Korosa
Korosa is the largest settlement on Reishi Island, and acts as the hub for their merchant trade. It is the seat of the Reishi Oligarchy, who rule out of the Matire Citadel on the south side of the city. Korosa is a hot spot in the Asamaline Expanse, a lot of ships pass through a lot of Naga'honu'akua pass by, and a lot of creatures wander its bay, including the ever-profitable stollusk.
Demographics
Korosa's people are mainly humans (~40%), aquatic elves(~33%), and half elves (~10%), but included in their number are also undine (~3%) and the slave races of the skum (~10%) and patchwork undead (~2%), along with a smattering of other races (~2%). Most everyone is from another island around the Asamaline Expanse or from Veilee, but a few have traveled from Amahitza and even fewer from Ides. Many people on the island work as farmers or fishermen, but Reishi has a little bit of everything, especially in Korosa
Government
Reishi Island is ruled by an oligarchy of six noble families. Which family gets a seat on the council is determined by which ones are able to field the best ships and sailors and which ones have the most money. A war game is held every ten years, in which each competing family (who can pay the entry fee) puts one ship out on the water and then engage in a free-for-all. The last six ships to remain above the water are the winners, and the families they represent earns a seat.
Currently, the ruling families are the Meretincelle, Abithier, Broveron, Andires, Vernilet, and Raze. Although the six families are supposed to cooperate on every matter of state, each one has elected instead to carve out a niche of authority within the government and leverage it for all its worth against the other five. The Meretincelle family is currently dominant, as they have been in the past two elections, due to their understanding of how to craft seaspark, Korosa's primary export and the reason for its exorbitant wealth. Because of their dominance, Meretincelle secured the rights to handling trade and taxation. Meanwhile, Abither, handles the management of Reishi's many slaves, Broveron controls the defense of the island, Andires heads the craftsmen's guilds, Vernilet controls diplomacy, and Raze handles agriculture. Most remaining matters are joint operations or delegated to lesser noble houses.
Slavery is not only legal in Korosa, but it is actively encouraged and enforced by law. A man who cannot pay his debts becomes a slave until he can work off his price, and any who try to run away are hunted down and punished by the guard force or one of Korosa's many bounty hunting groups. Despite its relative youth as a civilization, Korosa has already managed to get slave making/keeping down to a science - literally. They have altered the preexisting race of skum into mindless servants and built new slaves from the corpses of those who die, creating a new kind of undead. This is due largely in part to the cooperation between the Meretincelle and Abithier families, who have mages employed to alter the SEMII circuits of uncooperative slaves, turning them into almost mindless servants.
Currently, the ruling families are the Meretincelle, Abithier, Broveron, Andires, Vernilet, and Raze. Although the six families are supposed to cooperate on every matter of state, each one has elected instead to carve out a niche of authority within the government and leverage it for all its worth against the other five. The Meretincelle family is currently dominant, as they have been in the past two elections, due to their understanding of how to craft seaspark, Korosa's primary export and the reason for its exorbitant wealth. Because of their dominance, Meretincelle secured the rights to handling trade and taxation. Meanwhile, Abither, handles the management of Reishi's many slaves, Broveron controls the defense of the island, Andires heads the craftsmen's guilds, Vernilet controls diplomacy, and Raze handles agriculture. Most remaining matters are joint operations or delegated to lesser noble houses.
Slavery is not only legal in Korosa, but it is actively encouraged and enforced by law. A man who cannot pay his debts becomes a slave until he can work off his price, and any who try to run away are hunted down and punished by the guard force or one of Korosa's many bounty hunting groups. Despite its relative youth as a civilization, Korosa has already managed to get slave making/keeping down to a science - literally. They have altered the preexisting race of skum into mindless servants and built new slaves from the corpses of those who die, creating a new kind of undead. This is due largely in part to the cooperation between the Meretincelle and Abithier families, who have mages employed to alter the SEMII circuits of uncooperative slaves, turning them into almost mindless servants.
Defences
Reishi Island has watchtowers posted along the shores to keep an eye out for incoming raids, and an additional watchtower every few miles inland to help track down runaway slaves. It also has a Watergate built to prevent ships from breaching into their bay and a fleet of ships outfitted with cannons and shellbolters for the defense of any of their other shores. Korosa also has a slightly bloated garrison to help defend themselves from raiders.
