Cornflower Burrow

The settlement of Cornflower Burrow is the most prosperous burrow in Elohi, and one of the most populated burrows in the vermoni Southern Burrows. It lies within the Cornflower Region bordering the Feldek Mountain Range and is one of the highest-traffic trading hubs in the world with approximately a third of total trade done in the Southern Burrows being conducted in Cornflower. The ideal temperate climate, combined with its strategic and economic, trade and military value make it a highly desirable target for foreign kingdoms to invest in. This has not only made its economy flourish, but also granted a high amount of political sway over neighboring nations who require its cooperation and funding in order to function.
Home to roughly half a million below topside, Cornflower Burrow is a hotbed for business and industry, being able to outproduce most of its neighbors while also providing enough living space to accommodate the workers needed to fuel its own massive economy. Outside of Cornflower's main burrow, topside, the region surrounding it is populated by more than double its burrow's inhabitants, with almost a million residents. This booming population has been both a blessing and a detriment to the burrow's success in the past as most of its history its been able to avoid plagues or rampant infections, however previous incidents in just a few of the burrow's districts in the past have made local leaders worried for decades that a large enough outbreak, like the one that happened in Catarí Burrow in 1202, could at the very least destroy half of its industrial capabilities, and at worst completely annihilate the burrow for good.

Cornflower's Official Coat of Arms, within it is embedded a bundle of wheat surrounded by many spiked thorns, a classic emblem used in most Cornflower flags and iconography.

Topside Districts

Casselwary

The Southernmost topside settlement, located on the border of the main entrance to the burrow, the settlement of Casselwary lies on an enveloping hillside overlooking the main topside-portion of the Cassadin burrow settlement's walls. Most of the area covered by the 34 miles² of land is made up of urban residential sub-districts which have nearly half of their residential buildings submerged in and connected by underground tunnel networks. This district, which lies on one of the original Cornflower colonial burrows of Tasse Burrow, has a fully fleshed-out, independent, burrow that lies beneath its surface.

Roriksville

North of the main entrance to the lower levels to the burrow is the district of Roriksville, which is a predominantly Lakivir-traditionalist settlement owned by many wealthy and influential land-owners. It spans approximately 10 miles² and connects and borders with the settlements of Traunnytown, Flickwood, Ronney, and Casselwary.

Traunnytown

East of the main entrance to the lower levels to the burrow is the district of Traunnytown, which is a large urban settlement which is closely connected with several other rural settlements owned mostly by farmers and townsfolk. The size of Traunnytown is reaching roughly 18 miles² with connections and borders with Flickwood and Ronney.

Ronney

Northeast of the main entrance to the lower levels of the burrow, and bordering the outer-limits of the burrow lies the Ronney farmstead settlement, an urban expansive collection of farms which are mostly owned independently by farmers and their families. The variable size of Ronney is somewhere between 40 to 50 miles² which includes an additional outer-layering of farmland that sprawls out another 10 to 20 miles.

Burrow Districts

Cassadin

Just west of the main entrance to Cornflower's Central passageways lies the Cassadin Judicial District, which roughly spans around 14 miles², it connects most traffic from the topside to the lower districts including those on levels one, two, three and five. Its the main governmental area for almost all civil activities and directs the flow of all people entering and leaving Cornflower.

Eastend

Lying on the third level below the Cassadin Tunnelways, just East of the entrance to Shapesway, is the subterranean urban district of Eastend. It spans roughly 30 miles² in any which direction and runs population sub-districts across the north and western borders. There are several special economic sub-districts which are located in the center of Eastend and provide for a majority of the consumer / barter job opportunities for the district.

Shapesway

Western to the main entrance of Cassadin, the Shapesway industrial district is by far the largest and most populated of all the burrow's districts. Spanning a collosal 87 miles² on the second level, it contains four urban sub-districts and two major industrial workshop districts reserved for private companies commissioned by the government.

Neltsview

South, below the Eastend urban district, the Neltsview tunnelways are a series of tunnels which connect most of the southern ends of the burrow districts to one another. Roughly 131 miles² of tunnel network is populated by several independent and spread out sub-districts that are all linked by just the tunnelway alone. Most traffic from the Neltsview tunnelways are from merchants transporting goods to and from Eastend and Shapesway.

