The Great Road
The Great Road is a 250-mile long underground highway system stretching from the center of the Kingdom of Aria and proceeding northeast under the Gorgomoth Mountains, finally ending at the Dwarven City of Vendural near the Bay of Aram. This Road is a true wonder of the world. Beginning in the City of Hontrim, the Great Road connects each of the Dwarven Cities of Gorgomoth, only emerging from under the mountains in the few places where rivers have cut deep gorges into the mountains that are simply too deep to go under.
Constructed over the course of the last 800 years, the Great Road is constantly maintained and improved by the various Dwarven Cities aong its course. Design and architecture vary from territory to territory, but the general layout of the Road is a wide, dry tunnel that allows cart and wagon traffic to easily move along its course safely and securely. Every half-day's journey there is a section of the Road that has been built to provide a place to rest travellers and their animals along the route. These Way Stations are staffed and maintained by the local Cities and their respective Legions. Light is provided by ingenius gas and oil fixtures that magnify and direct the light of lamps across wide sections of the tunnels. Fresh air is continuously pumped into the tunnels, as is fresh water that is piped into troughs and basins along the way for travellers and animals to drink from. Waste water and runoff are carried away by sewers located underneath the surface of the road.
Purpose / Function
The Great Road is an underground highway constructed to connect the Dwarven Cities of Gorgomoth. It facilitates trade, defense and travel between the six great Cities of Gorgomoth. Constructed almost entirely underground, it is an incredible wonder and a marvel of engineering. Extending almost 250 miles underneath the Gorgomoth Range, it offers a safe and secure road from Hontrim all the way to Vendural, and connects all the Cities in between.
Design
Built with the intention of making trade, travel and defense easier, the Great Road is a marvel of engineering. Connected to each of the six great Dwarf cities and constantly refreshed with fresh air and regularly placed rest stops for water, food and shelter, this highway is awe-inspiring.
Entries
Access to the Great Road is very limited. Only a few entrances or exits exist outside of one of the six Dwarven Cities and all of these are very heavily defended by one (or more) of the individual Cities. The two largest entrances/exits of the Great Road are at its terminuses: Hontrim in the west and Vendural in the east. Some ancillary external access points exist, most to provide sources of fresh air/water/food/fodder for particularly isolated way stations between cities, but even these are heavily monitored and guarded by significant numbers of Legionaries. All other access to the Great Road is through the six Dwarven Cities themselves.
Sensory & Appearance
With variations only in local or regional decoration, the Great Road is a wide and tall tunnel carved from the living rock. It is tiled with glazed ceramic on ceiling and walls, and paved with dressed hard stone for durable wear and ease of repair. Air is cycled in through various ingenious means and light is provided by regularly maintained oil and gas lamps placed every 100' apart. Each of these more than 10,000 lamps has a reflector mechanism made of mirrors, magnifiers and reflectors that take a flame of only moderate size and spread its light over many yards of space.
Architecture
Wide enough for two stout wagons to pass each other and dotted with waystations and rest areas along its entire course, the Great Road is more than 250 miles long and only comes out from under the mountains in two places where rivers have cut gorges too deep to go under.
Defenses
The Road is maintained and improved by the individual Cities it connects, with the local Legions doing the bulk of the work on the Road. Since access to the Great Road is very limited, it is undoubtedly the safest road one can travel in the entire world.
History
Built and improved upon over the course of 800 years, the Great Road is a wonder of the world and a sight no one that travels it will ever forget.
Tourism
Between the individual Dwarven Cities, at intervals of roughly a half-day's travel, a number of Way Stations have been constructed. These stations provide a place for traders, Legionaries and travellers to rest, eat, provide for their animals and (if necessary) repair carts and wagons that may have broken down. Typically built with an inn (providing food, baths and beds), a stables, a carter, wagoner and/or farrier, a Legionaries post and often a sutler (providing supplies specifically for travellers).
Alternative Names
The Dwarven Path, Dwarf Road
Type
Road
Parent Location
Owning Organization
