Darvasa

The city of Darvasa

Far to the northeast of Ven City on Hiera, Darvasa, "The Wyrm's Maw," lies on the edge of chill ocean waters, jagged peaks to either side rising from the sea foam and into the snowy distance. Behind it, the gaping, spiraled maw of a pre-Scream mining project lies abandoned, the heart of a mountain cut away and filled over hundreds of years with pines, small, icy lakes, and drifts of endless white. The mineral veins of that massive dig were scoured of all their fortune long before the Scream, but Darvasa continues as ever to be a mining city, new built upon the old, ever upwards.

## Layout

A block of serf apartments in Darvasa

Darvasa is a city of buried history. What scattered buildings remained of the pre-Scream settlement on the site have long since been built over and enveloped into newer and greater structures, narrow streets lined with cramped concrete and steel towers. Thousands upon thousands of serf workers live in floor after floor of apartments that look down into the dark, dusty pathways below. Their noble lords are sequestered away in a nearby mountain valley, clusters of mansions sheltered from the dust and smog of Darvasa’s mines and industrial complexes. In total, Darvasa boasts millions upon millions, miners, industrialists, support personnel, and noble landowners of the wandering valleys and deep forests of the north.

Beyond the crushing core of the city, Darvasa extends north into scattered warehouses and industrial factories, east into the scarred landscape of strip mines, and west into the carved and blasted plain that holds the city’s spaceport, large enough for even frigates to dock, before the mountains rise up towards the noble estates in their hidden valley. The dark river Lorelei barely reaches the ocean that Darvasa’s south walls tower up against, the water drained and poisoned by industry long before it reaches the mouth. Groundwater and desalinated ocean water supply most of Darvasa’s needs. From the ocean fish are pulled by the netload, supplementing Darvasa’s largely imported food supply, and energy is drawn from deep geothermal sources a few miles north of the city.

## The Wyrm's Maw

While the source of Darvasa’s name has been lost to time, it is often referred to by locals as “The Wyrm’s Maw,” or “Wyrm’s Maw.” The origin of this is twofold. The first source is the massive mining bore, miles across, that sinks deep into the side of a nearby mountain, an unearthly, circular opening that some superstitiously fear. The other source is the city’s proximity to a number of Ice Wyrm nesting and mating grounds, deep within the mountains that surround Darvasa. Rarely, the Wyrms find their way down towards the mines or even the city itself, and Darvasa is one of only a few Hieran cities to have a dedicated Wyrm response detachment of the House Guard stationed year round.

## Points of Interest

The Nobility enjoy the somewhat nicer locales Darvasa has to offer.

Beyond the main city, the lake of Nix is one of the few unsullied bodies of water left near Darvasa. Its surface is calm and clear most of the year, and because of geothermal activity remains largely unfrozen except in the very coldest months. Though the lake is incredibly deep towards the middle, the clarity of the water means one can almost always see the jagged rocks and silt of the bottom, schools of gray fish weaving their way above.

### Nibelung Square

One of the few open spaces in Darvasa’s city proper, Nibelung Square is a broad, flat pave of concrete scattered with statues and gnarled trees. Peaceful pools and canals of water line the edges, and it was in the Square that one of Hiera’s greatest serf rebellions was put down, thousands killed or arrested for treason against the Empire. The Square is known for often being shrouded in the heavy fog that rolls off the ocean or down from the nearby mountains.

### Eisenmarkt Tower

One of the few beautiful buildings of Darvasa, Eisenmarkt Tower, the Iron Market, is the head office of a number of Darvasa’s prominent mining and industrial titans, as well as the local exchange and trade center for the metals, minerals, and products of Darvasa’s industrial engine. Towering glass locked in place by thick, dark steel bars and beams looks out across the sprawling city towards the ocean as Darvasa’s tallest building.

### Wyrmworld

An abandoned theme park often featured in cautionary childrens’ tales in the region, Wyrmworld is a groaning, labyrinthine weave of crumbling buildings and winding roller coasters. The large maw of Grubby, the theme park’s blue, ice wyrm mascot and crowning figurehead on the largest roller coaster, still hangs hundreds of feet in the air over the park. A number of informational terminals, espousing child-friendly morsels of mining science and proclaiming the wonders of Darvasa (“Labor makes the heart grow fonder!”), still flicker to life when approached, holographic images of Grubby waving and guffawing.

Built by several families of nobles from Ven City, Wyrmworld was seen as culturally insensitive to the region and a mockery of concurrent outcry over the lack of entertainment and attractions for the growing serf population. A number of riots broke out, and ultimately Wyrmworld was closed, but left standing, as the cost to demolish it was viewed as an unnecessary expense.

### Melusina Glacier

Technically not a natural glacier, Melusina is the result of industrial run-off, chemical and oil slicks, and an abandoned dam project that led to the buildup of a contaminated ice monolith near the coast to the east of Darvasa. Long since carved into a noble ski retreat and snow sporting event site, Melusina is coated with real snow during the winter months and false snow during the warmer parts of the year. It is renowned for the strange rainbow patterns that play through the ice as a result of the contaminated water within, and a viewing platform has been set up nearby to see the unusual phenomenon of the glacier lighting up at dawn and dusk each day with its signature chemical glow. Occasionally, gouts of flame will erupt from the glacier, but staff assure vacationers that they are perfectly under control and entirely safe with the proper equipment provided at the reinforced ski lodge at the summit.

