Golean

Golean, also called the Six-Sided City, is the capital city of the Empire of the Southern Sun. It is designed to be a meeting place for all of the houses, and is administered by the supposedly neutral members of House Golean. It is also the home of the Emperor and the Throne of the Sun.

The Outer City

The outer city sprawls beyond the walls of the inner city, and while the latter is the product of planning, the outer city is a jumble of narrow streets and tightly clustered houses, temples, halls, taverns and stores. A curtain wall surrounds part of the outer city, along the line of the cliffs in the south and out in a rough semicircle with a radius of almost a mile, but the buildings continune to sprawl out for several miles more, before giving way to farmland and scattered villages which act as the city's agricultural supplier. The curtain wall is the outer defence in time of war, and would be defended at need by the city garrison, a force made up of every battalion veteran in the city, serving in four watches for a season at a time, supplemented by household troops. A city watch under the auspices of House Golean enforces order and upholds the law in the city.
The outer city is home to many of Golean's artists and artisans. Within the curtain wall, in the eastern district, lies its most imposing building, the Great Hall of the Artificers' Union.

The Inner City

Standing against the cliffs, overlooking the Jaridan plains to the south, the inner city is laid out on a hexagonal plan - in marked contrast to the usual layout of Imperial settlements, based on the Imperial Square - with six triangular wards separated by internal walls. Within the cliff wall, the imposing spire of the - also hexagonal - Imperial Citadel rises up, and the internal walls meet in the religious hub known as the Donjon.

The Wards

Each ward belongs to one of the Imperial Houses. In the south, enclosing the Citadel, is the Golean Ward. Clockwise from there are the Urog, Daarium, Jarida, Ooliat and Tirika wards.
The inner ward - at the central point of the triangle - houses the residences, embassies and temples of the administering house, including the high palace, the temple of their patron and one of the temples of Foundation. The Golean Ward hosts the temple of the Farmer, Urog that of the Healer, Daarium of the Traveller, Jarida the Builder, Ooliat the Sage, and Tirika the Dreamer.
The middle ward acts as a commercial and service hub, filled with shops and inns. The internal gates connecting the wards one to another link the middle wards, facilitating trade and exchange.
The outer ward is the military district, housing the house troops who work with the city militia to provide the defensive garrison.

The Donjon

At the hub of the city plan, where the internal walls meet, is a fortress known as the Donjon. The Donjon is crowned by the temple of the Archon, below which are the convocation chambers, where members of the different houses can meet on neutral ground with representatives of their rivals, or of foreign powers. The Donjon also houses the Council Chambers, where the Imperial Council - composed of seven representatives of each Imperial House - meets.
Further down, away from the windows and lit only by narrow shafts, is the prison complex known as the Labyrinth, where those who commit high crimes against the Empire are held.

The Imperial Citadel

The Imperial Citadel is the residence and palace of the Emperor and their court. A fortress to rival the Donjon, it commands a view of the entire plain below the cliffs, across the city and the plain behind as far as the eaves of the northern jungle.
Each Emperor chooses their own court, as well as their immediate domestic staff and honour guard, with House Golean seeing to the wider security and custodial care of the Citadel.

Type

Large city