View source for Skarov's Spine

{{Settlement
 | name = Skarov's Spine
 | type = Capital city
 | located_in_state = [[Tarkhos Dominion]]
 | located_in_region = [[Stonewail Rise]]
 | population = 260000
 | landmarks = [[Sunbellows Forges]]; [[Moonquench Pool]]; [[Skyband Towers]]
 | coords = 23.0,130.0
}}

= Skarov's Spine =
Rising from the fossilized ribs of a long-dead fire titan, '''Skarov's Spine''' crowns a caldera where the Stonewail foothills tumble toward the Bangrave Sea. Forge-terraces ring the volcanic basin, their chimneys breathing crimson by longbright, while rope-latticed towers sway above ash-savanna winds that funnel down from the Rise. Here the forge-clans and rope-bands entwine in rhythm: the Sunbellows drive molten ore with desert thermals by day, while the Moonquench temper blades and caravan axles in the caldera's black quench-pool beneath Tassaryn's light.

Simiah rope-runners are the city's lifeblood, sprinting across sky-bridges with contracts, ledgers, and embersteel ingots before a secret can cool enough to be stolen. Each leap between towers is a vow renewed, their movements binding trade as tightly as law. At the lake's rim, apprentices gather under Cyressel's arc to leap into the mirror-water, their sky-dances joining moonlight to steel; smiths say cooled blades do not only "remember the moon's courage," but also the balance of every dancer who risked the fall.

Skarov's Spine trades in embersteel blades, volcanic salt, and glass-veiled armor, but its greatest export is speed: the famed Skyband Couriers, rope-trained emissaries who can carry a treaty across Tarkhos faster than any rider. Revered and feared, a courier's mark is treated as binding as embersteel itself, for to carry the Band's seal is to carry the Dominion's will.

== Notable Districts & Features ==
* '''Sunbellows Forges''' – Terraced forges that harness desert thermals to stoke embersteel furnaces.
* '''Moonquench Pool''' – A black quench-pool in the caldera, where blades and axles are tempered under Tassaryn's light.
* '''Skyband Towers''' – Rope-latticed tower clusters that serve as training grounds, courier hubs, and dueling arenas for the rope-bands.

== Hazards & Customs ==
* Skyband duels are fought between towers on high-wires, with stakes that can include debts, contracts, or entire routes.
* Visitors who do not present an iron-etched sigil of peaceful purpose may find ropeways closed to them and deals suddenly withdrawn.