Galdanis, or, more formally, The Exalted Acropolis of Galdanis, capital of the Northern Portions, Jewel of the Septarchy, etc., was, contrary to popular belief, not constructed by the Oncillians who occupied it during the height of its glory. Rather, it was founded far before House Oncillia existed as a political entity, during the ascendency of the Vitalicant, a history which does much to explain the pecularities of its construction. The city was built on the upper slopes of the Tyrian mountains, accessible by land only after an arduous journey up alpine trails. The Vitalicant rulers of the day apparently regarded the city as much (if not more) as a monument to the glory of their civilization as a practical urban center. Only after the decline of the Vitalicant and the beginning of the Age of Flight proper did the city attain genuine significance. Regrettably, few of the numerous Vitalicant-era artifacts and statuary the city once housed survived the remarkably thorough looting of the city at the hands of the Pulotu at the climax of the Rail Wars.

—Thaddeus Rhagfarnllyd