Galmaddin

The mountain-lodged capital of the former Skymark Empire has lost its power, but not its majesty. From these slopes, the Grand-Princes of the Mipnors ruled client states throughout Barathorn and across the ocean in the name of civility and reason. Today, the Mipnors are hereditary figureheads whose titular functions inspire great devotion and patriotism in the hearts of mountain Parkyons. Though their constitutional and demi-mortal powers have waned, they are treated with great deference and respect wherever they tour throughout the Pallathantic and Barathorn, when the High Thing gives them leave.

Facing to the west-west-south, Galmaddin rests on a gentler slope of the rugged Skrall Mountains. A sprawl of sailed buildings, towers, walls, and kippurite palaces have long since hidden the original claddans from which the city began over a thousand years ago. Four claddans—immense, large-mouthed caves greatly favored by ancient sky peoples were the nucleus of the old settlement. From these slopes, the Mipnors, claiming descent from the god Parkulliam, battled the native Skrallen for command of the mountains and of the sky. Today, vestiges of the Skrallen hide below the earth or work as slaves in the numerous gnake plantations that cover the mountains. Since the old days, dwarven engineers have built deep passages into the mountain where skycraft industries could be conducted without the interruption of invaders or weather. Consequently, Galmaddin today boasts a large dwarven population that enjoy the same rights as other citizens. The Palace of the Great Sky Kings is one of the triumphs of modern architecture. Constructed of metal and stone, a gleaming coat of pale yellow ensures that it is a prominent spectacle. Poised upon a small, higher slope, it literally appears as if it might leap off its foundations into the sky as it proudly towers over Galmaddin, reaching upwards about four times its apparent width, with a panoply of towers ribboned with waving penants. The Palace of the Great Sky Kings is the predominant edifice of the Realm of Kings, a small enclave of Galmaddin which is a political dependency of the Skymark Commonwealth. In this domain, the descendants of the Mipnors live under a kind of political house arrest, leaving only with the granted permission of the High Thing.

Galmaddin is the seat of the Skymark Commonwealth where the High Assembly governs in behalf of the Skymark’s numerous cantons. Resisting magitech clippers, Galmaddin’s skyforce has relied principally upon traditional vessels of centuries past. The rush for colonial grandeur has caused the Commonwealth to retreat from its nostalgia and winddriver clippers are operated outside of the historic city. Memorable features of Galmaddin include the ancient high claddans, the Throkken Skyworks, the Temples of Parkia and Parkulliam, the Shrine of the Fathers, and the splendid Palace of the Great Sky Kings.

List of Sites

• Saint Gryvant's Archcollege of Galmaddin, established 1593

See Also

• Skymark