Stoneclaw

Stoneclaw
Stoneclaw is the capital city of The Axeshine Republic. It is the most heavily defended city in the entire south of Eris, rivalled only by Pentropolis in the north. The city is located deep within the Kualdi Mountains, approachable only by one narrow pass, guarded by the revered Fort Tidus. As such, the city is one of the hardest locations in Eris to assault.

In it's entire history, Stoneclaw has fallen only twice, once during the Golden Split, and once during the Arystian Civil War, both due to internal fighting from the defenders. When the city was built by the ancient Daencer Imperial Empire, it was constructed to be approachable only from a single side, and as such the west of the city is entirely blocked in by mountains. A great wall was erected stretching from the northernmost point of the mountain to the south, surrounding the city in a half-circle, with the mountain acting as a natural wall to the west. This design was later adopted by the fledgling Arystian Empire when constructing Fort Tidus during the Golden Split.

Much like the majority of the Republic's settlements, the buildings are largely constructed out of stone due to the abundance of rocks in the valleys and mountains in the nation. As a result, the city is resistant to natural disasters and attack, whilst simulatenously providing it's citizens with a generally safer, more permenant home to reside in. With a population of over one hundred thousand as of 875E, Stoneclaw is vulnerable to disease and plagues, one such example being the sickness that spread within the city during the Siege of Stoneclaw in 408E. It is widely agreed that the sickness resulted in the ability for The Axeshine Republic to actually finally be established through the death of the loyalist city governor and much of the remaining military leadership, marking the effective end of the Arystian Civil War.