Akadence

Akadence is the oldest city still standing in the world, and one of the most successful. It was built by survivors of the ancient settlement of Stuttgart underneath a country known as Germany led by spokeswoman Amalie Lichtenfelts. While many other cities from this era has fallen to either natural disasters, vicious creatures or starvation, Akadence has remained throughout. And while it started rather small and humble, over the years it has steadily grown bigger and bigger in both size and population.
Arguably the most varied city on the continent regarding both population and views, Akadence has a little bit of everything. A guard force that keeps them safe and a thieves guild to challenge that safety. A commandant and committee that heads the political matters and groups that tries to grab that power. Grand supermarkets and small mystic arcaneums, large dragonborn and small gnomes, and clerks and politicians. This and many more things is Akadence: "Where the skyscrapers touch the earth and people are as varied as life can be".

Sun Crystal

All living things need sunlight to survive, and the people of Akadence are no exception. Therefore the one thing that keeps Akadence remotely functional is the massive Calcite crystal embedded in the ceiling above the center: the Sun Crystal. It was one of the first objects manipulated via magic after the Day of Fate. It was manipulated to grow in size from about the size of a palm to about 2 meters across, and more importantly to draw on the surrounding magic to emit light and heat to emulate the sun. This was then (with great difficulty) embedded in the cave ceiling above. In the beginning it was only enough to just sustain a population of just over 3000 people, but consistent research and upgrades have made it powerful enough to give more than 3 times as many people sun energy. It used to draw power from the poisonous surface but since nowadays the surface is clean they have substituted it for the local power plant. The crystal alights each day at 8 AM and remains active until 8 PM, when it turns off to recharge and ensure people can sleep properly. The Sun Crystal is the first invention made by magic in Akadence and to this day remains the most important for all Akadencers in history.

Demographics

Out of 9500 people, there are about 20% humans, 17% elves, 15% half-elves, 10% dwarves, 8% tieflings, 7% gnomes, 6% halflings, 5% tabaxi, 5% half-orcs and 7% others. Once upon a time it was all humans, but millennia of evolution and magic mutations have done a lot to diversity. The races get along surprisingly well with racism being almost universally looked down upon (unfortunately not completely). Races are not divided by class, so a dragonborn could be either a minister or a fast food chain employee for example.

Government

The city is led by a Commandant by the name Cedric D'Orkus, Half-Elf. There is a committee that makes the decisions regarding law, infrastructure, guard force, resources, waste management and so on. They make the decisions while Commandant D'Orkus has highest authority, but they are still allowed to make orders official if they are of smaller importance. The citizens are required to pay a reasonable tax to keep Akadence running.

Defences

Akadence has two levels of defence from attacks. One is their hidden location. The city itself is built in a huge cavern at the end of a relatively thin waving tunnel with a heavy iron door sealing off the city. This prevents anything strong enough to break open the doors from reaching them, while the creatures that do reach Akadence can't do anything to them. Akadence is also protected by a powerful militia. They are trained to not only keep the peace in Akadence by taking care of criminals and other dangers, but also vanquish or drive back subterranean threats that find themselves popping up in the city.

Industry & Trade

Akadence, like all cities, is completely self-reliant with no trade with other cities at all. After all, if neither party knows about the other's existance how would you trade? Therefore all business takes place within the city. They grow their own food, obtain water from their own source, mine their own materials and produce their own electricity. It's not easy but the populace have long since adapted to their self-reliance.

Infrastructure

Akadence doesn't have much in the way of districts given the way the city was built. Though the center is more orderly and finely planned than the edges are due to that part being built first and more care was put into that. The edges are built much cheaper and haphazardly, so while they're cheaper to live in they're much simpler and harder to navigate between. Across Akadence are several facilities like the Roswell Power Plant, the Miller Waterworks, the prison Obsidian Tower, the City Hall in the absolute center and several subway stations both above and below the ground.

