BujiTowns/Alhambra
Alhmanbra is a small community of tribesmen that have made the most of a pre-existing structure. The town itself is set within a small depression near the White Sea coastline. It is a half-day's walk to reach the sea from the town.
The tribesmen believe the ruins they inhabit are from an earlier culture who worshipped the walrus as its totem animal. This belief is set in the fact that there is a stone column that rises out of the center of the town with runes and glyphs carved into it. The column stands four feet tall and is three feet in diameter, the top is flat and has runic First Age carvings running around the outer edge. In the center of the runes is a picture the tribesmen believe to be a walrus wearing a crown. This would symbolize the walrus as being their god and worthy of their devotion.
The column is housed in their long house, the founders built the long house over the column so that it could be used as a sacred alter for marriages or contracts. The long house has a unique structure to it though, the founders knew that during the harsh winters they would be buried in the snow with their alter so they redesigned the long house to provide for them. The roof begins just a few feet off of the ground and slants drastically upwards to help the snow build up on the side from where the winds are the strongest. Betweeen the wood supports and stone work vast amounts of dried leaves have been packed to help insulate during the colder months. Doors have been placed in the rooftops for access out of the long house in case the building is buried. Catwalks have been built up inside to allow easy access to the roof so even the elderly can manage the passage.
The rest of the town is built on the side of the depression. Throughout the depression there are flats large enough for housing to be built on a level surface. There are a total of three ledges in the depression for housing, these flats are referred to as rims. There are not many huts built in the valley as many of the youths still live in the long house. There is a smith that has set up shop along the lower rim of the depression. This is due to the natural resource of the town. Along the rims there are periodic hot springs that must run under the town. There is no geysers or hot water, just steam. This steam melts the constant snow and creates a small stream running to the center of the town, the locals use this water for all their purposes and regard it as sacred. No one dares to defile the water as it all drains in the center of town, to where they believe the walrus god slumbers. Rarely will the stream freeze as the steam rises up in enough spots to keep the water moving even if its sluggish.
The chief and his wife live in a hut along the lower rim close to the long house. There are two other huts on the lower rim with them. Eight huts are on the second rim of larger families and only four upon the third rim. Remains from a few huts outside of the depression exist but seem long since vacant. In total there are probably just over 100 tribesmen. The majority are located in the long house with the youths and the second rim of the larger families.
Once a couple is married they are moved into a hut. From there they will begin their family and raise their children to the eleventh winter then they live in the long house. At the point that the elderly become widowed or incapable of harvesting for the winter they move in with their children. This is where a lot of the housing becomes crowded. The larger families right now are mainly on the second level signifying their lineage in the tribe. The two huts on the lower rim with the smith and chieftain are the tribal shaman and the chieftains children who have grown old enough now not to live in the long house. Burial customs and everything else is the same as would be found in the region as per the Lunars book.
Storyteller Section
The center column is not an alter to a walrus god. It is a trigger mechanism for a solar tomb. The ridges that the inhabitants have set their homes upon are actually stone plates that have sunk into the ground. What has confused the tribesmen into seeing the walrus is an abstract artwork of the key. In the center of the picture is a small circular depression for an amulet to fit. This amulet is made of four pieces: an orichalum setting that has a blue tiger's eye set into the center of it and three fanned out prongs to hold the other pieces, the other three pieces are part of the circle. A red, white and black jade piece fit into the orichalcum setting completing the amulet. The red jade has etched into it the sigil for the twilight sun, the white piece a sigil for the night and the black for the dawn. Once all the pieces have been assembled the party must find the earth elemental named Rhothandian to forge it back together. Only then can it be place and turned in the column to activate the mechanisms beneath the earth.
Once the mechanism has been set into motion great geysers of steam will shoot up all throughout the depression the town sits in. They will burst for about five minutes then die down. A low rumbling can be heard all throughout the area and small tremors felt beneath the ground, the column in the center of the town will retract flush with the floor. Then silence, the steam will stop and the snow will no longer melt. The chieftain will be furious that the walrus god has been angered and threaten those that have ruined their way of life. The shaman will frantically try to salvage together a proper tribute to the walrus god to bring back the good fortune.
Two days later the long house will begin to crack and splinter as the center of the depression begins to slowly rise. The tribesmen will think that the walrus god has arisen in anger to strike down the blasphemers. The center will rise up revealing a dome-shaped, moss and snow-ridden stone structure. There is no entrance visible throughout the entire structre. Ornate carvings decorate the entire dome with the column directly centered upon the top of the dome. The tribesmen will crowd the children into the remaining housing to keep them alive. The chieftain will demand that the shaman and/or the "forsaken ones" appease the walrus god before it is too late for them.
Five days from the initial activation the lower rim will begin to shift. The houses upon it will be torn apart and drive the inhabitants further back, the housing will no longer sustain all of the tribesmen. Frantic efforts are made to create shelters for those who cannot be inside. A few of the elder men refuse refuge and opt to stay outside for the survival of the tribe. The structures that arise up out of the ground rise up in slab sections. Midday these sections will begin to shift and unfold, taking on the appearance of a building. Indentations take place to give the hint of windows but the entire face is still stone slabs.
Six days from the activation the second rim will activate and begin to rotate clockwise. The tribesmen will flee the huts and head up to safety. The structure that was already visible will begin to rise up even higher than before as more stone slab jut up from the ground and expand upon the structure. Vast amounts of steam will billow out from the ground thawing out the snow and ice around it. For several hours after that there will be only the sound of the steam hissing forth as the tribesmen watch in awe as their village has been destroyed. At midday the ground will resound with a tremendous boom causing everyone to fall (Dexterity + Athletics difficulty 5). The ground will rise up to the third rim and the stone structure will begin to unfold and take shape. The walls will push out through the newly thawed ground, expanding the building before everyone's eyes.
The building will sit slightly indented below the ground, its grey marblesque pattern seems to flow around the ornate carvings found all throughout the structure. The windows will slide back revealing a blue tinted glass filling the window frames. A large door is revealed as the walls slide into place to create an enclosed walkway. The main doors are made out of a dense black ore with rust colored pockets that is buffed to a high shine.
Comments
Still under construction, this is only a rough idea. Will finish before Christmas. -Buji
