Drakkenfall

Drakkenfall is the capital of the Grand Alliance. Built within the Wyvandir Valley and nestled within the skeleton of a massive greatwyrm, it is the largest known city within the Dragon Marches.

Description

Situated in the heartlands of what would later be known as the Wyvandir Valley, Drakkenfall was founded in the year 00 ACE, at the climax of the Cataclysm's destruction of the known world. The ancestries who sought protection from the coming calamity found protection from the greatwyrm Andranach, a mountain-sized dragon sent by the Divinity to shield the noble races from extinction. His body and his spirit shielded the creatures, and the remains of the noble wyrm formed the mountains Drakkenfall is built upon and around.
Over the next millenia, the city of Drakkenfall would be built to great heights and density within the walls of Andranach. "The Greatest City in This or Any Age" it shall be coined, for it alone survived the calamity and it alone brought warring nations together under the banner of the Grand Alliance. Buildings cluster close and reach toward the mountaintops and sky above, glowing orbs of arcane fire flicker at the tops of iron lamp poles at major intersections, and above the city draconic runes kept active by dilligent mages soar above the skyline protecting the citizens with it's abjurative magic. At a glance the city is as prosperous as one which survived the end of the world could be. But looking deeper reveals problems eating at it's heart: overcrowding, famine, and political division.
At the core of all Drakfallian politics are the two subcultures that comprise that of the Grand Alliance: the Allegiant Kingdoms and Black-Iron Pact. Ruling atop the city these nobles, politicians, wealthy elite and clan warlords live within their claimed districts and wards. Grandiose displays of wealth, power, or pride are common among these sectors, while modest property and sprawling poverty consumes the inner and outer districts respectivelly. While these citizens have no care for the realpolitik going on within the triumverate's districts, only focusing on their neighbor's and the city's wellbeing, their lives are shaped each and every day by these faction's jockeying for positions of power.

Government

Drakkenfall is the seat of the Allegiant Triumverate, the three-seated council of the Grand Alliance and the nation's highest governing body. Divided further, each district of the cosmopolitan areas is ruled over by a baron who reports to the Triumverate alone with their duties and policies implemented.

Districts

The city spreads across the bones of Andranach, his curled body forming the Northern walls of the city in a circular formation. At his head, the city walls begin to form standing around 150 ft. tall across it's span until it reach the tail of the greatwyrm. Within this border, further smaller walls and cliffsides divide the city into districts and wards. The three major divisions are the inner, central, and outer districts.

Inner District

The inner district is comprised of all wards resting along the mountain slopes and bases of the greatwyrm's skeleton. These wards are home to the city's government and nobility and are far more wealthy in architecture and demographics than it's counterparts.

• Andugard: The crowning ward within the center of the Northern mountain range, Andugard is considered both ward and palace due to the sheer size of the castle. This grand establishment is the seat of the Grand Alliance, meeting place of the triumverate, and primary establishment for Drakfallian bureaucracy.
• Downward: A ward nestled underneath the mountain range within an open cavern above flowing water, the Downward was slowly excavated by the dwarves and gnomes during the birth of Drakkenfall. It served as a connection between Lake Ywnnlas in the Spinegrotto Ward and the Opalheart River that flowed out from it and through the cracks in the mountain. However during the excavation, rare mineral and gemstone deposits were discovered, birthing a district built off of sprawling mines, plentiful fisheries, and stockpiled trade companies.
• Spinegrotto Ward: The ward furthest from the bustling city streets of the central district, the Spinegrotto ward is home to Lake Ywnnlas and the Elven and Firbolg kingdoms. Here the two races divided up the grotto's forest, and here is home to the Allegiant Kingdom's largest source of groves containing rare crops and herbal flora.
• Wyrmcrest Ward: Settled on the nape of Andranach, this ward is home to the royal palaces of the Dracthyr Empire. It is an austentatiously wealthy ward home to noble aristocrats and powerful trade barons. It also serves as the seat of the primordial Runegard, largest of the many crystals formed from Andranach's heart that forms the runic shield above the skyline.

Central District

The central district lies between the inner and outer, it's territory nestled within the horseshoe-esque formation of the inner district and North of the longer and flatter outer district. This district is comprised of modest living quarters and trade areas, forming a territory of the city predominantly lived in by the working class and the largest residential region in Drakkenfall.

• Mosaic Ward: A sprawl of impoverished neighborhoods are hidden behind colorful banners and small fences that segregate this claustraphobic district from the Opal and Residential Ward's thoroughfares and avenues. Before the implementation of Outwall, this district was where many citizens were first placed during the overcrowding of the central district.
• Opal Promenade: The Opal Promenade is the large, open-air market ward that dominates the heart of the central district. Built across and named after the Opalheart Canal, here is found carts, stands, and shops stretching for miles along winding interconnected roads. Nearly anything can found by the citizens of Drakenfall can be bought and sold here, and prominate temples, scholarly settlements, and guildhalls can be found in addition.
• Residential Ward: The Northern end of the central district, the Residential Ward houses the majority of the working and upper-middle class folk of the city. Dozens of smaller streets branch off major roads to create a labyrinth of twisting neighborhoods, industrial, and commercial areas. The network of major roads becomes less congested the closer they travel towards the inner district, allowing for some pathways of little cluster exposing the grander view of Andranach's form and the countryside past Outwall.

Outer District

The outer district rests along the city-crafted walls built within the gaps of Andranach's skeletal body. They are a mixture of more rural areas where farmland is allowed to grow within and slums that cling to the areas closer to the central district.

• Blackcrag Bluff: Home of the Black-Iron Pact, despite being found along the tailspine of Andranach this ward was mapped out as an outer district in the city's creation. It is a high reaching plateau mirroring the Skullcrest Ward and atop it's highland is a mixture of tribal housing, governmental longhouses, and fortified garrisons that make up the Pact's infrastructure.
• Outwall Ward: Formerly called the upper slums, Outwall is built outside the walls to the central district. Home to those pushed out of the Residential Ward due to overpopulation, over the years the upper slums became a microcosm of a city all its own. Though the name was once an insult from the Dracthyr and Kingdom elite, the people of the upper slums tried to reclaim the name as a symbol of pride and community. It was around 812 ACE that the district petitioned to have the name changed to Outwall. While it is home to the lower class citizens of Drakkenfall, the sense of pride and community within this district are perhaps the strongest within the city's walls.
• Southgate Ward: Formerly called the lower slums, the Southgate Ward is located directly along the southern walls of the city and are of a smaller size to that of it's northern counterpart, Outwall. This ward has become home over the years to the largest farming communities in the city, and inspired by the Outwall petitions that changed the name of their Northern neighbors, the lower slums met little resistance from the baron of the outer district and changed it's name to Southgate.

Basic Information

Founding Date

00 ACE

Type

Capital

Population

≈ 400k

Inhabitant Demonym

Drakfallian

Location under

Wyvandir Valley

Included Locations

• Andugard
• Gnogremmar
• Myrindel

Owning Organization

Grand Alliance

Population Information

Dominant Ancestries
Dwarves, Elves, Humans
Minority Ancestries
Dragonborn, Gnomes Goblinoids, Orcs, Tieflings
Enclave Ancestries
Dark Elves, Firbolg, Kobolds

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