Korathem

Korathem is the City of Exarchs, capitol city of the March Kingdom of Arashoka and second great city of the Selkie Khilaia after Halamahi. It is a city of business, of tourism, and of steel. This is the city of meat-packing, of steel-smelting, of slaughter and labor where Karbeetle and cow alike come to die. It is also the city of music and art, where the wealthy or those seeking wealth arrive to make business deals, take large loans, and hobnob with the finest luxury goods. Entertainment is a big industry here; nowhere else can you see a selkie and cats wearing metal spikes ride a tamed monstertruck over an artificial moat. Between the great party venues, music festival, and local university magic displays, Korathem is a uniquely fun city for those who can afford it.

Demographics

Around 75,000 people live in Korathem, with 60,000 living in the urban core and 15,000 living in the peripheral districts as permanent residents. Most are Selkie, human, Dryad, or hybrid.
A small Prism community exists, largely clustered around the embassy to the Kima Cities - where prism food is cheapest and most diverse. Most of these prisms are not actually Kima residents themselves.
Of the peripheries, most residents live in either the port or the lakeside foundry district. Seasonal workers can flood into these districts at times, vastly inflating the city's population for brief periods of time.

Government

Korathem is the seat of power of the Exarch of the March Kingdom of Arashoka, who appoints the mayor of the city directly. Clan Woshalui controls the throne (and has since the early 1900s), and has immense power within the city. They typically choose mayors either from their younger ranks or from a client family. Beneath the mayor is a city council, which is elected from among the elite merchants and landholders of the city. The mayor and city council work together to manage a series of officials, who enact their will in a limited local bureaucracy. 
The current mayor is Mukuma Dapalahel, a capable and competent lawyer with civil service experience from a client family of the Woshaluis. She is an excellent manager of infrastructure, though has been known to chafe against the Hanahai and other Khilaian institutions that seek to interfere in her city.

Defences

There are two fortified castle-towers guarding the riverway, known as Memehel towers, that serve as the main fortification controlling this region. There are also small walls in the palatial district, and a small castle at the Exarch's Palace.

Industry & Trade

Korathem is both a trade and manufacturing city, a center of finance and industry alike. 
The heaviest industry is relegated to the Lakeside district, where a series of reservoirs siphon off water for use in steel smelting, leatherworking, and other foul, noisy, water-polluting industries. Karbeetle and cattle slaughter are the main two industries there: great herds of beasts are directed towards Lakeside Mapaska to be corralled, slaughtered, and dismembered into useful hides and flesh. Steel, rubber, glass, and meat are taken from the Karbeetles, while cattle are turned into smoked beef, leather hides, fat for soap, and hooves for glue. Near the Lake is also Fire Termite ranching, which produces useful incendiary oils for Dragomander magic. 
But Lakeside Mapaska is exclusively the realm of "low skill" and mass-produced resource extraction tasks. The resulting products (steel, leather, gelatin, rubber) are put on barges downstream to the urban core to be processed into refined goods by scores of higher-paid guild-certified craftsmen. This is where smithing, rubber-crafting, soapmaking, and tailoring all take place. But the Korathem urban core is not purely the result of Mapaska-based industry; in fact, Mapaska's industries tend to fire up in seasonal bursts, while Korathem's core operates year-round. Plenty of other towns siphon resources into the city, and storehouses hold surplus supplies year-round to be slowly processed by hand into usable items. Weaving is a big industry in Korathem, turning flax and cotton and wool from the countryside into cloth and textiles. Paper is pulped and dozens of small trades are practiced across the artisanal residential districts. 
Trade is the urban core is just as large a driver of local economics as manufacturing: the local entertainment, legal, service, and banking industries are all huge. Korathem is one of the largest centers of Khilaian institutional power outside of the actual Sacred Isles, and it has a special place in selkie trade and culture for it. Clan Woshalui, the dominant political power here, caters to this through a large banking apparatus, art patronage, and entertainment industry subsidies. Magic item merchants, foreign emissaries, businesspeople, and other notables often meet in Korathem for major deals with the selkie powers that be, and they bring with them immense money. It is not unusual for other big institutions, like the followers of the God Haru or the Darzan University, to use Korathem as a neutral meeting space for hashing out business deals of their own, facilitated by the secure markets and generous banks of the city. 
While many selkie ships can navigate up the river to the urban core, those that cannot dock at Mowapana, the seaport. This is another big trade space, but it has its own industrial capacity: this is a major ship construction and repair site.

