Shonyul

If I didn't know the history of this empire better, I'd expect to find Shonyul a glittering imperial jewel, replete with the texture of centuries. Instead, it's as crowded and muddied a port city as any other, with a smattering of noble mansions that you could find anywhere. You'd think they could have improved it in the centuries after the Collision.

— Kuren Glareodan

Shonyul is the capital and largest city in the Vosti Empire. Among the oldest cities on the continent of Abravost, it has been a major port in the south for centuries, and continues to see a high volume of traffic despite recent turmoil.

History

The Bay of Shonyul in Southern Abravost has been inhabited for thousands of years, dating back to the start of the written record on the continent. The name Shonyul being associated with the area came later, supposedly deriving from the name of a prominent individual who raised his Vosti family in the area, as the name translates to 'Shon's Home'.
As a settlement, Shonyul seems to have come to prominence in the late 600s BC, being the base of operations for the Vosti Conquest that would later sweep the majority of the continent. As the birthplace of this continent-spanning empire, it would swiftly become a hub of politics and commerce, with the bustling bay becoming the source for much of the maritime traffic in the southern oceans.
It would be displaced as the imperial capital in 276 BC by the deliberately constructed city of Fovenis, which had been commissioned by Empress Askila I following a civil war to be a more neutral city for the whole continent. While the locus of political control shifted northwards, Shonyul's historical importance to the empire meant that it was never truly ignored by the ruling imperial family, and some of the most powerful nobles in the empire continued to base themselves out of the city.
Following the utter destruction of Fovenis during the world-altering Collision, Shonyul was not formally named as the successor capital to the lost city. The surviving members of the imperial family moved back to the old imperial palace as an interim plan, but even once New Fovenis was built in a similar location they did not return to the region. In all practical terms, Shonyul had reclaimed its position, and it would see a large influx of Elves passing through towards the continents eastern regions.
When the Vosti Civil War consumed the empire in 330 AC, the loss of New Fovenis to the northern rebels officially put to rest any idea that Shonyul was anything other than the imperial capital, and Emperor Treveon I declared it as such at war's end in 336 AC. This did little but give legal status to the existing arrangements.

Inhabitant Demonym

Shonyuli

Owning Organization

The Vosti Empire

Ruined Tower by Mika Baumeister

Ruins

With such a long history, it's hardly a surprise that the city would be full of the ruins of the past. While many have been cleared away for new construction to support a growing populace, some persist as reminders of the many wars fought in and around the city over the centuries.
The most well known of these is the Old Imperial Palace, dating back to before the construction of Fovenis. It was ravaged by the Collision and saw some hasty renovations and repairs to make it occupiable for the returning royal family, but would be abandoned a few short decades later after a brand new palace was constructed far outside city limits.
While the grounds are off-limits to most and defended by imperial troops, many have snuck in over the years to steal finery trapped in collapsed basements, or to admire the sunrise from the sole tower still standing through the holes in the walls.