Seryvadrat, Faithful City risen from ruin

Demographics

The city of Seryvadrat is inhabited primarily by humans, with over 90% of the city's permanent population belonging to the species. Of the humans living in Seryvadrat, another 92% of those identify culturally as Kaldari, with Cascadian and Astorian being the most common mix of the remaining human ethnicities.

Government

The city serves subservient to Kesbrag, the capital of the north-western most region of Kaldaria, and owes it's allegiance to the Kzar who rules from there. Seryvadrat itself is technically ruled by a lord belonging to the Gregovich family, but as far as the fuedal lords who rules Kaldaria go, the Lord of Seryvadratian has far less power than their peers in other regions, as the influence The First Patriarch has through The Eastern Patriarchy of The Mother far outweighs the fuedal lord's power in both influence and legal authority. 
The lord instead is left mostly to ceremonial activities and administration and maintenance of the martial levies the city's domain is entitled to under it's feudal contracts. Direct taxation, both within the city and on the surrounding countryside, is managed by The Eastern Patriarchy with a percentage of goods and silver levied in this manner being remitted to the city's lord to provide funds for maintaining their role.

Defences

While the original city was chosen for its site due to the ruined fortifications of its predecessor providing Lesnik and his followers with a rudimentary defense, the city eventually abandoned these walls in favor of more modern defenses, constructed to Kaldari design and preference. 
The city now boasts two sets of modern walls, as well as the original walls that now mark the major territory held by the Mother's District. Along the outer walls is a dotting of battlements and towers offering defensive protection and shelter for wallside observers.

Industry & Trade

With the Mothers District dominating so much of the city's political and economic scenes, the majority of industry and trade in Seryvadrat exists to service the Patriarchy either directly or indirectly. A popular destination for nobles and missionaries alike, the city sees a rolling tide of travelers bringing goods and silver from across Eastern Altwaus to give as tribute to the Patriarchy. 
The city relies heavily on this influx of people and silver, and the economic production of the city in the form of resource collection and manufacturing pales in output for other cities of similar size. During periods where the number of travellers has decreased the city always sees a significant economic recession, however it can historically rely on the economy recovering once travel resumes.

Infrastructure

The first city constructed by the Kaldari after Garrond Lesnik, Kaldari Founding Father made his arrival in the Kaldari Highlands, Seryvadrat's settlement site was located directly on top of the old ruins to a city settled and then abandoned centuries prior. The ruins of this city are still accessible through certain parts of Seryvadrat's underground, however, access is appropriately controlled to ensure the preservation of these ruins and to avoid people becoming lost or injured within them. The city's sewers take extra care to not directly intersect the underground sections of these ruins, however rumored access to the underground through the sewers is a common thread in urban folklore. 
Freshwater is provided to the city by a series of three small tributaries that run around the city's borders (two to the south and one to the north), providing minor resources in the form of freshwater fish and flora, and transportation and power in the means of skiffs and watermills.

Districts

While Seryvadrat is a fully functioning city in it's own right, the most prominent feature of the city is the "Mothers District" which holds near 25% of the city's real estate and serves as the headquarters and power base for the The Eastern Patriarchy of The Mother. Dominating the city's eastern skyline stands The Great Nebeska, Religious Headquarters, a towering palace of 9 bulbous turrets. 
It is this district that provides Seryvadrat with the power and influence that it enjoys, projecting out a religious presence that has influenced Kaldari culture for millennia.

Guilds and Factions

The city's political landscape has been a struggle between The Eastern Patriarchy of The Mother and the noble families who hold the actual land titles that the Patriarchy operates out of. The nobility has done their best to squeeze out land, silver, and amendments from the religious order, but in the end the Patriarchy's influence continues to errode the fuedal lord's influence with each passing decade; causing each generation of noble families to wield less direct power than the generation before it. 
Unable to contest directly with the Patriarchy's influence, the noble families instead tend to bicker and fight over the meager influence divided between them, with long-standing grudges and alliance amongst the familiar stretching back to city's inception.

History

Settled by Garrond Lesnik, Kaldari Founding Father in the first few years of his exodus to the [The Kaldari Highlands, Seryvadrat was to be the first true city settled by the Kaldari (Fort Lesnik would not be considered a true settlement until a decades later). 
With the fearsome Kaldari winter preparing to bear down on Lesnik and his army, they required shelter to preserve their strength during the long cold and ready themselves for the siege of Kresburg the following spring. It is said that an Alvain visited Garrond, and took him to the ruins of Seryvadrat where he was forever changed. Seeing the ruined city as a hope for his withering forces, he lead them to the ruin's shelter and had them fortify and settle there until Spring. 
At the end of winter, Lesnik lead his forces and captured the city of Kresburg, however the settlement amongst the ruins remained for strategic purposes until it was officially sanctioned as the capital of the The Eastern Patriarchy of The Mother

Points of interest

• The Great Nebeska, Religious Headquarters : a towering palace with nine symetrical turrets spiraling out from it's center. The Nebeska is the headquarters of The Eastern Patriarchy of The Mother and one of the holiest sites to followers of the Eastern Patriarchy. 
• The Ruined Citadel of Seryvadrat : A ruined castle of human design, it sits at the north-east section of the Mothers District where it serves as a dark reminder of forgotten pasts. 

Tourism

Religious tourism is the largest economic factor for the city of Seryvadrat, with over a hundred thousand tourists visiting the city's religious district each year. An entire industry of supporting infrastructure has arisen to meet the needs of these tourists (and strip them of whatever silver they can before they can donate it.)

Architecture

An eclectic mix of ruins, religious structures, and early and modern Kaldari designs dominate the cityscape of Seryvadrat, with a surprisingly small of Cascadian and Astorian influence considering the city's proximity to Kaldaria's western border.

Geography

The city is settled amongst the old ruins of an old human city, pressed up into the mountains and forests of the northwestern region of Kaldaria. The city does not sit directly along the continental highway and instead requires another six days of travel off the road before reaching the city gates. 
A branching tributary of a nearby river runs through the city's domain, with a single northern tributary cutting along the north, , and then two more along its south, with the more rapid of the southern tributaries running through the city itself, albeit only within the city's outer walls.

Climate

Like most Kaldari cities, Seryvadrat enjoys moderate summers but faces some of the more aggressive winters in settled Altwaus. This is made all the worse for the city's positioning at the higher altitude of the mountainside. 
Surrounding the city is a mix of rocky earth and hills, offering little incentive for sustenance farming and intensive agriculture, however the nearby forests offer a range of nourishment and benefit for those willing the brave the unknown and risky nature of Altwaus' wilderness.

Founding Date

approx. 14,860 (resettled)

Founders

• Garrond Lesnik, Kaldari Founding Father

Type

Large city

Population

Large City

Inhabitant Demonym

Seryvadratian

Location under

The Kaldari Highlands (Region)

Included Locations

• Ruins below Seryvadrat

Owner/Ruler

FIrst Patriarch Yanovick IV

Ruling/Owning Rank

First Patriarch

Owning Organization

The Eastern Patriarchy of The Mother