Viadeza

Viadeza, also known as --------- or simply, the City of the Ravenmother , is among the greatest cities within the Empire, and almost certainly its oldest. The City of the Ravenmother, home and birthplace of the Cult of Morr and rivalled only by the current capital of Ospria in size and greatness is the rock upon which the culture of the south owes its origin to, and where the soul of the Empire is tethered.
Central to the city is its identity as the home of the chief temple of the Cult of Morr and its High Priest, the Raven. The cults Great Temple dominates the center of the city, a fort within a fortress. Its walls are thick and the battlements manned by well armed Knights of the Black Rose, billeted in their nearby Chapter Hall.

History

The City of Viadeza is one of the oldest Cities within the Empire, and possibly the world. Throughout the years, many Viadezan Kings and Queens have conducted archaeological digs in and around the city during their reigns, finding evidence showing habitation many thousands of years ago. In fact the current city is built upon the layered ruins of at least four previous cities. During the 3rd millennium BCE, the first signs of a town can be observed, with the remains of well-built houses of a uniform size. This is widely considered to be the period when the Kaaniban civilization began to develop. According to local legend, it has the reputation of being the location where Morr herself scatters the remains of Dannan, the previous God of Death.
Viadeza seems to have been a popular camping ground for hunter-gatherer groups, with a few semi-permanent dwellings, where signs of bread-making and the cultivation of wild cereals is found. Permanent structures were built on the site for year round habitation seemingly with the discovery of agriculture, turning the settlement into a small fishing village. The Obsidian Temple was likely built around this time, though Morrian Cultist say it was already there, and had been for thousands of years. Before even Firefall.
Like many primitive settlements, Viadeza is razed and there is little sign of habitation for many years. Old Dzanian and Uthanian writings imply this is the time the False Gods were overthrown and cast out of their great cities on the western side of the Nari River. Chroniclers believe this was a round 6000 BCE, so it would seem this great conflict reached even this far East. After a long gap, people return however with flint tools, figurines and pottery beginning showing up again, along with plastered floor, mudbrick buildings on black stone foundations.
As time has gone on, Viadeza has been invaded and changed rulers hundreds of times, though because of its cultural heritage and the respect all Nerallians show to its patron deity Morr and their honoured dead buried at her temple, few of these attacks have led to full scale sackings and razings. This, rather ironically, has the effect of making the probable origin of the Elanian culture the most stable and dependable city in the south. It has thus become a place for storing history, and hosts the largest and most complete library archive in the Empire, as well as an extensive museum.

The Outskirts

Viadeza dominates a long stretch of the Dorie River and its surrounding straits and tributaries, extracting a toll from all who travel the waterways. Beyond this income, the river systems holds many spawning grounds for fish, supplying the city with bountiful food to supplement what is brought in from the rice and wheat fields that line the rivers and cover the surrounding land. Every day at sun up, men and women drag themselves from their homes in the surrounding villages or city clanholds to tend to their plots, giving a quick prayer to their ancestors and Morr before heading out into the fields in the dawn light.

Morrs District

The largest district in Viadeza encapsulates almost all of the southwestern portion of the city and is called a variety of names from Morrs District, The Morrian District, or Ash Fall. This is the area that Morr is believed to have scattered the Death Gods powdered remains after her rage was spent on his body. It is here that the majority of Elanians built their clanholds, with many an old family clan calling the District home. The high walls of the clanholds seem to divide the city up, but between there is still the lively activity of families going about their daily work. Priests bless doorways to clanholds, children dodge between feet and hooves carrying baskets of nuts or dash about beside their clanhold walls chasing wheels with sticks while their older sibling watch to make sure they don't get in to much trouble or danger, hands clasped on their sheathed knives, attempting a menacing air. Goodwives and goodhusbands travel too and from local shops and butchers where red deer bought from hunters are butchered and their meat put on display.

The Last Road

Sometimes called the Long Road, or the Long Road West, by those who travel it while not not carrying a coffin, is an arrow straight paved street that leads from the South to Viadeza. All nearby towns and villages, even outside the Kingdom link to this road, for it is the road the inhabitants will all travel for their final journey into Morrs embrace. All the prominent shops, blacksmiths, butchers and bakeries line The Last Road, accompanied by the odd clanhold whose border walls have expanded to the roads edge.
The boulevard, twenty steps from one side to the other gives ample room for any procession to enter the city, as well as room for the parades and festivities that occur throughout the year.

