Alric Kuhn
Handsome K'lor'slug
Name: BelegostImage Source: "Bartok Castle for The last Knights" By Emmanual Shiu
Intent: To sub a unique city that people can visit with their characters that will function as an environment that is not common within Star Wars
Classification: City
Location: Theal
Affiliation: Free City of Theal
Population: 17,000 People
Demographics: 67% Humans, 13% Twi'Leks, 20% Other
Points of Interest:
The Walls: The Walls of Belegost are perhaps the greatest within the galaxy. The massive fortress walls, like everything else contained within them is made of pure Durrite. Though they have aged and discolored over the ages, changed and shifted in appearance, the walls of Belegost are made of the same black stone that seems to permeate the entirety of the castle city. They stand tall, towering over the edges of sheer cliffs and imposing before the one land bridge that reaches them. The walls are nearly five meters high and two meters thick, large enough to sustain a blow from nearly anything and survive. They were created and carefully built over millenium, honed to perfection and never breached. They are famed for their staunch guard of the city itself, more so for their powerful and unadorned features. It is said that the walls of Belegost are invulnerable, and that those who seek to enter the city must do so from above.
The High Towers: The vast reaches of the High Towers were designed in Theal's true age of war. It was these that took the longest to complete, and in true fashion of Durrite construction even they are no taller then only ten stories. The high Towers of Belegost are placed along the ramparts of the city, dotted along the walls to watch over the landscape and spy on the surroundings of the fortress. The single and tallest tower within the city sits besides the keep, upon a massive foundation of stone that raises it into the sky. The Central High Tower looms over the city and is the home of the council, it's visage is adorned with seals of the nine families and it's insides are decorated with lavish wealth gathered over the thousands of years that the fortress has stood. The High Towers, though by modern standards tiny, are the cities tallest structures, looming over the other parts of the city and reaching high into the sky. Their structure is conical. This is due to the weight of Durrite and the need to properly support the material as it is raised higher into the sky.
The Market: Perhaps the most innocent piece of Belegost the Market square is a massive open area located between the Keep and the Cathedral. The Market square takes up a huge chunk of the city, accounting for nearly a sixth of all of Belegost. Rimming the market are hundreds of residential buildings, shops, inns, and of course taverns. Within the market itself is a huge bazaar held on a daily basis. Here traders, locals, tourists, and everything else comes to gather. Goods are purchased, wine is drank, and every activity imaginable can be found here. The market functions as a pseudo community center, it is a place where Children are often found playing and the people are generally enjoying themselves. It is also one of the few places Durrite goods can be bought and sold, though these are generally little more than small trinkets like necklaces and statues.
The Cathedral: The second most impressive building within Belegost and the only one not constructed from Durrite the Cathedral sits directly opposite of Belegost's Keep. The Cathedral itself is a massive structure, spanning tall with huge archways and grand collumns created from duracrete and other masonry. The Cathedral has a long and stories history, and it's function as the main religious gathering place of Belegost still holds true to this day. The Church that reigns within Belegost welcomes any and all to it's holdings and thus more often then not the Cathedral is stuck with thousands visiting nearly every day. The reason the Cathedral is not build from Durrite is a simple reminder of their religious practices. Though we pretend and see ourselves as immortal, it is a reminder that we are not. In a city that considers itself indestructible, it was important to remember that the heart was always vulnerable. The Cathedral, standing directly in the center of the city and holding to the love of many of it's citizens is the vulnerable heart within Belegost.
The Keep: Central to Belegost, and it's very foundation is the Keep. The Keep was originally what began the rise of Belegost and was in fact the thought of a madman. The original construction of the Keep, as it would eventually become of all Belegost, was Durrite. The foundation was struck from a quarry of Durrite itself, carved out of the very rock by a man in his forties. He began his project, and his sons carried it on, and their sons, and their sons, until eventually the Keep of Belegost was formed. The structure was taken from the very stone itself, created to serve as a home in a time of strife. It's walls are thick, it holds but one gate, and it's massive construction leaves the beholder wondering if it wasn't somehow made by the gods themselves. Within the keep one feels an air of absolute safety, it's hallways tightly carved and cornered, it's small rooms cut out of stone rather than constructed, and it's main hall seemingly smothered by the black stone within. The Keep itself is not huge, not compared to the rest of the city, but it is by far the most impressive.
Belegost can be described as the last true fortress of the Galaxy.