Infrastructure

The roads of Korathem are well-maintained by the local Officials of the Bureau of Roads and Waterways, a small bureaucracy operated by the mayor. The bureaucracy coordinates heavily with semi-public factions, such as the guilds, clergy, and elite clans, in a patchwork tax system that is a bit of a mess. Ultimately, the system is functional enough to provide well-maintained roads, bridges, and docks. The streets of Korathem are broad, intended to accomodate Karbeetles and horse-drawn wagons as well as pedestrians; small nests of alleyways do exist, but it is possible to navigate most of the city by wagon or carriage. Ditches alongside the large avenues exist to collect trash and dung from the streets, and are well maintained for the most part. 
The Grand Avenue is the main street uniting Outer and Inner Korathem, and it is also the largest and most important street in the city itself. The Grand Avenue is broad, with separate pedestrian and cart areas to allow for safely coordinated traffic through the city and its suburbs. Small shops and venues dot the Grand Avenue, even in the spaces between the city and suburbs. The Kuluit Bridge is the other impressive piece of infrastructure in the inner city itself, a beautifully constructed bridge recently further decorated with dramatic statues and frescoes connecting Groveside to the rest of the city. Lastly, the Maolui Dam, in the Lakeside district, is a grand mechanical accomplishment - a large dam able to siphon water into a complex reservoir and canal system for industrial use while still keeping the river flowing, all with robust precautions against flood damage. 
The sewer system of the Inner city was once perhaps the most impressive part of the city, an elaborate stone underground system able to collect sewage from all across the city on the East side of the river. Other systems have since caught up to this standard, but the Korathem sewer system is still quite functional and effective, and has been expanded to most of the new housing. Part of the sewer's enduring success was the unusual size of it: the system was built large to enable otters to manuever through much of it with tools, to replace pipes and remove clogs. Stigmatized workers at the bottom of society, the Dirt Gangs, are hired for this task - but they have used their position to leverage wealth and status on their own terms. The Dirt Gangs have, for centuries now, been largely synonymous with the local Thief's Guild and black market known as the Darksinger Market. Lunar cultists that commanded this network offered healing services for the many diseases faced by the Dirt Gangs, and offered them wealth and support that the city would not.

Districts

Core Korathem

Palatial District: The elite district of Korathem, home to the Mayor and city Council, the Exarch's Palace, the Clan Woshalui estates, the great bank, and the Hanahai bureaucratic enclave. Not exclusively fancy, with plenty of servants and clerks about, but generally a space of hilltop villas and lush parks. Between the bank, the magical university, and the elite estates, the salons and cafes here are where the top business deals are brokered.
Hillside Rows: The old residential district, a diverse district where many of the big guild halls are located. A mix of low-level commerce, craftsmen, laborers, and small service venues. Many of the basements and buildings cut into the hill, providing some amount of subterranean space; unsurprisingly, this has attracted a number of prisms and formed the base of the Kima enclave. The sewer system maintenance center is at the North end of the district, and there is supposedly an underground criminal black market somewhere nearby. Very mixed economically, ranging from middle class to poor. 
Sacred District: The old river port, now center of religious life in the city. Dominated by the Vault of the Gods and the new imposing Sumoxan temple. Plenty of commerce continues here, and there are residences and shops as well, but clerics and religiously-related business tend to focus here. 
Entertainment District: The elaborate mixed shops-artisans-entertainment area, where the heart of the service-business industry lies. A branch of the bank and a number of trading houses have buildings here, but the main attractions are things like the baths, the restaurants, and the arena. People do live here in small enclaves, including a large number of small artisans and service workers. 
Manetown: The new riverport and market district, center of trade as well as a major residential-artisan district. This was once a nomad trading enclave, and there are still large pastures and open fairgrounds here. This becomes a kind of second entertainment district during the great music, trade, and arts festival of Otalyoa in April. Still has a rowdier culture and atmosphere than the other residential districts and a lot more foreigners. Some parts of this district can be a bit rough. 
Old Groveside: Once, this was the Pratasam  government/elite district, but it has since been transformed into a residential and trade district with a number of druidic groves still embedded within. This is a middle-class and well-to-do merchant and craftsman district, though there are poorer fringes to it (and some slum-like areas where the old dilapidated servants' quarters remain).

