Old San Francisco
Old San Francisco is the ruined, overgrown remnant of the pre-Sundering city located on the surface of Earth (Mar). Lying directly beneath the floating sky city of New San Francisco, the ruins were long abandoned by the human Remnant population and left to return to nature, serving as a silent tomb of forgotten memories.
Geography and Environment
After three centuries of neglect, Old San Francisco is a collapsing jungle of urban decay. Its leaning, twisted buildings are covered in moss, vines, and mold, while wildflowers like pansies and California poppies push through the cracked asphalt.
Landmarks such as Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill and the Golden Gate Bridge miraculously survived the apocalyptic weather of the past, though the Ferry Building's clock tower fell into the bay long ago. Specific areas like Washington Square have become thick jungles of ferns and coast live oaks, and old streets such as Lombard, Grant, Greenwich, and Filbert are heavily overgrown with weeds and shrubs. Relics of the past still pepper the ruins, such as a faded, tilted neon sign reading "4 BLOCKS BACK, YOU MISSED MOTEL CAPRI".
Key Events
Typhoon Velma
Three hundred years ago, the city was devastated by a Category Five storm known as Typhoon Velma. The apocalyptic storm surge obliterated the western half of the city, flattening everything west of 19th Avenue, while the brutal winds destroyed neighborhoods like the Marina and the Financial District. This catastrophic weather event coincided with the Eldrim executing the Sundering ritual and the Cothellon's launch of the sky cities, cementing the end of the city's original human era.
The Remnant Ambush
In the modern era, the young elves Arra, Imra, and Elanil search the ruins for missing family members. During their trek through the dense overgrowth near Telegraph Hill and Washington Square, the Hunter Fenian is violently ambushed and severely injured by a group of Remnant scavengers.
Orym's Nightmare
Following the destruction of the floating New San Francisco and the unlocking of the universe-altering device Xyclami, Orym travels to the ruins near the Ferry Building to test his newfound, godlike powers. Driven mad by the device, he uses magic to warp the ruined city into a twisted horror show. He creates bizarre, jagged crystal buildings, towering purple-blue trees with impossible shapes, and monstrous creatures like giant spiders and red-eyed birds, while turning the sky artificially dark. The illusions and twisted reality are eventually shattered when Arra unleashes a massive, destructive shockwave of magic that levels much of what Orym had built.
The Final Reclamation
Following the deactivation of Prime magic across the universe by Trey (Tarathiel), the world enters a new era of peace. The surviving Remnant (formerly of the stronghold Gulthurub) move into the ruins of Old San Francisco, finally reclaiming and rebuilding their ancestral home.