Cold Cities



The Cold Cities are chilled, vacant, technologically-advanced settlements on the planet Naharrai.

Background
Silver structures protected by shimmering domes of pure force, the Cold Cities are sealed from within, thus allowing them to have a more breathable atmosphere than what's currently present on Naharrai. Within their forcefields, the temperature is kept very low but the gravity is not unlike that of Earth's. Because of this many ellaticurids choose to avoid venturing into them, other than to take shelter from storms, though even then that's considered rare. The ghru refuse to venture inside because the see the cities as forbidden ground.

However, the even get inside one of the cities will require passing through and iris-shaped airlock seal. Whenever one enters through it, soft voices, almost as audible as whispers, can be heard, as if project from far away. No one has yet to decipher these whispers, but many have come to believe that they're the voices of the long deceased.

Exploring one of these settlements is not unlike exploring some well-preserved prior-world site throughout the Ninth World. There are plenty of opportunities for scavenging shins, oddities, cyphers, and even artifacts. But there are also dangers, such as incomprehensible machinery that can easily vaporize any creature that steps on the wrong place or activates the wrong control panel.

Below are a list of discoveries made by explorers who've managed to pierce one of the domes of the Cold Cities:

1. Automated transports that can move across the city, despite there being almost no way whatsoever to direct them.

2. Machinery capable of producing strange though still edible foodstuffs.

3. Machinery able to produce unknown kinds of metal, synth, or textiles in vast quantities.

4. Mysterious drugs that can transport one's consciousness temporarily to another dimension.

5. Glass screens that depict moving images of strange creatures in strange locations doing strange things.

6. Immobile machinery that heals almost any injury and can even cure virtually any kind of disease.

7. Machinery able to transfer the consciousness of one creature into the body of another.

8. Holographic projections of unknown humanoids speaking in incomprehensible languages.

9. Sculptures made from metal, glass, or stone that depict nothing that could be understood.

In the end, however, every Cold City is unique, and while some might be found on an open plain, one could be on island in the middle of the lake, the same size as the city it supports. Another city could be hanging over the edge of a cliff., perched on what seems to be the spinal column of some immensely-large, though long--dead, creature. Some are even said to be inhabited by intelligent automatons, while others are rumored to be haunted by shadowy, ephemeral beings that the ghru simply refer to as ghosts.

Miscellaneous
Explorers within the Cold Cities suffer one point of ambient damage per round from the cold if they don't warm clothing or any other similar protection. But the term "Cold City" refers to more than just their internal temperature. They're pretty much stark or eerily lifeless places.

It's highly possible that there's a link between the Cold Cities of Naharrai and the Cloud Cities of Urvanas, suggesting that they both might've been constructed by the same ancient peoples.