Kannak
City of Goblins, Bulettes and Bulette Powder.
To approach, as many do, the city of Kannak from the ground is to dishonor the true beauty of the city. For the walls they have raised up around the city do no justice to it's inner beauty. No, the true way to approach this unique city is from the air in a fierce Blood Claw where you have unobstructed sight of the city below. There, riding the hot updrafts of the Mesa, you can see the beauty of the spread of the city from the great fissure, a deep gouge into the bedrock of the land. The lights deep within shining bright and splendorous from the shadows of the earth. The dull red sheen of the sands marking the blood that has spilt to forge this city. The understanding that in the heart of this crevice lies the great, terrible and wise leader of the city; the ancient silver dragon, Emmalice. And when you approach and see the regiments of goblin protecting the walls and patrolling the grounds. You will know safety as you never have. For this is the only city in the entire land to be protected by well armed gunmen of the type not seen since the fall of Araetule. The splendours gathered here from the trains and airships that declare it a mecca, coming to source their life blood, are vast to the point of being uncountable. That they all seek in some way that terrible, glorious and ancient substance. Is but a truth of the city. Ay, this land is unique and a traverse well met in experience. For the streets of Kannak never run dry of trade, revelry or the powdery gold that is its lifeblood. And the deep shadows of secrets that are kept here will never be divulged.
City of Goblins, Metal and Explosions.
The city of Kannak has many things the outside sees as a rarity or finds to be extremely less common. Chief among these are the weapons many of the Bedrock guards wield outright in the streets as they make their patrols. Guns without being Gunslingers, these forces have forced crime fairly underground, forming an illicit underground market where most anything can be found for a price. Outside of the everpresent are the temples to the patron deity of Kannak, Hextank, Ascendant. With loud clashing music made for the masses with metal drums and cymbals. These temples find themselves to be the centers of the community during the year. And Kannak's survival during The Orcish Incursion is heralded by many as a sign of the deities protection. The Chasm the city was built out of separates and reveals a ravine unique to this area, with extremely hard stone above and below, that seems to be impossible for Bulette to tunnel through. This makes the city the only true haven from the threat of bulettes. The ruler of the city shares a commonality with that of Renai in that, it is the daughter of the Draconic Duo of Brodray Champion of Garma” and Pursir Faithful of Firn”. Only, this city is that of the goblins. A fine landscape carved out by the gracious Emmalice in thanks for being saved by a tribe of Goblins early on in the years of Ithungsida. Goblin is the main language, written for the store signs and heard in greetings. Common is a far secondary.Demographics
The city of Kannak is one of very few cities in Ithungsida that doesn't have an overtly dominantly human population. Indeed, Humans are nearly equal in number to the goblins and hobgoblins that inhabit Kannak.
Humans
Humans still retain the majority population of Kannak, with that comes standards of size and living that makes traverse of the city somewhat capable for all citizens. They largely identify with the sands and wear cloaks to shield them from the harsh winds common to the region.Goblins
More adapted to the sands than humans will ever truly be, goblins prosper here. With goblin as an official language of the city that most know well enough to manage. They prosper well under the careful treatment and blessing of Emmalice.HobGoblins
HobGoblins help to retain order and structure in the city, as closely related to Goblins, they also prosper from rulings and favor from Emmalice.Dragonborn
Not unlike Moldatun, dragonborn flock here in droves. They find their ways in search of a connection with the monarch of the city. Though there is a greater amount of silver dragonborn, still many other colors make their way to the city in search of a stable home.Gnomes
To dabble and Mark. While they are a smaller population than others, gnomes frequent the city to a great degree. Always in search of ways to improve on Bulette Powder, Airships or Modern Trains. Many see Qurillion Blackstaff's journey here as a pilgrimage to set out upon to try to find a new material or invention to change the world.Serpen
Many Narahasaur of the Serpen race find the city of Kannak to be one of the few places on the Material Plane they find truly interesting. They are a not entirely uncommon sight in the city.Government
Emmalice holds final sway in all decisions in Kannak, however, following the example of her parents; she has aligned two organizations that manage the daily needs and running of the city. These are the Fathoms and the Bedrock, both goblin-centric organizations.
The Fathoms
The lair of Emmalice is a natural cave formed long before whatever cataclysm ripped the ravine above it open, there the silver dragon spends most of her days in quiet meditation and communing with various entities. Just outside of her lair lies the quarters of the Fathoms. The Fathoms are a group as old as Kannak itself, founded by Emmalice to help maintain the landscape of the Mesa as it is while expanding the city she loved. They look up from the deepest point in the ravine, just outside of her lair and ponder the city and it's place in the grander scheme of things. The main focus of the Fathoms is to focus on the control of trade, the security of city secrets and the stability of foreign relations as they placate the masses that would take control of the city for the extremely valuable resources found within. To keep Kannak independent is the goal, to do so while making sure it thrives and grows is the ideal.The Bedrock
Named after the type of land the city is built upon and the old name held by ancient goblin tribes. The Bedrock is much like that strong rock below them, a barrier of protection that keeps mindless ravaging beasts from swarming the city and destroying it. However, while the rock fashion of Bedrock keeps Bulettes fenced out, the organization deals with the internal runnings of Kannak. They manage the standing army, the allocation of resources, the creation and bounty system that contributes to the Creation of Bulette Powder. They maintain and fund the Internal police force and they fund their local Postal Service with forces from the army.Defences
The walls of Kannak are exactly 16 feet tall and built out of Hard obsidian and bedrock carved from the earth below. The sole purpose of this wall is to dissuade the errant bulette that makes it's way towards the city.
