Procellarum
Overview
Procellarum is a large town to the southeast of Auroma's side of Amber Pass. Like most Zenith settlements, Procellarum is built into and around Lancea Occidentalis, a mighty Amberwood Titan. The height of the tree keeps the town safe from any threat that can't fly, and constant patrols ensure that no flying foe can catch the town unaware.
The town is made up of two major parts: the upper and lower town. Upper town is far older, and it has been built on and around the branches and trunk of Lancea Occidentalis. The oldest families of the town live there, as well as all of the town's most influential people. Lower town is built on the ground, around the tree. Most of the town lives there, as there isn’t enough space on the upper town to house that many people. Walls dating back to War of the Stripes used to surround it, but influx of new inhabitants have forced people to build the newest buildings outside the walls. Lower Procellarum is a clean and safe place to live, but it does lack the history and wealth of its upper counterpart.
Procellarum's most famous feature - its heart and soul - is the Tonitribus Monastery. The monastery is ancient compared to the rest of the town and is the source of its values and way of life. The strength of its warriors and the safety they could provide were the reasons so many people chose to set their homes around the monastery.
Tonitribus Monastery is also the reason for Procellarum's second most famous building: Fulmen Combschool. It is considered to be the very best warrior caste combschool, able to prepare a student for any role the military needs. This is thanks to Tonitribus Monastery, whose inhabitants aid the combschool in any way the school needs. In particular, Fulmen is famous for training exceptional winged knights and aeronauts.
Surrounding the monastery and combschool are the houses of the townsfolk. Procellarum has unusually many blacksmiths and artificers, the former due to safety stone buildings bring to blacksmithing, and the latter due to proximity to Amber Pass, which provides easy access to amber for the town. But the town has other kinds of artisans as well, such as brewers, bowyers and fletchers.
Procellarum also has many taverns and places to leave one's carriage for a night. The town is right beside the major trade route out of Amber Fallow. Many of these resting places are on the ground around Lancea Occidentalis, since many travelers can't fly and are uncomfortable with the heights of the town proper. They are particularly popular among the less wealthy travelers, who can appreciate the lower prices... as well as smugglers, who wish to avoid the vigilant eyes of the city watch.
Another notable landmark of Procellarum is Castle Glowleaf, the home of the Glowleaf noble family. Despite the Glowleaf family's wealth, the castle's exterior has little decoration: it was clearly built with durability and safety in mind. The decorations have been reserved for the castle's interiors.
Many of the branches of Lancea Occidentalis have been decorated with golden lightning rods. Thunderstorms are a frequent phenomenon of Zenith Valley, and constant lightning strikes pose a danger even to an Amberwood Titan. The lightning rods glow beautifully in sunlight above and the light of the leaves below.
History
The history of Procellarum dates back to early Age of Order. A bumble warrior, Radic "Tempest" Crani, could never feel at home in the growing cities. He wanted to create a place where people could live a humble life of practising martial skills in service of Aurius. Praying to Aurius for guidance, he was shown an Amberwood Titan far from the capital to serve as home. Radic and his companions journeyed to the tree in his vision, near the mouth of Amber Pass. They camped in the tree bark until they could build a simple building to live in. This monastery was named Tonitribus Monastery. The people following the Tempestic life became to be known as Tempest Warriors.
The monastery slowly grew over centuries, but remained unchanged until 1158 AO, when the Zenith wanted to create a new warrior caste combschool. They thought that the Tempest Warriors would make great teachers for young warriors. As the Tempest Warriors had wanted to live away from city life, the new Glowleaf noble family would handle all of the other work running the school needed, so that the lives of Tempest Warriors would be impacted as little as possible.
The War of the Stripes hit Procellarum hard. The village was under siege and suffered heavy damage, but it never broke. This was seen as a proof of skill of both Tempest Warriors and the teachers of Fulmen Combschool. This attracted more people to Procellarum, and the village grew into town.
Present
Unlike the War of the Stripes, the Tunnel War had little impact on Procellarum. The frontlines never got anywhere near the town. But the war did affect the town in a different manner: Auroma's increased need for soldiers meant that Fulmen Combschool had to take in far more students than usual. Tonitribus Monastery also received many new initiates during the war. And the city's tough walls and safe location also attracted their fair share of artisans and laborers. Despite many soldiers leaving to the frontlines and not returning, due to either dying or wanting to live elsewhere, Procellarum has never been larger.
This rapid growth has caused some alarm in Tonitribus Monastery. The monastery was originally founded so that warriors could live away from the large cities, but now, the cities seem to have followed them. The senior Tempest Warriors in particular feel that the monastery is getting closer and closer to betraying their foundational ideals.
- Type
Military town Parent Location
Zenith Valley Included Locations
Tonitribus Monastery, Fulmen Combschool Owner/Owning Faction
Auroma Founding Date
1158 AO Destruction Date (if any)
- Size
Large town Population/Inhabitants
25,000 (80% vespoids (bee, bumble), 15% beetlefolk, 3% formicoids, 2% other) Notable Assets
Tonitribus Monastery, warrior training, artifacts of the Tempest
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