Post by Valen Storyteller on Jan 26, 2016 16:35:16 GMT
Territory: 24 miles across on land (3 land hexes, 5 sea hexes);
Language: Common, nobility also speaks Ruathim;
Religion: No State Religion. Most of the nobility worship The Triumvirate, while trade-folk and commoners favor The Twins;
Demonym: Valenian;
Government: Electorate (Only nobility may vote or be elected to high officers);
Population: 1 million, mostly in the city proper;
Demographics: 60% human, Half-Elves 10%, Elves 8%, Dwarves 7%, Halflings 5%, Gnomes 2%, Half-Orcs 2%, Thri-Kreen 2%, Gith 2%, Others 2%.
HISTORY
Valen was founded two and a half millennia ago, by a far-traveling group of migrants: the same ones who founded, about the same time, the city of Spinal. For a time the two cities and the many villages and towns dotting the peninsula were a loose alliance, working together in the defense of their shared culture and homeland.
Although the peninsula was geographically a backwater, from the founding of its two great cities the region showed glimmers of greatness. There are tales of great works of magic at the time of the city’s founding, reshaping the land and perfecting it for settlement. In the millennia since then, Valen bloomed as a city of philosophers, sages and artists, a gleaming city for free thinkers at the edge of civilization.
The Samaran Empire arrived five centuries ago, and with it came a new age. Although often reviled in the modern day, the truth is that the imperial rule was mostly beneficent, bringing with it great works of infrastructure and binding the peninsula together with the rest of Eryx and Faytan. When the empire retreated from the Valenpoint Peninsula, Valen had become the great city it now is.
Five years ago, a mysterious force began to advance in the shadows. Entire farmholds would go missing, and then entire villages. When the undead first emerged openly, they boiled up from caves and underground passages in horrifying numbers. Every city and town in the peninsula jumped to defend themselves, but it was only Valen who worked not only for its own security, but for the defense of all of Valenpoint. Allying with the Kingdom of the Celestial Mantis in far-flung Klinerra to the East, as well as with the elves of Seldarra to the Northwest, Valen mounted a brave and organized resistance. Riders traveled the length of the peninsula, defending every town they could, and saving tens of thousands.
When the war was over, Valenpoint was a changed place. A loose confederation had formed uniting the region and its distant allies, with Valen as the undisputed heart of the union.
GEOGRAPHY
Valen is built upon four gently-rolling hills, one of which juts out towards the sea in a series of gorgeous, breath-taking cliffs. Valenhold, the city’s palace, is built at the very tip of this hill, while the city grows in the three other ones, as well as the valleys between them.
The Brightwater River flows from the north, cutting through the city. To its east is Valenhold and the Oldtown, the former heart of the city, and on the other bank of the river grows the younger half of the town, mostly built in the time of imperial rule. Also built at that time is the vast Imperial Bridge, as broad as a city block and crossing the river with a few feet to spare at each end. From dawn to noon every day a great market is raised on the bridge, with bright stalls and wares from across the world. After noon, the bridge is cleared and becomes a major thoroughfare for tradesfolk. Many of the city’s best shops are built within sight of the Imperial Bridge, and have large, bright signs hanging in view of it.
On the west end of the riverbank, right where it meets the Bay, is built the embassy-monastery of the Kingdom of the Celestial Mantis. Built three years ago during the war, the structure has recently become a sour point between natives and the visiting Thri-Kreen. There is simply no mistaking, from the architecture, the fact that the embassy is in fact more of a fortress, and every member of its hundred-strong staff bears weapons openly, and seem quite skilled with them. Many fear that this is the beach-head for a coming invasion.
Valen claims as its own a territory stretching twenty miles from its outermost guard tower. At the very edges of this territory rule is loose, with some villages and remote holds who do not recognise the city’s sovereignty at all. Most of this land, however, is a beautiful, settled country of rolling farmlands and small, tame woodlands dotted with the cottages of hunters and woodsmen, as well as the occasional glade inhabited and defended by elves and their allies.
