Abermore
As the capital of Dawnfire, Abermore, a vibrant and complex city, renowned for its stunning architecture and intricate politics, is the sacred heart of the goddess of fire, Joramy. It is the birthplace of the supernatural sacred blades, the Aberfoils, for which the city takes its name. Abermore is overshadowed by a looming red volcano, atop which a towering golden statue of Joramy spreads her arms wide, blessing the nation of Dawnfire.
To the west of the city resides K’Astur, a revered Fire Giant and master smith. K’Astur forges the sacred Aberfoils, holy awakened blades crafted from rare metals mined from the volcano’s depths. Each Aberfoil is imbued with the soul of a fallen Paladin of Joramy, who willingly sacrifices their life to create another of these divine weapons. These blades are the city’s namesake and a symbol of its unyielding devotion to Joramy's will.
Battlemaps set in this location
Orsionian Arsanal
The religious center and munitions factory of blessed explosives made for worshipers of divine artillery and bombardment. A chapter of Brazen Consecrationists, a militant sect of Dawnfire crusaders who worship artillery. These warriors make war as holy sacrament. Their doctrine teaches that anything reduced to ash is returned to essence, becoming one with their goddess of fire.
Dawnfire has been in a long and drawn-out war with the young nation of Palavier since its beginning, and as the battles continue in a seemingly endless stalemate the church has evolved. Today the Consecrationists hear the drum of the artillery as a sermon. Every shell is a prayer guided by the hand of Joramy, and the priests working to build their weapons anoint them in blessed oils, heat them with the magma of the great volcano, and send them off to wage their holy crusade at the Castle of Cannons.
Statue of Joramy
Among the greatest, largest, and most well-known of all monuments in Crudilex is the brilliant brass statue of the goddess of light and passion, Joramy. The religious theocracy of Dawnfire teaches that this statue is not depicting the goddess but rather that it and the volcano itself are the goddess. The magma that flows from its top is considered a sacred artifact, blessed by the Light Shepherds on its passing to the bottom. That which remains liquid when it flows to the foot is especially revered and is collected for the creation of sacred tools of prayer, staffs, reliquary mechs, and most famously Aberfoils, the blessed blades of heroes wielded only by the greatest and bravest swordsmen of Crudilex. It is these very weapons for which the entire capital city is named.
Malignatist's Court
North of the High Court Palace and in the shadow of the statue of the golden goddess is a circular building with a glass roof enclosed by vines and plant life like a giant solarium.
This beautiful building serves as the center of Dawnfire's senate branch, known as the Malignatist's Court. The court is composed of fifteen sitting members, each representing a distinct group, faction, or culture of people within Dawnfire. Notable members include a captured daemon representing the unholy Sulfrix Legion, a dragon whose master is the primordial dragon Lok'Razareem, and an efreeti who embodies the desires of the elementals common to Dawnfire.
Castle Jordel
At the foot of the Joramy volcano lies Palace Jordel, an architectural marvel towering beyond the reach of ordinary non-magical engineering, with hundred-foot domes and walls of red marble. It serves as the seat of power for the five royal families and the endlessly feuding Malignatist Court, who together govern the entirety of Dawnfire.
The castle is famous for its titanic marble brutalist architecture, with huge arched doors that can easily accommodate even K’astur the Skygiant forge master king. Carefully manicured lawns are broken by white walkways and statues of figures of brazen history. Inside, the palace is divided into five wings for each of the crowns and their extended families, all decorated in the appropriate style to best suit the unique cultures of those individual families.
K'astur's Forge
K'astur is perhaps, behind the Exalt himself, the most complicated figure in Dawnfire's government. As the representative of the Skarbak Crown, he assumes kingship every ten years in Abermore. However, when he is not performing his duties as ruler, he is seldom seen. This is because his primary drive and divine mission is to forge the Aberfoils. K'astur is the unscrupulous master smith who, using the very rare ingots of Joren found only in the volcano at the city's center, crafts these divine weapons.
Only twenty of these blades have ever been created, and only ten of those were crafted by K'astur himself. The secret of their creation is a zealously guarded mystery known only to the royal families, the Grand Light, the Grand Torch, and K'astur himself. Despite this closely held secret, an
entire district adjacent to the active lava flows of the sacred volcano is dedicated to K'astur's forge.
The birth of K'astur is perhaps the most complex aspect of his identity. He is the child of the primordial of fire and the goddess Joramy herself. His existence as a half-deva, half-primordial places him at the center of the conflict between his mother’s divine chosen Exalt and his father’s champion, the primordial dragon Rox'Razareem. This precarious position in the midst of such strife is one K'astur has been wholly unprepared for and reluctant to accept.
Church of Light
Highest point in the city and closest to the statue believed to be the physical manifestation of the goddess. The city is built at the foot of a volcano called Joramy, named after and worshipped as the goddess herself. At the center of its caldera stands a massive stone statue, casting its shadow over the entire capital. Its base rises from the heart of the volcano, making it visible from every corner of the city. The lowest level of this statue houses the center of the Church of Light.
The Light Shepherds also serve the Church, but in a more unique capacity. These pyromancers, who call themselves Consecrationists, follow in the footsteps of the Church's leader and Exalt. They refuse to wield divine magic, choosing instead to honor their goddess by studying the arcane, just as the Exalt did.
Three Arch
The population center and middle portion of the city, named for the massive red bridge that spans the homes of Abermore. Its large pillars create three archways leading to the base of the Joramy Volcano. It is believed that should the volcano ever erupt, it would be seen as divine judgment. Consequently, no walls were built to shield the people. Instead, archways were constructed to allow the lava to flow freely. The bridge serves as a place of prayer, with many walking along its length to pray to the statue and the volcano.