Obsidian Temple

At the end of the Last Road, facing the Square of Tears, a building of night black stone sits like a relic. The roof is flat and lined with parapets, and there are no windows, the only entry is a single double door of banded iron wood flanked by Black Guard, sitting open but uninviting to passersby. The The Obsidian Temple once sat at the exact center of the city, though the settlement has expanded far since those early times. The Temple itself is constructed of the deep black stone taken from the quarries in the hills around the settlements of Grole and Tronho, the same material used as foundation stones on many of the oldest clanholds and buildings.
The Temple is probably as old as the original settlement itself, as it was certainly there in some form when the city was resettled after the War against the False Gods. For generations, locals have taken their deceased relatives through the temples doors, down the long, flat staircase and into the temple proper. From there, after the ceremony they are guided by priests into the winding passages that make up the cities catacombs. There are no gardens within Viadeza, this is where the dead rest. No one but the priests know the full extent of the catacombs and how deep they go, though stories say there is a second underground temple, or perhaps the original built during the settlements founding thousands of years ago, at the heart of the passages. This complex is said to be tended to by a secret order of Priests, who, its whispered, never see the light of day. That such tales are believed vividly show the sort of reputation the priesthood holds.
Above ground the Temple expands out to hold the meeting hall where the conclaves of priests from across the continent gather to discuss matters of doctrine and rites every twelve years. The door to this room is the only one that remains closed during the day within the whole temple, though the room is well tended to by initiates while not in use.

Square of Tears

The Square of Tears, located at the end of The Last Road, is both a religious and secular centre for the city. Apart from the daily market where wheat, rice, herbs, and vegetables from the outskirts are sold, the Cult of Morr has also erected a huge copper statue of their Goddess in the middle of the square, propped up on a block of black marble, looking west. It is below this statue that daily news is shouted by criers, and a large billboard stands; notices, requests and proclamations covering its surface.
This is not where the Square gets its name from however. For it is here that processions of the dead come to their end before entering the great Temple where their loved ones are passed into the care of Morrs servants. Mourning family and friends then spill back into the city to wherever it is they need to go, be it tavern, restaurant, or home. Others simply remain in the square to weep for a time, staining the stones with their grief.

Hall of the Black Guard

The Chapter House for the The Knights of Morr, an Order of knights generally not seen far from their temple charge and is currently relatively small in number. The Castellan of the Order answers only to the Raven rather than the king, but the palace and the temple have traditionally worked well together. They are a defensive Order, protecting the Obsidian Temple, as well as a few local Holy sites.
Their Chapter house is therefore also quite small in comparison to other Knightly Orders. Built with a black stone foundation and it would look similar to the neighbouring clanholds in design if it were not for the large stone entry gate at the front, leading into a mustering yard lined with stables and the Chapter House itself at the back, replete in dour banners, plenty of overhangs for shade and relief from the southern heat and staffed by quiet stable hands, maids and squires. This quiet does not stem from a sense of being cowed however, but from a sense of duty, to follow their Orders strictures and vows, at least while at work. As such, jobs are completed in a timely manner by staff walking with heads held high.

Black Rose Chapter House

The Knights of the Black Rose are trained within the high walls of their Chapter House. Situated on the opposite flank of the Obsidian Temple to the Black Guards Hall, aspirants are put through their paces, moulded into personal bodyguards for the Cults Crows and Mages. They are an even smaller Order than the Black Guard, and their Hall holds a similar layout, though with more extensive underground levels where rooms dedicated to sensory deprivation for use in training can be found. These levels are said to link up to the Catacombs under the Obsidian Temple, and aspirants are said to be trained within those dark halls, left to wander and find their way back after taking hallucinatory drugs. While there they learn of secret entrances to the catacombs throughout the city that have been discovered and kept hidden, to be used only in the most dire circumstances to get their charge out of harms way. After all, many an assassination attempt has been foiled by the target and their guards seemingly vanishing into thin air after rounding a corner that leads nowhere.

