I will always remember my first flight into Ashkaw. The view from the southern approach is beautiful. Coasting in as the sun crept though the valley revealing Ashkaw in its beauty. The airships docked along the cliff, the old city poking out of the cavern two hundred meters above the new city with all of its beautiful architecture and bright colors below. It’s an amazing place to visit provided you want to make the trip. — The Witch of Travels
Ashkaw is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was built on top of ruins from the Aeon of Guidance in the Uncertain Era and was founded by those fleeing the harsh cold of the south. Originally, it was built on the side of a mountain. However, as the snow piled up the city moved into a cave higher up the mountain and then dug into the cliff to escape the elements. Once the glacier retreated back up the mountain, the cave was 205m above the new valley floor. Over time this cliff was dug into to create elevators and airship docks and eventually a large airship harbor was built behind the cliff below the city. With a massive harbor the city became a center for trade and politics. It founded and became the capitol of the Ashkawian Leauge that then grew into the Ashkaw Confederacy.
City Layout
Ashkaw is devided into three major parts; the old city in the cave, the airhsip harbor below it in the cliff and the new city below and spreading out on the valley floor. Each part is distinct when it comes to architecture and function. Each major part of the city is known for a different speciality, the old city for being one of the few remaining cities with working machinery from the Uncertian Era, the harbor for the unique way of processing airships and the volume of traffic and the new city for its diverse and viberant marketplaces and citizenery.
Old City
The old city is in the cave up the cliff. It is still used today with the majority of the native citizens living in it. The old town hall is still used and the capitol building for the Confederacy has been constucted in the old city as well. The machinery that was used to keep the city warm and lit during the Uncertian Era is still maintained and runs every winter as a test to make sure it is well kept. However the citizens see it as a way to ward off whatever caused spring to stay away. Similiarily, the green houses that were built in the Uncertian Era are also in use providing vegtables and fruit to a portion of the city. As these relics are still well kept it means the old city is mostly self sufficiant which is a point of pride for those who live there.
Airship Harbor
Below the old city where the mines used to be is the airhsip harbor. This massive construction is known almost worldwide. It is unique in the fact that it uses railcars to tow the airships into their final berths with only a few mooring points on the exterior of the cliff. This was built out from a system that used the old mine carts to move goods off of the airships docked on the cliff face. Over time it was determined that mining out a masive cavern below the city to use as a harbor would be more efficiant. It has proven itself as a complicated but reliable system as roughly 30 airships arrive or depart per day. That number makes Ashkaw the third busiest harbor in the world.
New City
Sitting on the valley floor below the harbor are the new districts of Ashkaw. These disctricts are vibrant with the road and rail connections into the city. The train station is the pride of the city center with four platforms serving six tracks. It has been renovated recently to include a new steel and glass roof which lets in a lot more light than the old roof. Near the train station there is Market Plaza where merchents set up or occupy stalls year round selling various goods and services. Outside of the plaza you will find a well built, albeit disorginized, city. As there is no real differentiation between where people can live and set up shop, you will often find shops built in houses and apartment buildings spaning multiple shops and establishments.
History
Founded on the ruins of a frozen city Ashkaw soon was forced into a cave up the mountain to find shelter from the freezing cold. After discovering supplies of coal and iron the city begin to grow. It built green houses to help supply food and deal with wastes. When it recovered the Phoniex the city began trading with its neighbors. As the snow melted the city began to trade more and its influence grew. To help with the growing trade, the cliff face was turned into an airship dock. Over time the cliff was hollowed out to expand the number of airships that can be docked. With the increase of trade voulme the city founded the Ashkawian League, a trade leauge that worked to establish a common currency and standardized measurements. Over time the Ashkwian League evolved into the Ashkawian Confederacy that elected the city as the capitol.
Early Records
What few records remain of the ruined city that became Ashkaw point to it being a center of art and leasure. Sketches of large buildings with pools, broken magical projectors, frozen games and frozen tropical pants. As for the people they wore light clothing, with elaborate hairstyles. Most were found frozen in beds wraped in thin sheets. It took the setlers two months to inturn all the deceased. In total there were 2,980 people who had remained in the ruins. Temples to gods whose names were forgotten held what few survivors that remained alive. Of these 1,840 only 670 would survive the remainder of the year.
Uncertian Era
As the snow and ice begain to build up across the city people began looking for a safer place to live. It did not take long to find the cave up the mountain. It took four months to move the entire city from the foothills of the mountain into the cave. People then began exploring the cave and soon deposits of bitumous coal and banded iron formations were discovered. With these resources found the city began building large furnaces to process the iron and provide heat for the city.
As the temprature continued to drop the city began working to duct the toxic fumes from the furnaces out of the city. This limited central heating and a supply of steel and iron allowed for the city to grow. The next thing the city built was the green houses which were used as waste treatment and to help keep the air fresh. These green houses were able to secure some food for the city. A major boon to the city came in the form of an airship, the Phoinex. It was recovered while adrift and soon the city was using it to explore and trade with the neighboring towns.
Modern Day
Once the snow begain to melt the city found a large amount of space to dock airships which helped increase the volume of trade entering and exiting the city. Over time this led to the city forming a standard set of measurements and a common currency with a few of its neighbors. This agreement became known as the Ashkawian League due to the treaty being signed in the city. With some barriers to trade lowered the city began work on its airship harbor. Slowly over the decades it would hollow out and construct the harbor that it would one day become famous for.
As the League expanded so did the harbor. This increase in trade throughput led to an increased demand for workers and thus immigration to the city expanded. These new citizens bulit their homes at the base of the cliff taking advantage of the elevators up into the harbor. With this new part of the city being built the number of people who migrated in to support the construction and harbor workers. When the railroads entered, the city opened up another route for trade. The main train station became a center of commerce. With a cargo terminal located on the floor of the airship harbor it opened up more trade routes and as such more economic growth and opertunity. With this focus of the city officially shifted from surival to trade. The mines that still had reserves were closed but maintained. So that they will be ready if the winter never leaves again.
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