Vobranas
Vobranas has her own charm. It's not a city you fall in love with at first sight, but she will grow on you.
Vobranas is the capital city of Kupria, and the second largest city on Shireon, only beaten in population by Lenthir.
As the capital city of Kupria, Vobranas is the home of the Monarch of Kupria and their closest family. All the Great Houses of Kupria are represented it the city, scattered around the noble district just outside the Royal Citadel.
Parts of the City
Vobranas is built on a small hill that looks like the ground tilted upwards at one point, making a flat yet gently sloped ground ending in a steep drop at the northernmost point. The elevation of any part of the city is often described as how high you're up the Slope among the inhabitants of the city, especially among the people living in the Downtown areas. The higher up the Slope you are, the closer you are to the Royal Citadel.
The Royal Citadel
On top of the city you'll find the Royal Citadel, towering over the rest of the city at its northernmost point. This is where the Monarch and the rest of the Royal Household of Kupria lives. This is the only part of the city that is not patrolled by the city guards of the city. However, don't think the area isn't protected - the number of kingsguards easily make up for their absence.
The Noble District, or "Upton"
Just below and to the south of the Royal Citadel we find the noble district. Popularly named Upton by the commoners further down the city, to its inhabitants' slight annoyance, it is easily the most beautiful part of the city. Stunning architecture, several small parks, and much cleaner streets than the rest of the city.
The noble districts is the home of every member of all the Great Houses who live in the city, as well as some of the Smaller Houses - if they can afford the steep prices of a house up here. Most of the members of the Smaller Houses up here are those who really want to show how wealthy and important their House is, as living among the Greater Houses is seen as a sign of wealth. However, a lot of the members of the Greater Houses see them more as a noisy nuisance that should know their place.
It's in the noble district you'll find the Hall of the People's Voice, which is where the Council of Kupria help advise the Monarch in how to run the Nation of Kupria. The city governmental buildings are situated close by.
The Market
At the gates of the noble district there is a rather large open plaza. Here there will be a varying amount and variety of trading booths for merchants coming from outside the city to sell their wares. The houses surrounding the plaza are mainly permanent shops, usually specialising in one trade or another. It's here you'll find most of the considered finest metalsmiths, tailors and other craftsmen of the city.
The whole plaza is considered the border between the nobility and the common folks in many ways. While it isn't illegal for common folks to visit the noble district or for the nobility to visit the lower parts of town there isn't usually any point to it. The main area these two groups of people see eachother is at the marketplace, which caters to everyone.
The plaza is not only used as a marketplace, however. This is a natural place to hold festivals. In fact, the grand majority of the public parts of the Kuprian Day of the Monarch happens here.
Downtown
Downtown Vobranas is not one, but several districts making up the rest of the city. This is where the commoners and the minor nobility lives. There's a general rule among the minor nobility that the higher up the Slope you live, the more money you own. However, the rest of the people living Downtown have a more casual relationship with it, as "we all live below the Marketplace anyways, so why bother worrying about it."
Government
As Vobranas is the home of both the Monarch and the Council it is also the city in which practically all decisions concerning the nation of Kupria is made. Even though most of these decisions are made on a national level, some of them will, naturally, affect how the city itself is run as well.
The city itself is governed by the city council, run by the mayor of Vobranas. The city council consists of representatives of the Greater Houses and most larger guilds of the city. The members of the city council have been under criticism from the common people since forever for being too concerned by the voices of the rich and powerful. Although it has been raised in the city council as an area of concern and possible change, the representation issue have stayed the same.
Defences
As Vobranas is built on a slope the city has a sort of natural defense in the steep edges on the northern, western and eastern side. At the highest point these edges reach a height of about thirty meters. This makes it tricky, yet not impossible for a potential attacker to reach the Royal Citadel from outside the city.
The city has three "rings" of walls. The lowest one is situated just where the city's slope starts to rise, and follows the slope upwards until the edges of the slope reach about ten meters, one-third of the way up the Slope.
The second ring of walls surrounds the noble district. The gate to this wall opens into the Market, so they are only closed if there is an actual known threat to the city.
The third ring is around the Royal Citadel itself. This wall helps making it even harder to reach the Citadel from the north by climbing the slope.
The Shelters
Just below the noble district, inside the slope itself, there are enough tunnels to fit most of the city's population. This cave system is called the Shelters, and is where the inhabitants of the city hides if there is an attack on the city. As Vobranas is a large city and there aren't more than two entrances to the Shelters it is advised to get there quickly after the news of an attack has reached the city, as it takes a considerable amount of time to get everyone inside. As the gates to the Shelters are closed as soon as the fighting begins, sometimes even a little while before that, there are usually a few people who can't get inside soon enough. The only thing they can do is to hide, and hope for the best.
As no attack on the city has ever managed to breach into the Shelters, once you're inside you're mostly safe. If the city should fall into enemy hands one day, it's up to the attacker whether or not the people hiding in the Shelters are safe when they inevitably need to exit the caves.
Guilds and Factions
The largest influencers of the city is definitely the Great Houses, constantly bickering between themselves about anything they can have an opinion of. Lately, the major topics of discussion are how House Irevos hasn't married in any of the other Houses, and why the current head of House Irevos, King Ilmonar, hasn't seemed to age for several decades.
Vobranas has its fair share of guilds among the crafters and traders. These are too numerous to mention here.
In the more hidden corners of the city you might run into the Ravenous Ravens, scheming their nefarious deeds in the shadows. It is said that Vobranas is the home of their main headquarters, the Nest, where their leader, the Raven Lord, has their seat of power. The local Ravenous Ravens operate mainly in Downtown and the Market, only rarely doing crime in the noble district and virtually never in the Royal Citadel.
Architecture
Most buildings in Vobranas are built out of wood. Due to the vast woodlands just south of the city it's a natural choice. Even the inner structures of the castle are constructed of wood, however the defensive walls are made out of stone.
Build more stone buildings, you say?
Have you seen how far away those mountains are? Why use stone when the forest is right here?
Most buildings in the city is either one or two floors high. Some rare buildings has a third floor, but these are rare and far between. Generally, the buildings are rather close together, making it possible for an athletic person to jump over the gaps and travel quite the distance without getting down on the ground. Some city guards have voiced their concerns about this as the Ravenous Ravens have been known to escape them by the clever use of roofs, but there's not much to be done about this specific problem.
Of course, a mostly wooden city with closely built structures doesn't come without some risks. There is a general fear about the city catching fire, as wooden buildings rather close together would make fire to spread quickly through the city. Despite this, the city hasn't experienced as many great fires as one would expect.
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