Wellthane
From Codex Vocrotha
Settled by humans in ancient times, the free city of Wellthane occupies an extremely unusual geological feature: a near-perfect circular penetration of the earth, through bedrock, leaving a central core intact -- a negative-space tube imprinted in the ground. While not likely to be a natural feature, no known technologies could possibly have created such a thing artificially, and no reasonable explanations have yet been put forth as to its original purpose or the methods of its creation.
There are no safe descents from the outer rim of Wellthane: the creation of this odd geological feature has left the rock walls fused extremely smooth, and a straight drop to the earth below -- over five hundred feet directly down -- is not survivable. The only safe way to the city below is to reach the core and take the Long Spiral down to the city itself, winding around the Core five times in total, a journey that takes an entire day by caravan. At the Core Landing, a massive hardened stone keep stands watch, and the single bridge that provides access to the inner rim of the Core is collapsible, instantly removing any possibility that an opposing force might storm Wellthane's upper defenses.
Below lies a wonder of self-sufficiency: Wellthane's natural resources are rich and abundant. Geothermal activity generates considerable heat and steam, creating Wellthane's legendary hot baths as well as year-round crop growing, and a specialty crop of fungi not found anywhere else in the world. A mine in the north provides easy access to a motherlode of iron, and farms in the east can easily grow all the cattle the city needs for itself each year.
Thus it is no wonder that Wellthane has retained its independence as a city-state since its very inception. Self-sufficient, unnaturally well-defended, and peopled with stubborn and proud men, Wellthane serves as a roguish foil to whatever Kingdom might reign outside the Core. Criminals are drawn to Wellthane, but only those serious about making a new life stay for long; the monarchic line there is historically intolerant of criminal activity within its own walls. Politically, Wellthane remains neutral to the world, staying distant and uninvolved in the hope that the sentiment will be reciprocated. Their military force is well trained, however, and the peculiar strategies of defending the Core are taught early and often.
In 2940, Wellthane was subject to its first successful invasion, though they were unaware of it. Dolgothran loyalists and counter-insurgents, the Cabal, gathered in Wellthane to coordinate their efforts against Kur D'Shan's Conspiracy. Tired of their shadow lives, many of them Changelings who believed for many years that they were actually members of other races, the members of the Cabal believe that cooperation with the other races, not parasitism and exploitation, are the only way their kind can ever hope to co-exist. To that end they lent aid to the Maltharian Kingdom on several occasions -- but they held no illusions about their safety, and understood that the record of Dolgothran betrayal and subterfuge was too great to allow trust from the outset. Thus they chose Wellthane as their home, an unassailable haven for their self-imposed political asylum.
