Cloudlight
Cloudlight, a stronghold of knowledge and illumination, is only rivaled by Dawncrest as Nimm’s most prestigious city. Renowned for its illustrious university and its role as a sun shard guardian, Cloudlight embodies the perfect balance of education, innovation, and magical wonder.
At the heart of the city rises the Spire of Luminous Knowledge, a magnificent tower that houses one of Nimm’s vital sun shards. The spire’s architecture is a marvel in itself, with intricate designs that channel and amplify the shard’s radiance along its entire height.
University of Cloudlight
The University of Cloudlight, often simply called “The University”, is the crown jewel of the city. Its sprawling campus features a mix of ancient libraries, filled with what could be collected by brave librarians from across the world after the Battle for the Sun Shards, and modern research facilities, attracting scholars from all corners of Nimm. The University is particularly noted for its schools of Thaumaturgy, Natural Philosophy, and Engineering, producing some of the most accomplished mages, scholars, and scientists in the land.
The famous Lantern District, home to countless bookshops, magical supply stores, and cozy cafes, buzzes with intellectual discourse at all hours. Many folk claim their ideas and inventions stemmed from listening to or participating in conversations at the Lantern District.
Hub of Magic
Cloudlight’s economy thrives on education and innovation. Results of its magical research and technological advancements are seen on every street, with many graduates establishing workshops and laboratories to pursue their groundbreaking ideas. This atmosphere of creativity and discovery has led to the development of numerous magical devices and techniques that benefit all of Nimm.
Despite its focus on academia, Cloudlight maintains a vibrant cultural scene. The annual Festival of Lights, celebrating the city’s beacon and the pursuit of knowledge, attracts tourists from across the realm. During this time, the entire city is transformed into a dazzling display of magical illuminations, scholarly debates, and joyous celebrations.
As a cornerstone of Nimm’s defenses against the encroaching Wildernight, Cloudlight also houses a significant contingent of the realm’s volunteer defenders. Many students supplement their studies with combat training, preparing to protect their homeland if the need arises.
Cloudlight Locations
All Hands On Press
popular print shop and bookbindery.
All of those books in the bookstores and libraries of Cloudlight need to be made somewhere, and more often than not, that somewhere is at All Hands On Press. It is currently run by Justin VanCrow, a young man that took over after the untimely passing of the Press’s previous owner, Pol Stenson. Trained as Pol’s apprentice, Justin is still getting a handle on the business side of things, and he is in need of assistance with both bookkeeping and finding reliable shipping services.
Crousmoll Books
small but popular bookstore within the Lantern District.
Run by Lily Crousmoll, a woman of uncertain age with long, black hair and a proclivity for funereal attire. Crousmoll’s shelves are stocked with leather-wrapped classic novels, zines of contemporary poetry, and handbound volumes of philosophy. It is a major milestone in every University student’s education to solicit Lily’s advice when looking for their next bit of reading, and her influence on the political leanings of the student body cannot be understated.
Seeds and Sticks
magic ingredient supply store.
Seeds and Sticks is the local outpost of the Verdangarde guild, and it is the primary source of ingredients for students at the University. While the distribution of most rare ingredients is heavily restricted, students create a high enough demand for even the most common of plants to justify keeping the storefront open. Also found here are the paraphernalia of the pedestrian magic user, though notably lacking from inventory are jam jars, which are tightly controlled by the Cloud Coven within the University.
The Noble
large, stylish hotel.
The most popular hotel in the city, The Noble sits across The Green from the Spire of Luminous Knowledge, so it is popular with tourists, the families of University students, and visiting dignitaries alike. A crew of Marmateers might take a room here, but the tourist trap vibes will not entice them to stay for very long. The management at The Noble might be interested in hiring such a crew, however, to investigate a recent series of thefts from the hotel’s basement, and involving local authorities would result in publicity hotel management hopes to avoid.
Blue Hour Club
exclusive social club within the Lantern District.
The Blue Hour Club is the place to be for the elites of Cloudlight. The Club’s membership includes University professors, politicians, and heads of research and industry from across Cloudlight, Feushire, and as far away as Nordton. The dining room at the Club has seen conversations that went on to spark new inventions, new businesses, and new allegiances among the guilds and their factions. While Marmateers might not be able to just stroll in and sit down, they certainly could attend a meeting or event as a member’s guests or representative.
The Green
a large park at the center of Cloudlight.
On the edge of the park stands the Spire of Luminous Knowledge. Complete with fountains, birds, benches, statues, trees, and the occasional kite-flyer, The Green is a popular place for University students to meet, read, and study. The area becomes particularly busy at lunchtime, when the offices within the Spire of Luminous Knowledge empty out into the various cafes lining the edge of the park.
