Morcham Keep

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Located on the shores of Miryadorin, the great lake of Akaryth, Morcham Keep serves as the de facto seat of government and power in the kingdom. It is home to not only the king, but also the members of the Cynosure Royal who mjust be available to him at all times.
Morcham Keep is a dark and dour city, constructed largely of grey stone and possessed of a rainy climate. Great walls surround it, and within its walls the Golden Quarter, home of the nobility and other powerful figures, is seperated from the rest of the city by a great wall.
In the northeastern part of the city lies the Azure Palace, wherein resides the King of Akaryth. Private docks and wharfs accomodate the needs of the royal household and provide easier access to other parts of the kingdom.
==History==
Morcham Keep was initially founded as an outpost in the Empire of Alindor, long long ago, in the first or second century SY. Its position on the shores of Miryadorin, access to the rivers feeding that lake, and its location in central Amallon made it an ideal site for an Alindorean town. Originally called by the Alindorean name Morhamen-Seen, (Al. 'Fortress on the Lakeshore'), the settlement slowly grew in importance as the Empire grew beyond the Ironfist Mountains and occupied the lands that would later form Keledon. By the time of the fall of Alindor, Morhamen-Seen was a prominent town and seat of governance for that part of the Empire.
The fall of Alindor led to a brief decline in the city and the lands surrounding it. By 250 AS the most prominent and powerful families of the city had banded together and brought peace and rule to a wide part of the Ironfist basin. The relative stability of the lands around the city brought thousands in from the countryside; the city itself began to grow as the lands around it filled with new farms and villages. Meanwhile, in cities such as Lyns and Solstrom, similar developments were taking place.
By 550 AS a great deal of the surrounding lands had been pacified and brought under the control of one of the three cities. In 602 AS Morchamen (as the city was now called) entered into war with Lyns; the strife was ended by an alliance through marriage between the families leading each city. In 621 AS the two fledgling realms were unified into a single kingdom. Rising tensions between Morchamen and Solstrom were evident; occassional skirmishes erupted along the border between the two. In 668 AS Solstrom came under assault from a great horde of nomads from Kozurg. Solstrom and the entire Avinyar were brought under Morchamen's control by rescuing the smaller state, then refusing to leave. Tensions and pockets of resistance cropped up from time to time, but with the divisions of the lands of Akaryth into the Four Principalities, and the advent of an Avinyari prince, things settled down. Now called Morcham Keep, the city became the capital of the great, single kingdom and grew in stature and majesty.
From this period until approximately 930 AS the new kingdom of Akaryth grew by leaps and bounds. The rise of Keledon over the Ironfist Mountains caused little initial stir.
In 1668 AS Morcham Keep was assaulted by terrible forces under the command of Sulomyn the Black. While those forces were ultimately repelled, the city itself suffered tremendous damage and was largely rebuilt. The destruction of crops in the surrounding countryside damaged the city's economy severely; the rebuilt city lacked much of the splendour and majesty of the former one.
Category:Akarythan Cities
Category:Cities
Category:Akaryth