The Shanan Hospital

Viadeza Archives

Like most things to do with Elanians, the Archives have become somewhat of a private affair for those within. The library contains thousands of tomes, filling many floors up as well as down where the archive utilizes a natural cavern found below its foundations. The walls of the cavern have been carved out over time to form winding staircases, living quarters for the residents, and rooms for reading and storage, that look out to the open space. Lit by candles and lanterns, people who come to read find the experience relaxing and calming, saying its akin to reading under a star filled night sky, the ground water flowing in the bowls of the cavern add a southing constant soundtrack.
The archives are not open to the public, nor to nobles, priests or even rulers, but by ruling and tradition only to those the librarians accept and allow within. The librarians themselves are different from what most would assume. Not cranky, withered ancients poring over the old tomes but younger people. People who were abused or hurt and in need of a refuge to recover and heal outside of their respective clans. The archives were given to them by King --------, a devout follower of Shana as a temple of sorts to his Goddess, to heal mental hurts while the Hospital healed physical ones. People come and work as acolytes for a time and then leave, others join the Cult and remain with the library until they pass to Morr. Outsiders are allowed in to do research but only if the librarians approve. And only if they take oaths to do no harm while they visit, oaths enforced by Shanan guards. The library belongs to them and them alone whether they stay a week or a lifetime.

Sanctum Park and Menagerie

Located to the East of the District, the Sanctum Park Menagerie is home to many strange, wonderful, and dangerous animals from around the world. Big Cats such as a pair of Royal Dagger Cats from the southern jungles, a rare Ghost Leopard from far beyond the northern steppes, and and small pride of Lions from the west can be found within. Eagles and falcons are also tended to, and taken out by the King and Queen for hunts every week or so to spread their wings when not putting on displays for civilians in one of the open parks where locals come to picnic.

The biggest attraction however are the three elephants that reside in its eastern quarter. Two are local jungle elephants but the largest beast, a bull, comes from the same foreign land as the small pride of lions, and stands a meter taller than the local breed, and has much larger tusks. The three are often taken for walks around the outskirts, and twice a year allowed to roam outside freely for a time, though still watched. Past keepers noticed the animals ancestors did not do well in captivity, and seemed to grow morose and dispassionate even towards their own young. One calf even needing to be saved from its own mother. To remedy this, their handler put forward a plan to allow them to roam outside their pen much like the birds of prey. It seemed to work, as the calf was accepted by its mother who herself became more animated. The walks also acted as a form of advertisement as well, drawing in travellers to see the many other creatures within.

Dockside

The Dockside is centred around an old beach front where the land has been eaten away at by the Rover Eserby joining the River Dorie. Now the area is covered in guesthouses and taprooms, one after the other that descend from the city down to the waterfront along winding roads, channelling the noise of the revellers out into the river rather than back into the city. The Docks buzz until the suns rises in the morning offering accommodation, lodging, food and drink to countless travellers.
Where the Morrian district is the cities core and soul, it is the Dockside that gives it its life. A life that can be felt and seen along piers and in tucked away side streets. A life that appears even brighter when against the darker backdrop.
When the lights along the docks go out, the rest of the city wakes. The district is quite during the morning after. The drunks hide from the sun, the fishing boats have already left, and cooks have set off to barter elsewhere at the fish market or other market square throughout the city.

The Harbour

The dockside harbour is where the boats and freighters of travellers and seamen dock. Boats from all along the River Dorie and Eserby River stop here as a final rest before the Glittergloom Sea or vice versa as a welcome return, offloading goods, sailors, and foreigners into a city that remains distant and quiet to them, at least until the sun goes down. Once darkness descends the residents of the Dockside come alive as if to chase off the dark, or perhaps to revel in it.
It is from the Harbour that many of the fishing boats moor for the night when not in Port Vaiz after heading out for a catch and selling it off at the fish market further West. Throughout the day, small boats can be hired to ferry passengers a ways up an down the river systems in exchange for a small fee.

