Earthrym

**Earthrym** is the centermost region in Galimma, made up primarily of the ruins of the Gaulmar Empire and their monumental cities. It is the location of the Earthrym Urban Allegiance and various other city-states. It is also the primary access point from the surface to the underground halls of Zorabar.

## History

### First Era

For much of Galimma's earliest time, the center of the world was dominated by the towering Crown Mountains, a series of hazardous plateaus, ravines, and ridges rarely traveled by the nomadic races. This imposing mountain range could only be braved by a few rugged species and races, such as the Brundar and Great Moles; most famous among them were the Gaulmar, a brutish race of giants that were fiercely territorial over their cavernous homes. When not hunting the other great mountain beasts, Gaulmar tribes often made war with one another, fighting for control over mountains, caves, and springs. Between dangerous mountain hazards and hordes of warmongering giants, few outsiders dared the passes of the Crown Mountains, and it remained a rather isolated region throughout the early and mid First Era.

#### Uniting of the Tribes

Later into the First Era, the fighting between the various Gaulmar tribes had reached a historic height: Two tribes, the Hoakon and the Malzar, had began to forcibly confederate the tribes they had defeated in war into their own, expanding their power and ability to combat other tribes. Eventually, the various tribes had all been united under the banners of one of these two feuding powers, with all the mustered of the Gaulmar race pitched in war against one another. The fighting was bitter and drawn out for many generations, with both greater tribes seemingly matched in strength and unable to fully defeat the other. It wasn't until the sudden intervention of Zaul, the First Emperor of the Gaulmar, that the stalemate was broken. Wielding the cataclysmic power of magic, Zaul unleashed all manner of horrific plagues and magical attacks upon the entrenched Hoakon, crumbling the very mountainsides and caverns they braced themselves with. Their surrender came swiftly, and both the defeated Hoakon and horrified Malzar pledged fealty to the seemingly god-like Zaul. With the united tribes underneath him, Zaul used his magic and carved a great palace from the Bloated Mountain, now known as the Emperor's Seat and the first of Earthrym's famous terraformed landscape, and founded the Gaulmar Empire. Thus began the Second Era, as the Empire reached out from its chiseled mountain throne, known in the future as Earthrym, to conquer realms beyond their tribal stomping grounds.

## Geography

### Topography

Earthrym is dominated entirely by the towering urban sprawl of the old Gaulmar cities. Broad paved highways intersect dense blocks of terraced Gaulmar buildings throughout, punctuated by towering walled gates. Impressive arching bridges connect taller tiers and thick pillars hold up impressive swaths of the old city. High reaching Gaulmar towers, fortresses, and palaces dominate the horizon, though most have crumbled and resemble shadows of their former forms.

#### Landmarks and Locales

The Broken Spine- The massive ruin of the Gaulmar's ambitious world-tower after its collapse, as well as the substantial amount of surrounding rubble, is referred to as the Broken Spine. It is considered largely unsafe and ill-fitted for resettlement, but this has not deterred the citizens of Spine City, who make their home in this incredible rubble-heap largely as a means to avoid the authority of the Allegiance.

Seat of Zaul- The seat is the tremendous throne-palace built by the first emperor and founder of the Gaulmar Empire, Zaul. The palace did not remain the empire's only seat of power throughout its several millennia lifespan, but it remained historically important and became a temple of sorts to the Gaulmar people. In modern times it makes up part of the district of Zalthron, and is an important archaeological site for scholars of imperial history and culture.

## Demographics

### Population

Earthrym is one of the more populated regions within Galimma, due in large to the infrastructure built by the Gaulmar that still stands into the Modern Age and serves as a sturdy basis for many modern civilizations.

#### Racial and Ethnic Groups

Earthrym is very racially diverse, with most of its ruins being rebuilt collaboratively by many different races from across Galimma, including Kaen, Humans, Kithi, Ratkin, Fen-Kit, and Shadowfolk. Most numerous are the Kaen, descended from former enslaved populations that have lived within Earthrym since the Second Era. The Kaen of Earthrym come in a great variety of breeds, Earthrym being the cultural home for many of them

#### Distribution

The population of Earthrym is focused primarily into dense urban locales settled at junctions of Gaulmar ruin and infrastructure, known as Districts. These districts make up the modern nation of the Earthrym Urban Allegiance. A considerable portion of the population also lives in the "rural" ruins between districts, which fall under no particular jurisdiction and are less concentrated.

The District settlements:

* Zalthron, the Political District
* Plazaar, the Merchant District
* Kaulisum, the Theater District
* Angavar, the Industrial District
* Greenseat, the Agricultural District
* Zalavan, the College District
* Zongban, the Zon-Guo District
* Eastgate, the Asaran District

Other non-district settlements exist, where those who don't desire to live under Allegiance authority are found, and they include:

* Spine City
* Vault City

## Culture

### Imperial Heritage

The people of the Urban Allegiance live in the figurative and literal shadows of the Gaulmar civilization, and this reflects in unique and varied ways. While most descend from slave populations that have inherited the skeleton of the old Empire that ruled them tyrannically, opinions are regularly split on whether

### Religion

The people of Earthrym are varied in ethnicity, race, and heritage, and this reflects in their demographics' religious affiliations. There are many that ascribe to denominations of Astrology, and a few pockets of Shamanic Traditions, but the most common religion by far in much of Earthrym, especially those that live in the districts of the Urban Allegiance, are the Idol Cults, worshipers of old Imperial figures and icons. These cults carry much favor among the native populations of Earthrym, using the old surviving imagery left by Gaulmar artists to depict various patrons one may seek the favor of. These idols can be athletes, magicians, soldiers, generals, emperors, scholars, or other historical personalities, and the cults purport that "children of the Empire," those descended from the enslaved peoples of the second era, can seek out the favor and channel the properties of these idols.