Tarumenur

Tarumenur, while not the oldest Maenorian city, has been its capital for the majority of its existence. Despite taking part in a number of wars and battles, Tarumenur has never been occupied, nor its walls breached, as its defenses are some of the best in the world.

Demographics

While there are small groups of almost every major race in Ardrim present, the vast majority of its population is dragonborn. The next most common races are dwarves, humans, and drow.

Government

Tarumenur's government mixes the federal government of Maenor with the local governance of many other cities. Whereas other Maenorian settlements have a presiding lord or chief, each of which belongs to one of the Maenorian clans, Tarumenur is directly controlled by a council of representatives from each clan. This council controls the general activities of the city, passing laws and directing the bureacracy of the city. Beyond that, each clan controls different aspects of the city. Whether that be certain districts or control of certain industries, each clan has its own unique area that it controls within the city.

Defences

Being mostly underground, Tarumenur is entirely immune to aerial assault. Additionally, cave-ins are not a problem due to how deep beneath the ground the city lies as well as some basic enchantments and reinforcements protecting the rock above it. However, the city's most impressive defenses lie in their control of the underground River Hilädi and their fortress on the surface.
The River Hilädi runs through much of Maenor underground, and Tarumenor makes great use of this. It uses floodgates and locks to adjust the water level, bringing ships up to the level of the city. As such, any enemy that seeks to use this river to their advantage will be entirely unable to do so in attacking the city. Even if they were to destroy the floodgates, they would be simply facing a sheer stone wall. Thus, no ships can enter the city unless admitted from within through the deployment of the floodgates.
Far above the underground river there lies a massive fortress resting upon the surface. Part of the city, this fortress controls all comings both to and from the city via the overworld. It is one of the largest of its kind in Maenor, and has also never been penetrated. It occupies close to the entirety of a mesa rising above the desert. The only way to reach the top of the mesa is through a singular carved staircase with multiple gates that can be fired on from every single level above it. As such, the only effective way to reach the fortress proper is through an aerial assault. However, even this would serve to be incredibly difficult. There is no point in the fortress that cannot be reached through an entirely covered passageway, and there is not an inch of the structure that isn't made up of thick stone. This prevents the use of fire and most projectiles from being effective on the fort, preventing it from being damaged. Furthermore, all anti-aerial weaponry is similarly enclosed, with ballistae concealed behind stone and metal hatches that can be opened when ready to fire.
Naturally, the city also boasts a robust array of magical protections. While it has the standard anti-scrying magic in government buildings and general anti-teleportation magic throughout, it also has some more unique magical defenses. For example, all of the lighting within the city is magical and can be remotely controlled from within the central government complex. Should an invading force enter the city proper, the lights could be manipulated to blind enemies, shroud them in darkness, or change colors to highlight their positions to infantry. There are also a series of magical wards and traps throughout the city that can be armed from within a secure chamber underneath the central complex. These vary in power from simply stunning or inconveniencing enemies to more deadly measures such as fireballs, powerful lightning shocks, and summonings of enemies. Additionally, the city features a large hall with 2000 large stone and iron golems beneath the city that can be remotely deployed.

Architecture

Rather unique, Tarumenur uses very little to no wood in its construction. Instead, nearly everything is some combination of stone and clay. The most widespread design is stone bricks covered in a stucco made from the reddish clay native to Maenor. There are relatively few hard edges on buildings outside of decorative elements, but decorative elements such as columns and statues are far from a rarity.

Type

Large city

Population

320,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Tarumenurian

Location under

Canmar Plateau

Owning Organization

Maenor