Aarven
Aarven (pronounced ˈɑrvɪn), the City of Change, is a city of Eidecia where virtually everything is constantly in flux. The city's layout, its buildings, even its inhabitants and its location continually change.
Even the name of Aarven changes, as far as its inhabitants are concerned. "Aarven" is merely the name used for the city by most outsiders—and the reason for this choice of name has been lost to time; presumably it was the name of the city at some point. The inhabitants, however, constantly change the name they refer to the city by; they may use a completely different name for the city at one time than they did ten minutes prior. Oddly, however, they always agree in what they call the city; even without any apparent communication with each other, any two Aarvenites will call the city by the same name, and recognize the name if they hear it. (They seem, however, to retain no memory of the city's previous names, unless they make a conscious effort to do so, and may not recognize a name they themselves used for the city previously.)
Transformations
The best known feature of Aarven is the frequent transformations that all its contents undergo. Everything within the city changes over time. Large changes, involving an object changing into something else entirely, occur roughly every four to twenty days and tend to be relatively quick, taking perhaps an hour or two to proceed to completion, after which the changed object will be relatively stable until the next such change. However, smaller changes, which change the object's features but not its essential nature, occur continuously. For instance, the décor of an Aarvenite pawn shop—the color of its walls, the pattern on the floor, the exact contours of its walls—will continuously alter, but in a matter of days when the large change comes, the pawn shop may change into a restaurant or a residence, with a layout completely different from that of the pawn shop it used to be. A chair may continuously change its details, its legs growing longer or shorter, the contours of its back shifting and reforming, but when the large change comes, it may turn into a lamp, or a rug, or something else entirely different. If the object has a name, even the name may change, the same way as that of the city itself.
This isn't to say, however, that all objects in Aarven are interchangeable, that any object is as likely as any other to change into anything, or that an object's past forms are irrelevant to what it will become in the future. Any object in the city does have a base form that it returns to perhaps every dozen or two transformations. Even in its other transformations, there are limits to just how far it can stray from its base form, although for whatever reason, some objects seem prone to deviate from their base forms significantly more than others. Buildings, for example, generally turn into other buildings, or into natural landmarks of comparable size; a building will rarely if ever shrink and turn into a pineapple or a desk. Furniture usually, but not always, turns into other furniture; weapons usually, but not always, turn into other weapons. Talismans always remain magical upon their transformations, though their exact powers may change. Furthermore, some relic of an object's base form generally remains on whatever form it takes. A book may transform into a pillow, for instance, but the pillow may be covered with words.
An damaged or broken object will be comparably damaged or broken in its new form when it transformed—though depending on what it transforms into, the new form may be easier or harder to repair. If an object is actually broken into two or more separate pieces, however, those pieces will then become new objects for the purposes of transformation, and may next transform into wholly different objects (or fragments of objects)—and at different times. (It may be that an intact object splits into two or more objects, however, or conversely that two or more discrete objects combine into one.)
Living creatures are as susceptible as any other object to Aarven's transformational effects. A living person may change into a different gender, an entirely different race, or even some sort of beast. The transformations, however, will be mostly physical, not mental. A transformed creature may gain or lose some skills or abilities, but will usually retain its memories, personality, and intelligence. In relatively rare cases, living, thinking beings may even transform into inanimate objects, though these will be objects that they were already associated with in some way. Living creatures do, however, sometimes have the ability to consciously resist being transformed by Aarven's power, though they are seldom able to keep this up indefinitely.
Objects brought into Aarven will not immediately transform. Though the exact time varies, on average it seems to take about seven days for the alterations to start. (This clock does not reset itself when the object leaves the city, however; the total time in the city for this purpose is cumulative.) All changes are temporary, at least within Aarven itself; whatever form something is transformed into, it will be transformed into something else not too long after, and generally won't stray too far from its base form. However, anyone or anything that leaves the city while changed may be stuck permanently in that new form... at least, until the transformation is magically countered, or until the object or person returns to the City of Change.
There's some evidence that the frequency of changes comes in waves, short bursts of widespread change are followed by periods of citywide stability. Few in-depth studies have been made of this, however, and those few that have have had contradictory and controversial results.
Geography
The layout of Aarven is as changeable as anything else within it. The roads and pathways grow and shrink and connect up in different ways, somehow managing never to be seen in the process of changing, but suddenly found to be different the next time someone goes a certain way. The buildings themselves change in shape and in nature; what was once a hospital may become a library, and the next day a menagerie.
