Thousand Spires of Bunulbilg - Fotgral Kegbrand
Ah - how I love the Spires. No cesspit on Potestatem is more majestic and beautiful than the winding and twisting chaos that is the Thousand Spires as they rise out of the ridges of Mount Andul. This brief assessment is my, Fotgral Kegbrand's inaugural work on the wonder that is the capital city of the Dawn Empire.
The Thousand Spires of Bunulbilg is Potestatem's largest city. With a population over over one million, it dwarfs any other city in the world. The city is run by a senate which is elected by the population at large. In reality, the Great Houses of the Dawn Empire actually control the senate behind the scenes.
The city of the nexus of culture, commerce and industry in the Dawn Empire. With the Dwarfvrod connecting the city to the far corners of the empire and beyond.
The dwarvish city, the capital of the Dawn Empire, and the largest city in the world, the thousand spires of Bunelbilg soars over all. It sits within a hundred mountain peaks.The once rugged slopes were now carved by lifetimes of artistry. The city appeared to be an ancient ruin that had been rebuilt many times over time from its original form, a testament to its ingenuity. Each spire was taller than the last, and much taller than anything else in the world, though few could match the sheer size of the centeral spire, which was easily three times higher than any mountain peak. It appeared to be an amalgmation of hundreds of dwarven clans styles.
The ancient stones of other buildings are still shining. They are unworn by time. The modern cogs and metallic braces formed around them like webs. The stonework was so immense that even if the dwarves had wanted to build as high they couldn't have, for each new tower had been built atop those that came before it. They had achieved this height through layers upon layers of underground tunnels and foundation, sometimes leading up as much as two hundred feet above ground level. This required a great deal of planning.
Demographics
Nearly all dwarves on Potestatem call Bunelbilg and the Thousand Spires home. Most dwarves throughout this era still live within it or near it. For every ten dwarves a single creature of another race lives there. Most of these are gnomes and other tinkerers attracted to the cities cogs and gears.
Government
The many hundreds of dwarf clans work together to organize millions of populace. The council of dwarves is led by the eldest of each clan who vote and all manners of descsions. Traditions, laws, and rigorus systems make many manners simply be handled in effcient ways. For example a broken building will always be restored to its original state by a certain clan if the clan still exists. A huge number of situations are quicky remedied because of that. On the other hand, the dwarves don't adapt to many things quickly because of this.
Infrastructure
The city is split into six broad area's that each account for hundreds of thousands of citizens. From top to bottom in altitude they are the Skyway, Upper City, Mid City, Lower City, the Cogs, and the Lava Pools. Each section except the sky way is further split into layers that are one to two thousand feet hollow cylinders containing what most would consider to be a large to medium sized city.
The top layer is refered to as the first layer. On there the thousand spires as well as the large central spire where the clan heads meet are located. This naming system was created seventy years ago. Before then a layer around sixty was the first layer. Modern dwarves cannot agree or find evidence of which layer Bunulbilg himself carved as the first one of the now massive city.
Little is known about the space below the hundreth layer.
Skyway
The skyway refers to the tallest buildings on the surface of the city. These structure, one thousand of which are the spires themselves, reach high up and some even go higher than the surrounding mountain range's peaks. They are interconnected by moving platforms, balloons, blimps, bridges, and other devices. Clan leaders, prominent artficers and guild leaders work in this area. Despite the dwarvish population, the sterotype that dwarves are afraid of heights seems true here as mostly humans and gnomes occupy this area.Upper City
The top tenish layers are refered to by locals as the upper city. These layers are mostly merchantile and farming in nature. As these layers are the most modern much more metal and magic are infused into the infrastructure as technolegy progressed with each layer built up from the base.Mid City
All the way from layer fifty up to eleven are within the mid city layer. Many locals consider this the true city. Here massive dwarf clan halls dominate even larger carved caverns that are nearly one thousand years old nearthe bottom of this region. Newer mines, large foundries, and thriving cities are contained on these layers.Lower City
Below the fiftieth layer to around the sixtith contain the lower city. This region is smaller than the others but is maintained for historical purposes. One of these layers was the original founded over nine hundred years ago in the second era. The oldest dwarf clans have their ancient hall their great-great grandfathers founded. Due to this the most powerful clans put in the expenses to move resources here far from the surface and keep the region well maintained unlike a few layers above it and below it. Those other layers are either to old or unimportant to do so.The Cogs
A shiny term applies to layers below sixty down to eighty. This region is truly the shanty town outskirts of the region. In a classic city the buildings outside the walls contain the poorest of the population. In Bunulbilg that area is here. Mines that return little resources, breakign down forges and factories, and ale soaked dwarves wander the dim region.Lava Pools
Below the eigteith layer are the Lava Pools. From here to the edge of the cities control at the hundreth layer vast underground lava tubes transport waves of molten stone. It's Slightly nicer than the Cogs region. The natural heat provides great use to forge craft and blacksmiths who move here. Many clans have enormous foundary's here to mass produce their most basic of resources such as armors, weapons, beams, doors, canon, etc. Near the bottom monsters from the Underdark begin to crawl up into the alleyways to feast on tough dwarvish flesh.Underdark
Somewhere even farther below the hundreth layer of the city is the Underdark. Dark elf slavers, abberations, giants, and many others rule these more lawless and evil spaces.Districts
Points of interest
Wecquaesgeek (Weks-Wah-Sqeek)
An ancient road in the Thousand Spires of Bunulbilg famous for its many theatres. Originally founded as a crowning achievment of the city when they finally broke the surface above the lower lairs."Now that we have compelted the worlds greatest city, the people shall be given a break."
-Bilge Family Clean Lead, quote overheard during great feast of Bunulbilg.
Now it has formed a cultural arts center that has been the center of contention between the vast tradtionalist dwarf factions and the small progressive dwarfs. Both groups seem to come together over the streets purpose and exsistence. Their disagreement comes to whether traditional dwarven music or new plays should occupy the theatres. Opera has been the middle ground of the two groups.Architecture
Each layer of the city is fifteen hundred feet tall on average. With one hundred layers in the city in total, the overall capital is about 150,000 feet tall. Long shafts about a hundred feet in diameter allow for falling and rising quickly between layers. The top of the city emerges within the tallest thin air mountains of the Dawn Mountain Range. The bottom reaches nearly into the underdark far beneath the surface of Potestatem.
Geography
The highest point in the city is at about 58,000 feet. Due to the valley, dwarvish mastery of ventilation, magic systems, and plantlife the air density in the region is more similar to 20,000 feet. Outside the valley, breathing is impossible at that altitude. The lowest parts of the city at the hundredth layer scrap the top of Lowstatem.
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