Cloudlight People
Professor Prendin Melegho
engineering instructor at the University of Cloudlight.
Professor Melegho is beloved by the students of the University, though he has been seen out and about less and less of late. Famously, he was the lead engineer on the most recent round of renovations and enhancements to the Spire of Luminous Knowledge. This left him with more knowledge of the Spire, and its sun shard, than anyone else in Cloudlight. Recent events have left him worrying that this knowledge might end up putting him in danger, which is why he has been spending most of his time shut away in his quarters within the University.
Stephen Tremblaux
Solen Society monk.
The Solen Society maintains only a modest presence in Cloudlight, as the Spire of Luminous Knowledge is viewed as relatively secure given the size of Cloudlight’s force of volunteer defenders. Tasked with maintenance of the sun shard’s mounting apparatus, Stephen frequently takes trips to the top of the Spire. It was during one of these trips that he discovered evidence of a break-in: a locked door near the top of the tower had been neatly removed from its hinges. He found no sign of theft or sabotage, so he did not share this finding widely. He is, however, worried about what the finding might mean, and as such would be very interested in investigative assistance.
Boris Krenash
elderly President of the University of Cloudlight.
Boris came to the University when he was still a teenager. He graduated after studying political science, but never left. Instead, he dedicated his life to helping the University grow. This included negotiating the first agreement to share resources between the University and the witches that would become the Cloud Coven, an agreement certain among the Coven have come to resent. He can be found on the Green during the day and at the Blue Hour Club in the evenings.
Maeve
witch and member of the Cloud Coven.
Maeve has been an instructor at the University for several years, specializing in the use of magical jams to interact with and interpret dreams. She would trade her services of dream interpretation for some wikenweed or dreamdrop orchid. She can also teach a Marmateer about how a jam of wikenweed and wicketreed can be used to summon a creature from a dream and bind it into service.
Francis Salt
member of the Meadowlarch guild and owner of the Cloudlight Stables.
In the southern outskirts of the city stand the Cloudlight Stables. Francis runs the stables, where marsos can be boarded by travelers visiting the city, and mossbacks can be rented for use as beasts of burden. From here, Francis also runs a successful drayage and shipping operation, though he holds a grudge against the late Pol Stenson, which is why he will not sign a contract with All Hands On Press.
Helen Indahl
manager at the Blue Hour Club.
Helen holds the keys, literally and figuratively, to the Blue Hour Club. If someone wants to gain membership, if a member wants to book a dining room for an event, or if a guild wants to hold a conference in the grand ballroom, Helen has the final say. As such, she lives a life of luxury, pampered with the gifts (she would never call them something so vulgar as “bribes”) sent by hopeful patrons to make sure their requests get her attention.
Cloudlight Encounters
A deafening explosion showers the street with shards of wood and glass
A small workshop, known as Seebold’s Shop, has just suffered a catastrophe. Within, Seebold, one of the patchfolk, is reeling from the disaster. They were attempting to repair a small clockwork device brought for inspection by Stephen Tremblaux, who had found it within the sun shard chamber atop the Spire. Seebold is not completely sure what went wrong, but they have an inkling that this may actually have been the intended effect of the device.
A pair of Lumenites, calling themselves Ess and See, are found wandering the streets
While lumenites are seen from time to time in Cloudlight, on account of the sun shard’s presence, Ess and See are unfamiliar to the locals. Flickering wildly, they find themselves drawn toward the Spire, saying that the sun shard is at risk and in distress.
A librarian, Lady Rue, is transporting an overloaded cart of books through the city streets
With the recent changes in management at All Hands On Press, the University of Cloudlight Library has been sending Lady Rue to manually collect print runs of books under the University’s imprint. She is struggling with the current delivery, which is far too large for her small, wheeled cart. She would surely be willing to trade some gossip in exchange for a hand with the delivery.
A group of students are demonstrating in front of the offices of Carabus Locke
Locke is a local politician on a public mission to contest the power of the Cloud Coven within the University; he believes the witches do not deserve so much of the University’s funding. The students have heard of this and, at the suggestion of one Lily Crousmoll, have started demonstrating and distributing zines high-lighting the importance of the Cloud Coven to their education and to the safety of the city.
Everything on The Green floats up into the air
An apparent accident has occurred as several students were experimenting with some zephyr’s dew they had smuggled out of a classroom. Everything and everyone on The Green is now levitating, with no indication as to when they might be able to come down.
In the dimmed light of evening, a hooded figure darts between alleys near the center of Cloudlight
Following this Wilderfolk saboteur will not be easy, and catching them will be even harder, but if someone managed to apprehend them, they would find a curious clockwork device that absorbs and stores solar energy, and then probably releases that energy in an explosion.