Demographics

An overwhelming majority of the population that lives in Cornflower is mostly made up of vermoni dagavirm, however a large number of human traders frequently make pitstops at the burrow between trade routes.

Government

Currently, Cornflower is run by a Constitutional Judicial-Mercantile Republic, with nobility and judges sharing power, while a monarchist figurehead family officially rules over the burrow. The monarchy of Cornflower however is severely neutered and gets most of its power from provided noble seats in the Cornflower Governor's Committee. This institution holds half of the power, with the other half being shared by the Cornflower Upper-Courts Legislative, which is made up entirely of non land-owning appointed Judges.

Defences

Cornflower is defended by several key hills that surround its valley, along those hills are near-impassible terrains with several strategic chokepoints that funnel in a majority of the traffic from caravans and army movements. These positions are armed heavily by Cornflower security detail who are mostly positioned as a show of force to scare away potential caravan raiders or brigands. While there are several key defensive locations topside, above the burrow, the main defensive perimeter is the burrow itself, with a long single-entrance tunnel corridor that acts as a funnel by means to keep potential invaders away. Historically, this main entrance strategy has acted as a double-edged sword in the past, with armies being able to neither break in or out of the burrow to attack one another due to the positions soldiers take around the entrance / exit- it could easily be used to starve out a population just as easily as ward off an invading army.

Industry & Trade

By far, Cornflower's most profitable means of income is through its trading policy, which welcomes nearly every nation without much tariff or concern. The trading industry in Cornflower is so profitibal that the burrow relies nearly completely off of the profits generated through miniscule taxes. Cornflower's central passageway was made with wagon-usage in mind, and has several heavily guarded lanes going in and out of the territory. Most notably this trade passageway has the capacity to fit hundreds of caravans traveling and making pitstops along the way, housing them deep underground, protected from any bandits or the elements which might cause any harm to cargo on the surface.

Tourism

Cornflower has always been a very human-friendly settlement, with a large population of the workforce of skilled laborers and craftsman being human. However Humans make up only a fraction of non-permanent residence in Cornflower, as merchant traders and caravanners are frequent in traffic around Cornflower thanks to their lower trading tax and accommodating room and board. At one point, nearly a third of the population was made up of merchants and tourists traveling by thanks to Cornflower's unique identity as a foreigner-friendly trade hub for all of the regions' most profitable dealings and xenophilic culture.

Architecture

The underground architecture found in Cornflower is comparable to that found in any other dagavirm burrow, with a majority of walls, ceilings and floors being mined or carved around stone with the occasional support beams made from locally-sourced wood. A massive tunnel network of chimneys connects to an aqueduct-like sewage system which leads into several large smokestacks that can be found poking in outward slopes above the topside portion of the burrow. Additional carvings can be found along the walls of most passage and tunnelways leading out into the open, but due to this epidemic of vandalism, many walls found in districts have been chiseled out entirely and replaced with wooden walls or stone-slab replacements with the occasional sheet of iron covering cracks or holes.

Geography

Cornflower is situated in a fertile valley region just south of the Feldek Mountain Range, it's iron and sulphur-rich ground bed, along with its nutrient rich environment provides a great deal of potential yield for Cornflower's agricultural farms and topside quarries.

Natural Resources

Iron-rich quarries and mines are scattered all throughout the Cornflower Region, with some so large that they quickly develop into additional sections or districts of burrow city-scape once thoroughly mined through. A great added benefit of these iron mines and sulphur is the indirect effect it has on the soil it lies beneath, subtly allowing softer and more nutrient rich soil that is found in a moderate temperature allowing the growth and yield of vast amounts of plants and, consequently, fauna.

Flag of Cornflower Burrow

Unofficial Cornflower Burrow flag, was adopted by the first Cornflower Burrow Judiciary in 1045 until 1089, is still used by citizens and foreign governments to denote the Cornflower Burrow and it's region.

Founding Date

Lno 4th, Haytri of 1044 A.S.

Founders

• Martell Drowick

Type

City

Population

500,000

Location under

Cornflower Region