Madras

Some people call Madras the City of Bridges, but I have never understood why. Neither did Issad, apparently, as it was one of his perpetual gripes whenever we went to Madras and he saw something that said "City of Bridges" or overheard someone say, "City of Bridges," as if the mere mention of the title were a personal insult.
The first time we went to Madras, it had been for business purposes. That didn't stop Issad from complaining, but at the time, I hadn't really understood his concerns. After all, we had crossed four bridges just on the way to our objective. As far as I was concerned, it made sense to call Madras the City of Bridges. Oh, but Issad would not have it. We finished the mission and everything was good, but I did not stop hearing about the damn place for the next two months.
Two months! One would think that a man as busy as Issad would not have the time to rant about such irrelevant things, but somehow he found away, eventually resolving to take me back to Madras to give me a proper tour of the city. Well, as it so happens, time got away from us, and we didn't get a chance until well after the Stormcaller crisis. Issad took me to the Starry Concourse, where we listened to this young man with such a beautiful and sad voice, Miqiel, I think he was called. Then, we walked around the city, visiting each and every one of the reflecting pools.
It was then that I understood. Issad was right. Madras shouldn't be the City of Bridges. It should be the City of Stars. But, unfortunately, some things you just can't change, no matter if you are part of the Council of Hierarchs.

— Taaka Sunspinner
The Chronicle of a Common Thief

One of the most important cities in the entire world, Madras is the primary point of entry into the Pāll-tanír and serves to connect the shipping routes of the eastern and western hemispheres, lying at the centre of the world's safest sea route. As such, the city sees a lot of traffic from travellers and indeed has a booming tourism industry, with many inns by the docks often filled to the rafters with adventurers from distant ports.
In addition to people, Madras also sees an abundance of trade goods from merchants and traders hoping to ply their wares overseas. The lenient taxation on transactions in the city means that many merchants come to offload their inventory for a tidy profit, while merchants based in Madras then turn around and resell the product to the rest of the continent, driving the economic engine of the city. Its importance as a port of trade and entry means that Madras is one of the cornerstones of the Pāll-tanír's economy.
Despite the relative wealth of the average citizen of Madras in comparison to others in the kingdom, a healthy sense of spirituality, as well as a general air of agreement with the Dominion's policies on the excess pursuit of wealth means that the people of Madras remain a generally humble lot, and the city itself reflects this, devoid of any grandiose spires and monuments to affluence. Instead, the architects of the city focused on creating quiet spaces where an individual can go alone to think and reflect, such as the city's many reflecting pools, and putting the temple to the local goddess Isilra front and centre so that anyone who enters the city would understand that spirituality is an important aspect of life in Madras, despite the cutthroat economics that transpires at its docks.

Demographics

Proportion	Demographic
60%	Arventiri
10%	Tretâllë
7%	Alossi Centhiri
6%	Sylvari
5%	IstErián
4%	Khathari
3%	IstEristur
2%	Veldrani
2%	IstUrkal
1%	Other

Government

The city of Madras and the greater Madresha caliphate beyond it is ruled by a Caliph who determines the laws that govern the land, as well as the taxes levied on goods, services, and income in accordance with a pseudo-constitution established at the founding of the kingdom and the laws of the Dominion. The Caliph does not interact with the commoners in any way beyond semi-regular reports from "viziers" tasked with representing and governing the city's different districts, as well as advisors appointed to oversee the more general aspects of the kingdom beyond the walls of the city.
In many respects, although the Caliph is the true source of power, it is his closest advisor, known as the Voice of the Caliph, who rules the city in his stead and in his name. According to tradition, the Caliph is barred from speaking to any person or group of persons ostensibly in the hopes of preventing the exertion of undue influence on the most powerful man in the kingdom by people with agendas. In this respect, only one person is allowed to speak to the Caliph directly: the Voice of the Caliph. Only the Voice is given the authority to speak on the Caliph's behalf, as well.
As such, the Voice acts in his capacity as the representative of the Caliph in the matters of running the city. In fact, when advisors, viziers, or exemplary members of the general public wish to have an audience with the Caliph, the Voice is always present, and these individuals are barred by courtly decorum from speaking directly to the Caliph. Instead, they are directed to address the Voice, who in turn addresses the Caliph, and responds according to what the Caliph says to him.

