Zankor

The Artisan's Home

Renowned for innovation, learning, trade, and booming culture, Zankor is considered to be the greatest city in all of Trast. This vast bastion arose from humble beginnings as a mining town, where a Medvalyn-led colony ship landed to find a natural seaside cavern rich in valuable minerals. As the town was established, trade blossomed and brought the other races in, rapidly expanding into the first major city on the continent in the current age.
Zankor now consists of several districts:

• The original cavern became the Undercity. The mining tunnels still operate, with mineral processing facilitated by several refineries and forges. The Undercity is also home to two massive water purifiers that support the city above, a satellite enclave of Charbraks which liaises for trade with Glimmerfyrd, as well as a gladiatorial fighting pit known as The Kyln.
• The Capitol Keep is walled off for protection, and houses the city's governing Council, the Iron Lyceum, and the Institute of Conjury.
• Surrounding the northwestern side of the Capitol are the docks and warehouse district.
• To the southeast lays the Bazaar, most of the residential and commercial space, and most of Zankor's various religious establishments.

Government

Zankor is a meritocracy. Position and power are determined by skill. The city is ruled overall by a medvalyn king, a tradition traced back to its roots as a mining town and the settlers' ship captain. However, the king is supported by a council of the most skilled individuals in the region: the Provosts.

Defences

Trast's largest city is protected by a massive stone wall and heavy iron gate. Ballistae and cannons are mounted at the tops of her towers, and she hosts a guard corps of nearly 2000 known as the Zankor Aegis.
Within the city's walls, it is illegal for any citizen to carry a weapon other than a shortsword or smaller blade. The only exceptions are the Aegis, members of the Huntsman’s Fellowship or Manticouriers, and contracted caravan guards. Visitors are provided with a permit that allows them to carry their weapons to their inn of choice for storage, which will be released back to them upon departure. Alternatively they can check their illegal weapons into the guard armory.
The guard corps is broken into five detachments, with each led by a Captain and named accordingly: the North Aegis covers the northern wall, the South Aegis covers the southern wall, Capitol Aegis protects the Capitol Keep, the Patrol Aegis patrols the city streets, and the Reserve Aegis trains new guards and supplements the other detachments as needed by offering relief or surge personnel. Personnel rotate detachments every few months for experience and to deter complacency, with the rotations overlapping to prevent lapses in knowledge. Each detachment is further broken down into four 6-hour shifts, with each shift lead by a Lieutenant. All Aegis personnel answer to the Grand Marshall. As home to the Institute of Conjury, the Zankor Aegis has a number of wizards in their employ who specialize in pacification and healing magics. Generally, every Patrol or Reserve squad is composed of four guards, a Pacifier, and a Sergeant leading them. The guards posted on the walls also employ combatant mages with more offensively oriented spells.
The Aegis is primarily a volunteer force. However, if personnel numbers dip too low there are processes in place for conscription of able bodied citizens to bolster the ranks. 
WARNING: Usage of any magics intended to inflict harm on others outside of the Academic environment, by any persons not employed by the Zankor Aegis, is a punishable offense.

Infrastructure

Using a natural magma vein below the Undercity, Zankor's plumbing and waste disposal are supported by a massive furnace which recycles the water and destroys the solid material. The city also sports a fully equipped dock and shipyard, and even an experimental airfield. Miles of farm extend beyond the walls.

Guilds and Factions

• Brewmaster Society
• Consortium of Smithies
• Divine Conclave 
• Zankor Aegis
• Huntsman’s Fellowship
• Institute of Conjury
• Iron Lyceum - engineering guild
• The Manticouriers
• Mariner Sodality - sailors guild
• Medical Guild
• Office of Labor - manages the various artisanal guilds
• Traston Bounty Trackers (northwestern office)

Points of interest

• Pogreban Tower
• Oceansbreak Temple
• Empyrean Sanctuaries
• Nature's Embrace (public garden/park, home to shrines for Skrath, Rantaes, and Nalys)
• Relics of the Pantheon (religious museum of the Divine Conclave)
• The Kyln (gladiatorial arena)
• Zankor's Best: Imported Coffee and Teas
• Tipsy Pixie (cabaret tavern)
• Mordecai’s Marvelous Storage

Architecture

While the older and larger buildings are constructed primarily of masterfully cut stone blocks, the majority of residences are painted wattle and daub, most often white washed.

Geography

The city sits upon the massive plateau known as Voknul's Anvil, at the top of the seaside cliffs. The Undercity -and original mine- started from a natural cave in the cliff facing the ocean.

Alternative Name(s)

The Great Bastion

Type

Large city

Population

31,670

Inhabitant Demonym

Zankytes

Location under

Voknul's Anvil

Included Locations

• Empyrean Sanctuaries
• Oceansbreak Temple
• Pogreban Tower

Owning Organization

The Zankor Meritocracy