Day Duchy

🌞 Architecture

In the Day Duchy, the architecture is crafted in the style of Baroque. Structures can appear to defy gravity, with balconies and bridges suspended between sky islands, built vertically along the sheer faces of white mountains. The architecture emphasizes height and movement, with arched bridges connecting the towering buildings. There are plenty of landing strips and perches for harpies to use when moving between buildings.

Public buildings or buildings in wealthy areas are carved from white stone and marble, giving them an appearance as if they are made from clouds, especially when the cloud cover is low. Large windows, theatrical archways and other strategically placed openings frame the ever-changing skyscape of the realm. Gilding and polished stone are used to accentuate the sunrays that fall across surfaces. Inside, the grandiose spaces are adorned with rich ornamentation and intricate details, blending celestial motifs of suns, sunrays, unicorns, birds, clouds, and wind, with the lavish decoration typical of Baroque style.

Residential buildings are often made from sandstone or rock and have red or orange roof tiles. Some harpy homes are made entirely from woven branches and vines. In poorer areas, the only free space to build in already-cramped residential areas is by stacking more structures on top of existing homes, or building extensions that are suspended in the open air. Like the buildings in Skjolden (Autumn Court) this can create an appearance of structures haphazardly stacked on top of each other like a tottering pile of books, holding on by a thread.

• The Dawn Court Castle — A baroque style castle on top of the tallest mountain peak. It is split up across a couple of mountains with large bridges connecting the different sections. Wind whistles through the suspended balconies, open hallways and bridges and it is extremely chilly up here - but the perpetual rising sun is an incredible palette of pink, orange and yellow. The top floors of the Castle resemble a birdhouse: with circular openings for harpies to fly through, as well as perches for them to land on.

• The Sun Dial — In the courtyard of the Dawn Court Castle is the Sun Dial. It is etched into the mountain stonework with gold inlay and a gigantic golden dial. Only the Duke may touch the dial and move the structure, and it is only to be done in dire circumstances. What the sun dial does is only speculation and there are various rumours flying around: that it can slow or even stop time, that it opens portals to other worlds, or that it conceals the entrance to some ancient and powerful place.

🌞 Clothing

The further up the mountains you go, the thicker the fabric and the more layers of clothing the residents wear. On the lower slopes, citizens wear simple outfits usually single layers of medieval style garb like tunics and dresses. Nobility or scholars may wear more decorative clothing with sun and cloud motifs. The further up the mountain, the more likely you are to see multiple layers with thick fabrics and fur lining. The wind can be bitterly cold on the mountain peaks and so cloaks, shawls, and hoods are worn.

Florans tend to wear long tunics, cloaks, pants and dresses. They like pale or light colours like white, tan, yellow, cream, peach, lavender, baby blue etc.

Harpies tend to wear leather armour and more practical garb for fighting and flying. They like natural colours: brown, green, orange, tan, ochre, black, white etc.

🌞 Races

Playable races: Florans, Harpies, Stonefolk, Wildlings, Critters.

• The primary races that live in the Day Duchy are Florans and Harpies. 

• The Day Duchy is like an independent state that does not answer to the King and Queen, and so the relationship is strained. 

• The Day Duchy is very self-sufficient and contact with other Duchies has been uncommon since the Exodus. Even trading is uncommon. 

• The mountainous conditions also make it hard for other races to thrive here.

• For Stonefolk, Wildlings and Critters who decide to live here, they often have no other choice and are running from something.

• High Fae and Fairies are unwelcome and treated with suspicion as they are ruling classes (and their progency) in the surface duchies.

🌞 Wildlife

Alpacas, llamas, mountain goats, all sorts of birds, snakes, bighorn sheep, snow leopards, ibex, marmots, eagles, mountain lions, mountain hare, pikas.

🌞 Travel

Airships, rope lift, sundisk, windglider, skybridges.

🌞 Industry

• Defence and Military

  • Aerial Combat

• Carpentry and Masonry

• Vertical Farming (Alpine Crops & Herbs)

• Crystal Mining

• Alpaca Husbandry and Wool Farming

• Wind Farming

• Aerial Transport and Engineering

🌞 Important Figures

• The Dawn Court —  The nobility and duke that make up the ruling party of the Day Duchy. A mix of Florans and Harpies, with Harpies making up the majority of the military accompaniment. 

