Pegrama
Pegrama is the largest city in the Kingdom of Alsona. As Parthenonas is the center of government and society, Pegrama is the city where most of the grimy day to day work actually takes place. Access to Parthenonas is tightly controlled, while Pegrama has become open to migrants of all types. The walls are more of a theory than an actual fortification, with many parts of it having been demolished or repurposed over the years. For the most part the city is poor, but it still has a large thriving merchant population and commerce dedicated towards providing for the masses.
Demographics
The majority of the population in Pegrama are Alsonan humans, but the size of the city and the presence of the local university have attracted plenty of other races over the years. High elves have set up their own neighborhood and banking houses, dominated by the Rachiden Banking House, and have been followed by a rising half-elf population. Dwarves were for a time the largest minority, but since the end of the Wingo War, most have migrated to Valtkos Wingo, choosing to live among their own kind, rather than as a despised faction within an enemy kingdom. Many dwarves still inhabit the city, but nowhere near in the numbers they once possessed.
Government
The Duchess and House Barlas are the final authorities in Pegrama. The Barlas family were said to have been the founders of the city back before Alsona was ever truly even a notion. The levies of the house act as the guards and judges for any law and order, and report directly to the head of the family. Over the years they have created a bureaucracy to manage the day to day affairs of the city, but most Duchesses simply ignore the activities of its people. As long as taxes are paid, to maintain the levies and businesses, what passes for a government here rarely cares about the activities of the lower classes.
Defences
The walls of Pegrama have long since faded into ruin. Only a handful of these fortifications can still be found scattered throughout the city, offering no real defensive value, but instead forming the walls of new houses and structures. The University and the Dwarven District both maintain their own walls, to provide security for their inhabitants, and the siege of the Dwarven District during the Wingo War famously demonstrated the skill of dwarven engineering, even upon short notice. The rest of the town is defended by the levy regiments of House Barlas, and should an outbreak of war erupt, would also be supported by a militia of over five thousand local volunteers.
Industry & Trade
Most of the trade taking place in Pegrama revolves around the crafts and artisanry needed to maintain the function of the University. Skilled craftsman work their entire lives creating a variety of instruments to provide to those who treat music as their devotion to life. Pegraman instrument makers are considered to be the finest in Emicara, and any worth their weight in gold have trained or apprenticed here. Outside of the musician community and their supporters, the fields surrounding Pegrama provide ample amounts of food, and the granaries of the city help provide Parthenonas with the food needed on a daily basis. Between the agriculture and the music, the city thrives in wealth and commerce, and most trade caravans stop here to sell and trade their goods or make contracts for the export of Alsonan goods to other nations and regions.
Infrastructure
Pegrama is an older city, and for the most part, its infrastructure has been allowed to languish. While most of the streets are paved, they are often in states of poor repair, and rarely maintained by anyone except charitable causes, who can only provide limited support. Similarly, years of fires and occasional wars have led to many old basements and ruins simply being forgotten underneath the newer city. The sewer systems are surprisingly still functional, at least in most of the city, which has helped prevent the worst ravages of disease over the years, and maintain a level of sanitation. However, they are vast and unmapped, and very few remain who actually know how they work.
Districts
The University district contains the famed University of Pegrama, and has a well-manicured park, garden, and zoo, offering the only source for higher education in Alsona. An egalitarian institution, it welcomes people of all races looking for education, especially in forms of music or the arts. The training in all types of musical instruments and theory is unsurpassed by any similar place of education bards in all of Emicara. Its sterling reputation have led to donations and patronage from the wealthy all the way from the Civilized Lands. The Alsonan Royal Orchestra performs in the local theaters, of which there are many of all classes and styles.
Another district of note in Pegrama is the Dwarven District, or the Short Stacks as they’re derisively called by the human population. Built within the past forty years, the district is built to scale for the size of dwarves outside the rest of the old city. The dwarves typically kept the place cleaner than the human parts of town and proved to be industrious in their work, but very insular. That changed dramatically after the Wingo War, when many of the dwarves simply packed up and left, moving to Valtkos Wingo to live among their own kind. The poor and lower middle classes of humans in Pegrama have since moved in, adapting the district for their own needs, and only a handful of dwarves still remain.
The Underbelly is the most notable part of the city that few speak of. A system of tunnels and sewers underneath Pegrama, said to date back to the Nameless Empire, are dominated by the families of the Vovoi, who constantly fight for control over the darkly lit rooms and passages. They are used for smuggling, black market sales, and hiding those who don’t want to be found by rightful authority. The only part the Underbelly doesn’t reach in Pegrama is the Dwarven District, which is new enough and well patrolled enough that the underground doesn’t extend there, giving it a grace away from the worst criminal activity.
Assets
Pegrama has many services and locations of interest to wandering travelers and adventurers. Although most of the city is rather poor and decrepit, the number of nobles and bards visiting the university frequently brings in gold and opportunities. The University itself offers a large library and exotic menagerie, but also opportunities for those seeking out bounties and contracts for service. The Alsonan Rangers maintain an outpost here, to provide recruitment and support for their own members operating in the region. There are over 250 taverns and inns scattered throughout the city, all of which tend to have rooms to rent and in which, adventures and contacts can be found. Pegrama is the primary battleground of the Vovoi, as the various families all maintain footholds here, while spreading their designs and plans throughout the rest of Alsona.
Founding Date
6 AF
Type
City
Population
62,000
Related Ethnicities
Inhabitant Demonym
Pegraman
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
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