Worldview

A small human farming village located beyond the northwest forest. Wheat cultivation may be its primary industry, but its main attraction is the idyllic scenery, with many nobles from the Town of Beginnings traveling here for their summer retreat. Their specialty product is cow's milk, but the only way to obtain it is from cow-type monsters, which are rare on the 1st Floor—meaning they must rely on adventurers to get it.

Horunka is famed for its dairy farming. Cream made from the milk of bovine monsters—procured by adventurers—is said to be so delicious that it can lift even the lowest of spirits.

It's said that "Horunka folk value fragrance over bread." Every household keeps a herb or flower garden to create its own signature scent, which is passed down through the generations.

The second largest city on this floor. An examination of its characteristics make it clear why it is known as "Little Urbus," such as the way it was also carved into a mesa and how it shares Urbus' culture and customs. This shouldn't come as a surprise, however; after all, Urbus was founded by builders hailing from Marome, where the market concept is said to have originated.

Like Urbus, Marome is built from tightly knit, interconnected homes. Though smaller in scale, its layout is more complex, which can cause even the locals to become lost without a map.

In humid regions, where pests thrive in summer, raised-floor granaries are common. Originally developed to protect grain from floods back when the land lay below, the design remains in use today.

Magic does not exist in Aincrad—and yet it has never truly faded from memory. It lives on in legend, and the longing for its mystic power has never fully left the people here. The proof is everywhere: carved symbols, cryptic inscriptions, buildings etched with runes... All traces of magical research scattered across this floating world. Despite it all, not a soul has ever witnessed a single spell being cast in Aincrad. The people of this blade-bound world still whisper of a mythic dream never fulfilled.

The yellow sand found scattered throughout the area around Deadwood Forest goes by another name: Flame Sand. Craftsmen prize it for making all manner of fire-based tools and equipment—and since gathering it means venturing into one of the most unforgiving corners of the frontier, supplying it falls squarely on the shoulders of adventurers. The survival rate for those who make the trip is grim enough that the sand's value hasn't shifted in centuries.

A huge chapel with a distinctive dome-shaped roof. It serves as a holy place for the high elven faith, but was built by humans to cover the ancient elven ruins, made of dark elven steel, underneath. In the upper level of the ruins is the "Hall of Transposition" where the overworlders are summoned, and the "Monument of Life" that is inscribed with their names. It also houses the prison where those who have committed crimes in Aincrad are forcibly transported via magic. In its deepest levels there is rumored to be a vast labyrinth stretching deep underground that leads to a Sanctuary—the heart of Aincrad.