux proper functions as a meeting place and lounge.

This sloped area is covered in grass. Black dragons cultivate several strains of sorrel and clover amid the grass, and a pleasant scent always wafts in the air. Hollows in the grass form comfortable nests in which dragons can recline. Crushed gravel lines a few of these nests for dragons who prefer the texture— not identical to that of a bed of coins, but enjoyable nonetheless.

At intervals around the walls, large silk awnings hang from wooden frameworks, providing shade for members on particularly warm days.

1. The Stadium: The Valley of Beauty takes its name not only from its aesthetics, but its conical shape. Circular rows of roosts surround the main floor of Vorel’arux. Amid flowering bushes and exotic trees, smooth hollows and carved wooden perches await draconic inhabitants.

A dragon anticipating a long evening might bring an assortment of gems and coins in a bag of holding to spread out in one of the hollows and form a comfortable seat. A Tapestry member would never think of stealing from another member, and it’s considered poor manners to evaluate another’s hoard during these events.

Some dragons prefer to sit or stand, making it easier to gesture and emphasize their comments. For these individuals, wooden platforms contain deep, curving ridges suitable for sinking claws into.

1. The Forum: Vorel’arux’s floor holds three raised stages, each carved from imported densewood. The northern stage is called the Forum, and dragons use it to argue their points in debate or deliver lectures on theology, philosophy, politics, and many other subjects.

When a particularly important issue arises, members of the Tapestry shut down the other two stages and open the Forum to all. Each Tapestry member takes a turn delivering his opinion on the stage, if he wishes to, and the audience asks questions to clarify the issue.

A secure cavern ward (Dr 85) cloaks the Forum stage. Tapestry members consider it important that every member be allowed to speak his mind without fear of magical interference.

1. The Auditorium: Dragons possessed of talent in the performing arts practice their craft here. Singers, dancers, orators, and actors have all performed in the Auditorium to the delight of their draconic audience. By custom, only the most talented dragons perform in the Auditorium, but if an amateur does perform, or a performance goes badly, the audience reacts with polite applause. Catcalling and booing is considered extremely rude and unbefitting of Tapestry members.

An auditory enhancement allows the sound of performances in the Auditorium to clearly reach nearby spectators without interfering in Forum debates.

1. The Gallery: The third stage in Vorel’arux is a platform for silent creation. Dragon sculptors, painters, and writers can reserve the gallery to create in public. Some Tapestry members find it soothing and intriguing to watch others create. Some bring their own projects and work from the Stadium while they watch. The Gallery is a silent area, but one filled with great effort and achievement.
2. Fountain: In the center of Vorel’arux, positioned between the three stages, stands a magnificent fountain. Crafted of rose marble and yellow glass, the fountain rises almost twelve feet tall and spreads out forty feet in diameter. Water cascades down in multiple layers, over engravings of dragons, stars, and arcane runes, and spills into a large pool on the lowest level.

The water functions as a greater pool of scrying (Dr 85). Members of the Tapestry use the pool to gather information for discussions and to monitor their allies (such as Chamber agents) on missions elsewhere in the world. The user can scry on others using this pool just like the standard scrying spell. Spellcasters can cast certain spells through the pool at objects or creatures they are scrying upon, as the greater scrying spell.

1. Archives: Hidden beneath the Forum stage is a preservation chamber. Countless scrolls, tomes, and records fill the shelf-covered walls. Here, members of the Tapestry store their collective knowledge and keep records of their activities.

Tapestry members trust each other to borrow materials only for a short time, and to replace borrowed items promptly. However, by mutual agreement, powerful spellcasters laid a dweomer on the hidden door that requires two people to open the door simultaneously; otherwise, it remains closed.

A Tapestry member who comes across valuable knowledge is expected to store it here for the betterment of all instead of adding it to her lair.

The center of the Tapestry is Vorel’arux, the Valley of Beauty. In this haven of intelligence and free thought, dragons of all colors intermix to share their opinions and knowledge. Vorel’arux is aesthetically pleasing, but its true beauty comes from its community of cooperation and tolerance.

Approach

Traveling to the Valley of Beauty requires a long trip through dragon lands. Approaching strangers are ordered to retreat immediately, and receive only one warning. Tapestry members aren’t bloodthirsty creatures, but they recognize the importance of protecting their sanctuary.

A 60-foot-tall white stone wall circles Vorel’arux. Dragons fly over the wall with ease, but landbound creatures find it contains no doors or openings of any kind. The structure is 8 feet thick, has hardness 8; each 10-by10-foot section has 1,440 hit points.

Dragons of all colors flit about; the sun reflects off their scales, bouncing multicolored patches onto the wall and buildings of Vorel’arux.

Features

Vorel’arux is almost always inhabited by at least a dozen dragons, and security concerns sometimes seem pointless. Still, its inhabitants realize that danger often comes in a manner and at a time least expected. One or two dragons are assigned to patrol the city and keep watch for any threats.

Spellcasting dragons laid powerful wards on Vorel’arux, protecting it from divination attempts. All areas in Vorel’arux fall under the protection of a missing chamber lair ward (Dr 85). A spellcaster attempting to use divination or detection spells or magic items on anyone or anything inside Vorel’arux must make a DC 16 caster level check, or the attempt fails. Many sections are also warded with secure cavern (no one can use spells that detect, influence, or read emotions or thoughts, including wish and miracle, and any scry attempt that scans the area does not work) and inscriptions of privacy (anyone scanning the area causes it to glow softly; anyone scried upon in the area can attempt an opposed caster level check to receive an immediate mental image of the scrier, along with a sense of his direction and distance, accurate to within 1/10 of the distance).