Holy City of Toldrun
See also Gel Eamoni.
The Holy City of Toldrun is a large city in southwestern Ayndrinor. It is the seat of the religion of Toldrun and thus is also the capital of the Toldrun See. It was previously known as Gel Eamoni before the rise of the Toldrunites and the hostile takeover of the city and kingdom nearly 500 years ago.
The City has a large dwarvish population, with some travelers coming to negotiate trade or pick up shipments of ores and gems from the deep mines in the city. It is widely known among travelers and merchants that the city does not allow the open worship or even the wearing of symbols of any deity besides Toldrun. The streets of the city are rife with Inquisitors disguised as guards, looking for heretics who might be trying to sow the seeds of discord and revolution, and they're not afraid to confront visitors and take them for a short stint in an Inquisition center for displaying the symbols of other gods.
The city is located inside a massive cave complex underneath the Toldrun's Shoulders mountain range. The main entrance is a heavily guarded gate on the surface, and one single main road leads deeper into the caverns toward the mines and the main civic-religious buildings.
Demographics
The city is overwhelmingly dwarvish, with almost 70% of the population belonging to this race. The remaining citizens are mostly humans, with a few halflings and gnomes, very few elves, and some deep gnomes and duergar as well. Most of the city is relatively poor and employed in various menial labor industries, but there are a few influential noble families outside the city's formal leadership that control a large amount of wealth and power. Of course, the High Council and the Sanctified King (or Queen) hold the most power and influence and enjoy the most lavish lifestyles in the city.
Government
Like the nation as a whole, the Holy City is a theocracy with a single divinely-anointed ruler at the top and a small religious council underneath him. There is a small civic government consisting of various priests and prelates, one of whom is given the title Mayor and the authority to oversee most aspects of day-to-day life in the city. However, the Sanctified King has final say over everything that happens, and he often intervenes on important city matters or when he just wants to flex his authority to enact a specific law.
Defences
The city's defenses are quite robust and comprehensive, reaching from a heavily fortified main front gate to a massive garrison to protect deep miners in the caverns. The technological and arcane research that the nation has prioritized has served to make their military one of the most advanced forces in the world. City Watch members all carry firearms, and there are massive cannons stationed at the main front gate and the main mine tunnels. Deep in the mine caverns, the city has set up a permanent garrison of over 500 soldiers that escort and guard deep miners, as well as carry out scouting missions and raids against threats that draw too near to the outpost.
Infrastructure
The city's infrastructure is far more primitive than other cities its size or larger, mainly due to the brain drain and lack of funded research outside what the church of Toldrun approves. The nation's most influential scholars and mages focus their energies on improving military and mining technologies, with precious little concern for other aspects of the nation. As a result, there is no running water in the city (except for in the homes of the Sanctified King, the High Council, and a few of the noble families) and most citizens draw water from wells or groundspring pools that exist around the city.
The central road that leads from the city's gates to its mines and government/religious buildings is paved and well maintained, but all other roads are unkempt and unpaved - made out of whatever bedrock the cavern had to offer. There is no sewer system, so most side streets have gutters running down the middle that lead to cesspit chambers on the far outskirts of the city.
The most impressive features of the city are its mines and forges, both among the premier facilities of their type in the world. The forges are fed by massive lava rivers and lakes that run under the mountains, providing round the clock heat for forging weapons, armor, and tools. The mines are impressive in their own right, mostly for their depth and extensiveness. They are, by some margin, the deepest operational mines in the world. The miners frequently operate within the Underdark, and the mine caverns have their own military force to escort the miners and deal with any creatures or raiders who try to harm the city's interests. The depth of the mines has been a hot topic of debate among the people of the city, and it was this issue that caused the rift between the Toldrunites and the previous regime. The Toldrunites believed delving deeper would reveal riches and materials beyond comprehension, while the previous king refused to do so for safety reasons.
The central road that leads from the city's gates to its mines and government/religious buildings is paved and well maintained, but all other roads are unkempt and unpaved - made out of whatever bedrock the cavern had to offer. There is no sewer system, so most side streets have gutters running down the middle that lead to cesspit chambers on the far outskirts of the city.
The most impressive features of the city are its mines and forges, both among the premier facilities of their type in the world. The forges are fed by massive lava rivers and lakes that run under the mountains, providing round the clock heat for forging weapons, armor, and tools. The mines are impressive in their own right, mostly for their depth and extensiveness. They are, by some margin, the deepest operational mines in the world. The miners frequently operate within the Underdark, and the mine caverns have their own military force to escort the miners and deal with any creatures or raiders who try to harm the city's interests. The depth of the mines has been a hot topic of debate among the people of the city, and it was this issue that caused the rift between the Toldrunites and the previous regime. The Toldrunites believed delving deeper would reveal riches and materials beyond comprehension, while the previous king refused to do so for safety reasons.
Guilds and Factions
There are very few official guilds or factions in the city, as almost everything is run directly by the church. This does not allow for the creation of trade guilds as they exist in the rest of the world; rather, the guilds are part of the church and their leaders are people of the cloth first and foremost, usually with little or no direct knowledge of the trade they are tasked with representing and overseeing.
Secretly, however, several guilds and factions operate within the city's more neglected neighborhoods. There is a thriving thieves' guild here that excels at smuggling in contraband goods and even just basic necessities for the citizens who can't find them in the well picked over stores of the church. This thieves' guild allegedly has many customers within the lower-middle ranks of the church, though notably no High Councilors are rumored to be patrons. Apart from the thieves' guild, there are several Orders that operate here to protect the citizens and spy on the See for other nations.