Industry & Trade
Kannak is a hub of industry, with many factories constantly working on the strenuous process of the Creation of Bulette Powder as well as the creation of new train bodies and airships.
With a Nexus of trade between Araetule, KravMaw and SosIwa, the city has little.need to prosper other than existing. However, as one of the extremely few exporters of Bulette Powder, trade is in constant demand as the various nations seek to power their own industry.
The majority of the population works in one of the many factories, but there is a large hospitality industry with countless bars and areas for travelers to stay. The city military forces and postal service manage the last majority of the population, with groups heading into the dangerous sands of the Mesa or merely guarding the low-lying walls.
Architecture
Kannak is largely built from the stone it lies on, with red-tinged buildings and carefully constructed buildings carved into or out of the stone. On the surface, Sand nets are a common sight in Windows and doorways.Geography
Kannak is built on a large mesa at the foothills of the Feng Mountains around a canyon that was originally the lair of it's Ruler, EmmaliceInfrastructure
The city of Kannak is Separated into three major districts that can be clearly seen from above. The Surface, The Walls and the Depth.
The Surface is the massive spread of land atop the city and spreading out from the deep ravine. Here lie fields filled with Bulette Farms, factories pumping out smoke in the creation of Bulette Powder, and countless carcasses of airships in mid-construction.
The areas are somewhat of an even mix of an industrial landscape and a place for workers to live and make their daily jaunts to work. The sight on sees as they approach the city is of the towering smokestacks and gouts of flame issuing over the minor sets of walls.
The Walls are the sides of the ravine, with endless passages, homes, and other types of buildings carved deep into the rock through sheer stubbornness and willpower. This consists of 20 stories separated by staircases of rickety wood and, much more rarely, carven stone.
While the staircases exist; the general method of traverse is the set of manual and Bulette Engine elevators that lead from the Surface to the Depths. These are almost always staffed by members of the Army of Kannak and as such, are not used by illicit dealings of the various crime families in the city.
The Depths is the very bottom of the ravine, a wide open landscape filled with parks and trees and beautiful houses built for the rich and elite of the city. Mirrors from the heights of the Surface cast light into the abyss to make it a pleasant place where many community groups assemble for activities, discussion, and performances.
More often than not, this is the cultural center of Kannak, with many groups coming to worship their deities or to just give thanks to their ruler Emmalice.
Natural Resources
Bulettes are the greatest resource of Kannak; the beasts provide eggs, tourists, industry from their corpses and the need for a standing military to combat them.
However, a secondary resource is the great mines of Kannak that carefully reach deep into the earth for minerals that are rich in the region. These are far less prosperous than they could be, due to the preparations they put in place to avoid swarms of deadly Bulettes underground.
Alternative Name(s)
Land of Powder, City of Fire
Type
Large city
Population
38,000
Location under
Related Professions
Really nice article Dejers! I don't really have anything to add to this, the
This is very detailed, and I feel like it's a real, living place that one could visit. Speaking of, what would happen if someone who doesn't know the language came to town? Would that cause problems?
Thanks! I do try to make my cities usable for stories and the capacity to explore them without my direct guidance. What did you think stood out the most for you in this article? So I know what helps it feel 'alive'!
Just little details like that Common isn't the main language, and a thousand little things that are too numerous to mention.
Great Article, not much critique there, but I do have a question about the two organizations, The Fathoms and The Bedrock. Is there any areas where their authority overlap and if so is there any political tension between these groups where they might try to sway Emmalice to gain the favor of there leader to grab more power or influence for their own organization respectively?
On one hand, I really want to say yes because political intrigue. But realistically, most of the boundaries of the Fathoms and the Bedrock are well and long established over the last thousand years... Definitely potential in some of the other groups attempting to use them as proxies for attention though! Thanks for the feedback!
This was a really good read, i liked that the sidebar followed me all the way down. There were a few difficult terms where a describing excerpt/tooltip would have been nice (also some of the existing links have no excerpts). I thought "how is there light for trees and things down there" and a second later BOOM mirrors, so that's also really nice. Why is it Goblin language if humans are the majority? Are the goblins of higher class in this specific city? The first headline says city of Goblins, Metal and Explosions. I see the goblins everywhere, but where is the metal and the explosions? (is it a reference to the mines and bulette powder?) and last but not least, where are my exploding goblins?
Metal and Explosions are somewhat meta-references to the high prevalence of gun and Bulette powder based weaponry which requires both. Humans are the majority, yes, but humans are intensely adaptable and have no real language of their own beyond "Common", so many/most learn Goblin and speak that in the majority. :) Exploding Goblins didn't quite fit here unfortunately, working on it! XD I've been trying to put important information over saying-everything- in a single article. Also, what areas did you have issues with for tooltips?(many of those links are drafts which are being worked on. XD) Thank you so much for the feedback!
It was mostly place names like "Mesa", "Renai", "Ithungsida" and "Araetule", and i didn't know if bulette farms were like, farms with bulette's in cages or farms where they sorta "harvested" local bulette populations (i know for all of them i could've just clicked right away to find out, but it's really nice to just get a time comment from an article excerpt). Also things like the "common" would be nice to have a little link with and excerpt about. I also forgot the dragon was called Emmalice from when i read the qoute and i had to F3 to find it, so that one would be useful too.
You have a really nice and detailed article there dejers. I especially liked the introductory quote describing the city in brief and then you went into detail about the city itself. This gives a clear picture to the reader of the city and allows oneself to immerse into your world. The usage of links here was also nice and allows the reader to obtain additional information about bullettes. Overall solid article that i did not find any mistake with