The Guesthouses

For a city with such deep ties to death, it holds a great number of guesthouses, taverns, inns and brothels. Over fifty line the docks alone infact, providing shelter to sailors, merchants, travellers, pilgrims and those who have been left stranded. All together, the inns along the docks alone can accommodate thousands of visitors who come for the festivals held throughout the year. At such times the docks are bursting at the seams to accommodate everyone and tenants make enough in a week to set them up for months of down time.
The wild festive atmosphere of the cities docks is well known throughout the Empire, and during those times anything is possible. Many a traveler has lost their heart to the city and decide to set down roots in Viadeza.

The Dance Hall

The dance hall belongs to the youth of Viadeza. It is neutral ground between the Clanholds where adolescents, farm girls, and skirmishers meet for parties, music, and first kisses.
The hope of finding a future husband or wife, or perhaps even a mate turns the cheeks of the adolescents a bright red. They are nervous and shy, but also rude and aggressive, especially when two girls meet who have their eye on the same boy.
The boys are no better, posturing and fighting to attract the attention of one of the girls but forbidden from approaching them by Elanian tradition, something that catches out young outsiders who attend unprepared.
Two priestesses of Shana stand guard outside the hall, monitoring those wwho stumble out to make sure none of the drunk youth fall into the Dorie river across the street and drown.

The Compound

The previous King and Queen of Telan loved hunting and their hunting dogs, and had a large breeding compound set up near the East Gate to look after the dogs and train them to track boars, deer, and even bears. Such dogs, known as Bone mouths, are generally long limbed, lithe, and strong shouldered but if an animal is able to execute its task of hunting well, it is considered a good dog, irrespective of it size and shape. There are no "pure-breeds" in the compound.
The previous rulers son and his mate look to uphold their predecessors love of hunting, utilizing the eagles and falcons from the Sanctum Park as well as the dogs during outings. Current problems and a certain war with Hardwater however has meant that such hunts grow further and further apart each time.

Anshai

The Anshai sits to the East of the city and is where travellers who decide to remain in the city will settle down. The architecture is therefore as varied as the population within. Flat roofs, peaked roofs, single story blocks, mansions and more clanholds break up the skyline of the city. With the people come their religions, and the district is packed with temples and alters to every God or Goddess imaginable. processions flow down streets, incense fills the air at reliable times, and the market squares are packed with those from Anshai and other districts looking to buy trinkets, hear stories or other such oddities made by the inhabitants from their distant lands.

Viadeza Historical Museum

Temple of Nazmi

Artists Row

Kings Isle

The huge part natural, part man-made island jutting out into the River Dorie is where the ruling family of Telan now holds court. The island is set up like one large clanhold but with moats and the rivers strong current as its walls. On it are all the trapping a clan needs to stand on its own, including a market, workshops, sleeping quarters for both clan members and guests, and mustering fields. It even boasts its own private pier for the clans fishing boats to offload their catches or good sent by river to be taken in privately.
There are only three entrances onto the Kings Isle, and all three have strong gatehouses on both ends of the bridges that are watched by skirmishers and spotters.
Not everything considered to be a part of the Isle is actually on the Isle however, and government buildings run outside of the clan are outside of the island.

The Darkstar Fortress

The castle on the east bank of the Isle has always been there, perched for ages on the rocky ledge that juts out into the River Dorie. The walls are thick, and sturdy, built from slabs of black stone some say are too heavy to have been placed when the fortress was apparently constructed. For thousands of years it has defied the forces of nature and man alike, standing up to monsoons, winds, and repeated assaults.
The politics of the entire Kingdom are now shaped inside of this solid and dependable structure. The chiefs of all the Telanian clans pay visits to the court of Tolis here, and are welcomed through the 6m high doors and past the Kings Swornswords into the throne room. It is a hall of trophies. Hunting horns, bones and skulls of great beasts, pelts, maps, spears, swords and axes adorn the walls and alcoves enough to rival the archives. And above it all hangs the skeleton of some monstrous toothed whale from a time long before man. These are the history of past Viadezan rulers, for Telan is lost.