Nevertheless, just as its inhabitants constantly change but the changes tend to center around a particular form, so there are some features of Aarven which, if not entirely constant, at least tend to be frequently present, albeit not necessarily in the same places, or in exactly the same form. One of these is the Lake—it has other names to Aarven's citizens, but is normally merely the Lake to outsiders. This is (usually) the largest body of water in Aarven, though its exact size and contours vary. Another significant feature is the Head, a frothy expanse where the quafoam from the transformations collects. Some entire districts of the city remain more or less intact through the transformations, such as the Artisans' District (home to the Flux Museum) and the Mummers' Ward. Other notable features include the Purple Tower, the Marches, the Roost, and the Pantechnicon. There are also certain roads that remain, if not identical, at least in roughly the same layout and relative positions, the largest of which is Capital Road, which passes through the Founder's Plaza (usually) near the center of the city.
One place in Aarven potentially of particular interest to visitors is the Still House, an inn the interior and contents of which seems to not be subject to the usual transformative effects that pervade the city. Those staying at the Still House are as safe from transformation as if they were outside Aarven altogether. The reasons for the House's immunity to Aarven's power are a mystery; if the innkeeper, Joxal Chh, knows, he isn't telling.
Surroundings
Aarven, unlike most of the eidopoles, actually moves between planes and even between cosmoi, sometimes staying in one location for a matter of years and sometimes only for minutes. It seems to be somehow attracted to sites that are already in a state of transition or turmoil; generally it appears in places that are already notable for change. Aside from that, however, its destinations seem to be utterly unpredictable, as is the time it stays in a given location before moving.
When Aarven does move, it gives little warning. People and objects outside the city when it vanishes will be left behind on the world it departed. Anything (or anyone) that happens to be exactly on the boundary when the city departs will meet a stranger fate: part of it will be left behind, part transported with the city, but both parts may be transformed to make them individually viable—usually into a smaller version of itself, but sometimes into something altogether different. This is especially true in the case of living beings, which, if on the boundary of the city when it changes planes, will be divided dartically into two beings, often, but not necessarily, smaller (and perhaps younger) versions of themselves. In any case, residents of the city seem to know when it is about to move, in the same manner that they know what the city is currently called, and will be able to arrange to be inside the city when it happens—unless, of course, they for some reason want to be left behind, or to split into two creatures. It is visitors without native guides who are in the most danger of being stranded or divided by Aarven's translocation.
Sometimes, when Aarven leaves a location, it leaves a bit of itself behind, a much smaller city which shares Aarven's mutable nature, but does not (necessarily) follow Eidecia's physical and magical principles, and lacks any connections to pathnodes or to other eidopoles. Some of these spawned-off cities, sometimes called proteopoles, only last for a few days before either their changing slows and stops and they become ordinary cities, or they change permanently into something else altogether, or they dissolve away into nothingness. Others linger for years, or even centuries, and a few proteopoles seem to have become permanent fixtures of their planes, everlasting while everchanging. A very few proteopoles partake not only of Aarven's mutability, but also its itinerancy, these vagabond proteopoles may wander over one plane or world, or may, like Aarven, pass even between different cosmoi. Unlike Aarven itself, however, most vagabond proteopoles do not seem capable of spawning more proteopoles, though there are exceptions.
More commonly, rather than an entire city being left behind, a small area, such as a pool, a plaza, or a glade, is left infected with some of Aarven's nature when the city departs, causing transformations in those who pass through or spend time there. The same occasionally happens after a proteopolis disappears, a part of its former area retaining some of its properties. Called metatopes, these zones of transformation tend to last longer than proteopoles, though they still aren't necessarily permanent. Metatopes may be created by vagabond proteopoles as well as by Aarven itself. For that matter, some metatopes themselves are itinerant, passing through different planes and cosmoi.
Time
Aarvenites are as inconstant in their choice of clock and calendar as they are concerning their cities' name. Nevertheless, for dealings with outsiders who lack whatever odd link allows native Aarvenites to form a consensus on such matters, some standard must be chosen. While between themselves, therefore, Aarvenites hold to no consistent manner of timekeeping, when they consort with those from outside their city they usually hold to the calendar system of Nime, probably mostly because it the largest other city directly connected to Aarven through a single pathnode.
