Aroforn

Aroforn a.k.a. "The Imperial Seat" is the capital city of the Vulperium and is also one of the largest metropolitan areas in the continent of Serrona aswell as in Eldham itself. The new city was formed in January of 2022 from the twin-cities of Sparport in the north and Tildivul in the south (Tildivul having been the former capitol). This was done to commemorate the creation of a new empire, the Vulperium, with a historical precedent from Vulpur history being the old Vulpinian empire of the Grand Valar Aroforn I, namesake for the new city which would represent the greatest culmination yet of Vul culture.

Aroforn's jurisdiction is split between the two historic duchies that controlled Tildivul and Sparport: The duchy of Rynwood in the north, and the duchy of Mournalor in the south. There are also many smaller county communities and villages that contribute to the population of the metropolitan area.

The First Great Wander
The history of the Aroforn region goes back to the very origins of the Vulpur people in ages past. Archaeological findings of cave paintings & other cultural goods by modern scholars suggests that the fox race originated in the snowy taiga forests surrounding the Tilwater river, spreading out nomadically in all directions across the continent of Serrona from there. The glacial waters and springs that came down from the surrounding mountains provided for a rich vertile valley in the region which led itself well towards agricultural development, and it was so that the first vulpur River Kingdom was born.

The Vulpur capital in it's infancy would consist of wooden longhouses and clan villages all united under 1 king, or "Valar", in the Vulpin tongue. The early kingdom inhabited by the Vulpur "Panoori" culture would ocasionally clash swords with the Linusians, a human tribe settled in the lands located northwest of the Tilwater river. The early Panoori kingdom served as the source of many historical stone tablets.

Early though in the Serronan continent's history, a massive climate change warming event would change the course for many peoples within the region. As crop failures plagued the southlands, temperatures in the cold north would become more temperate leading to a shifting in the balance of power as more peoples moved north and helped to populate the Aroforn region.

Even with this boon, the main population and cultural center for the vulpur remained further north in the tundra city of Noravula. After many years of dominance over the other kingdoms, Noravula would eventually produce one king more famed than any other: Aroforn the Great.

The Imperial Reign
Aroforn would institute many wise policies enriching the wealth and prospects of the northern kingdom, but his goals were larger than the consolidation of his backyard. He wanted to unite all the disparate Vulpur cultures of the world. In a historically decisive move, he would orchestrate the annexation of the southern Panoori kingdoms and transfer his court to the more rural but still vastly-populated Tilwater river valley, turning it into an administrative capital for his empire while Noravula remained up north as the cultural capital. From this strategic position within Serrona he would use great amounts of intrigue to bring the other Vulpur kingdoms under his thumb, though this task would not be complete by his death.

Throughout the reign of Aroforn's descendents, they would build many monuments and work hard to achieve their ancestor's generation after generation until finally all the river kingdoms in West Serrona had been united. The only barrier left standing in the way of empire was a coalition of eastern Serronan kings, with their lines finally being broken in what is known in Vulpinian history as "King Ellewyn's Last Stand", the ancient battlefield of which can now be found in the modern-day U.S.S.E.

Vulpur culture was advancing steadily with Aroforn's empire having obtained consideral international influence with Vul travellers and traders reaching into the lands of every other corner of Eldham. During the reign of Aroforn's descendents, the famed prophet Vor'tha was born aswell. Vor'tha would accomplish his greatest work in adapting and uniting the polytheistic beliefs of the disparate Vulpur peoples into 1 great Nabu faith.

The wars had greatly enriched the capitols with great works built from the tribute that had been extracted and allowing for the construction of the largest temple yet to the Vulpur Nabu faith, but all the same the crypts zigzagging underneath the city would be host to the thousands of bodies of those citizens and soldiers who had lost their lives in the wars of unification, with these underground catacombs still being explorable today.

For all the successes Aroforn's empire and the Vulpur people at-large had gained by blood, they would be taken by surprise by one of the greatest enemies to lay claim to their shores: Mankind.

