Borgund

Borgund, a mining town, is built on the tundra landscape that is common within the Thrull province. Built within the foothills of the surrounding mountains, Borgund is constantly abuzz with noises of relentless clinging and clanging from the abundant number of mines and forges throughout the day. However, at night the nearby winds that come off the Sea of Turmoil can be heard howling above as they whistle through the neighbouring peaks and valleys.
The city of Borgund in the Armarka Mountains is the largest settlement in the north of Thrull, and the seat of Clan Sýr. Said to have been first settled while Sýr the Seven-Bladed still lived, the upper levels of Borgund spread along a series of stepped mountainside terraces lined with stone-walled houses. But the true size of the city becomes apparent only once visitors pass into Sýr’s Well, a set of slow-sloping ramps that descend from a broad central court atop the highest terrace, down into the stony depths of the mountain. Long tunnels radiate out from the foot of the well like spokes, with hundreds of chambers and halls sharing space with the great underground forges—the legacy of Clan Sýr and its people’s legendary skill with metalwork. With much of Borgund set within the mountains of the far north, the half-year of night that descends across the region in winter is of little concern to those who dwell here. Borgund’s halls and tunnels are a warm warren of magical rune light, making this one of the most pleasant places to spend the long winters in Valika. The heat of the forges balances the chill of stone, with fresh air constantly cycled into the depths through laborate ventilation tunnels.

City of Forges

Borgund is a hub of manufacturing for Clan Sýr’s hallmark weapons and armor, and the site of the classrooms and training forges where young clanfolk and thralls are trained. More so than in any other area of Thrull, many of Borgund’s thralls elect to join Clan Sýr once their term of service is up, dedicating themselves to the artistry of metal. As a result, Borgund boasts more dwarves, elves, and other folk of the southlands than any other settlement in Thrull. The approach to the city is marked by the columns of smoke that rise from its underground furnaces, and by the clusters of smaller mining communities that pull iron, copper, tin, silver, gold, and adamantine from within the mountains. Most of Borgund’s food is grown in towns and villages spread through the foothills and tundra to the east of the city, imported throughout the growing season and stockpiled for winter. Trade in arms and armor is the baseline of the city’s economy, both for the use of the clanfolk in neighboring villages, and to be sold and traded through settlements farther south.

Ancient Halls

The underground halls of Borgund were not excavated by Valikans, though talented stonemasons and thralls worked over long years to bring those halls to their present state. The depths were first accessed by accident, when the folk of the minor Armarka clan took refuge in the peaks that now bear their name. Who crafted the ancient tunnels and vaulted chambers remains unknown, and though the original finished stonework in the depths bears hints of dwarven skill, the dwarves of the southern realms have no known legends that speak of the site.

Deeper and Darker

The inhabited depths of the city are not the only spaces excavated by the long-lost builders of this place. Since the earliest exploration of the tunnels, collapsed walls and secret egresses have revealed other caverns and passageways beyond the main level, twisting down and away into darkness. Those who dwell here call this ancient section “The Deeps.” The deeps are dangerous, said to be filled with dead ends, steep switchbacks, gozomites and other monstrous predators, and ancient stone prone to collapse. As well, official forays of Clan Sýr’s explorers have observed that many of The Deeps’ passageways appear to change their pitch and orientation between one survey and the next. Whether this shifting is some sort of disorienting effect of the old stoneworks or marks the presence of stone-shaping elemental forces has never been confirmed. Officially, all entrances from Borgund into The Deeps have been permanently sealed off. Unofficially, a number of sites within the city offer access, including Glowlight Goldsmiths (a front for a well-organized criminal guild smuggling arms to Summerhelm in Kandar) and a ravine along the edge of the aboveground city that is easy to find but treacherous to descend.

Type

Town