Negav

Danger: Very Low
Sub zones: neko village
Inhabitants: humans, nekos

To the humans living one Felarya, Negav City is more or less their current capital. An oddity in the wilds, so far Negav city has withstood whatever dangers the jungle have thrown at it. It has been partially destroyed, rebuilt, conquered, flooded, and struck by fire, but it's still here. While most humans settlements in Felarya are hidden or discrete, Negav boldly shows itself, as if to challenge Felarya and its voracious inhabitants to destroy it.

Due to its perceived invincibility, Negav serves as a crossroads and oasis to the many would-be travelers, adventurers, mages, and traders that find themselves on Felarya. The nearby Ascarlin mines has caused the city to rapidly grow, covering over 90 square miles. An important community of nekos live there as well as humanoid species from many worlds. Typically, the only predator you will find in this city is of the criminal type.

Structure

The city itself is surrounded by a massive wall, a marvel of science and magic combined. It towers hundreds of feet tall and is covered with powerful cannons and other weaponry. The entrances to the city are few, and far too small for something like a giant naga to fit through. In addition, these entryways are heavily guarded by not only weapons, but also all manner of detection devices and identification spells, to ensure that nothing sneaks in that isn't welcome. The entryways can also be sealed off in an emergency, with massive reinforced doors able to close in the blink of an eye. The architects chose not to reveal all of the wall's secrets, but one of them is that it appears to be made from almost pure Xy'Thium, an incredibly rare metal.

Within the walls, the city of Negav is a sight to behold. It's not an especially beautiful city, but it's swarming with life. The congested and busy streets, full of noises, shouts, and buzzing with thousands of conversations offer a striking contrast with the rest of Felarya and its untamed wilderness. After the Great Destruction that took place under the reign of king Micolon, Negav has been rebuilt in all of its former glory, and excesses. All manner of gleaming towers, imposing temples, bustling markets, noisy taverns, mage academies, and archives of artifacts can be found within this busy metropolis. There is even activity beneath the ground, as there are many levels of subterranean dwellings.

In the center of the city on the top of a large tower stands a large purple crystal (roughly 20 feet tall) known as the Isolon Eye. It was built by the Ps'isol magiocrats that currently rule the city, as a testimony to their formidable power. Very few understand how it works, but what matters is that it seems to keep many gargantuan monsters at bay through some unknown magic. In fact, the larger the creature, the more pronounced the warding effect is. The crystal is guarded constantly, because should it be damaged, destroyed, or stolen, then the entire city could be potentially overrun by ravenous predators.

The city is currently governed by the Ps'isol magiocracy, a council of very powerful mages. A power struggle exists however, between them and a part of the military which remain in the hands of the Vishmitals, an advanced race that arrived in Negav after the Great Destruction.

So far, plans to expand the city toward the Ascarlin mountains to the west have been constantly delayed, as the ground is crumbly in this area and some of the magiocrats worry that expanding the city would be crossing the line and would doom the city to the same terrible fate that befell Ur-Sagol long ago...

Nekomura

Danger: Very Low
Inhabitants: nekos

While a sizable population of nekos now live within Negav, a much larger community remains outside the safety of the city's walls in the Nekomura village. Nekomura has a somewhat rustic feel to it, with simple dwellings on the ground and various structures built into the sides of the great trees that surround them. Interestingly, instead of traditional rope bridges linking the tree dwellings together, there are merely straight ropes! Given the amazing balance and agility of nekos, sprinting across a half-inch rope is as easy as running across a wide stone bridge. The people here are mostly content and feel relatively safe even though they are outside the protective walls of Negav. This hasn't always been the case, however.

History

For nekos, living in Negav among humans has never been easy. Even under the reign of Micolon the neko king, tensions were simmering between the two races, with nekos being often on the receiving end. During the Great destruction, when a good part of Negav was destroyed and Micolon eaten, the local neko villages badly suffered as well, with many of their inhabitants being devoured. In the aftermath, nekos survivors helped the humans to rebuild and reinforce Negav.

Humans were grateful, and when the dust of destruction and rebuilding settled, many nekos remained in the safety of the city, feeling welcome at least. Several years laters however, racial tensions were again running high, not foreign to the fact that king Micolon was held as the sole responsible of the catastrophe in the heart of many Negavians.

When the Ps'isol magiocrats took power, they "encouraged" nekos to leave. A large number of nekos followed this advice, feeling that proximity with humans wasn't bringing any good to them. They set out to construct a separate village a short distance away : Nekomura. Under the term of the agreement, Ps'isol magiocrats offered the nekos a Crystal of the same kind than the Isolon Eye in Negav, as a sign of "eternal friendship".

It's however a mere shadow of the original, as this one only stand less then 5' tall, but it more or less serves the same purpose: it helps ward away large predators that might otherwise feast on the village. However, unlike the Isolon Eye, this one must be regularly recharged by the mages of Negav...for a fee, of course ! This treachery has keep the bad feelings running high between Nekomura and Negav, however the nekos will dutifully pay as they know the crystal is the only thing keeping ravenous predators away. There have been recorded instances where the crystal weakened enough to allow a giant naga a large enough window to snatch away villagers before being finally driven back by the magic.

Thus the two populations don't interact too often, save for base trade and sometimes knowledge sharing, however a large number of nekos both within the village and within the city will frequently offer their services as scouts in the jungles of Felarya. Infact, the nekos scouts are so well known and respected that even the isolationist Delurans have turned to them on more than one occasion to assist in scouting duties.

• credits to Servomoore for the base idea and design of Negav and to Veeshan 123 for the redaction and many ideas.