Profundus is the largest region at the centre of the Relief. It houses Caelum’s Landing, the capital city of the Profundus Theocracy and the most prominent and populous city in the known world.

Caelum’s Landing

Sitting atop Fundus, the largest earthmote in the known world, Caelum’s Landing is the capital city of the most prominent nation in the Relief, the Profundus Theocracy. Once known as Anfang, the city serves as the beating economic and cultural heart of Fio’s vast archipelagos and floating islands. With an area of 150 square miles, Fundus appears to those sailing the Altum Ocean below as a mighty inverted mountain in the clouds. Its underbelly glimmers with enchanted resonite ores that keep it afloat. Caelum’s Landing is home to nearly 100,000 people of countless races and cultures.

Caelum’s Landing boasts 20 square miles of developed areas, making it the largest city in the Profundus region. At its centre stands the great spire of the Oratory, the seat of the Church of Caelum, where the Exarch and head of state, Aura Sol Orbis, resides. To the southwest, vast rolling hills of patchwork farmland are cut in two by the Fountainhead River, which diffuses into the air when it reaches the shore, nourishing a perpetual rainbow below. To the east, the industrial, residential and commercial districts of Caelum’s Landing are framed by the Dawnroot Forest, where the Dawnroot druids protect the Fountainhead River’s sacred source. And to the north, the Ministerial Houses play host to the nation’s government, a council of elected ministers representing the many provinces under the Church’s jurisdiction. Their Chairman, Emil Hartmann serves as head of government.

  • The Oratory stands at the centre of Caelum’s Landing, a great spire serving as the seat of the Church of Caelum, and its Exarch, Aura Sol Orbis. Here, hopeful acolytes train to become clerics in service to Caelum.

  • The Ministerial Houses are situated north of the Oratory, in Caelum’s Landing’s most palatial district. These grand chambers are where the government of ministers reside.

  • The Cloud District is where Caelum’s Landing’s industry takes precedence. It lies northeast of the Oratory. At its centre can be found the main office, barracks and stables of the Inland Guard. Further east, resonance engines and other contraptions are constructed at Caelum’s Landing’s acclaimed steam factories, where airships can be seen departing from vast airfields.

  • The Sun District, east of the Oratory, is the largest of Caelum’s Landing’s districts, where one can find residences and public services to sate any need. Inns always have beds and taverns always have beer. Street carts can be caught to travel anywhere on the earthmote, and powered street lighting will keep your journey illuminated at night.

  • The Wind District is where shoppers and tourists can find the heart of Fio’s commerce. Southeast of the Oratory, it is commonplace to find the stalls of traveling merchants, workshops of craftsmen from all over Fio, and skilled alchemists who can both heal and invigorate the most daring of adventurers.

  • Fundus is the name of the earthmote upon which the city of Caelum’s Landing sits. By extension, it is also the colloquial term for the vast stretches of farmland that encompass a majority of the southwest. Here, scattered windmills serve as the primary residences for farmers and fishermen. On the southwestern shore, a great waterfall is fuelled by the Fountainhead River, that leads northeast to the Dawnroot Forest. Along the river can be found numerous fishing villages and watermills. And at the centre of the forest sits a statue of Caelum, which presides over the river’s source; a portal to the elemental plane of water. The Dawnroot druids also reside here, sworn to protect and nurture the portal.

  • Caelum’s Landing University is large enough to warrant a district of its own. Isolated to the west of the Oratory, here you can take crash courses to learn new spells, gain new skills and new tool proficiencies. Or, if you wish to carve out a different path for yourself, you may enroll at the university and learn all the essential skills you need to make a fresh start. The university’s famous library and observatory are always open to the public. Adventurers looking to travel to other earthmotes may also visit the Glider Proficiency Centre, where they must pass an assessment before they are given a glider of their own.

  • Crowswood Place is the stately manor home of the Commission for the Research of Offshore Worlds, or the Commission for short. Situated west of Caelum’s Landing University, members of this organization are affectionately called Crows. They are tasked with surveying the earthmotes in the far reaches of unexplored territory. Crowswood Place is also home to a clandestine lodge of blood hunters known as the Order of the Lantern. These hunters elect to undergo a curious ritual of their own design which allows them to navigate the depths of the Miasma.

  • The Spirit Temple is the isolated home of a clique of monks on the northwestern shore. The monks of the Spirit Temple seek a deep connection to Fio through the study of wild beasts and their associated elements. It is this connection that allows a group of monks to terraform new lands, making them fertile and bountiful. Though not followers of Caelum, the monks remain in the employ of the Church when rogue earthmotes threaten to collide with Fundus. The monks’ combined strength allows them to arrest dangerous earthmotes and send them back into the Miasma.

