Overview
- Government: Democracy (Officially) / Oligarchy (Unofficially).
- Exports: Stone, cotton, rye, quinoa, szükorica (candy), salmon, tumeric.
- Stereotypes: Air-headed wind mage; ruthlessly opportunistic slaver; highly influential stone merchant; slave resigned to a life of hard labor; grizzled bounty hunter; slave trader with a smuggling business on the side; child beggar with sticky fingers; haughty elderly native from the ten-spire towns; explorer with stories to tell.
Foreign Relations
Allied Major Points: Helorszég (Trade Relationship),
Sárbolszég (Trade Relationship),
Béhegy Kolostor (Non-Aggression Pact, Trade Relationship).
Hostile Major Points: Harczikötö (Trade Embargo).
Vassal States (Minor Points): None.
Origin
The Széleredete, the Many-Spire Mountain is located centrally within the region, so it is unsurprising that people would stumble upon it sooner or later. Under
Szilád's protection the area soon became a safe haven. This central location also means that most trade and travel routes pass through here, which caused a sudden expansion.
While originally most people settled on the spire's peaks to be closer to their god, the actual city ended up being built into the mountain-side, roughly halfway up the winding path that encircles the Széleredete. As the city grew they ran out of space and have started carving deeper into the mountain to expand. The natives travel between the flanking spires and the main city through barges controlled with wind magic. The ten-spire towns on the peaks themselves are connected through wooden draw bridges.
Structure
Szilavár is the largest city in the mountainous
Tukhamu Magas region, and the greatest trading hub of the area. Rest stops have been built into the mountainside along the way up, and most of the spires have reliefs carved into them of Szilád, his Wind Serpents, Saints or any of his myths. The many high but thinner spires that earn the Széleredete its name can be seen from a great distance.
Since much of the city is built into the mountainside, it consists largely of natural stone cavern-like buildings. The parts built outside of the mountain are also usually made of stone or dried bricks, as this place is home to the largest stone quarries in the region. Wood on the other hand is somewhat rare as the closest forest northeast was burned out in a petty conflict between
Szilád and
Sárbolc. They are dependent on trade for their lumber, which is why wooden buildings are uncommon. To the southwest lies a burned-out village that used to be dedicated to a now-deceased divinity.
Culture
Due to the terrain in the
Tukhamu Magas cultures are generally more isolated, but Szilavár stands out as a center of trade and commerce where all kinds of different groups from the region intermingle. While others try to win over and drag the city into their own conflicts, it has tried to consistently maintain its status as neutral territory.
That being said, the native szilavári still compose the majority of the population, and they certainly have their own habits and cultural values. While it is somewhat of a melting pot, there is a strong focus on individualism. People do not care much for interference from official institutions, and instead look towards their own freedom and prefer to solve things by their own strength. This serves the idea that anyone can 'make it' if they simply work hard enough and smart enough.
Since there is little official interference, help towards those in need largely comes from volunteerism. People here are more willing than most to help a stranger and spend their time and money to help others. Most low-level crimes are also punished by assigning hours of community service, a requirement that the offender perform volunteer work.
Debt Slavery
In a place that is so focused on personal freedom, it may then seem strange that slavery is quite common here. In fact, the largest slave trader's market in the world is found here.
Because while everyone is free to pursue their own goals, there are also those who fail and find themselves in debt they cannot pay off. In this case they may be conscripted into slavery for a set amount of years as payment for their debt. To the szilavári this is perfectly normal. If success is a product of character and worthy of admiration, then the opposite holds true as well. Of course circumstances can be unfortunate and they recognize this, but consequences do not disappear only when you have bad luck.
Thus slavery is seen as natural, and often necessary too. To keep production running, to keep everyone fed despite the harsh environment, slaves are often indispensable. Since they are not free, politics is not open to slaves, but beyond that they are free to pursue any other activity outside of work times. They are also allowed to marry and have children. While they are often put to harsh labor, they are also oftentimes treated as friends to the family that owns them, and intentionally treating your slaves poorly is seen as sick behavior.
Fashion and Food
Fashion in Szilavár is predominantly eclectic and informal, as expected of a melting pot. Mostly people wear cotton tunics of varying size, style and cut. The city-born szilavári tend towards looser clothes with tassels and ribbon-like strips of cloth that dance in the wind, a style promoted by the Windreaders who ferry the barges up and down the spires.
The crops that grow best and are cultivated most in the area surrounding the city are: kiwicha, rye, quinoa and lettuce, as well as
szükorica, a type of corn-like plant whose starch when mixed with water forms into a slime that can harden over time and is used as candy. The nearby river is also teeming with lamprey and salmon, which is incorporated into dishes as well. Marinated fish with quinoa and rye bread on the side is the staple dish around these parts. Other common dishes are quinoa rice seasoned with tumeric, rye and lettuce salad and kiwicha topped with honey-roasted szükorica kernels.
Organizations
In a sense, Szilavár is an oligarchy, where powerful mercantile organizations hold much sway within the city. The church of
Szilád also performs vital functions within the city, which give them great power as well. A few of these factions are listed below.
The Windreaders
Much of the city's population and trade is concentrated in the main city, but many of the natives still live in the towns built on the spires above and only trade their crafts there. A particular branch of Szilád's faith, the Szélovás or Windreaders, have developed such precise control over their wind magic that they can move barges up and down through levitation. In this way they control much of the transport and interactions with the ten-spire towns. It is hard for any organization to hold much contact with higher-ranking members of Szilád's faith without the favor of the Windreaders.
Stone Caravaners
There are many traders within the city, and a good deal of them have banded together into companies or associations. The Kőkaravánszeráj is one of the largest of them. They hold a large share of the city's stone quarries and they have extensive caravans that trade these and other goods such as foodstuffs with the other towns in the region that supply goods that are more rare here. In terms of sheer capital at their disposal, they may very well be the most economically powerful faction in the city.
The Shacklemen
Debt slavery is a fairly common occurrence within the City of Spires, and there are a decent number of people who make their earnings from the trade of these debt slaves. The Láncpiac (lit. chain market) is where most of the legal trade takes part. This place is organized by the Béklyókar or Shacklemen who oversee all trade to ensure that the transaction occurs properly and without trickery. They also use a clever system of invisible magical tags to avoid fraud, such as the running slave tactic, where a slave is sold by a disguised owner and runs back to them later. They also hire muscle to patrol and guard the market, ironically making it one of the safest and most lawful places in the city.
Manhunters
The Embervadász or Manhunters are a group of bounty hunters who hunt down criminals and escaped slaves for their private hirers. One of the reasons they have become so successful and well-known is that among their ranks are former members of Szilád's faith and natives exiled from the ten-spire towns. These have brought with them knowledge of wind magic and levitation, allowing them to locate and hunt down their targets that much more efficiently. However this has also caused friction with the church of Szilád and the ancestral natives. They often have to travel in groups within the city or they may find themselves in chains or worse.
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