Hinnbjalf

• Previous
• Next

Thirteen years into the Demon Spawn War (8972 GE - 9493 GE), Hinnbjalf was built to counter Demogorgon's invasion of Hells Womb (Ladneg) in the Year 8977 GE. Overseeing this project was Surtur, a reluctant Covenant ally. He and his engineers, "accidentally" built Hinnbjalf to be much grander than specifications. Surtur, brought before a military court, made the claim that the head of engineering made a miscalculation leading to it all being 325% bigger. Surtur's minions, mostly fire giants, were quite comfortable with these echoey places, others not so.

As the war population moved with the fronts, Surtur and his command felt the pinch on their coffers. One of Surtur's whores, one free to enter and take from his treasury, came with an idea of turning Hinnbjalf into an entertainment venue. Surtur scoffed at the idea, yet let his wench go about her plan. Great gambling halls and others venues were built for those on military leave; the goal to lighten sacks and pockets heavy with demon loot. Quickly becoming a highly profitable enterprise, teleportation chambers were built to ferry those from distant fronts to Hinnbjalf's market of relaxation, competition, whoring and gambling. Out of this came great stories of getting rich, with a private winning the material wealth of a prince on a two week leave, and greatly improved morale of all those that visited. The Covenant kept a careful watch of all this. Those like Athena, called it a den of corruption and decadence, its goodly merits hardly outweighing the bad.

Hinnbjalf has six great chariot courses. They carve their way through a city that once housed nearly four hundred thousand. The tracks pass through sunken areas where onlookers can look down from homes and streets onto the chariot track. In the God Era, the city was always alive, rumbling like a volcano during those rare times that all six tracks had their charioteers were on the move. In the Angelic Departure (9494 GE - 9500 GE), the city's teleportation chambers were destroyed. This led to an economic and population decline that it has never recovered from.

In 1481, the group Squad X7E discovered monkey-like minotaurs living in the Manduggiss Trench. These Sig-Lorm were helped out of a place they had called home since the Lith-Crillion Era. Thousands were resettled at Hinnbjalf, a place they would rekindle, spreading civilization, security, and wealth for the next two centuries. At Hinnbjalf, the Sig-Lorm pursed cultural and social advancements over war. They made the city renown again, running great events like the annual Sig-Lorm Chariot Race where up to thirty chariots competed.

In 1642, the volcano Traeulf became active, erupting with devastating consequences. The pyroclastic flow leveled the city, killing most where they stood. When Hinnbjalf was run by the Sig-Lorm it peaked at 40,000 citizens. It was governed by a pedocracy and had temples to Surtur, Lukoon and Ptah. Following the eruption, Hinnbjalf became home to mostly fiery types. The only churches that remained are those to Surtur and Primus. Because of noxious and sometimes deadly gases, non-fiery types generally avoid coming to this city. Some claim that the eruption that affected the city was a divine scheme, Surtur jealous of Lukoon's growing influence and the Sig-Lorm's love of Ptah which he was never able to change. The plan, a successful one if it is true, rid the city of elements pushing the beliefs of Lukoon and Ptah.