Deephold
South-west of the City State of Styx lie the Dwarven Forelands and here we find the heavily fortified Dwardrun Passage which leads to the near-mythical twinned city of Deephold.
Deephold, the only city known to the people of the Great Cavern of Aman-ya to surpass Styx in inhabitants and size is technically two cities, one in the Deeplands and one near and on the surface of the Prime World Disk in the eastern wastes of the Scorched Lands.
Deephold, also called Miklagarðr in Steinntung and Tiefwacht in the Hōchzungg is a truly incomprehensibly large fortified city state that primarily functions as a trade capital and point of cultural and mercantile exchange between the Deeplands and the Scorched Lands.
Though the city is cosmopolitan and multicultural as a true melting pot between the countless diverse cultures and species of the Deeplands and the equally plentiful cultures and species of the Scorched Lands the majority species is Dwarves which are ethnically split among those adapted to the Deeplands who have pale, greyscale or even translucent skin, light hair and eyes and those adapted to the surface who have darkly melanated skin, dark hair and dark eyes to resist the deadly rays of the Seven Suns.
Just as the city is split primarily between two ethnic groups and two city centers it is also split among Skyward Orthodoxy, those Dwarves who have not forsaken the Prophet-King Hyamir Skysmith and his Skyward Crusade and those that consider that very Hyamir Skysmith a false prophet and have returned to their shamanistic roots worshipping the spirits of the earth, sea as well as the elements and other such beings. The latter are called the Eldtruth-Kept and make up the majority of Dwarves in Deephold by a frail margin.
Deephold is ruled by two patriachs, one of the Skyward Orthodoxy and one of the Keepers of the Eldtruth as well as a council of twenty Trade Princes whose main goal is to facilitate merchantry and profit. The government of Deephold attempts to keep hostilities between the two primary faiths of the city under control by invoking a strict localized peace and ban on conversion within the limits of the city.
Deephold as a whole is located within a unimaginably large complex of tunnels predating the on-set of the Bright and the foundation of the Dwergenlaw but their original purpose is a mystery even to the scholars of the city’s many learning halls. The network of tunnels and halls full of abandoned and unknowable constructions and technology stretches from the surface of the Scorched Lands to the Deeplands and even deeper though the majority of it isn’t part of the city which has two centers (one at the surface, one in the Great Cavern of Aman-ya ) and then thins out into slums before the waymarks of civilization give way to ancient structures fallen to ruin and inhabited to all manner of wildlife, monstrosity and hostile humanoids.
What truly connects the two centers of cosmopolitan life in Deephold isn’t the endless miles of tunnels stretching downward and upward but the monolithic marvel known as the Mechanical Wonderwork. The Wonderwork which was discovered when the city of Deephold was founded in what is considered the First Age in the People’s Republic of Styx is, in essence, a metal walled hall, large enough in size to rival the thronerooms of many great and powerful realms which moves upward and downward going from the Lower Hold to the Upper Hold while guided by vertical metal rails larger than monolith or tower known to the people of Aman-ya at a speed than can scarcely be imagined.
The Mechanical Wonderwork moves from the Scorched Lands to the Great Cavern of Aman-ya within two hours when the trek through the lost tunnels between the two would take a full turn of six seasons. Even more unimaginable is the fact that this incredible feat of movement is hardly felt by those inside the Wonderwork as they move up or downward at a speed known only to arrows or other such projectiles.
The Mechanical Wonderwork is controlled by the Council of Trade Princes who levy tolls and taxes on its use making the bustling city of Deephold the prime point of exchange of goods, wares and ideas between the Deeplands and the surface of the Prime World Disk.
Deephold, the only city known to the people of the Great Cavern of Aman-ya to surpass Styx in inhabitants and size is technically two cities, one in the Deeplands and one near and on the surface of the Prime World Disk in the eastern wastes of the Scorched Lands.
Deephold, also called Miklagarðr in Steinntung and Tiefwacht in the Hōchzungg is a truly incomprehensibly large fortified city state that primarily functions as a trade capital and point of cultural and mercantile exchange between the Deeplands and the Scorched Lands.
Though the city is cosmopolitan and multicultural as a true melting pot between the countless diverse cultures and species of the Deeplands and the equally plentiful cultures and species of the Scorched Lands the majority species is Dwarves which are ethnically split among those adapted to the Deeplands who have pale, greyscale or even translucent skin, light hair and eyes and those adapted to the surface who have darkly melanated skin, dark hair and dark eyes to resist the deadly rays of the Seven Suns.
Just as the city is split primarily between two ethnic groups and two city centers it is also split among Skyward Orthodoxy, those Dwarves who have not forsaken the Prophet-King Hyamir Skysmith and his Skyward Crusade and those that consider that very Hyamir Skysmith a false prophet and have returned to their shamanistic roots worshipping the spirits of the earth, sea as well as the elements and other such beings. The latter are called the Eldtruth-Kept and make up the majority of Dwarves in Deephold by a frail margin.
Deephold is ruled by two patriachs, one of the Skyward Orthodoxy and one of the Keepers of the Eldtruth as well as a council of twenty Trade Princes whose main goal is to facilitate merchantry and profit. The government of Deephold attempts to keep hostilities between the two primary faiths of the city under control by invoking a strict localized peace and ban on conversion within the limits of the city.
Deephold as a whole is located within a unimaginably large complex of tunnels predating the on-set of the Bright and the foundation of the Dwergenlaw but their original purpose is a mystery even to the scholars of the city’s many learning halls. The network of tunnels and halls full of abandoned and unknowable constructions and technology stretches from the surface of the Scorched Lands to the Deeplands and even deeper though the majority of it isn’t part of the city which has two centers (one at the surface, one in the Great Cavern of Aman-ya ) and then thins out into slums before the waymarks of civilization give way to ancient structures fallen to ruin and inhabited to all manner of wildlife, monstrosity and hostile humanoids.
What truly connects the two centers of cosmopolitan life in Deephold isn’t the endless miles of tunnels stretching downward and upward but the monolithic marvel known as the Mechanical Wonderwork. The Wonderwork which was discovered when the city of Deephold was founded in what is considered the First Age in the People’s Republic of Styx is, in essence, a metal walled hall, large enough in size to rival the thronerooms of many great and powerful realms which moves upward and downward going from the Lower Hold to the Upper Hold while guided by vertical metal rails larger than monolith or tower known to the people of Aman-ya at a speed than can scarcely be imagined.
The Mechanical Wonderwork moves from the Scorched Lands to the Great Cavern of Aman-ya within two hours when the trek through the lost tunnels between the two would take a full turn of six seasons. Even more unimaginable is the fact that this incredible feat of movement is hardly felt by those inside the Wonderwork as they move up or downward at a speed known only to arrows or other such projectiles.
The Mechanical Wonderwork is controlled by the Council of Trade Princes who levy tolls and taxes on its use making the bustling city of Deephold the prime point of exchange of goods, wares and ideas between the Deeplands and the surface of the Prime World Disk.
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