Arkus

Arkus is an underground metropolis in The Unsummitables, beneath Excelsior. The city serves as the capital of Nocturia.

Theme Song

## Arkus

### Location

Beneath Excelsior in The Unsummitables, Nocturia

### Fate

Besieged by the Illithid and later Charon in 24405 BI (Initially, later reinhabited)

## Appearances

### Appearances

The Lost City, The Price of Power, The Age of Innovation

## Official Description

**Arc 2**

The newly constructed grand entryway opens into a vast corridor of golden statues constructed in honor of those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the cosmos, before reaching the grand halls of the city. The impossibly vast system of underground ravines are lined by countless towering flat pillars of gilded red stone built into the rocky walls, all connected by trapezoidal archways and columns to form large openings into entirely new areas of the city, or reaching out across the gaps to form hundreds of thin bridges and staircases connecting the walls of the underground cavern.

Each cave wall is covered with blocky and geometrical red buildings, halls, mansions, and cellars that protrude from the walls of the caves like thick pillars of finely carved gilded stone scattered with arched windows and balconies. Around you in the caverns beneath the city, several towers of wooden scaffolding climb the stone walls, connecting minecart railways, cranes lifting crates, and a pulley system of buckets collecting ores from the minecarts. The mineshafts on either side of the train are all alive with movement in a great cycle of industry above the bottomless depths of the ravines ever further below.

The entire city is bustling with life like never before. Hundreds of ropes lined with lanterns glowing with orange fire hang across the gaping ravines that separate the cave city, and many vast red banners embroidered with the golden crest of Arkus fall from the towering columns of the city. A few of the banners fly the symbol of Hammerhelm, the prestigious guild of protectors who have grown to lead Sudai’s government from the new capital city, Soren, constructed on the river banks where Greyrock Keep once stood.

The streets and walkways of Arkus are bustling with people, the crowds mostly made up of dwarves, duergar, and goliaths, though with a fair sprinkling of other races among them. The people are all very clean and well kept, keeping their hair straightened and their beards braided. Many of the knights lining the streets are adorned in smooth blue plate mail, with golden linework and accents. On their forearms are patches embroidered with the silver symbol of Hammerhelm, a gilded war above a wreath of ribbons. Each one holds a clockwork rifle strapped with a leather belt holding extra bullets. At their hips are sheathed long swords. Goggles with purple lenses are built into their intricate helmets, which look almost like gas masks.

The system of mineshafts beneath the city have been remodeled with new pillars and stonework, as well as a large tiled platform held up by arched steel support beams that the train rapidly approaches now. 2 stairways on either side rise up to the rest of the city, and the whole structure is split down the middle by the chrome monorail.

*(The Age of Innovation)*

**Arc 1**

The stairway leads into the most marvelous sight you have ever laid your eyes upon. You stand on a balcony overlooking an impossibly vast underground ravine, which twists and breaks off, connecting to several other ravines and caverns to form a massive underground system of stone. Countless massive flat pillars of gilded red stone are built into the walls, connected by trapezoidal archways and columns to form large openings into entirely new areas of the city, or reaching out into gaps to form hundreds of thin bridges and staircases connecting the sides of the caverns. Each cave wall is covered with blocky and geometrical red buildings, halls, mansions, and cellars that protrude from the walls of the caves like thick pillars of finely carved gilded stone scattered with dormant arched windows and balconies. Far below, you see the ravines quickly become deep mine shafts littered with stone support beams, minecart rails, and pulley systems hung with large buckets full of ores, debris, or gravel. There is no bottom to the ravine that you can see. The entire city is somehow still illuminated after many thousands of years, with large square braziers and stone torches still burning with bright yellow light, shining from within the thousands of windows and doorways scattered across the structures. The bold red architecture is all in pristine condition, with the golden accents spotless and shining beautifully.

*(The Lost City)*