Fort Arken

* City
* Surface
* Map

Fort Arken is the stronghold headquarters of the Arken Den.

## Description

Outwardly, Fort Arken appears as a minor settlement disproportionately provisioned in matters of defence, with a three-tiered wall and several wide-rimmed towers that cast long trails of shade over the surrounding forest. The winding path known as the Glass Road, named a feature of a former expedition that first brought interest to the area sees a few caravans and carriages throughout the radiant daylight, but otherwise the settlement lingers largely quiet and still. Behind the walls however, blanketed in hallowed gloom, sprawls a city hidden from view. Little more a fraction of the settlement is located above ground, for as miners have toiled away in the ore-rich tunnels construction workers have been quick to follow, refining the walls shaped by pick into a settlement at the base of the Ironfangs.

## Government

Whether by refugees from the Underdark itself, or those greater and further travelled, Fort Arken has come to be populated by a number of Dens, though none wield any true semblance of power compared to that of the Arken Den. Having previously corralled much of her cause to Fort Arken a few years after her arrival to Ahlus, Lady Zareyl Arkenviir continued to maintain a presence in Whittengrove and Viridell, but all the while funneled wealth towards the caravansary constructed as per her commission to create a stronghold and haven alike, ready for her to place herself upon high in rulership. The Blackirons, named for Skuld Blackiron, are the elite guard of Fort Arken, and enjoy fame and infamy alike far beyond the Tviatini Jungle.

## Crime

Several ideals and principals considered outwardly and illicit are commonplace in the halls, caverns and chambers of Fort Arken. In some sects, lives of sentient races are considered grievously unequal, and so the peddling of flesh in addition to goods outlawed and banned elsewhere is not unknown. Whether intended to labour away in the mining tunnels, or set into work as a common servant, some small respite is afforded by the hierarchy that places madness-touched souls further below still, and at the very base the aberrant monstrosities from beyond the planes of mortal existence.

Strict doctrines bind the residents in oaths of fealty, and any actions that intentionally or otherwise undermine the interests of Fort Arken and the Arken Den are met with a sudden and unyielding response, and those suffering only from a depleted coin purse as a result are wise to not further press their case. Despite this, in-fighting and scheming amongst the lesser Dens is frequent, and generally tolerated provided it does not spill over on the wider populace.

## Geography

Stone gates flanked by granite towers bring an abrupt end to the Glass Road at the entrance to Fort Arken, beyond which a modest hovel designed to house stable horses, their attendants and carriages has been constructed out of a semblance of common courtesy. A single tavern serves the needs of visitors unwelcome or uninterested in venturing beneath the surface, with the settlement's residents rarely deigning to visit. Being assigned patrols on the surface is considered the lowliest of stations, for despite the hallowed darkness that shields the sun overhead, the sweltering humid heat of the jungle makes sustained sentry stations uncomfortable and physically taxing. The city proper is stationed behind two sealed doors of iron that are set into the mountainside directly, opening to reveal a vertical shaft descending sharply downwards to the settlement below. A winding stairway, carved into the igneous stone coils around the exterior of the pit, whereas a central winch connected to an elaborate pulley system and a band of indentured ogres and trolls powers a lift system for a more leisurely ascent or descent for those with appropriate status or coinage. The lift is also sometimes used for the mass transportation of provisions, whether imported, or soon to be exported.

The deeper the tunnels, the greater the status of those that reside within, and so the subterranean mass of Fort Arken is split into four distinct regions, with Paleblood Furrow closest to the surface, The Gossamers the deepest and Greymaul Break and Quartzcore Burrows between them.

### Paleblood Furrow

Little more than a few dozen feet beneath the surface soil in some places, Paleblood Furrow is a neighbourhood of simple accommodations, taverns and other basic amenities used to house non-resident visitors. Columns cut into the earth afford those living temporarily or otherwise in this district a few passing beacons of sunlight, refracted and concentrated by means of crystalline focuses mounted in the stone overhead, and so is a region commonly shunned by most underdark-based races. The warmth of lava pools heats the homes, as well as tempering the areas of natural flooding that have since been converted into bathing houses.

While some matters of business take place in Paleblood Furrow, the majority of commerce instead is provisioned to the district beneath, Quartzcore.

### Quartzcore

A marketplace and bazaar illuminated by Nightlight fungi, the entryway to Quartzcore is the deepest that most surface dwelling merchants may ever venture within their lifetimes. Though the main egress is already over a thousand feet beneath the surface, the levels of Quartzcore stretch over another two thousand, the lower fringes where the district overlaps with Greymaul Break closer to a half-mile beneath the jungle overhead. Active mining still takes place at the edges of Quartzcore, where svirfneblin guided by captured korreds scour the stone for precious and semi-precious gemstones, and goblinoid and orcish serf-labourers toil to collect copper, iron, nickel, cobalt and gold for processing, manufacturing and sale. Quartzcore is home to a number of refineries and forges, the expertise of deep gnomes and dwarves alike guiding precision and perfection with each craft. Pits for the breeding of giant lizards and steeders are located in the dark fringes of the district, ready for use as mounts and food. Elsewhere still numerous types of fungi are cultivated, bluecap for sporebread, ripplebark for roasting, ormu for luxury dyes and bioluminescent torches. The majority of the city's residents, drow or otherwise, live in the towered houses of Quartzcore. Amongst these, small colonies of stone giants may be found.

### Greymaul Break

Centred around a fortress carved into the base of a great stalactite in the roof of a vast volcanic cavern nearly a mile beneath the surface, Greymaul Break is the primary place of residence of Fort Arken's duergar populace. Though most famed as the fearsome warrior caste known as the Blackirons, wielders of warhammers made of iron and obsidian alike, many also know of the existence of Greymaul Break indirectly by their primary export, that of a series of hot-spirited ales and liquors brewed from fire lichen farmed around the geothermal vents that weave through the stone. Once processed into a pale orange-white paste, fire lichen pulps are traditionally fermented within a glazed waterorb fungus for several months and years, before being tapped and sold in the markets of Quartzcore or further afield.

Though the majority of the duergar of Fort Arken make their home in the quarters of this layer, it is expected that all spend at least fifty years service residing in the outposts beyond even that of the Gossamers to scout out the surrounding Underdark for threats aberrant or elsewise.

### The Gossamers

Woven into the inverted peak of the same great stalactite as the district of Greymaul Break, the Gossamers is the homeplace of the drow elite of Fort Arken, with luxury manses filled with hedonistic opulence considered the norm. Businesses specialising in expertly cut gemstones, weaponry for ceremonial and functional purposes shaped from enchanted adamantine, fine perfumes and the purveyors of the most capable and highly-trained slaves are dotted through the Gossamers, serving the local populace. Many minor dens maintain abodes, those lessermost sharing levels within the fortified stalactite, while the Arken Den lays claim to no fewer than six levels for their own purposes and has since converted the down facing point into a shard of reinforced crystal, as to better survey the domain below.