Ark Mount

Ark Mount was the Capital of Kolratia and the Holy city of the Arkivists. The city began as a massive Bunker constructed by the Arkivist founders, the Benefactors, in the years leading up to the beginning of the Five-Hundred Years Summer. The Bunker was initially intended as a refuge for the first Arkivists from the summer, and a place to store and preserve the countless books, photographs, artwork, blueprints, and various memorabilia of the Old World throughout the apocalyptic summer, so that the distant futures generations could preserve the knowledge and science of the Ancients. After the emergence, Ark Mount transformed into a city of its own rite; the political, educational, and religious capitol of the Arkivists; with much of cities structures, chambers, and corridors carved directly into the face of the mountain and its surroundings. In the very center of Ark Mount was the massive library known as the Hall of Words, where all the Arkivists ancient works were archived within its towering shelves.

History
Ark Mount was founded before the Five-Hundred Year's Summer by the first Arkivists known as the Benefactors. The Benefactors were a group of the foremost scholars and scientists of Ancient Maar'Ka who gathered in the land now known as Kolratia to create a great Ark of the knowledge of their time, so that it would not be lost forever in the cataclysmic summer they predicted was soon to come. Combining their funds, the Benefactors began construction of Ark Mount and their followers became known as the Arkivists. They chose a large foothill far above the rising seas on the eastern edge of the Rocky mountains as their building site, and hollowed out the entire interior of the mountain, transforming it into a impenetrable fortress which would be safe from the poisonous sunlight which had began to beat down upon the Earth with ever increasing intensity.

Ark Mount featured living quarters for around 2,600 Arkivists, as well as massive storage tanks and facilities that extended deep under the mountain, where enough food (mostly a type of versatile nutritional resin developed by scientists, known as “manna”), plant seeds, and water for the next 500 years were stored and stockpiled. It’s main and most important facility; the Hall of Words, was a massive 12 floor library where hundreds of thousands of Ancient books, blueprints, pieces of art, and memorabilia were safely archived, lie at the center Of the Ark. The hall was a rotunda shaped complex, with 26 wings, each alphabetically ordered by the 26 characters of Ancient English, all of which extended from the central hall. Above the hall of words was a large sun proofed observation pavilion which stood at the peak of the mountain, giving the Arkivists a 360 degree view of their surroundings, as well as a place to safely absorb much needed sunlight. Countless generations of Arkivists lived and died within the Ark without ever seeing natural sunlight. The Arkivists had originally expected the summer to last around 200 years, but this ended up being 500 years, and their citadels electrical generators eventually burnt out forcing them to live in darkness, with torches and gas-lamps serving as their only light source. With little else to do than to Endlessly read by candlelight the ancient books they had dedicated themselves to preserving. The Arkivists gradually transformed from a secular scholarly organization into a religion which worshiped books and the ancient English language which they preserved while outside the tongues were scattered. Multiple mini-famines swept the Ark, and by late in the summer only around 700 people filled the capacity of its original 2600 inhabitant population. Most dying from starvation or sicknesses related to being deprived of sunlight their entire lives. Many also succumbed to their mental illnesses due to being brought up in such unnatural conditions.

Finally, 500 years after the sealing of their Ark, the first significant rainfall in centuries occurred, and the pale and sun deprived Arkivists re-entered the world above in the Emergence. From here they began to multiply in number and gradually settled the various valleys of their new homeland, Kolratia, which were now once more teaming with plant and wildlife.

Ark Mount remained inhabited and quickly transformed into one of the earliest cities established after the summers end, with its peoples carving their homes, shops, and temples directly into the rocky outcroppings of the mount. The Hall of words continued to be used as the great archive of the sacred and ancient works. The Arks large pavilion was converted into the temple And palace of the Arkivist leader and High priest, the Meritaurk, who watched his people’s activity from the crest of the mountain. It overlooked the cities numerous cliff palaces which dotted the edges of the mountain, home to the cities high-ranking clergy. Ark Mount continued to prosper and eventually grew to a population of around 60,000 souls, with all Arkivists of Kolratia attempting to make the pilgrimage to the Hall of Words and the cities other holy sites at least once during their lives.

But after a few centuries of independence the Arkivist capital fell under the control of several foreign powers which conquered Kolratia; the Nabeeho empire, the Buckskyn nomads, the Mexihcatl of the Anahuactl Empire, the Tekxuns Of the great conquerer Gunnar the Great, and finally the mighty Khagoan Empire under their first Emperor, Don Wabbash; who made the city the capital of the new province of Kolratia. He constructed a large fort on the mount called the tower of Wabbash, which served as the main base of the provincial governor and his occupation forces.

Under early Khagoan rule Ark Mount became a center of tension between the native Arkivists and their occupiers, with various rebel sects known as the Zealots arising in and around the Holy city. These radical groups often assassinated imperial officials in the dimly lit quarters of the largely subterranean city, only to quickly disappear back into the darkness of their secret cave networks before they could be detained. This caused great upheaval in the city, which eventually culminated in the bloody Arkivist revolt that led to the destruction of Ark Mount and the Scattering of the surviving Arkivists across the Empire and beyond. During the razing of the city almost all the books of the Hall of Words were burned, save for a small number which were smuggled out of the city. This forced the Arkivists into a dark age of persecution, secrecy, and exile which they would not recover from for centuries.

Following its destruction, Ark Mount was largely depopulated, with only a handful of its labyrinth of empty tunnel networks being inhabited. The Khagoans settled the very Legionaries who had razed the city in a small imperial veteran colony which was constructed on the crest of the mountain around the ruins of the old Temple. But around three centuries later, when the Emperor Anbul Washtenaw converted to Arkivism and made it the new state religion, the Arkivists were allowed to return to their Holy city, which once again became a sight of pilgrimage.