## WVRM (Demonym: WVRMlords)

Though its exact origins are controversial, WVRM is an Empire-spanning cultural movement rooted in the city of Darvasa. During the Scream, a number of short-lived religious movements and cults cropped up across Hiera, most now long forgotten. Several of these movements centered around Hiera’s Ice Wyrms, and many began in and around the city of Darvasa. While Wyrm worship is long since a thing of the past in Darvasa, elements of those short-lived groups survived and evolved into an eccentric socio-cultural movement. WVRMlords, also, offensively, Maggotpunks, are most often Crucian teens or young adults, but members of other Houses and groups within the Empire have been known to "try the WVRM," in this countercultural movement.

### Flailcaps

Meant to appear like the tail of an ice wyrm adorned in personally significant objects, Flailcaps are blue, narrow, floppy hats, usually three to four feet in length, that are decorated with all manner of trinkets, including rings, tassels, buttons, pins, gems, fibre optic lights, and other small items. Flailcaps are very important to WVRM, and considered a deeply personal fashion statement.

### Fashion

WVRM promotes long, flowing sleeves, often flared at the end with a transparent layer of chiffon. Because of Hiera’s cold climate, these layers of chiffon often cover synthetic furs, wool, or cashmere. Large, colorful muffs with fibre optic lighting or other tech are considered highly fashionable (sometimes internally cooled for warmer planets), and synthetic fur-lined boots or shoes designed to look like slippers are all the rage.

### Wvrmstaff

Derived from a symbol of power amongst some of the old cults and religious movements, a Wvrmstaff is a tightly spiraled staff of wood, metal, or some synthetic compound that often flares open as the mouth of a wyrm at the base. Wvrmstaffs can be functional, often incorporating modern technology to serve as GPS beacons, holo-projectors, or data storage, but are largely meant to be personal and unique expressions of self.

### WVRM-Rave

Allegedly begun as some sort of ritualistic performance, WVRM-Raves and the associated music, WVRM-Wave, are an acquired taste to say the least, but one easily acquired under the effects of alcohol and possibly drugs. WVRM-Raves involve explicitly and exclusively bad dancing, including dancing and spinning on the floor to mimic the boring of wyrms. WVRM-Wave, the music genre that grew out of these parties, is defined by harsh, relentless bass, heavy drums, shredding sick riffs on guitars or similar instruments, and countercultural lyrics. From a real life standpoint, it would be compared to some variety of hard metal or punk. Wearing your Flailcap at a WVRM-Rave is encouraged.

### Wvrmsong

Explicitly different than WVRM-Wave, Wvrmsong is a practice who’s connection to WVRM is often questioned. A small number of hymns of ice wyrm cults survived the Scream into the modern day, and it is these tunes and tunes like them that spawned the broad practice and artistic movement of Wvrmsong.

The original hymns ("hymn" here is used loosely) involved a large amount of throat singing and ululation that is difficult for most average people to produce. But from them, the operatic performance art of Wvrmsong was derived, an interpretive theatrical display involving unusual melodic gestures and timbres in artistic representations of Crucian history. The number of active Wvrmsong groups is small, often including people who have other day jobs or positions and who practice Wvrmsong on the side, but it has left a distinctive cultural question mark in anthropological examinations of Hiera and House Crux.

It is also of note that a number of WVRMlords who live on or visit Hiera have continued the ancient practices of “singing to the wyrms,” intoning both the ancient hymns and other melodies on the cold ice fields and rocky outcroppings of northern Hiera. The Ice Wyrms don’t seem to mind it.

### Colloquialisms

WVRM has given rise to a number of unique colloquialisms, some of which have leaked out into the greater Empire.

* “Rhythm brings the wyrm.” A saying meaning that your “rhythm,” or who you are, will draw greatness to you.
* “Thumpin!” Unknown origin. Analogous to “bitchin.”
* “Eat dirt.” A phrase meaning to parse through complexity or nonsense to find what you need. To discover a diamond in the rough. Usage - “Dude. Don’t worry about it. You’ll eat that dirt, no problem.”
* “You got the wiggle?” A phrase of camaraderie, asked when one thinks another individual might also be a WVRM follower.
* “The wvrm turns.” A veiled threat meant to suggest that even peaceful beings might retaliate if egged on.
* “Bore a hole, man.” Similar to “Get lost,” or “Get fucked.” Used as an insult.

## Notable Locals

### Furstin Stromgeist Sieglind

Though the Furstin rarely visits Darvasa, she and her family own considerable shares in several local mining titans and the geothermal energy industry, passed down through the generations. The Stromgeist Industrial Complex, the family’s own company, supplies a great deal of necessary metals and minerals for the manufacture of Crucian buildings, vehicles, and weaponry. The Furstin spends most of her time elsewhere, a leading political figure in the Summer Court.

### Kral Wagner Ingo

A prominent blogger and visionary of the WVRM community, known for his rosy pink monocle and split-tail Flailcap.

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