Pyllia, the Cosmic Crossroads

Overview
Location	The north-western side of the Spriggan Trench
General Characteristics
Population	Millions
Key Details	Sector-wide neutral meeting territory

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Pyllia, also known as the Cosmic Crossroads, is a Chorus of the Dying God territory made of sprawling, disconnected cityscapes and towers overlooking incredible vistas. It is a neutral meeting place for all nations and shards within the Calliope sector. The Chorus themselves are rarely seen and offer use of Pyllia to any who wish to use it with little oversight.

All Gates can connect to Pyllia, making it a natural meeting place for all space-faring civilizations. Pyllia's own Gate is situated at the center of the territory, with space vessels of all kind coming and going constantly at all times.

As eras come and go, Pyllia remains. It offers newcomers and ancients of the galactic stage a place to meet, trade, and negotiate without concern of other forces forcing their influence upon them. It is unknown if the Chorus of the Dying God created it, but they have been its caretakers for at least the last two eras.

Within its hallowed halls and physics-defying open-air expanses, wars have been declared, alliances formed, and more, deciding the fate of individuals and nations alike.

Imagine an archipelago of ivory towers of unimaginable heights, gardens that stretch for miles, waterfalls and rivers. Take that image and set it into space, paradoxically open to the heavens, yet perfectly safe to traverse without need for magical or technological protections. Ships of all kinds drift by, overhead and under you.

Whatever it is that you want, you can likely find it within Pyllia.

There are two rules in Pyllia.

The first rule is a strict “No Killing” policy. All occupants of Pyllia are protected by a strange force that wraps them in a protective golden cocoon if they would die as a result of violence. Their attackers are captured and politely seen out of Pyllia.

The last rule is that everyone pays. Each person has to pay an amount of Gate Credits each day or they are seen out of Pyllia. Most individuals pay ahead, often for days or even years. Claiming territory is likewise taxed and Pyllia's resident caretakers, the Stewards, offer a variety of services in exchange for Gate Credits. While the fees are small, they are large enough that there are few permanent residents of Pyllia.

Pyllia is a sprawling, system-wide metropolis of magic, technology, and divinity. It has been the meeting point for civilizations old and new alike.

The traces of those old civilizations are largely present in the architecture of the buildings they left behind, which are always well-maintained. The islands and structures are impervious to harm or tampering beyond the sorts of minor changes that are appropriate for a new occupant settling in. Few secrets can be discovered beyond their architecture and those hoping to make a breakthrough by using ancient knowledge are typically disappointed.

Not all traces are gone, however - from time to time a trinket or artifact that missed the Stewards' eyes can still be found.

In general, Pyllia is what its residents and visitors make of it. If it would be interesting to find, you likely can. If you wanted to separate an operation of your own, you could. So long as you can afford it, Pyllia has what you're looking for.

At the heart of Pyllia is the Dawn Gate, an immense tower. The base of the tower is built around a Gate Terminal, allowing ships from across the sector to come and go. The tower stretches far above the gate and is the location of most of Pyllia's central administration offices and diplomatic chambers.

An archipelago-like collection of islands drifting across thousands of kilometers of space. Rolling nebula-like clouds, motes of starlight, and more unusual sights abound in the shifting territory of Pyllia. Islands move about lazily, often changing location entirely as the weeks and months go by. Cities have been built upon the islands in eras past, which are settled by newcomers as eras come and go.

Somewhat paradoxically, Pyllia seems to respect the shardic influences of its occupants. Magic, technology, and so on work following whatever rules they had where they came from without impinging on the rules that other beings operate under. Powers or abilities that would be harmful to other residents or Pyllia itself, however, seem to stop about 1cm away from the originating being's body.

Overall, this makes for a surprisingly comfortable environment for those staying in Pyllia.

Pyllia has no true natives. It does, however, have Stewards. Stewards are humanoid entities that wear beautiful hooded cloaks of white, purple, and gold. What different species see within those hoods varies - humans see a human head, for example. Stewards are helpful neutral entities who seem able to speak all languages. They can provide directions or general information about Pyllia itself.

Stewards appear when they are needed, always from out of view.

It is Stewards that enforce Pyllia's rules, including escorting people out of Pyllia. They seem impervious to harm and impossible to stop, displaying incredible feats of strength and dexterity if the situation calls for it. If an individual is too much for a single Steward to deal with, more Stewards 'arrive'.

From time to time, Stewards will appear and simply observe important events. The more Stewards, the more important they expect the event to be. When the event passes, or doesn't come to be, the Stewards disperse.

All trade and taxes are conducted in Gate Credits. You can find legitimate and illegitimate business of all kinds in Pyllia.

Pyllia has no culture of its own and is instead a melting pot of the cultures that inhabit it. Its (relatively) safe environment, the price of remaining within its territory, and the awe-inspiring views of the territory itself inspire a certain type of living. On the surface, Pyllia can often seem like an idyllic place to live and carry out business. Out of the public eye, an abundance of shady business is run by Pyllia's less than savory residents.

Optional. How is this location run? Does it have one person in charge or many? How do they organize? Are there any political tensions?

Pyllia is run by the Chorus of the Dying God, though they are surprisingly hands off. They make use of Pyllia in a manner largely the same as any of the other civilizations throughout Calliope. They happily offer themselves as a neutral mediating party to any who want their services for a modest fee.

As with resident fees, civilizations or individuals wishing to claim part of Pyllia for their own use are expected to pay a rental fee for the territory. The fee is high enough to prevent any one group from buying up more territory than they reasonably need, yet low enough to not make doing so a burden. The specifics of the fees vary based on who is buying them and enforce the “just high enough, but not too high” suspiciously well.

As a neutral territory with properties uniquely suited to allowing various civilizations to meet, Pyllia has often been a place where the sector's leaders and ambassadors meet to conduct their duties.

Pyllia typically has whatever resources that its residents and visitors bring with them. From time to time, unique or unusual resources will appear within the space near Pyllia, which the Chorus is happy to arrange competitions for.

There is more than enough space for all but the most massive of ships to transport people from one island to the next, so visitors often bring shuttles or simple transport craft with them when they visit Pyllia. “Spaces lanes” are loosely enforced by all of the realm's occupants; occasionally, a civilization will decide to set up a policing force for these lanes. This tends to last about as long as the other occupants are willing to put up with them, the duration varying based largely on their effectiveness and manner.

For those without them, the Stewards of Pyllia offer ferry services. Ferries are open-top, gondola-like boat with no discernible magic or technology. The Steward stands at the back and guides the ferry along. It casts off gentle waves of cloudy, nebula-like wake as it moves.

Ferries are always exactly large enough to suit the purpose and comfort of its passengers, a fact which the Stewards are pleasantly dodgy about. Passengers who tip beyond the ferry fee sometimes find their ferry to be a little larger and nicer on their next trip.

While various prominent members of the Chorus appear in Pyllia from time to time, the helpful, yet enigmatic, Stewards are often the most memorable part of someone's stay.

From day to day, other noteworthy characters come and go, such as ambassadors from Calliope's various civilizations, merchants from various shipping guilds, and so on. Indeed, because of Pyllia's resident tax, few people who can be found within its territory aren't notable. Those who aren't tend to be working for, or well-connected to, someone who is.

Required. What should characters expect to get into if they go here? What do people say about it?

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• Player Whisper created this on 2023/04/25 19:40.

This content adheres to Project Multiverse's submission and usage rules.

• This location can be used by anyone. Players are encouraged to create new locations and use Pyllia as they wish, so long as that doesn't conflict with what's presented in this article.
• In the event that location's creator is no longer available, Pyllia should be managed by the Staff.