Kar-Thal: Difference between revisions

|Geography=Kar-Thal is located deep within the Citadel Mountains, a rugged and sacred range that shelters the remnants of the original primordial realm. The city itself is vertically structured, with multi-tiered districts built into the natural contours of the mountain. Its architecture is entirely integrated with the mountain stone, avoiding external alteration and embracing the natural flow of the rock.

|History=Founded during the [[Era of Isolation]], Kar-Thal emerged as the first permanent settlement of the [[Orasians]]. It has served as a continuous center of governance, tradition, and spiritual practice since the earliest days of Terasil. Throughout the [[Great Erosion]] and the arrival of other elemental forces, Kar-Thal remained a bastion of earth-aligned culture, adapting slowly without compromising its core principles.

[[Darak-Kel]] is the political and ceremonial heart of Kar-Thal. Built around the Great Hall of Oras, it houses the chambers of the Council of Stone, ancestral relic vaults, and oath-steppes where major decrees are recorded. Public access is limited; citizens gather in outer halls to hear resonant broadcasts of council proceedings.

The [[Veins]] are a residential and market district. A living web of tunnels and grotto-homes, where daily commerce and family life unfold. Glowstone lanterns light stone-cut plazas, and vendors chant in rhythmic tones tuned to the chamber acoustics. This district pulses with Kar-Thal’s economic and communal heartbeat.

[[Kel-Siruun]] hosts the Archives and Stonecraft Guilds. A tiered arc of carved vaults and scholar-caverns surrounding the '''[[Ashlar Vaults]]'''. Home to Lorewardens, record-keepers, and artisans. Every wall here is etched with law-stones, genealogical records, and geological treatises. Entrance to inner archives requires a memory-oath.

[[File:Kar-Thal_-_Grand_Hall_01.jpg|thumb|Inside Kar-Thal]]

Surn's Refuge is a district focused on contemplation and public ceremony  A cavernous sanctuary filled with mineral chimes and natural spires. The city's most sacred public rituals take place here. Citizens come during '''Cycle Days''' to attune themselves to subterranean harmonics and consult resonance-oracles.

The Stonesteps are the place for trials and Initiations. A dangerous spiraling stair carved from obsidian-glass along a vertical chasm wall. Used for trials of endurance and rites of passage. Only those seeking to join the ranks of Rite-Keepers, Stonewardens, or the city’s ritual classes are permitted to ascend.

Tarsu-un is the district with quarry access and the miner clans  This district lies closest to the city’s outer quarry networks and is inhabited by stonecutters and tunnel shapers. The dwellings here are more utilitarian, with marked clan-stones above entrances. Known for its practical dialect and unadorned architecture.

Stone's Hold is a defensive stronghold and logistics hub.  Located around the '''Lithic Gate''', this fortified district houses the city’s [[Stonewarden]] barracks, storehouses, and defense infrastructure. Earth-[[osia]] patterns are embedded in its floor to allow rapid reinforcement in case of seismic or spiritual intrusion.

Varen-Kelun  houses the diplomatic and external relations  A recently adapted district, housing visitors, traders, and emissaries from beyond Terasil. Built from contrasting stone patterns to subtly express Orasian dominance. Ritual interpreters and echo-linguists serve as mediators between cultures.

The sole entrance to inner Terasil and thought to be the home of Oras himself. This sacred valley has been sealed off by the Gates of Origin for centuries. The Gates are believed to never have been open.  

The central chamber of governance and ritual. Its basalt columns and echoing stone acoustics are said to resonate with the voice of Oras himself. Here, the Council of Stone deliberates under the watch of ancient statues carved from the mountain's heart.

A sanctuary built around a massive column of uncarved stone, considered a raw conduit of Oras’s essence. Silent ceremonies are conducted in its shadow, with worshipers pressing their foreheads to the stone to receive visions.

A tiered archive of knowledge and law, composed of memory-stones and carved tablets. The Vaults are maintained by the Lorewardens, who chisel updated records and guard ancient civic decrees dating back to the city's founding.

A secluded chamber where oaths are sworn and ancestral pacts sealed. The acoustics preserve and repeat vows whispered into the stone, allowing them to echo across generations.

The fortified threshold into Kar-Thal, constructed from interlocking slabs without mortar. The gate’s architecture is designed to shift subtly with seismic vibrations, rendering it unbreachable. Guarded by Earthbound Sentinels

|Culture and Society=Life in Kar-Thal is governed by a distinct rhythm—slow, deliberate, and steeped in ceremonial precision. As the seat of the [[Council of Stone]], and indeed directly ruled by the council, the city embodies the most formal and conservative expression of Orasian values. Every civic process, from decision-making to public labor, is measured by ritual intervals and guided by ancestral precedent.