Industry & Trade
Korosa is primarily a trade hub for ships passing through the Nelek island chain, either between Amahitza and Reimyth or between Karnmeny Haven and the Wakague Islands. As such, a sizable portion of its population are merchants, dockhands, shipbuilders, or craftsmen in the city. However, Korosa really makes their money from the production of seaspark, controlled by the Meretincelle family. With their monopoly over the knowledge of its creation - at least in the Asamaline Expanse - anyone hoping to arm their ships with cannons or themselves with guns has to go through Korosa to get the gunpowder.
Infrastructure
The city of Korosa has many shipyards, guild houses, workshops and warehouses aplenty, gilded churches, opulent estates, and impressively, a watergate à la Hullbeck. In the event of an invasion, chains can be drawn up out of the water in Korosa's bay, blocking passage into the ports. Perhaps their most impressive structure, however, is the Citadel Armarantha, a massive, beautiful structure that acts as the seat of the Oligarchy's authority.
Districts
Korosa is split into six districts, two shanty towns, and two farms. The Kalisa and Matire districts are considered "lower" districts, while the Cabane, Taylan, Sidell, and Hano districts are "upper" districts.
- The Kalisa district, also known as the port district, is, predictably, the one closest to the water. It is home to a few notable buildings, including Richer Rivals, Korosa's primary merchant's guild, the Sharpgold Bounty Hunters Headquarters, and Wavebreakers, a prominent shipwright. Kalisa is always bustling with activity, especially up and down the main road.
- The Matire district, also known as the residential district, is where a majority of Korosa's population lives. Its buildings are tightly packed together and flat-topped, making it sometimes more efficient to travel by rooftop rather than walk the busy streets. It is home to a few notable buildings, including Two Doubloon Horde, Korosa's adventuring guild, Bronzeshield Guardhouse, the center of the lower district's guard force and its prison, and the Matire Skumhouses, where the less-favored slaves stay.
- The Cabane district, also known as the guest's district, is the first of the upper districts. It is home to a few notable buildings, including the Meretincelle Laboratories, where stollusks are processed into seaspark by some secret method, the Cabane Hospital, and the Cabane Skumhouses, where the favored slaves stay.
- The Taylan district, also known as the entertainment district, is home to some of the more important families in Korosa, as well as a few amenities. It is home to a few notable buildings, including Taylan Academy, Korosa's artists guild, and Purity Springs, a luxurious spa.
- The Sidell district, also known as the craftsman's district, is where most things are made in the city. From wine to jewelry to metalworking, to potions, to infixed objects. It is home to some notable buildings, including the Korosa Artisan Guild, where craftsmen learn their trade and manage their patents, Ogilvie Infixory, the city's only infixory, and Bubbling Seawater, a commercial alchemist.
- The Hano district, also known as the nobleman's district, is where the noble families who are not important enough to stay in the Taylan district reside. It is mainly residential, but it is home to the Hano Theatre, where all sorts of shows are put on.
Guilds and Factions
Korosa is home to the Sharpgold Bounty Hunters, founded in and named after Korosa's own Sharp Gold Bay. The Sharpgolds operate out of a guildhouse in the Kalisa district of Korosa, and many of their number own houses in the Hano district. It also has a group of people from ARCHES operating out of the city's library. These researchers have a relatively small impact on the social scene, as they are mainly interested in the ruins submerged in the Sharp Gold Bay - if only the stollusks weren't in the way.
History
Reishi Island was first settled 143 years ago as a simple wayrest for ships looking to avoid the Adgen storms. They were a small community that offered ship repairs, a hot meal, a soft bed, and little else. Eventually, however, as more and more people passed through the burgeoning town of Korosa, more and more people decided to stay. Soon, the town had its first thousand residents, and not everyone could work as a shipbuilder, farmer, or fisherman, more had to work as masons, carpenters, barbers, tailors, shoemakers, and even wine sellers. The five houses that had been leading the someone disparate communities of Korosa up until this point banded together to form the first Reishi Oligarchy, and with their organized leadership, Korosa continued to swell in population.
After half a century, the town had a few thousand residents, and organizations had formed. Trade federations, bounty hunting groups, a research consortium, and a nobleman's society. As what Korosa could offer continued to increase, so to did its population. So, the oligarchy settled two new towns, Ayrith and Ardglass to cover more farmland, log more trees, mine more stone, and fish more shores. It was also around this time that the Reishi began seeking buying and selling slaves.
