Fluvenilstra

Fluvenilstra was an Underdark city known to few on the surface, an unexpected oasis in the otherwise inhospitable depths of the Lowerdark. It was sometimes identified as the Garden City of Great Bhaerynden, for no Underdark settlement in the region and perhaps in all of Faerûn could rival it in sheer abundance of edible and useful Underdark flora.

Description
Fluvenilstra was a magical but small city commonly considered the homeland of the slyth race. It was their largest known settlement, the only known place where more than a few dozen gathered at once.

Geography
Fluvenilstra was located a little less than, beneath the Shaar Desolation in southern Faerûn, about northwest of Shaarmid.

Geographical Features
Fluvenilstra benefitted from water that no longer reached the desert of the surface. It trickled down from cracks in the cave ceiling, collecting in a scummy moat around the edge of Fluvenilstra's circular cavern.

Flora & Fauna
Fluvenilstra was a jungle of plant life, hosting a motley of fungi and flowering lichens in a wide spectrum of colors and shapes. Large patches of green, lumniescent fungi grew unevenly along the floors and ceilings, providing enough light to most of the city for low-light vision to be sufficient, while all manner of life grew along the walls, nourished by the water above.

Besides the mundane plants, an assortment of magical plant-life could be found throughout the Garden City. Plants did not merely grow on the walls, some of the buildings were formed from magically enhanced plants. Roaming the city and nearby caverns were various plant creatures, including Lowerdark variations of shambling mounds, assassin vines and phantom fungi.

Government
The governing body of Fluvenilstra was the Circle of the Depths, a druid circle dedicate to Silvanus. The Garden City was organized around the Circle, and every citizen acknowledged their authority. The primary authority figure and most powerful druid of Fluvenilstra was Flowrider Plyp Shurlush, but all circle members were free to commandeer city guards and resources at their discretion, and any three members acting together were licensed to decide all issues of law and justice on the Circle's behalf.

The circle had a few dozen members, with many of the less powerful druids considered novices under the tutelage of the circle. Small thorps, individual slyth circles, and other distant outposts of their kind elsewhere in the Underdark frequently sent their students there to learn under their calm and watchful supervision. Though most of the druids were slyths, some of them were of other races.

Trade
On the surface, the druids of Fluvenilstra appeared isolationist, though in truth they maintained contact with and had access to many regions on the surface world and wider Underdark via a system of portals. The Emerald Enclave for example was a frequent contact of theirs, with a handful of students leaving each year to study with the Chosen of Silvanus; other areas within their reach were Gulthandor and the Amtar Forest. Citizens of the Garden City sometimes used portals to traverse the surface or explore the Underdark, restoring damaged areas and spreading their nurturing ways and teachings on respect for nature, as was encouraged.

The economy of Fluvenilstra was greatly enhanced by the use of magic to grow produce. The starchy foodstuffs grown from soil imported from above were luxurious wonders to those in the Underdark, and the biannual selling of that harvest generated much income. As with legal matters, any three members of the Circles of the Depths acting in concert could rule on any matter of trade for the rest of the organization.

Defenses
The druids of Fluvenilstra preferred to pick their battles, welcoming even visitors from unusual places so long as they were peaceful, but they did not shy away from conflict when necessary. Rather than its actual standing army however, the first and most impressive line of defense of the Garden City were its plant creatures, which would need to be bypassed simply to enter. While there were many ways into Fluvenilstra, most were sized in mind for slyth amorphous forms, with the primary exception of a larger main entrance at the northern end of its cavern allowing for larger solids.

Covering the main entrance to Fluvenilstra was a thick curtain composed of thousands of hanging ironvines, plants with the durability of the titular metal when interwoven, which they always were. Any death or disintegration effect would only affect one of them, making them incredibly difficult to destroy. Even if one could remove the curtain however, its lower edges trailed away inside the cavern to form a bridge over the moat, so it would ultimately only make crossing the water harder. Furthermore, about twenty assassin vines and fifty shriekers were laced into the outer layer, providing an audible alarm and active defense against outsiders, assuming trespassers could get past the roper-like plant monsters guarding it.

The bulk of Fluvenilstra's plant defenses were the various mobile plant monsters that relentlessly attacked all within the Garden City but its residents. Myconids were also present, led by a sovereign known as Meln but seemed to do practically nothing save for standing in compost at the city's center humming quietly. In reality, the myconids were the principal defenders of Fluvenilstra, for they controlled its plant creatures through means they refrained from disclosing. Even so, they were happy to use this mysterious power for the benefit of the community.

Aside from the plant and fungi creatures, Fluvenilstra was protected by a few hundred soldiers known as the Servants of the Flow. Sworn to serve as commanded by the Flowrider and the Circle of the Depths, this small army of about 300 was a fairly elite company of fighters and rangers. Skilled guardians, they made up the Garden City's standing army, and were capable of handling any threat able to elude the plants.

Inhabitants
Fluvenilstra had a population in the thousands, some of which were courageous souls who sought to serve among the Circle of the Depths, whilst others were tourists seeking to visit the underground jungle. The vast majority of the residency were slyths, with myconids making up the next greatest portion, though even that was an exceedingly small fraction compared to the slyth population.

Following closely behind the myconids were grimlocks, then deep gnomes and lastly genasi in terms of numbers. By the Spellplague period, the city had a large genasi population consisting of those who wished to mix water and earth abilities, and others among their kind who had or wished to hone similar innate talents.

Notable Locations
Visitors who approached in peace were not permitted to enter the actual Garden City, instead being removed to a sequestered area just outside. They were asked to remain there for their own safety, as the plants would attack them anywhere else, and those they requested would be brought to them. The default guest liason (appointed for her ability to speak nine languages including Common and Undercommon) was the dragoman of the Flowrider's court, a bard by the name of Lirrup Biltendar. The area itself was a diameter, hollowed out portion of cavern wall adorned with cusions, sweet-smelling flowers and vined curtains for those wishing to sleep with privacy and meals served at a community table in the center.

The Great Garden was located just outside the sequestered area. From here, a slyth druid named Durloo Glossop grew plants on a light schedule roughly equivalent to the day and night cycles of the surface through the use of daylight spells.

History
In 630 DR, there existed a group of slyth druids discouraged by the wasteful and wantonly destructive habits of many Underdark denizens. The small group aspired to create a quiet place where they could both study the subtle balance of nature and instruct others on how to nurture it within the Underdark, and for this reason they founded Fluvenilstra. For the first two hundred years the city was essentially just a monastery, but over time the number of students grew with the Garden City's reputation for rare and flowering plants.

Centuries later, in 1370 DR, the city was attacked, pillaged, and razed by a lost and starving horde of derro, who later left to find their way back home. From this the rebuilding slyths learned the value of strong defenses, and so contacted a stand of myconids, bred plant creatures, and trained rangers, druids, and fungus experts to create a force capable of repelling future invasions. Centuries later, the slyths prospered in their Garden City.