Sapphire City
Capital of the Dwarven Kingdom
Twisting tunnels and reaching caverns eventually open up to granite buildings adorned with various precious metals and gemstones intricately shaped and crafted by hand. From the large tunnel that opens up into a new world of amazing spaces and structures, it is hard to see the actual size of the city that rests in the cavern, but once the rock walls fall away to open air, one can only be awed by the huge structure that rests before them, a testament to craftsmanship and beauty. This is the grandest achievement of the Dwarves, one that brings astonishment as one wanders the stone streets.
Perfectly carved roads and rough-hewn street signs direct travelers through the streets to their destinations, the magic of the area keeping any from getting lost within the cavern or the towering city. Looking up at the reaching spires and stone archways, it is almost hard to believe that this city was carved by mortal hands and did not just appear when the cavern itself was formed. Each piece was created by Dwarves as a show of their divine gift, a gift that finds its best in nature.
The Sapphire City is the largest city in the Dwarven Kingdom, serving as the capital and home to the Kingdom's three academies. Here, the Dwarves have demonstrated the grandeur of their trades, no expense spared to create the center of their Kingdom. In every carving and creation, the blessings that Crommel granted the Dwarves shine through. The city is rich in metals and gems, but its people find riches in education, in connections, in their culture.
Demographics
The population of the Sapphire City is one of the largest in the Dwarven Kingdom, making the city one of the great trading hubs of the Great Furnaces. It is a popular tourist destination for those that may wish to learn about the trades or purchase intricately crafted goods from the Dwarves. Markets and artisan guilds abound here, as evidenced by the craftsmanship of everything in the city.
Most inhabitants of the city are Dwarves, although there is no distinction made between Iron Dwarves and Gem Dwarves in this society. A number of Silver Elves and a few Dragonkin call the capital home. Many other races may inhabit the city for various lengths of time for study or leisure. It is very uncommon to see Clay Giants, Dragons, or other large races due to the constraints of the tunnels.
Quick Facts
Population Breakdown
Other Information
Industry & Trade
Adamantite
Adamantite
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Image via Midjourney, created by Riverfang
Adamantite is an extremely rare and coveted metal that can only be refined and turned into a variety of goods by the Dwarves and their special forges. Sold in markets across the world, the demand for this material, raw or already smelted and forged, is extremely high, keeping the special smiths of the Dwarves busier than they can keep up with.
While not physically at the center of the Great Furnaces, the Sapphire City is the center of all trade in the Dwarven Kingdom due to the existence of the School of Mines in the city. Large amounts of goods are produced and sold at market by the various artisan guilds that call the city home while other items are shipped through the Great Tunnel and elsewhere across Vóreios. Dwarven-made goods can be found in nearly every city of the Northern Continent as in most cases, the quality of these goods cannot be beaten.
Specialty Metals
Dwarves often specialize in metalworking and smithing, but in many instances, these tradesmen work with specialty metals that cannot be easily forged by others. Adamantite, Celestial Metals, and Noble Metals are commonly used by the Dwarves in their work and fetch high prices on the market. Due to their blessings from Crommel, only Dwarves can forge Adamantite, making it a coveted and rare metal. Alloys made of normal metals are also common in Dwarven work, but specialty metals are often the most popular in markets.Trade Goods
With the presence of the School of Mines in Sapphire City, almost any type of good made by a craftsman can be found in the markets here. Items such as weapons, armor, jewelry, various drinks, statues, cast iron cookware, and a variety of other goods handcrafted by Dwarves fill the various markets and are shipped elsewhere to fill needs. One may find Dwarven-made goods in nearly every corner of Vóreios and even in Nótios.Guilds
Guilds are an important part of driving the industry and keeping the quality of goods high. The title of Master Dwarf adds to this as trade goods are regulated both by the guilds and Dwarven Law as well, requiring only the best items to be sold under the banner of the Dwarven Kingdom.Infrastructure
The Sapphire City is a grand city that boasts some of the greatest amenities of all large cities in Vóreios. As all Dwarves are required to be productive members of society, professions that require a great deal of manual labor are celebrated, including the grueling tasks of dealing with sewage, street cleaning, and trash collection. Buildings and streets are cleaned and swept daily, keeping the city pristine through the hard work of its people.
