Argena (Ar-jen-nuh)

Argena is the throne of the Dragon Emperor, the capital of the Empire of Zerua and the palace-domain of the God Kemegi (if he ever actually shows up). 
The lighthouses of the naval Fort Taigora guide great fleets of merchant vessels through the marshy isles of Sanari to city-peninsula. Levee dikes push back the tides and bolster the city's defenses against storms, like defensive walls; lush green rice paddies and canals glisten in rings between the city and the levees. The great port is marked by great statues of Kemegi's massive arms, which beckon ships into the harbor and threaten divine wrath against interlopers. 
Beyond the docks is a city of art, of fun, of intrigue, of strict law, and of business. The city guard (led by the Emperor's spies and spy-soldiers) are more watchful here than most Zeruan cities, and are quick to come down hard against unlicensed magic or foreign cultists. It doesn't take much for someone who could be a threat to get night raided by the guards; luckily, most of the time they let the person go with a fine (those they deem dangerous to the emperor dissapear). An army of lawyers swarm the city, happy to help a traveler in need get those fines waived - having legal aide is basically a necessity for anyone of note or power entering the city. 
Much of Argena is topsy-turvy by Zeruan standards. Corporations are marginalized, religion is tightly regulated, and the imperial administration's grip is comparatively tight. It is an anomaly, one with an air of allure and strangeness to the rest of Zerua. This is the Emperor's personal domain, the gate to the house of heavenly authority - all the usual rules are suspended.

Demographics

400,000 humanoids live in Argena. 30% of the population are hybrids of some kind, 35% are Dryads, 32% are Humans, 2% are Prisms, and 1% are other species.

Government

The government of Argena is formally led by the Emperor of Zerua - currently Emperor Sophan Eramzir - but is de-facto led by an advisor known as the Emperor's Right Hand. The current Emperor's Hand is Illona Eramzir - a sharp politician with an eye for intrigue and espionage, who grew close to Sophan during the Esedetan campaigns back in the 1990s. Below the Right Hand is the mayor, a temporary official installed to watch over the city's day to day functioning. The current mayor is a reserved veteran bureaucrat named Amafa Makazir. 
Below the Hand and the mayor is an elaborate bureaucracy: the departments of trade, treasury, war, and industry. The bureaucracy's power is great here, and no noble has any claim to Argena or its surrounding lands. Instead, the Imperial Cabinet appoints local department heads who command immense power and respect.

Defences

There are three parts to the city's defense: Fort Taigora, Castle Makoi, and the Isthmus Wall. Fort Taigora is an island fortress a few miles off the coast, which guards the bay entrance into the city - all sea traffic must sail past Fort Taigora's watchful eyes. Fort Taigora is the center of power for the Admiralty, as well as the home of the Imperial Prison (where those made to dissapear by the Emperor's circle go).
Castle Makoi is the center of fortifications for the Palatial District and the seat of power for the Imperial Guard. The Isthmus Wall regulates traffic coming in from the main body of the island.

Industry & Trade

The city revolves around the court and the people it brings: entertainers, clerks, attendants, and salespeople are all common professions here, as are chefs, hairdressers, tailors, and the like. Many people work as smallfarmers, builders, porters, weavers, and common artisans as well. Of these industries, textiles are easily the largest: cotton picked in the countryside is processed here. Cotton is ginned, milled, woven, and dyed in vast amounts to make great piles of luxury textiles. Sanari cotton textiles are particularly valued, and the large concentration of sorcerers and priests in the city gives Argena's textiles an extra sheen.

Infrastructure

Argena's infrastructure is great, but the population of the city is vast as well. In most parts of the city, the roads and sewers work alright; this varies from district to district, of course. The water and food systems are more developed; there is a lot of investment in providing clean drinking water for the city, and food is artificially routed to the city to provide the temple's charities and to secure the city's food prices during years of famine. The most impressive infrastructure isn't providing water, but keeping it out: a system of drainage ditches and levee dikes artificially drain the peninnsula's marshes and push back the sea.
Argena's Windweavers are coordinated not by corporations, but by the Imperial bureaucracy. Given the distance of the city from the supervolcano and from major factories, windweavers are less important here than in other cities. The profession is much more political and high-status here than in any cities, and it is more exclusive - not all windweaving dryads can becoming imperial windweavers, and many less-powerful commonborn wind dryads have to sell their services to private groups instead.

