It takes you four days to traverse the hard mountain roads that lead up to the top of the Caucasus range. Up here, you can hardly tell it's summer; cold winds blow across the snow-capped peaks. On the 16th of July, you pass over the last ridge, and look down into a broad valley, nestled in the heart of the mountains.

A magnificent view opens up before you. Sprawled across the valley is a great city, the rooftops of its buildings sparkling in the sun; and at its center is a palace the likes of which you have never seen. Bigger than any fortress in any lands you've visited before, it is a structure of white towers, cupolas, minarets; gardens and fountains are scattered within its walls. This is the Cherkess capital, and the palace is the legendary Ivory Citadel, the seat of Cherkess royalty and power.

You descend down the gentle slope, passing some lavish houses and mansions scattered across the outskirts of the city. A couple of trade caravans pass you, going in both directions down this and several other roads toward the city center. You note that while some of the caravans are mundane, others have clear touches of magic about them; levitating wagons that move without wheels are the most common modification, though there are others. Entering the city proper, you find yourself surrounded by people; some Cherkess, some foreign, all moving around, on various business; the city seems to have a number of bazaars, market avenues, and an uncountable multitude of various shops.

Nestled in a valley in the Caucasus? highlands, the capital city of Cherkessia has no other name that can be translated into other tongues; its Cherkess name simply means "great city" in the language of the ancient Narts?, the race of demigods and giants from whom the Cherkess people claim descent. Founded by the first sorcerer-kings of Cherkessia, it combines traditional Cherkess architecture and layout, with its narrow streets and low stone buildings, and the cosmopolitan atmosphere of a busy trade center. Not only humans may be found here but also extraplanar beings — djinn are the most common, but others may be seen on occasion. There are, in fact, more such creatures here than people from the lands to the north, beyond the steppes, with whom Cherkessia has little contact nowadays.

Compared to most cities of its size — perhaps 300,000 people reside here, counting the farmers and herders who live on the valley's outskirts and come to the city to trade — the Cherkess capital is somewhat more densely populated, much wealthier, and much safer; the latter owing to the fact that the city has, very likely, the greatest quantity and density of individuals with spellcasting ability of any place in Midgard?. Though the Cherkess have not left the old ways, and still hold to traditions of honor and vengeance, practicality has long dictated that settling such matters within the city's limits is just not done; meanwhile, when one out of three citizens has at least some sorcerous talent, a criminal cannot rely on the common people merely standing by while crimes are committed.

Many things may be found in the capital, from exotic goods and merchandise from distant lands and realms, to sages, scholars, craftsmen and experts in all manner of domains. Most of Cherkessia's prominent magical researchers, historians, and arcane innovators have homes on the grassy slopes of the valley's edges. The farmers of the valley grow wine grapes, using magic to improve their yields and develop new cultivars, and making great fortunes from supplying the powerful and important people of the city with wine. Traders of information also do a brisk trade in the city, as gossip here is often currency no worse than gold.

The heart of the city is the Ivory Citadel, the seat of power of many generations of Cherkess rulers.