Burrow-city

A **burrow-city** is a term for any settlement that has been dug from a mountain or under the ground, especially the large, fortress-like complexes built during great disasters.

## History

The predecessors of Burrow-cities on Jerde were more than just tombs, prisons, mines, or vaults. They were built to be more lasting settlements, even if they were abandoned for a while or ever since.

Some were the tunnel networks inhabited by the Aksiparche Migration, when the ancestors of the Tuksharans and Slavs left behind fields of crops around geothermal vents that provided heat and light. Others were the "typhoon shelters" dug by the ancient Wonaos of Bujan, where nearly every life was saved to emerge after the storms to rebuild and replant lost crops. Among those tunnel complexes were the food-vaults of Vaikoro, which saved the people of Vaikoro from starving by a great blizzard.

### Rukania

The first Burrow-cities on Jerde were built on what is now Rukania and other lands, after the king Hlebri Ilsevich of Perjaslavets ordered the construction of new cities and castles on some mountain-like meteors that landed all over his land. They are proper Burrow-cities because they were permanent settlements, where families thrived over millennia.

While Rukanian nations moved on to building castles everywhere, some Burrow-cities and their newer counterparts were built and hidden like new mountains. The unsuspecting fleets of the Thralondian Empire met their end being bombarded by some of those "new mountains".

Kam'jansjka is one of the oldest Burrow-cities in the world, and also one of the oldest-*continually* used in the world.

### Tirkiatlor

Further south, the peoples of Tirkiatlor also built their own Burrow-cities as they dug deeper into great stony hills, building great cities under rock and beneath splendid temples and academies.

### Green Years

In anticipation to the superweapons used by the Jauparturnid Vozonid and Ontemazei Empires, many civilisations across Jerde constructed Burrow-cities to protect their people. They contained the surviving human population during the Green Years until the arrival of the Exiles.

After the Green Years, many of these Burrow-Cities were abandoned or converted into storage and military facilities. Some Burrow-Cities were redesigned as commercial, residential, or entertainment complexes; others were filled in; and still others were converted into wildlife habitats.

However, when disasters struck, some of these Burrow Cities were used again.

### Rabydos

The Lausorijo rebels who fled to northern Rabydos built many Burrow-cities along the southern side of the Jasper Mountains. They are known as Hurasim, who use their own dialect of Rabydosian and adopted the Rabydosian humans' culture and religion, such as the worship of Marduk. Some of these cities submitted to the government of Rabydos, while others remained independent.

Other Burrow Cities were also built on the tropical highlands further south into Rabydos. Again, many of them are independent city-states that resisted foreign rule. Others housed Rabydosian leaders who were seen as less cruel, such as the Guardians of Rabydos and their Autean allies when they fought against Emperor Burendil and the Thralondians. They are well-known for their hospitality towards travellers, supplying them with equipment, weaponry, armour, and pack animals or vehicles. The last time they were seen at war was during the Thralondian invasion of Rabydos, when they fortified some human towns against the Wraithstorm, or fended off Thralondian legions.

### Peren

Peren had many Burrow-cities built during its locals' fight against Thralondian oppression, where they were able to live without torture or slavery. These fortified mountain settlements were the fortresses and foundries that helped them prevail over the Thralondians.

### Bujan

Zremandil, one of the last intact Burrow-cities in Bujan, was the first city to revolt against the Wannaenid Empire. It was one of thirty-three rebellions that led to the independence of Bujan as a sovereign nation.

### Makkadal

The entire island of Makkadal, located south of Bujan, has a network of Burrow-cities under the tropical mountains. Their interconnected status makes the island nation also become known as "the Great Banyan".

## List of Burrow-cities

* Narzonjontar (New Irajon)
* Pang Gong (Siangwaan)
* Dai Lok Yen (Siangwaan)
* Zremandil (Bujan)
* Na'ungmal (Makkadal, Bujan)
* Tanjadroh (Makkadal, Bujan)
* Azarsal, Nirrusal, and Gurasal (Rabydos)
* Mount Dasar (Rabydos)
* Aklakkim (Rabydos)
	+ 134 Burrow Cities built by Lausorijo, all of which are independent city-states not under Rabydosian authority, but instead allied.
* Burrow cities of Vintland (Vintland)
	+ The northernmost cities in the world, hidden under the endless snow and ice. Built over thousands of years by survivors of the Green Years, who managed to defeat the Exiles and other empires in the millennia to come.
* Kam'jansjka (Rukania)
	+ One of the first Burrow-cities in history, now it is an enormous castle. To the southwest is Nova Kam'jansjka, a modern metropolis where Arnadjanai live, resulting in an abundance of stadiums and sports-related venues.

## Trivia

* The burrow-cities were inspired by the Vaults of the Fallout games and the city of Erebor from The Hobbit.
* In modern Bujan, the ancient burrow-cities built to protect people from typhoons are known as dōzjagorod (raintowns) in Bujanski, and zeulvan (stormcities) in Eosome.