Himpapawiran

History
It takes seven days worth of travel from the edges of the island, up zig-zagging paths, like a scar running up the mountain. Some say that the seven days of toil is negligible to the grandeur of the mountain city, which is named Himpapawiran, because it is the closest to the heavenly layer one will ever get.

Its foundation is sung in myths, for none quite remember how it was founded. There are many folk tales about it, but the most popular is of the great mountain spirit Manghuhulma ng Bundok. It was said that he fled from the main island in fear, and found the love of his life in the mountains of the ridge: the beast goddess Panira. There, to impress her, he made an entire city out of the side of the mountain. However, she wasn’t impressed. Then, he populated it with people—but still, she wasn’t impressed. She was only won over when he struck the edge of the mountain and made water flow from it, creating a river that ran to the sea. With that, she fell to his arms, and then they slept. When they did, a great outpouring of iron became available to the people of Himpapawiran, and thus why iron from Himpapawiran is given the nickname of Irogbiyaya,“Love’s Blessing.”

Important Figures
Datu Lakadkambing. The Datu of Himpapariwan is a tiefling who wears a great red pudong and is covered in tattoos, despite his fluffy coat not allowing you to see, along with a monsala that wraps around him. He always carries around with him his mountain head-hunting axe. His name is Datu Lakadkambing, and before becoming a Datu, he was the bravest and most powerful headhunter in all of Himpapawiran. He became Datu after he won against a rival chiefdom from the northeast side of Puthawanan, using his knowledge of metallurgy to fight them off and cement his rule as the chief of the Kedatuan of Himpapawiran.

Batang Agsunta. The elf babaylan Batang Agsunta is one of the youngest babaylan in the entire archipelago, only 14 years of age when she finished her babaylan training. Covered in tattoos and eternally blind due to her eyes being stolen during her spirit quest, she wears a cloth blindfold with an eye drawn upon it. Her spirit companion is the current god of the mountain, Supuan, who helps her when speaking to the spirits. She does not live in a single house. At four points of the day: at first light, at afternoon, at sundown and then at midnight, she travels to the four spirit houses placed on the bottom, top, east, and west sides of Himpapawiran to pay obeisance to the spirits.

Orong-Orong. Orong-orong is an intelligent philosopher who is also the leader of the mining efforts of Himpapawiran. A lean and handsome human, when he goes into the mines with his team, he’s always the last one out. Despite being rewarded with treasures, he has neglected hoarding his wealth and shares it with his workers. He lives in a house that has an entrance to the mining complexes below it.

Important Landmarks
The Datu’s Idjang. The Datu’s Idjang, or Citadel, is a grandiose stone castle built onto the side of Arimaonga’s Ridge. It is outfitted with lantaka: iron cannons which can be swivelled around to attack enemies either coming upriver or up the side of the mountain. The Datu’s Idjang is also positioned at the bottom of the polity, as if to say that the Datu would protect the rest of his people.

The Spirit Houses of Himpapawiran. The Spirit Houses of Dawn, Noon, Dusk, and Midnight are set up at the bottom, top, east, and west of the polity respectively. Each of these spirit houses are supplied with unsalted food as supplication to make sure venturing in any direction is safe.

The Mining Complexes. The Mining Complexes have several different entrances, but each of them run along the rich iron deposits that live within the caves of Arimaonga’s ridge. Additionally, outside of the openings of these mining complexes are Smith Houses, where people go to get iron or metal tools, or to learn how to become “panday ng puthaw”; ironsmiths.