City Hall

Mayors Office

Courthouse of Viadeza

Kings Barracks Complex

The barrack complex was once a clanhold under Clann Agnatos. After the near constant warfare in recent years however, the numbers of the Clann have dwindled, and this branch, that of clan -------, were folded in among the others. Now the hold is the training grounds and sleeping quarters for the clanns united band. The hold has a considerable arsenal. The armoury containing far more swords, spears, axes, shields, crossbows and javelins than the band could possibly use at its current numbers. The two towers at its north and south corners house a ballistae each that can be rotated to fire along any of the entrance ways onto the Isle.
Battle-hardened warriors and surviving Ironbacks not killed when the King was captured reside here, along with the Queens own Kantor band of less mauled fighters. They do what they can to train the new skirmishers and make good warriors out of them. Not all stay within its reinforced walls however. scouts and spotters roam the Kingdoms boarders and countryside, especially to the west looking for any signs of another invasion from their enemies. The cavalry stay out of the city as well, a more obvious patrol and as swift messengers for the scouts. Swornswords remain close to their King and Queen in the Fortress, guarding them to the point of being stifling.
All of them wait with baited breath for another chance at the Hardwater bands, chafing at the leash their King hold them back with. They lost many trying to reach their King as he was dragged off the field. The Ironbacks spearheaded a rescue attempt that saw them surrounded and cut down. The band has sworn vengeance and are always sharpening their blades and senses for the coming battle.

Embassy Road

Port Viaz

Port Viaz was once a separate settlement from Viadeza. The two tribes meeting across the Tarodo River and eventually joining the two into a single city. It is on this side of the river, closest to the Kings Isle and its wealthy nobility that much of the cities industry and commerce is now conducted. Fishing ships are built in the Docks and the Fish market, while the Circuits host excellent manufacturers and craftsmen, working with gold, silver, jade and other gemstones, all of which are in high demand. Others carve ivory, and work with bones, shells and wood to craft exquisite composite pieces. Bowyers, net makers, basket weavers and jewellers from some of the largest clans also exhibit their craftsmanship "westside", and people from all other districts flood the bridges over Millers lane to purchase trinkets and spices on market days.

The Fish Market

Here is where the local fishing boats come in to offload their catch. Carp and Catfish are stripped, gutted, and hung to dry in the warm breeze before being sent to the fishermans clanhold. Any excess is sold at the stalls. On occasion a rare Paddlefish is caught and word quickly spreads among the children who come running to see the large, strange looking fish hung on a hook before it is butchered and sold at an appropriately high price.
Almost every stall is guarded from gulls by their trusted Cormorants. Trained birds used to fish rivers alongside their masters. The large birds are trusted as the snares around the base of their necks stop them from eating the larger fish on sale, but allows them to eat smaller ones they catch while out on the river.
Between bird droppings, blood and Carp pickled in brine, fishermen exchange stories of intrigue, the latest rumors, and news from all over the kingdom. Banter worthy of the stage can be heard here every passing minute, and the coarse humour frequently leads to fights that are later remedied in a Dockside tavern. If one is looking for information, the Fish Market is a good start.

The Circuits

At first glance the three Circuits of Viaz seem rather unremarkable. An open market square dotted with market stalls, and surrounded by shops, covered with extended canopies. Though under these canopies, the greatest craftsmen and women in the city from every clan sell their wares. Clans normally stick to their own for buying and selling items behind their walls, but even the biggest cannot have specialists in every field. It is at the circuits that all such masters gather to sell their wares and exchange knowledge and techniques with others of their craft. Each Circuit specializes in an particular product: spices and food produce; ornaments and items made of hides, furs, bones and ivory; and fine clothing and jewellery of gems, silk, and precious metals.

The Spice Circuit is steeped in the aroma of its wares. Spices and ingredients from across the Empire and Tural are sold her, scooped out of hemp bags on display or behind stalls and sold to buyers. Food items such as meat, vegetables, and the famous Viadezan Fish Balls, are also cooked by street vendors using these spices, and interested customers are pointed towards the vendors clan-stall to buy the ingredients used in their creations.

The Fur Circuit specializes in decorations. Be it the small bone and colourfully painted wood bracelets so loved as marriage gifts by Nerallians, exquisitely made composite decorations of bone, shells and wood, or fur rugs and carved wooden chairs for a home, this Circuit is the place to go for such earthen crafts.

