Alfheim - Sword Art Online
ALfheim is the name given to the original continent in the VRMMORPG ALfheim Online (ALO). It's name and origin can be traced from Norse mythology, where it is known as "Land of the Elves."
Topology
ALfheim is an island continent, surrounded entirely by sea. At the centre of ALfheim, situated in the middle of the Alne Plateau, is the World Tree, acting as a replication off the Yggdrasil from Norse mythology, it stands tall, towering above the nine territories below. Each of the surrounding territories act as a the home ground of a different race of Fairy playable within ALfheim Online, and each with their own unique biome.
Out of all nine territories, only very few have a path that allows players access to the Alne Plateau, as they all are separated with a mountain range who's height exceeds the playable area, enforcing the use of the four limited entry paths.
Entry paths can be found in;
- The Dragons Valley, within the Salamander territory
- The Rainbow Valley, within the Undine territory
- The Butterfly Valley, within the Cait Sith territory and
- The Legrue Corridor
ALfheim Capital Cities
There have been multiple Captial cities for ALfheim over the course of it's runtime. These cities remain neutral to all playable races within ALfheim Online, in comparison to the race's main cities, which provide combat protection to its residence.
Alne
The original captial of ALfheim, Alne was founded at the root of the World Tree. It's most notable appearance is it's spiral-like structure when viewed from afar, matching that of the World Tree that it is built right next to. The city is home to the World Tree Gate, the entry point to the game's seemingly final main quest. Players would come to Alne to tackle the quest numerous times, with every team failing to beat it's challenge.
Yggdrasil City
After the transfer of ALfheim Online's ownership from RECT Progress to Ymir, the new capital city Yggdrasil City was established with the World Tree itself. Upon the addition of New Aincrad, Yggdrasil City acts as an entry point for players to enter the first floor with a special teleporter.
Regions
Outside of the Alne Plateau, ALfheim has nine different regions at listed by their occupying race below;
| Race | Bearing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cait Sith | West | Home of the Butterfly Valley, the Cait Sith have their capital residing on a peninsula connected to the main island |
| Gnome | North | Topped with ice and snow, the local Gnome race have tunnelled through it heavily, with their capital being found underground |
| Imp | South-East | The imp region is littered with large mountains, which have been heavily tunnelled through |
| Leprechaun | North-North-East | Some of the land within the region is unnatural as it has been under reclamation |
| Pooka | North-West | It's city is Carnival Themed |
| Salamander | South | The territory is based upon a Desert like biome |
| Spriggan | East-North-East | The Spriggan region resembles an old ancient ruins, with it's capital depicted like a Ziggurat. |
| Sylph | South-West | The Sylph region has a Castle like capital, illuminating at night with several spires. The region is also home to the Ancient Forest |
| Undine | East | The Undine region is Wetland like area. They claim the Rainbow Valley and the Crescent Gulf |
The Legrue Corridor
The Legrue Corridor is a special cave connecting the Alne Plateau with the Sylph territory. The route presents a dangerous journey to all players travelling through it, notably with the lack of any flight within it's bounds, but also it's intimidating cave art and the monsters that dwell inside of it.
Located within the corridor is the city of Legrue, built on top of an open underground lake, surrounded by a stone wall with only two gateways.
Jötunheimr
Underneath ALfheim is the world known as Jötunheimr, it once had an appearance matching ALfheim, but was been cut off by the blessings given by the Yggdrasil turning it into a baron frostland. This came as an event after Thrym, King of the Frost Giants cast the Excaliber sword into the lake in the centre of the world, resulting in the bottom-most root of the tree Yggdrasil to be cut. With the root severed, the lake froze over and the tree rose into the sky. Seizing control over the world, Thrym craved out the frozen lake into his own castle, which would be used as one of the world's quest dungeons.
References
Legrue Corridor - SAO Fan Wiki