Urban Planning
Introduction
At a glance, the population distribution of Morijigoku seems odd. The Onyx Mountains are frigid, and quite barren of resources; even if morific phenomena allow a measure of life to survive up there, food is scarce. Large-scale agriculture of high yield grains and crops is near impossible and trees are absent, leading to natives subsisting on foraged cryofungi, the hunting and herding of animals such as the Jigokak and Yukitori, as well as the catching and the aquaculture of a variety of magical fish species in the many glacier lakes dotting the range.
Even with all these vectors for sustenance, these settlements are not self-sustaining. Indeed, the cities in the Ilimyth Valley must import the majority of their food from the lower altitude, more agriculturally productive regions of the country. The dense flow of trade to the mountains led to the construction of roads dedicated for use by specialized breeds of Satan's Unrelenting Bakemushu. Colloquially called the Subways, these drives are reserved for Bakemushu-drawn carriage trains filled with goods, including a majority of foodstuffs for any such transport headed towards the densely populated mountains.
Although this explains how these towns are kept fed and thriving, the question remains; why settle where every facet of the elements seems to reject humanity and its efforts?
There are obvious religious and strategic reasons. The ceiling of the world is considered to be the home of the Goddess, and is where Deadbeats have been buried for times immemorial, in the sprawling catacombs worming their way through the granite of the mountains. From a military standpoint, these alpine regions are as advantageous as they would be anywhere else in the world. Creating defensive positions is straightforward, ambushing enemy forces can be done easily, and the environment further works to wear down any intrusions.
But these two factors are not the explanation to the state of things; the reason Deadbeats are so strongly drawn to the mountains is that they are the source of their power. Indeed, as you move past the snowline in the Eastern part of the Onyx Mountains, ambient magical radiation levels quickly rise to be orders of magnitude greater than that found in the verdant lowlands. This translates to an enrichment of both the physical and the spiritual incarnations of Mordimdima, in the form of Reaper's Eye deposits and the life-borne moriama cells for the former, and increased magical energy levels, spell potency, and heavenly communion for the latter.
Such power makes possible the casual use of magic for a range of practical purposes, including architecture, waterworks, transport, communication. These potentialities drive the unique design patterns found in the urban planning of these alpine cities.
Construction Materials
◐ The geological regions of the Onyx Mountain Range are a well-studied topic. The active orogeny of these mountains have led to a varied landscape dense in unique features and materials.
Settling the jagged peaks of the mountains came with many material limitations for the Deadbeats. This far past the snowline, trees are completely absent, and what small flora is able to carve their survival into the massifs is much too small to have any use in large-scale construction. Since the range is equatorial, the absence of seasonal effects reduces the amplitude of the freeze-thaw cycle the region undergoes over a year, reducing weathering. Moreover, most precipitation taking the form of snow also works to reduce erosion; both factors work to reduce the amount of sediment available for construction, such as the mixing of concretes. Finally, the weather and soil composition is unsuited to the production and use of clay in fabrication. All these aspects work to funnel alpine Deadbeats towards stones as their primary construction materials.
On the northern side of the range, in the more humid Lesser Onyx geological region, dark grey granites are used most commonly. Cryomosses can grow easily on their rough surfaces; these mosses can have a variety of colors, depending on their species and Morificity, so patterns in blue, red, orange, white and pink are sometimes cultivated on these buildings for aesthetic purposes.
Looking in the south of the range, mainly around the Transonyx region, gneiss species become the more common material, especially orthogneiss. These beautiful rocks feature many layers of black, white, orange and grey material, twisting into complex patterns, and while they are a primary building material in their native region, it is also exported as a more decorative stone in the rest of the country.
In the heart of the range, marbles of a wide variety become the most common sight in quarries. Black marble is found in all of these central regions, but is more common in the High Fonyx Crystalline, while white marble and grey marble is found in the others. White marble veined in blue due to copper oxide inclusions is unique to the Suico Traps, and red marble veined in pink is mined in the Southern Chadka Dome and Morific Crystalline.
As for the Greater Morific Slab, concentration in microscopic Reaper's Eye particulates is high enough to tint most marbles with a pink hue, which is either dispersed evenly throughout the bulk material, or concentrated in veins. The presence of the magical gem in the crystalline structure increases the toughness and strength of the stone, which is why these types of marble are considered a strategic resource, and only exported in tiny quantities.
