Honirham
Honirham was the capital of the Old Pale Empire for a period of more than three thousand years from 3120 BPC until 7 APC. It was an elegant city on the River Honir, not far from the west coast of Myruthea, with a population of about a quarter of a million souls at its height.
History
Honirham was founded in 4507 BPC, to offer the Old Pale Empire new port facilities improving communications and trade with Tinturbean. Before that time, Sunrock had been the primary nexus for sailing to the western continent, but the coastal geography there was not favourable for the kind of expansion the Empire wanted.
It became the capital of the Old Pale Empire in 3120 BPC as the beneficial effects of the Old Pale Empire Road, improving communications in Myruthea along the east to west axis, made it possible and desirable to administer imperial business from a location closer to the centre of gravity of the entire Empire and hence closer to Tinturbean.
The city was destroyed in 7 APC by a bombardment of meteorites, conjured in the Dark Domains. Historians consider the end of the city to be the last act in the fateful events that led to the Fall of the Old Pale Empire.
Such was the violence of the impacts that a large region surrounding the city still shows evidence of deep cratering and fractured lanforms. The course of the River Honir was so radically affected that to all intents and purposes it died with the city. This part of Myruthea is now known as the Punctured Lands.
Magicians' End - The Bombardment of Honirham 01 by DMFW with Midjourney
Magicians' End - The Bombardment of Honirham 02 by DMFW with Midjourney
Points of interest
Although Honirham was already a grand and gracious city when the Old Pale Empire moved the capital there in 3120 BPC, the period immediately afterwards saw some huge building programs which elevated it to another level. The Emperor's Palace, shown at the head of the article was built between 3014 BPC and 2991 BPC and is without a doubt the most extravagant of the many expensive public buildings that were constructed there.
Amongst other notable buildings, the headquarters of the Institute of Magical Knowledge was based at Honirham and is shown below. The IMK was established in the city, even before it became the capital of the Empire.
Whilst they were less ostentatious than the palace, the Ecclesial Chambers were equally, if not more important as a centre of administrative power at the Empire's height. It was here that the Ecclesia met to debate and to make the laws that influenced everyday life throughout the world.
Magicians' End - Honirham - Institute of Magical Knowledge by DMFW with Midjourney
Magicians' End - Honirham - The Ecclesial Chambers by DMFW with Midjourney
Tourism
When the Old Pale Empire was at the height of its powers, Honirham was its glorious and much admired capital city, with much for the visiting tourist to see and do.
The Theatre Court was a square at the heart of the cultural quarter of the city, not far from the Imperial Palace. In 1895 BPC, a famous fountain with a silver sculpture by the artist Stephan Frawl was installed there, entitled Aphresia and the Sea Serpent.
Loffagan Park, to the south and east of the centre of the Honirham, was an area of extensive formal and informal gardens surrounding belts of thick woodland. It was open to the public and was popular with tourists and city natives alike. Here you could see and hear one of the four famous Harmonic Resonators of the Way of the Harmonic Path.
Aphresia and the Sea Serpent by DMFW with Midjourney
Harmonic Resonator - Honirham (Myruthea) by DMFW with Midjourney
RUINED SETTLEMENT
7 APC
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