Kynngisdalr

For those with the will to succeed, magic opens every doorway.

— proud Fjolkan

Kynngisdalr is the capital of Fjolkandr, and serves as the foundation and refuge for all Fjolkan citizens - whether they're born to the nation or not. It sits well-defended in a mountainous valley in Iskaldhal's far east, marking the very heart of Fjolkandr's territory. It has a tundra climate, meaning temperatures rarely exceed 10 °C, even in summer.

Chrono-Meteorological Society by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

It is the largest of Fjolkandr's cities, and by far the best defended. Like most dwarf-dominated nations, especially across Iskaldhal, it extends far beneath the ground into the surrounding mountain ranges. Its large port area has borne the brunt of countless attacks and now stands as one of the most well-defended areas of the city, shielded by intricate arcane wards that new traders must negotiate their way through.
The city's citizens live reasonably comfortable lives, improved greatly by the many arcane inventions of the city's immense magical engineer population.
They share a very close relationship to Polyhedra and a permanent teleportation gate exists between the two nations in the depths of both Kynngisdalr and Compilation. The two nations have an agreement that this portal shall only be used for peaceful purposes unless both share the same enemy; despite occasionally being at war, neither has breached this agreement over the centuries it has existed.

Demographics

We're no' Gildómar, we are nae just dwarves.

— dwarven citizen

Whilst the majority of Kynngisdalr's people are dwarves, Fjolkandr is not known as the most diverse of the dwarven nations for nothing. Many humans, orcs, halflings, and gnomes live happily in Kynngisdalr, facing very little discrimination compared to other Iskaldhan nations.
Indeed, discrimination in the city mainly stems from their intense rivalries with the other dwarven nations - and the rampant class warfare. Magical ability and invention is prized, but so too is money, and many young fools will offer their inventions away to gain status and wealth.
It is unfortunately not uncommon to see Fjolkan mages working long hours with little sleep, having bound themselves in terrible contracts for steady employment before one of the city's trade guilds could intervene, or engineers working themselves to the bone to try to gain some attention from the city's richest, smartest, or flashiest.
Like most nations, the Fjolkan military makes the most of this, offering debt relief and housing to the desperate.

Kynngisfolk Knotwork by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Defences

Now thas classified, lads.

— disapproving soldier

Infrastructure

Will be late for work, got a wee bit stuck on the twelfth lift...

— commuter

One of Kynngisdalr's most significant draws is its infrastructure. Its subterranean levels are accessible through countless major and minor lifts throughout the city, and interconnecting rails, magical portals, and small weather-dependent aircraft add to the city's ease of traversal.
Living bridges of animate plants crawl across gaps in the warmer months, and are replaced by strong ice-bridges in the winters. The city's emergency services - civilian and military - have priority overrides for these transport systems to protect the citizenry.

Dwarven Depths by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

The city's main source of trade and work is, of course, its mines. The Kynngisdalr mines stretch deep beneath the earth, well beyond the Fjolkan Iceflows, and provide the city with access to a wide variety of metals - predominant among them, mithral.
The transport network is centred around this area; mechanisms transport ores to the industrial areas or on to the ports to be traded away, and equally, other mechanisms bring workers down to the mines to work.
Lasting gardens and magical aqueducts, long predating Fjolkan settlement, still serve the city. The blessed gardens are one of the strongest indicators of the city's previous inhabitants, and provide its current citizenry with fresh sources of food and green spaces to relax in, and the aqueducts are prized for how they purify the water they carry.
Some have been lost over the centuries of warfare and change, but many still remain - especially in the city's underground.

The lower reaches of Kynngisdalr - those that are not taken over by workshops, factories, mines, or experimental research centres - are often cavernous yet well-lit and full of verdant life, having been enchanted milennia ago by the city's previous inhabitants. Skylights and golden false-suns ensure these spaces are never dark and depressing; instead, they are alight with magic and delight.

History

In our time of need, the ruins were there.

Fjolkandr as a nation was not founded on the surface of Istralar, but was instead born upon Terra Arcana. The gods had banished all arcane casters to the red planet hanging just beyond Istralar's skies, and now torn from their homelands on Istralar, the dwarves there banded together. They founded Fjolkandr, intending it as a bastion of dwarven tradition and strength that could adapt to their arcane abilities and prowess.

It was not to last. Not there. The Worldrend put a stop to those ambitions, and Fjolkandr's populace were returned to Istralar's surface in a blaze of golden flame.
Yet things were too different. Gildómar, the ancestral dwarven homeland, had reinforced its position against arcane magic in their absence, and no other dwarven nation wished to house the disparate, angry dwarvenfolk that had returned. Left homeless and strewn across the face of the continent, Fjolkandr's populace scrambled to find somewhere they could find home.
What they found was more than a new home; it was a promise of a new beginning. Twisting stone ruins, delicately ornate in a way unknown to dwarven hands, marked the long-lost influence of an extinct fey-touched people later discovered to be the Feidísfolk. The area had been considered cursed by nearby inhabitants, and as such lay devoid of opposing influence.
A home, free for them to take, that offered them safety and solitude. Their home from then on.

Feidísfolk Ruins by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Five milennia and countless wars with Gildómar, Sjarvaldir, and Iskaldhal's other nations later, Kynngisdalr not only still exists, but also still retains strong evidence of those ancient ruins. The intricate knotwork is incorporated deeply into Fjolkan national identity and serves as a lasting reminder of the bond between ancient and modern, combining traditional and modern dwarven designs that evolved through the city as it grew.

Kynngisdalr Bridge by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Alternative Name(s)

the Everchanging City, the Feysgift

Type

Capital

Related Ethnicities

• Feidísfolk

Inhabitant Demonym

Kynngisfolk

Location under

Iskaldhal

Included Locations

• Ósksaelur Grotto

Owning Organization

Fjolkandr

Iskaldhal

Open full size

The continent of Iskaldhal is a wild place. Witch-Tribes rule in the shadows as dragons soar overhead and mysterious artifacts from lost millennia lurk in distant icy reaches.

The dwarves of Fjolkandr seem convinced that no fey trickery exists in their accursed home, and yet suffer misfortune far greater than we...

— Gildón scholar

Etymology

Kynngisdalr's name is derived not from Dwarven, but from an ancient language of humanity spoken by the Feidísfolk. It is a combination of kynngi, meaning something akin to 'magical', and the suffix dalr that references the valley that the city is built into.

I don't understand why they still maintain distance from us. We're practically neighbours.

— snow elf of the Tower of Sathelis

Kynngisdalr Streets by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

I hear the latent fey magic means they grow the wildest drugs there. The Witch-Tribes love them.

— giddy adventurer