Idris: The Nephilim Homeland
Idris is our country, our land of santurary and safety. If you, have not yet traveled there you will likely do so to drink from the Cup and recieve your first Marks. And there you will see the beauty and tranquility that have made it the best-loved of all Shadowhunter places. Angelic enchantment appears in each lewar, each river stone, each dweilling. The land stands presided over the soaring fingers of adamas that form the towers protecting its capital, Alicante. These towers surrounded us with angelic light and sheild the city and its people from demonkind.
Where is Idris? What is it LIke?
The country of Idris is small, barley visible on a map of Europe. It is in fact little more than the city of Alicante, the plains that gently unroll beneath its walls, and the surrounding mountain range that protects it. Alicante is the only city- indeed, the only major settled area- in the country. This makes much of Idris difficult to raverse, even for Shadowhunters; its mountians are impasssible except in high summer, due to heavy snows, and its woods, especially the Brocelind Forest which is dense and unmarked by trails. Idris is, nonetheless a very beautiful country: low alpine, stacked with sheaves of pine trees amond which meander countless riveulets and brooks. Though this land is different from any of its mundane neighbors- Germany, France and Switzerland it evokes the smae beauty landsacpes of those countries. Idris was not, as it commonly believed made from land "stolen" from it sbordering countries. Instead Raziel created an entirely new country, it is land made for no purpose other than to be a home for Nephilim.
Alicante
Alicante, otherwise known as the Glass City. Is the holy city of the Nephilim. For Shadowhunter Alicante is Jerusalem and Rome and Messa and Shamballa and Bodh Gaya all in one. This must never be forgotten: while daily life goes on in the city as in any other full of routine humand need and exchanges, it is the Forbidden City, the place given only to Nephilim as our base of operations and our haven on Earth. To that end its towers protect it from demons, who cannot pass through the wards. Downworlders are able to pass thorugh the wards without difficulty, but they may not enter Alicante without permission. They are allowed to enter only as an invited guest of a Shadowhunter, and must either be accompanied by the Shadowhunter or carry with them the approptiate enchanted sighned paperwork. By tradition Downworlders are permited to enter the city only thorugh its north gate whic is guarded day and night. In addition fro security reasons new Portals may not be opened directly into Alicante. Despite the partially demonic origin of the Portal Shadowhuners have grown used to its convenience and so typically portals are opened to the outskirts of Aliante outside the walls. The only exception is the permanent Portal in the Gard. Shadwohunters often grumble about it but the prohibition reamins: Portals are created by warlocks and while we are allied with the warlocks as a group we could not leave a ole in our defenses that wouild allow any possible rogue to open a Portal direcdtly into our santum sanctorum.
How to get to Idris
In order to treach Idris by air, one must fly to one of the aiports in neighboring countries and travel overland across its border. Those who are used to the delights of mundane transportation technolgoy may find this somewhat retrogressive, but we invite you to thino of it instead as charmingly quaint. Of course, until the beginning of the twentieth century, the only means of reaching Idris at all was overland travel. The travel problem caused by Idris's landlocked status was eventaully solved by the invention of the Portal, now the most common means of getting there and back.
The Wards of Idris
The wards around Idris are unique and proved impossible to comprehend or dupliace despite all our years of study. Humans are able to create wards that divert certain individuals away from a place or an object; they do this sometimes by illusion and sometimes by distraction. This is true of both the Gray Book Marks and Warlock Magic. If a mundane passes through the Idris wards however he will be transported instantly to the corresponding loaction on the opposite border. This happens without any side effects or sings so a mundane will have no awarness that he or she has passed instanlty through an entire country. From the perspective of mundanes, it is as if Europe exists with no Idris in it at all. And indeed this is how mundane maps depict things. The Wards of Idris were created by Raziel himself as part of the initial set of gifts that he preseneted to Jonathan Shadowhunter. Their magic was not apparently magic that Raziel decided to share with his creations the Nephilim and so we are unable to duplicate elsewhere or at all modify the wards of Idris borders. Over the years Nephilim have argued endlessly about why the Irdris wards allow the free passage of Downworlders and even demons themselves into Idris. In other words the wards precent the discovery of Idris by the mundane world, but all members of the Shadow World my pass in and out freely. Many Shadowhunters have aruged taht Raziel's purpose in warding Idris was to prevent the Nephilim from ever becoming involved in land conlfist with its neighbors. Idris is meant as a hidden sanctuary from the munadne and as a home not as a political entity among the nations of the world. As such its boarders can never be altered.