Districts

The Palatial District: Home to the emperor, the dragon priest, and the imperial court. A fortified district of government power and public ritual. 
The Archive District: District of temples, schools, and colleges - a small district that acts as a nerve center for the Kamada religion. 
The Scribe District: A district for housing and business for clerks, bureaucrats, writers, lawyers, and other people of letters. Houses the largest concentration of printing presses in perhaps the whole Empire, and the writing salons here are famous as a way to find the emperor's patronage (as rare as that is). A rare middle class district. 
The Canal District: Water-wheels and canals are everywhere in this singular industrial part of the city. Used for larger workshops, shipping, and storage.
The Crownport: Central port for the city and heart of commerce.  
The Bridge District: Southernmost part of the city, where the peninsula connects with the larger island. Known for its large watermill, large walls, and mixture of agriculture and military presence. 
The Shop District: Throne of the merchant families, the shop district is where most workshops and common shops ply their trades. 
The Beast District: The agricultural district along the Eastern coast, where levee dikes hold back the sea for reclaimed farmland. All animal operations involving more than 5 animals in a household must take place in this district (hence the name), so a lot of families keep their livestock here in large communal mass farms. Fish farming, chicken farming, lobster farming, and pig farming are all common. 
Luwori: An agricultural district based around lake Luwori, the last part of the peninsula's marshlands. Center of rice and maize farming in the city. Marshy and bug-infested. 
Aswadiri: Built by Emperor Dumenzara centuries ago, the Aswadiri was originally marked as servant's quarters and an auxiliary barracks. Now it is the official residential district of the city, with great apartment blocks and multistory housing. 
Morika Village: The original village that existed here before the emperor claimed the peninsula for the city, Morika village has been artificially preserved as an old romantic hamlet- only nicer, for tourists. The architecture is in old romantic styles, the residents dress in older fashions, and public parks punctuate the houses and shops to make it seem rural and quaint. Full of entertainers and known as the 'imperial playplace'.
Cragshore: A bad place to swim or fish, or live really. Once was a stone quarry (and still is in parts), now cragshore is where the sewers and garbage canals all empty to. Outside of the prism-areas that isolate themselves from the rest of the district, a place of decay.

Guilds and Factions

The Imperial Court: Nobility from across the empire come here to play at intrigue at court, and they often play politics in the city while they are here. 
The Merchant Dynasties: A handful of elite families run the trades and commerce around here. These are not small pods, but vast adopted clans with corporate ties and legions of competing children seeking to prove themselves. Common merchants and artisans have to align themselves with a merchant clan if they want to really get by - the dynasties can make it very hard for an independent merchant to ply their trade in the city, and offer great benefits for those who pay tribute to them. 
The Priesthood: The priestly bureaucracy, who run the city's courts, basic schools, and rituals. The priests of Argena are held to high standards, and are much more involved in the legal process than in most cities. 
The Imperial Guard: Defenders of the Emperor, garrison of the city, and keepers of law and order, the Imperial Guard deal with high-profile crimes and intrigue as well as city defense. The common city guard reports to them, though, so the Imperial Guard do play a role in controlling unrest and sedition. The current Imperial Guard is particularly loyal to this emperor, and go out of their way to promote a sense of royal absolutism. 
The Admiralty: The navy keeps Argena safe. It regulates ship traffic and helps augment it with their own warships at times. The defensive fort here, Fort Taigora, is the center of naval administration for the empire, and the admirals there hold great sway over the city. The admirals forced the city open once upon a time, and they are deeply intermarried with the merchant dynasties of the city to this day. 
The Corporations: While restrained in influence, the corporations do have power here still. Aludarzir Corporation and Aizadara, the shipping and textile magnates, have significant presences in Argena. Others, like Iskariba (the arms and windweaving company) would very much like more of a foothold. 
The Imperial Censors: The spies, censors, and agents of the Emperor, which protect the Empire from sedition and infiltrators.

History

Argena was founded in 1532 as a new, more secure imperial capital by Empress Dumenzara Kamazir, after the prior capital city of Sarkama was compromised by Maradian infiltrators in 1530. The 1530 attempted coup deeply undermined the empire, led to revolts, and almost triggered a succession war. The new Empress closed the empire and clamped down on intrigue within the old capital. Sarkama was in chaos and quickly declined in population. To try and distance her regime from this chaos and signal the start of a new imperial age, Dumenzara went searching for a new place in the Vice-Kingdom of Sanari to move the capital to. The Argena peninsula seemed like an ideal choice, given that it would be easier to police entering and exiting ships and land travelers, and there was only a small village already there to join in potential unrest. Argena grew in size over time as its importance was cemented in the public imaginary; when the closed period of Zerua ended in 1690, Argena's population soared.