Most Aarvenite clocks, however, do not have the noetic inhabitants' option of consciously conforming with foreign conventions, and follow the native Aarvenite's protean timekeeping instead. This makes them utterly useless and incomprehensible to outsiders who don't have the natives' inherent sense for the city's vagaries. (Aarven's cycle of day and night is of little help either, being as variable as everything else about the city.) Many visitors who require precise knowledge of the time bring in their own timepieces, but even this doesn't always avail should they stay in Aarven too long, since these timepieces are also subject to the city's transformational aura. Ultimately, the only sure way of knowing the time in Aarven is with the help of a native, and some Aarvenites hire themselves out as so-called clockboys for just that purpose.
Inhabitants
Like all the eidopoles, Aarven is inhabited by a wide variety of different races; however, it seems to number a disproportionate amount of natural shapechangers among its residents. This includes some races rare in other eidopoles, including a sizeable population of turnskins (many of whom live in a neighborhood called the Double District). Fasks are also somewhat more common in Aarven than in other eidopoles, as, for reasons less clear, are tswc.
A number of innoetic species are also native to Aarven, of course. Shaves are formed dartically of bits calved off from other creatures; matter roaches are cockroach-like creatures that can transmute themselves into different materials.
Like most of the eidopoles, Aarven also has its own associated types of astite and of dundus. Of the former, Aarven has, among others, the allinone, which can take on successively the features and powers of other astites; and the prima, which constantly changes between shapes. Of the latter, Aarven boasts the akas, which mirrors the appearance and powers of other dundanum it faces; and the shapester, which can transfigure other creatures and objects as well as itself.
Governance
The leader of Aarven is a personage called the Cambiarch. The Cambiarch is as changeable as everyone else in the city, with no constants to his/her/its appearance, species, or other characteristics. It's not even clear to outsiders whether the Cambiarch is always the same person, or whether the title passes between different individuals. Somehow, natives of Aarven always seem to know who the Cambiarch is, but it's not at all obvious how. In any case, whatever form the Cambiarch takes (and whether or not the Cambiarch is always the same individual), he (or she, or it) always has one important power: the ability to transform anything or anyone into just about anyone or anything else at will, either temporarily or permanently (or at least, until the person or object is transformed again by the city's transformational aura). The Cambiarch doesn't usually use this power frivolously, but only to serve the needs of the city—although there have been times that the Cambiarch's transformations didn't seem to serve any purpose.
The Cambiarch, however, does relatively little with regard to running the city on a day-by-day basis. Rather, there exists a host of municipal government officials who take care of such quotidian matters. While, barring unusual circumstances, the officials hold their offices for a full term between elections (which occur every one to four years, depending on the office), the offices themselves continually change... as does their relative import. Probably the currently most politically powerful person in the city, for instance, is Oöl Tân, but one day he might be called the mayor, the next the governor, and the next the city administrator... and the day after that he might be called a burgomaster, but be one of several burgomasters subject to the chief burgomaster who the day before had been his assistant. Despite all the continual changes, Aarven's government does a reasonably efficient job of keeping things running... as efficient as could be expected, perhaps, in a city in such unending transition.
Trade
Though Aarven does trade with other cities, what exactly it imports varies over time; the city may insist on importing cartloads of pumpkins one day, and paperweights another. Part of this is because Aarven's transformations ensure that the city might be plentifully supplied at one time with a good it is short of another, and part is because of the caprices of its inhabitants, whose whims are as variable as almost anything else in the city. Aarven does relatively consistently import a good deal of food, however; one adjacent pathnode does supply a good deal of rice and certain other foodstuffs, but not enough to meet Aarven's needs, and even if an object in the cityhappens to transform into food its owners may be reluctant to consume it, since after all it will eventually change back—if a townsperson's best sword turns into a giant carrot and the owner then eats it, he won't have his best sword anymore. Other common imports include textiles and many other manufactured goods the creation of which requires time and stable equipment.
As with its imports, Aarven's exports can include practically anything at different times. This can—and frequently does"include objects changed out of their normal form by the city's transformational aura; this often leads to some unusual items, which can be sold as novelties or curiosities or as bizarre objets d'art. Even living people changed temporarily into objects are sometimes sold, the transformation ceasing to be temporary when they leave Aarven's confines. Aarven does export some untransformed goods as well, however, mostly talismans and artworks, along with some metals quarried from mines in an adjacent pathnode (not to be confused with the morphmines that lie under Aarven itself).