The Second Great Wander
The human tribes of Northwest Serrona remained disunited and isolated from one another thanks in large part to the careful politicking of Aroforn's descendants. This would change however with the eventual birth of the Linusian king Jorrah. Though in the early years of his reign he would put up a front of supporting Aroforn's empire, he would do much to undermine it in secret. In response to the Vulpur cultural dominance of Serronan life he would work to build a quid-pro-quo relationship with the independently developing tribal peoples of the northern tundras (Today known as the Batuans) descended from the larger old Linusian state. Alongside this burgeoning human alliance in North Serrona, Jorrah would also look north across the sea to the powerful Aldoric kingdom of Othmyrr, with talks stalling until finally an alliance between the two was secured with a marriage.

The Vulpur emperor at the time, Thaenore, thought nothing of these dealings as he himself had struggled to maintain the empire's foreign and domestic relations and was assured that these actions were one of a loyal vassal helping to shore up military support for his empire now struggling from overextension to keep a hold of all it gained through conquest. The stage was set for a brutal betrayal as Jorrah's ambition was to supplant Thaenore and install himself as emperor over Serrona.

One summer season as Thaenore was hosting a ball for the lesser kings in Noravula to celebrate the hard-fought final pacification of the southern Pikes, it was at this same moment though that Aldoric and Linusian armies loyal to Jorrah would converge on Noravula from the north and west of the city.

Survivors who fled south to the second capital on the Tilwater river would later testify that it was a bloodbath with Thaenore, his family, and much of his supporters being slain. Not only that, but anyone who was of the Vulpur species was being targeted by Jorrah's army aswell as he would seek to wipe out their culture and influence in the region.

The rest of the empire was in a panic as the imperial military's resistance, spread thin and now without it's leadership from the capital, would fall as kingdom after kingdom would fall to Jorrah's forces.

Jorrah's forces would eventually break through the lines defending the second capital and would ransack the city, destroying many cultural monuments including the great Nabu temple.

Their homeland left in cinders and their people targeted by genocide, the Vulpur would flee from Serrona en-masse in a series of voyages taking them far into the other corners of Eldham and even far off Rathnir, holding on to only their faith and stories left to tell. The second Great Wander had thus begun.

In the aftermath, Jorrah's descendents would rule the land and hunt the remaining Vul populations for their furs but his kingdom would eventually fall aswell into the obscurity of history. Very few vuls still populated the Tilwater region by the modern age save for a few itinerant and reclusive farming communities.

City Districts


The city of Aroforn can be said to be divided into 12 different areas, each with their own unique flavors and style to be found.

Sparport
-Courthouse, V.O.S.C. offices, Shibrock Manor, Staghorn Tavern.

(North side under development)

Anthari
-VTVN Corporation, Spectre Inspectors, Rynwood Tavern

(East side under development)

Industrial & Upper Residential Districts
-Spider's Smithy, Miles' Bee Nursery, V.O.S.C. Dry Docks, Power Company ruins

(Plots under construction)

Entertainment District
-Blackleaf's Arena, LGBT Club

(Plots under construction)

Merchant District
-Grand Mall, Dusk's Materium, Candea's Gift Bakery, Aroforn Auction House, Blackleaf's Materials.

(Plots under construction)

Central District
-City Hall+Offices, Friendly Fox Inn, Aroforn Archives.

(Plots under construction)

Church District
-St. Nuncio Cathedral+Offices, Celestial Shipping Depot, Fynde Society, Vulp-Wolf Winery.

(Plots under construction)

Economic, Embassy, & Northgate Residential Districts
-Northgate houses, Varn Torum embassy, Bank

(Plots under construction)

Palace District
-Vetervul, Adventurer's Guild

(Under development)

Westgate District
-Wedding event hall, small arena

(Under development)

Tildivul
-Westerosi Castle, Foxy Tavern, Nabu Temple, Bakery lane

Port District
-Wall Market, V.P.S. Yolcotl

(Plots under construction)

Population
In late January of 2022, Aroforn had a population of 77.

By the end of 2022, the population of the city would be 162, one of the largest for any city in Eldham.