Points of interest

The Imperial Palace: A massive palace complex, center of the Empire of Zerua's royal court and administration. Sprawling gardens, guest residences, ballrooms, and music halls all are sheltered behind great stone walls. The place to be for any royal appointment or truly elite socializing event. In the Palatial District.
Cathedral of Makoi: A large religious center supposedly containing the ashes of the first Emperor Makoi, that serves as a site of religious pilgrimmage and revelation. In the Archive District.
The Palace of Kemegi: The empty residence of the great dragon Kemegi. Kemegi doesn't actually stay here, but the massive building serves as a reminder of the gargantuan power of the beings that protect the empire (in theory). Since the great dragon's never around, the great hall is used as an indoor marketplace, sport arena, and event hall instead. Once a year, a massive life-size idol of Kemegi (a mostly empty multi-part construct of cloth, frames, and illusions) is assembled here and walked into the main plaza to celebrate the founding of the empire. At the edge of the Palatial District.
The Imperial Archives: the greatest collection of books, paperwork, diaries, and lore in the Empire of Zerua. Typically only accessible to university students or imperial courtiers. In the Archive District.
The Grand Gallery: A massive art gallery patronized by the imperial court. Includes halls for poetry reading, music, theater, and public prose reading. Any art displayed here is automatically considered fine art, and the value of it skyrockets - artists across the empire fight tooth and nail to be featured here. Whether you're an artist seeking fame, an observer seeking splendor, or an art thief seeking a target, there is no better place to be than here.
The Tenflower Circus at Morika Village: Morika village is a district of the city where local residents are legally obligated to pretend to be in a pastoral fantasy from early Zerua for the sake of tourism- like Disneyland meets a Renaissance Festival. The Tenflower Circus is a big entertainment venue here, a permanent circus that might be called a proto-amusement park. Only the best clowns, performers, and attractions are hired for this carnival of elite power. Bards here are under strict surveillance from the Imperial Censors.

Tourism

Tourism is a major industry in Argena. The imperial court draws significant traffic to and from the city, and many of these tourists have wealth they would like to conspicuously spend. Poorer tourists flock to these shows of lavish spending, and often get treated to free food and entertainment - it is a sign of status for nobles and merchants to pay for food, drinks, and shows for everyone after all. Some entertainment is only for the elites, of course - parts of Morika Village and the Grand Gallery, as well as court shows, are extremely exclusive.

Architecture

Raised foundations, squat bases, and small spires or towers with sloping roofs. Corbelled arches (arches that point upward sharply at the top) and recessed windows (windows that are sunken in the structure wall) are common. Buildings often cluster together, with little to no space between structures. Architecture is dark, though more carefully designed spaces make sure to make the most every window.
Most houses have basements, cellars, and even sub-basements, beneath their raised foundations. These underground spaces tend to be quite wet, especially in the mid-river parts of the city. The wet and mucky floors make them uncomfortable living spaces, but they do have natural refrigeration during the summers. Wet-ground cellars can even be built to fully refrigerate dairy and other spoilable goods.
Speaking of cooling, most houses have chimney-like structures known as windcatchers, which siphon cool winds into the house. Better-to-do houses have movable grates over these that allow them to be closed during winter.
Larger monumental buildings often have domes, spires, or spires on top of domes.

Geography

Argena occupies much of a small peninsula in Southern Sanari. This peninsula is 13 by 7 miles across, and is bolstered by levee dikes to keep the sea safely away during earthquake-driven tsunamis. The Argenan peninsula is luckily mostly insulated from storms and tsunamis by the curvature of the island, but the precautions have protected the city once already. Lake Luwori, the last remnants of the local swamp, sits in the Southeastern part of the peninsula. 
Argena is 8 miles away from the other side of the Sanari and is connected in the South by a 2-mile-wide isthmus.  The island of Taigora is 4 miles away to the West, and is a fortified naval base that protects Argena from attack. Taigora is 2 by 2 miles across.

Founding Date

1532

Type

Large city

Population

400,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Argenan

Location under

Ekraht

Owner/Ruler

Emperor Sophan Eramzir

Owning Organization

Vice-Kingdom of Sanari

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