Editing Sigil:Vulk (section)

== The Fortress-Cities ==

The great settlements of Vulk are '''fortress-cities''' hewn into and around the mountains themselves. From a distance they appear as masses of dark basalt rising from cliffs and ridges, their outer walls often difficult to distinguish from the rock supporting them. Towers of polished volcanic stone catch the light above some cities, while bridges and elevated roads span chasms that would otherwise divide entire districts.

Yet what can be seen from outside is only part of a Vulkah city. The settlements extend inward and downward as extensively as they rise above the surrounding terrain. Behind their walls lie vaulted halls, galleries, cisterns, archives, barracks, workshops, markets, shrines, granaries, communal kitchens, store chambers, and broad stairways descending into the mountain. Forges burn through the night, their red glow reflected from polished stone, and the sound of hammers can carry through the rock farther than newcomers initially find comfortable.

Every fortress-city is both a place to live and a refuge intended to survive catastrophe. The Vulkah remember that their ancestors endured one destruction by leaving a world behind them, and they build as though circumstances might someday demand similar discipline. No enemy is known to have taken one of the great cities by direct assault, a record the Vulkah do not boast about loudly because boasting does nothing to preserve it. They prefer to maintain the conditions that keep the statement true.