Editia, The City of a Thousand Towers

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Palamon
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Editia, The City of a Thousand Towers

Post by Palamon » Sat Oct 02, 2004 10:02 pm

Most ancient of all of Durnalian cities, Editia is by far the most fantastic and outrageous city in all the known world. Seated on a peninsular promontory high above the Bay of Edita, it is home to nearly a half a million Durnalians. In size, but not shape, it is roughly square: 15 miles by 15 miles, with a natural harbor where the isthmus meets the promontory, which is very similar to an island attached to the land by a natural bridge. The sea has eaten away at this land bridge in one place, and actually has begun to carve a hole in the land bridge that is visible during low tide. There are many caves below the city as well, and there are rumored to be secret harbors as well.

Modern and ancient works of engineering have given it the moniker of 'City of a Thousand Towers', and the name is not all that exaggerative. If one were to count the number of edifices standing over fifty feet in height, the number would surely be near a thousand.

However, only a few are of the tremendous height worth mentioning. First is the Grey Tower itself, ancient beyond reckoning. Its true history is long since lost, and it is known that it predates the city. Standing over seven hundred feet (the modern equivalent would be a seventy story building) in height, it is over three times the height of the second tallest building in the known world, and can be seen for many miles.

The City of a Thousand Towers is walled by thick walls with powerful guard towers. It is the Tower of the Sun that is the second tower worth mentioning here, for therein lies an ancient weapon of the Durnalian Empire of old: a Sun Mirror. This weapon functions only during the day, but it is fearsome: it is capable of setting enemy ships ablaze in mere minutes when aimed and focused. Its range has been proven to cover the entirety of the city's harbor, and rumored to extend much further. History holds that many other towers had such mirrors, but they have been either stolen, broken, or lost.

Water is transported into the City of a Thousand Towers from many aqueducts, and the city has well functioning sewers as well. So despite its cramped nature, it is kept relatively clean. The water source is the city's Achilles heel, and it was due to a successful demolition of the main aqueducts that marauders were nearly able to reduce the Durnalian Empire to nothingness several hundred years ago during the War of the Gryphons, the Civil War which split the empire in two during the second Age of Kings (the other half has since crumbled into separate kingdoms and city-states - more about that later). It is a scar that Durnalia has never recovered from.

As might be expected, this city is almost entirely built of stone, and the age of a building can be quickly guessed by looking at its creation. In the Early Years, when it was just a city-state, Editia was hastily thrown together with whatever stones might be found. This is, of course, discounting the Grey Tower, which predates even this era. Then during the years of the Durnalian Kingdom, only the finest stones were used, and the skill of the stonemasons was astonishing. This was, of course, over a thousand years ago, and these buildings even survived a great earthquake during the Imperial years. Only a few of the city-state era buildings survived. Very few of those still remain. Imperial times brought about the discovery of Quickstone, similar to today's concrete. Enormous structures were erected in record time. The great earthquake destroyed most of these, but the Imperial Durnalians rebuilt very quickly. Most of the aqueducts are made of Quickstone. The secret of Quickstone has since been lost, and in today's time, known as the Second Royal Age, or the Fourth Age (City-State, Kingdom, Imperial - both Durnalian and Itracian, and now) the skill of the old stonemasons is also gone. Today's buildings are of amazing quality by any other standard, but here in Editia they pale by comparison. And nothing can compare to the Grey Tower.

Editia is, by all accounts a grand city of surpassing grandeur. But it is not without its poor. These live on the outskirts of the walls, and in tenemants in the valleys between the palacial hills where powerful nobles and wealthy gentlemen have their manors and estates (the Grand Duke's estates are nearly a square mile, and include an artificial lake). They make up the greatest portion of the population of Editia.

To appease the people, the Kings and Emperors of Durnalia have created many public parks, baths, and sporting arenas. Even the poor in this city do not have it TOO bad; public health has been of paramount concern since the reign of Emperor Junian (known as 'The Clean', he eventually went mad, and became obsessed with cleanliness and boiled himself to death) who is widely now praised for his -other- actions, including the creation of the sewers and the overhaul of Durnalian culture to include frequent bathing (it was required by law) and washing of hands and feet. Many common practices in other cities of the world are outlawed in Durnalia, including disposing of waste in the streets. But of course, the less wealthy areas sometimes neglect to enforce these laws, and certain parts of the city are altogether avoided by anybody of decent repute.

(to be continued)
Last edited by Palamon on Mon Nov 15, 2004 1:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

Palamon
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Level 2
Posts: 49

Post by Palamon » Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:19 am

More on the city history. This is, of course, a very barebones sketch due to the length of time involved (about 3 thousand years).

Prehistory: Rich has suggested that the first inhabitants of the area where Editia is situated be those whom he later calls the 'Fair Folk' in Tarindal, and I think that is an excellent idea.

During the years of the city-states, Editia was populated by a seafaring people who depended on fishing and trade. They spread out north along the land bridge and beyond into the lush rolling hills that surrounded them. They learned to grow and cultivate crops, and soon were completely self-sufficient. As their wealth grew, so did their strong individuality, and soon other city-states sprung up along the water and further north along the mountains where fantastic amounts of precious metals were discovered, including as I mentioned in another post, Adamantite. I'll work more on that later too.

Throughout the known world at this point people were creating small, independent cities, and the Editians began to make some enemies among envious neighbors. It was King Durnan the First, known as Durnan the Builder, who built the first complete city wall and ordered the creation of more towers. His son, Durnan the Second, known as Durnan the Peacemaker, is credited with being the first true King of Durnalia, and from him that they take the name of the kingdom.

A great war with Rylos, an enemy since the dawn of Durnalia, forced the city-state Kings to join together, and King Durnan proposed the solution: so long as an enemy threat existed, they could never make war with each other. They would become a Nation of Cities, and all Kings would be equal. At the end of the war, King Durnan the Second was dead. But Editia had become the most powerful among all the city-states, and the Nation remained. Durnan's son married his chief pre-war rival's (the rival also died in the war) daughter, and now Durnan the Third, known as Durnan the Conqueror, became the first High King of Durnalia. The other city-states eventually submitted to Durnalian rule.

And so began the Age of Kings in Durnalia; the Second Age.

Palamon
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Re: Editia, The City of a Thousand Towers

Post by Palamon » Thu Nov 18, 2004 3:16 am

City history edited above for history changes.

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