City of Vúrak

The City of Vúrak is capital and largest settlement of the Jaarel city-state of Vúrak under the northern Vúrakesen Mountains in western Dragonía.

Infrastructure

The city has two entrances, an eastern one leading to an enormous cavern used for agriculture and, beyond that, the surface via the Gate of Þer, and a western one leading deeper within the caves. All sorts of of mushrooms are grown in the agricultural cavern and a variety of livestock are raised there as well, including blind fishes and crustaceans, reptiles, and amphibians such as giant salamanders. The road through the cavern is raised to keep it clean, with ramps connecting it to the area below, but most of the inhabitants use several smaller entrances for travelling back and forth to the city.
The City of Vúrak itself has a rectangular plan and consists of three levels for the most part, except for the palace, which has a fourth one. Most of the buildings on the first level are workshops, storerooms, taverns, inns and shrines, while the inhabitants live on the upper levels, connected with a series of stairs, balconies and bridges supported by colonnades. Homes of commoners are found to the east and those of artisans to the west, while the upper classes and royalty inhabit the southern part, whose homes are separated from those of the former.
To the southwest, a tunnel leads to a small cave with a pond where hallucinogenic mushrooms are grown to be used in certain drinks or during rituals by the aristocracy. Rulers of Vúrak are also laid to rest there, specifically in niches carved into walls.
To the northwest are workshops of different sorts, and a large marketplace is located in the northeastern corner. The market also features a platform reserved for public ceremonies and rituals.

Architecture

Like other ancient cities under the northern and northeastern Vúrakesen Mountains, many of the buildings on the first and -to lesser extent- second levels have taller doorways and much more headroom inside than in elsewhere in the region, as it was built long before the Jaarels became as short as they are nowadays. Some, such as inns, span two stories, which is practically unknown elsewhere with the exception of palaces.

Geography

A river flows through the agricultural cavern, providing the citizens with water and has also been engineered through the centuries to create pools for raising fish, crustaceans and amphibians in.

Type

Capital

Owning Organization

Vúrak