Kirnberger

Kirnberger (キルンベルガ, Kirunberuga) is a province in the duchy of Ehrenfest in the kingdom of Yurgenschmidt. It's currently governed by Giebe Kirnberger, father of Alexis.

Kirnberger is on the eastern edge of both Ehrenfest and Yurgenschmidt as a whole and contains the border gate that once connected Yurgenschmidt with its northeastern neighbor. Its capital shares the same name as the province in general and the ruling family.

It is the birthplace of Judithe and Theodore, as well as Alexis.


 * Province of Huber to the North.
 * Province of Blon to the Northwest.
 * Province of Glaz to the West.
 * Province of Hirsch to the Southwest.
 * Ehrenfest Central District generally to the West, but only directly borders Kirnberger in the Southwest
 * Province of Dahldolf to the South.
 * The country of Bosgeiz to the east (inaccessible).

Compared to Ehrenfest's central district, Kirnberger seems to be a bit colder and windier, due to it's elevation.

The landscape of the duchy is without a doubt dominated by the country wall. Standing below it is reminiscent to looking up at the Big Wall of China, albeit unlike that Earth monument, which snakes and twists to follow the terrain, this wall runs in a perfect circle around the entirety of Yurgenschmidt, cutting through the terrain. The wall is roughly as tall as regular city walls and bathed in a constant mother-of-pearl-like glow.

The biggest settlement of the province, is it's capital, which shares the name of the province itself. It is a quite big city, but surprisingly sparsely populated, considering it's size, with many vacant buildings and a rather unusual layout, compared to other cities in Ehrenfest. Both of these unusual factors are rooted in it's history. Back in the times when the province still belonged to the now dissolved duchy of Eisenreich and the country gate was still open, the Kirnberger was a sprawling trade city, seeing plenty of traffic from foreign traders, primarily form Yurgenschmidt's direct neighbor Bosgeiz. Where other cities tend to grow from the noble's quarter toward the main roads, due to it's focus on foreign trade, the city grew toward the country gate instead, leaving it with in a state where today people have to pass through the noble areas to go from the outside, into it's lower city.

When the gate was still open, Kirnberger was a sprawling trade city. When the gate was closed, it turned the city and from a transportation and trade hub, into a backwater overnight and the population soon declined to it's current levels and the many vacant buildings.

Due to the country wall barely being taller than the city walls, it can not be seen from within the city itself, except from the tops of the tallest buildings. The country gate itself, which is controlled solely by a Zent via his Grutrissheit, is separated from the city proper by another border gate, controlled by the Aub.

The country gate's two big wings, seemingly made of the same material as the rest of the wall, are adorned with complex, multi-coloured patterns, almost assuredly meant to conceal the underlying magic circles, similar to how magic circles embroidered into clothes are often disguised under embroidery made of regular thread and has a pitched roof. Rather than acting as a classical door, the country gate is actually a big teleportation circle, similar to those employed in the Royal Academy, so that people can directly traverse between the inhabited areas of the two connected countries, without having to traverse the desert between them. There are further, smaller teleportation circles leading from the gate directly to the Sovereignty, granting the Zent easy and quick access to the country gate, without the need to travel half the width of his country.

The inner, border gate is of similar design to the border gates between the duchies within Yurgenschmidt and has a flat roof, big enough for several people to stand on. With the country gate closed, the border gate too remains closed at near enough all times, only being opened at special occasions.

For a traveler to go between Yurgenschmidt and Bosgeiz, they need to have the permission of both the Zent and the Aub Ehrenfest, or they might end up stuck between the two gates and forced to return to turn back.

The history of Kirnberger goes back further than that of Ehrenfest itself, with it being established in some form back in Ehrenfest's precursor duchy, Eisenreich.

Back then the country gate would be open every year from spring to autumn, bringing a lot of foreign trade with Yurgenschmidt's eastern neighbor Bosgeiz. One of Eisenreich's main exports - apart from the ever coveted feystones - were the metals mined in their northern regions. Each spring and autumn, there would be celebrations in honour of the Zent, when he arrived to open or close the gate.

At a point more than 200 years ago, the ruling Aub Eisenreich was convinced by people from Bosgeiz to attempt a coup against the Zent, which ultimately led to the dissolution of Eisenreich and the establishment Ehrenfest in it's former, south-eastern areas, which include Kirnberger.

In the course of the insurrection, the Zent permanently closed the country gate, which led to the decline of Kirnberger, from one of the countries foremost trade hubs, to a backwater province of a backwater duchy and an according loss of population.

Despite the gate to the neighboring country being sealed for a long time, the knights under Giebe Kirnberger diligently keep up their guard. Due to this, many noble children of Kirnberger wish to become knights themselves once they grow up, in part due to the mythical beauty of the closed gate.

In the year following Lady Rozemyne's third term at the Royal Academy, she comes to Kirnberger to perform the Spring Prayer in her capacity as Ehrenfest's High Bishop and to oversee the first steps of establishing the printing industry and it's ancillary workshops in the area. To allow his adopted daughter to see the country gate, Aub Ehrenfest opens the border gate to allow her access.