Valkufri
Twice Rebuilt
Valkufri is a town located on an island in the northern Free Lands. A demon almost destroyed it in mysterious circumstances recently. Reconstruction is still ongoing.
Since it was initially founded on ruins, it acquired the title of "Twice Rebuilt".
Defences
Valkufri was founded on top of a high promontory in the thirteen century, exploiting a previous citadel in ruin. The city has not yet grown outside it, except for farms, so that almost the entire population fits within the original walls. Besides, the inner castle, which was essentially unmodified during the first reconstruction, can host temporarily a large fraction of the population in case enemies get through the outer wall. After the demon attack, the castle bore serious damages and is still being repaired.
There are only two ways to reach the city: from the military harbour at the base of the promontory, or the farms. The latter path is the easiest but requires dealing with the outer wall, while the former ends within the walls, but after a steep, narrow ascent from the harbour's cave.
Infrastructure
The city has two harbours, a military one located directly below the promontory, within a natural cave, where the fleet is stationed, and a commercial one further, where the shore is less rugged. Initially, the only shipyard was the military one, serving both purposes, but it was tiresome to carry goods up the promontory and the project of the second one was laid.
Guilds and Factions
The position of Valkufri, in the northern Free Lands, is exposed to the influence of the Moon Church from the very close Doujate. To make the situation more complicated, the first colonies and builders found an ancient temple within the castle and devoted it to the Moon Goddess, since they were mild believers, allowing the Church in town.
While freedom of worship can seem a civilised achievement, the Moon Church is tightly bound to Doujatar Kingdom, so much that accepting one means also the other in most cases.
Nowadays, the kingdom prefers to annex cities by influencing them with the cult, so that the royal family is also well-considered, and then offering protection against imperial expansionism and the Abyss.
Opposing this attempt, many Free Judges are trying to unite the Free Lands against both threats to the independence of city-states. The Valkino Judge has always been a valid promoter of a reunification.
The Empire, on the other hand, has no interest in the city, for the time being: Valkufri is too far in the North and the Empire is still dealing with the Cajenian Archipelago. However, passing through the caves of the high mountains dividing the Free Lands from the imperial territories, it is possible to travel from Arkadhe to Valkufri in two months. For this reason, agents of the Shadow Court are present in the city and they lose no opportunity to put the Church in trouble.
History
From its foundation, Valkufri has always had a peaceful existence: Valkino Judge asked nicely to neighbouring much smaller cities to not interfere with commerces and waged war only once against Aredas, a neighbouring island. Valkufri won the war at the first battle, annihilating the enemy fleet.
The most interesting page in city history is the second edification.
In the year 2075, Shadow Court agents in the city detected with an advanced tool the Dzeeman anomalous effect, a state of the magical energy surrounding a powerful artefact or creature of Abyssal origin. They pinpointed the location below the castle and thought of a possible old forgotten dungeon somewhere within the building.
They reported the discovery to the region sutii sušpi, an organization officer, who in turn reported to Arkadhe, asking for permission and for sutii oopja, chosen agents, to complete the task. The mission consisted in infiltrating the castle, finding a way to descend into its dungeon, find the source of the effect and use it to damage the city, blaming responsibility on the Church, to undermine its presence in the region.
Firstly, the city agents began spreading rumours about something terrible hidden in the city temple, saying the Church knew about its presence, but not how to deal with it. Then, they intercepted a message: a priestess was going to arrive in the city soon to solve the problem. Three chosen agents welcomed her in the city, pretending to be her guards.
In this way, they easily entered the castle and learnt a badly sealed ancient demon was in the dungeons and the Church was aware of it: the new priestess was bound to sacrifice herself to seal it forever. Thus the fake guards accompanied the woman to the demon, except that one of them, scouting ahead, purposedly broke the seal.
Immediately a massive demon emerged from the beneath the promontory, destroying the shipyard and half the castle, breaking part of the promontory into pieces by simply growing out of the sea. The beast rose the water from the sea, carrying huge chunks of fallen rocks and wrecked ships, flooding the city and destroying buildings.
In what remained of the dungeon, the priestess fell into a chasm, hurt, but alive. A falling stone crushed her legs, but, miraculously, she survived again. With her last energies, she cast the spell she went there for, sacrificing her life, and sealed the demon again, once and for all.
The chosen agents survived: one with a broken leg, another with a large cut in the middle of the chest (he did not know what hit him) and the one who broke the seal with a crushed arm which could not be saved. They spread the told of the heroic priestess, enriching it with details heavily implying that the Church knew the demon would have been free for some minute before the new seal. The truth is, that if the agent had not broken the seal, nothing bad would have happened.
The fake guards conveniently disappeared after a while and were never to be found again. Nobody ever blamed the Shadow Court for the event, though the Church wanted surely. Instead, a conspicuous sum arrived from the Moon Church to rebuild the castle, fix city damages and repair the shipyard.
After the event, the city gained the title of "The twice rebuilt".
Founding Date
1242
Type
Town
Population
~10000
Inhabitant Demonym
Valkino
Ruling/Owning Rank
Comments