Alloro (ah-lor-oh)
Alloro is one of the oldest cities in Luuxinor and is currently the capital and largest city of the kingdom of Tralizza. It sits in a very protected location on the coast, which has allowed the city to amass a formidable fleet of merchant ships that trade with other nations across the continent. This focus on mercantilism has made Alloro one of the largest and most prosperous cities in all of Luuxinor, a city that others migrate to for a new life and opportunity.
When the first settlers found themselves wandering Luuxinor, they quickly came upon a site where the Alloro River met the Gulf of Tralizza. This delta provided fertile soil and prosperous fishing lanes, allowing the settlers to quickly grow their city and attract other nomadic groups. From the earliest days, Alloro has always been a very diverse city, with people of all races represented and treated as equal. In more recent times, as the city has gone through periods of renovation and rebuilding, some of the smaller groups choosing to concentrate their houses in neighborhoods or specific boroughs.
The monarch of Tralizza also serves as the First Lord of the city of Alloro, as it has been since the founding of the kingdom in the year 240. From the palatial estate, the current Queen holds court and considers the advice of her advisors and small parliament. The issues discussed in the palace grounds have effects across the city and the kingdom, changing thousands of lives.
Demographics
Alloro is a very cosmopolitan, diverse city with a variety of industries and opportunities for everyone. The first founders were from several different races, including elves, humans, halflings, huundari, and others. And that diversity has continued throughout the centuries as the city has grown. As of the census of 1479, the city is about 30% human, 15% halfling, and around 5% each of many other races. There are not many dwarves in the city, as Gel'Brida is just a few days' travel away and is one of the main concentrations of dwarven population and tradition. The human population is largely from Tralizza, but there are small enclaves of humans from other areas of Luuxinor.
The area around Alloro is very fertile farmland, used to grow a variety of crops from grains to wine grapes. The farmers employ workers to help with harvests, and the medium- and larger-sized operations hire carters to get their goods to the city markets or on to ships bound for foreign ports. Apart from the agricultural industry, much of the city is engaged in various service industries or labor. The port facilities and warehouses employ a great number of workers to help goods move smoothly between supplier and the merchant vessels. Many other Allorese are shopkeeps or sellers of various goods, hawking wares from local areas and around the continent. Most shops, restaurants, taverns, inns, etc. have several different options at very different price levels and qualities, enough to satisfy any traveler or local.
Due to the nature of work opportunities in Alloro, the vast majority of workers tend to be lower middle class - able to afford life's necessities but not necessarily save up or buy extravagant goods. A smaller portion of the city is somewhat impoverished, working daily or weekly jobs when available but not able to hold down full-time work for various reasons. There are also a fair number of upper middle class citizens, who live comfortably and tend to be owners of successful shops, taverns, or vineyards/breweries. The true nobility of the city primarily made their money through shipping, agriculture, shops, or other successful ventures, and most are now wealthy enough to have branched out into banking and finance, helping to increase their own wealth while helping the "lower" rungs of society manage their money.
Government
The administration of the city of Alloro is primarily done by various dukes or royal advisors, though the Doge is nominally the city's head of government. The advisors and dukes work with locally elected (but unofficial, in terms of power and authority) advisors, who interface with business owners and guilds to enforce policies and suggest new changes to the dukes and ultimately the Doge. Businesses are registered with the city's clerks, and any complaints are inspected by a dedicated group of inspectors that tend to be career bureaucrats in the city's government. The courts are overseen by Lawkeepers, judges appointed by the dukes. These Lawkeepers can theoretically be reviewed or impeached, but that is a very rare occurrence throughout history.
Alloro also has to balance the onus of having the kingdom's government apparatus in the city, which sometimes complicates matters with the dukes. The national parliament is a fairly small body of 20 that come from all across the kingdom to lobby the dukes and Doge for favors or to help their towns with certain areas. These parliament members live in a specific neighborhood of the city, close to the palace grounds, and technically do not have any authority in the city despite the assertions of some ambitious members.
