Nexus: The City of Glass
“Three things will kill you in Nexus: a mage's stray thought, a bad contract, and the truth. Only the contract is negotiable.” —Lamplighter proverb
The glimmering metropolis
Nexus is unique. It is built not on land, but on the Great Yesodic Lens—a colossal, stable manifestation of astral energy left over from a forgotten age. The city's structures are not just built but often "dreamed" into existence from this substrate, forming towers of shimmering glass that reflect not just light, but the subconscious thoughts of those nearby.
As the world's primary neutral ground, Nexus is a hub of trade and intrigue where all factions meet. A Concord enchanter might haggle with a Garden dream-weaver while a Middle Pillar adept mediates the dispute.
A City of Contrasts: An Architectural Brief
This section provides a descriptive brief for the visual appearance of Nexus, intended as a guide for artists and writers. It expands on the principles outlined in the study of Factional Architecture.
Nexus is a city of three distinct visual and philosophical identities, all built upon the same impossible foundation of solidified dream-stuff. The transition between wards is rarely a hard line, but a gradual, chaotic bleed where one architectural style erodes into the next.
The Onyx Quarter (The Concordian Ward)
- Visuals: A bastion of stark, geometric order. The structures are massive, brutalist forms made of a black, non-reflective obsidian-like glass. Light does not glint from its surfaces; it is absorbed. The architecture is an imposition of logic onto the chaotic Lens, featuring sharp angles, vast, unadorned walls, and perfectly spaced towers that prioritize defensive sight-lines over aesthetics.
- Atmosphere: The Quarter is psychically sterile. The unique glass composition and embedded wards dampen the city's ambient telepathic noise, creating a zone of profound, almost unnerving, silence. It is a place of quiet footsteps, formal transactions, and the constant feeling of being observed by a dispassionate, logical system.
The Verdant Ward (The Garden Enclave)
- Visuals: A riot of organic, biomorphic structures that seem to have been grown rather than built. Towers spiral like iridescent seashells and blooming flowers, connected by bridges of woven, glass-like vines. The "glass" here is alive, shimmering with a thousand captured colors and rippling in response to the emotions of the crowd. The streets are not paved but are flowing surfaces of solidified light, their patterns shifting like oil on water.
- Atmosphere: The Ward is a cacophony of psychic and sensory input. It is loud, vibrant, and overwhelming. The air is thick with the scent of alien pollens from rooftop gardens, the sound of a dozen different arguments in the Bazaar of Whispers, and the constant, low-level hum of raw, untamed magical potential.
The Fulcrum (The Middle Way's Center)
- Visuals: At the city's heart, the chaos of the other two wards gives way to a profound sense of peace. The Fulcrum is a single, perfectly clear, harmonious tower of transparent glass that seems to drink the ambient light, leaving the area in a state of soft, perpetual twilight. It is a masterpiece of minimalism, its beauty found not in ornamentation, but in its perfect proportions and flawless clarity. It does not reflect the viewer's image, but a strangely clear, honest vision of their inner self.
- Atmosphere: The area around the Fulcrum is a sanctuary of balance. The noise of the Verdant Ward and the oppressive silence of the Onyx Quarter are both muted here into a gentle, contemplative hum. It is a place of stillness and introspection, the undisputed neutral ground of Nexus.
Life and dangers in Nexus
Nexus is a city of opportunity, but living on a lens of raw dream-stuff carries unique risks.
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Glass Sickness: The constant, low-level telepathic noise from the Yesodic Lens can erode one's sense of identity. Newcomers often feel paranoid or confused, their own thoughts indistinguishable from the ambient psychic chatter. Long-term residents must cultivate immense mental discipline or risk succumbing to Hollowing, becoming empty shells reflecting the thoughts of others.
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The Phantasm Market: Nexus is the global center for trade in illusions. This includes everything from simple cosmetic glamours to complex, addictive dream-constructs sold in illicit "dream dens," such as the infamous Somnarium run by the heretic "Somnus". The Concord fights a losing battle against the trade in these psychic narcotics.
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Astral Bleed: During rare cosmic alignments, the boundary between Yesod and Malkuth thins. On these nights, subconscious fears can manifest as tangible, monstrous entities that stalk the city streets until dawn. The city guard, the "Lamplighters," are experts at fighting these ephemeral beasts.
