Hide a City

[Petruchio]

A lot of great ideas to choose from. @Tweedledope, I thought of calling a Rule 0, obviously, but then this became a bit of a thought experiment, if its possible using published material to hide knowledge of a metropolis from the rest of the world. Additionally, deep down I want to see if my players would figure out a way to get past all these defenses. Not that I'll make it easy on them. 

I do want to keep the city on the standard Material Plane, for campaign flavor reasons. Namely an on-off war between Outsiders and Dragons.

[Mixster]

I like the idea of the linked city. It will also be hillarious when the adventurers ride into a small hamlet who was once the richest part of town that have just about 300 inhabitants, but all of them incredibly rich and with the wealthiest shop ever to be seen, and no way to earn money for 3000 miles around the city. 

Or they randomly happen upon an elven court in session were somebody murdered someone and is now being tried for that murder halfway around the globe. These elves and their weird customs, they have to travel so far for their trials.

It would also be pretty cool to draw a map of this city, since many of the hamlets would have workers you wouldn't expect in a 300 pop elf city, but can easily flourish in a city with 300.000 or more elves.

This idea is actually so cool I might need to snag it for a world I'm thinking of creating.

[JaronK]

Instead of all this memory modification, just trick people entering the city.  Use disguised portals that don't look like portals, so that people think they're just walking through a secret passage that happens to lead to the elven city.  Thus, entrances to the city could be found in a wide variety of areas, and it always seems like the city is actually under every major city in existence.  In fact, it's nowhere near where they think, and the portals can be wrapped up and hidden away or secretly deactivated if someone comes snooping about.

JaronK

[altpersona]

like Dungeon Master in the cartoon, disappearing into/behind 'random' object.

[skydragonknight]

Maybe the forest surrounding the city is home to horrible man-eating abominations of nature, which are actually shadow illusions? The classic "no one comes out alive" deal?

[PhaedrusXY]

This idea is actually so cool I might need to snag it for a world I'm thinking of creating.

Yeah... I agree that this is extremely cool, and if I ever get a chance to run a game again, I think I'll "borrow" it.

[nijineko]

there are a number of options in the stronghold builder's guidebook, as well.

[altpersona]

put the portal / genesis out to sea abit so the elves could 'sail' to their misty home... or how ever that goes

[Mixster]

This idea is actually so cool I might need to snag it for a world I'm thinking of creating.

Yeah... I agree that this is extremely cool, and if I ever get a chance to run a game again, I think I'll "borrow" it.

Although I think the guys using it in my version will be gnomes, and not elves.

[SorO_Lost]

+3 to the linked city idea. Build one city then section it off into hamlets.

You can hint to the connection by offering the players maps of each city. Print them out as part of a revealed hint one night and see if someone starts putting them together. Could be awesome for your players, unless they are reading this forum. *looks at the crowd*

[Mixster]

You can hint to the connection by offering the players maps of each city. Print them out as part of a revealed hint one night and see if someone starts putting them together. Could be awesome for your players, unless they are reading this forum. *looks at the crowd*

Nice!
And you could then add the added factor and clue of naming the streets something similar on road signs.
Or have some simple illusionary cover over the road signs and once they read underneath they'll find that a lot hamlets has a street called street of the keepers. Then starting to align all the streets of the keepers for the players would be awesome!

[skydragonknight]

As you continue riding under the blazing desert heat, your eyes start to play tricks on you. You see what looks like a large building, surrounded by a lush garden. As you approach, you hear a chorus in the background singing a song in a strange tongue you've never heard before. When you cross over from the sandy wastes to a grassy field you notice a sharp drop in temperature, as if the desert heat did not touch this secret paradise. Teenagers with pointed ears sit and gossip in their strange language with books in their arms, completely ignoring you and your camel. A bell rings and they scurry off towards the build, muttering complaints in their tongue.

A sign stands next to the building. Strange words are scrawled there - likely in the same language being spoken. Then, you notice smaller, nearly faded writting in common: "Welcome to Elven U."

[nijineko]

there is an interesting bit of fae lore which deals with the effects of walking around a site a certain direction a certain number of times. take a variant of that and have a may pole in the center of each town (or any number of different artifacts or objects, even more than one per town.) walk around it full circle to portal to the next town, maybe you have to be touching it or say or think a command word or if it is portal based, just have the right key... (be an elf, or at least have elven blood, as a key anyone?)

[veekie]

As you continue riding under the blazing desert heat, your eyes start to play tricks on you. You see what looks like a large building, surrounded by a lush garden. As you approach, you hear a chorus in the background singing a song in a strange tongue you've never heard before. When you cross over from the sandy wastes to a grassy field you notice a sharp drop in temperature, as if the desert heat did not touch this secret paradise. Teenagers with pointed ears sit and gossip in their strange language with books in their arms, completely ignoring you and your camel. A bell rings and they scurry off towards the build, muttering complaints in their tongue.

A sign stands next to the building. Strange words are scrawled there - likely in the same language being spoken. Then, you notice smaller, nearly faded writting in common: "Welcome to Elven U."

I want to yoink this so hard.

[skydragonknight]

A sign stands next to the building. Strange words are scrawled there - likely in the same language being spoken. Then, you notice smaller, nearly faded writting in common: "Welcome to Elven U."

I want to yoink this so hard.
[/quote]

By all means.

[Surreal]

Pah, you humans and your hubris, trying to see and define the world in terms that only your short-lived minds can comprehend. We elves, our city, our council... we are the forest. A single thought takes root and matures over decades. The whisper of leaves carries our gospel, the streams our communion. There are no moments here, only millenia.

You look for chattering markets and gleaming stone walls, and you will find none. You search too hard, and too fast... you'll miss the elf for the trees.

[SorO_Lost]

You look for chattering markets and gleaming stone walls, and you will find none. You search too hard, and too fast... you'll miss the elf for the trees.

First rule of elf hunting is burn the forest down.

And it sounds like they already did that (multiple cities, population limits, etc), the enhancement groves in yet another mystic forest were paved with gravel from inspectors, traders, tourists, and of course dozens of half-elves looking for daddy.

[Halinn]

dozens of half-elves looking for daddy.

Curses! I had thought their mothers would not tell, or that they'd at least be dead before finding out where I live. I mean, couldn't they just have waited a few decades more. That's hardly any time at all!

[snakeman830]

I thought all half-elves had human fathers?

[SorO_Lost]

I thought all half-elves had human fathers?

They go both ways like a TN character.

Likely though, if the father was human then the half-elf was raised in the elven city.
Or s/he and it's mom were banished and lived a hard life on the run, possibly looking for some vengeance (plot hook?).