Vonstorm

The capital of the Vampire nation of Ymeris, Vonstorm is less a city and more an enormous castle, whose many corridors, rooms, apartments and chambers would take weeks to completely traverse.

Demographics

The majority of Vonstorm’s populace are not actually official residents of the city, but are in fact servants of the Vampires who are actually regarded as the true citizens of the Midnight Court’s capital. These living servants are drawn from all manner of living races, with there being no one overall species bias.
As for the Vampires themselves, they dwell in the lavish apartments and mansions that are integrated into the city’s above ground superstructure and they live comfortable luxurious undeaths waited on hand and foot by the living residents of the vaults.

Defences

The entirety of Vonstorm can be considered a fortification, as all aspects of the city have been built with half a mind towards defensibility. There are only two external access points, a northern and a southern fortified gate entrance. There is no other way into the superstructure, as the network of buildings and walkways act as a curtain wall around the city.
Throughout Vonstorm there are barrack rooms that contain detachments of undead guards, who are magically programmed to activate and move into defensive positions when unwelcome visitors are identified within the walls of the city. In addition, should they need to act, the city’s Vampire residents are a formidable fighting force in their own right.
Locations of Note
Hidden away amongst the vastness of Vonstorm’s superstructure are a myriad of fascinating spaces which many mortals would kill to gain access to. Most notable amongst them are:

• The Chamber of the Midnight Court: This ornately wood panelled, high ceiling room right in the centre of Vonstorm is where the Vampires of Ymeris gather together in court. It is from this room that their leader Linniara Istarital receives deputations from foreign envoys, makes decisions about internal and external matters, and where the Vampires gather collectively to debate or give council to their ruler;
• The Reliquary: A vast museum space which houses relics and curios acquired from across Kelbonnar and beyond for the study and delectation of the denizens of the Midnight Court;
• The Midnight Library: An enormous building within the superstructure that sprawls over three floors, the Midnight Library is thought to be one of the largest collections of books, scrolls and epigraphy in the north of Euristan. Given the nature of its owners, it is especially renowned for its vast collection of resources linked to necromancy and other darker form of the arcane;
• The Blood Rose Gardens: The largest of the quadrangles created by the intersection of the covered walkways and buildings of Vonstorm has been turned into a large greenhouse, in which thousands, perhaps millions of rose bushes are cultivated. All of these roses are shades of reds, pinks and purples and the garden is tastefully decorated with statuary and fountains. 

Infrastructure

Vonstorm is well connected to the rest of Ymeris via the road known as the Blood Way, and the section of this road that leads south connects the city with the Empire of Turelion's Ultaru Province, via the Midnight Court’s settlement of Blood Mine. Unlike other cities, Vonstorm has no road network, as almost all of it is contained within interconnecting buildings, so there is no need for streets as there are in most other settlements.
Equally, there is actually limited water and waste management within the superstructure of the city, primarily because the Vampiric residents of Vonstorm do not really require these facilities. Fresh water is provided to the fountains and water features of the city’s gardens, but other wise can only be found in the areas set aside for visitors apartments and within the underground network of vaults that house the city’s living servants. It is only these guest and vault areas that are provided with waste management systems.

Tourism

Despite the dread nature of most of its residents, Vonstorm does regularly play host to scholars from across Kelbonnar’s many planes of existence, who travel to the city to gain access to its library and museum collections. Indeed, so regular are visits from foreign scholars and nobility, that several wings of the superstructure have been set aside for guest apartments and rooms.

Architecture

Vonstorm is not a city in the traditional sense of the word, but is instead one enormous, contiguous fortification that is comprised of fortified towers, suites of state rooms and sumptuous apartments, all connected via raised, covered walkways. The labyrinthine network of walls and buildings creates numerous quadrangles throughout the city, many of which have been turned into gardens and courtyards for the use of the city’s Vampire rulers. These above ground areas of the city have clearly ben constructed to provide a myriad of defensive positions, but they are also sumptuously decorated with statuary, columns, stained glass and other architectural adornments.
Beneath the footprint of the city is a further network of vaults, the vast majority of which are set aside for the housing of the thousands of mortal servants who toil away beneath the darkness of the Desolation of Hissh's sky to meet the whims of their Vampiric masters. The servant’s vaults are well connected to the rest of the superstructure, and in many cases some of the resident servants go months, if not years without ever actually stepping outside.

Geography

Vonstorm lies in the far east of the Desolation of Hissh on a plateau a couple of miles away from the coast, which provides a clear view of the waves of the nearby Icefang Ocean. The plateau on which the city is based is large and mostly flat, with a solid foundation of rock beneath which both provides a firm footing for the city’s many elaborate buildings, and which could be safely quarried into the create the vault network beneath.

Alternative Name(s)

The Citadel City

Type

City

Population

c. 5,000 living inhabitants. Number of undead inhabitants, unknown but estimated to be at least several hundred in number.

Inhabitant Demonym

Stormites

Location under

Desolation of Hissh

Owning Organization

Ymeris