Port of Orliac
The Port City of Orliac is the most important port in the human realms. Rivals with the elven Port of Adia, Orliac is the gateway to the Free Realms. It is currently in a state of political turmoil, the Duke and Duchess were tragically killed and now the King of Eos serves as the Regent for an infant Duke, Tallo IV. This has created a real and perceived imbalance of power in favour of the great peacekeeping realm of Eos, and the other realms' rulers are eyeing the port city with no short supply of wariness. It is a city of trade, a city of commerce, and a city of intrigue. The Free Realms may yet turn on the fate of an infant boy. Will the good and fair King of Eos manage the precarious balance, or bring on a state of open warfare?
Demography and Population
The Port of Orliac is primarily a city-state with high walls. Within the limits of the city-proper, these is a population of approximately six hundred thousand people -- one of the largest cities controlled by humans. The boundaries of Orliac's holdings extend outside the city itself, and another one hundred and fifty thousand people live outside the walls in towns and villages.
The demographics of Orliac are as follows: (~750,000)
- Humans: 500,000
- Dwarves: 100,000
- Elf Blooded: 50,000
- Halflings and Gnomes: 50,000
- Other: 50,000
Territories
The Port of Orliac is a city-state with some small countryside holdings. The City-Proper is quite large, and it is well-protected. The surrounding countryside extends approximately fifty miles from the walls, or two days' travel by slow trader caravan. These lands are occupied and protected by small, fortified towns and villages surrounded by farms, ranches and timber and lumber operations.
Military
The Orliac Military is threefold: (1) an army of professionals and mercenaries that double as the city guard, (2) feudally-organized troops that patrol and hold the countryside, and (3) a large and powerful navy that not only protects the bay, but also the major shipping lanes as far away as the gnomish peninsula to the south, the gates of the Imperial City in the north, and the related ports connected to the Foetid Necropolis of Aphetto in the east. While the city-bound troops answer to the Duke, the countryside troops are commanded by minor nobles who have sworn oaths to the Duke, and the navy is actually controlled by an admiralty appointed by the Council and approved by the Duke.
Religion
The Church of the Divine King is quite powerful within the city and its outskirts. At the same time, however, there is a tolerated presence of both the Steppeland expression of faith for the Divine King (the One Faith) and a large number of foreigners who still revere the Grand Conqueror and partake in the rituals and observances of the Imperial Cult of the Dwarves.
Foreign Relations
The Port of Orliac is a vitally important commercial and trading center for the entirety of the Free Realms. There is a large presence of dwarves, many of which provide banking and loan services; but they are being challenged by both the halflings of Guelphia and the Arcanum in that realm of commerce. Because their natural port is well-protected and well-managed, the sheer freight capacity of the city is such that it sustains much of the international trade enjoyed by the Free Realms as a whole.
The previous Duke and Duchess enjoyed good relations with nearly every realm and faction within the Free Realms. When they tragically lost their lives to the Grey Waste, that left the sole surviving infant son as the head of government and state for the most important city-state in the region. The Council stepped in temporarily and went about attempting to find a suitable Regent, and while they had considered a wide assortment of individuals within the circle of Orliac, they ended up settling on appointing the King of Eos, Euwen the Fair, when the factions within the city were unable to agree on someone local.
While King Euwen was more than honoured to serve as Regent of Orliac for young Tallo IV, it shifted the balance of power within the entire region of the Free Realms in such a way that ratcheted up the tensions in relation to the Kingdom of Eos. In addition to the threat of military intervention, the King of Eos now enjoyed the ability to substantially reduce income and imports from trade for the vast majority of the other realms in the region. This is good for those who believe that the Eosian Throne is a force for the Good and stability, but it also threatens the sometimes-precarious power structures that keep other realms' rulers in place.
The eyes of the Free Realms are upon the Port of Orliac.
Agriculture & Industry
While there is some agriculture in the countryside, it is quite insufficient to meet the food and supply needs of the city-proper. The most valuable initiatives in agriculture are the horse breeding ranches owned and operated by dedicated nobles and merchants. These horses are sought after throughout the world, especially in the dwarven lands where the smaller breeds are raised stout and are quite capable of serving as mounts for dwarven cataphracts.
In terms of industry, shipbuilding and related endeavours are the major industry in the city beyond trade-related services like finance and warehousing.
Honour the Sea and She Shall Provide
Type
Geopolitical, City-state
Alternative Names
Orliac
Demonym
Orlians
Leader
Leader Title
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Market economy
Currency
The Port of Orliac uses all manner of currencies, though the most common are the major dwarven coins: Silver Shields from the Commonwealth, and Gold Crowns from the Imperial Remnant. There has been increasing use of the Slips, Strips, Bars and Bricks system of currency used by the ancient dwarven realms of the Delve Kings and the Plateau.
Legislative Body
The Port uses a custom legislative body that recognizes representation from the different social classes and specially recognized organizations. In a Council of Fifteen, there are representatives of, the Commoners (7), the Nobles (5), the Church of the Divine King (1), the High Priest of the One Faith (1), and the Arcanum (1).
Judicial Body
There are currently nine Magisters who are appointed by the Duke, but approved by the Council of Fifteen. They operate in three groups of three, though only hear appeals as tribunals -- each Magister tends to his or her own Court proceedings according to the rules put in place by the Council and approved by the Duke.
Official State Religion
Location
Neighboring Nations
Comments