Luubraattall
There is no reminder of imperial power in northern Urkenthest more constant than Luubraattall. Mysterious events of the past have blessed it with a gargantuan physical presence but the endeavors of past monarchs have allowed it to grow still larger in the minds of their people. It plays a key role in many poems, songs, stories and even a few folk tales, though the nature of that role changes with the times.
Designed as both impregnable stronghold and luxurious retreat, Luubraattall has become akin to a miniature city. Servants and soldiers alike work, eat, bathe, and sleep within it's walls. Ore is processed in it's depths and transformed into blades, cannonballs, curtain rods, and cutlery. Urken sharpen their martial skills in it's training yards and their mental skills in it's libraries and lounges. Waste is collected and turned to fuel while new supplies are received through closely guarded gates. Children careen through it's halls while mages discuss the secrets to elemental connection on woven mats or sunlit balconies. Luubraatall even has it's own university devoted to the study of the sky, sun, and stars, open only to carefully screened, oath-bound applicants.
In a culture that values military might and quality craftsmanship as much as the Urken do symbols such as Luubraattall are of immense importance. Intimidating, formidable, expensive, and crammed to bursting with artistic detail, the fortress palace of Urkenthest's monarchs is a stark reminder of who is (or was) in charge.
Purpose / Function
Luubraattall has been the imperial seat for roughly four-hundred and fifty-two years. There have been instances of usurpers and rebels seizing control of the throne and officially moving to a different seat of power, but these decisions have been invariably overturned, either by more legitimate monarchs or by the rebels themselves. There has been much speculation about why Urkenthest's rulers continually return to this stronghold. Many possible answers have been concocted, but most of these are outlandish and improbable, with the wildest suggesting that it gives those who command it a fabulous magical power. More pragmatic thinkers believe the answer lies in Luubraattall's strength and positioning, instead of with any mystical boons it may or may not grant.
Built into an isolated, eight-hundred foot spire of earth and stone, Luubraattall stands at the northern end of Urkenthest's capital in the north: Wiildmaarr. Constantly reinforced and lit with swirling patterns of glowing salt, Luubraattall has stood as a beacon of ultimate authority for centuries. It has symbolized pride, tyranny, benevolence, prosperity, solidarity, strength, monotony, hope, despair, and ominous foreboding in Urken literature and in the hearts of Urken everywhere. Every few decades it takes on a new face in the minds of the people, changing alongside the attitude and policies of the monarch within.
Today it serves as both fortress and palace, citadel and retreat, the center of imperial business in Caddreikk Urkenthest, but it was not always so. You see the towering spike that now houses Luubraattall existed long before the rise of the Urken as a civilization. Scholars, philosophers, and priests have debated about it's true nature for hundreds of years, discussing the spike long before Luubraattall itself was built. Perhaps it was the work of a great elven mage? Some seem to think it was, but others ask why a mage would create such a thing only to leave it behind, and they have not yet received satisfactory answers. Religious types claim it is the work of some god or another, whilst those with a mundane frame of mind prefer to think it is merely a freak of nature, a misplaced fragment of mountain. None have yet been able to prove their theories.
Side note: Strangely enough the tip of Luubraattall's spire was converted into a temple, college, and sanctuary for mages and priests who study or praise the sun, stars, or sky. This facility provides such people with sleeping quarters, training grounds, shrines, a library, and any materials they might need under one condition: they swear to use their powers for the empire, never against it.
Alterations
Luubraattall was designed to be both citadel and palace. As such it has been regularly refurbished to accommodate the latest developments in modern technology, both defensive and pleasurable. However it is true that some rulers have placed greater emphasis on certain aspects of it's development whilst disregarding others. For instance: Empress Ceelliibtii of Tllondaa added a lavish bathhouse during her reign two-hundred and thirty-nine years ago but neglected to maintain the walls. Her eldest son (Emperor Briiddnaa), on the other hand, doubled the wall thickness and diverted a portion of the bathhouse water supply to a new series of cisterns intended to help supply water during a siege. Urkenthest's previous emperor (Emperor Trriilaan) personally oversaw the construction of a psychic projector network that ran through the entirety of Luubraattall. It allowed for an unprecedented degree of communication between different parts of the citadel but also proved so costly that he had to temporarily halt the construction of more than a hundred modernized cannon batteries.
Much of Empress Broggnottii's court has urged her to begin preparing her stronghold for a last stand against the Vuukkelldii. They suggest that she mount more guns, increase the size of the garrison, store more food, or acquire more mages to help defend against spells. She has yet to do anything of the sort.
Architecture
Luubraattall is a fitting symbol for Urkenthest as a whole. For even on it's largely dour and militaristic exterior it shows signs of natural wealth and caring craftsmanship. These come in the form of beautiful pillars and walls carved from marble and granite of white, red, pink, black, and emerald green. Here and there you may catch glimpses of artwork wrought from copper, iron, silver, gold, bronze, steel, and many other metals, inured against rust by earthen charms. Every shaped fragment of architecture tells a story, recounting a piece of history or legend through images and inscribed text. Higher up the spike one can glimpse protruding roofs of slate and pottery, ebony and ivory, of woods both red and blue. Luubraattal is a testament to the power and influence of Urkenthest, and it certainly looks the part.
Most northern Urken buildings are quite low to the ground, rarely exceeding two stories in height. This is likely due to the powerful winds that ravage the plains and low hills of Urkenthest's northern reaches, as such gales might cause taller structures to twist or collapse. So although there is more than enough room within the spire for high ceilings very few of Luubraattall's rooms actually have them. Most areas within the stronghold end about eight feet up, but make for it with increased width.
Light is another factor the northern Urken value greatly. For all it's years of growth, civilization in upper Urkenthest has been blessed by the rays of the sun. To them (as it is to most people) it is light, warmth, guidance, and a guardian that stands against the terrors that stalk the night. Urken of the north would sooner go early into the grave than live life without the sun's touch, so when they must go beneath the earth they take it's light with them. They achieve this by cutting long, winding, reinforced shafts through the stone, lining them with mirrors perfectly angled to reflect and carry the light. Luubraattall is perforated by hundreds of such passages... or maybe even thousands. This allows for the entrance of warm natural light despite the thickness of the walls, and feeds a number of light fixtures designed to channel and magnify solar energy.
Northern Urken buildings are very different in style to the rigid towers of Vermel or even the great wooden lodges of their southern kin. What forests there are to be found in northern Urkenthest are held sacred and used frequently for burial rights and rituals of communion. What wood the Urken of old took was treated with reverence and care. Every piece was shaped, carved, and polished with devotion one might show the haft of a master-crafted spear or the hull of a ship. This practice gives upper Urken buildings a graceful, ornate aesthetic. Wood is carved to resemble the branches of trees or flowing rivers, and blocks of stone (to which similar measures were often applied) are fitted with nigh-organic precision and covered with chiseled landscapes. Such motifs can also be seen in Luubraattall, with lengths of metal added to provide additional strength and complimentary hues.
History
Work began on Luubraattall more than five-hundred and thirty-seven years ago, as commanded by Yllothii Vuuhaa, the first emperor and uniter of Urkenthest. Of course the monolithic spire of stone and earth it inhabits existed long before that, but we have little to no knowledge of it's origin.
Since it's completion it has served as a seat of power of one kind or another. In the empire's darkest days it has been the throne of rebel leaders and extremists but it has always found it's way back into imperial hands. Numerous battles have been fought before it's doors, leaving behind a multitude of scars. Pockmarked stones and shattered columns tell a silent tale of Luubraattall's violent history.
Type
Acropolis / Citadel
Related Ethnicities
Owning Organization
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