Secretly, however, several guilds and factions operate within the city's more neglected neighborhoods. There is a thriving thieves' guild here that excels at smuggling in contraband goods and even just basic necessities for the citizens who can't find them in the well picked over stores of the church. This thieves' guild allegedly has many customers within the lower-middle ranks of the church, though notably no High Councilors are rumored to be patrons. Apart from the thieves' guild, there are several Orders that operate here to protect the citizens and spy on the See for other nations.
History
The main history of this city can be found under the entry for Gel Eamoni, up to the coup that led to the Toldrunites taking power.
In the wake of that coup, the people of the city were given an ultimatum: convert to the new faith or leave the nation at once and be branded exiles. Almost half of the city (whose total population was around 43,000) chose to keep their old gods and fled the city for neighboring nations and safe harbor. Just a few days later, the new king decreed that anyone who worshiped the old gods was practicing heresy against Toldrun and must be hunted down and killed. This led to several massacres and many thousands of deaths elsewhere in the kingdom and the neighboring lands, but none moreso than in the capital city. Newly christened Inquisitors went door to door over the first few weeks, turning every house upside down searching for signs of heresy and discontent. Many thousands of citizens were hastily tried and executed for worshiping heretical gods or holding false beliefs. Terror reigned for several weeks and months as the new leadership instituted brutal crackdowns and harsh new systems.
Eventually, after several months of this terror, the Inquisitors began to focus mostly outward, hunting down heretics in neighboring kingdoms instead of within the borders of the See. An unofficial policy took effect that families and travelers could worship whatever deities they wished in private, but could not be seen publicly doing so or even wearing the symbols of other gods. Officially, the church of Toldrun was the only permitted religion, and the religious officials used frequent raids and heresy charges to keep tabs on their personal enemies and any lay leader who seemed to be gaining influence among the populace. The few Inquisitors in the city are known to disguise themselves as regular Watch members and harass traveling merchants for displaying symbols of other gods - often locking them in an Inquisition center for several hours to scare them into complacency. This uneasy situation persists to this day, and it is the main reason many merchants refuse to trek to the Holy City to pick up shipments - though the promise of vast amounts of gold as payment tends to sway enough to keep trade afloat.
In the wake of that coup, the people of the city were given an ultimatum: convert to the new faith or leave the nation at once and be branded exiles. Almost half of the city (whose total population was around 43,000) chose to keep their old gods and fled the city for neighboring nations and safe harbor. Just a few days later, the new king decreed that anyone who worshiped the old gods was practicing heresy against Toldrun and must be hunted down and killed. This led to several massacres and many thousands of deaths elsewhere in the kingdom and the neighboring lands, but none moreso than in the capital city. Newly christened Inquisitors went door to door over the first few weeks, turning every house upside down searching for signs of heresy and discontent. Many thousands of citizens were hastily tried and executed for worshiping heretical gods or holding false beliefs. Terror reigned for several weeks and months as the new leadership instituted brutal crackdowns and harsh new systems.
Eventually, after several months of this terror, the Inquisitors began to focus mostly outward, hunting down heretics in neighboring kingdoms instead of within the borders of the See. An unofficial policy took effect that families and travelers could worship whatever deities they wished in private, but could not be seen publicly doing so or even wearing the symbols of other gods. Officially, the church of Toldrun was the only permitted religion, and the religious officials used frequent raids and heresy charges to keep tabs on their personal enemies and any lay leader who seemed to be gaining influence among the populace. The few Inquisitors in the city are known to disguise themselves as regular Watch members and harass traveling merchants for displaying symbols of other gods - often locking them in an Inquisition center for several hours to scare them into complacency. This uneasy situation persists to this day, and it is the main reason many merchants refuse to trek to the Holy City to pick up shipments - though the promise of vast amounts of gold as payment tends to sway enough to keep trade afloat.
Architecture
The main temples and government buildings are massive structures carved out of the cavern rock itself. Some of them disappear into the rock walls of the cave, while others were fully excavated and stand free floating from everything but the cavern floor. Several noble families and all of the church's high leadership have similarly carved houses in the outskirts of the deep city. The rest of the homes and businesses are slapdash and made of a variety of materials, whatever was available at the time. Some are made of dark stone bricks hewn from the cavern in which the city sits, while others are made of wood imported from elsewhere, and yet others are made of a crude mud mixed from dark dust on the cavern floor and cave water that is often stagnant.
Natural Resources
The Holy City has arguably the most lucrative natural resources in the world, with its mines that regularly produce ores and gems. That these mines operate in the Underdark means that usually rare metals like adamantine or mithral are normal finds here in the city, and the largest gems in the world are discovered by deep miners here. This is an enormous asset for the city, as the leadership can use these stores to trade for whatever they need and sell off the excess at enormous mark-up to stimulate the market for ores and gems. Despite this abundance of resources and trading power, the people of the nation rarely see any change in lifestyle, as most of the wealth is hoarded by the church and the few noble families who operate mines or customs houses.
Founding Date
1013 2A
Alternative Name(s)
Gel Eamoni, The Corrupted Mines
Type
Capital
Population
36,641 according to most recent (disputed) census reports
Inhabitant Demonym
Toldrunites
Owning Organization
Comments