Yghaal

**Yghaal**, also called the **City of the Gods** or the **Grand Cathedral**, is the preeminent temple-city of Alanach and heart of the Illyri faith. Being of great commercial and cultural significance, it attracts artisans, traders, scholars, and artists from across Alanach, who ply their trades under the watchful eyes of the city's Saints.

## Description

Constructed of deep grey stone and arranged around the towering cathedral at its heart, most of the city is constructed far above ground level, with its towers and steeples visible for miles around even through the snow and ice that blanket the north. Stained glass spires and magical lights dot the skyline and vessels of holy water adorn each doorway along the city's twisting streets, silent reminders that in Yghaal, the gods are everywhere.

## Geography

Dominating the cliffs that line Alanach's eastern shores, Yghaal is a sprawling metropolis that covers the mountainous terrain from peak to valley as far as the eye can see. The vast differences in elevation across the city are made manageable by an intricate series of lifts, stairways, and inclines that lead from the mountaintops in the west to the massive harbor in the east.

The roads surrounding Yghaal are well-maintained although rarely used by commoners, who prefer the safety and expedience of magical travel over long journeys through the north's harsh climate.

## Government

Yghaal is ruled by the Illyri church through its living Saints, who perform both administrative and religious functions. Each Saint is associated with a specific patronage and entrusted with the creation and enforcement of laws relating thereto. The Saints act as the ultimate authority in Yghaal, answering only to the Archsaint who rules over the church and Alanach in its entirety.

### Law and Order

In order to enforce their mandates and serve the needs of the church, many of the Saints have created their own knightly orders. The specific function of each order is dependent on the authority of their respective Saint, whose orders they obey without question. Acting in concert, the knightly orders perform many of the Yghaal's day-to-day administrative functions, from issuing rulings on the city's laws to capturing criminals or giving directions.

### Crime

As a result of the tight control exerted over the city by the church and its officials, crime in Yghaal is rare and spontaneous. No organized criminal ventures have managed to maintain a foothold in the city for longer than a few months at a time before their networks are brutally dismantled and their punishments meted out publicly as a warning to all.

## Trade

Yghaal is the heart of Alanaic commerce, boasting a sizable fishing industry and access to the best craftsmen, academics, and enchanters the nation has to offer. The luxury goods and enchanted items it produces are renowned across Auldenon and find quick purchase in the markets of Entari and Darnelis.

Owing to the north’s lack of arable land, certain essentials such as grain are imported from Darnelis and distributed across the nation through a network of portals. This is an expensive and time-consuming process, but necessary in order to supplement the Yghaali fishing trade and ensure that the nation is adequately supplied.

Much like any visitors from beyond the walls of Alanach, foreign vendors are treated with suspicion. While generally permitted to dock, foreign vessels remain a rare sight and are required to moor at a secondary dock along the northern edge of the Great Harbor. Failure to follow this rule results in harsh fines, imprisonment, or exile.

Furthermore, docking at Yghaal’s port incurs steep fees dependent upon the size of the vessel. For this reason, many captains elect to bypass the city entirely.

## Culture

Despite its massive size and influence over Alanaic society, Yghaal is insular and innately suspicious of outsiders. Humans and elves comprise the vast majority of its population with other races being considered something of a rarity, if not entirely out of place. Yghaali tend to be terse and reserved as a result of the church's constant oversight, but adhere rigidly to the tenets and edicts of the Illyri faith. While they remain proud of their realm and its status as the chosen land of the gods, few Yghaali entertain thoughts of expansionism or adventure and most are content to live their lives sealed away from the rest of the continent.

### Fashion

As is the case throughout Alanach, Yghaali fashion places an emphasis on keeping warm. Commoners typically layer many increasingly loose and flowing garments in order to preserve warmth and comfort, while the knights and clergy favor insulated armor and heavy furs. Guild members show symbols of their affiliations subtly with simple crests or jewelry. In contrast, members of the knightly orders and ranking clerics of the Illyri church are given to more ostentatious displays of status.