Assets

There are many stores and services in Akadence selling many different things. Some examples include:

• Coopers. A supermarket chain dotted all around Akadence. They sell food and ingredients to the populace, and have a direct cooperation with the farm facilities. They’re open between 9:00 - 23:00, and were founded by a Drow named Allan Cooper about 60 years ago.
• The Hierophant. A family business run by one of Akadence’s Tabaxi families. There’s a total of three Hierophant’s in town, two in the outer circle and one in the middle. All three are located in fairly old buildings front and clear on some of the less crowded streets. They are a convenience store and sell things like rope, batteries, tools, sewing materials, paper, pens and more.
• The Manticorium. A magic item store run by an eccentric Tiefling man named Mantis. It’s a small building located at the ground floor of a three-story building in the northern part of Akadence with details of wood built in on the outside, along with an ancient dragon skull mounted up front. Inside are several shelves filled with magic items, from shimmering drapes and crystal balls to enchanted weapons, armor and rings. Very few potions though, those are very rare in Akadence.
• The Arcane Zone. A place to see your future, talk to phantoms or see into the other planes. Or anything else magic. It’s run by a peculiar Tortle going by Guiron.
• Henrys & Marvins. A clothing store chain found in most middle class places. They have everything from t-shirts to steel armor. Founded by married couple Henry and Marvin Lee-Scott about 30 years earlier and is now run by their adopted children.
• Bygones. An antique shop. They sell old trinkets from Akadence’s younger days, along with ancient relics that they can get their hands on. They give a hefty sum to people who bring in these relics, especially those from the old world.

Guilds and Factions

Given that the title of Commandant is a heritary title there are a few political groups who try to change the system to help themselves to power. The two most prominent examples are the Akadence Revolutionaries and the more extremist group Everlasting Peace. The former use public speeches and promises to gain public trust while the latter have attempted riots and are even secretly behind some terrorist attacks, but have never been found out. Outside of politics there is also a large marketing guild called Light Inc.. Most medium and large businesses in Akadence are part of this guild. With a small cut of the profits they give their partners a marketing boost with endorsements and advertisements. Beneath the city also lurks the local thieves guild known as the Nocturnals. They steal from anyone and have left the militia occupied since they first appeared, resulting in a stalemate between both of them.

Architecture

Despite all buildings and structures being made of stone, and most buildings being square apartment buildings, there is a remarkable variety in visuals in Akadence. Due to the variety of minerals in the mountains, buildings are made of everything from granite and gneiss to finer materials like marble and sandstone, either rough and bumpy or finely polished. Even the decorations vary in style and minerals. Some of the higher class buildings in the center have pieces of gold embedded in various parts and even some gemstones like opal, amethyst and a few rubies and sappires in places. The less rich people usually have to settle for their house number etched in front, although some businesses have added their own personal touches (for example, the Manticorium has an old dragon skull mounted above the door.

Geography

Akadence is built about 50 meters underneath the area where the city of Stuttgart was once located. The cave itself is very artificial with sleek walls and a few stalactites from the ceiling. Above them is a small mountain range with peaks ranging from 30 up to 1200 meters with a couple mountain passes going through them, with creatures ranging from small rodents to kobolds to hippogriffs to wyverns and purple worms. On the northern side of the mountain where the wind blows in is a large leaf forest and on the southern side is a dry hillscape covered with grass. Located not far east of Akadence is a large underground lake which supplies the city with fresh water.

Natural Resources

Given that Akadence is built in an underground cavern there isn't much to speak about in the way of wood or other surface materials. There is however more stone around than one could ever need. This has resulted in most of the structures in Akadence being made of several varieties of stone. The nearby mines connected to the city also provide it with minerals like iron, copper, silver and more. One of the main reasons Akadence has survived for so long is the fact that they can grow their own food thanks to the water supply and the sun crystal. A large district in the northwest section of Akadence is made up of farm fields for things like wheat and corn, along with farms for creatures like cows, pigs and giant striders, which are all processed in nearby factories then shipped of to stores like Coopers.

Founding Date

10 PDF.

Type

City

Population

9565

Inhabitant Demonym

Akadencers