The massive, towering structure that is the Fortress of Belegost is almost entirely built and carved from the unique stone known as Durrite. Belegost is ancient, older than many governments, more ancient than some traditions of the force, and has seen more days than event the eldest of the Hutt's. The idea of Belegost, the very foundation of its construction, were conceived almost ten thousand years before the current date. The structure has been continuously under construction, improvement, and expansion for all of that time. In that, Belegost is very much like Shawken Spire. Both structure took generations to complete, and both are a monument to the capabilities of sentient beings within the galaxy.
Belegost was declared 'finished' at the turn of 32 ABY, with the last stone being set and declared finished within that year.
The original foundation of Belegost was a stone plateau made entirely of Durrite. This massive platform was the single greatest deposit of Durrite on Theal, and was eventually the starting point to the construction of the fortress.
The fortress itself is large enough to hold nearly eighteen thousand people. It's structure is entirely composed and carved of Durrite bricks, construction and otherwise everything else. The only thing within Belegost that is not made of Durrite is the central heart of the city, it's cathedral. The Walls, The Keep, the towers, everything else within Belegost is composed of Durrite. This was done over thousands of years, the carving of the blocks and placing of the bricks taking entire generations to complete but a single house. The Keep itself is carved from the original plateau'd stone, cut into the very rock itself in order to form a singular structure from a single piece of stone.
Other buildings within Belegost are composed of smaller stone bricks bound together. These blocks were carved and forged from the plateau around the Keep itself. Over the years more and more of the plateau was chipped away, creating a great surrounding cavern where once there had been naught but Durrite. Over the millenia, Belegost grew and grew, eventually walls beginning to form around the city itself as it became apparent pirates and raiders saw the fortress as a source of wealth and power.
Indeed, as the city grew and as its defenses became more apparent, Belegost became a center for trade and the storage of valuable goods.
The Fortress walls proved all but impenetrable, it's buildings could withstand the strikes of turbolasers, and it's great mountainous surroundings made invading the city on foot more than difficult. Indeed, in a modern age where starships and great mobile vehicles rule, Belegost remains a massive bulwark against nearly any form of attack. The city itself still stands as a center of trade and commerce, not only for Theal but the surrounding systems. In addition, the fortress has become a massive tourist destination, thousands every year coming to view the massive piece of construction that is Belegost.
History:
The initial beginning of Belegost was the simple whim of a man. His name was Belen the Wise, an aged scholar that had lived his life on Theal in relative obscurity. It was at the age of sixty eight that Belen began the construction of Belegost, an age that most would have written him off as an already dead man.
What most did not expect, indeed, what most thought entirely impossible would eventually become an interesting reality. Belen survived another thirty years of life, pushing himself every day, inch by inch, pressing a block of Durrite across the plateau of black. It took him months to chip a single brick, a year to carve a single chair, but decade after decade he worked. A movement began around Belen, an untold story that formed about him, the wise old man who was simply out to build something. Unbelievably Belen began something that even he had not thought possible. Those around him began to help him in his cause. They came one by one, some for an hour at a time, some for weeks, and even some for years.
For decades upon decades, a generation, then another, people followed after Belen the Wise.
Long after the old man passed the Keep was finished. The monumental task, the carving of the central spire of Belegost was complete. The black Citadel stood whole, comprised of a single piece of crafted Durrite. It was impossible to tell how long that fortress had taken to create, how many generations had passed through its unbroken halls, yet there it was gleaming and breaking through the dawn each morning, and yet, it was incomplete.
The people of Theal looked upon their creation, saw what Belen The Wise had put into motion, and they decided that it was not yet done.
They returned to their work, year after year, generation after generation, millenia after millenia.
For untold years Belegost Grew, expanding and growing larger as its population grew. At times they became victims, pirates or raiders would attack seeking wealth, yet each time they were eventually repelled. Belegost grew, walls began to encircle it, and after thousands of years, the Citadel grew into a fortress. The black walls of Belegost were summoned from the earth, thousands, if not millions of lives having passed through its walls and aided in it's destruction. Standing as a marvel of the galaxy, Belegost has taken thousand sof years to complete, the great Durrite walls being carved from the black earth around it.
Belegost now stands as a monument to freedom, a city that has not been conquered nor taken by any outsider for as long as it has stood. No Empire has ever claimed it, no Republic has ever taken it, Belegost is a free city, and always shall be. All fear the Black Walls of Belegost, for they herald the breaking of armies.
