Terragar Stone Blockhouses

Common limestone dwelling of the Terragnian people

Located in an upland, largely landlocked region, the mountain Kingdom of Terragar occupies one of the least diverse ecologies of the Forbidden Zone. For this reason the native Terragnians must compensate for the lack of certain raw materials which are not abundant on the rocky slopes of Mount Sabza or the arid Plains of High Orad.

This was never a problem in the days of the nomadic Terragnian caravans, when the people of Terragar seldom settled permanently in fixed locations and dwelled in mobile canvass and animal skin shelters. Since the founding of Terragar City and Amoxonar, however, the new urban reality of Terragar civilization has required the creation of a new style of permanent architecture.

Purpose / Function

The blockhouses of Terragar were designed to accommodate the rising population density of the Terragnian mining settlements. Once the Terragnians learned the value of the ore within their ancestral mountains (and learned how to exploit these resources), they began to turn away from their nomadic herding and hunting traditions and established permanent mining colonies throughout the Mountains of Old Orad.

The main value of the blockhouses' method of construction lies with their use of materials that are readily available within a typical Terragnian mining settlement. For example, most blockhouses are constructed with limestone blocks. Limestone formations are usually found in abundance near the sedimentary deposits of oxidized hematite ore that the Terragnians use to smelt steel and it is common for Terragar miners to remove large quantities of limestone while excavating a new iron quarry. This limestone has been found to be quite suitable for cutting stones for construction.

Architecture

The actual engineering and style used in the construction of Terragnian blockhouses has been liberally borrowed from Pachuco architecture. The blockhouses are usually one or two-story dwellings meant to accommodate one cohabiting unit per level. Unlike their Pachuco exemplars, however, Terragnian blockhouses are usually made with glass pane windows and often include an accessible rooftop terrace used for gardening and recreation. Another feature of a typical Terragnian home is an open concept roundhouse design, which mimics the once commonplace configuration of the typical Terragnian nomadic family yurt.

Most Terragnian homes bear a marking on the door to denote the clan and household gods held most sacred by their occupants. Most common among these markings is the Fire Sigil, the glyph identified with the martyred Firewalker, Akhal-Teke, a venerated divinity among the Terragnian people.

Type

House, Large

Parent Location

Terragar