Emerald City

**Emerald City** is the base of operations for the Norland invaders in the Forest Plane. It was previously occupied by the Schumpeters for centuries until Gaton had managed to rest it away from their control. After Richard became the family head, he further developed the city and pushed back the will of the forest so that the lands would prosper.

Nowadays, it is used as a transport city for those who migrated from Faelor, as well as the base of operations of the Archeron war machine.

## Overview

### **Structure**

The walls of the city were not exactly high, less than ten metres tall. Everything was made entirely of wood, clearly meant to defend against wild beasts and not enemy troops. This was because the forest elves were proficient at climbing stealthily; no matter how high the walls got, they wouldn’t pose much of an obstacle. It was the magic towers that could discover them whenever they entered the magic suppression domain.

### **Magic Towers**

They were all the most elementary of towers, primarily serving to weaken any spells cast within their domain greatly. All three combined, they suppressed Lina’s magic until it wasn’t too much of a threat. Another function came in the form of a mana attack that was comparable to a grade 6 spell. Even grand mages had to be careful with them.

The original point of these three towers was to fight the forest elves. Because the damage they could do to a single target didn’t matter all that much, they had been designed for long-ranged area offensives. Given how primitive the magic of the elves was, the mana suppression functions were extremely basic. However, if every tower was used in harmony the defensive ability was still great, especially with a saint coordinating their tactics. It was these three towers that had allowed the rebel army to fight off two attacks led by Lina despite a disadvantage in numbers.

The abilities of a magic tower depended entirely on the support of its mana pool. There were mechanisms to draw atmospheric mana into it, but there were limits to that ability. One of the best ways to remove the threat of a magic tower was to charge straight in and kill the controlling mages. Another was to empty its mana pool, rendering it useless. Of course, one could also attack the tower itself. If the defences were destroyed, the magic formations would be damaged and lose their effects.

1. Originally had 4 Magic tower 1 was destroyed during Richard's attack with Lina to push back the Schumpeters

## Plot

Emerald City had advanced greatly over the past few years, now accommodating tens of thousands of regular residents with a burgeoning lumber industry. The will of the forest was constantly retreating, and although it didn’t feel like a dent had been made the city was now clear of the will of the forest for 200 kilometres. That was 200 kilometres of land any enemies had to pass through without the natural boosts to their power. More than a dozen piles of stonewood had been piled up on the outskirts, amounting to millions of kilograms if not more. There were far too many to burn, and even far too many to transport out of the plane. Book 6, Chapter 84

### **Golden World Tree**

The core territory of the golden world tree was now a kilometre in radius, wherein it had absolute control. On the other hand, it could still exert a modicum of control all the way up to a hundred kilometres away; Richard couldn’t help but sigh at its power when he learnt it; this tree certainly qualified to be the base of an empire.

The will of the forest was extremely weak now within a hundred kilometres of Emerald City; in fact, the will had been warped into the control of the golden world tree. Now it was the forest elves and their treants who would be suppressed upon entry, turning the tables on the power dynamic completely. When the tree matured, it would even be able to suppress the original world tree of the plane.

### **Legend**

The Forest Plane’s sunless skies were gloomy as always, the dull grey threatening to wear down one’s soul. Thankfully, Emerald City had been adapted to this environment; stonewood bonfires constantly burnt in the streets to create warmth, and not far away was the Golden World Tree that provided a semblance of time’s passage. The tree was now fifty metres tall, its vast crown more than twice its height in width. It was still only a tiny sapling compared to a real world tree, but its warm light already showed its uniqueness.

When Richard first saw a small elven village amidst beautiful golden light, he was taken in for a moment by the magnificence of the scene. The evernight elves had already built a small shrine to Alucia and a moonwell; although it was a little slow, the well was filling up with moonwater. It was currently filled to the brim, and just being in proximity to it left his elven bloodline trembling with excitement. He scooped up a bucketful and examined it for a while, and when he eventually took the first sip he immediately felt intoxicated. A bit of this water could restore even a legendary mage to full mana in minutes, and it could raise one’s upper limit as well. During the downfall of the elven empire wars had been fought over mere jugfuls.

This moonwell was still young, and not nearly as powerful as those in Norland, but it still managed to awaken his elven affinity. He finished off the entire bucket as the tree above him rustled gently, the rays of light slowly dimming down to indicate dusk.

## References

1. ↑ Book 3, Chapter 52
2. ↑ Book 6, Chapter 138
3. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 77