Let them say what they want about our town. We're the fucking most ingenious Gérouns of Ménicéa. We managed to thrive in the Frozen Plains, the literally deadliest place of the continent.
Fulgen is the capital and only city of the
Frozen Plains, built next to an old monastery that shares the same name after gemstones deposits were found. It is the only town in Menicea to be constructed entirely underground, as the Plains' surface is utterly inhospitable to Gérouns.
Surviving
The first century was not the easiest for Fulgen as traveling by boat to any other coastal city wasn't even an option. The only way to reach the rest of Menicea was by the long and perilous road along the coast to
The Marsh.
Extreme cold temperatures were the first obstacle to overcome, as the
Frozen Plains are subject to a permanent snowstorm. The monks gladly shared their coal mines, but the weather made building houses at the surface merely impossible. Instead, a vast network of caverns was found under the monastery, which was quickly invested by the settlers.
To feed themselves, locals mostly relied on fishing and bought some of the monastery's vegetables from its greenhouse.
After Gérouns met
Humanity and lost their once absolute fear of the seas, a sea route between
Dolon , Fulgen, and
The Marsh was created. Fulgenians can now import wood, grain, and everything they need to thrive. This also had the side effect of drastically improving the city's commerce, which is now selling iron, copper, and some of its coal faster than before.
Surface chimneys
Heating the underground houses quickly became a problem as smoke could not be adequately evacuated from the caves. One day, the mining crew got an idea. After carefully measuring the distances between each house and the shore, they climbed to the surface and dug the first surface chimneys.
These large conduits are wide enough for a géroun to climb, making cleaning easy. Each chimney is provided with an iron cap that gets heated by the smoke, melting any snow that would fall on it.
Large fireplaces
While surface chimneys fix the air evacuation problem, they remain hard to dig and to maintain. Added to Fulgen's small population, the caves quickly became a convivial spot as fireplaces were built in the center of what could be compared to places. There, tables and cushions are plenty so that workers can relax and get warm after a day of labor.
Seemingly, houses are generally small and constructed in smaller cavities. A fireplace is built at the center of the hollow, and homes around it. This helps in saving both coal and time, as one chimney heats multiple housings.It's funny when you're at the surface. You can see a little forest of chimneys emerging from the ground, hehe. It's kinda cute.
Layout
The entire city is underground. A large staircase was carved into the stone to allow access to the surface along the coast. The caves' entrance is a few meters above water level, in a small creek isolated from the sea's moods.
Docks were built within the creek about 70 years ago; right above them is Fulgen's great door, isolating the caves from the outside to retain as much heat as possible.
Behind the door, several large caves were appointed as places where people gather and attend social activities. This is also where shops, inns, and the hospital are.
From there, a sprawling network of caves spread around. Most are houses or warehouses, sometimes made out of former mining shafts.
Monastery
The Fulgen Monastery is one of the most ancient known Menicean buildings, dating from even earlier times than the Clan War. No one really knows how or when it was built, but the way its structure was constructed seem to indicate that it was before the Frozen Steps were... Frozen. The whole structure is huge, and built with stones.
Like the townsfolk, monks relied a lot on fishing before the region had docks. They also have an ancient coal-heated greenhouse, entirely isolated from the cold to grow some vegetables and fruits.
The monks are entirely devoted to
Giraun but do not communicate anything else about their activities. They are wholly opened to new recruits who wish to offer their lives to the gods.
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