Rannock Reivasa
Rannock Reivasa, the city-fortress at the base of the Great Mother, Reivasa, is unique not only in its size but in its design. Rannock was not built from nothing around a geothermal feature, but built on the ruins of an ancient fortress long-buried by ash and lava. This ancient fortress once guarded the narrow mouth of a lone pass leading high into the mountains. Reivans have painstakingly excavated the ruins, digging and carrying away seemingly endless tons of tephra and igneous rock to restore and rebuild the site into a de facto capital.
Government
As with all reivas, Rannock Reivasa is governed under the absolute authority of its Elders, but is unique in that each clan has not one, but a triumvirate of Elders, with a correspondingly larger pool of acolytes. Aside from this larger council, the principles of governance remain the same. As Rannock is far larger than any reiva, with more wealth, prestige, and control of the all-important Crucible steelworks, all reivas will defer to the will of Rannock’s council of Elders. The Elders are, in effect, the governing body of the Reivan Clans, with the senior-most Elder the de facto head of state.
Defences
Unlike the reivas, Rannock’s fortifications are not designed to protect from ash storms - nestled into the pass, Rannock is sheltered by the Mother’s Shield. They are not designed to withstand an eruption - for if the Great Mother were to erupt again, no defenses could withstand her wrath. Rannock’s fortifications are built for war, with multiple lines of outward facing defenses. An outer curtain wall is fronted by a ditch, and is intended to be manned only to slow an attacking force before being abandoned. The outer wall’s primary purpose is to bar any siege equipment from reaching the greater inner wall. The inner curtain wall is thicker and taller than any reiva, with a single steel gate flanked by bastions. The wall is topped with defensive towers at regular intervals, battlements, machicolations, and embrasures. Behind the inner curtain wall is the bailey, a large clearing sufficient to encamp an army, and from which missiles could be arched over the wall. Last, was the great wall of the fortress-city itself, lined with catapults and ballistae capable of launching projectiles beyond the curtain walls. Between each defensive wall were additional ditches and palisades to allow a tactical withdrawal and delay the attacking force.
Tunnels have been excavated into the mountain, leading to cliffside firing positions above the bailey between the curtain walls. These are equipped with ballistae and can be manned by crossbowmen to rain missile fire down on an invading army from an elevated vantage point.
By contrast, the rear of the fortress is only minimally defended, with a low wall and watch towers. An attack approaching on the High Road from the mountains would find Rannock Reivasa relatively unguarded.
Industry & Trade
The industry and economy of Rannock Reivasa is dominated by the Crucible, the metals and alloys it produces, and the tools and equipment forged thereafter. Ores are imported from reivas across the Reivan Wastes, and steel and tools are exported back in return. The Crucible's output, especially the steel, is also traded with the dwarves of Clan Drakebeard in exchange for foreign goods and resources that are scarce in the ashlands. Drakebeard caravans come from the High Road and stop in Rannock Reivasa before continuing on the the outland regions beyond the ashlands, facilitating Reivan trade with their other neighbours as intermediaries. Dwarven food and drink delivered by these caravans are considered to be a fine delicacy.
Infrastructure
The most recognizable structure of Rannock Reivasa is known as the Great Beacon. This ancient obsidian tower predates Reivan civilization and settlement in Rannock, its summit disappearing above the ashline. The Reivans have constructed a facility around the base of the tower, housing a complex system of polished obsidian mirrors they have developed to cast light into the base of the Beacon tower. When these lights precisely applied, the entire body of the kilometer-tall tower illuminates. It is said that the light of the Great Beacon is visible across half the Wastes, even in poor conditions. Other than momentary tests, it has been activated only once in recorded history, during the Vudon-Reivan War as an emergency call for reinforcements leading up to the inevitible Battle of Rannock Reivasa.
Rannock makes greater use of steel-reinforced Reivan concrete than other reivas, using it not only for its defensive walls, but for nearly all construction. The use of simple masonry or unreinforced concrete is almost non-existent.
History
Rannock Reivasa was the birthplace of Reivan civilization, originally settled in the year 501 AT. The discovery of the ruined fortress by the Vireivka, the First Mothers,, and the birth of the twelve clans, is a story known by all Reivans. It was within this first generation that the the Reivan Clans first encountered the mountain dwarves hailing from the Mother's Shield, and the Vireivka brokered a friendship that saw the dwarves teaching the Reivans the artistry of the forge and the stonemason.
Natural Resources
With access to the Great Mother, Rannock has an immensely more abundant source of heat than any reiva. This allows a proportionately larger agricultural footprint than other reivas, with crops growing outside the walls and within the bailey. More important than this is an extensive labyrinth of subterrenean fungal farms, allowing Rannock to be entirely self-sufficient in its food supply, and even maintain a strategic reserve.
Rannock does not have an immediately available source of water, but has redirected an underground river to flow close enough to the city to serve as its main supply, though this primarily sees industrial use in the Crucible and various smithies. Most drinking water originates as mountain ice, both collected by Reivans and carried down with Drakebeard caravans.
The concentration of Reivan ash is greater in the vicinity of Rannock Reivasa than anywhere else in the ashlands. Iron and other ores are similarly abundant in the surrounding mountains.
Founding Date
501 After Turin
Type
Capital
Population
10,000
Location under
Included Locations
Owning Organization
Related Materials
The runic symbol of Rannock Reivasa