The succession of the Doge is a matter that also has a significant impact on the city of Alloro, both in terms of stability for the city's administration but also for violence that would potentially engulf the capital in the event of disputed succession. For the vast majority of history, the succession of the Doge has been a peaceful event, even in disputed times. The most obvious exception to this is the War of the Twin Princes, which saw two twin brothers fight for the throne since neither had been named the heir before the previous Doge died. The violence that erupted around this time spread across much of the city and involved personal armies from across the realm, eventually coming to an end when one brother was driven out of the city and took his followers to establish a new city further to the east.
Apart from that conflict, questions around monarchical succession have all been dealt with relatively quickly and peacefully by the court of dukes (which is a gender-neutral title among the Tralizzans). These nobles are the descendants of the original noble families, plus others that have risen to the title over the centuries. Their power is below only the Doge and the Doge's children, and they are responsible for many policies and decisions that affect the city and the kingdom. When questions of succession arise, these dukes have met and considered the candidates most eligible for the crown. After days or weeks of deliberation and advice by the royal genealogists, the court officially announces their decision and crowns a new Doge or Dogesse. Many of these dukes have their primary residences in Alloro, and their households affect a fairly substantial portion of the city's commerce.
Defences
Contrary to what one might expect of a major city in this era of Luuxinor, Alloro does not have any walls or formal barriers in any of the city. Certain periods of its history saw the city build palisades and temporary walls, especially during the dwarven raids. When the raids had died down for some time, the city tore down the palisades and repurposed the land. The tradition of Alloro is to dig trenches and defensive moats when attacking armies are approaching, to keep the enemies at a distance so they cannot attack houses and parts of the city. The port has a few towers with some ranged weaponry, but those mostly collect cobwebs, as Scudisola has served as the actual defense of the gulf for centuries.
In terms of the Watch, there are a few central keeps that have small prisons, plus an array of very small bastions throughout the city. Most guardsmen carry spears or basic swords, but the armories at the keeps store heavier weaponry for dealing with serious violence or dangerous criminals. The gulfside port also has its own dedicated law enforcement that searches for stowaways, contraband, and other criminal behavior. These Portkeepers work very closely with the dockmaster and dockhands to register all incoming ships and make sure all cargo is above-board.
Industry & Trade
After several centuries of amassing wealth in agriculture, Alloro's biggest industries are shipping/trade and banking. The agriculture of the area is still a major part of the city's business, due to goods being exported on ships to other parts of the world, in addition to the goods sold and used in the city. The river ports mainly handle trade with Gel'Brida, unloading the stone and metal ore they send downriver and sending back certain goods and money.
In terms of agriculture, the area immediately surrounding Alloro has been very plentiful the entire city's existence. Food crops such as wheat, barley, olives, and various fruits and vegetables are a large part of the industry, but there are also vast vineyards and sprawling grazing lands. Most of the livestock is sheep and goats, with a few larger expanses having imported and raised cattle for several decades. Some of the grain grown around the city is also used by breweries and distilleries to make booze of varying qualities. Some of the higher end brands have recently grown to prominence in high circles around the world.
Infrastructure
As one of the most prosperous cities in Luuxinor, Alloro has many comforts and infrastructure projects that other cities do not. All roads in the city proper are made of concrete, and all are repaired frequently by the guild of roadpavers. All main streets and most residential streets have arcane lamps that help illuminate the city at night, with the guild of functional wizardry repairing old enchantments or creating new ones regularly. Perhaps the most impressive part of the city is its vast array of docks and warehouses. Because the city is situated on a delta and trade comes from inland as well as the ocean/gulf side, there is a network of canals and bridges through the west-center of the city which allow barges and riverboats to pass underneath and reach the gulf-side ports. The port facilities house thousands of vessels at once and can accommodate anything from the smallest fishing boat to the largest merchant caravel, and due to the climate of the city this operation goes year-round without break. There are also a number of shipyards and drydocks to build or repair ships as necessary.
Guilds and Factions
The everyday matters of the city are largely managed and facilitated by the dozens of guilds. The guilds interface with the advisors and dukes to help policy get passed and keep everything going as well as possible. Workers can be members of multiple guilds, depending on the duties of their jobs; for instance, a dockworker may be part of the laborers' guild and the shipping guild if they work the docks and also help move things to and from warehouses. Some of the other guilds that are very well-known across the city include: streetpavers' guild, lamp enchanters, engineers guild (who mainly build and maintain the city's many bridges), and navigators' guild.
