Pla'aron
Liber et ferrum
On the Districts and Landmarks of the City
Apples hanging from trees, houses in every shade of the ocean and sky, and ships in repair. You must be in Pla'aron, traveller. Welcome to Silver Ports, better known as Apple Pie Ports.The Silver Ports, named so for but one of their main exports, is likely the first place any foreigner will find themselves in. Covered by apple trees growing from the side of the dock, as well as the sides and rooftops of homes, the ports are also littered by merchants, selling everything from fresh fish to freshly minted magic items.
It was somehow calming, despite all the bold shades, the large carmine red pieces of fabric that hung off of rooftop edges and terraces, the shiny red brick homes, the walls painted salmon and desire, often depicting trees and flowers and people and whirlpools and portals that looked as if they could draw you in, transport you to a world redder than before. Even the leaves of the trees planted by the cobblestone paths were in various stages of reds and oranges though it was not yet past Midsummer.Welcome to the Red Rows, also known as the Red Riots. Each part of the city is known for its colours and this district is no different. You might find any shade of red you like in its own street, such as Vermillion Rise and Candy Apple Boulevard. Despite its name, the Red Rows District is not only focused on reds, but also a range of other colours. As such, it is often also known as Rainbow Roads.
Just when you think you can see the top, another cloud obscures it.Likely the first thing travellers see, even before entering the city, is the unsually shaped tower that pierces the sky, smaller towers and cube-like rooms piercing out of the sides like they were an afterthought. The very top of this building converges into a singular pointy tower on the top. The High Rise Tower is beyond anything most in the world had seen and it's hard to believe it fits on an island in the middle of the city. To the north-west of the city walls once stood slums, once the effect of a vast number of immigrants coming in from the north and west some decades ago, and overflowing this part of the city; a result of an economic crisis in Tribone. Nowadays, the area is high-middle-class, in part due to service and hospitality industries, but also due to the artistic community. The area itself is only a part of the High Gate district, which continues to the south, within city walls. The area is well-known for both merchants and craftsmen, whilst the more conventational artists might prefer the Red Riots to High Gate.
Demographics
Pla'aron is divided mainly amongst several types of Elves and Dwarves, but there is also a noteworthy number of half-Elves, half-Orcs, and the occasional Humans. Other species are scattered around and may be located throughout, though some remain quite rare or even nonexistent here.
Those economically and socially strong are very present and are gathered mostly in the centre of the city, as well as around the High Court. Most anybody with a clean past and the knowledge of tools, a trade, or a profession are able, still, to make a living here, and artists, especially sculptures and designers and painters even, are often brought up from the slums, shantytowns, or even the somewhat better parts of the city, and into the aristocratic world.
This often happens to aspiring authors, scholars, and intellectuals of low birth and low background, due to the sway that men of natural and arcane studies have over this metropolis. Knowledge built up this city and it refuses to be forgotten.
Government
The City of Knowledge and Lights, as it is known, is governed by a democratically chosen King, Queen or Royal, the latter title used should the elected person confine to or be of no gender.
Together with a legal council and the Pla'ani Parliment, the elected Royal comes up with laws and taxes, events and holidays, as well as trade deals or exploration missions; though in the case of the latter two, the Royal has more say in the matter and thus more decision-making power.
The Parliment members are about fifty per cent democratically elected, thirty per cent elected by the cities aristocrats and official, specially designated scholars, and twenty per cent have guaranteed seats, either due to their bloodline or due to a great service which they have performed to the city of Pla'aron, most often through years of hard work.
The latter group can be ousted from their Parliment positions pre-maturely due to any large errors they make, laws which they break, or for other reasons, such as negative effects occuring as a decision they were a part of making.
Defences
The city walls, which also extend into the gulf, are anywhere between fourteen and twenty-eight feet tall, and eight to roughly eighteen thick. There are also roughly nineteen or so thousand soldiers within the city at any one point, as well as under three hundred of military members higher up in the ranks.
