Vllaistrae

A large, thousand-year old empire covering much of Amarus, Vllaistrae’s origins date back to the Age of the Wizard-Kings, when the city-state of Sairis forsook the teachings of Enkai and adopted the faith of the Almighty. Its name derived from the near-extinct Vllais flower which once grew on the shores of Lake Sairisi (and presently serves as one of its primary symbols), Vllaistrae has been ruled by the Pelletier dynasty since its inception. Over the course of the 1st and 2nd centuries of the Age of the Almighty, Vllaistrae grew from a nation into an empire, and following the Turian-Vllaistraean War at end of the 3rd stood without peer as the most powerful in all Rhodenia.

A land of abundant natural resources, Vllaistrae has grown rich from trade and the production of luxury goods. Such is the quality of Vllaistraean artisans that their clothing, jewelry, furnishings, and objets d’art are sought throughout the entire world. Vllaistrae’s cultural heritage is the envy of all Rhodenia, its literature, drama, and music peerless in their sophistication and renown.

Although Vllaistrae has been ruled by the Pelletier dynasty for nearly a millennium, the crown’s authority has historically been far from absolute; church and state are tightly bound in the Empire, and the clergy of Church of the Almighty wields a great deal of power. The relationship between the two political bodies is often summarized in the witticism "the crown rules the city; the church, the world." Vllaistraean citizens are legally required to yearly pay both a tribute to the Crown and a tithe to the Church. The seat of the Church’s power actually resides in Donadea, an independent state adjacent to Sairis itself.

Presently, the Empress Velucia Pelletier sits upon the Vllaistraean throne.

Sairis
The capital city of Vllaistrae, Sairis is the cultural, commercial, and political heart of the Empire. Boasting a population of nearly two million souls, it is the largest city in the known world. Sairis is home to both the University of the Almighty and the College of Magic, both institutions the foremost authorities in their influence over matters religious and arcane respectively; as a consequence, foreign priests and scholars routinely travel from far and wide to the city in order to study in its libraries.

Sairis can effectively be divided into two halves: the Old and New cities. Located on an island in Lake Sairisi, Old Sairis predates the Age of the Almighty. A place of ancient stone & marble structures, Old Sairis is home to Vllaistrae’s aristocracy and middle class, and the bulk of its administrative and cultural facilities are located there. It is renown for its canals, and gondolas are the primary mode of transportation in the old city. Since the beginning of Empress Velucia’s reign, arcano-technical innovations have made its way into its architecture and infrastructure, including such wonders as mana-powered streetlights and retractable bridges. New Sairis, by contrast, was built over the course of the 3rd and 4th centuries as the city’s growing population demanded expansion to the mainland. Most of the city’s general commerce and industry is located in the new city. New Sairis houses the lower-middle, working, and indentured classes.

The Armaline Mountains
Deep in the Armaline Mountains several Florentium mines dot the steep rock. Wooden pillars reinforced with iron bands provide the entrances with stability. Rails lead into the mines, with several carts riding in and out, the ones leading out full of stone rubble, some of coal and occasionally a heavily guarded one. The carts going in were empty, each holding a dwarf working levers to keep the vehicles moving on the rails. Every individual exiting the mining area gets searched and patted down to prevent any Florentium theft, and the accountants carefully take notes in the ledgers of the amount of Florentinum, coal, and precious stones that are extracted.

Loud sounds and vibrations echo up from the depths of the mountains, but none pay much attention to it. Outside the mines, build on scaffolding, large scale operations take place to extract the Florentinum safely from the mined rock. Machines that emit steam and smoke make loud clanging noises and bangs, as dwarves fervently work the machines and valuable material. Lower down the mountainsides, camps are set up with families who prepare the caravans and feed the miners. The dwarves have started to carve their homes into the mountains itself, slowly making it theirs. Not yet done, tents are set up on more scaffolding, precariously flapping in the wind, with the families working hard to make sure the miners have a home to come back to.

Into the mines, deep shafts can be found on many levels, worked by steam powered elevators bringing people and resources up and down. Carts on rails transport all mined material, and the tunnels are reinforced at key points for optimal safety. Several safe rooms have been mined out where miners and protectors can equip themselves and rest up. A rumbling machine with bubbling liquid and several gears stands in every such room and works non stop to purify the air at the deepest levels, with a large fan providing the circulation needed to expand the mines deeper and deeper. Occasionally loud explosions reverberate all through the mines, as the demolition teams make head-way into expanding large sections. This causes cave-ins on a regular basis, and rescue teams are on standby to clear the tunnels and rescue the crew.

Dwarven protectors, armed with guns and hammers, patrol alongside the miners fending off monsters who crawl out of the depths attracted by the operations and lure of prey.