The most wealthy of the three Circuits is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Jewel Circuit. Under its colouful canopies the wealthy clan members from Morrs District and the foreign nobles from Embassy Road purchase beautifully crafted and meticulously made gold, silver, and jade ornaments, or browse stalls selling cut sapphires and emeralds set in rings and necklaces of copper, silver, or onyx.
It is the weavers that are the biggest draw to the Circuit however. Silk weavers are prized among Elanian society, and the marriage of a particularly gifted weaver into one clan and not another has been the start of many bloody and long wars, let along a master of her craft. As such, they tend to stay within their clanhold, working almost exclusively for their family members. Occasionally however, they will take up residence at their shop again for a few days, and when it is noticed their door is open, they will be almost mobbed by people looking to buy their work: be it clothing, a wall tapestry, or even a handkerchief. Fights often start over such products, though all involved are careful not to damage the item in question, and none would even think of crowding the weaver herself let alone laying a hand on her. After these chaotic few days, she returns to her clanhold, grinning with new wealth.

The Swine Market

The swine market is the fourth Circuit in Port Viaz, though it has grown far beyond its original market square. The market covers the river wall above the Prenas bound gate all the way to the fish market. It is where farmers and herders come to trade their livestock with other clans, shouting prices across booths, constantly trying to undercut one another as the various animals in pens add a stedfast din throughout proceedings.

Millers Lane

Lining both sides of the Tarodo River that separates Morrs District from Port Viaz is Millers Lane. Water wheels of all sizes extend into the river and move in the stream, generating power to move the millstones inside the mills, and the hammers up and down in the forges.
Millers Lane is where swords are forged and tools are manufactured for the surrounding farmland. Wheat is threshed and flax is pressed. Miller’s Lane is the supplier of everyday goods for the region.
Each mill is owned by one of the clanholds in Ash Fall, and each specializes in a particular product be it flour, metal, or woven fabric. The products made in each mill is then sold on within the clan at a reduced rate, or at one of the markets around the city.

Grey River Docks

Grey River Docks was once a center of trade to rival the Dockside, taking in shipments of goods via the Tarodo River from the heartland of the Telan Kingdom during its greatest extent before being sent onward down the River Dorie. Now that the Kingdom wanes, such a time has largely passed. Transport of the black stone from Grole is still conducted through the port, as is sawn lumber from Tronho and the Sombrawood. But the Fish Market and Dockside have taken over the bulk of trade and income due to their contact to the River Dorie and the larger Empire.
Business mostly comes exclusively from the clanholds these days. Elanians are fascinated by the black stone blocks and use it as the foundations for all expansions in their family compounds, and each own or at least have preferential access to a pier for any goods brought in from the Tarodo, be it bought, farmed, or otherwise extracted by their extended networks over the Kingdom.

Hall of Exchangers

Temple of Makoll

Viadeza

Capital City

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City

Viadeza

Province

Kingdom of Telan

Inhabitants

ca. 84,600 / no census

Population Structure

Elanians/Dominant, Amanokami/Dominant, Han-Azzi/Numerous, Parrians/Numerous, Hekanccians/Present, Khesumii/Present, Sinians/scattered, Thujans/negligible, Elves/Few

Leader

King Tolis Um' Agnatos

Governing Force

Mayor Viccan and the Viadeza Courts

Trade/Goods

Fish, clothing, ironware and items forged by blacksmiths, pork, jewellery, skins, wheat, rice, Hunting Dogs

City Guard

• Clann Agnatos Band: 108 Fighters (33 Skirmishers, 32 Warriors, 6 Swornswords, 14 Scouts, 5 Ironbacks, 16 Cavalry, 1 Champion, 1 Captain)
• Clann Kantor Band: 223 Fighters (36 Skirmishers, 98 Warriors, 15 Swornswords, 9 Scouts, 42 Ironbacks, 21 Cavalry, 1 Champion, 1 Captain)
• Mage Cadre: 2 A'kin Mages, 1 Denul Mage, 1 Sin'nak mage
• Black Guard: 50 Heavy Knights