Ronriki

Ronriki is the capital of Thyrigen's Earth Province and a major city in the World of Shaston.

Layout and Citizenry
Ronriki is located in a very large clearing near the center of the Earth Province, deep in the woods that make up the province. Surrounding the city proper is several farms and other smaller buildings, such as guard houses.

The city itself is entirely contained on and within a very large and hollowed-out tree. Many of the city's buildings are carved into the tree, while others are constructed on the branches out of the tree using its wood. Every building in the city is made entirely out of wood - no stone or other materials are used at all, even for structures that are typically made of marble or stone. Wooden walkways connect the city buildings in lieu of traditional roads, and simple elevators are used to move from the base of the tree into the city and between levels of the city.

The most notable building in the city is its library. The Ronriki library is famous for being the largest library in Thyrigen and possibly the entire world, housing an unrivaled collection of volumes, novels, maps, charts, records, and other forms of literature. Anyone is allowed to check out books from the library free of charge, provided the item is returned within the date specified; failure to do so results in a fee that inevitably will be collected.

Also of note is the headquarters of the Silver Wolves, a guild renowned for producing supernaturally gifted hunters, trackers, and guides. While the guild itself mostly operates within the Earth Province, its members have been known to occasionally become adventurers and travel the world as rangers and druids. The guild has official ties to Selûne, and as such many of its members worship her at her temple within the city. This temple is much smaller than its partner in Larcenciel, but offers a greater emphasis on Selûne's ties to nature as a whole.

The majority of Ronriki's citizens are wood elves, reflecting the citizenry of the Earth Province in general. Many humans have immigrated to Ronriki from the other provinces in order to get more in touch with nature and live within civilization while remaining in Thyrigen's dense forest. There are rumors that many of Ronriki's citizens are secretly lycans, although there have been no signs of lycan attacks or such activity to corroborate this.

History
Prior to being conquered during the Thyrigen Conquest, Ronriki was the capital city of Oakenshire, a forested nation to the North-West of the nation of Balance. Its citizens, mostly consisting of wood elves and forest gnomes, lived mostly in peace with the surrounding nations of Zebulun and Balance, exporting lumber and importing foods and spices.

When User the Killer declared war on Balance's surrounding nations in 982, Oakenshire mobilized a small but skilled army to oppose them, mostly consisting of rangers, druids, and others with inherent ties to nature. Although the magical power of Oakenshire proved stronger than most, it was eventually overrun by Balance's forces and taken over. In 1003, when the Thyrigen Conquest ended, Oakenshire became the Earth Province of the newly formed Thyrigen, and was allowed to rule itself mostly in peace, provided it supplied taxes and military to the new nation.

In 1525, during the Death Crisis, the Cultbusters traveled to Ronriki intending to visit its library to gain knowledge on the history of Thyrigen and why the unliving might be appearing in the country. On the way, the party was attacked by a weresnail and Larknyxtryxiath Thurgrundir was bitten and infected. A Silver Wolf named Lucia quickly rushed Larknyxtryxiath to the temple of Selûne, where he was partially cured, allowing him to transform into his weresnail form but removing the benefit of damage immunities and resistance to disease. The party was given a quest by the library to find lost texts that may give them the answers they were searching for, which they found in a nearby tomb and turned in. Some time later, after the party had obtained the sword Moonbeam, Larknyxtryxiath checked a book on Signing out of the library in order to better communicate with the sword.

Trivia

 * Ronriki is largely based off of Eelong's cities, such as Leeandra, in the Pendragon series, most notably regarding how it is designed.
 * Ronriki's library was inspired by the Library of Congress.