“One would normally think an independent city, situated at the crossroads of four nations, located literally on top of a precious Mana Vein and so close to another three they might as well be next door to it, would not be left to stand independent for long. Yet it has been centuries since Paradise was founded, and the City of Wonders still stood tall, unyielding, those foolish enough to try to lay their hands on it lie broken beneath the soil around it.” Edmund Cirdegand, Royal Historian, on the history of Paradise.

From Jonkver to Paradise, there was a straight road, for any city within three day’s travel to the City of Wonders had a road that led to it. Paradise could arguably be called the greatest city in Western Alcidea, for despite its status as an independent, unaffiliated city, its size beggared belief, so large and grand it was, that it shamed many a royal capital, if all she had heard were truths. As it was a city with nearly a thousand archmage residents, a good percentage of those ancient Unliving Archmages, with other Archmages who regularly visited the city in order to exchange views on their personal projects, magical and academical research was a pursuit greatly encouraged, which often led to how Paradise became the ground zero for new discoveries and inventions, which just cemented its place in the world as a City where Wonders abound and were created on a regular basis.

Much of the conveniences people nowadays took for granted were often invented there many centuries ago, proliferated by trade, and soon became part of everyday life to the point that many people wondered how they ever lived without such conveniences before. Other than the Great Emerald Forest, Paradise was also the only other place in the world with a teleportation gate network that still functioned, albeit a smaller scale one, mostly suited for individuals and generally used by far-away archmages so they could have paid a visit to the city. The City itself was connected to three locations in the Alcidean continent - one in the center, the other two located north-east and south-east respectively, and four locations in the Ur-Teros continent, one in each cardinal direction, all located within either trade hubs or capital cities.

Cal saw her first sight of Paradise on the morning of the second day after her departure from Jonkver.

As she crested a hill, she saw the massive city without walls as it sprawled over the horizon, the landscape irregularly dotted by hundreds of mage towers, with farms and ranches gigantic in scale placed in a haphazard manner around and in the city itself, which gave an impression of a city where no two minds were in agreement during its creation. From the stories, the city simply expanded to its current size over the six centuries of its history, any new addition simply built right on the perimeter of the city, the oldest buildings and farms closer to the center.

History has it written that the City of Paradise was first founded as an asylum for the Unliving many centuries ago, back when they were barely accepted as an enlightened race, and often discriminated against. A force of their greatest mages and archmages of the time were said to have single-handedly cleansed the area where paradise now stood without any support, an area with a much coveted Mana Vein cluster, that the surrounding nations - there were six at that time - left unattended due to the tendency Mana Veins had, which attracted monster and animals both, as they had deemed the cost in lives needed to cleanse the land would be not worth the profits from when they occupied it.

A cost in lives the practically immortal Unliving paid no heed to, for Death held no terror for those already dead after all. After they cleansed the land, their sovereignty was quickly challenged, as two of the neighboring nations sent their armies and demanded their submission on the pain of death. The general in charge of the force sent by one nation recognized the campaign as the suicidal task it was - not even an army ten thousand strong would be much of a match against no less than a hundred archmages and over two thousand mages working together, not when their own mage contingent were practically non-existent in comparison. That General instead revolted against his own kingdom, which led to a civil war that ended as the kingdom splintered into what was now known as the Coalition of City-States that covered the northwesternmost region of Alcidea.

All mentions of the other, more stubborn nation ceased to appear in the history books approximately that same year.

The land in their hands, the Unliving migrated the rest of their people who wished to join them, the rich lands of the Mana Vein cluster proved a great boon for agriculture and ranches both, while the frequent incursions of beasts and monsters barely an inconvenience for a city filled to the brim with mages from every walk of life. Even in the present day Paradise still built their houses at least three or four stories tall with reinforced structures and barred windows, always with the lowest floor reserved as residence for a combat-capable resident of the city.

Over the centuries, the rich pastures, combined with the concentrated presence of mages unrivaled by any other city, attracted many to the city, be it those who dreamed of a better life, or mages who wished to further their craft with the advice of their peers. In turn, many of these people made the city their home, and their descendants further populated the city. What was once an asylum for the Unliving from a world where they were unwelcomed, became renowned as the City of Wonders, where Wonders were born and made, the center for magical and academical research, inhabited by all races from all walks of life. A thriving metropolis where men had built a paradise with their own hands.

And a City well known for sights that would simply not be believed were a bard to tell the tale anywhere else.

Cal was still by the outskirts of the city when she already spotted an oddity. Her ears caught faint sounds of a battle from further in the city, yet the people she saw in the outskirts seemed to just go about their business as if nothing happened at all. Neither did any of the people there seemed to have paid any attention to the strangest farm she had ever seen, one where Undead Abominations were tethered to plows, as they shed their rotted flesh all over the land, as behind them skeletons planted various kinds of summer crops with tender care.

A hooded figure clad in black robes came to greet her as she approached the farm out of curiosity. She saw green soul flames, which glowed in the eye sockets of the figure, a figure that proved to be a humanoid skeleton with ram’s horns that grew from the sides of its skulls, its teeth like an array of small knives, punctuated by the large tusks that adorned its massive underbite.

“Behold, Mortal!” It boomed in a distinctly masculine voice as it spread its arms wide. “Behold my genius! Behold the future! They all said harnessing undead for cheap labor is pointless! Impractical, they said! Unhygienic, they said! But my genius prevails! Oh how I will cherish the look on their faces when they see my horde! Mwahahahahahahaha!”

Its sinister laughter was cut short with a Bonk as a wooden ladle - the sort one used to stir a pot of soup - whacked the figure upside the head. The figure that held the ladle literally appeared out of thin air behind the skeletal figure, a middle-aged matronly elven woman of unusually chubby proportions and pale skin.

“Ver-non!” She said with a shrill voice. “What did I say about not weirding out people coming into the city!? Go and tend to your horde and vegetables instead! The Club meeting is in three days!”

“Yes, Dear.” Said the hooded skeleton submissively. “Sorry, Dear.” He added in a small, meek voice Cal only caught with her elven hearing as he scooted off like a chastened child.

“Sorry for the spectacle just now, dearie. I swear that man grows senile when he gets his head too deep into one of his projects like this. Sometimes I wonder what I saw in him back then to marry him. It’s like having a grown child to chaperone, I tell you.” Said the elvish woman, with a look of fondness in her eyes for the departed hooded skeleton.

“But anyway, we bid you welcome to Paradise, may your stay be less of an oddity than today, though I highly doubt that will be the case.” She added with a smirk.