  • Claudius — A Floran and Duke of the Day Duchy.

  • Raidne the Songbird — Harpy Chancellor to Claudius.

  • The Order of the Black Sun — The Knights of the Dawn Court.

    • Vesperine —  Harpy Marshall of the Day Duchy military and Captain of the Order of the Black Sun.

    • Mockingbird — Master Falconer. A powerful warrior and one of the strongest Knights of the Dawn Court.

    • Kingfisher — Master Templar. A powerful warrior and one of the strongesr Knights of the Dawn Court.

• Sunfire Syndicate — A shady political group that oppose Claudius' rule.

• The Watchmen — Military police that keep order in the Day Duchy.

• Grandmaster Heron — The grandmaster champion and MC of the Windstorm Arena. A legend in the Day Duchy.

🌞 Locations

• Heliotropa —  The capital of the Day Duchy. Located high up in the sky at the top of the tallest mountain peak. Simultaneously very windy and cold, although the sun is very warm when not in the shade.

  • The Sun Dial — An ancient, flat sun dial built into the ground near the Dawn Court. Sacred to the Day Duchy residents.

• Attica Mountains — The vast mountain ranges that the Day Duchy sits atop (and floats around).

  • Mount Nisyros - a volcano  located in the Attica Mountains

• The Windstorm Arena — A huge arena shaped like a birds nest where Harpiest compete to become a master champion. Those who are especially brave may choose to undertake the 3 Storm Trials - at their own peril.

  • The Trial of Clouds — ???

  • The Trial of Blazes — ???

  • The Trial of Mist — ???

• The Aviary — The barracks of the Dawn Court army.

• The Guild of Heroes — Legend has it that somewhere amongst the clouds is the headquarters of the ancient Guild of Heroes. Noone knows how to find it, though many have tried.

• Windfarms — Rocky mountain passes with windmills everywhere.

• Great Plains — Flat plains of grass on floating sky islands adjacent to the mountains. You have to cross lengthy sky bridges to get across to these islands.

  • Windmere - A small town on the eastern islands of the Great Plains known for it's wool harvesting

• Beak and Finch — A famous blacksmith.

• Starling's — A restaurant with live music. A harpy artisan runs it, and she is a fabulous singer.

• The Eggshell — A library.

• The Sundrop Cafe — A popular cafe where lots of whole foods are served (grains and seeds and grass).

• The Horn and the Heron — A popular but humble tavern.

• Calendula — If one were to peer past the clouds just barely kissing the still surface of the ocean, they would be met with the sight of grandiose and gilded stone pillars standing guard over a sleepy and fog-blanketed town. The echoes of bird-song and stringed instruments lend a certain… eeriness to Calendula, though the inhabitants are friendly enough. There have been murmurs and whispers of lost spirits whose voices cry out for the freedom of the skies above. If avid conversation is what one seeks, then one would do well to steer clear of Calendula, for they prefer to listen to the music in their souls than the simple word of mouth.

• Aurelius - A city within the Day Dutchy known for its large museum, The Globe. A smaller city than Heliotropa, Aurelius is less bustling and much more academic. Although they’ve lacked funding in recent years, currently The Globe is trying to go on expeditions to gather new artifacts for tourism. Located high up in the clouds, there is a much higher population of Harpies than Florans and other races in the city.

  • The Globe - Large museum located in Aurelius. They're always looking for Curators and exbidition teams as well as new artifacts for exhibits.

• Lumacie - A cliffside town known as a docking point for airships. Its main residents tend to come and go, whether it be to transport customers to different islands, or move cargo from place to place within the Day Duchy. There is a small, but thriving community of mechanics and tinkerers.

• Antioch - A small, scenic town outside of Heliotropa known for its vast fields of flowers and quiet feel. Close enough to the city for those who choose to work and study, but far enough away to escape all of the noise. They have a large mead trade as well as more holistic approaches to medicine due to all of the rich soil in the area. They hold fast to slower, quieter lives and value that over fast paced, high stakes lives - though it does make a perfect weekend getaway.

• Nisiri -  A town in the Atticus Mountains, near the base of the volcanic Mount Nisyros. Known primarily as a retreat town for the wealthy inhabitants of the Day Duchy, it boasts a handful of natural hot springs - warmed by the volcano, of course. It also has a fairly active local knucker community who have made the Volcano their home. 

• 
  
•