City of Elricia

The City of Elricia sits on the eastern coast of the province of Elricia. The city of Elricia is the largest, richest and most populous city on the continent of Narador.

History
The City of Elricia was originally founded by the Chalois Empire under the rule of Empress Elrissa. The city was built to serve as the primary trading hub of the Empire. Not long after the creation of the city, the Consortium was established to rule over the city, overseeing the trade on behalf of the Empire. As the Consortium grew in power, they established a bank, the Consortium Bank, to loan money to nobles and businesses around the Empire.

As part of the Chalois Empire, the province of Elricia was ruled by the Viceroy of Elricia, a noble who frequently was related to the Imperial family by marriage.

During the Sovrunian War for Independence, calls grew from within the province of Elricia for their own independence, having previously been denied it as part of Bishop Patriarch Rustem Plessis’ call for independence. The Viceroy, Duke Percival Exeley now independent Kingdom of Elricia joined the war on the side of Chalois, fighting back against the Sovrune rebels. The combined forces were initially successful in the war, until the intervention of Noxxara, who forced the Empire to surrender. Following the war, chaos ensued within Elricia.

When King Percival tried to take his place in Elricia, he found his way into the city blocked by mercenary armies hired by the richest merchants of the city, who were denying his right to rule. The royalist forces began to besiege the city, until King Percival himself was nearly assassinated in the night. He escaped the attempt alive, but severely injured. Wary of having an un-allied rival region to the East, the Empire of Chalois threatened to invade to quell the rebellion on behalf of King Percival. The head of the merchants, Lykos the Skull, named after his gaunt appearance, opened negotiations with the Emperor behind the back of King Percival. Lykos was a Consortium member who sat on the Regulation Committee for the city. Lykos was able to secure independence for Elricia by agreeing to dismantle the province as a political entity – the City would become it’s own state, and the territories surrounding it would become independent duchies, counties and baronies that now make up the Estates. Happy that this arrangement nullified the threat of a united province, the Emperor of Chalois arrested King Percival and handed him over to Lykos. Lykos then reformed the government of Elricia, turning it into its current form. He served as the original Prince-Mayor of the city and was important in the maintaining of strong ties between Elricia and Chalois.

Geography
The City of Elricia sits on the Eastern coast of the province proper. It has a temperate climate in the winter, and hot summers. The city covers a bulk of the Eastern coastline and is bordered by the County of Dursley and the Duchy of Langbar.

Demographics
Elricia is an incredibly diverse city, home to humans of every nationality and even other races such as Elves and Dwarves, who are not uncommon in the city. Other races can also be found here, albeit more sparsely. The city has a long-standing reputation for being a safe-haven for those who have been exiled from other provinces.

Humans
Humans are the majority of the city's population. A plurality of this majority are from the province of Elricia themselves, spending most, if not all, of their lives in the city. They can be found at all levels of society, doing all manner of work.

Elfkin
Elves are the oldest non-human community in Elricia. The city has long been a popular destination for Elves who wish to move away from Karalas for one reason or another. Elven merchants are common visitors, and the city has a strong trading relationship with Karalas. Elves who reside in Elricia are often part of the upper-middle class of the city, and are commonly found residing in the neighbourhoods of Elfbridge and Light Gardens. The cultural impact of the city's Elven population can be seen in the fashion and music of the city. Karalas has an embassy in the city and the native Elven residences have an Alderman in the Senate.

Dwarves
Dwarves are likewise incredibly common in the city. The city is a key-trading ally for the Kingdom of Dwemelar, and many of the crafting clans of the Dwarvish cities have established businesses in Elricia. They are often found in the middle-lower class areas of the city, where they often find employment in crafting such as blacksmithing or brewing. Dwarves are often involved in the criminal underworld of the city, too. There is a highly profitable smuggling route from Elricia to Kal'Modr, so Dwarves fleeing the law in Dwemelar can easily find their way to Elricia. Dwemelar has an embassy in the city and the native Dwarven residents have an Alderman in the Senate.

