Aphalur

Category	Cities
Continent	Straiden
Region	Weretopia
Owner	Akthol-Tharag
Population	1,340,000+
Deity	Danzar-Khâl
Founded	7 Saunas 1833 DE
Map	Mekarra

First recorded contact with Aphalur dates to 12 LE, when prospectors of the Akthol chanced upon its formidable outline. For a time, they viewed the site as the dwelling of titans or lesser deities, keeping their distance. Not until eight years later did a more intrepid vanguard venture within and assert dominion over its thresholds.

The elegant contours of the towers and walls, appearing carved from a single piece of stone, display an artistry in sorcery and construction exceeding what seems conceivable. Expansive ivory and vine-adorned bridges suspend in the skies, revolving upon some imperceptible axis between seven towering spires.

This ethereal stronghold, with its slender towers soaring 700 feet into the clouds, defies the established principles of engineering. The chrome yellow gates, standing twice the height of a titan, and the multitude of windows adorned with gilded and silver depictions of angelic beings, lend the immense structure an air of grandeur. The sheer scale of this meticulously crafted haven, concealed within the peaks, suggests it could not have been the work of ordinary humans, as it would have taken over a millennium to construct.

Khuzbul, of the clan Nakhir-Tholgûr, journal - "Expedition to Rukham-Fel"

Aphalur—a Supernal term meaning "depot"—was established amid the fires of the Creation War (1486 DE-8777 DE) under the stewardship of the Golden Seven, agents of the Nawirrûs Covenant. Mortal artisans from the Tharag clan labored alongside these celestial architects. During the war, Aphalur functioned as a training ground, armory, and infirmary; later, as the conflicts raged into Bal-Kriav, the facility was fortified against the titanic host of the primordials, and its forges produced weapons for battles such as those waged over Regadnîn.

In the Lith-Crillion Era, the city blossomed as the cradle of dwarven ascendancy: the esteemed Akthol-Tharag empire took root within Aphalur's hallowed halls, establishing the sacred site as its capital. The city's sacral architecture and mythic legacy continue to profoundly influence the character and governance of Akthol-Tharag.

The city rests beneath a perpetual sanctum. Its safeguards encompass both sacred ritual and sturdy masonry: a vast network of thousands of bells—no two separated by more than fifty feet—can be sounded to evoke effects akin to a divine invocation, while myriad glyphs of formidable warding and conduits of positive energy demarcate thresholds and openings. These defenses are steadfast and not easily circumvented.

Across Aphalur's avenues and sancta stand hundreds of alabaster inscriptions: the Plaques of Aphalur, etched in Supernal runes and recounting episodes of the Creation War. An enterprising Aarakocra, Nindonor, made clandestine forays to transcribe these runes onto scrolls; his copies—seized on his final expedition by the soldiers of Akthol-Tharag—came to be circulated as the Scrolls of Dawn, which remain a principal source for ancient accounts of gods and primordials.