Floating City

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Floating City
Alias(es)	浮空城
Classification	Vast magical city and the world's most complex magical item; its power is compared to a divine artifact 593
Primary Power Source	Iola's Core, a soul-bound magical item that supplies the energy for a city's systems and barriers 767 805
Status	Multiple Floating Cities exist or have existed in the Aurelian Empire; several were captured or destroyed during the conflict at Northril 1057
First Appearance	Chapter 76

Background

The first Floating City was Master Ogulvi's Nether Floating City, created more than 1,600 years before the attack on Pallas. Its construction established the Nether School of magical thought and made Nether a central symbol of imperial political and magical power 576 600.

Floating Cities became the Empire's supreme magical strongholds. Each was traditionally controlled by a Soul Saint Wizard, and their presence represented the Empire's greatest mortal magical force 76. Their ownership also carried political importance: controlling Nether meant influence over Northril, the imperial capital, while ownership of any Floating City was a mark of status as well as military strength 576 807.

Until the capture of Naxxramas, no Floating City owner had been killed and deprived of control. The city’s fall and Rayne's subsequent takeover were regarded as the first successful capture of a Floating City 767 807.

Construction Methods

Method	Process	Documented Examples
Nether City construction method	A mountain peak is severed, levitated with Iola's Core, and developed into a city. In the common arrangement, the cut surface faces upward and the peak hangs inverted beneath it.	Nether, Tiris, and Aglond use variants of this method 162 270 1057
Modu City construction method	The city is first built on the ground. A vast underground Rune Array and Iola's Core are installed, after which the entire city is uprooted and raised into the sky, leaving a massive pit below.	Wezelan was built this way 162

Iola's Core and Control

Iola's Core is the central power source and control mechanism of a Floating City. It is shaped like a large crystal sphere and contains layered alchemical structures, dense Rune Arrays, and a mysterious flame associated with the Goddess of Magic 805.

• A Core becomes bound when it transmits Rune imprints into an owner’s soul; only the owner’s death or voluntary release of the bond normally permits a new master to claim it 767 805.
• Once bonded, the Core grants its owner access to the Floating City's systems through a mental projection 805.
• The owner can observe the city's rooms and levels in real time, monitor Rune Arrays, regulate energy, and command defensive measures 805.
• Major systems can include barriers, gravity reversal, flight, Astral jumping, teleportation, intrusion warnings, internal defenses, self-repair, and offensive spell arrays 805.
• Spellcasting within a control room can draw directly on the Core's immense energy, while effects outside it rely on limited backup energy 805.

Defenses and Limitations

Vejestri's Arcane Barrier

A Floating City's greatest strength is its barrier rather than its offense. The Iola's Core-powered Vejestri's Arcane Barrier can withstand several simultaneous Tenth Circle Spells and recover quickly, making a Soul Saint Wizard who remains inside their city extraordinarily difficult to kill 825 1053.

• Wezelan's barrier is described as a Tenth Circle defensive spell capable of protecting the entire city 162.
• Access through the barrier is controlled; airships pass through designated openings, and city emblems may be required for teleportation permissions 600.
• Historically, severe damage to Floating Cities was usually caused by breaches from within rather than direct assault 1053.

Strategic Weaknesses

Despite their defenses, Floating Cities are not freely mobile fortresses.

• Their conventional flight speed is slow enough for an ordinary griffon to keep pace, so they commonly remain stationary during battle 921.
• Their immense maintenance costs can create major financial burdens; Wezelan relied on Imperial Bank loans when its income could no longer meet operating expenses 237.
• A Soul Saint Wizard gains security by remaining within a city, but this can also restrict their freedom of movement and slow their personal advancement 593.
• Destroying energy nodes or interrupting a jump can damage Rune Arrays and leave a city unable to warp until repaired 805.
• The Key of the Gate, once advanced to the eighth ring, can penetrate spatial barriers and bypass conventional magical defenses 600 767.

Population and Infrastructure

Floating Cities are primarily inhabited by Transcendent individuals, wealthy residents, and nobles. Ordinary commoners generally lack the status or means to enter them 166.

Their urban structures commonly include Wizard Towers, defensive arrays, teleportation facilities, airship routes, military areas, and control rooms. A Wizard Tower substantially strengthens its resident spellcaster, making tower ownership a major source of competition among Legendary Wizards 237 701.

Wezelan had thirteen high towers for eighteen Legendary Wizards, leaving several residents without personal towers and contributing to the city's internal tensions 237.

Notable Floating Cities

Floating City	Features	Known Fate / Status
Nether Floating City	The world's first Floating City; an inverted mountain peak that follows a fixed route around Northril, completing a circuit in roughly ten days 627	Remained a defining symbol of the Nether School and imperial authority 576
Wezelan Floating City	Built by the Modu method; nearly four kilometers in maximum diameter, with an estimated urban area of about ten square kilometers. Its central purple spire exceeds 500 meters and supports a citywide force field 162	Faced long-running financial difficulties and a split involving nobles and wizards seeking to build a new city on the New Continent 237
Pallas Floating City	The Empire's largest Floating City, over eight kilometers wide and about fifty square kilometers in area. Built on a polished red boulder, it contained dozens of Wizard Towers, gardens, rivers, waterfalls, and a second Tenth Circle Spell 600 1054	Shot down into the West Mountain range by Rayne's Star Destroyer fleet 1053 1054
Tiris Floating City	Constructed with the Nether method; rose in New Calendar year 1285 as the Empire's fifth Floating City 1057	Its barrier was breached and the city was destroyed after Loxi the Deceiver was revealed within it 1054 1057
Naxxramas Floating City	Controlled by the Lich Kolsted and defended by Undead forces, Apocalypse Knights, energy nodes, the Netherworld Barrier, and the Tenth Circle Spell Death Reckoning 763 796 805	Captured by Rayne after Kolsted's Soul Jar was destroyed and Rayne bonded with its ownerless Iola's Core 805 807
New Homeland Floating City	A damaged Floating City whose limited scale reduced its value relative to larger cities 825	Auctioned by Rayne and acquired by Duke Silverstar 831

Star Destroyer Variant

Rayne's Star Destroyers are Floating Cities built as metal warships rather than conventional urban landmasses. Their design combines Iola's Core technology with mechanical construction and Titan Forge weaponry 887 919.

• Iola's Core provides hovering, jumping, teleportation, defensive force fields, and internal magical functions 887.
• Titan Forge technology powers the ships' external offensive systems, including Electric Light Cannons and the Star Annihilator Cannon 887 919.
• Unlike conventional Floating Cities, Star Destroyers can accelerate rapidly, become invisible, and pursue or escape most opponents 921.
• Eight Imperial-class Star Destroyers firing together pierced Pallas's Arcane Barrier, proving that a conventional Floating City could be defeated through overwhelming concentrated firepower 1053.

Major Events

Event	Outcome
Wezelan's internal split	Financial strain and a shortage of Wizard Towers drove Modu nobles and wizards to seek a new Floating City on the New Continent; those who departed were barred from returning 237
Naxxramas invasion	Rayne's forces infiltrated the city, attacked its energy nodes, killed Kolsted, and seized control of Iola's Core 798 805
Auction of New Homeland	Rayne auctioned the damaged city, which Duke Silverstar purchased and took control of 824 831
Battle above Northril	Rayne's nine Star Destroyers attacked the opposing Floating Cities; Pallas and Tiris were destroyed, while Falanis and Aen surrendered or were captured 1053 1057