Archimal

A city in Arandas, located in a gently sloping valley, Archimal has been formed around the bones of an ancient, long dead creature. It was an incredibly large creature, its skeleton settled in the valley and is many stories high. Its skull forms the palace, and a wall has been built around its rib-cage over many years. The actual ribs themselves have been carved into guard towers called- of course- the Ivory Towers. It is a multi-cultural city, and an independent state on its own. Currently, most of its population is not very wealthy, and crime is rampant in the city.

Settlement
The original occupants of the area, based on archaeological evidence, were dwarven hill tribes. They were the ones who originally carved out the Ivory Towers and the Royal Palace. Ancient dwarven writing can be seen throughout the city, on particularly old buildings and in the bones of the creature. They also built an extensive network of underground tunnels that they likely lived and worked in. Although it is unknown why the city was abandoned, there is no evidence that it was involuntary.

Human Settlement
An unknown amount of time after the hill dwarves left the city, Arandish humans arrived to settle it in their place. Some time after human settlement, hill dwarves began trading, and soon some settled down. They now make up a minority of the population.

The Families
For many years, the city of Archimal was ruled by a group of wealthy merchants with their own private armies.There are six of them in total.

The Stromberg family ran the mines. They were the richest family in Archimal, and had the most political pull. They were hit the hardest when Valdric took control.

The Von’Veald family ran the arena, and boasted the best fighters and guards in the city, and some of the best gladiators in the world.

The McGrady family ran the mills.

- ran the masons.

Although stripped nearly entirely of power, the families of Archimal still have have some claim. Operating under the King’s nose, they still run their businesses and operations like gangs.

Races
The city is human dominated. Some hill dwarves have occupied the city again; tieflings and half-orcs are rare, but not unheard of. Half-orcs tend to be fighters in the arena, or hired thugs for one of the six families. The races freely intermingle, although they tend to settle down in areas which have higher populations of their own race.

Entertainment
The arena is a very prevalent part of Archimal’s culture. It is the biggest draw for anyone outside of the city- tales of the gladiators magnificent fights are far reaching, and many of the fighters names are on peoples lips from Archimal to Remora.

Political Structure
In the past, the city was ruled by an oligarchy. Wealthy merchants hired their own mercenaries, and ran the city more like gang leaders than politicians. In recent years, a man named Valdric, a member of the oligarchy, slowly stripped power away from the merchants, until eventually he had a loyal following of soldiers, far larger than any one of his opponents. He used their distrust of each other to his advantage, and eventually removed them all from positions of power, and claimed himself to be king of the city.

Ivory Towers
There are 26 towers lining the outside of the city, leftover from some horrifically monstrous creature that roamed the earth in ancient times. The rest of its body (apart from its head) appears to be missing. Over the years, people have carved into these bones, making homes out of the towers. In recent years, ever since Valdric wrestled control of Archimal from the oligarchy, the towers were claimed by his personal armory, and are being used as guard towers. Between the towers are now connecting walls, built to protect the city from invaders.

Royal Palace
The royal palace used to be the skull of whatever creature the city is built around. However, over time, it has been excavated and carved, and it no longer resembles anything like a head. Built up around it is a complex of buildings and walls that form the Royal Palace, which Valdric claims as his home.

Arena
The arena is a place where gladiators fight for the entertainment of the crowd, animals and monsters are pitted against each other, and prisoners are executed. It was constructed back when the oligarchy still had power as a means to appease the populace and get rid of their enemies. When the oligarchy was removed from power, they also had their lands and titles stripped from them. The Von’Veald family however, through clever negotiation, were allowed to retain their control of the Arena, and it still operates much as it did when the oligarchy was still in power.

The Underground
There exists under Archimal an underground network of tunnels and chambers that was apparently created by the hill dwarves that originally occupied the city. Over time, it has been converted into water and sewage draining. Some parts of it have been refined into hideouts for criminals of all kinds. Many of the Ivory Towers that were carved out by the hill dwarves have an exit that leads into these tunnels, suggesting it was a form of defense.