Architecture
Coastal Style
Not so long ago, the country's coasts were inhabited only by smaller settlements of a few hundred fishermen, making a honest living on the Continental Channel's waters, far from the madness and turmoil of the Deadbeat factions found farther inland. However, the precipitious increase in seaborne trade has catapulted many of those shanty towns to the status of cosmopolitan metropoles. These fast developments have been well-ordered and supervised by local governors in some cases; in others, they've been haphazard as companies moved in to sink their hooks into their share of the rich and hungry inner Morijigoku markets. Whichever the case may be, most of those constructions are modern and foreign-influenced, though still built using local materials.
Thus, a walk through one of these seaside cities will take you past buildings making heavy use of the local tropical woods, such as teak, sal and red lauan, especially in the frames, while clay bricks baked from raw materials gathered in the innemurable riverbeds slashing the shore make up their walls. Morijigoku clay is noted for being found in black varieties in the northern parts of the country, where sediments with basaltic origins are more common, while clay dug up farther south, especially near the Kigamori River, will be a beautiful white color, owing to the large proportion of feldspar found within it.
In terms of architectural technique, influences from Holoimperial architects can be gleaned in the heavy use of regular, small bricks laid and mortared in staggered patterns for increased strength, contrasting the stone masonry approaches preferred in the rest of the country, where larger stones are quarried and cut to size before being brought to the construction site. These seaside areas are also renowned for their high heat and humidity, which led to most buildings either adopting very open designs with natural ventilation, or for wealthier patrons, fully insulating buildings where supernatural air conditioning can be exploited to bring temperatures to more comfortable temperatures. Most buildings tend to be at most three storeys tall to keep ventilation systems simple and reliable, though larger edifices making use of the afore-mentioned climate control technologies also exist.
Alpine Style
◐ Kuroma Tower was built thousands of years ago, some time after the Deconjugation, but thanks to the judicious maintenance of its caretakers and the small amounts of natural erosion encountered in the mountains, it stands strong now as it did then.
As one travels deeper into the country, external influences are gradually lessened, and more traditional Deadbeat architectural styles re-establish themselves. Wood as a structural framing material grows less common and finds itself in use in roofing, decorations and trimmings instead, letting cut stone occupy this niche instead. Mahogany doors and window sills are particularly popular in the lower slopes of the Onyx Range; larger buildings begin to adopt more tapered shapes, as more material is required near the base of the buildings to support the weight of the stone above. Walls and roofs take on more angular shapes, which can be cut in the quarries less wastefully than rounder ones.
Many elements of these structures reflect the warsome past of the country; the massive stones making them up are impervious to fire, resistant to light artillery and easily barricaded. Windows are usually narrow and tall, with sidewalls angled so as to minimize exposing the defenders while maximizing their field of view. Diamond-shaped windows are particularly widespread, since they combine this benefit with an auspicious symbol of the goddess, and a section of the window through which a larger ranged weapon can be aimed at assailants.
Once one reaches into the heart of Morijigoku, the mountaintops, new advantages and features arise. First, in the most bitter of colds encountered in these magically refrigerated regions, the insulating properties of thick stone walls come to light. Though Deadbeats are comfortable in cooler temperatures than most, the cryogenic atmosphere of certain regions of the Eastern Onyx Range are still potentially deadly; a well designed Deadbeat monosikil (1) will be able to keep its rooms forty to fifty degrees C warmer than the outside with minimal heating input. Entering this region also introduces new materials into the architects' palettes: marble where Reaper's Eye crystals are observed. Using these stronger stones, much larger edifices can be built. Thanks to this natural attunement, these are also well-suited to being inscribed with magical circuits, which can be used to power a wide range of devices within the batiment, transmit energy to magical users within and without it, and circulate heat throughout the building. Since these magical circuits function better at lower temperatures, they can usually be seen tracing paths on facades. For the most active of these magically empowered towers, an excess amount of waste magical radiation is generated; these magical circuits also serve to funnel these emissions towards the roof, where they are harmlessly emitted towards the heavens.
Found in downtown Oppea on the northern slopes of the Ilimyth valley, Kuroma Tower is a fine example of traditional deadbeat civil mordimsag (2), and representative of the style. Nestled on a cliff-face, the obelisk houses hundreds of residents, a market, and the barracks and trimmings of a local Lukur (3) chapter, including their temple, school and armory. Moreover, like all buildings in the alpine regions, Kuroma Tower extends at least half as far below ground as it does above, connecting to the local catacomb network and the tunnels of the neighbouring estates.
1. Name given to Deadbeat buildings generally following this design: rectangular base built upwards with a taper out of large stones.
2. Lit. magical engineering.
3. The arcana-wielding priesthood of Morijigoku.