Albion
The White City, capital of Valor and the seat of the Monarchy, Parliament, and The Valorian Temple. Albion is located by a lake, which connects to major trade rivers, in the foothills of the mountains where the Valorian Gryphons were first trained.
Demographics
The people of Albion, like the country generally, are mostly human. They vary widely in terms of skin and hair color. On average, they trend taller than the surrounding countries; the (perhaps earned) stereotype of a Valorian is tall, muscular, large-nosed, loud, and boastful human.
There are also a smattering of other races with a presence in Albion, mostly as part of the various guilds. This includes mountain goblins (heavily represented in the Hunting Guild and Fishing Guild), fauns (mostly in the Herbalists Guild and Alchemists Table, or with the universities) and dogfolk (represented in most of the working guilds, but especially in the Masons Quarry). Smaller populations of sphinx and naga are present, primarily as diplomats and visitors, rather than than permanent residents.
Government
The city is home to Valor's government, and sometimes (at least in the eyes of rural citizens) likes to forget that it governs anything but Albion.
The government has three parts: the Monarchy, which largely directs the course and conscience of Valor; the Parliament, which debates and decides the particulars of law and taxation; and the Valorian Temple, which sees to the defense of Valor and enforces the will of the other branches (where that will does not contradict their own). More detail available in the Valor article.
Defences
There are large defense towers at the East and West ends of the new lakefront, a defensive outpost on an island nearer the center of the new lakefront, and a fortified wall surrounding the rest of the city, though the Western inland now spills out of its wall, and the Eastern inland has so many doors out to the fields and outlying settlements that it would be difficult these days to properly secure it. Only the castle wall are actively patrolled, as the Valorian Knights' regular aerial patrols are considered sufficient security for the rest of the city.
Industry & Trade
Albion is the heart of all trade in Valor--even goods which never see the city have often been promised in a deal made here, or had their price set or capped by the guilds headquartered in the Eastern inland.
Infrastructure
The oldest part of the city is a swath along the old lakefront. The once rocky shores have since been built up into stone walls, and the new lakefront is home to the finest houses in the city proper at its center, businesses and offices at the East end, and warehouses, docks, and taverns at the West end.
The Western inland area is mostly lower class residential, with a practical and bustling marketplace, smaller temples, and a pubhouse every block or two. The Eastern inland has some middle-class merchant housing, but is mostly trade and guild focused. It is less dense than the rest of the city, with room for stables, practice yards, and forges. The goods made here are sold mostly at the Forums market, but may be bought directly from the artisan (at a better price) in-between market days--if you know where to look and who to ask.
The center of the city consists of the Forums, the Temple square, and finally the ascent to Castle Albion.
Guilds and Factions
There are too many active Guilds in Albion to name; they are the driving forces of industry and education across Valor, and all are represented here. They can be lumped broadly into the Working Guilds (such as the Fishers Guild or Stonecutters Quarry) and the Scholar Guilds (such as the Alchemists Table or Astronomers Guild), but even the working guilds see to the education (of such degree as is needed) of their members, and even the scholar guilds oversee employment and labor (when such things are needed). It is merely a difference in balance; which duty is seen as the higher value. Some, such as the Masons Quarry, straddle the line between the two types--pursuing research, theory, application, and craftmanship with equal rigor--and so are sometimes called Complete Guilds.
The various temples, each complete with a workforce of priests and clerics, function similarly within their spheres; remarkably so, at times. It is hard to say whether the guilds modeled themselves after the temples or visa-versa, but either way, it seems that emulation must have taken place.
Architecture
Albion is named for the white stone used in its defensive wall and in the construction of the castle, which was quarried from the hills starting within the city itself, then behind and outward. Even the oldest roads of the city are of albion stone. Some parts of old lakeside still feature mud brick, but otherwise, the city is of wood, concrete, and its eponymous stone.
Maps
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Albion and Surrounding Area
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