Government
The city of Elricia is a republic governed by the Prince-Mayor and the Elrician Senate. The 150 members of the senate are elected by the populace of the city, albeit with tax-based restrictions on the right to vote. For a citizen of Elricia to qualify to vote, they must undergo a lengthy registration process to prove that they are of sound mind as well as pay a certain amount of tax per month.

Any citizen of Elricia is able to run for office – even those unable to vote, but the posts are unpaid and as a result, only the richest members of society can realistically hold office. The Prince-Mayor is elected by the Elrician Senate, though there is no requirement to hold Senatorial office to run for the position of Prince-Mayor. Both the Prince-Mayor and members of the Senate are elected for life with elections being held either on death or resignation of an incumbent.

In addition, the Prince-Mayor appoints an alderman for each of the minority races of the city. Currently only Elves and Dwarves have an alderman. The alderman has an observer role in the Senate, but is not eligible to vote in the Senate. To be appointed as an alderman the candidate must be a registered citizen of Elricia and be a qualified voter. The role of the alderman is to advise the Prince-Mayor, but they are also expected to maintain relations with the relevant embassies on the behalf of the Prince-Mayor.

Face
Unlike most of northern menune, the city of Elricia has no landed gentry – all men are free to own property and are therefore freemen. This lack of a feudal contract has developed a fairly unique notion of ‘face’ among the upper echelons of Elrician society.

‘Face’ is similar to honour and prestige, but rather than being about a person’s personal image, it has a more social context. It isn’t about how one sees oneself, but rather how one is seen by wider society.

One aspect of face is that insulting someone is seen as bad, if not worse, than being insulted. This has led to an Elrician tradition of doublespeak – talking negatively about someone while sounding positive. An example of this would be Prince-Mayor Lykos the Skull describing Baron Lionel Rudgate as ‘unashamedly affable at all hours of the day’, which was code for the Baron being a renowned drunk. The prevalence of doublespeak among the Elrician rich is what makes them such skilled diplomats and spies – they are used to speaking in flattering language and understanding coded messages.

Another element of Elrician face is that lying is not seen as immoral if it helps both parties save face. It is considered better to lie, even if it is easily proven to be a lie, than it is to be rude or insulting. One notable example of this was the celebration of Prince-Mayor Tudwal Monact. A grand celebration was held for his birthday, and his arch-rival, Senator Nortos Lasby, wasn’t invited. When Nortos turned up to the party anyway, he was turned away, being told that the party was for foreign dignitaries only. This was demonstrably untrue – many other Senators were in attendance, but it allowed Nortos to save face.

Architecture
All freemen are theoretically allowed to own property in Elricia, but there are strict guidelines on what type of property can be owned by individuals. Due to the limited amount of space in the city, freeman are only entitled to own a specific size of square-feet. Many of the older buildings, such as the manor-houses dating back to the days of the Chalois Empire’s rule of the city are much larger than this legal threshold, so are officially unable to be owned by individual freemen. Instead, these buildings often belong to enterprises or the government themselves. An example of this would be Belmont Manor, a grand mansion owned by the government that is used as a gilded prison. ‘Staying at the Belmont’ is a colloquial phrase used to mean a person has been arrested.

The restrictions of owning properties above a certain square-footage has forced the people of Elricia to instead build upwards as a signifier of wealth; the taller the building, the richer the owner. This means that Elricia has an eclectic skyline as almost all the buildings are of different heights. It isn’t uncommon for neighbours in a street to be constantly competing to build additional stories to make their rooftop taller than the others, to signify that they are the richest, and therefore most powerful, person on the street.

Guilds
Guild membership is a legal requirement for any merchant operating out of the city. The merchant licensing infrastructure is regulated entirely by the Consortium Bank on behalf of the Prince-Mayor, so even though it is not the case that only members of the Consortium can be awarded trade licenses, the Consortium ensures that they can be a significant obstacle to their opponents.