New Solaria (new sole-ARE-ee-ah)
The capital of the The Chatia Empire and the seat of Imperial power, New Solaria is a city built atop the ruins of an older city, which is built atop the ruins of another even older city. It has a great deal of history, most of it violent, and while it is located in the far northwestern corner of the Imperium, it has retained its prominent position on the geopolitical landscape due to a series of factors.
First, the absolute insistence of Konophar Chathya that her capital remain on the site of the Tresan Dynasty's sacred mysteries. She established in her will that her descendants could not relocate the seat of power for 1000 years after her death, citing some mystical nonsense about ley lines and the blessings of the "gods of nature," a group of entities apparently unrelated to Adaris. This flim-flam was almost certainly a smoke screen for her true reasoning. In reality, Konophar was a peerless strategist and almost as-capable a propagandist. She saw the restlessness of the conquered Tresan kingdom and chose to place the most obvious symbol of her domination over them at the center of their holiest cultural place of worship, thus crushing any chance of the populace rising up against her based on their heretical ancient belief systems. Additionally, the building of the fourteen temples to the true gods, and the establishment of Panreverence as the official faith of the Imperium brought both religious and economic activity to the city. The granting of sovereignty within the walls of the temples did much to ensure the somewhat ersatz priesthood would remain under Konophar's thumb, and thusly that of her descendants.
Second, New Solaria's proximity to and thorough alliance with The Collegium on Meeav. When a settlement forms a close relationship with another, we often call them "sister cities." This appellation was never more accurate than in the case of New Solaria and The Collegium. The two cities have occasionally quarreled, but when push came to shove, they supported each other. The Collegium, with its enormous reserves of knowledge and magic, as well as its complex network of contacts with learned people across the globe, lent great authority to the fledgling Empire. In turn, New Solaria used its military and agricultural resources to support the Collegium and to protect it from incursions by various hostile entities.
Third and finally, The Multiverse Tower. This enormous tower, constructed by magecraft from the very bones of the material plane, connects to planar doorways across the multiverse, as the name might imply. Additionally, the Tower hosts near countless teleportation circles, gates, and dimensional doorways which open into cities, laboratories, and magical pulsars across Berth. As a transportation hub, The Multiverse Tower functions as a station for airships, lightning rail trains, Tensertruck caravans, Broombox shipping, Prongdrift Strider Horse and Worg tours, and every other mode of transport on the face of the world. The Tower has granted New Solaria the illusion of centrality, despite its relative remoteness.
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