Outer Korathem

Outer Korathem is composed of several notable suburbs with major functions to the Inner city, which can become seasonally very important and de-facto function as parts of Korathem. Each is under a day from the city, and foot traffic from the suburbs can make day trips into the city if they are willing to spend hours on the road. Some people even work in the suburbs but live in the city or visa-versa

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Sea-Port Mowapana: The sea port caters to big ships who can't navigate the wider river into the inner city, as well as towards ships that are damaged and in need of repairs. This is a big trading and ship construction area, hyper-diverse religiously and culturally. The demographics here swing incredibly young, as new Crews gather seeking work in the docks or aboard ships, and as few people outside of new immigrants or committed district-related artisans live here permanently. Mowapana's big-population months are March, when ship-recruiting season is in full swing, and November, as ships sometimes dock for the winter and their crews seek seasonal work here until the next March.  
Lakeside Mapaska: The industrial suburb, exiled from the main city due to its noise, pollution, need for pasturing, and temporary work nature. This becomes seasonally huge, but spends half the year as a skeleton district; it relies a great deal on cattle and Karbeetle ranchers bringing their seasonal herds here for slaughter and processing. There is a local suburban core with its own artisans and permanent residents, but many people simply trek to the main city for anything more substantial. Winter is the big time slaughter-time here, as herds seek to cash in during the drier seasons and spare agricultural workers filter out of the countryside between planting and harvesting of winter crops. September is also a big month, where excess Karbeetle shells are smelted and exported in a surge of labor between summer and winter crops. 
Burning Heaths: Less a district, and more of a polluted swamp with slums on its fringes. This is where the pollutants of the Mapaskan smelters, dyers, and tanners are dumped. It is also, accidentally, next to the Fire Termites. As minor fire termite colonies venture into the polluted grassland, minor explosions or sudden fires are common. Huge sand mounds have been erected around the heath to contain these fires. Living on the heath is free, but deeply undesirable. Garbage is also dumped here. Generally, a place for exiles, hermits, or lepers. 
Memehel Towers: A military base guarding river access between the seaport and the inner city, with an attached residential area. Serves as a rest stop and sub-market for those moving between the Port and the City. Also serves as a checkpoint for contraband or epidemic diseases on incoming ships.

Guilds and Factions

Elite Factions

Clan Woshalui: The rulers of the kingdom and the city, an elite selkie clan with amazing mercantile connections. Runs the largest banking apparatus in the city, as well as the government and a large trading house. Patrons of art and beauty, who are very involved in the local artists association and painter's guild, and have commissioned a number of major cultural works in the various districts.
Clergy: The clergy of the various religious play a substantial role in helping keep public order and collecting taxes. The big religion here is Pratasam, though Sumoxan clergy have recently been catering to a growing faction of syncretic Pratasa-Hamekun-Sumoxan followers that have threatened Pratasam's majority religion status. Numerous religious minorities dot the city, including Ishkibites, Zihari, Ayshans, traditional Sumoxans, and Halikvari.
The Hanahai : The Khilaian bureaucrats have an unusually large presence here in the city, as this is a kind of enclave of Khilaian influence. Notably, the Selkie Loremasters and the Warcallers have notably bases in the Palatial district, and even operate a Grand Academy training mages, lawyers, and ritualists. The Hanahai operate something rather exceptional here: a Teleportation Circle Center, magically connecting the elites of the Khilaia to those in Asalay and Kiazerov. This alone makes the Loremasters and Warcallers particularly well-connected to visiting high profile elites.
Merchant-Noble Cliques: As the capital of the kingdom and a major business center, it should be unsurprising that a number of powerful selkie clans and regional noble families have family members and business representatives in Korathem.
Guilds: Crafts guilds organize many local artisans, providing them a local voice, hierarchy, and control over who can sell what products. Major guilds include:

