Cloudspire

Cloudspire

(City)

Titles

the City that Begins and Ends

Nation

Mwangi Expanse

Region

Terwa Uplands

Size

City

Demographics

Predominantly Mbe'ke dwarves

Government

Electoral kingship

Ruler

High King Lek'sanji

Source: The Mwangi Expanse, pg(s). 68ff.

Cloudspire, also known as "the City that Begins and Ends", is one of the ancient dwarven Sky Citadels built by the Mbe'ke after the conclusion of the Quest for Sky.

Geography

Cloudspire is located in the Terwa Uplands region of the Mwangi Expanse. It is a massive, bustling city-state that serves as the spiritual and cultural heart of the Mbe'ke dwarves. From the outside, Cloudspire resembles little more than a massive, fist-like mountain; only a keen eye will spot the roads winding their way up the side of the peak and into gatehouses cut directly into the mountain. Only from above can the city's immense architecture truly be appreciated. The entire mountain has been effectively cored, excavated out into an enormous hollow thousands of feet across with the city of Cloudspire built directly around and into the sides of this colossal space. At the centre of Cloudspire sits the Wellspring, a midnight-blue pool of crystal clear water that is believed to connect to the sunken rivers and oceans of the Darklands.

History

Cloudspire dates back to just after the Quest for Sky during the Age of Darkness. After reaching the surface, the dwarves that would become the Mbe'ke, alongside those who would establish Dongun Hold, traveled south to Garund where they initially founded Cloudspire as a small outpost. When the dwarves founded Cloudspire in the Terwa Uplands, they rapidly came into conflict with the cloud dragons that already dwelt there. This conflict raged for millennia but seemed to have cooled by -2000 AR.

The most infamous chapter in Cloudspire's history came during the War of Split Hearts, which began in 3841 AR, and marked the end of the royal line of Mbe'ke. High King Nkobe had always been suspicious and short of temper, but when his only son died suddenly of an unknown disease, High King Nkobe became utterly paranoid, convinced that his son had been poisoned by his own subjects. High King Nkobe began secretly recruiting brutally loyal followers before unleashing the Nine Days of Blood, when his enforcers arrested and summarily executed thousands of dwarves, turning the Wellspring at the heart of Cloudspire red with spilled blood. With this began the War of Split Hearts, a bitter civil war that ended four years later only thanks to the intervention of the cloud dragon Cykurarreot the Mist. By the time peace was achieved in 3844 AR, the entirety of House Mbe'ke and most of the Mbe'ke people's aristocracy were dead, leading to the current system of electoral kingship.

Government

Cloudspire serves as the capital of the Mbe'Ke and the seat of its rulers. In the earliest days, the Mbe'ke were ruled by a hereditary line of kings, but, after the War of Split Hearts, this tradition was abandoned. Nowadays the Mbe'ke are ruled by a High King, currently High King Lek'sanji, but this is no longer an inherited title. Instead the High King is elected by the Assembly of Kings for a decade or two at most, and while the High King act as the ultimate holder of executive power they can be removed by the Assembly for tyranny or incompetence. The High King does function as a warleader whenever needed, with High King Lek’sanji currently being battered with dissenting opinions on how the Third Corsair War should be waged. These opinions range from the more peaceful urgings of King Moshjele to negotiate with the pirates, all the way to Mage-King Khawu who proposes using magic to try and move the Eye of Abendego to ravage the islands of the Shackles.