History
In the earliest days of Luuxinor, groups of people wandered the land trying to survive and establish settlements in advantageous areas. One such group found themselves in the north-central area of the continent. With a large, hot desert to their south and relatively inhospitable swamps to their east and west, the settlers followed the Alloro River to where it emptied into the Gulf of Tralizza and found there a bountiful land. The soil was already teeming with a variety of crops, and small game animals were abundant. Upon establishing a settlement and building fishing boats, they also discovered the waters of the gulf were plentiful and would provide more than enough food for the small but quickly burgeoning community.
Due to its relative isolation geographically, Alloro has avoided war or conflict for much of its history. One of the larger exceptions is the war against the dwarves of Gel'Brida, which began in the year 79. Having established their city in the mountains and discovered large veins of precious metals there, the dwarves looked to expand their territory. Having heard of and even visited Alloro, they realized the importance of having a port with a connection to the ocean and tried to invade the city. Though early Alloro had no formal walls, the newly-crowned Doge unified the citizens who quickly built defensive trenches and moats and erected a makeshift palisade using timber from the nearby jungles and swamps. With relatively primitive weaponry and armor, the defenders were able to repel the better-equipped dwarven army after several months of war and siege. The campaign would ebb and flow for almost a decade before the largest of the dwarven armies was defeated, their king being killed in the process.
In the centuries that followed, ambitious dwarven monarchs would occasionally try to attack the city and expand their empire, but that ended with the creation of the Dwarven Union and its normalization of relations with most other nations. Since the year 1228, relations between Alloro and Gel'Brida have been cooperative, with Gel'Brida sending its goods downriver to Alloro where they are loaded on ships bound for further ports. Alloro keeps a small portion of the trade value as a tariff, as well as importing some amount of stone and metallic ore from the mountains.
The monarchy of Alloro has been a mainstay since its first century, when a handful of wealthy landowners consolidated power amongst themselves and waged a small-scale war to determine who would be the predominant family amongst them. Thankfully this conflict wrapped up before the dwarven invasions, and the first King was able to unify forces to defend the city. Since that first war, the crown has passed between several different families and dynasties, usually with very little controversy or conflict. The one exception that stands out is the well-known episode that spawned the War of the Twin Princes. An aged Doge had two twin sons that had been raised exactly the same, with the monarch refusing to choose a successor among them. To help bring the town of Pantano into the kingdom peacefully, this Doge agreed that the Pantano mayor's daughter would choose which of his sons to marry, and that son would become the heir. The Doge died unexpectedly, and one brother used his political connections with the dukes to name himself king, taking the Pantano mayor's daughter as his wife in the process. The other brother was furious for many reasons and raised a small army to challenge his brother's usurpation, though this was no match for the full might of the kingdom's military. The ousted brother was forced to flee with his supporters, heading east until they reached the ocean coast where they established the city of Sybilina.
Apart from the occasional small war or internal conflict, much of Alloro's history has been focused on the peaceful building of power and wealth. Today, it is one of the wealthiest cities in the world and commands a merchant fleet numbering in the thousands. People come from all over the world to visit Alloro or try to find work in the docks and warehouses, of which there are far more than native Allorese to appropriately staff them. The sprawling grounds of the Magistoria Academy are home to thousands of scholars and students from every corner of the continent, cementing Alloro as a leader among the arcane practitioners to match their mercantile preeminence.
There are not many reminders of early Alloro left in the city, as various construction projects have demolished and repurposed old building sites. There is a small school of archaeology at the academy that studies and tries to preserve the history of the city, among other important regions. The city's focus on always moving forward has created a culture where monuments and museums of antiquity are not valued, and old buildings or sites are regularly seen as eyesores to be torn down at the earliest convenience. The only reliable records of the city's history and the buildings and sites that once populated the area are found in tomes in the academy and city archive. Despite their disdain for visible reminders of their history, the people of Alloro have always taken a special pride in documenting their lives and their buildings in books. Most historical tomes are filled with drawings or magically-produced renderings of buildings, monuments, wars, or important people. This aspect of the cultural preservation has created a large cadre of scribes and artists that document many things in the city or refurbish older, faded tomes.