By the time the island had been settled for a full hundred years, Korosa was not only a known waystop, but a destination - a place worthy of detour to experience. They had their own military fleet patrolling the waters, several competing trade companies, and a prolific bounty-hunting community. Almost fifty years later now and Korosa is a town no longer - it is a city, of nearly nine thousand people. A place where anything worth having in the Asamaline Expanse can be found.
After half a century, the town had a few thousand residents, and organizations had formed. Trade federations, bounty hunting groups, a research consortium, and a nobleman's society. As what Korosa could offer continued to increase, so to did its population. So, the oligarchy settled two new towns, Ayrith and Ardglass to cover more farmland, log more trees, mine more stone, and fish more shores. It was also around this time that the Reishi began seeking buying and selling slaves.
By the time the island had been settled for a full hundred years, Korosa was not only a known waystop, but a destination - a place worthy of detour to experience. They had their own military fleet patrolling the waters, several competing trade companies, and a prolific bounty-hunting community. Almost fifty years later now and Korosa is a town no longer - it is a city, of nearly nine thousand people. A place where anything worth having in the Asamaline Expanse can be found.
Architecture
The architectural stylings of Korosa can seem a bit schizophrenic if taken in all at once, as many buildings were vanity projects of their sponsors, looking to show off the fancy new stone they purchased from some far-flung land. The Oligarchs have managed to keep the districts, at least, mostly consistent in their styles, but they could not restrict the creative spirit of the Reishi beyond that. As a result, walking between districts can be somewhat jarring; like walking backward or forward in time, or suddenly crossing a great distance to a new city.
The Kalisa, Cabane, and Matire districts are marked by flat-topped sandstone structures adorned with awnings of dyed cloth. The buildings are primarily one or two stories tall and densely packed together, sometimes close enough that people lay planks across the alleys to connect their rooftops. Only a few important buildings in these districts deviate from this norm (Saltwell Bathers, Richer Rivals, Wineflow Inn, Seadog Inn, Cabane Hospital, The Amazing Chest, and A Close Shave all follow the Taylan-Sidell style).
The Taylan and Sidell districts have a similar architectural style to the Kalisa, Matire, and Cabane, but they are distinguished by higher quality stone mined from the Clarenvistas, more colored cloth, and occasionally a gold or crystal dome. Taylan-Sidell buildings are also generally taller, ranging from one to three stories. The only building in these districts that deviates from this style is the Citadel Armarantha, which is an architectural marvel unto itself, unlike anything else in the city.
The Hano district has a distinctly mainland Veilee style, with tall gold-bedecked buildings, colorful rooves, internal courtyards, and a generally boxier structure. Buildings in the Hano style can range anywhere from two to four stories, and are almost never only a single story.
The farms have a style of their own; a pleasantly elegant wood-grown architecture, modeled after the mainland Amahitzan elf style. They are mainly magecrafted out of wood, with swirling still-living branches growing from the green rooftops.
The shanty town buildings are ramshackle, as one may expect. They follow no particular style, but are uniformly of shoddy construction.
Geography
Korosa is built in the foothills of the Clarenvista mountains, at the bend of Clarenrun River, but it is also settled snugly in the most inland part of the Sharp Gold Bay. Along the shore the land is mostly rocky and flat, but it becomes hillier the further inland you go. A few miles to the West of the city, a small youngwater reservoir was built, though it has since expanded into something more like a lake.
Maps
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Korosa
Reishi Island's great trade hub.
Founding Date
3326
Alternative Name(s)
The City of Sharp Gold
Type
City
Population
8,847
Inhabitant Demonym
Reishi
Location under
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
- Adelaide Broveron
- Althea Maydlow
- Booker Raze
- Cantrice Raze
- Danielle Meretincelle
- Davion Vernilet
- Eloise Meretincelle
- Ezola Meretincelle
- Grace Broveron
- Jak Abither
- Jemarcus Raze
- Karam Meretincelle
- Kian Abither
- Kodal Vernilet
- Lara Raze
- Lavernus Maydlow
- Melissa Maydlow
- Niyamor, Goddess of Trade
- Rashard Andires
- Rashona Abither
- Tiyah Maddix
- Viera Maydlow
- Viera Vernilet
- Yasmin Maydlow
- Zephyr
