Britor (BREE-tor)

Britor. The shining cultural capital of the City-States Region, where the wealthy of the coast converge to meet, to see and to be seen. Where patronage of the arts is shown as the highest calling, while the decadence that flows behind the curtains is the true performance. Where the words of a playwright and the dagger of an assassin are employed in equal measure to settle rivalries.

The Shining Star of the City-States

While Kolar-Malara is undeniably the Great City of the City-States Region, the young city of Britor lays claim to be its romantic heart. Centered in the northern half of the region, laying halfway along the critical Lasair Canal, and within a stone's throw of the Shrine of the Compact, Britor has leveraged its position as "on the way to everywhere" to become the place that everybody stops. Whether for a holiday, for a business trip, or simply to come see the latest fashions, Britor has something for everybody - as long as you have the coin to spend.
Britor's original founding has roots in the Canal which is sits next to. It sits at the halfway point of travel from Mytos to Kolar-Malara, making it a convenient resting point for barge crews. It is also an ideal location for merchants to check on shipments, or to pull them off to go to south to Suranor. It is also the final major settlement on the road between the capital and the Shrine of the Compact - which sees visitors throughout the year but especially around Midsummer, when the foundation of the Lasair Compact is celebrated.
As this central location led to gold flowing into the city from travel, it would eventually parlay that location into its own form of prominence. Those that grew in wealth within Britor began to invite the wealthy from other cities to visit. Manors were built to host guests and lavish parties. Pavilions for the showcasing of Britor's culture - especially its art, music, and theater - were built and became centers of society. And the city of Britor became a playground for the wealthy, both those who grew rich from the city's own economy and those from other cities who built seasonal manors for their own uses in the city.

Display of Culture

The rich of Britor see themselves as the bright cultural spot of the City-States Region. The other cities are largely utilitarian - economic engines organized around the Guilds and what they produce and sell. There is also a more equitable division of wealth because of the power of the guilds. But as Britor is not built around any particular industrial or agricultural sector, there is less power in the hands of the guilds, leaving more wealth and power in the hands of the rich. And as the wealth of the city is not in production or even transport, but mostly lodging, there is not a lot of need for wealth to be passed back into businesses.
Rather than simply accumulate more wealth than could possibly be spent in a lifetime, the rich of Britor choose to spend their wealth in ways that make the city better, grander, even more of a destination. The various Houses of Britor, lacking direct business competition such as those found in more industrial cities such as Alanor, instead choose to play what they consider to be a great game.

Through the patronage of arts, the wealthy of Britor compete to display the most charitable qualities, to support the creation of works to elevate the culture of the region, to encourage the best qualities in humanity. They sponsor the creation of plays, of music, of painting and sculpture. The city is full of galleries with art, and theaters, all bearing the name of some benefactor from the houses. The people of the city celebrate all of this, for the patronage provides them with entertainment as well as sharing the wealth of the ciity in a manner similar to other cities where the more mercantile-minded guilds hold a larger sway. Rather than the wealth of the city largely entering the hands of merchants, craftspeople, and caravan hands, it enters the hands of artists, architects, writers. The effect is similar to that of any other city but with a lot more color as well as entertainment for poorer folk.

A Game of Words and Daggers

Though the "game" of competing to rise in social circles and to be considered the greatest house in the city is generally one of good-natured rivalries and joy of sponsoring creation. But not all members of Britor's high society exist with such high-minded ideals at the forefront of their goals. Some of their number suffer from extremes of vanity, or a desire to wield harder power. Some are jealous of the wealthy of other cities - some of which rule as a literal nobility. Regardless of their reasons, it sometimes occurs that some take the game of patronage much more seriously than others.
Rivalries in the city are common - competition between and witihin families breeds them. Even in the ones that are friendlier can sometimes see their "battles" play out through patronage of specific playwrights or musicians. More than one family member has found a foilble or a failed romance become immortalized in the lines of a play or in the lyrics in a song. Characters in dramas and comedies alike are sometimes very familiar, thinly veiled parodies or homages of notable citizens of the city. Art of all kinds will be commissioned to speak praises and condemn faults in equal measure, and the city can be abuzz with anticipation of the latest production from a favored playwright.

Sometimes, however, those same performances can spell trouble for those that create them. Spiteful or vain targets of lines in plays and songs will occasionally seek vengeance for what they view as needless embarrassment. While it is uncommon, it is not unheard of for a writer, lyricist, or even an actor to be found dead after a particularly biting piece of commentary. Where some patrons compete to hire the finest artists to create works, others will compete for the services of the best assassins - and in Britor, even those that wield blades have a flair of their own. Stories of a flashy or unusual murders can themselves spawn plays and songs, and there are rumors that one killer has acquired such wealth that they themselves have begun to create patronage of their own. A play that is rumored to be sponsored by such an assassin is certain to be a scandalous hit.

A Radiant City

The city of Britor stands along the southern bank of the Lasair Canal. A set of docks parallel to the canal stretch for a couple of miles along the wall, often packed with barges and other craft. Ferries dart across the Canal, dodging the larger vessels, carrying passengers to the north bank, where a number of taverns stand. These taverns primarily serve the road along the canal, but are also patronized heavily by bargemen - as well as the occasional citizen of Britor itself, seeking a "rougher" experience than that found in most of the taverns in the city proper.
Radiating outward from those docks are several boulevards, like spokes of half of a wheel. Closest to the canal, these boulevards are lined with warehouses, workshops, boarding houses, and taverns. As one travels to the south, these mercantile operations begin to give way to the more well-known parts of the city - the famous cultural landmarks of Britor. Theaters, pavilions, galleries, bawdyhouses, and other buildings created for the expression and creation of the arts rise over the boulevards and the streets that connect them like half-rings. 
Standing beyond the arts "districts", like the outer edge of a gigantic wheel, are the manors of the Houses of Britor and others with the means to purchase land here and to build upon it. In an arc centered a few miles inland from the canal lay a band of ornate buildings, each perched within fanciful stretches of greenery, the shining gems in the crown of the city. These manors host family functions, dinner parties, galas, and even huge public events that showcase a given family's wealth, patronage, and importance to the city. 
Beyond these manors lay another band of structures, but these seem miniscule in comparison to the manors in whose shadow they rest. In an arc a mile thick are the homes of those that actually make the city run - the workers, craftspeople, cart-pushers, cooks, cleaners, and so forth. Many of these people are members in a small guild - much as Aratosa has the mining guilds and the smelters' guilds, Britor has its housekeepers' guild and epicurean guild. But they are very much in the background of the life of the city. Except for a select few - such as those hired to serve in pubic-facing roles like a receptionist - the common folk of Britor generally spend their working hours in quiet anonymity. 

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