Glaciran
Demographics
Almost exclusively dwarven, but they have been rarely known to take in outsiders from time to time. There are more artisans here than any other career type. There isn't a huge wealth gap in the Glaciran populace, so the class system is determined by which of the artisans are in the highest demand rather than strictly by their financial state.
Government
Chief Wiseflare rules over a council of fifteen, which is composed of the clan chiefs of the fifteen dwarven clans. When the chief dies or is voted out, a new chief is voted in from among the fifteen. The currency of the city consists of several different metal coins of varying value called Gotters.
Defences
Glaciran's main defense is its location. The city is basically a massive fallout bunker beneath the earth with thick, fortified walls and few entrances. The city is also guarded by rudimentary robotic sentries.
Industry & Trade
While initially very isolationist, Glaciran eventually grew to trade with the civilizations nearby and now import all sorts of materials and foods in order to export their masterfully crafted brews, jewelry, and other artistry. The trade route is long, hard, and perilous, but the money is worth it for the traders and merchants who make the journey.
Infrastructure
The dwarves utilize geothermal power plants to harvest energy from deep within the earth. Their sewer system pumps sewage from the city to the surface at a dumping site a mile or so away.
Districts
The dwarven artisan districts make up the majority of the city's public locales. In proper dwarven fashion, the most popular are the breweries, jewelers, and masons, although there are other smaller districts with clothiers, tailors, and the like.
Guilds and Factions
The clans of Glaciran are divided up mostly by their artisan capabilities. Ferlag are the clothiers. Flar are the musicians. Basner are the visual artists. Dalorbic are the chefs. Ologs are the weaponsmiths. Vánd are the armorers. Mugdist are the masons. Draida are the glassblowers. Rumgar are the watchmakers. Brazzend are the brewers. Kafrak are the jewelers. Jugan are the carpenters. Wirtag are the gunsmiths. Thiled are the mechanics. Breggle are the writers. There are several offshoots and minor factions, but these fifteen are the most prominent.
History
Glaciran was founded by a small clan of dwarves migrating north to get away from the rapid colonization of the Americas. What started as a small cave system in the rock, through dwarven engineering quickly became an entire city beneath the ice. They harvested fresh water from the ice caps and fed off of the wildlife and limited plant and fungal growth in the area. Some years passed and they eventually discovered a way to grow certain fungi and plants underground around the geothermal hot spots. Hundreds of years passed and now Glaciran is one of the largest dwarven cities in the world.
Points of interest
There are several magnificent stone monuments and statues scattered about the city of various shapes and sizes. The most prominent being The Hall of the Ascended where there are massive statues of all the dwarven gods on intricate thrones, each one unique to the god sitting upon it. There are also several hot springs within the city that are always open to the public completely free of charge. The minerals in the springs are known to heal surface wounds and smooth the skin of those who soak in the waters. Other points of interest include the various guild halls where one can watch the artists work, the town square where guilds will set up booths hawking their most recent achievements and collections, and the boulder buses where folks can ride gyroscopes to travel to important points within the city.
Architecture
Glaciran is carved from the stone in intricate, angular patterns. Most buildings are short and square, like the dwarves who built them. Some of the more expensive pieces of architecture are capped with silver or gold, and there are often metal inlays throughout the stonework as well. The architecture in High Ghalen, while towering and gothic, bases its masonry after the dwarven style, and the same holds true for many other cities.
Geography
The landscape immediately around Glaciran is all icy tundra far from any other civilization. The land's true beauty lay in its underground caverns and hot springs, all glowing green with bioluminescent fungi and covered in vibrant moss and lichen. The cave systems in and around the city are often framed by gargantuan sheets of ice from nearby glaciers, the beauty of which can only be seen from certain locations where the ice has seeped through the rock and become a permanent fixture or where cave-ins have revealed deep frozen pools suspended above that are transparent enough to even allow sunlight to peer through.
Natural Resources
Glaciers provide the city with plenty of fresh water, and fish are ever abundant just a few miles west of the city entrance. There is a small salt mine beneath the city and several ore veins even deeper than that.
Founding Date
1213 CE
Type
City
Population
300,000
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Characters in Location
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