Many of the buildings and streets are carved from varying colors of granite mined in quarries and caverns through the Great Furnaces. The darker colors of the natural stone are often contrasted with light colors in the buildings and streets, but the Dwarves love darker granite with light-colored veins. Other colored stones are used in entryways and transitions between buildings to show that the city is not a singular mass carved from stone. Intricate metalwork, made from rare and specialty metals, details every building and street while gemwork, courtesy of the Gem Dwarves, is also common throughout the Sapphire City.
While not as steeped in magic as the Elven city of Alfensil, the Dwarves utilize magic to assist in directing visitors to their destination. Street signs throughout the Dwarven Kingdom are enchanted to change to the reader's native script when read, causing fewer miscommunications. Even the rarest scripts in the world can be translated by this magic as the Dwarves often had a hand in creating or transcribing them. Similar magic is used in other places throughout the city to accomplish the same thing so that travelers feel more welcome and less out of sorts when entering the cavernous city.
Dwarven Street Signs
Dwarven Street Signs
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Image via Midjourney, created by Riverfang
Street signs in the Dwarven Kingdom are imbued with a special magic that shifts the letters of the words into the native script of whoever that reads it, allowing for fewer miscommunications for travelers.
Districts
Due to the terraced nature of the city, there are no true districts in the city, but more areas where a great number of specific things can be found. Artisan guilds, markets, academies, and government buildings can be found scattered across multiple levels and often blend in with the surrounding workshops and homes. Oftentimes, the only thing that sets some of these important buildings apart from others is the amount of adornment in terms of special metals and gemstones.
busiest in the city. This is also a destination for travelers as some classes at the various academies that are open to the general public and those that do not have the title of Dwarf.
Terraced City
Terraced City
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Image via Midjourney, created by Riverfang
Due to the size of the cavern, the Sapphire City is built in levels that reach up the walls of the cavern. Intricate walkways were built between the various levels, allowing access to the entire city from any point.
Artisan District
The love of crafting and the trades has created a great deal of workshops and artisan guilds throughout the city. It is common to find pockets of open-air workshops with forges, looms, and other workstations where various Dwarves are plying their trades and answering questions for the travelers that may stumble upon them. Few tradesmen actually sell goods from their workshops, instead choosing to sell goods in the markets so that they may focus on their work or educate those that pass by.Market District
Markets tend to be on the lowest level of the city where travelers will wander past day when they enter the city. Various stalls and buildings will line the streets, selling all sorts of wares as well as food and drink. These pockets of markets are often not far from the inns and taverns as it makes these areas accessible to all travelers, no matter their stature or physicality. The higher levels are somewhat difficult to reach and are not always traveled to by outsiders.Education District
With the three main academies of the Dwarves in Sapphire City, a great portion of the upper terraces is taken up by academy buildings, training grounds, museums, and other educational sites. Training mines, additional workshops, and storage buildings for the academies are also common and almost always bustling with activity. Other than the market district, this area is theGovernment District
The government district is by far the most centralized of all the districts with every building used for government purposes being within five minutes walking distance. These buildings are often the most ornate in the city and are set apart by their coloration. All buildings in this district are open to the public and it is not uncommon to see the Dwarven King conversing with his people outside of the council hall or the royal palace.
Crest of the Sapphire City
Crest of the Sapphire City
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Crest via Armoria, created by RiverFang
Under the leadership of the Thunderbeard Clan, the Dwarven Kingdom has flourished and become a hub of trade and craftsmanship throughout the world. This crest denotes an item created within the Sapphire City, the capital of the Dwarven Kingdom, as it is said that anything created in the capital is of the highest quality.
Type
Capital
Population
43,619
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
History
Built in a natural cavern, the Sapphire City was the first city to be built by the Dwarves once they claimed the land under the Great Furnaces as their own. This cave provided ample defenses and a great deal of raw stone that could be shaped and turned into something of grandeur. Over the course of hundreds of years, stone was mined and shaped into the various buildings, terraces, and walkways that filled the cavern and made a bustling city. Once pristine, the Dwarves have allowed nature to take over parts of the city as the years have passed. Stalactites and stalagmites have grown from the walls and walkways, adding a rough-hewn look to perfectly cut stone and intricate metalwork. Parts of the city have grown and changed over the millennia, but most additions have been adornments and cleaning up any rubble or miscellaneous stone that should not be.Guilds & Factions
Guilds, clans, and the military are important parts of life in the Sapphire City. All who live here are a part of one, if not more, groups that define them and their way of life. While these groups are not always political, they do tend to define interactions between people due to notoriety or respect.
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