Points of interest
Due to the unique geography of the city being built on a river delta, the system of small, connected islands is one of the most wondrous sights for travelers to behold. The natural canals and many river arms are spanned by bridges of varying width and technological level. The great bridges to the city's southeast are engineering marvels rivaled by few other accomplishments across all Luuxinor, and they remain the largest drawbridges on the continent even after a century of being. The dock facilities - both on the river and the gulf coast - are vast and can accommodate a variety of ships and fishing boats. Many sailors coming from abroad find themselves staring in awe as they approach this vast city with its myriad bridges and thousands of docking berths. It is said that the number of sailors and fishers in or near Alloro at any given time is greater than the population of the city itself, making its dock facilities and associated warehouse sprawl a very unique and impressive feat of architecture and city planning.
Apart from these things, the Doge Hill is the most popular attraction, though the vast majority of citizens and travelers must content themselves with seeing it only at a distance. Rising at least 100 feet above the river, the ornate palazzo can be seen even from out in the gulf. The promontory gently slopes as it goes further east away from the river, before taking a sharp grade past the houses of the dukes and advisors, eventually ending up nearer river-level. The nautical approach to this aristocratic haven is a series of locks that elevate ships and boats from the river channels up to the private dockhouse on the hill. The smaller houses that surround the palazzo are impressive in their own right, but they are nowhere near as gilded or well-adorned as the home of the Doge. The great bridges are actually considered among the best places in the city from which to observe the Doge Hill and its marvelous works of architecture.
Architecture
The architecture of Alloro is incredibly varied, owing to the tens of thousands of immigrants who have moved from all over Luuxinor over the centuries. Most houses and buildings are made of either wood or clay, so they do not weigh down the ground and sink into the bog. The few large stone buildings, which are primarily government buildings, are built on sites that have been specifically chosen by the engineers over the centuries to be reinforced or made of sturdier bedrock. The city has undergone several rounds of renovation and reconstruction, as each new wave of architecture sweeps the zeitgeist. If buildings are destroyed and moved, the land is usually repurposed for houses which may or may not include stones from the demolished buildings. Different neighborhoods have different aesthetics, with some buildings being brightly painted and others being dimmed and dirtied from years of damp air. Because of the weight issue, most houses are single story, and tavern-inns tend to be more sprawling horizontally instead of having multiple floors.
Geography
Alloro is situated in one of the most unique geographic locations in all of Luuxinor, where the Alloro River meets the Gulf of Tralizza and forms a delta. The river is freshwater from the mountains to the southeast, passing from near the dwarven hold of Gel'Brida through the town of Fiumezzo before making its way to the coast. From the mountains to just outside Alloro, the river is more than three miles wide, narrowing to just under one mile wide by the time it reaches the city, thanks to a series of side channels and aqueducts that help manage the river's ferocity and also provide clean running water for much of the city.
There are a few hills and promontories in the city, as well as just outside its main borders. One of these houses the palazzo of the Doge and the manors of the dukes and advisors. The terrain would not accurately be described as rolling hills, but neither is it a flat coastal plain. The western areas of the city have fewer of these hills and tend to more flat, though the terrain does gently rise as it nears the Tralizza Marsh. All other sides of the city's perimeter - barring the gulf coast, of course - are fertile farmland as far as the eye can see. The sediment and nutrients carried by the river are deposited here at the delta and spread by dozens of small feeder channels and underground streams, allowing for some of the most prosperous croplands in all of Luuxinor.
Climate
The climate of Alloro is almost ideal, and it is the envy of many other places on the continent. It is toward the northern end of the continent, so it is quite warm, as evidenced by the desert not too far to the south. The tropical rainforests to the east and west, as well as the river delta upon which the city is built, contribute a large amount of humidity year-round which can helps keep things temperate in the winter but can be almost unbearable in the summer. Think New Orleans or Houston, that is the closest example for real-life climate.
Founding Date
Year 1
Alternative Name(s)
The Old City
Type
Large city
Population
107,678
Inhabitant Demonym
Allorese (ah-lor-ay-zay)
Included Locations
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