There is also the aforementioned water gate, used in the past to stop the income of enemy ships or diseased vessels. There are also seven land gates around the city, thick metal doors, easily closed and barricaded, but thick and difficult to get through. The eastern water gate, through which the river enters into the city is also heavily guarded and there is a raised one-piece barricade made of iron and perhaps other material, with spikes on the front, which can be lowered, almost entirely cutting of the flow of the water, turning the powerful river into a weak stream.
To prevent ocean water flowing into the now almost empty riverbank, there is a gate which rests under the surface of the water, its height adjustable. It is also often used to prevent ships coming in, when they first need to be inspected or when there are too many ships inside already.
In the case it needs to be raised to a level which may overflow the bank and flood the city, there is a sewer system which can be opened, which would lead the water away from the city.
Infrastructure
Pla'aron has a vast amount of infrastructure, though the quality and quantity often depends on the exact area of the city. Sewers are pretty much the same everywhere, but parks, courtyards, and gardens will differ in general size and variety of activities, benefits or plants that all of these places have to offer.
Roads connect most of the city and go beyond it even, though the latter are of a lower quality, the further away they lead from a larger settlement. Ports and shipyards are few in number, seeing as the past few elected Royals have decided to focus their attention on the expansion of the land maps and knowledge, rather than that of the waters. Bridges connect the city where a branch of a river cuts it off, seeming to have been built more for the aesthetics of it rather than for the functionality, judging by the number and style of them.
There are several larger places which offer delivery of messages and packages as their main service and one will often find a smaller version of such places around town in larger numbers.
More intricate infrastructures are schools, academies, often of arcane nature, and Places of Healing, the latter of which, as the name suggests, offer medicinal services to all.
Guilds and Factions
The main powers within the city are the scientists, scholars and religious men, in addition to the criminals. The latter are fewer in numbers and power and would risk too much to simply move about in the light of day but they are still a fearsome organization to deal with. While the people of knowledge focus on the physical, aesthetical, and innovative growth and development of the city, the other side is more focused on the economic sway of things, while both of the sides meddle with politics, based on their wants and needs.
History
Pla'aron began as a fishing village over 1000 years ago, circa 2750 ADK. It would not join the Casian Shores Union until the later years of the Third Ander-Casian wars, in the year 3053.
Despite the unfortunate timing of its joining, Pla'aron was well-defended, albeit in a strange fashion. When it was learnt that armies of the Andertag Reach were marching towards Pla'aron, it now officially a part of the enemy's side, the plan was originally to chop the surrounding forests so that nobody could sneak up on the town. However, floods and earthquakes ensued around the territory, causing no damage to the settlements and instead turning the peninsula upon which the city-state lay into an archipelago instead. With such careful work, which some credit the act to the gods, such as Gamora, the goddess of the wild, the city stood without a single soldier threatning it.
In addition, legends state that this occurred just as a portion of the Andertag Armies was crossing a deep valley, carrying gold, weapons, and magic with them. Treasure is said to be found deep within the trenches of Pla'aron.
Climate
Pla'aron is known for its balanced climate, with all four seasons similarly represented. Steaming hot summers, cold, cold winters, rainy but kind autumns, blooming but ocassionaly rainy springs.
Searing summers are somewhat softened by the cold ocean winds coming from the East, winds which with wings climb the heights of the city.
Natural Resources
Pla'aron mostly gains its oats, wheats, and other crops from trade and import but they produce and harvest their own fish, wood, stone, apples, and certain types of metals; although certain entrepreneurs of the city directly import certain metals and materials, either for their own purposes or for certain contracts with the government and the Royal.
Districts:
- East Ward
- Student's Plane
- Coin Hill Castle
- Silver Port
- High Rise Tower
- Shepherds' Perch
- Red Rows
- High Gate
- Silkforge Heights
- Deep Market
- Summer Hills
- Noontown
- Wine Way
Founding Date
c. 2780
Alternative Name(s)
City of Knowledge, City of Lights
Type
Metropolis
Population
838,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Pla'an, Pla'ani
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
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