Overview
Rimvold is the capital city of Skarnheim, built at the foot of mountains near the Varnhallow border. It holds Skarnheim's ruling seat, the Order of Thalion Zenith uses it as a covert base after Skarnheim's independence, and hidden archive vaults and a mountain gate lie beneath the Great Hall of Rimvold. Its walls carry runic defenses.
Rimvold becomes Skarnheim's capital when Thalion Zenith renames the city and declares independence from the Malverand Empire in 2085 AX. After Skarnheim's founding, Sigurd leads Skarnheim from Rimvold, Zain briefly occupies the city during the Siege of Rimvold, and Thorik later reclaims and occupies it during Skarnheim's restoration.
City
Rimvold is a fortified mountain city with wooden, timber-and-iron, and stone defenses. Its walls are reinforced by protective runes, barriers, runic shields, starfield defenses, guards, shielders, and high-ranking mages when enemies threaten the city. Roads and mountain passes lead toward the city through snowy peaks, forests, hills, plains, rivers, and rugged terrain.
The city contains stone paths, timber-and-iron buildings, thick-roofed homes, essence lights, markets, inns, a forge, skyship docks, and training grounds outside the walls. The Great Hall stands above the city as its leadership hall and command center, with a large dock nearby and deeper facilities hidden in or beneath the surrounding mountains.
Rimvold also has a strong smithing and runic craft tradition. Its smiths produce weapons exported across Valrindor. Farmers, weavers, smiths, and other noncombatant residents have strong magical ability.
Great Hall and Vaults
Rimvold's leaders govern from the Great Hall. Thalion gathers leaders there after the independence declaration, appoints Benedict patriarch of Rimvold, and later organizes the Order's missions from the city. Public leadership also passes through Sylvia, who becomes Queen Sylvia the First of Skarnheim as Skarnheim's first official ruler, and later through Sigurd and the Skarnheim alliance network.
Deep beneath the Great Hall is a hidden gate embedded in the mountain. Thalion orders stairs built down to it and a nearby vault for plans, books, and valuables. Those vaults later preserve old records, including The Eleven Stories of Old, and Halgarr controls access when trusted visitors need the archives.
Rimvold uses horns for citywide alerts and mustering. Thalion decides to remove or ban bells in the city after their sound repeatedly disturbs his mind.
History
Isandriel waits at Astralem when Thalion's displaced group reaches the empty city and uses it as Varnhallow's new capital. Thalion renames Astralem as Rimvold, breaks publicly from Malverand, and makes the city the Order's covert base with hidden skyships, controlled diplomacy, and guarded routes.
Under Sigurd's rule, allies gather in the Great Hall for negotiations. Skarnheim faces Varnhallow skirmishes, darkness overrunning Bjarnholt, and shaper pressure. The city's archives preserve Varnhallow records and records of Skarnheim's founding. The mountain gate stays hidden beneath the Great Hall.
Rimvold survives the Shaper Attack on Rimvold, when Zharrek and the shapers march on Skarnheim. The Shaper Attack on Rimvold leaves the surrounding land scarred, and Jin later redirects water through the damaged region and creates a lake where he fought Virel.
After Varnhallow vanishes, Raphael's bargain with Zain opens the way for Ulzathir to attack Rimvold. Zain and his allies hold the city for a time. During the Siege of Rimvold, Virel, Thorik, Lythariel, Maric, Renneth, Zayren, Remus, and allied forces force Zain's Ulzathir occupation to withdraw. Ulzathir later abandons Rimvold, allowing Thorik to retake the city and begin restoring Skarnheim from there.