Novakuzran
Once known as Yvanore, the ancestral homeland of the elves, Novakuzran is now the beating heart of industry and control. Under the Ironbrawn dynasty, the land has been completely transformed into Hugo City, a sprawling, unbroken metropolis of steel, smoke, and steam. There are no forests, rivers, or grasslands left—only endless layers of machinery, factories, rail systems, and towering brass spires. Even what appears “natural”, parks, gardens, and rivers, are all artificially crafted by artificers to maintain the illusion of balance while feeding the engines of progress. Beneath the surface, colossal gears churn and furnaces roar, keeping the city alive in an endless cycle of innovation and oppression.
In place of elven splendor rose Hugo City, the world’s only metropolis and a marvel of industrial ambition. Novakuzran today is synonymous with that city alone—a sprawling steampunk powerhouse where innovation thrives and the line of Hugo rules with absolute authority. Now under the reign of King Hugo Ironbrawn III Novakuzran is a land where machinery and progress eclipse tradition, and where ambition knows no bounds. Magic plays a minor role here; technology reigns supreme.
Geography
Geographically meaningless in its original sense, Novakuzran has become one single biome: city. The Mystic Mountains and Black Iron Peaks have been hollowed out to feed the city’s appetite for resources, their remains built over by vast foundries and railways. The “Valley of Snakes,” once the prison of Yesis the Red Serpent, has been paved over and now serves as the city’s core, where the Hugo line rules with an iron fist.
Ecosystem
There are no true ecosystems left. Air is thick with smog, and water is heavily processed through artificial canals. Mechanical birds and clockwork beasts now occupy the roles of natural creatures, built to serve practical functions rather than ecological balance.
Ecosystem Cycles
The cycles of nature have been replaced with industrial ones: exhaust, recycle, rebuild, expand. Waste becomes fuel, bodies become labor, and time itself bends to production quotas.
Localized Phenomena
A perpetual haze of smog blocks most natural sunlight, giving Hugo City its own eerie twilight. Strange magnetic pulses from deep beneath the city occasionally disrupt magical effects, a phenomenon known as “The Iron Current,” believed to be caused by experimental machinery.
Climate
Once temperate, Novakuzran now regulates its weather through artificial means. Seasons are manufactured: snow falls on schedule for festivals, rain comes when crops grown in stacked hydroponic towers require it. Everything is engineered to serve the city’s function.
Fauna & Flora
True flora and fauna are extinct here. Gardens are mechanical marvels with metal trees bearing crystal “fruit,” and animals are either imported for consumption or replaced with clockwork replicas.
Natural Resources
Black Iron and Mystic Ore still fuel the city, though mining is now done through massive automated drills. The city also imports vast quantities of food and raw goods from other continents, though much of it is processed into artificial substitutes.
History
Founded through the genocidal conquest of Hugo Ironbrawn I, Novakuzran’s transformation into Hugo City took less than a century. The elves were eradicated, their culture erased, and their gods abandoned. Over a millennium, three generations of Hugos perfected their vision: a city that consumes itself to grow stronger, a machine that cannot stop. Now under King Hugo Ironbrawn III, Novakuzran has become a symbol of steampunk dominance, feared and envied across Baltharos.
Tourism
Tourism is nearly impossible. Visitors undergo extensive background checks and, upon arrival, are subtly brainwashed through magical and chemical means to forget any sign of the city’s darker truths. The version of Hugo City shown to outsiders is a glittering utopia of progress, hiding the suffocating labor camps and poverty beneath its polished surface.
Alternative Name(s)
The Hermit Kingdom
Owner/Ruler
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