Vauroda

Vauroda

History

The city that would eventually become Vauroda was named … when it was first founded as a kingdom under the Garfarian Empire. It became a prosperous mining settlement, and was considered to be the most important city in the west. It worked similar to any other feudal system, where the nobility had control over their serfs, which were responsible for mining natural resources. While the ground contained some precious metals, the mines were mostly used for good building materials. These nobles grew very rich from trading with other cities in the Empire. However, with the fall of the Garfarian Empire, the king had no more protection from the Emperor to defend himself against the powerful nobility of the city. The nobles staged a coup, and proclaimed the First Mining Republic.   The First Mining Republic ruled by the nobility mostly continued on in the same way. This changed when one of the richer nobles, Alistair Onyx, hired a group of mercenaries to seize power and proclaim himself king. This brought an end to the First Mining Republic, and started the Onyxson dynasty as rulers of the city. The properties of the other ruling nobles were confiscated and given to the mercenary group who helped him get into power. To show their gratitude, they swore an oath to protect him and all his descendants. They became known as the Onyx Order, and are used as the king’s personal bodyguards. The reaction of other cities to this event was mostly impartial, and most of the population actually welcomed the new leadership. However, the move of Alistair Onyx to seize power was driven by greed, and this trait runs deep in the family. With every succession, the population became more impoverished and the mineworkers were treated increasingly worse.   This culminated during the rule of Elias Onyxson, nicknamed Elias the Exalted. He is widely known for throwing lavish parties for important people of all cities. Elias the Exalted had to flee the city after the disaster known as The Collapse of Castle 5, barely escaping with his life, thanks to the Onyx Order. The people of the city proclaimed the Second Mining Republic, this time governed by the mineworkers themselves, and Elias the Exalted went into exile in Ponrada.   Reforms were slow to pass in the Second Mining Republic, but conditions for the population of the city gradually improved. The Republic would soon encounter its first major disaster, however. For some time, traces of underground activity had been found in the mines of the city. This eventually led to the discovery of the Stonemycelium Dwarves, a long lost expedition that evolved into their own subspecies. Their first contact resulted in the Mushroom Dwarves Crisis.   Meanwhile, Elias the Exalted was biding his time for his planned return to the city. In Ponrada, he came into contact with an underground organization of soulmages, called the Touched Souls. The Touched Souls convinced the king to make pacts with dark powers, which would give him unnatural long life. Elias still had some loyalists in the city, which informed him of the contact with the underground civilization of Dwarves. Together with the Touched Souls, he devised a plan to take advantage of the ongoing chaos and confusion in the city. The government structure of the Republic did not allow for a fast enough response to the rapidly changing situation, and order broke down. Realizing they would be punished with death upon the king’s return, people who had been involved in getting rid of the king fled the city. This great exodus is known as the Flight of the Fallen, in reference to the golden bell they took with them as an insult to the king. These people would go on to found Domaroda, which still proudly flaunts the Echo of the Fallen in their city as an afront to Elias the Exalted.   When Elias arrived at the city with the Onyx Order, the gate was quickly opened for him by loyalists, and he held a grand speech on the collapsed tower of his castle estate to the inhabitants of the city. He promised to keep the ruling body of the Republic as an advisory cabinet to protect the rights of the mineworkers. The people were rejoiced to hear this, and celebrated the return of the king.   Elias the Exalted, seeing an opportunity in the potential exploitation of the Mushroom Dwarves, made a great effort to smooth out the distrust the two groups had for each other. He hired engineers from Dastinald to construct the The Great Wheel of Vauroda, an elevator that could go down the mines to the underground city of the Dwarves. Upon completion of this engineering marvel, Elias the Exalted broke his promise by formally dissolving the Second Mining Republic. The city was then renamed Vauroda, in honour of the ‘Wonder Wheel of the West’.  

Government

Vauroda  

List of Buildings and Places

• The Ruins of Castle 5
• The Great Wheel of Vauroda