Bruma (Oblivion)

Bruma is the northern-most city in the province of Cyrodiil, located in the Jerall Mountains along the border with Skyrim. Bruma's northerly latitude, combined with its high altitude, leads to a much different climate than other populated areas of the province. The city is perpetually covered in snow, with clear, sunny days being the exception, rather than the norm. The city, and its people, have adapted to the climate with a much simpler, hardier way of life.

Description
Bruma is understood to be a Nibenese county, but in truth it is more Nord than Nibenese, on account of its close prximity to the Skyrim border, and on account of the terrible cold and discomfort of its location high in the Jerall Mountains. Bruma is always cold and covered with snow, with braziers kept burning in every quarter to prevent the citizens from freezing to death. Everything is built in wood, since trees are so plentiful in the forests of the Jeralls, and even rich men live here in dark, dirty wooden huts. It is little wonder that Nords are such drunken heathen savages, for life is impossible in such a climate, and one might be tempted to drink into insensibility or sell one's soul just to find sanctuary from the bitter cold and relentless wind.

Architecture
Unlike most other cities, there is very little diversity among the architecture of Bruma; there is no prominent aristocratic or commercial region to speak of. Almost all of the buildings, from the guild halls down to the single-person residences, are sturdy wooden buildings, built on top of a thick granite base. The only notable difference between the high-end houses and the lower-end ones are the presence of a second story, and in some cases, a basement. Though the buildings are constructed similar to the log cabins of the Skryim frontier, they are extremely well-built, and generally sport eloborate doors and external support beams, decorated all over with Nordic carvings. There is very little decoractive about Bruma apart from the buildings themselves; in particular, the climte is far too harsh to support parks, trees, ponds, or other natural features found in other cities.

Count and Countess
Countess Narina Carvain is a Nibenean Heartlander, a dutiful chapel goer, and a respected ruler, though she is cunning and a ruthless negotiator, and has a reputation for sharp dealing and treachery. She runs the county efficiently and the county is well ordered. The Countess makes sure that Bruma has a well trained and aggressive town watch. To lead the town watch she has hired a Nord named Burd as Captain of the Guard.

Layout
Castle Bruma is cold and drafty, carelessly decorated, and dark with soot from the perpetually burning braziers. The smell of smoke and cinders is overpowering. The high ceilings are grand, but impossible to heat, and one is never to get warm. The ancient layers of soot and filth encrusting the stonework makes it difficult to appreciate the exceptional stonecarving. Except in its stonework and grand scale, the castle is like the log huts of the people, cold, dark, drafty, and dirty.

Access to the castle is through a gate west from the town into a courtyard. The shops, inns, and guilds are located in the north, either on the western terrace near the castle gate, or below the terrace, north of the chapel. The chapel is the central feature of southern Bruma, with houses ranged along the inside of the walls along the east and south. The streets are cramped and barren, since few trees and plants can survive the cold, but the town is compact and quickly explored.