The Ecology of Astral Pests
A more common danger than a full Astral Bleed is the constant nuisance of Astral Pests. These are not true creatures, but semi-sentient psychic constructs that coalesce from the ambient emotional residue of the city—the "psychic exhaust" of a million minds living in close proximity. They are a primary source of work for the Lamplighters' guild, who have developed a field taxonomy for identifying and dispatching them.
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Grief-Echoes:
- Origin: Formed from lingering, unprocessed grief. They haunt locations of loss—a quiet apartment, a hospital room, the site of an accident.
- Appearance & Effect: Appear as indistinct, weeping shadows in the periphery. They do not attack, but their presence drains the emotional warmth from a room, causing feelings of deep melancholy and listlessness in those who live or work there.
- Lamplighter Response: Grief-Echoes are too sorrowful to be aggressive. Lamplighters do not destroy them with cold iron. Instead, they use Oiled Mirrors to show the echo its own formless nature. Confronted with a reflection that shows nothing of the person it grieves for, the echo typically dissolves peacefully.
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Anxiety-Sprites:
- Origin: Coalesce in places of high stress, like market exchanges or guildhalls during a financial panic. They are born from the frantic worry about the future.
- Appearance & Effect: Tiny, fast-moving sparks of frantic light that flit at the edge of vision. They are agents of minor misfortune, causing a dropped ledger, a misplaced key, or a spilled inkwell. They feed on the frustration these small accidents create, multiplying in the process.
- Lamplighter Response: Too fast to strike directly, Anxiety-Sprites are dealt with using Resonance Jars. The wave of conceptual static released when a jar is shattered "shorts out" their frantic energy, causing them to fizzle out of existence like static sparks.
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Rumor-Wisps:
- Origin: Spawned from gossip, lies, and misinformation. They thrive in taverns, salons, and political circles.
- Appearance & Effect: Appear as faint, drifting distortions in the air, like heat haze, carrying the sound of unintelligible whispers. They do not speak, but their whispers amplify paranoia and suspicion, subtly twisting conversations towards misunderstanding and conflict.
- Lamplighter Response: The insidiousness of a wisp requires a direct approach. The cold-iron cudgel is the perfect tool. A sharp, physical blow disperses the wisp's fragile astral form, silencing the lie with a dose of hard reality.
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Envy-Graspers:
- Origin: Form from intense, focused jealousy. They are often found in the artisan districts of the Verdant Ward or the opulent homes of the Onyx Quarter, clinging to objects of desire.
- Appearance & Effect: Manifest as oily, shadowy tendrils that seem to reach from the corners of a room towards a coveted object (a jewel, a piece of art, a lover's letter). They don't steal the object, but their presence slowly taints it, making it seem dull or flawed to its rightful owner while intensifying the covetousness of others.
- Lamplighter Response: Envy-Graspers are more resilient than other pests. A combination of tactics is used: a Resonance Jar to weaken the tendrils, followed by a direct strike with a cold-iron cudgel to sever their connection to the object they haunt.
The Mundane Anchor: a city built on rules
Nexus survives because it is anchored in mundane reality. Early in its history, the city was a waking nightmare where the psychic noise of the Great Lens caused widespread madness. It was saved not by archmages, but by the Unawakened, who developed systems of order to contain the arcane chaos.
The city's stability is a constant, delicate balance. The raw, dream-like power of the Awakened is contained by the rigid, pragmatic structures of the Unawakened guilds. This reliance on mundane order is the city's greatest strength and its defining characteristic.
- For a detailed history of the Unawakened social systems, see the foreword of Guilds and Professions of Nexus.
- For a catalogue of the organizations that maintain the city's stability, see the primer on the Guilds and Professions of Nexus.
Key Figures
The true power in Nexus is not held by a formal government, but by a collection of influential individuals who operate from within its wards. From the enigmatic information brokers of the Fulcrum to the pragmatic guild masters who form the city's economic bedrock, these figures are the real rulers of the City of Glass.
- For a detailed list of these power brokers, see the directory of Key Figures of Nexus.