### Religion

Illyri is practiced universally in Yghaal as the seat of both the Archsaint and the god Inaph. Adherence to the tenets of the faith is enforced by the knightly orders, with any dissent or heresy being stamped out quickly and efficiently. The church cannot monitor every citizen perfectly, however, and small groups of devotees to Aeluna and other smaller cults meet in secluded corners of the city to worship in secrecy.

### Festivals and Holidays

Holidays in Yghaal are dictated by the church and generally consist of long bouts of worship in the name of one of the Illyri gods.

Most famously, the **Morn of Echoes** is celebrated on the first day of each year. Commemorating the day the first words of Inaph reached the surface, this holiday sees large crowds flocking to the Cathedral of the Well where they scrawl blessings, secrets, and prayers on thin slips of vellum, which are collected, burned, and the ashes scattered into the Well to be consumed by the god below.

## Defenses

Yghaal is naturally defensible, being largely constructed high above ground level and enclosed by thick walls. Nevertheless, it maintains a variety of armed forces in the form of the many knightly orders, who remain ready to take up arms at a moment’s notice. Different orders assume a variety of specialized roles in times of peace, from staffing garrisons to patrolling the roads, to acting as bodyguards or a constabulary. Certain higher-profile orders are entrusted with more sensitive missions which often carry repercussions across the entire city.

## Transportation

The streets of Yghaal are winding, but broad enough to permit heavy traffic. The inhabitants of the city mill about at all hours, monitored by the knights in order to make certain that order is kept. The roads are well-maintained and regularly cleared of snow and ice, while magical lights and clearly-marked signs are posted near each intersection.

Being constructed along a range of mountains and cliffs, the elevation varies wildly between different parts of the city. In order to make travel as expedient as possible, a massive network of lifts, stairs, ramps, and even portals has been constructed along the more sudden shifts in terrain. The lifts are massive platforms capable of carrying a large number of passengers at once, while the stairs and ramps are as broad as any road. Portals are used more sparingly, sealed away in special towers and reserved for the upper class to quickly cross from one end of the city to another.

Although the majority of travel through Yghaal takes place on foot, public transport remains an option. Carriages and stagecoaches are a common sight, and are all too glad to carry passengers comfortably across the city once the fare has been agreed upon.

## History

The site that would eventually become Yghaal was discovered by an expedition of elves in the mid-9th century OPC. Accounts surrounding the origin of this expedition are varied, with some claiming that they were explorers commissioned by their lords in Leastrune and others stating that they were rebels cast out after a failed insurgence. Whatever the truth may be, the explorers soon came upon the Well and heard the voice echoing from within. In awe of the power and wisdom of the creature in the chasm, the elves began to worship it and established settlements along the coast near the mouth of the pit. The name "Yghaal" came into use as a reference to the region surrounding the Well, which quickly became crowded with temples and small shrines as the Illyri faith began to coalesce.

Development of the area continued as quickly as the harsh north would allow. By the beginning of the 2nd century OPC, Yghaal had become a proper city unified under the rule of the first Archsaint, Aulgerie Inthaar. This newfound unity spurred on a period of rapid growth under the direction of the burgeoning clergy and the first Saints, who established the first knightly orders and constructed a network of temples and cathedrals that continues to serve as the backbone of Illyri worship in the modern era. It was during this time that Yghaal and its newly-designated territory of Alanach established themselves in the public eye as a vast repository of hidden knowledge, making the region a popular destination for enchanters and mages of all stripes.

This Illyri faith and rumors of its living god spread like wildfire throughout the visiting populace, many of whom settled in Yghaal and the surrounding regions permanently and continued to lend their expertise to the development and defense of the city. The Cold Gates were established by the turn of the 1st century OPC, allowing travelers and goods alike to traverse the north with ease. This accessibility brought a further tide of adventurers and merchants to the region, many of whom would go on to assist with the construction of additional temple-cities along the most commonly-traveled thoroughfares.

Development continued apace until 66 PC, when the neighboring state of Everzyn attempted to establish a colony on the northern coast of Alanach. Construction of the temple-cities was halted in the aftermath of this failed incursion in favor of raising the famed walls along the southern mountains that separate the nation from Everzyn and Syldor. This massive undertaking left Yghaal in relative stasis as builders, merchants, and mercenaries flocked to the border regions in order to lend their aid at the various construction sites.

