Obsidian

Demographics

40% Svartálfar
50% Mindless Undead
10% Sentient Undead

Government

The City is the home to the new Svartálfar Courts of the Dead. Originally a necocracy the new Courts have become a parliament though many political families have become liken to the noble families of the old courts.

Defences

Besides the svartálfar armies and legions of the undead the city itself was originally adrift in a pocket dimension out of alignment with any plane of existence for more than a thousand years.

Industry & Trade

The city has become entirely self sufficient and has only a few minor and secretive trade deals with the Bay of Wrecks. After slowly returning from the pocket dimension the city has begun to redevelop it's military in an attempt to retake the island.

Infrastructure

The entire city has been converted into a multi-tiered metropolis to allow all the svartálfar to live within the city walls without ever having the need to leave. To this end almost every building has farmland inside or on the rooftop.

Guilds and Factions

• The Court of Blood
• The Court of Bone
• The Court of Breath
• ArchFey Loyalists
• Svartálfar Separatists

History

When the ArchFey fled the Second World it was from Forbuho. Those servants of the ArchFey were told to stay and protect their master's flight should any dare give chase but none came. Instead the loyal svartálfar settled within the island slowly carving out their existance, their first city Obsidian done so out of the blackened rock that the early svartálfar mistook for obsidian. As time went on the city became the capitol of the svartálfar as their species spread across the island with their first Queen choosing to build her palace within Obsidian. But with the Weight of Ages pressing down upon all living svartálfar and the Queen having stopped working to save her people many of the living came to resent the undead.
Allying with Elan they overthrew the Queen and many of the Court of Breath taking the city in a coup. For a time the newly crowned Blood King began remaking the city but the living again grew angered by the lack of progress towards saving the svartálfar. Finally the Blood King began the Great Undertaking around Obsidian where he gathered the majority of the undead to try to untether the city from the crossed planes. While it seemed as if he succeeded the cost was all living and undead souls in and around the city. Their population decimated the remaining living svartálfar took control of the island and the capitol of Obsidian transforming it into a self sufficient city for the living with the undead under their control. For a time there was peace but it soon came to pass that the Great Undertaking had not fully been realized until one day the entire city became removed from all other planes, creating it's own pocket dimension where Obsidian alone stood.
Thankfully the plane itself seemed not only harmless but also sustained the city with the crops growing without light and the people seemingly needing less to survive while apart from the material plane. While there was chaos in those first weeks eventually peace returned as the svartálfar worked to make due with what they had. For almost a thousand years the svartálfar lived away from all others living off their crops and what animals they had within the city walls. The undead were controlled and those that could not be controlled were destroyed as scholars and sages began to investigate in earnest the magic of the planes until one day the city appeared back on the island of Forbuho. For a few minutes each day the city appeared and vanished but as the years went on the length of time the city returned to Forbuho began to grow longer and more often. Today the city appears on the island three times a day for at least an hour each time and the population has once again become restless. Eventually the city will return permanently and with it the weight of ages shall return to burn the lifespan of the svartálfar, their race having nearly been wiped out on several occasions. There are many factions within the city all fighting over what to do and what to prioritize.

Architecture

Crafted from the dark clay and stone touched by the planes of darkness and shadow the city is best characterized by the soaring pyramid temple into a garden. Architects used readily available materials touched by the various planes to craft taller building then could normally be made with exterior surfaces decorated with high relief carvings or three-dimensional sculpture. Deliberate planning with the city laid out on a radial pattern connecting various building together from the roof with various bridges allowing someone to cross blocks before having to touch the ground. The great pyramid at the center of the city used to soar above the treetops but has since been scavenged for stone leaving only the first three floors to be converted from a temple to farmland. Likewise the once ornate and elaborate palace has remained the seat of governance but has since been rebuild to house the parliament of the new Court of the Dead.
Svartálfar architecture has changed over the course of ages as the various ruling parties influence what is built. The Queen having first created structures in honor of an in service to the dead as she grew in madness her demands grew more elaborate and crazed culminating in the great pyramid within the center of the city. The Blood King on the other hand had only a little more than hundred years to influence the city but upon taking the throne halted all construction and replaced much of the more abstract statues and buildings with aesthetically pleasing gardens. After the Great Undertaking the city had much of the building abandoned with the gardens transformed into makeshift farms, after the city was lost in it's own pocket dimension architecture and building were almost entirely halted as resources became scarce, without light or wood there was little need for beauty and many building were transformed to support growth with farmland growing atop buildings.

Alternative Name(s)

City of Svartálfar, Lost City, Drifting City

Type

Arcology

Population

25000

Inhabitant Demonym

Obsidians

Location under

Forbuho

Owning Organization

The Svartálfar Courts of the Dead