Language: Common, nobility also speaks Ruathim;
Religion: No State Religion. Most of the nobility worship The Triumvirate, while trade-folk and commoners favor The Twins;
Demonym: Valenian;
Government: Electorate (Only nobility may vote or be elected to high officers);
Population: 1 million, mostly in the city proper;
Demographics: 60% human, Half-Elves 10%, Elves 8%, Dwarves 7%, Halflings 5%, Gnomes 2%, Half-Orcs 2%, Thri-Kreen 2%, Gith 2%, Others 2%.
HISTORY
Valen was founded two and a half millennia ago, by a far-traveling group of migrants: the same ones who founded, about the same time, the city of Spinal. For a time the two cities and the many villages and towns dotting the peninsula were a loose alliance, working together in the defense of their shared culture and homeland.
Although the peninsula was geographically a backwater, from the founding of its two great cities the region showed glimmers of greatness. There are tales of great works of magic at the time of the city’s founding, reshaping the land and perfecting it for settlement. In the millennia since then, Valen bloomed as a city of philosophers, sages and artists, a gleaming city for free thinkers at the edge of civilization.
The Samaran Empire arrived five centuries ago, and with it came a new age. Although often reviled in the modern day, the truth is that the imperial rule was mostly beneficent, bringing with it great works of infrastructure and binding the peninsula together with the rest of Eryx and Faytan. When the empire retreated from the Valenpoint Peninsula, Valen had become the great city it now is.
Five years ago, a mysterious force began to advance in the shadows. Entire farmholds would go missing, and then entire villages. When the undead first emerged openly, they boiled up from caves and underground passages in horrifying numbers. Every city and town in the peninsula jumped to defend themselves, but it was only Valen who worked not only for its own security, but for the defense of all of Valenpoint. Allying with the Kingdom of the Celestial Mantis in far-flung Klinerra to the East, as well as with the elves of Seldarra to the Northwest, Valen mounted a brave and organized resistance. Riders traveled the length of the peninsula, defending every town they could, and saving tens of thousands.
When the war was over, Valenpoint was a changed place. A loose confederation had formed uniting the region and its distant allies, with Valen as the undisputed heart of the union.
GEOGRAPHY
Valen is built upon four gently-rolling hills, one of which juts out towards the sea in a series of gorgeous, breath-taking cliffs. Valenhold, the city’s palace, is built at the very tip of this hill, while the city grows in the three other ones, as well as the valleys between them.
The Brightwater River flows from the north, cutting through the city. To its east is Valenhold and the Oldtown, the former heart of the city, and on the other bank of the river grows the younger half of the town, mostly built in the time of imperial rule. Also built at that time is the vast Imperial Bridge, as broad as a city block and crossing the river with a few feet to spare at each end. From dawn to noon every day a great market is raised on the bridge, with bright stalls and wares from across the world. After noon, the bridge is cleared and becomes a major thoroughfare for tradesfolk. Many of the city’s best shops are built within sight of the Imperial Bridge, and have large, bright signs hanging in view of it.
On the west end of the riverbank, right where it meets the Bay, is built the embassy-monastery of the Kingdom of the Celestial Mantis. Built three years ago during the war, the structure has recently become a sour point between natives and the visiting Thri-Kreen. There is simply no mistaking, from the architecture, the fact that the embassy is in fact more of a fortress, and every member of its hundred-strong staff bears weapons openly, and seem quite skilled with them. Many fear that this is the beach-head for a coming invasion.
Valen claims as its own a territory stretching twenty miles from its outermost guard tower. At the very edges of this territory rule is loose, with some villages and remote holds who do not recognise the city’s sovereignty at all. Most of this land, however, is a beautiful, settled country of rolling farmlands and small, tame woodlands dotted with the cottages of hunters and woodsmen, as well as the occasional glade inhabited and defended by elves and their allies.