Galkesh

The modern city of Galkesh [GAL-kesh, g'alkeʃ] is capital of the Gaskanin region of northeastern Ororr, and of Galkesh province. In ancient times it was Gaalkedch [nGAHL-kedge-sh, ɣɑːːɫkeʒʃ], centre of the first Gaal Empire, and later the holy metropolis of the Empire of Dor-en-Sann.

Most of the ancient capital with its spectacular aquaducts, fountains, temples and towers was destroyed after the fall of the empire. The modern city is a mere shadow of its ancient greatness.

There are several theories for the origin of the name Gaalkedch. A popular imperial-era explanation was derivation from Mayápo kalpis, meaning northern, or northern city, though this seems unlikely. Another origin derives from a word for waterfall, “kesh” being onomatopoeic for the sound of falling water. The most likely explanation is kedch being a defensible place in Gaalkim, hence the modern word “cache”. Gaalkedch therefore roughly translates as “haven of the Gaals”.

Gaalkedch was the home of the ancient Gaal people, who migrated to the uplands from the coastlands of Cavann. The Gaals traditionally claimed to descend from refugees fleeing the fall of Miyarris, though this is probably myth.

The city was founded at the neck of a fertile upland valley, surrounded on two sides by mountains that formed a protective V. The River Prindal flows into the valley via a waterfall at its apex, carving a flat flood plain into the valley floor.

The Gaals turned the valley into a rich natural fortress, turning viridplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigVirid

Referring to the Virid Kingdom of flora and fauna, toxic to human life. upland wilderness into rich green farmland. Over centuries the settlement developed from huts of wood and mud, to an wealthy and impressive city built using easily-available local stone.

The secure food supply and defensible location made the Gaals wealthy and powerful, easily able to conquer neighbouring lands and growing the nascent Gaal Empire.

The ancient city had many features intended to astonish and confound visitors. One of the most impressive was the great aqueducts which fed hundreds of fountains and water gardens throughout the city.

With the founding of the Empire of Dor-en-Sann, Galkesh became an increasingly wealth and prestigious imperial capital, with grand buildings, ornate gardens, and large aqueducts which were a particular feature of the city's skyline.

Aqueducts were partially built above existing buildings, so as to save the cost of building stone supports. Gaal aristocrats were initially resistant to this, but came to realise it was a useful resource, not only for water supply but for transportation. Many acqueducts were wide enough to carry narrow ornate gondolas, so aristocrats built boathouses on the upper storeys of their houses. They boated on the aqueducts, taking the air, visiting the homes of other aristocrats, or hold meetings in guaranteed privacy away from the crowded streets below. As such they were often called the “Channels of Power”. The channels were also used to impressive foreign dignitaries, entering the city via the Prindal Falls and taking in the breathtaking aerial vista.

Through history seven aqueducts were constructed, taking clean mountain water from uplands surrounding the city to feed domestic water tanks, public baths and fountains. The Corridor was the third, and by far the greatest of these endeavours. It stretched from the heights of the Prindal Falls to the Fane of All Faces in the centre of the city, where its waters cascaded down into the plunge pool before the temple. It was wide enough to allow two barges to pass by one another, and for much of its length it was covered with a richly decorated colonnade depicting all manner of religious and domestic scenes. It was on one level regardless of the earth beneath, so that at some points it neared ground level, whereas at other points it was many stories above. During its construction the Corridor incorporated existing buildings, annexing the middle floors of houses, or the roofs of others. Some later public buildings and private palaces were constructed with a towers enabling visitors to alight from boats.

Gaalkedch was destroyed in 52 MEplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigModern Epoch (ME)

The Modern Calendar is a dating system acknowledged throughout the Civilised World. It numbers years from the Modern Epoch, abbreviated ME and BME (Before Modern Epoch). It is also called the Modern Era.

Calendar

This is in a series of articles about calendars and dating systems.HMOrorrHartheraHMOrorrHartheraOrorrOrorrHMHartheraHMHartheraOrorr by the victorious Mother Army as it swept into the Gaal heartlands. It was first ransacked by looters attempting to seize goods, and then by the Mother Army's attempts to destroy powerful imperial symbols like the Fane of All Faces, the palaces of the imperial elite, and the famous aqueducts which were a symbol of impoerial authority. Eventually the ruins were engulfed with a fire that burned for many days, with no water supply available to quench the blaze.

The city was largely abandoned for almost two centuries. With broken aqueducts spilling water into the streets, and uncontrolled flood waters from the River Prindal, the city gradually became buried under layers of silt. Some noble families returned to their palaces, turning the upper storeys of their palaces into fortresses and fighting petty wars for control of the ruins.

In the 3rd century ME a new Ororran city was built, using the ruins as a quarry for new buildings. Today Galkesh is a mere provincial capital, a hill city a fraction of its former size, sitting amongst the ruins of its former greatness.

Galkesh lies in valley at the headwaters of the River Prindal, with steep cliff sides and a flat floor. At the head of the valley is a steep waterfall, the valley walls opening from this point like a V. The ancient city was built surrounded by the defensive valley walls, with forts and towers commanding the passes over the highlands. The lower valley was fertile and easily cleared of virid forest, the hills being a good supply of building stone and minerals, so the city quickly became prosperous. The upland waterways were originally diverted into aqueducts, but today the city's water is supplied through a number of reservoirs.

Modern Galkesh retains much of the ancient street plan, and though few original buildings remain, many houses and civic buildings have ancient foundations, with old stones being used in their construction. The city is about six times the size of Imperial Gaalkedch at its greatest extent, and is once more an important centre for trade and industry.