The first and greatest city taken from the Dwarves.
Long ago, at the end of the First Age, Tharthiketh was the cultural capital of the Dwarven peoples of Terra Trema, and an impregnable bulwark. Legends claim that the first Mirrish migrants to Terra Trema tricked the Dwarves out of their great city – though the details of this are now lost to history.
Tharthiketh is famous for its iconic architectural styles. Ancient Mirrish (a variety of Human) and Dwarven construction were elegantly blended and improved upon.
Humanity’s capture of Tharthiketh served as early evidence that human cunning could best Dwarven might in Terra Trema. This was first in a line of improbable human conquests that ended with the once-mighty Dwarven nations driven underground – into great caverns, or deeper places. Yet it came at the beginning of the Second Age, when human domination was inconceivable; Dwarves held all the power in Terra Trema in those days, and humans were rag-tag bands of refugees fleeing from Elven oppression in the Old Lands. (Of course, the ancient Dwarven technomancy failed in the presence of humans, as is now well-known.)
Nowadays, Tharthiketh's people and government are but an afterthought to the outside world, which continues to obsess over its incredible architecture and monuments. Tharthikens are known for being old-fashioned and untrusting, and don't have a significant place in the affairs of Terra Trema at large.
Tharthiken life tends to be buried under layers of bureaucratic entanglement and cultural baggage. Productivity and creativity are barely understood, let alone valued. Yet the city is a pleasant enough place to live, with good weather, bountiful harvests, colorful festivals, incredible vistas, and kind (to locals) neighbors.
Cultural Influence: 11 Mostly for the architecture. Tharthiketh is known as something of a backwater, or a has-been. But the buildings are incredible.
Economic Influence: 9
Military Influence: 8
Produces, Exports: masonry, whitestone, cherry blossoms, bamboo furniture, bureaucratic treatises, record-keeping systems, beans, well-preserved festival sweets.
Demands, Imports: Dyes, silver, firestone (coal), bluestone, alchemical glues, rice