The City of Lamu-Da

The City of Lamu-Da was once known for it's powerful displays of wealth and power, in their ability to bully the other city-states that surround them, but has now fallen into disrepair as starving and desperate citizens fight each other for basic resources to stay alive. Without the power of the Kelovee, crops are failing, domesticated animals are falling prey to disease, and the city starves. Migrants from neighboring rural areas and rival city-states flood into the city, seeking to escape marauders who forced them from their lands or to escape from the starvation and political instability that plagues other cities. Lamu-Da itself is on the edge of anarchy as religious groups and rival families fight for power and influence over a government that can do little to nothing, to protect its people.

Demographics

The city suffers from extreme social stratification with wealthy bankers and landowners living in the center of the city, a small group of middle-class scholars, educated artisans, lawyers, and doctors living near Yoriel University, a large group of uneducated workers that make up the vast majority of the population, and a new group of refugees from rural and underpopulated areas that live on the outskirts of the city in sprawling slums.

Government

The city is a city-state controlled by a select few wealthy families that seek to preserve their own power as chaos begins to take hold of the city. The state is organized behind a powerful legislature, an easily weakened judicial branch, and an executive branch that mainly exists as a figurehead to be blamed whenever something goes horribly wrong. The vast majority of the government is extremely corrupt, with factions and political positions changed over petty familial disputes or large bribes. They are slow to react and have no idea how to curtail the mass civil unrest that is erupting from food shortages.

Defences

The city is surrounded by a massive wall, with guard towers every hundred feet.

Industry & Trade

The vast majority of the city's citizens are involved with trade of some kind, either with bartering for basic goods and services, launching expansive trade deals with faraway kingdoms and city-states, or for selling merchandise on the city streets. Poor traders solicit people on the streets, offering magic trinkets, sexual favors, basic labor services, temporary mercenary work, and spoiled meat. Other poor laborers work in manufactories, working in the design and creation of mass produced cloth products like curtains or clothes, that are heavily managed by the middle-class artisans who distrust them. At the time of this story, many of the manufactories are closing from lack of demand, leading to more people becoming unemployed and desperate for food. Many of the middle-class work primary jobs like as professors or lawyers, but have to supplement their income with odd jobs like janitorial work or nursing to make end's meet. The wealthy mainly work in either politics, banking, or trading with much of their work reliant on family ties and corruption. Priests and priestesses can be either extremely wealthy or poor depending on where their followers live and depending on how poor they are, may work odd jobs along with their religious work to keep their temples financially stable.

Infrastructure

The city is built with narrow streets and tall apartment buildings that seem to lean on each other for support. The sewer system is rudimentary at best and often overflows when it rains. In the city center are wide open spaces with parks, music halls, museums, libraries, and ornate governmental and religious buildings. The few temples that exist to serve middle class and poor residents are crumbling, often crowded to full capacity and severely underfunded. The buildings are often made of wood and stone, so fire remains a possible threat. Another danger is disease, which spreads like wildfire in the crowded, toxic environment. Small manufactuories exist in the poorer areas, managed by middle-class artisans and worked by the poor. People, before and during the crisis use their backyards to grow crops and raise animals in case of any shortages.

Assets

The city has a strong batalion of soldiers and armed guards that protect the city's walls and the homes of the rich and powerful. Another strong groups of people under the city-state's control is a small group of Kelovee that have been locked away and forced to create a continual supply of food for the wealthy. Large granaries exist that hand out small parcels of food for the starving populace, but the vast majoirty of grain is hoarded. Museums and temples in the city center hold valuable and expensive artifacts adorned with gold and other precious materials.

Guilds and Factions

The city is separated by families that split the areas into spheres of influence. These spheres are the only places certain families can control financial institutions, the local armed guards, the religious authorities, and local trade and production. The religious authority has been split since the crisis began with some in power blaming the wickedness of the poor for causing the calamity, while a small group of lower middle-class and poor priests began preaching that both the religious authorities and the government should do more to help the poor. There also exists smaller middle-class political families that hold sway over the poorer regions that the rich doesn't want to deal with. They control gambling dens, professional pickpockets and beggars, brothels, and taverns.

Geography

The city is home to several wells that provide clean drinking water for the city and is surrounded by farmland.

Natural Resources

Massive farms produced grain, wine, milk, and meat, but food production has plummeted since the Kelovee began losing their power, causing mass instability all over the region. Quarries and forests that once provided stone and wood for production are depopulated or taken over by raiders. Trade has ground to a standstill and luxuries like perfume, glassware, gold, silver, and gems no longer come into the city and neither does life-saving goods like herbs, fish, or salt.

Type

Large city

Population

30,000- 45,000 Humans. Only a rough estimate, as the census does not count the incoming refugees as citizens.

Inhabitant Demonym

Lamu-Dani