Silence and stagnation were the norm in the city until the completion of the walls in the third century PC. This period was characterized by a series of covert power struggles within the church known as the Lambsblood Dance, eventually resulting in the canonizing of several new Saints and the formation of the Cuspid and Solstice Knights. The completion of the walls and end of the upheaval within the church resulted in both a renewed focus on the development of the city and the manpower with which to enact it. Among the new and returning faces that flocked to the temple-cities from the border regions were throngs of humans hired as laborers from surrounding Vranic frontier settlements who had grown disillusioned with the High King and sought entry into Alanach instead. These humans quickly assimilated into the fabric of Alanaic culture as valued, if short-lived, members of the predominantly elven society.

By the end of the seventh century PC, Yghaal had been largely completed and established itself as the primary destination for merchants seeking to conduct their business in Alanach. This ensured a steady stream of vessels to and from the harbor, beyond which the city remained relatively quiet. Sequestered behind its towering walls, Yghaal settled into an era of prosperous trade and worship until 1143 PC, when it was ravaged by outbreaks of the Goldplague. Efforts to contain and combat the disease strained the city's overseers until 1147 PC, when the few remaining cases were resolved in what has since been ascribed to direct intervention by the gods.

Yghaal has returned to a period of quiet equilibrium since the eradication of the Goldplague, quietly maintaining an isolationist stance in the face of unrest across the rest of the continent. The city and the Illyri church, it seems, are content to live and pray in silence, leaving the rest of the world to its own devices.

## Notable Locations

The **Cathedral of the Well**, or **Archsaint's Cathedral**, a towering nest of stained glass and steeples at the heart of Yghaal that houses the Archsaint and serves as a site of pilgrimage and worship for Illyri faithful as well as the de facto heart of Alanaic power. The cathedral surrounds a massive pit to which only the Archsaint is permitted access. This pit, known as the Well, houses the Illyri god Inaph and carries its whispers to the ears of the Archsaint during their frequent rites of communion.

The **Patron Temples**, lavish quarters throughout the city which serve as both home and center of power to the various minor Saints, many of whom have grown reclusive and rarely find themselves in the public eye. Offerings to the Saints are often left outside the temples while they govern and plot from within, seeking new ways to expand their influence in the intricate web of the Illyri hierarchy.

The **Great Harbor**, the city's trade hub. Constructed at sea level along the eastern coast, the harbor houses all manner of civilian, mercantile, and military vessels. Trade ships are a common sight and the lifeblood of the Alanaic economy, as they bring exports such as silk and enchanted relics to market and return laden with essential goods that cannot be easily produced in the frigid north.

The **Trade Parish**, Yghaal's main commercial section which houses the most popular stores and inns.

The **High Wall**, the city's first layer of protection. The wall encircles the perimeter of the city and is patrolled by the Sagittate Knights, peerless archers entrusted by their patron Saint with warding off any encroaching invaders or beasts.

## Inhabitants

### Guilds

Many of the most prominent industries of Yghaal such as stonemasons, enchanters, or fishermen are represented by guilds. Officials of these guilds are responsible for public dealings and keeping their organizations in good standing with the church, which nominally oversees and directs all mercantile activity within the city.

### Nobility

Yghaali nobility consists of a small number of families that have risen to prominent status through their enduring service to the Illyri church in secular positions such as architects, composers, or mages. Although they wield no official power, the names of these families carry great weight throughout the city and it is generally understood that their displeasure should be avoided at all costs.

### Merchants

The merchant class in Yghaal exists under close scrutiny from the church. As the sea trade tends to be the most lucrative, most merchants live and work in the vicinity of the Great Harbor, either captaining their own vessels or directing the ships in their employ from lavish offices overseeing the docks. Smaller shops and industries providing a variety of goods from essentials to specialized services exist throughout the city, with the most renowned of these comprising the Trade Parish, an expansive terrace in the southern reaches of the city.

### Adventurers

Unaffiliated adventurers are a rare sight, with most wanderers either being traders or associated with the church through one of the knightly orders. As a result, adventurers are generally treated with mistrust, if not outright hostility.