Viriopolis

Viriopolis is a major port city in the province of Virio along the southern shore of the Bardonese Commonwealth. As the largest city in the Ventraterranean Bay, it serves as one of the largest ports in the Commonwealth, as well as a major anchoring point for the Vis Maris.

Involvement in the Cross-Ekonic War

An unprovoked terror attack on the city of Viriopolis was the inciting act that brought about the Cross-Ekonic War. On a cloudy morning in the early winter of E5 016, a pair of bomber aircraft were seen in the skies over Viriopolis. One heavy bomber of the type used by the Commonwealth's own Vis Aerae, and the other of the type used by League of West Ekonic Democracies (LOWED) forces. Neither wore any sort of identifying livery, and both ceased to respond to air traffic control after crossing into the no-fly zone over Viriopolis.
Before Vis Aerae fighters could intercept and shoot down the pair, they unleashed their payload upon the shopping and residential districts of Viriopolis, apparently missing their (supposed) intended target of the ports. Not wanting to risk a second volley, interceptor aircraft closed to cripple the two bombers using their guns, and only delivered the finishing blow after the bombers were approaching the countryside outside of Viriopolis.
Thousands of civilians, many of them children, lost their lives in the initial bombing, as well as the fires, stampedes and general panic that followed. First responders were spread thin over the two gouges left by the bombing run, and by sundown fires were still blazing. Countless photos were taken from the air depicting the glowing, firey pair of scars in the cityscape.
The attack was swiftly blamed on LOWED, due to the years of saber rattling that had been occurring between them and the Bardonese Commonwealth beforehand, as well as the presence of a LOWED inventory bomber. Despite LOWED officials unanimously denying the allegations with little to no inconsistencies in their stories, and the dozens of questionable details about the attack, Bardonese officials remained resolute in their convictions, and initiated an invasion of LOWED member states in the spring of the same year.
Though knowledge of the identities and motives of the attackers died with the bombers themselves, the official story goes as follows. The Barrier Coalition, seeking allies to aid them in fending off Bardonese invasion acquisition, cut a deal with LOWED to engage in a surprise attack against the city of Viriopolis, where aircraft carriers NMC Unitatem and NMC Octavia Caina were at anchor after deployments to the Barrier War front. The official story is that neither party to this deal is willing to confess to having made it in order to maintain a narrative that the empire commonwealth is waging a war of aggression against them.

History

Going back to the Age of the Ancients, Viriopolis has been the major port of call for ships traveling near the Ventraterranean Bay. Viriopolis was also once the capital of a major maritime nation whose borders closely matched that of the modern Bardonese province of Virio.

Type

Large city

Inhabitant Demonym

Viriopolite

Owner/Ruler

Octavia Caina

Owning Organization

Bardonese Commonwealth