Pifor the Great

"Pifor the Great is the oldest and greatest of the Preic cities. Its history goes back over 2000 years, in which it has seen many highs and lows. These days Pifor the Great is an autonomous subject of the northern merchant republic, and remains the truest to Preic culture.
In its early days Pifor was among the most prominent of the Preic city-states, but before it could rise to greatness it was conquered and subjugated by the Empire of Akamta. Those who did not surrender were enslaved and for two centuries the Preic people had to endure oppression. A hatred of their new overlords brew in the lands and the people of Pifor, most of all, desired vengeance.
When the Akamtan influence decline and the Empire eventually fell, the noble houses of Pifor did not hesitate and turned their trade fleet into a fleet of war. On great ships they sailed south to the delta where they raided the defenceless remnants of their former overlords, taking all the wealth and enslaving the Akamtan people. Pifor sold these slaves to other Preic cities and beyond, and established themselves as major slave traders. For four centuries this slave trade laid the foundation of the city's wealth and allowed it to become the greatest of all Preic city-states.
But eventually the oppressed becomes the oppressor, and so it was with Pifor. As its influence spread in Preica, they subjugated city after city, port after port, until they were an empire in their own right. They ruled of Preica. Those that went out of line were sacked. Only the most foolish would dare stand against them. But when the southern Delta kingdoms were united under a strong kingdom, Pifor was no longer able to capture slaves and its slave trade empire collapsed.
Cities started rising up against Pifor, and those that did so were sacked. This led to the alliance of Cities against Pifor. Pifor's nobility and general committed one atrocity after the next in an attempt to keep the other cities in line. Many cities were sacked and its people enslaved. Some were left in ruins, others entire wiped off the map with no evidence of them ever having existed. Pifor was winning, until the merchants republics of the north got involved. At first to joined the alliance against Pifor, but they soon betrayed the Preic city-states and incorporated them into the merchant empire.
Pifor fought them off for a long time. The last free Preic City, the greatest of them all. Pifor the Great.
When the merchant republics controlled the ports and their fleets ruled the Preic seas, Pifor was isolated and alone and eventually forced to subject. But Pifor did not become a pet. Pifor maintained its autonomy; many of the old institutions that ruled Pifor are still in place, with the noble houses represented in the High and Low Council. The old nobility still rules of the city and is allowed to maintain their own armies. The old Preic Temples still stand untouched, as does the slave market, though it is now referred to as the Callaeran Trade Office.
The republic's authority is represented by the Magistrate of Pifor, a figure with very little actual power, but a symbolic representation of the republics control over the city. He lives in the magistrates palace and is surrounded by a garrison that serves to keep the Pifor nobility in check.
The spirit of Pifor is strong and proud, and does not want to be tamed. Both sides know that the city will, no, must stand up one day, to show its power. When that day comes, the streets will run with blood, and the world will see who truly controls Pifor the Great."
D. Harewood, Fendalian Cartographer

Maps

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  Pifor

Alternative Name(s)

Piphor

Type

Large city

Population

15.000

Inhabitant Demonym

Piforic

Location under

Preica