Zifir

Zifir - Capital of Aeris (12k inhabitants)

While not large in population, the city of Zifir enjoys an outsized impact on Blimnorian culture. Many of history's greatest Magick users, from Kerefipp Muldeen, to Sygl Cognus, to the Outstanding Oov himself, spent their formative years learning their craft in the center of this singular city. Zifir is perhaps most notable for having next to no lower class; food and basic goods are plentifully obtained and created by street magicians, magickal chefs, and craftsman who leverage their gifts to make high-quality and cheap products for even the most humble Zifirian laborer. The city has no walls, but is powerfully protected by a web of countless enchantments and wards, making it all but impossible to enter the city without getting permission from a deputized city guard or a member of the Guild themself. 

The city is organized in a wheel-and-spoke system radiating outward from Lake Emel, a wide, turquoise, circular moat surrounding the central island of Quevlen, which houses the storied Mage's Guild. Each of the six "spokes", called Boulevards in Zifir, is designed to accomodate all the needs of a Zifirian resident without ever needing to travel to another Boulevard. These Boulevards have developed their own characters, with particular emphasis on wild and extravagant local cuisines--all magically-invented. In Zifir, Souffle's can reach six feet in height, coffees can taste of apple and boar meat, and citizens can "eat" the air of massive animal balloons, all made of spun sugar. 

Becoming a Zifirian civillian is a difficult task; most who live in Aeris and northern Daeris will apply to the Guild for the right to take up residence within the enchantments of Zifir, but most receive no response. Without a strong aptitude for at least practical cantrips, even simple tradespeople are unlikely to be invited. However, the power of the Guild has yielded a significant patchwork of surrounding towns and villages that enjoy relative peace and prosperity due to the umbrella of safety and commerce Zifir provides. 

Aeris lacks a governmental structure, and is not a nation in any official sense. However, Zifir and the Guild has demonstrated a willingness to keep the peace on the island such that some regard Aeris as a loosely-organized country controlled by the Guild. Indeed, Archmages of the Mage's Guild have issued "requests" to outlying towns on the island to facilitate the commerce or military needs of Zifir for centuries, and those areas tend to comply if they can. 

The Great and Magnificent Guild of Zifirian Mages

It is not certain when the Great and Magnificent Guild of Zifirian Mages, colloquially referred to as "The Mage's Guild", instructed its first student. However, records of a great College of Magical learning on Quevlen Island date back at least to the 5th Century FA, when the Human Mage and city namesake Hizilian Zifir began the complex process of "Magickal Aptitude Realization", a screening process among the peoples of Blimnor for the most magickally-gifted children that persists to this day. Early records are limited, but it is believed that 6-8 children were selected per year for the 13-year apprenticeship, a number that has swelled to roughly a dozen at the start of the Fourth Age. To this day, the process of selecting and persuading children to attend is intentionally shrouded in secrecy by the Archmage himself, though some rumors have suggested that the Guild's "persuasion" might be likened more to kidnapping. The grueling study undertaken by these students, however, is better known. The apprenticeship, now extended to 14 years, involves instruction in every known variety of Magic, including some ancient and racial magicks. Each year features trials and tests known for their increasing deadliness. First year Wizards, for example, are expected to expected to teleport themselves across Lake Emel to the Zifirian Clocktower to demonstrate their mastery of basic transit Magic. However, a sizeable minority of these children, usually only seven years of age, teleport themselves to their own doom into the lake, or phase themselves into a wall. Out of a dozen recruits, only one or two a year are expected to graduate, usually aged roughly 20 years by then. Those who complete this Herculean task, however, are virtually guaranteed to leave huge impacts on the world around them, whether as a great warrior, a fabulously wealthy  inventor, or as an advisor to one of Blimnor's Monarchs. 

The Tempest surrounding Aeris lingered for a full 20 years after the defeat of the Dwarvic Conglomerate before dissipating. When it did, though, it revealed a Guild with half the members it once had. The new Archmage, Volga Delduin, offered no explanation, but some Zifirian civilians claim that the previous High Council led an expedition off of Blimnor from which they never returned. However, the Guild seemed to resume normal operations after rejoining the wider world, albeit with slightly more regard for the lives of their younger pupils than before.