• The Weaver's guild is known for their conservative hierarchies and Pratasa leadership
• The Tanner's guild is known for their wild parties and major investment in the local Otaylo festival
• The Smith's guild is known for their grand voting feasts and numerous elected officer positions, which provide numerous city services in their neighborhoods
• The Alchemists and Rubbersmiths are known for their close connections to both the Hanahai and the City Guard
• The Soapmakers are known for having very centralized leadership that exert a lot of influence on business
• The Porters and Dockworkers are known for being very contained and invested in the seaport
• The Painters and Engravers are known for being led by client families of Clan Woshalui

Non-Elite

The Street Fleets: Street gangs and semi-kin associations of friends and relatives that organize much of the labor of the city. Crews are work teams first and foremost, networks of people bound by oath and comradery to find each other jobs and pool money together as a team. To keep themselves safe and well-connected, crews often join Street Fleets: organizations of crews that fight, drink, and connect together in voluntary associations. Street Fleets can range from charitable to violent, progressive to conservative, religious to secular. They divide the streets, especially of poor-to-middling residential areas, and sometimes their younger crews battle over bridges and streets.
The Street Mystics: Outside of the standard religious hierarchy are the street mystics, who draw on a combination of Hamekun, popular pratasa, and nomad religious traditions to act as healers, diviners, and minor ritualists for day to day magical and mystical needs. Many of these mystics know bits of medicine, hedge magic, emotional support, and some even know a cantrip; they are versatile people with broad understandings of many kinds of ailments. The clergy don't always like them, but they aren't banned.
Organized Crime: Organized crime is incredibly local and sparse, but it is present

• "The Dirty Rat Cult" or the Darksingers: The local and ancient thief's guild of the city that has infested the sewer system. A cult of Hiku, the Muse
• The Ailamai: A small organized crime group from Southern Arashoka that likely travelled into the city with Clan Woshalui. Not officially ordinaed, but definitely the "modern" and "respectable" operation

The Over-Clandom of Monsterlords: The dominant cat force in Korathem, the Monsterlords are a kind of semi-heretical form of Cat traditionalists who rule the city with an iron fist. They love steel and rubber, and decorate themselves in garish spikes and tire parts to represent their ancestral hunting of the Karbeetle. They once learned to ride Karbeetles across the plains as well, and to this day they associate with them - but now as rulers of the Korathem arena. The humanoids owners of the arena encourage this, as the cats often do tricks during public shows on the cars to style on their rivals and prove their bravery in the Overclan. Monsterlord Axlestar is the current overlord, the fat cat of 'em all, the unusually-strong kingpin of Korathem blessed by Cat Heaven to be a humanoid cat (and therefore able to slay other cats with a tire iron sword). They demand total obedience and vassalage of all other cat groups in Korathem, including the local Jellicle Cats. In recent years, though, a new force has risen to challenge the Monsterlords: the Rogue's Gallery, a group of stray cats who have learned to barter with humanoid criminals to act as burglars - and managed to coordinate to steal their own magic item, a secret weapon to give the Gallery's allies hope against the Monsterlords.  The humanoids of the city know that the cats are weird, but don't understand the depths of things.

