Istal (Capital City)

## Location

a city entirely populated with vampires, deep in the Refe Forests west of Fiefs Kingdom. It has city streets lit by white Nexi that grow on the mangroves in the dense forest that natural light can't penetrate.

All around, giant mangroves grew over ten meters tall, their thick, leafy treetops blocking out all sunlight, the sprawling trees were decked with small white Nexi stones, basking the wide dirt street in a light, constant glow. In the distance, grand wooden structures with sparkling gold trimming and thin red towers. Everything glowed in the soft, white light of the mangroves' Nexi stones, as if the city was lit by hundreds of tiny full moons. the mangroves, which grew so thick and so close together, they didn't even let in sunlight from the sides of the road. Much of the trees' roots grew above the ground,intertwining with one another like a barrel of entangled brown snakes. The immense system of roots formed dark, tall walls to either side of the pathway, acting about as good a barrier as any stone wall of comparable size with long, overhanging branches of the mangroves. Istal wasn't visited by many travelers. The city had strict regulations for who can leave it.

There are a number of wooden homes, all of them well-kept and orderly. a fountain of water that stood a few meters in front of a great wooden stairway, which led up to a long building with an oddly curved roof. It was difficult to tell what the structure was for—perhaps some kind of governmental building. The central government buildings—dark structures with golden trimming and red towers reaching toward the dizzying heights of the city's biggest mangroves.

You have to wonder if even the trees of this forest were real, or if they were the result of some kind of Nexi experimentation. The setup worked a little too perfectly for vampires, Istal wasn't a huge city—it was more of a large town, if anything, especially when compared to the likes of Vursa or Setar.

It has an outdoor arena where the Rite takes place each year. It only holds about a thousand vampires, and it was one of the biggest events the city held each year.

## Vampires

vampires don't really age and can hibernate for 100’s of years. It is against the vampire code for common vampires to turn other beings into vampires, only a Seeker has the authority to do so.

any being turned into a vampire from a non-seeker is what they call illegitimate or “*non-Djinn”* vampires. Unlike the *true* vampire that are called Djinn

Most vampire families aren't related by blood the way human families typically are

Istal society in general had become slightly more accepting non-Djinn vampires but as they don’t have a seeker they have to find a mentor willing to help train for the Rite themselves. Only a few vampires a year are able to receive a Rite Nexi in the yearly fight to the death. Those who pass the Rite use a rare nexi stone in order to be able to walk in sunlight.

child vampires or “*Sata”* are an anomaly in the city, generally humans and elves who were turned into vampires by accident, or as the result of some series of unusual events they  are never be allowed to go on a hunt, due to bloodlust.