Infrastructure

Sitting on a raised parcel of land at the northern corner of the city is the palace of the Caliph of Madras, one of the most impressive buildings in the city, not because of its architecture but instead because of the titanic rainstone hovering atop the central dome. Though difficult to see with the naked eye, the enormous arcane crystal is etched with bands of arcane runes that crisscross its surface. The rainstone conjures a constant cascade of freshwater that spills onto the dome and over the sides of the palace, collecting into channels on the roof that drain the water out into the moat surrounding the palace, and then eventually into the large central canal of the city, providing fresh water for all of its inhabitants.
The palace is also known for its Night Gardens, which open to the public only after sunset, and only for the early evening hours. The Night Gardens are a veritable oasis in the parched expanse of the Pāll-tanír, with fountains, pools, palm trees, and large sections of flowering bushes and plants. But the most important part of the Night Gardens is the reflecting pool that spans its entire length, dividing the garden into east and west. The stretch of shallow water, constantly replenished from the rainstone and kept as still as possible, is a place of religious devotion for the people of Madras and the greater Madresha Caliphate as it is believed that the reflecting pool contains the fragment of the night sky that the goddess Isilra promised to the first caliph, Madra, as a symbol of her protection for his people.
People from all over the kingdom, who have the means, travel to the city of Madras once a year for the Night of the Blessed Mother, in order to see the stars on the surface of the reflecting pool. The Night of the Blessed Mother is an important day of religious obligation for the Madresha who devote themselves to Isilra, as it is the celebration of the night when the covenant was struck between Madra and the goddess. It is on this night alone that the Night Gardens are open to the people, and the only time when the Caliph is present in the garden at night, albeit watching from afar to maintain the separation between the Caliph and his people.

The Sacred Mere

One of the marvels of Madresha engineering lies at the heart of the city. Set in the centre of the Imperial Waterway, which is a water corridor that connects the Imperial Docks at the base of the palace of the Caliph to the mouth of the Bay of Kings, allowing passage for important ships to go directly to the palace, is a large artificial lake known as the Sacred Mere. Painstakingly and dutifully hollowed out of the surrounding earth, the Sacred Mere was created by the intelligent application of arcane magic to help move earth as well as a lot of back-breaking hard work from the builders.
Lined with stone along its sides and across its floor, the Sacred Mere is testament to the industrious nature of the Madresha but isn't merely a monument. Instead, the Sacred Mere is a living, breathing lake with a healthy ecosystem that provides an alternative source of food for the citizens of the city who can, given the right permits, fish in the lake. In fact, it is rare to see the lake devoid of any boats, both from fishermen hoping to catch some food for their families or from gondoliers ferrying people from the city to the temple that stands at the heart of the lake.

The Temple to Isilra

Rising elegantly out of the placid waters of the Sacred Mere, situated at the heart of the lake, is the Temple to Isilra. Built out of sandstone that gleams burnished gold in the light of the setting sun, the temple is the cultural centre of the city of Madras. Wider than it is tall, similar to the palace of the Caliph, the Temple to Isilra is nevertheless more expressive in its design, featuring spires that reach up to the heavens and domes the shape of raindrops.
Hovering atop the temple is a second rainstone three-quarters as large as the one set above the palace, but in addition to the cascade of water it produces to provide fresh water to the people of the city, the rainstone above the temple also produces a constant light drizzle around the structure, making the air around it glimmer and twinkle in the harsh sunlight of the desert. This is to represent the fact that Isilra is not just the goddess of the night sky, but also of life-giving rain.

Type

Large city

Population

104 000