Points of interest

Elite

Exarch's Palace: The center of royal power and the heart of the royal court and bureaucracy. In the Palatial district.
Vault of Gods: A center of religion for all Arashoka, a grand vault-museum where idols and relics of all faiths of the kingdom are kept. A multi-religious temple dedicated to the crown and its relationship to the many Gods and faiths of the realm. At the border of the palatial and sacred districts.
Sumoxan Grand Temple: The center of Sumoxan worship in the city, a newer construction that is large and oddly rectangular, with great black-sun designs carved into the sides. Hosts a small monastic congregation. In the Sacred District, near the Vault.
Pratasa Cathedral-Grove: The largest and most grandiose Pratasam center of worship, once the grove of monarchs. A mix of magically shaped marble and living wood, with cascading fountains and lush gardens for training new druids. In the Sacred District, near the Palatial District. 
Allfaith Grove: If the cathedral-grove was the fanciest, this is the largest druid grove in the city. A lush garden, with botanical areas for local flora as well as flora from other Samvaran riverlands. Now, this is a place where druids of all kinds can come to practice magic, learn magic, and cooperate in harmony. In practice, there is a lot of religious factionalism, but it is a nice idea. This was once a major Pratasa aristocratic center. In the Groveside District.
Woshalui Estate and Gardens: A beautiful estate, where artists often spend their time hosting and competing in the salon. The center of power for Clan Woshalui in the city. In the Palatial District.
Korathem University and Arcane Gateway: The center of administration for the Hanahai bureaucracy in the city, and a sizable magical college. Arcane magic is the focus here, as most druidic magic is handled by the Groves. Notably, an Arcane Gateway exists here, where Teleportation Circles to distant cities are maintained for powerful mages to travel around the world. The Selkie Loremasters and Warcallers both have notable presences here. In the Palatial District.
The Woshalui Bank: The head branch of Clan Woshalui's banking empire, the Grand Woshalui bank is the place to go for wealth storage, loans, or a good heist. In the Palatial district, near the Entertainment District.
Kima Embassy: A minor location, a number of semi-subterranean areas for Prism nobility from Kima Cities that are vassalized to the Arashokan crown. The center of a prism enclave in the city. On the border of the Palatial and Hillside Row districts. 

Popular

The Grand Karbeetle Arena: A colosseum for Karbeetles, who are raced or made to do tricks in grand spectacles. Particularly show-bred karbeetles are often shown off, such as the legendary 'Monstercars': enormous lumbering Karbeetles with exaggerated wheels, that could never survive in the wild. In the Entertainment District.
Korathem Baths: Mechanically-fueled steambaths, a popular place to congregate and socialize. Food and drinks are served. Segregated by class in practice, structured by radically different costs for different areas. In the Entertainment District. 
Mowapana Beach: A beach with good surfing, a popular recreational area along the coast. Outside of the Mowapana Port.
The Darksong Market: An underground black market area, an old sewer maintenance management chamber that has been expanded over centuries into a substantial underground bazaar. Headquarters of the old Thief's Guild

Tourism

Korathem is a popular tourist destination, attracting many merchants and travelers to do their business here or to spend their vacations enjoying its delights. Cafes serve coffee, chocolate, tobacco, marijuana, and tea, while local taverns provide a variety of drinks and entertainment. Licensed Drug Houses even provide more serious drugs, such as hallucinogenic tonics or opium. The idea of the restaraunt exists here and thrives. Ampitheaters and theater spaces dot the city, providing venues for storytelling, comedy bouts, and costumed plays.

Places to Stay Include:

Merry Masters' Manor: The largest and most notable inn in the city, a former noble manor seized during the 1908 revolution from a disgraced noble family and turned into a large inn catering to wealthy visiting merchants and those willing to spend money on a lavish experience. Gambling is in the garden, and the main feasting hall is now an entertainment space for all willing to spend their coin. Hosts particularly popular and famous parties every April, for the Otalyoa festival. Also a major wedding venue. Extremely popular as a place to stay for the powerful magically-transported guests from the Arcane Gateway. In Groveside, near the bridge.
The Steel Garden Hotel: The most campy elite hotel in the Entertainment district, themed after a luxurious rendition of a Karbeetle ranch. A place for the curated tourist experience for visiting wealthy elites, where one can expect riverbarge tours or perhaps a trip out to the countryside to hunt or wrangle Karbeetles. The staff famously dress and imitate a mix of Arashokan stock characters, from the selkie merchant to the karbeetle wrangler to the plains nomad to the Kima disciplinarian. It is kind of a curated theatrical tour experience for many guests. Not everyone chooses this curated experience, but everyone has to pay hand over foot so you may as well. Has a small managerie and curiosity display, that may be willing to pay adventurers for any particular oddities they may find. Steel Garden's owner is an enigmatic figure associated with the monarchy, known as Puma, or Koshan - an awakened Karbeetle bearing strange cat-like decorative markings, an ageless merchant who has lived in the city for a long time and finds the hotel amusing. Well-located in the heart of the Entertainment District.
The Sidewinder: A popular and respectable traveler's inn. Not a fancy place by any means, but fairly reliable and well-stocked. The innkeep is famously judgmental and known to offer unsolicited advice, but is generally friendly and runs their inn above the board. Fights are uncommon here, but can happen. The tavern was supposedly started by an awakened snake, whose skeleton is displayed above the bar, but this is maybe just local legend. In Marestown.
BuddyNav's Alehouse and Inn: BuddyNav is more title than name, meaning "friend-best-friend", and it is just catchy enough to mark BuddyNav's as a local staple. BNs is the largest and most well-stocked of the rowdy bars alongside the riverside docks. The stoic and silent BuddyNav, an immensely tall Half-prism, stands over the chaos from a balcony, like a lord rallying the most obnoxious army of drunkards. This is where you go if you want a fight - but kill anyone, and expect consequences. A big place for the Street Fleets to flex their muscle. In Marestown.
The Salty Squid: The most stereotypical portside tavern, hosting travelers and dockworkers in the seaport. Owned by a whimsical Haltia known as Seaworthy Sam (short for Samhai), who is said to sing to the nearby Squiddles every morning and regularly chats with the seagulls that roost on the roof. At the seaport.
The Golden Mane: A worker's tavern by the lakeside smelters. A hub of the Ailimai, the organized crime group, as the innkeep doesn't much care about anything but profits here. At Lakeside.
Acolytes of a religion native to this hemisphere can likely find lodging at one temple or another at the Sacred District. Paladins of Hiku, the Muse may find housing through their cult in Hillside. A soldier may find lodging at Memehel towers, if they are willing to put in the work to help with upkeep.
The city has a few notable celebrations, that double as trade fairs.