Crown Walk
it too great a loss to destroy in order to protect the greater city. There have been many incidents where preparations were nearly complete for destroying the Greatbridge, when civilians, worshipers of Joramy who believe that action in dissent is a sacred duty, marched out onto the bridge and refused to leave until the authorities either destroyed it or relented and returned the debate to the Malignatist Court.
The roadway along the southern wall of the Jordel Palace where the five families serve, as well as the world-famous Greatbridge. It is the most expensive, well-kept, and heavily traversed part of Abermore City. The bridge leading out of the city was once a great draw for travelers seeking the most brilliant sights to see in Crudilex. However, it has transformed since the beginning of the Brazen-Federalist long war.
As the bridge crosses directly from the warzone to the heart of Brazen politics, it is one of the most well-guarded points in the entire conflict. Every day the Malignatists debate whether its historic importance as an ancient heritage structure from the earliest ages of mortal civilization makes
Brazendel Keep
Set north of the Hero’s Plaza, where brilliant golden statues of the foil-wielders of Abermore stand, and overlooking Lunderroad and the city’s entrance, Brazendel Keep serves as the stronghold of the Crusade of Fire. It houses a standing army capable of defending the city, including paladins, clerics, ballistae, and a small flight of riding drakes. However, Brazendel's forces are at a minimum, as the bulk of Dawnfire’s soldiers are either marching with the Crusade, fighting Palavier in the stalemate war to the north, or defending the Cinderwall to the far south.
Light Shepards
Their studies have led to major breakthroughs that have become important knowledge in wizardly scholarly academies. Discoveries such as the essence of the mortal soul being constructed of the same energies used to power magic, and the correlation between souls and the ley lines. This has become a widely watched area of exploration, and outside schools of the arcane now regularly visit the Light Shepherds to share findings and compare notes.
The Great Brass School of Pyromancy, famous for its exceptional alumni versed in the arts of wielding fire effectively in battle, and for their more brazen uses in prayer, ritual, and divine pursuits. The building is funded by the Urner Foundation, using the coffers of the late Exalt of the goddess of fire to teach the next generation. A statue of Chase Urner tops the brass-domed heights of the school’s High Tower.
The Light Shepherds are a cabal of religious wizards who believe in the blending of divine and arcane magics, learning evocation, destruction, and fire magics as a means to bring themselves closer to the Church of Joramy’s previous Exalt, who himself was a pyromancer. They believe that the spells of fire can be brought down from sources beyond the ley lines, from which all essence and magic are drawn, and that there is a deeper mystery connecting the powers granted to religious mages and those of the arcane arts.
Falcrum Accent
The Fulcrum Ascent is an idealistic adobe housing area, characterized by its countless staircases and switchback roads. Flowering hanging gardens adorn the buildings, and a stunning central clocktower, nearly consumed by climbing vines, stands as the focal point of the community. Fulcrum is a beautiful, sleepy area of Abermore, where narrow roadways and alleys are densely packed with shops and restaurants, creating a vibrant atmosphere filled with life and color.
Abermore Plaza
The plaza is lined with roads and alleys that shoot off from the center like spokes of a wheel, with long buildings that connect to each other stretching unbroken down the road. Painted in brilliant colors and draped in hanging cloth and lanterns, the plaza is well-loved for its artisans and beauty.
Abermore Plaza serves as the center of trade in the city. Two-story buildings line the streets, densely packed with shops and vendors. This westernmost portion of Abermore is a hub of commerce, facilitating much of the trade and traffic in and out of Dawnfire.
Under-road
The cheapest and oldest area of the city, earning its reputation as the blue-collar district due to its proximity to the farmlands and Agrakata. The largest population of citizens live here, many of whom are just average people, unable to afford the more expensive areas of the city like Calcium Ascent, or unwilling or not zealous enough to the Joramy religion to live below Three Arch among the magma flow canals, where they would be under constant threat of death should the sacred mountain ever erupt.
While Under-road is not exactly a slum, the area is overcrowded, with a small portion of bold individuals living in tent cities in hopes of joining the Crusade, the Conscriptionists, or the Light Shepherds to give themselves and their families better lives.
The Brazen Gate
The city gates of Abermore, an arch without a door, as if inviting anyone to dare attack the capital of Dawnfire. The gates are carved from a massive single piece of marble and erected with the likenesses of every Aberfoil wielder known by the people of Dawnfire, as well as every crusader who laid down their life willingly for their foil to be made.
The archway is quite long and serves a cultural purpose. Whenever two heroic foil wielders have reason to challenge each other, either end of the gate is filled with a wall of fire, and the two duelists stand within. The challenger faces the city, and the challenged stands with their back to it. It is said that the flames will only calm and cinder, releasing the foil wielders from the gate, when the goddess of fire has deemed the conflict resolved. At that point, those remaining alive, one or both, are expected to have reached a conclusion, and no further mention of the issue will be tolerated, as the goddess has made her final word.
Foil-Del
Text Located beneath the three massive bridges that connect Fulcrum Ascent across the Southern Chasm Valley to the Agrakata Ashlands, Foil-Del is the center of smuggling into and out of Dawnfire. It connects to the river to the east and the city’s sewer system, as well as the infamous Exile’s Door, a natural stairway down which the worst criminals are banished into the Sunless Sea, never allowed to return.
The region gets its name from the Delfoils, or bastard foils. Aberfoil made without the sacred ore, or lacking the divine blessings of the Crusade, or lacking its spiritual sacrifice. Essentially an imperfect imitation Aberfoil. Carrying one is considered the highest of crimes in Abermore, punishable by swift and merciless death.
Even so, many in the world want the closest thing they can
get to the greatest blade that can be made, the Aberfoils. Fortunes stand to be made by smugglers who can get these weapons safely out of the city after they are made with the most authentic, though black-market, materials from Abermore.