Resonant Mines

Directly beneath Caelum’s Landing lie the Resonant Mines; the crater from which Fundus arose almost 1,000 years ago. The mine is a crystalline sinkhole with scaffolding spiralling down to seemingly never ending depths. Budding and experienced miners alike will always find work here, but the precarious work conditions can often prove taxing, sometimes fatal. Surrounding the Resonant Mines, the Altum Ocean threatens to fill the sinkhole and wash away miners with every passing tide. And maintaining the barricades that keep the ocean at bay is a strenuous job in itself. Above, floating chunks of enchanted ore that separated from Fundus 1,000 years ago litter the sky. To passing sailors, the mines appear to be an enormous explosion frozen in time.

The Innermotes

The Innermotes are Caelum’s Landing’s nearest neighbors, connected to Fundus by the Calligo Way, a network of powered cable cars and zip lines. The Church’s territories are also connected by teleportation circles, generously established by the mages of Caelum’s Landing University. All of the Church’s territories are governed or supervised by a Prefect, appointed by the Church.

Tenebrae’s Refuge is said to be the place to which Tenebrae fled when his colossal war machine was defeated almost 1,000 years ago. At only a third its size, this earthmote sits to the erdesouthwest in the shadow of Fundus. As such, its terrain is rocky with little in the way of vegetation. Its primary industry has always been the mining of resonite. Clara Sol Orbis is the current Prefect of Tenebrae’s Refuge. As with all of the Church’s territories, followers of Caelum constitute a fair proportion of the population on Tenebrae’s Refuge, though followers of other religions are welcomed and accepted. Where on Caelum’s Landing you would find an abundance of races who make their homes under the sun, on Tenebrae’s Refuge you would more commonly find races more comfortable in the darkness.

Little Nox separated from Tenebrae’s Refuge around the year 617 PO. This was caused by the Fountainhead Falls above eroding a chasm between the two earthmotes. Erdesoutheast of Tenebrae’s Refuge, Little Nox is only a fifth of its size. Half of Little Nox remains directly beneath the rainbow of Fountainhead Falls. The prismatic mist and resplendent pond at the earthmote’s centre make it the perfect habitat for aquatic races.

Ingenium appeared in the skies north east of Fundus in the year 748 PO, bringing with it a sprawling brass metropolis and a displaced but technologically advanced culture in the tens of thousands. Facing an energy crisis, they sought the assistance of the Church while they acclimated to the new world in which they found themselves. An agreement with Caelum’s Landing was reached in 756 PO, and with the help of the monks of the Spirit Temple, the earthmote Ingenium was moved to Fundus’ northeastern shore. Spiro Sol Orbis is Ingenium’s current Prefect.

The Outermotes

The Outermotes are the territories of the Church that can only be reached by airship or glider. Though the Church has established a presence in these regions, their distance from Caelum’s Landing and lack of Church involvement can sometimes invite apostasy.

Micantrum is the smallest of the Church’s territories at only eight miles in diameter. The earthmote can be described as a floating geode northeast of Fundus. It is spherical in shape, with several tunnel entrances that lead inside to the 1,000 storied rings that form a disreputable mining metropolis. Inside, crystals are illuminated by an artificial moon hanging at the earthmote’s centre, created by Micantrum’s current governor, the philandering tiefling wizard, Havat Eilistre. Under his administration, Micantrum has become a lawless place of debauchery, gambling and fornication. Denizens can even be found battling for riches in Micantrum’s infamous gladiatorial arena. The Church maintains a trade presence through Micantrum’s Prefect, Luna Vigil. However, much to the Church’s disdain, they were recently revealed to have become Eilistre’s mistress. Many believe it is this affair that has caused Micantrum’s reputation to fall into its current state. Thanks to its seclusion, many races who prefer to live in darkness make their home in Micantrum.

Madanau has been revealed by scholars to be one of the first earthmotes that arrived in Fio at the time of a summer solstice. Estimated to be nearly 900 years old, this desert earthmote lies far erde-west of Caelum’s Landing, treacherously close to the Miasma. Madanau has made its name as a valued hub of trade, able to grow and export exotic fruits and spices that cannot be found anywhere else in Fio. The grand, circular oasis at Madanau’s centre hosts a portal to the elemental plane of water, providing an abundance of fresh water and delicious fish. However, in 996 PO the portal was damaged by a falling earthmote from the Nine Hells. Under the administration of Sana Sol Orbis the citizens of the ancient desert earthmote were able to stabilize the portal.