• Otalyoa, on April (Savi) 8th, is the big day of Korathem. Otalyoa is the day of bards, music, romance, courtship, marriage, fertility, rain, and healing. It is a day of unhindered celebration, where people dance with paper umbrellas to raucous public tunes, buy their lovers extravagant gifts, and dine in joyous community feasts. The whole city erupts in song and revelry, shutting down normal functions. Elaborate costumed parades are led by guildmasters through the streets, leading visitors to bustling festival markets. This is a trade fair day as well, as much business as fun more many artisans.
• New Years, on March (Talim) 20th, is a big day, especially in the seaport, where people drink heavily and dance and network looking for crews to join before sailing off the next week.
• Runlaya-Relebetas, on February (Parna) 11th, is a big day-night festival, led by the Selkie Loremasters in a series of magical lightshows. It is a day of mask-wearing, burying wooden items said to contain the year's sins, anonymous gift-giving, and feeding of birds.
• Pratahova, on June (Soch) 17th, is a big religious day. It is the holiest day of the Suheskivari religions (Samvaran ones), but the mayor encourages all religions to honor the day in their own way.
• Sanadwa, on September (Bilint) 14th, is a big day in the industrial center of the Lakeside district. It is a day of citrus communion, crew formation, healing, forgiveness, and community feasting.
• Yarnawat, on October (Kelb) 6th, is a day of Lunar unity and Lily of Red, particularly popular among the Pratasam of the city. Popular among the Pangolins of the city, who are given special ritual positions.
• Padimoko, on October (Kelb) 22nd, is the day of welcoming returning sailors in the seaport.

As shown, the inner city has big festivals in February, April, June, and early October, while the outer city has big festivals in March, September, and late October.

Architecture

The architecture of Korathem has been said to be like if nomad yurts were cast in stone and expanded to grandiose size: there is a love of roundness here, octagonal or hexagonal buildings with rounded dome rooftops. The entryways are often impressive and tend to be exaggerated with facades, even for poorer buildings - a large rectangular entry facade is fashionable even around apartment doors. Decoration is often reserved for these facades, which can be quite masterfully carved. Stone and brick are favored building materials, though plenty is made with wood. 
Koratheman architecture can be rather eclectic, given the multicultural influences at play. Selkie architecture, with raised oval rooftops, colorfully-wrapped columns, and packed igneous rock flooring, is a major influence. So is Emprian architecture, with great vaults, plastered walls, and pointed arches.

Founding Date

1173 ME

Type

Large city

Population

65,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Korathemen

Location under

Samvara

Owning Organization

March Kingdom of Arashoka