Ecstasy

Ecstasy was the gate-town leading to the Blessed Fields of Elysium from the Outlands.

Description
The town was sometimes called the City of Plinths, because it contained hundreds of monolithic pedestals, scattered about like trees. Some looked liked standing stones; others were intricately carved or sculpted. Most plinths were made of stone or iron, but the most important was made of polished ivory. The Bone Plinth rose from the center of town, and at top was located the gate, or portal, to Elysium, in the form of a pool of quicksilver. Everything around the Bone Plinth seemed somehow brighter and more vibrant, and those standing nearby felt a powerful sense of peace. Entering into the pool, travelers would find themselves on the banks of the River Oceanus, a few hours, by foot, from the guardinal settlement of Release-From-Care.

Like all gate-towns, Ecstasy was strongly influenced by the nature of the plane to which it was linked, Elysium, yet it exhibited enough distinctions to prevent it from being pulled into that Outer Plane. The populace of Ecstasy believed in the virtues of happiness and personal evolution into better people.

Visitors to Ecstasy found a rural settlement where people lived a life of peaceful whimsy and simplicity, yet ever striving for personal betterment through contemplation. Many petitioners would spend time sitting atop the plinths, deep in thought.

Geography
Ecstasy was located about from the Spire, between the gate-towns of Faunel and Tradegate.

Government
The government of Ecstasy was not a standard type of government. It was ruled by two different figures, one for the day and night cycles of the Outlands. The daylight leader was called the Sun Master&mdash;even though the Outlands had no sun&mdash;while the nightime leader was called the Dark Hunter. These two mortals defended and judged the town, but the settlement had few actual laws beyond the rule, "Do no evil."

In the later 14 century DR, by Faerûnean counting, the Sun Master of Ecstasy was a human woman named Regialia Tonn. The Dark Hunter at that time was an aasimar man called Karo Janter.

Notable Locations
Counterclockwise from the Bone Plinth and within view of the town center stood the Solrise Tower. This was the court of the Sun Master. The tower was covered in amber mosaics and sparkled in the light of the day.

At night, the gates to the Solrise Tower were barred, and those of the Moondark Tower were opened. This stone tower with glittering silver patterns of light served as the court of the Dark Hunter. It was located opposite the Bone Plinth from the Sunrise Tower. The town also contained a large marble amphitheater called the Philosopher's Court. Led by the Philosopher King, a reformed ultroloth by the moniker Felthis ap Jerran, the Court was a place where philosophers, religious followers, and factions argued their world views and strove to gain converts through heated debate. Petitioners tried to convince the listeners to act more in line with ways of Elysium, so that the town might some day be merged with that other realm. The Philosopher King was charged with moderating the debates, and, in fact, he possessed an unknown power that somehow prevented any violence from occuring, no matter how heated the debates became. The Philosopher's Court was covered in symbolism from the cultures of the guardinals and the rilmani. It was located anti-spireward from the town center.

The town of Ecstasy included a Temple District that included a shrine to the Cadence and a temple to the Faerûnean sun god Lathander.

The most famous tavern in the town was called the Revelhome. It was owned by a veiled medusa named Madame Millanni. The tavern was a place for exotic delights, rich wines, and delicious food, but the threat of being turned into stone prevented any debauched hedonism from occuring.

The World Serpent Inn, which had connections to many locations in the multiverse, including to an inn in Arabel called The Wild Goose, exited to a tiny cottage on the counterclockwise edge of the town.

A portal to Sigil was also found in the town, spireward of the Revelhome. This gate appeared as a granite archway. The portal key was a flower blossom, which only functioned if the the bearer smiled. This gate was the source of most of the town's merchants and mortals both but also a source of most of its problems, as those opposed to the town's outlook could easily enter.

Inhabitants
Three in ten inhabitants of the town were full-blooded human, but another 20% were planetouched. Three in ten were petitioners, and ten percent were halflings. The remaining populace were bariaurs, guardinals, rilmani, and other races.

Beyond the town leaders already mentioned, the daughter of avoral Duke Windheir of Elysium, Moringwind served as an ambassador from that Upper Plane. The high priest of the shrine of the Cadence was an aasimer named Joseph Arisek; the head of the temple of Lathandar was a human cleric named Bartol the Dawnsinger.

The faction of the Transcendent Order had a large amount of influence in Ecstasy, more influence than anywhere else in the multiverse save Sigil and Elysium.