The Empty Plaza
Geography
The Gate at the Empty Plaza is a weathered black arch hovering over two Gate Guardians in the middle of an extensive flat plane of Ancient Race-crafted stone. The plane is 9 miles per side and the vegetation of the surface seems to grow poorly on it, although patches of vines and trees are not uncommon. The small permanent village of Ikar holds to a tenuous existence around the Gate itself. Over the centuries concentric circles of fortifications and walls have been built outward from the Gate. They are sometimes occupied and sometimes not depending on recent surface activity. The edges of the Empty Plaza are a no-mans-land between the outer fortifications and the beginning of the proper Surface, low rolling hills carpeted with jungle and teeming with beasts and horrors.
Surface Danger – High
The patchwork of manned fortifications are the only thing preventing the dangers of the surface from marauding around the Empty Plaza, and oftentimes the only safe place is inside the forts. To be on the Empty Plaza is to be only slightly safer than out in the jungles of the surface. The local population of beasts is kept lower by constant hunting and culling but seem to be replenished readily enough. Ikar is safest, and yet attacks on the village are not uncommon.
People and Culture
The Empty Plaza would likely be abandoned if not for providing a marginally safer venue from which to hunt and harvest rare materials from surface flora and fauna. The hides of the Tradalisk are unmatched in their weight vs. strength, the fronds of the Kerfern can be woven into exceptionally breathable fabrics, the delicate bones of the floating lizards are prized by artisans on Anvard. Components for more arcane pursuits are treasured by the Collegium and Arcanists.
Ikar is home to a lively market for such harvested materials and is inhabited by Baraki and the descendants of Anvardi Clannless who make a dangerous but profitable living keeping the town serviceable between Gate openings. They are prideful of their chosen home, and there is a high status attached to how many generations one’s family has lived there. Keeping children alive long enough to make the next generation is considered a lifetime accomplishment. The town lives in an isolation not dissimilar to being on an Island – they need to protect their gardens, livestock, and cisterns with much care. Most permanent inhabitants have built or inherited below-ground vaults where they shelter in the event of a large scale incursion by surface creatures. Travelers waiting between Gate openings pay or barter handsomely for access to such vaults.
The fortifications of the Empty Plaza are manned by Baraki tribes, compliments of Habri mercenaries, surface adventurers performing a service for the Arcanists or Collegium, and various other brave (or foolhardy) martial groups intending to test their mettle against the surface in a place where one can retreat behind stout walls. The Baraki tribes in particular seem to derive some status back on Barakeel for their time at the Empty Plaza.
Local Authority
Ikar and the Empty Plaza are under the rule of the Abasdarhan of Barakeel.
Language
Travit in the market, Baraki and Low Anvardi elsewhere in Ikar. Various in the forts.